Practical Cloud Technologies for Small Business

For many businesses the term “Cloud Computing” is this ethereal concept, pressed upon the business community as the new and greatest thing by IT powerhouses such as HP, Microsoft, Dell and others.  As is the case with almost all new technologies, however, cloud computing isn’t really the greatest thing – at least is certainly isn’t at this point, anyhow.  In my opinion, a more accurate description would be:  it’s an evolving thing that has large potential value for business.  There is no doubt that lots of small businesses have made the decision to invest in cloud technologies over the past couple years, and many of them, I’m sure, have invested quite successfully.  But if that’s the case, what technologies have they invested in and what has made that investment successful?  The answer to that question depends on the specific business of course, however, I believe there are 4 uses of cloud technology that are very likely to provide value to small businesses today.  Check out my four-part series on some of the cloud solutions that could be valuable for your business, today: 

1. Spam Defense

2. Web & Spyware Defense

3. Automated Offsite Backup

4. Email

Options For Defending Against Spyware

Spyware is everywhere and it’s costing businesses and organizations a ton of money in lost productivity alone.  Traditional methods of combating spyware (such as installing software on your systems) have proven mostly effective.  The problem is that mostly effective isn’t really good enough.  So what other options are there?  Currently, I believe the two most viable options currently are:

• Deploy a device onsite
• Subscribe to a service

Onsite Protection

Devices like Barricuda Networks Web Defense device 

and others work by filtering web traffic through their device which resides at your office between your firewall and your LAN (traditionally).  It functions as a filter both for incoming and outgoing traffic and is quote robust from a configuration and reporting standpoint.

Benefits

• Powerful
• Robust functionality
• Granular reporting

Drawbacks

• Large upfront cost
• Annual maintenance costs
• Allows “malicious” traffic to utilize your bandwidth
• Need to maintain hardware

Service-based Protection

Service-based protection such as McAfee’s Web Protection Service works in a similar fashion to the onsite protection model except that the “filtering” occurs offsite.  Basically, your web traffic is routed through your service-provider’s systems.  In this model you don’t need to purchase hardware or maintain it – you just redirect your web traffic through their systems.

Benefits

• Easy to set up
• Very low initial cost
• Stops malicious traffic before it gets to your network
• No hardware maintenance or upgrade costs
• Highly effective

Drawbacks

• Recurring monthly cost
• Adequate reporting functionality

With these options, the days of combating spyware with just onsite software are probably coming to an end.  Don’t get me wrong, onsite software is still necessary, but in all probability, adding another layer of defense is probably a solid, cost-effective decision at this point.

Random Thoughts-Be Simply Consistent and You’ll be Surprised how Much Money you Save

Random Thoughts – Be Simply Consistent and You’ll be Surprised how Much Money you Save

Technology is complex.  For most businesses it is also necessary.  So most businesses go through quite a process to find and deploy the best technologies for their company.  Then, of course, they spend as much or more time to manage and maintain their technology.  Unfortunately, there really isn’t any better way.  With the incredible array of technologies available to business these days, and the importance they hold within our companies, it’s no wonder that everyone spends so much time and money on their technology.  Yet, it’s also easy to get carried away.  That’s why I highly recommend keeping two principles in mind as you evaluate and deploy technology for your company: simplicity and consistency.  Simply put, the more simple and consistent you can keep your technology, the less time and money you’ll spend maintaining it.  After spending over a decade in the IT field, there are few things that have proven more true over time.  Oh sure, sometimes multiple applications or a diverse technology environment is required.  But even within those environments there are opportunities to keep patch levels consistent, or run applications on similar hardware.  So as you begin tapping into your fresh, 2011 IT budget, consider a greater emphasis on keeping your technology simple and consistent -  your bottom line will feel a little bolder at the end of the year.

ITP Establishes Partnership with Stratus Technologies

MILWAUKEE, Wis., January 1, 2011 – Information Technology Professionals (ITP), a computer services consultancy serving the IT needs of the greater Milwaukee and Madison community, announced today the addition of software and services expressly designed to protect clients’ most important applications against downtime and data loss. ITP is now a channel partner of Stratus Technologies, a global leader of hardware, software and services that ensure the highest levels of uptime to critical applications.

 “Reliable computer operations is critical to the success of nearly every small and medium businesses today, but typically difficult and costly to achieve” said Joe Ulm, President of Information Technology Professionals. “Guaranteeing 99.999% network uptime, complete with an enterprise-level disaster recovery solution, all for a price that’s affordable to small and medium-sized businesses is unheard of today. The ability to provide that will fundamentally change the way small and medium sized businesses deploy and manage their technology.  ITP is proud to be the only firm in the Madison and Milwaukee markets capable of delivering this revolutionary technology to its clients.”

Stratus offers software and hardware approaches to availability, both with extensive built-in technology for service and system management to protect against downtime – planned and unplanned – and data loss. The Stratus Avance software now offered by ITP provides simple, affordable high availability to ordinary Intel-based servers. The Stratus ftServer system is a single server that delivers the industry’s highest levels of uptime. Both Avance and ftServer products support Windows and Linux applications, as well as virtualization technology.

“ITP has developed an excellent reputation for technical knowledge and quality of service, and we are pleased to be affiliated with the team,” said Eric Dougherty, Stratus vice president, channel sales. “ITP’s clients can now have essentially the same availability technology developed over three decades that many of the world’s largest financial institutions and manufacturing companies use to protect their critical systems from downtime. We expect this will be a very successful partnership for both companies.”

About  Stratus Technologies

Stratus Technologies delivers uptime for the applications its customers depend on most for their success. With its ultra-reliable servers, software and services, Stratus helps to save lives and to protect the business  and reputations of companies, institutions, and governments the world over. To learn more about worry-free computing, visit www.stratus.com.

What’s New At ITP….

What’s new at ITP

The new year brings us new challenges, new opportunities, and of course, new technologies for us all to review and consider.  For many businesses this constant expansion of technology is both a blessing and a curse.  Technology can be a great tool in fostering greater efficiency, productivity, and competitive advantage for businesses, but it can also be incredibly time consuming to navigate through, deploy, and maintain.  As strange as it may sound, it’s no different here at ITP.  Certain technologies like Microsoft are staples within the business world, but most others require rigorous investigation and testing before we can recommend them to our customers.  As 2011 begins, ITP has added to our portfolio one of the most exciting technologies we’ve come across. 

ITP is proud to announce its partnership (link to press release) with Stratus Technologies.  Stratus Technologies’ Avance  product guarantees 99.999% network availability.  Yep, that’s 99.999%.  With today’s need for businesses to be instantly responsive and “always available” to customers, this is great news for small and medium-sized businesses.  See more about our partnership here www.itprosusa.com.

Integrated Communications – What is it and Why Should I Care?

Integrated communications is, on a very simple level, little more than making sure you can communicate well throughout your organization and to your customers.  It’s an important concept to understand because it can often lower your fixed costs and improve your ability to serve your customers. In essence, the simplest definition may be “the ability for businesses to communicate quickly and effectively internally and to customers.” Integrated Communications can include both hardware and software technology such as phone systems, e-mail systems, messaging software, mobile phones, remote access technologies, Internet service, websites, social media, and more.  Deployed well, the advantages of Integrated Communications can be very powerful.  Here are a few common advantages:

• Creates a platform for developing new processes and efficiencies that drive competitive advantage
• Allows businesses to do business anytime, anywhere
• Enhances collaboration activities and improve organizational productivity
• Creates an environment with multiple communication redundancies
• Enables new service delivery methods by integrating voice, video and data communications
• Enhances mobile workforce communication
• Optimizes your communications and networking environments for cost-effective performance.

For example, at ITP we provide many different ways for our customers to contact us including phone, e-mail, and web access methods.  We manage all our client’s issues through a ticketing system that streamlines internal communication between engineers, operations, and our back-office support staff.  Doing so has increased our customer’s service experience enormously by allowing them to access ITP’s staff and services in the way that works best for them AND it has ensured our internal communications are efficient and seamless.

A few other examples of where these advantages could be realized would be:

1. Deployment of a SharePoint server to allow secure document access and collaboration across multiple sites or between a geographically distant workforce
2. Deployment of a VOIP phone system like a Shoretel phone system to save telecommunication costs between sites
3. Deployment of MPLS Internet access to deliver secure communications between office locations and reduce hardware expenses.
4. Implementation of a social media strategy

Ultimately, any technology initiative should be driven by business need or strategy.  However, with the response times customers have come to expect from all businesses today, along with the need for businesses to communicate quickly and efficiently to satisfy those expectations, deploying an integrated communications strategy is almost certainly a quality investment.

Google in privacy trouble again for stealing wireless data from google street view

Google street view is a handy tool to use when you need to know what that building your looking for should look like from your car.  These Google cars traverse the U.S. and 30 countries taking pictures and sending back GPS data about locations around the world.  Recently Google has admitted to the F.C.C. that they were in fact in violation of Federal privacy and wiretapping statues when these cars were equipped with WiFi detectors.

Google originally set out only to mark the locations of wifi devices.  Recently though, for a yet explained reason, Google cars actually capture Wifi data on unencrypted Wifi connections.  Google in the process capture emails, web data and other traffic from thousands of unsuspecting citizens.

Once notified Google did delete the data and reported themselves to the authorities and no further legal action has been taken but privacy watchdogs are not happy with the lack of follow up but the federal government.

For businesses this is a stark reminder of how easy it is to let data outside the network.  Wifi is a handy tool but carries with it some risks when not properly configured and monitored.  We recommend all our clients with Wifi secure them with at least WPA+ security or higher and all passwords on public facing routers meet complex password policies.  Your firewall and routers simply cannot have the same basic passwords they must be complex and include no words in the dictionary.

Most businesses today think with anti virus and a firewall that is sufficient given they don’t have any “private” data or regulatory restrictions.  Keep in mind that PCI compliance requires network security and applies to almost every company that takes credit cards.

Do you have reports confirming your networks safety?

Web Browsers – What’s Your Choice

I’ve been noticing some amongst my clients about the web browser they’re using.  Long established as the predominant browser in the market, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) is experiencing more competition than ever these days.  As a long time fan of Internet Explorer I recently switched due to some frustrations with performance – specifically with the newest iteration, IE 8.  Mostly my problems revolved around the way IE 8 presented text (often so small that it was unreadable) and errors experienced with certain java functions certain sites required.  This isn’t to say that other browsers don’t have problems – quite the opposite, actually – but I found I didn’t mind the problems other browsers had as much.  Anyhow, the three most popular browsers today (in my opinion) are IE, Google’s Chrome, and, Mozilla’s Firefox.  I’ve decided Google Chrome works best for me.  So what do you think?  What browser to you use and why?

The Best IT Firms…

At ITP we focus on delivering our services in a manner that rises above our competition.   Which got me thinking…the best IT firms do certain things well.  Among the most common are:

1. They have skilled, experienced engineers
2. They explain things clearly to you
3. They are efficient and reliable
4. They help you drive efficiency through your technology
5. They are an asset to your business

I’ve seen many IT firms to some of these things well, but few do all of them well.  What are the most important things your IT firm does for you?

E-mail Scams to Watch Out For

I ran across this article written for Tech Republic (a great source of all things technology) by  Debra Littlejohn Shinder and thought it would be helpful to many businesses. Being in IT, I’m all too familiar with the scams businesses see in their e-mail boxes every day, but I know some (many) people still get confused. So, here’s a little quick information on what to look out for when you’re reviewing your e-mail in the morning…
1. Fake Facebook “friend” messages – these are e-mail messages that look the same as when someone posts to your Facebook wall or sends you a private message.
2. Fake Messages from “The Administrator” – these are messages that come from “The Administrator” of any number of given organizations (facebook, your bank, credit card, etc.).  Here, there are two things that give away these “false” e-mails.

• First beware of the “To” address – it will be incorrect and you most likely won’t recognize any of the domain name(s).
• Secondly, if it’s not from your local IT administrator, you should immediately be wary.  Because honestly, when is the last time you had an “administrator” send you anything valid that wasn’t as simple as “server reboot tomorrow” or “turn your system off tonight”?

3. Messages that play on our fears – these are emails that feed off of current events or high profile media events a good example would be the (H1N1 virus ) Swine flu, etc.  Don’t panic, just don’t click on it.
4. Cancellation of an account Emails - these may show up even if you don’t have an account with them!  These messages are usually chocked full of spelling/grammar errors and are often sent from another country.
5. Fake “Holiday Cards”- these cards are usually very generic, rather than saying that they are from a specific person’s name they say it is from “a friend”. Be careful, because when you open them, you could be putting your computer at risk without every being aware of it! To be on the safe side, only open Holiday Cards from friends, or better yet just don’t open them at all.
6. Notice of the “Mysterious” package message – these are e-mails saying that you have an UPS, FedEx or perhaps DHL package that was undeliverable due to incorrect/incomplete address information with an attached form that they need you to complete in order to get the package to you. Just as you may suspect, there really isn’t a package at all! They want you to open the attachment so they can infect your computer with a virus. Because some people may be aware of this kind of scam, they will try and infect your computer by sending you an email with a link to a Web page to open instead.
7. Government “Threat” Emails – these can be sent to you to notify you that either the FBI or Homeland Security has been notified of your alleged involvement in terrorist activities or money laundering. Just as you may suspect from a hoax like this… they have an offer for you to avoid prosecution, which could be a payment of a few hundreds made to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission Chairman. If it would be an official threat, they would contact you in person, without asking for a payoff to buy your way out.
8. Fake “Census Survey” email – here again they will use the Federal Government to get you to respond to their emails. The Federal government does require you by law to fill out a census survey every 10 years, and yes, they may send you an online request for your participation in a census surveys, but they don’t ask for your personal information unlike email scams.
9. Abuse of “Trust” in software and hardware manufacturers – these e-mails are basically fake security warnings with a “quick fix” attachment, dubbed to look like it was sent from Microsoft or another familiar company. These “quick fixes” are really malware to fake special offers to payment requests which require you to download and install a transaction inspector module if you want to decline to have payment charged to you credit card.
10. The “Fake” You-are-a-Winner E-mail – You just won a prize, how awesome is that?  Well, the only problem is you didn’t enter into any contest to win the prize. These e-mails want you to fill out a form to claim your prize, complete with your social security number so “the value of your prize can be reported to the IRS.” Remember to check out the legitimacy of any email notification. If you need to send any sensitive information, remember to email it encrypted if you don’t have an alternative method in which to submit it.

Keep in mind, if you’re unsure just don’t open it.  It’s just that simple.  Instead, call your helpdesk, administrator, or IT manager and let them figure out whether it’s valid or not.  Trust me, they’d rather you call them than open it.