As we get closer to Christmas just be careful of Virtual Postcards from people you don’t know as they can contain viruses. I received my first one today from received@postcard.org with a subject of You have just received a virtual postcard from a friend !
When you click on the embedded link it will try and install f-greetings.exe
At this time it is very important to keep your virus software up-to-date.
I am regularly asked why an SME business should have a blog and I sometimes find it difficult to get the whole idea of blogging across. So when I came across Aisling Nelson‘s post on the O2 Ideas Room blog I had to include it.
Read Aisling’s post HERE. She explaines blogging much better than I can.
With all this talk about floods and Disaster Recovery, it has only highlighted one of the key issues facing SME Businesses and that is where and and how securely is your companies data stored. Time and again we come across companies who are only backing up a small proportion of their data and that is not because they are not doing their daily backups, it is because they are unaware of where their data is being stored.
Most small businesses do not have a full time IT person, instead the function is covered as a secondary part of somebodies job description or by their IT Provider who is usually only called when when there is a problem and doesn’t have time to look at the overall systems. As a result for most small businesses, their computer systems have evolved in a haphazard way rather than grown in a planned structured and documented way.
This is not necessarily a problem when you are dealing with a small number of computers, small quantities of data and everything is going fine, however when something goes wrong or a computer breaks down then this can be a real issue. In a well structured small business network, all business data will be stored centrally on a server (or at least on one desktop that is designated as a server). With all the data in one location it is easy to backup and if it comes to it, restore. If one of the desktops gives up the ghost then that’s not a major problem, just go to another PC and access the centrally stored data.
If on the other hand everyone is storing their data on their local hard disk, then it becomes very difficult to co-ordinate backups and make sure that critical data is not lost if there is a failure on an individual PC. It is relatively easy to fix or replace computer hardware and software but nothing can be done if there is no backup for the data.
The second issue when it comes to these unstructured networks is that there is probably very little security for the data and that means that you are failing to meet your obligations under the Data Protection Act.
In the vast majority of cases the solution does not usually cost very much and generally does not require the purchase of new computers. A good computer services company should be able to organise the network using the existing equipment and put an Online Backup solution in place to ensure your data is backed up securely.
If you can establish a relationship with a local Computer Services company who understands your business and can document your systems and some simple procedures, then the time taken to recover from major system failures can be greatly reduced, which can save you money and give you peace of mind.
The final point is that you should view your computer systems the way you view your car. If your car does not get serviced at least once a year then things go wrong a lot more often and you can dramatically reduce it’s life span. Your computer systems are no different. An annual Preventative Maintenance visit can eliminate the majority of issues before the arise.
I have to say this had struck me as a problem as I like to go Skiing and taking your gloves off at -10 to answer the phone is not fun. So here is a very creative solution I came across on CrunchGear.
I’ve had my first call from a friend of mine who unfortunately is a victim of the recent flooding. When he started off the conversation by explaining how he knew that computers definitely did not float, I knew that things were not good.
I then asked the key question, “Do you have your backups?” and luckily he had kept his backup tapes stored off site and only lost one days data. However when I started to go through what he needed to do to get himself back up and running, I realised it wouldn’t be straight forward.
His backup tape drive and software were over four years old and the software CD was also damaged in the flood. So after much researching on the Internet and several phone calls we established that the new software would restore the old backup, but it was going to take a couple of days to get hold of a new tape drive. So we still have yet to see how good his backups are as he has never tried a test restore since he installed the tape drive.
If ever there was a case for Online Backups then this is it. If he had been backing up his data online, then the only thing he would have had to do would be to get hold of a suitable server, connect it to the Internet at any location, download the backup software and restore his programs and data. No messing with tape drives and tapes of unknown quality.
Needless to say I am actively trying to persuade him that one of our online backup solutions would make all our lives a lot easier.
I thought this was a joke at first when I came across it on THE CONSUMERIST blog, but on further reading it turns out to be true. At least two Apple customers in the US were told that their computers warranty was void because they smoked.
It makes me wonder what else could potentially void a computers warranty?
http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-near-apple-computers-creates-biohazard-voids-warranty
I am often asked about Free Software and is it as good as Microsoft Office etc. They say “Surely it can’t be any good if it’s Free!”
Well the answer is, Yes, a lot of this OpenSource Software is very good and in some cases better than commercially available software. However there is a lot of rubbish out there also. The best way to tell the good from the bad is to talk to your local INDEPENDENT (Remember some providers have a vested interest in selling you commercial software) IT Provider who should be able to point you in the right direction.
Here is a link to the Download section glasgorman.com which should get you started.
Just received another scam email from info@worldcompanydirectory.com with the subject “Registration of the World Company Directory 2009/2010“.
DO NOT RESPOND to emails like this it is a SCAM
Recently I installed a couple of utilities (add-ons for Firefox) to help me keep up with the various Blogs, Newsfeeds, and Twitter accounts. Brief for the feeds and Echofon for Twitter and I have to say they are great at organising everything and preventing information overload.
But there is a problem, because the information is being presented to me in an organised, readable format and most importantly on a regular basis, I find myself being distracted by really interesting snippets of information and not concentrating on the task at hand. As a result I have had to dramatically reduce the number of times these utilities update each day.
Now don’t get me wrong keeping up-to-date with what’s going on in your business sector is really important, but you have to achieve the right balance.
I came across and advertisement today by eircom for their Online Software or Software as a Service. While I along with others may have issues with eircom’s monopoly position in the Irish Telecommunications Infrastructure Market, Software as a Service (SaaS) is something that SME Businesses should be evaluating.
When your business is small and you are starting off in business it is very easy to keep track of all your communications with your clients and for that matter communications between employees, but as you grow and start to expand your business that’s not so easy any more. That’s when some things start to fall through the cracks and you don’t keep in contact with your customers quite so often. Studies have shown that the main reason customers stop doing business with you is that they perceive that you don’t care or don’t value their business.
This is where a good CRM (Customer Relationship Marketing) system comes in. A good CRM system will allow everyone in your organisation too maintain those contacts with your customers and not only retain customers but grow the business.
Similarly in these recession times your employees can be spread much thinner on the ground and particularly if you have people on the road it’s difficult to work as a cohesive team and get that pool of knowledge and skills to be passed around between employees. That’s where good collaborative software can really help.
Unfortunately both CRM and Collaborative software systems can require significant amounts of IT and computer infrastructure to run effectively and apart from the capital costs to install them these systems, they require expertise in terms of IT Personnel to keep them running efficiently. That means extra recurring costs that your business can ill afford at this time.
But there is an potential answer, Software as a Service or to put it another way rent the software . That way all those complicated bits like servers, firewalls, networks, ups, databases, backups and the IT people to keep it all running smoothly are in a hi-tech data center and all you need is remote access via a broadband connection. From a business and budgeting point of view you don’t have any capital outlay and have predictable monthly costs.
It is these things that can give you the edge over your competitors in tough times.
For Business Broadband in Gorey and North Wexford check out Alpha Broadband
The forecast for gorey, Ireland by Wunderground for WordPress