Security Alert - Non-delivery report looks like you are sending spam

Spammers, who do not want to send spam from themselves, often spoof the sending address to disguise who sent it.   If you are receiving non-delivery reports (NDRs) that look like you sent spam to someone, then the spammers are using your address. When the spam that appears to originate from you gets sent to addresses that don't exist, then the receiving mail server sends a non-delivery report back to the address where it thinks the mail came from: Your mail server.

Other spammers purposely send spam to non-existent email addresses with your address as the return address knowing that it will be delivered to you through a non-delivery report. Your spam filter will not block it because it appears to be a valid report, even though it is spam.

It's just like someone sending out a ton of junk mail through the US Postal Service with your return address on it. When the postal worker finds they can't deliver some of it, they return it to you.

Worldwide, there are billions of spam messages sent each day by perhaps millions of spam bots all over the globe.  Over 90% of all email is spam.  So, this is a huge problem.

I've had this happen to me as well from time to time.  These non-delivery reports occur for a one or two week spurt, and then they stop because the spammer stopped using my address. We can block all Non-deliver Reports, but then legitimate reports will also be blocked, so we don’t advise this as a solution.

My advice is to delete the messages when they arrive, just as you would the junk mail recieved through the US Postal Service.  It's not worth the time or effort to get upset about it or try and trace down who sent it. 

Dettloff named 2009 Emerging Entrepreneur

At the 2009 Entrepreneurial Awards of Greater Lansing held at the Radisson Hotel on March 12, Jeff Dettloff, Founder and President of Providence Consulting Company, was honored with the 2009 Emerging Entrepreneur Award! In announcing the award, Greater Lansing Business Monthly publisher Chris Holman cited Mr. Dettloff’s long standing commitment to helping people, solving problems, and making technology easier for Lansing businesses.

Said Dettloff, “I am honored to be recognized by my peers with this award! I'm also extremely grateful to my loyal and dedicated staff for helping to build such a successful organization.”

The 15th Annual Entrepreneurial Awards of Greater Lansing were sponsored by local Lansing businesses including Andrews, Hooper & Pavlik, PLC, Capitol National Bank, Maner, Costerisan & Ellis PC, Plante & Moran PLLC, Radisson Hotel Lansing, SPS, Inc., Symbiosis International, TDS Metrocom.

Confessions of an IT Guy

Scott sat alone that morning in the small corner booth at his favorite downtown eating and meeting place. As he gazed out the nearby window, he noticed a small patch of earth bursting forth colorful tulips to announce that Spring had finally arrived in mid-Michigan. Waiting for his friend Jim to arrive, Scott began to read through the E-mail that had collected in his smart-phone’s inbox since he left his office last night. One particular message seemed to catch his full attention and he began to ponder a response to his client’s question.

“Why the long face?” interrupted Jim. “Oh, hi buddy, good to see you!” responded Scott.

As they exchanged the obligatory greetings, the waitress arrived with a piping hot mug of coffee for each of them. “Thanks Beth!” they both responded at the same time. They had sat in this corner booth before. In fact, they met regularly here in the restaurant’s comfortable surroundings to share life and discuss business, family and politics. Scott, the younger of the two men, had looked up to Jim as a mentor and confidant for many years. Today he had something important to confess, so he was thankful for the opportunity to talk.

“So…” Jim began, “you look a little down-in-the-mouth this morning. Is something bugging you?”

“Actually, I’m glad you asked.” Scott replied. “But before I tell you, I want you to understand that I’m not complaining, just a little frustrated. I also want you to know that I love my job! I mean, I really get tremendous satisfaction from helping people, solving problems, and making technology easier for people to use. But I feel like there is so much more I could be doing for these organizations. I’m frustrated when I’m not in a position to help. I feel that many organizations are not making wise use of their technology resources or budgets. They seem to grasp the tremendous power that technology holds in store for them, but are unable to tap into it and take full advantage of it. If I could teach them how to harness the full power, and put it to use within their organizations, we would see a lot more successful businesses around town.”

“So…” acknowledged Jim in his usual active-listening style. “You have a good relationship with these people and you’re their trusted IT advisor. What’s the problem? Why can’t you help them find what they’re missing?”

“That’s my frustration!” replied Scott as he threw his hands in the air. “Here’s my theory: We live in this fast-paced, do-it-yourself society with access to tremendous amounts of information and ‘free advice’ on the Internet. People read about some new device or software and then plunge ahead with it before they’ve ever really identified the underlying problem that needs to be solved. This is aggravated by the fact that our E-mail inboxes are bombarded daily with advertisements for some shiny new gadget, or cool tool, that’s ‘on sale today only.’ It’s hard for business managers to stay focused on what’s important and which technologies will provide them with the real value.”

Jim interjected, “Sounds like short-sighted thinking.”

“That’s part of it,” confirmed Scott. “The worst part is, every time one of these short-sighted projects goes down the tubes, the boss becomes less and less likely to say yes the next time someone suggests spending money on IT.”

“So what I hear you saying is that you’re frustrated because people are making poor decisions and not getting very good value from their investment in technology. So if you had an opportunity to advise them, how would you approach that?” asked Jim.

Beth stopped by to refill their coffee mugs as Scott began to speak. “In the E-mail that I was reading when you arrived, the sender noted that they would like to start keeping better track of sales-related communications they have with their customers. Then they asked which Customer Relationship Management software I would recommend; Outlook, Goldmine or ACT. The problem is, I can’t possibly advise them on what software is best for them without taking the time to understand their unique needs and desires. It’s like you calling your travel agent and telling them you’re interested in taking a vacation, then asking where’s the best place to go: Chicago, Miami, or Seattle. The answer depends on what you want to see, how long you wish to be away, how many friends will join you, what’s your budget, etc, etc. The same holds true for these critical technology decisions.

“I think business decision makers have a better chance of finding real IT business value if they employ a very simple methodology that I call ‘Business Focus First,’ which basically means, develop the business process first; then look for a technical solution to help make the process efficient. For example, if I want to improve a process, I need to fully understand it, and that starts with asking questions and documenting answers. In this case, I would document how the sales team engages its customers and prospects today. I’ve found that a great way to do this is with a flowchart that shows step-by-step what data or customer activities are currently being tracked, who is recording the information, what forms are being used, etc.

“Secondly, I need to look for ways to improve the workflow by putting on my thinking cap and enlisting input from others; then drawing a flowchart that shows what I would like the process to look like. Again, it’s a step-by-step detailed diagram that makes it very easy to understand. Once this analysis is complete, then and only then would I look for the proper technology to apply. I strongly believe that most business processes can be improved with technology, but it has to be the right fit at the right cost to provide real business value.”

“And that’s where it becomes elusive,” interjected Jim.

“Right again” agreed Scott. “And no matter how much money an organization invests in the best products and software tools, without a qualified team to implement, manage, and coordinate the solution, managers will rarely see the full benefit.”

Beth walked by again and with a smile asked, “Are you boys going to eat or just yak…?”

Tomorrow’s Forecast: Partly Cloudy

“Joe, will you join us in the small conference room please.” The voice on the other end of the intercom belonged to Sam Stevens, the owner of a small but prominent financial services firm. As Joe entered the room, he noticed several binders and folders containing financial reports, budgets, and other planning documents scattered on the conference room table. The room’s participants had been meeting for some time before he arrived. “Joe, thanks for joining us,” Sam said. “At least once a year I like to meet with people I trust to help plan our business strategy for the coming year. It’s especially important this year because the recent economic downturn is putting increasing pressure on us, making it critical for us to find new ways to cut costs and reduce inefficiencies. As our top account rep, your perspective and input is valuable to this process.”

Over the past 14 years Samantha Stevens had built a solid reputation for helping her clients realize their long-term financial goals. Through hard work and dedication she had developed a team of smart, dedicated employees, and built outstanding relationships with her clients and the business community at large. A sudden collapse of the world’s credit markets resulted in a stock market tail-spin that now threatens to spoil her efforts. Sam is NOT about to let that happen! Her goal for today’s meeting is to find low-cost, yet high-performance solutions that will enable her firm to reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage in this tough marketplace.

“Joe,” Sam continued, “You remember our IT guys. They’re here today to help us figure out what new technologies we should consider to help us work smarter and faster. And consequently, we’re asking you to tell us the top three things that challenge you and make it difficult to get your job done.”

Joe didn’t ponder long before offering his reply. “I was out of the office yesterday afternoon dealing with my sick daughter and missed an important call. The client left a detailed voice mail on my office phone, but I didn’t get that message until this morning and now the issue is critical. It would help if those calls could get transferred to my cell phone, or I was somehow alerted that I had new voice mail. It would also be great if I could reply to that client’s question from home, but I don’t currently have the ability to access our client database from anywhere but my office computer. And thirdly, I would love to hold meaningful meetings with our clients without driving to their offices all over the state. If I could cut down on the 12-16 hours a week I spend in a car, not to mention the travel costs, that could add up to a huge cost saving for us!”

Sam looked to her consultants and posed the question, “So, what can we do to help make Joe’s life easier?” The reply came swiftly, “Cloud Computing!” “Excuse me??” asked Samantha.

“Let me explain. With your existing data and telecommunications infrastructure, everything you need to conduct business is located just down the hall, in your server closet. The storage and processing of information takes place here, and you can freely access that information as long as you remain in the building. Now imagine if you moved some of your data and applications to servers on the Internet. You won’t really know where those servers are located and don’t really care – they live in the Cloud. You could then access your critical business information just as easily from home, or the coffee shop, or your client’s office, or anywhere else. You absolutely must have a reliable high-speed Internet connection at every work location, and there are many other issues to consider for it to work correctly, but that’s the concept of Cloud Computing. Besides the ability to access your files from anywhere, you may also realize cost savings because you avoid most up-front costs for software and hardware, and don’t pay for ongoing upgrade and support costs. You typically pay-as-you-go and pay for only what you use.”

“OK, but specifically how can this approach help Joe perform his job better?” quizzed Sam. “Well, let’s discuss the communication breakdown issue that he mentioned. Believe it or not, you can retire that 14 year old phone system and begin to utilize a Cloud based phone system that will provide you with a tremendous number of features and benefits that you don’t currently enjoy. With a hosted solution, every employee will get their own phone number, an Internet enabled phone handset, and access to an Internet application where they can configure whatever features they want to use. You’ll still keep your main business number, but we’ll add a group of direct dial numbers. We can program Joe’s cell phone, his home-office phone, and his desk phone to ring simultaneously, so he can answer whichever phone is most convenient for him at the time. And Joe, if you’re in a meeting or cannot answer the call, we can have the caller’s voice-mail message sent to your E-mail Inbox as an attachment so you can listen to it with your computer or smart phone. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Similarly, a Cloud based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application will provide many features that your current customer database lacks. Joe, you’ll be able to access the data from any Internet connected computer. You won’t need any special software installed. Just start Internet Explorer, navigate to your CRM website, login and go. You’re going to love it! And Sam, you’re going to love it when his productivity begins to soar!

And finally, we can set you up with a Cloud based web conferencing portal to help keep Joe off the road. Web conferencing is a very mature technology, but only recently has it become available at a price that small businesses can afford. With your clients participating in the virtual meeting from their PCs, you can deliver a presentation, provide training, brainstorm ideas, collaborate on a whiteboard, edit files, and finalize deals without the hassle of travel. Because you’ll be travelling less, you’ll have more time to prepare for each meeting, which will likely result in more productive client engagements.

Now Sam, before you jump in with both feet, I’m not advocating that you move all of your file-data into the Cloud. I believe you still have a need for your on premises server to host applications that are not yet built for the web. But it does make sense to take advantage of the Cloud technologies that are likely to have the greatest impact on your success and profitability!”

Providence Consulting Attains Gold Certified Status in the Microsoft Partner Program

Providence Further Distinguishes Itself by Earning Microsoft Competencies in Infrastructure Solutions and Advanced Infrastructure Solutions

I am pleased to announce today that Providence Consulting has attained the Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program, with competencies in Networking Infrastructure Solutions and Advanced Infrastructure Solutions. As a Gold Certified Partner, Providence has demonstrated expertise with Microsoft technologies and proven its ability to meet customer needs. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training and support, giving us a competitive advantage in the channel.

I am extremely pleased with our status as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. For our business clients, this special designation adds another facet to our ability to recommend the best Microsoft solutions, and extends the value we bring to our client relationships.

“Customers are looking for partner companies that can bridge the gap between their business demands and technology capabilities,” said Allison Watson, vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. “They need to trust in a company that can act as an expert adviser for their long-term strategic technology plans. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, which have certified expertise and direct training and support from Microsoft, can build a positive customer experience with our technologies. Today, Microsoft recognizes Providence Consulting as a new Gold Certified Partner for demonstrating its expertise providing customer satisfaction using Microsoft products and technology.”

Discover How New Technology on the Microsoft Across America Truck Can Help You!

Providence Consulting, in cooperation with the Greater Lansing Business Showcase and the Capital Area IT Council, presents Microsoft Across America! Microsoft’s state-of-the-art truck is loaded with exciting new technology products that can help you achieve your business goals and increase your sales pipeline. The Microsoft Across America Truck is a hands-on interactive environment packed with workstations featuring Windows Server 2008, Small Business Server 2008, Vista,™ Microsoft® Office 2007, a Tablet PC, Smart Phone devices and much more.

Come meet with us at the Greater Lansing Business Showcase on October 30th to experience new live demos and get your business’ technology questions answered. You can learn how specific products from Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and others work together to create a unified solution that fits your unique needs or how to leverage your current technology to potentially save you time and money and streamline your business.

Register today! (Space is limited)
Date: October 30th, 2008
Location: The Greater Lansing Business Showcase at The Lansing Center in Downtown Lansing
Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
To register, visit http://showcase.eventsbot.com

SBS 2003 R2 Guided Tour

For those who are considering their technology infrastucture options, please take a look at this online guided tour.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/evaluation/demos.mspx

This series of demonstrations shows how easy it is for workers to be productive using computers connected to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (SBS 2003 R2) domain. Whether working from a desktop or accessing information remotely, system resources are just a click away. Network administrators can also perform common tasks from remote locations.
All three of the demonstrations on the guided tour apply to most organizations. I hope you find some value here!

The Power of Planning & Execution

When Joe arrived at his office that afternoon, things were in chaos! He had noticed during his weekly Rotary Club luncheon that he hadn’t received any new E-mail messages on his BlackBerry in over an hour. He thought this was odd, but the moment he set foot through the door, he knew the reason why. A single emergency light lit his path as he walked toward the commotion taking place in front of the office supply closet.

Within a few moments, Joe realized that he was about to have a bad day! It seems that a plugged condensation drain in the suite above his office led to a small water leak that found its way into the ceiling above their supply closet, which also served as the file server room. The water must have been pooling on top of the ceiling tiles for days before one tile caved in causing a gusher of stale water to rain-down on their fragile technology and communications systems. At once, circuit breakers cut power to their lights and some of the office equipment, but it was too late, the damage was done.

As he looked for a place to sit down and think, the weight of the problem began to sink in. As the senior account manager for a small but prominent financial services firm, Joe NEEDS his E-mail, he NEEDS an Internet connection, and he NEEDS access to customer files and records to do his job! This tiny water leak, that went unnoticed for days or perhaps weeks, had instantly crippled his ability to serve his clients. “Why couldn’t the ceiling have leaked on the shelves storing the pens and highlighters and paper clips?” he thought to himself. “Those items are cheap and easily replaceable. Why did it have to ruin our computer network?” He immediately got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he began to think about how much irreplaceable data might be lost. “This is NOT good!”

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the lights in the office came back on. Joe hadn’t noticed that the IT guys had arrived, unplugged the water damaged equipment and restored power. Work was underway to clean up the mess. Joe’s thoughts now went to how soon he could get back to business. His boss had worked with this IT consulting firm for years and had confidence in their ability to solve any problem, big or small. This was a BIG one, yet Joe was hopeful.

Fortunately, his firm had invested the time to develop a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan to deal with disasters such as this one. They recognized the potential consequences of a significant data loss. They had read and understood the study which confirmed that out of every 100 companies experiencing a “major loss” of computer records, 43 companies will never reopen, 51 will be closed within two years of the loss, and a mere 6 businesses will survive over the long-term. Joe’s firm had acted upon that knowledge and was now about to benefit from those efforts.

Joe couldn’t believe his good fortune! He watched with interest as the plan began to unfold. What he learned is that the firm’s IT guys had put into operation a specialized back up and virtual server appliance designed to reduce any server down time. The device had been located in another area of the office, away from the primary file server. The appliance had been backing up changes to data on the file server every 15 minutes. As a result, the appliance held an exact image of the file server just prior to the water disaster. It had also been moving that critical business data, in encrypted format, to an offsite file storage location every evening, just in case they needed to get access to the data from another location. But that’s not all; the appliance was configured with modern virtual server technology which allowed it to be quickly reconfigured as a replacement server. The IT guys began that process immediately after arriving. Thirty minutes later, this amazing appliance was operating as the company’s primary file server, running all of the applications and containing all of the data from earlier that day.

Joe would not have believed this remarkable story if he had not lived through it. Within an hour after walking into chaos, he was at his desk ready to begin reading E-mail and working with client data. There was still a wet mess in the supply closet, and he was a bit shaken by the drama, but Joe was on the phone, calling his best client. “Hey Kelly, what are you doing for data backup and business continuity? The reason I ask is, you’re not going to believe what just happened over here…”

Passwords are the Key...

Information System Security topped the list of concerns in a recent American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) survey. Because the Internet is such a dangerous place, prudent users must take every precaution to defend themselves from the risks, which include both external threats, as well as internal threats. A comprehensive data security plan must take into account data backup, virus/spyware protection, patch management, spam control, and access controls.

One of the most often overlooked aspects of Access Control is weak and/or non-expiring passwords. A “weak” password is one that can be easily guessed of broken by an attacker using an automated password cracking tool. On the other hand, a “strong” password is one that cannot be easily broken. I recommend creating and using strong passwords for your network, as well as any Internet site that holds your confidential information.

Use these steps to develop a strong password:

1. Think of a sentence that you can remember. This will be the basis of your strong password or pass phrase (defined below). Use a memorable sentence, such as “My dogs name is Sam He is 12 years old”.


2. Convert the sentence into a password or pass phrase by writing down the first letter of each word. For example, “My dogs name is Sam He is 12 years old” becomes “MdniSHi12yo”. This technique allows you to easily remember a complex password without writing it down.


3. A “pass phrase” is a password with a space somewhere in the random character string, such as “MdniS Hi12yo”. I recommend the use of pass phrases if the computer network or online system supports them. This simple step dramatically increased the strength of your password. In addition, when it comes time to change your password, it’s easy to change the first of second portion of the passphrase and keep the other half the same.
   

Password policy recommendation:
I strongly recommend a password policy with the following requirements:
Minimum of a 10 characters with complexity (defined below), expires every 90-180 days, and cannot be reused within 24 passwords.

Password Complexity—Passwords must:

1. Not contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters


2. Be at least ten characters in length


3. Contain characters from three of the following four categories:
   English uppercase characters (A through Z)
   English lowercase characters (a through z)
   Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
   Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %)

Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?

In case you haven’t seen this yet, here’s another very creative marketing piece from Microsoft on the Microsoft Windows Home Server - a children's book to help kids understand why Daddy brought a “server” home.

Even though this book is a high-tech spoof, the product is real and available from http://www.shopping.hp.com, or from other online retailers. The Windows Home Server packages some very powerful technology into a very easy to use product that solves some real world problems.

The Home Server is a great product for anyone with two or more computers in their home. The key benefits are automatic backup of your important files, sharing of music, photos, or almost anything else, and sharing of files with people outside the house, like Grandma and Grandpa!

Get more information on the Windows Home Server and read the book to your children or grandchildren at http://stayathomeserver.com.

7 ½ Ways to Survive the daily E-mail Flood

Are you drowning in the flood of e-mail messages you receive each day? Is your Inbox overflowing with hundreds or thousands of outdated messages, leaving you gasping for some form of relief? Rest assured that you’re not alone. Good e-mail management requires both strategy and disciplined daily activity. Here are some straightforward steps that will help you manage the volume of e-mail you receive, and allow you take control of your Inbox!

1) Recent statistics reveal that 10 out of every 11 e-mail messages worldwide is spam, also known as Unsolicited Bulk E-mail. The global impact on business productivity is staggering – clogging e-mail servers, Inboxes, and deleted-items folders everywhere. Spam filters are not 100% accurate and you do risk blocking a few legitimate messages, but the advantage of running one or more spam filters far outweigh the risk. Modern filtering techniques can do a very effective job at knocking down 95% or more of this stuff, so if you’re receiving more than 10 spam messages per day, you need to look into better protection, or multiple levels of protection. For a recommended antispam solution that’s right for you, e-mail me at FightSpam@MakingTechEasy.com.

2) Avoid spam by protecting your primary e-mail address. Create one or more secondary addresses with free online e-mail services such as gmail.com or hotmail.com. Use these secondary addresses whenever you wish to keep your private e-mail account anonymous. If over time your secondary e-mail account begins to get spammed, cancel it and apply for a new secondary account. Alternately, Google the phrase “disposable email address” and consider registering for one of the free DEA services listed there.

3) Take your eyes off the Inbox! Effectively dealing with e-mail is serious business. Rather than being interrupted every time a message arrives, I recommend turning off your “incoming e-mail announcements” and setting aside time periodically throughout the day to process and organize your e-mail. The benefit is that you will have time to focus on that specific task and can make proper decisions regarding each message. Of course, if you are expecting an urgent message from your boss, please scan your Inbox more often.

4) During your dedicated e-mail task time, use the four D’s of decision making. Delete it, Do it (then delete it), Delegate it (then delete it), or Defer it for later action. This last point, “Defer it” is the most difficult because you need some place to store the message so that you can come back to it later. Many people use their Inbox for deferred action items, which results in their Inbox becoming a giant task list. I suggest moving the item to your task list, or moving it to a “pending-work” folder or set of folders. The benefit is that the task doesn’t get mixed in with your incoming messages. Treat your Inbox as an “INBOX,” not a storage location.

5) Establish a set of organized e-mail folders to store information that you need to reference later. Think what would happen if you stored every letter or report that you wanted to save in a giant pile in the middle of your desk. This type of filing system is messy, makes it difficult to find important items, and could crush you if it toppled over. Keeping all of your saved or deferred e-mail messages in your Inbox is not the best approach for the same reasons. Creating a filing system that works the way your brain thinks is critical. Create as many or as few folders as you need. The important point is being able to quickly find the information when you need it.

6) Important! Use the delete key! If there is one tip from this list that you follow, please make it this one. Many people have a problem using the delete key in their Inbox because of their fear of removing important information. Proper use of the delete key is critical to managing your Inbox. Delete, Delete, Delete, Delete, DELETE!!! J If the message is important enough to save, then make that decision and immediately move it to a storage location or reference folder. If not… use that delete key!

7) Take action to clear out your backlog of e-mail. If you have unread messages that are several months old and you haven’t yet read them, it’s likely that you never will. Begin by taking anything that’s older than two or three weeks and move the whole batch to an archive or save folder. If you ever need to search through it, you can go to it. Then start at the top of your Inbox and apply the techniques listed in steps 4, 5 and 6 (especially 6). You should quickly begin to feel the stress of an overflowing Inbox melt away.

7 ½) If you are serious about getting control of your Inbox and ultimately improving your productivity, I highly recommend the Microsoft Press book titled “Take Back Your Life!” by Sally McGhee – ISBN: 9780735622159. It is specifically written for Microsoft Outlook users, but many of the techniques will apply to any e-mail system. The key to success is disciplined execution. Now that you have the skills, make it happen!

7 ½ Ways to Stop Wasting Money on Technology

If you manage a small business and are searching for simpler, less expensive ways to operate, you are not alone. Many small business owners once believed that technology was the answer, but became disillusioned when it never quite fulfilled its promise of greater productivity.

I think most of us have figured out that not every advancement in Information Technology (IT) is a step in the right direction. The key to getting the most out of your IT investment begins with making wise decisions; understanding how to invest in planning, training, upgrades, and new technology. If you follow the principles below, you can avoid the most common technology mistakes that business managers make. As a result, you’ll realize a greater return on your IT investment, and gain the loyalty and respect of your customers and staff.

1. Begin with planning – building computer networks and business processes in an ad hoc fashion is very inefficient. Every organization that desires future prosperity should develop a one, two, or three-year technology plan. A great place to start is to plan your IT spending. I’m not suggesting a single IT line item on your financial budget, but a written detailed spending plan which includes the specific equipment, software and services that are expected to be needed in the foreseeable future. Refer to it often and revise it as needed.

2. Don’t put the cart before the horse – Evaluating, selecting, and purchasing software to accomplish a specific task should occur after you’ve fully defined the task or process to be performed. For example, if you think you want to keep better track of your customer relationships and sales prospecting activities, don’t jump in and start evaluating customer relationship management software to see who has the best product at the best price. Instead, figure out what data or activities you want to track on these clients or prospects; how much time will it take to track it; how will the data be used/analyzed; who will input the data; do they have the time to input it; do they see the value in tracking this data, and so on. Develop the process first; then look for a technical solution to help make the process efficient.

3. Get buy-in first – Making a purchase decision prior to getting valuable input and buy-in from those who will be using a new software application could result in a failed implementation. Resistance to change is part of our human nature. If not properly managed, this forced change could lead to workers developing their own processes to work around your new system, or worse yet, a mini-mutiny where they force you to walk the plank.

4. Train your workers – Lack of training is the number one reason that software is under utilized. Many of today’s modern applications are full of complex and hidden features that are rarely used by the average office worker, but could help them become more productive. Training helps workers better utilize the tools they have been given, boosts their self confidence, and empowers them to excel.

5. Understand the limitations of your “office IT expert.” Most small organizations can’t afford a full-time IT person. Instead, they rely on their resident computer expert to keep their technology running smoothly. But implementing and maintaining today’s advanced technologies is often a complex task. There are so many details to keep track of, so many users to please, and everything seems to take longer than it should. Even though your expert may be brilliant, they likely will need help with the heavy lifting. It’s a smart decision to seek out a trustworthy IT consultant who can help with the complex issues, and help you make strategic decisions regarding technology use.

6. Keep your data secure –Because today’s Internet is such a dangerous place, prudent users should take every precaution to defend themselves from the risks. It’s much cheaper to keep a virus, worm, or other malware off your computer network, than to deal with the repercussions once you’ve been attacked. Invest in antivirus, antispam, and antispyware software, and keep your systems patched with the latest operating system security updates.

7. Think long term – Making reactive short-term fixes, such as trying to squeeze the last ounce of production out of that old Windows 98 PC by getting it “tuned up,” is probably not the best move. A new PC with the latest software, and protected by a three-year warranty, will be far less expensive to support, and far less frustrating to the person sitting at the keyboard.

7 ½. Don’t ignore problems – Computer problems generally don’t go away on their own. If you see an error on your screen and don’t understand it, it’s wise to contact someone who may. For example, if the error indicates a hard drive problem, waiting until the hard disk grinds to a halt could cost you the loss of every scrap of your data. Acting quickly could save your data, hours of lost productivity, and most importantly, your reputation.

The only thing worse than no backup solution, is an expensive backup solution that doesn’t work properly

You’re sitting at a traffic signal when you notice a smoke-puffing 1989 Chevy sitting by the side of the road with the hood up. As you glance over, you may think to yourself, “what a junker!” But to the pizza delivery dude staring at the engine compartment and scratching his head, this car is a “strategic asset.” He uses it to both advertise his business, and deliver his product. Once you realize that fact, you begin to wonder… if that old Chevy is a strategic asset to the pizza entrepreneur, why doesn’t he take better care of it, since without it he’ll be delivering those pies on foot, or more likely out of business.

I’m sure you can quickly identify the strategic assets that your organization uses to attract customers and deliver products or services. If you own computer systems, they would naturally be on the list. But you must also consider the value of the information stored in bits & bytes on each computer’s disk drive. When forced to think about it, most organizations would have to agree that their data is one of their most valuable strategic assets. But the paradox is, they don’t treat it like a strategic asset. Because the data is out of sight, hidden in the file structure of the disk, it’s easy to ignore. Additionally, most organizations are very busy working on other high-priority issues, such as building products, serving customers, managing employees, and earning a buck or two! Just like the pizza dude. As a result, a data backup plan doesn’t get the attention it deserves until it’s too late; until something terrible happens. Just like the pizza dude.

Every organization that uses computer equipment and owns valuable data needs to develop a proper data backup strategy to prevent the loss of vital information in the event of fire, flood, hardware failure, theft -- or simple user error! Once a backup plan has been put in place, it only requires a few minutes each day for a disciplined person to monitor the system, log their activity, and if needed, swap the media for offsite storage. The hard part is determining what the best backup solution is for you and your organization. The solution will consist of hardware/media, software, and documentation. The selection of the proper components will be determined by your needs. The hardware/media will typically be a removable or external hard disk drive, or tape drive. The selection of the software will be guided by choices such as the need to backup open files, the desire to backup multiple workstations, the ability to create disaster recovery disks, etc. And the documentation, which is a critical component, will need to spell out your schedule for data backups, steps needed to recover critical files, a plan for periodic maintenance of the system, and a backup log.

Once a solution is designed, the second hard part is “investing” the money needed to acquire it. To help justify the cost, imagine yourself in this situation: Your computer screen is black. You press the power button on the PC but nothing happens. There is burning electrical smell in the air. You are suddenly overcome with a sick feeling in the pit of our stomach – just like the pizza dude – as you begin to realize that you are about to have a bad day! Your PC is dead and your precious data may be lost! You’ve suddenly become stranded on the shoulder of “Commerce Road,” watching as your competition whizzes by. What will you do next? How will you cope?

All of this can be avoided with some wise planning and a small capital investment. Since we’ve already determined that this effort is critical to the well being of your organization, cutting corners to save a nickel should be out of the question. Consider hiring an IT Consultant for a few hours to help design the system, select the best products, and implement the solution. It will be worth every penny!

Becoming an Office 2007 Genius!

Office 2007 is one of the most powerful productivity tools available today! But for those of us who grew up using previous versions of the Microsoft Office suite, and consider themselves very competent with the software, Office 2007 presents a challenge. While developing the 2007 version, Microsoft conducted years of user research and determined that most people are unaware of many of the product's most powerful features. That's why they significantly changed the look and feel in an effort to expose the value hidden behind the complex menus and non-intuitive tabs and buttons. But wait, for those of us who already know where to look for those features, we now have to look somewhere else. And that looking and searching, and looking, and searching, and more looking... has many of us wishing for an easy way out.

So... here are a few links you will find useful in your quest to become an Office 2007 Genius!

Office 2007 Getting Started:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/getstarted/FX101055081033.aspx

Office 2007 Great Tips videos (requires Windows Live login):
http://www.microsoft.com/office/greattips/default.mspx

Interactive: Word 2003 to Word 2007 command reference guide:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100744321033.aspx?pid=CH100487431033

Interactive: Outlook 2003 to Outlook 2007 command reference guide:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102221621033.aspx?pid=CH100622221033

The American Institute of CPAs recently polled their members in an effort to discover their top 10 technology issues for 2005. The CPAs that responded to the poll placed “Information Systems Security” at the number one spot on the list!

When most people think about Information Systems Security (we’ll call it data security), they think about protecting their systems and data from an Internet attack; a hacker, virus, worm, or spyware. And that’s good, because today’s Internet is a very dangerous place and prudent users should take every precaution to suitably defend themselves from the risks. Every business and home computer that connects to the Internet should be protected by a properly configured firewall, and regularly updated virus protection and anti-spyware software. Additionally, each system should have the latest security patches installed on the operating system and application software. Microsoft is constantly searching for vulnerabilities in their software products. When they find a weakness, they develop a security patch to fix it. These patches are made available to the public on the second Tuesday of each month, called “patch Tuesday.” If your system is configured to automatically download and install the patches, you’re good. If not, you need to take action to manually retrieve and install the appropriate updates. It is extremely important to get these security patches installed soon after they are released. Patches were available that could have prevented several of the most recent worldwide virus/worm attacks. Unfortunately, users had not installed them, and consequently suffered a business disruption.

Beyond those “externally” focused security measures, you need to also protect your data from internal threats. Two of the most often overlooked internal threats that lead to data loss, corruption or compromise are: 1) unauthorized access by an employee and 2) equipment failure. A recent FBI survey of anonymous companies showed that 70 percent of computer intrusions come from people associated with the company. To protect your data from this internal threat, you need to implement access controls. This includes physical access, as well as network access. A fundamental way to do this is to provide employees with only the necessary rights and privileges needed to perform their jobs. For example, you wouldn’t think about giving a new employee a set of master keys to your building and file cabinets, because in most cases they wouldn’t need access to everything in the building. However, if your data resides on an unsecured server or is distributed across your desktops, you may be inadvertently allowing everyone easy access to anything they want. To fix this, you need to utilize the built-in security features of your operating system and restrict user rights and permissions.

And lastly, you need to protect your valuable data from loss, theft, or corruption by performing regular data backups. Creating a proper backup plan, and then executing it seems to be a very difficult chore for many small businesses. Nevertheless, it is a critical discipline that should not be overlooked. If you are not 100% sure that your valuable data could be recovered if it were lost or corrupted, then you need to invest the time to ensure that it is.

If you’re not sure where you stand on these data security issues, you should consider discussing your concerns with a qualified IT consultant. They will be able to advise you on the best way for you to protect your business from both the external and internal threats mentioned here, as well as other threats that may be specific to your unique business environment. Their professional guidance should give you peace-of-mind, knowing that when something bad happens, you’ll be able to gracefully recover without significant pain.

Get Found on the Web

There were nearly 5.1 Billion Internet searches across 60+ monitored search engines during the month of December, 2005. This is a 55% increase year-over-year. There were 3.3 billion searches conducted in Dec, 2004. Google owns 48.8% of the market share in searches, with nearly 2.5 billion searches during Dec, 05. Most experts agree that Internet searching will continue to grow at this rapid rate, and will soon become “THE” way to find information on anything or anybody. It’s not too big of a stretch to see that coming!
Perhaps you’ve taken the essential first step and made an investment in a quality website. Great job! But if the site can’t be found through a Google or Live search, few will ever see it. Many business sites are not optimized for the type of traffic or consumer that they want to attract. In fact, they may be advertising keyword phrases that very few people search for.

If that's your site, then you need to find a solution. Unfortunately there is no quick fix for this, but there are some concrete steps you can take now that will lead to better results later. With proper planning and execution, you can definitely increase your likelihood of being found in the ever-growing sea of websites. It’s not just about establishing a presence on the web anymore. It’s important to begin to carve out a niche that will help searchers find you! Once you build that search engine placement, it will become increasingly harder for someone to displace you. I think several years from now, smart business managers who understand the importance of the web will look back and be glad that they took action to make it work in their favor.