Information Technology - Making a Solid Investment

Contains exerpts from Franchising World's November 2011 article by Chuck Lennon, President of TeamLogic IT .

Information technology or IT is the lifeblood of every business. The recent natural disasters on the East Coast, Hurricane Irene in Aug of this year, in particular, are the perfect example  of  why your business needs to embrace the concept of  using advanced technology to organize, manage, and protect vital information.

For years, large companies have embraced the need for IT to sustain and grow  the business, with departments dedicated to supporting IT. This  allows large companies to maintain the  key tools in IT - computers, servers, and networks, among others - to ensure efficient  business operations.

Where are small to mid-sized businesses or SMBs in their technological frame of mind? Using a highly capable  IT provider can offer these businesses with a great array of benefits including reducing operating costs and improving business performance and functionality.Do business owners understand the concept of IT solutions?

 Why Use an Outsourced IT Firm

According to CIT Group, a provider of vendor financing solutions, the benefits of using an IT firm to outsource a business needs - such as lower cost, increased resources and reduced IT headcount - are not fully understood by today's business owner.

There are several type of IT solutions available to SMBs, such as the break-fix model and proactive managed services, but how does a business owner decide which package fits its needs?  The job of a trusted IT partner is to bridge the gap between the business owner and the ever-changing technology landscape.  It is important for SMB owners to be educated about making a solid investment in IT, including the true cost of downtime, the tools that large companies have and why hope is not a sound business strategy.

The True Cost of Downtime

The meat of this topic was covered in an earlier blog.  Let me just add that even when a company's IT systems are revived and running, you can also experience post-downtime, an additional delay while data is being recovered and operations are still severely hampered.   Even more alarming, a recent article in the Huffington Post mentioned that 80%of SMBs that are not up and  running within 10 days of a natural disaster will go out  of business withing the year.   A trusted IT partner can have a plan in place prior to an  unforeseen circumstance to  help ensure that the business is prepared and does not become a statistic.

Without a trusted IT partner, many business owners neglect their computer systems and spend the least amount of money to money to have their systems back up and running.  The problem is that these quick, cheap schemes often cost the business more money in the long-term, since the fundamental problem has not changed.

Hope is Not a Sound Business Strategy

The concept of relying on "hope" to achieve optimal success is one of the classic tales our franchisees' hear when talking to SMBs, but it is a poor business tactic that can ruin a business.  A computer network is the backbone  of a  business operation.  When it's working, the owner doesn't think  about it.  But it's not, it can turn a business upside down.  To the benefit of the millions of U.S. SMBs computing for the consumers'dollar, many can gain a substantial advantage by investing  in  IT support.  A solid investment in IT provides SMB owners with the confidence and peace of mind that their business systems are secured, reliable, and protected.  More importantly, employees are maximizing their time - ultimately allowing  the business to thrive and become event more successful.



We meet with many clients who aren't receiving the service and attention they need to keep their technology running efficiently. Everyone has someone they call on to help them when things aren't functioning, but can you rely on your provider to be proactive? A smart investment in IT can pay for itself over a short period of time, if implemented correctly.

TeamLogic IT of Mountain View, CA, is part of a nationwide network of computer consultation and managed services businesses providing outsourced IT services. Small- to medium-sized businesses rely on TeamLogic IT to handle a broad range of services from urgent computer repair and proactive maintenance to the installation of entire networks and more. For more information, contact Jon Simms at JSimms@TeamLogicIT.com or visit www.TeamLogicIT.com.

10 Quick Disaster Recovery Tips for IT

By Bill Hammond director of product marketing, Vision Solutions
used with permission from www.melissadata.com

In the minds of many, a disaster means a hurricane; earthquake; flood; fire; or other natural calamity or, possibly, a terrorist attack. These types of disasters are uncommon, but they do happen. However, for the purpose of this article, "disaster" has a broader meaning and thus is much more common. In this context, a disaster is any event that causes either of the following:

The destruction of all online operational copies of an organization's data and/or applications. "Online operational copies" include both the production copies and any ready-to-run backup copies that can be placed in the production role immediately and, preferably, seamlessly.

The loss of access to all online operational copies of the organization's data and/or applications for a sufficiently long period, such that a recovery operation will be faster and more cost-effective than waiting for the online operational copies to come back online.

In the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, the organization's first objective should be, clearly, to protect and maintain the safety and security of its employees, and other people on its premises. Once this objective has been achieved, or if people have not been placed at risk by the situation, the highest-priority task of the IT department is to get the business-critical systems running again as quickly as possible.

Failure to resume operations swiftly can compound the effects of the disaster and threaten the survival of the organization. According to one often-cited statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 40 percent of all companies that experience a disaster never reopen, and more than 25 percent of the companies that are able to reopen close within two years. Thus, disaster recovery is especially vital.

Avoiding Murphy's Law

In the midst of the excessive stress that is inevitable in any disaster recovery process, if something can go wrong, it most likely will. Particularly, in any complex IT environment, many unimaginable things can go wrong. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to lessen the effects of Murphy's law and to reduce the effects of a disaster.
Here are 10 tips that can help minimize a disaster's impact on IT assets:

1. Inventory all IT assets.  The first prerequisite to disaster recovery is to know what needs to be recovered. If no detailed inventory of IT assets – both tangible and intangible – is available, make one now. What hardware, software, and data will have to be recovered? Which skills will be required to perform the recovery operations, and then run the systems at a backup location if necessary? The IT asset inventory list should be included in the company's disaster recovery plan.

2. Maintain offsite data backups.  A comprehensive tape or disks archive strategy is crucial. To minimize recovery times in situations where the physical assets of the primary data center are still operational, backup data has to be available on locally stored tapes.

In addition, it's critical to protect business operations from the risk of the destruction of the data center. That means backup tapes have to be available at a secondary location. Maintaining an up-to-date copy of backup data at an offsite location is worth almost any price. A local fireproof vault is not an adequate alternative because, depending on the circumstances, the vault may not offer sufficient protection, or may not be accessible quickly after a disaster.

3. Prioritize the data and applications and assess their varying criticality.  All are not created equal. Some will be indispensable in reestablishing the business and need to be restored first. Recovery of secondary applications and data can be deferred until the critical applications and data are restored. The data recovery plan should explicitly state the recovery order of data and applications to reflect these priorities.

4. Don't omit standalone data from the recovery plan. Increasingly, business-critical data and documents are stored on laptop and desktop computer disk drives. The data recovery plan should include details on how this data will be backed up and recovered if lost.

And remember, a laptop or desktop computer may be destroyed in the same disaster that strikes a data center. Therefore, it is not enough to back up PC-based data onto a network drive in the primary data center. Critical PC-based data must also be included in the offsite backup data sets.

5. Formally document the plan. A disaster recovery plan that exists only in someone's head is no plan at all. While we'd rather not consider the prospect of serious injury or death, it's possible that some key employees will not be available after the disaster. They may be on vacation and otherwise unreachable during a recovery operation. If the recovery plan exists only in those people's heads, the remaining staff won't be able to execute it. Although it may be possible to automate the initiation of some recovery processes and use the system to enforce the completion of checklists, it's important to keep hard-copy printed copies of the recovery plan in multiple secure locations, including at the recovery site. A plan for restarting the organization's systems that is locked inside an application that is unavailable will be useless when the time comes to initiate the recovery operations.

6. Test the solution. In any complex system or process, what works in theory often fails in practice. Regular testing not only ensures that the recovery plan is viable, but also acts as a training tool. People who have already performed the recovery procedures a number of times during regular testing will be familiar with the plan and confident in their abilities to perform the required actions.

Test the recovery processes at least three or four times per year. Tests will often reveal flaws in the plan. When this happens, be sure to update the plan to fix the flaws. Avoid using an off-the-cuff approach to Disaster Recovery (DR) testing. Maintain a test script that follows the DR recovery plan as closely as possible, and tests as much of it as possible. For operational reasons, it may not be possible to test all aspects of a recovery operation during every test, but every effort should be made to leave as little as possible out of the DR tests.

7. Maintain multiple communication channels. When staff has to be notified of a DR event, normal communication channels, such as email and phone, may be disrupted. Consider text messaging, personal email addresses, and alternate phone numbers as alternative communication vehicles. In addition, there are third-party companies that can handle disaster communications.

8. Automate as much as possible. Human error is possible under any circumstances, but during particularly stressful situations, it is almost inevitable. The more automated the recovery process, the better – thereby removing the human element. However, keep in mind that the systems responsible for automating the recovery operations may be unavailable after a disaster. Thus, just as business applications and data need backups, manual backups for all of the automated recovery processes are crucial.

9. Don't neglect security. When recovering from a disaster, it can be tempting to bypass normal security protocols and policies in order to simplify and speed the recovery. In general, this is a bad idea. Security policies were established for a reason, and bypassing them may create risks that are as disruptive as, or more disruptive than, the disaster itself. Also, remember to store passwords in multiple locations. They will be useless if they are available only at a site that is inaccessible.

10. Ask for help. Creating an effective DR plan can be challenging. DR experts and consultants with extensive knowledge and experience in the field can help leverage the best practices of many companies. They can more effectively craft a plan that meets all business requirements at a cost that fits the budget and is justified by the benefits.

A Fresh Set of Eyes

It is human nature to often not see consciously what should be the most obvious. Even a comprehensive, well-tested plan may omit a data store, application, process or piece of hardware, because its use has become second nature to employees. Thus, it may be a worthwhile investment to bring in an objective DR consultant who can spot such oversights. Remember the old adage, it's better to be safe than sorry.

---Source: Information Management newsletter Feb. 4, 2010 (www.information-management.com). Bill Hammond directs Vision Solutions' product marketing efforts for information availability software solutions.

It Could Happen To Your Business If You Let It

Not long ago, we were helping a small business set up a new email system when the owner's assistant ask us to set her password to the company's phone number - the same number on their website. She explained that this was the standard password she was using for lots of different applications and online services. After all, who was going to pick on her?

Too many small businesses today have that same casual attitude toward information security, thinking they're too small to be targets. Wrong. For one thing, criminal hackers routinely run automated scans on everything connected to the Internet, looking for vulnerabilities. It's like walking down the street jiggling door handles on every car to see who left the door unlocked, whether it's a shiny Mercedes or rust y old Chevy.

Breaking into your small business email accounts might not be as big a win as hacking into a bank, but what if there are messages in your inbox that contain account signup up notices for various online services? Pretty soon, an attacker can be resetting your passwords and extracting confidential data.

In a report published in May 2009 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology entitled Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals, they outline a list of absolutely necessary actions that a small business should take to protect its information systems and networks. These are:

• Patch your operating systems and applications

• Protect information/systems/networks from damage by viruses, spyware and other malicious code

• Train your employees in basic security principles

• Require individual user accounts for each employee on business computers and for business applications

• Make backup copies of important business data/information

• Install and activate software firewalls on all your business systems

• Provide security for your Internet connection

• Secure your wireless access points and networks

• Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority to install software

• Control physical access to your computers and network components.

At TeamLogic IT, we do this and more, every day for our clients. We can assist you with any and all of these actions and also talk to you about additional recommended practices that you might want to deploy in your business to ensure the security of your systems and information. Call us today at (650) 204-3150.

The Truth About Building A Business

Used with permission from Cisco Systems, Inc.

Five Reasons to Strengthen Your Core Network

Is your business connected to the rest of the world?  If it is, your network can help your business pick up its pace. And blow past competitors.  If it isn't, no worries. Connecting a small business is easy and affordable. All that's required is a network foundation (core):

• A managed switch

• A router

• Wireless access points

The stronger the foundation—the more secure, high performing, and reliable it is—the sooner you'll be able to use video applications, Internet-connected phones, Wireless-N, and other new business technologies.

The truth is, you may need a strong network foundation right now. Here are the top five reasons why:

1. Instantly Get the Information You Need, Wherever You Are:  Get more work done in less time. Your network can connect employees to the data, voice, or video services they need, at any time, from anywhere.  Employees can be in the field, at home, or traveling. They can see or update a customer record, share a schematic or spreadsheets, and view surveillance video—just as if they were in the office.  Dozens of different companies use a single network system run by a 5-employee business to access their own company's information, from anywhere. The wired and wireless Cisco system's built-in security features isolate each company's data.
2. Save Money, Make Money:  Put bandwidth to work for your profit margin: A strong network can raise revenues and reduce expenses.  A 75-employee business significantly increased annual sales simply by installing a reliable network to replace a system that periodically failed and had prevented customers from placing orders.  A 32-employee business upgraded its network with faster and more reliable switches and wireless access points that allow the company to use bandwidth-intensive applications. Its salespeople now use Cisco WebEx™ online collaboration to demonstrate products to clients, cutting travel expenses.  The network enables employees to meet over the web with anyone, anywhere—and to work as though they're in the room together.

3. Improve Customer Service:  Transform your brand identity. The network can make a business high-energy, high-velocity, and highly responsive to customers' needs.  A 17-employee business "reinvented" itself with new network technologies that customers liked so much that profits rose nearly 20 percent. The technologies: virtual private network (VPN) security that lets customers access what they need, no matter where they are, and WebEx training that makes customer learning sessions more frequent, efficient, and interactive.
4. Enjoy Peace of Mind:  Vanquish worries. A strong network makes business operations smoother and safer.  Security features are essential. With only one Internet connection for its popular indoor and outdoor site, a 50-employee business nonetheless provides employees, customers, and visitors with highly secure access. The wireless access points protect by using VPN, authorizing guests, and allocating users a specific amount of bandwidth.  A reliable network lets you spend less time managing technology and more time doing business. When the 50-employee business replaced its old technology with a more dependable network, employees saved two hours daily that they had spent on network troubleshooting.  Network support from a partner can make your technology as easy as "set it and forget it." Instead of having to hire or train technical staff or putting your business on hold while you await tech support, you can partner with a responsive reseller whose expertise is certified by the network vendor.
5. Protect Cash Flow:  Make an investment, not a mistake. Choose a network system that is designed for small businesses, offers you vendor financing or leasing, and will be easy to upgrade.  Investing in network products from one strong vendor that has a broad product line makes it easy to add compatible products as your needs grow.  You can also cut costs by partnering with a reseller who takes the time to understand your business and provide a strategic solution. The owner of the 5-person business says, "I suppose you could put this system together on your own, but it would have been difficult, costly, and time-consuming. It was great having the partner help us orchestrate it."

At TeamLogic IT, we are the networking experts.  Whether you are installing your first network, overhauling your legacy network that has evolved over a 15 year period of time, moving to Gigabit speeds or securing your network to meet PCI compliance requirements, TeamLogic IT will partner with you to understand your needs and provide you the peace of mind that your networking infrastructure is in the hands of the best, most competent IT service professionals around.  We take the worry out of your technology so you can focus on your business.  Let us help you with your next networking project.  Call TeamLogic IT at 650-204-3150.