1. Go to Google
2. Search for “how should I backup my data”, “what’s the best way to work remotely”, or “how many servers does my office need”
3. Search for “it support phoenix” (or better yet, go to maps.google.com, which is where a lot of people go when looking for a specific geographic area, and do that same search)

Like your business, more than ever people find us, contact us, and do business with us as a direct result of internet search engines. On the global level, it’s pretty mind-blowing. I simply write articles and put them on my website. A month or so later, I’m suddenly THE world-wide expert on the question “how many servers does my office need?” according to Google. In response to that article, I’ve helped out people from as far off as Dubai to reduce costs and improve performance & reliability. In response to “what’s the best way to work remotely”, I’ve helped out people as far away as Australia with remote connectivity issues to achieve a better telecommuter experience.

If you don’t have a blog, seriously consider starting one. It didn’t cost me any money to be proclaimed the authority on these phrases by Google. It was simply an investment of time to write the articles and click the “publish” button. Almost overnight, I’m a published author and sought-after authority on the subject of efficient business IT design throughout the world. Such is the power of the Internet. Most inquiries we receive are in response to what you would consider to be the “blog” area of our site, not the main web site.

My second suggestion – consider using WordPress, if you haven’t already. WordPress is an open-source, free platform for publishing websites. It started out specifically as a blogging platform, but the functionality has evolved to the point at which it’s great for entire websites as well. It’s very easy to work with and extremely SEO (search engine optimization)-friendly. Up until a few years ago, we had a simple website. I’m an IT guy, not a marketing guy. So, like many of you, I used to outsource my website to a graphics designer. They created a nice, visually appealing site, but it just wasn’t effective enough. After we took control of our website with WordPress, it completely changed the game.

Content updates in WordPress are simple (no programmers required).  WordPress also supports “themes” which allow you to easily “put a new coat of paint” on your site to keep it looking fresh. While there is a decent selection of free themes for WordPress, we’ve made the decision to go with extremely cost-effective themes available from themeforest.net. Our current theme cost us a grand total of $35 US including free updates and technical support. If we see a theme that we like better down the road, we’ll pay another $35 and refresh our site.

Since it’s so easy to publish content, we’ve centered all of our marketing efforts around our website. In addition to my monthly articles in this magazine which we republish as blog posts on our site, we send out a monthly email newsletter. Previously, we employed an email marketing service which hosted our newsletter content on their servers and sent out the emails. With WordPress, we’ve moved the content to where it belongs. That way, it’s not only automatically on our site for SEO purposes, it encourages readers to “click around” and learn more about our company. Consider making your website an “electronic marketing hub”.

A number of my clients use WordPress to manage their websites in house and love it. I have one client that has one website with one of the big legal website companies and a separate WordPress site where they blog to help maximize SEO. If you’d like more info on what these firms are doing, just send me an email. I can also show you a simple trick you can use to see if any site is running WordPress or not.

Beyond the fluffy white imagery, there is real-world appeal to the cloud. The promise of paying a simple monthly fee to subscribe to services that might otherwise involve buying servers, software, and management is extremely compelling. Concerns with the cloud are no different than with any other type of computing approach: functionality, security, reliability, performance, and price. If those issues were addressed to your satisfaction, who wouldn’t want to pay a simple monthly fee for all your computing needs to “just work” so you can run your business and not deal with technology?

So why do very few firms choose to host all their data and applications in the cloud? Despite the promise that the cloud holds, the cloud doesn’t fundamentally change the equation. Software, hardware, and technical support are still required to make everything work. Take a server, plug it in to power and network at your house, and you can call yourself a cloud computing provider. For most firms, if you were to attempt to simply “pick up” the servers in your office and “put them in the cloud”, it’s likely going to be more expensive than what you are doing today. You can take larger capital expenses and turn them into smaller monthly operating expenses, but leasing or other financing approaches do the same thing. There are compelling cloud based solutions, but the cloud itself is simply a technology approach, not a magical “easy button”.

Cloud options should be considered in your business technology plan. Several cloud-based applications make particularly good sense today and more will make sense over time. Anti-spam generally belongs in the cloud. Understanding why this is so can help you evaluate the merits of any potential cloud solution.

Initially, anti-spam software was loaded on in-house servers. Very rapidly, cloud anti-spam became extremely popular, and Google’s Postini service became the market leader. This is the service we utilize for our full service clients and is the most popular solution for our larger firm clients for whom provide strategic consulting. Why did this go to the cloud? Once again: functionality, security, reliability, performance, and price. Google and other anti-spam providers have the benefit of incredible economies of scale and all internet email by definition is already processed “in the cloud”. Simply inserting a service like Google Postini as the destination for your email before it gets to your system is “a no brainer”. Management is still required to work with Postini, but it is reduced with Google handling the heavy lifting. With less than 10% of all email being legitimate, Google filters out all the garbage before it hits your system. Even if you were to have an in-house anti-spam service that was better than Google’s (good luck with that), you would be wasting precious internet bandwidth receiving and processing spam internally. Your firm likely already relies on hosted anti-spam and this is why.

Other popular cloud applications include: system backup, system monitoring, and various specific applications. The appeal of cloud based backup is easy to see. A critical component of any backup strategy is ensuring secure transfer of the backup off-site in the case of disaster. As backups have shifted from tape to disk, the process of getting the data off-site has moved from manually rotating tapes off-site to either manually rotating portable hard drives off-site or using the cloud. Not only is cloud off-site backup automated and easier to ensure that it’s being done, failover capabilities can be substantially improved. I recommend a hybrid-cloud backup approach that ensures you can restore your data locally very quickly with rapid failover available locally and off-site.

While running your entire office “in the cloud” on an ongoing basis will likely be too expensive today, it can be extremely cost effective to run your entire office “in the cloud” only as needed on an emergency basis. Disaster is more common and comes in different shapes than you might imagine. Just this past summer, there was a large office building in downtown Phoenix that lost power to half the building for an entire week due to a transformer fire. This is a situation where the cloud can help speed recovery by having an on-demand hot site available. Cloud-enhanced solutions for backup, disaster recovery, and hot-site are now cost-effective and simple for firms ranging in size from 5-500 people.

1. Regularly reviewing and eliminating root cause issues
2. Maintaining and executing a methodical plan to keep your technology current 

Root Problem Elimination

The cost of choosing to live with a recurring issue is almost always far more expensive than eliminating the problem in the first place. You wouldn’t “just accept” recurring minor errors in your services. Don’t accept them with your computer systems, either.

Getting down to the root issue of computer problems and fixing them sounds obvious. In practice, it’s not always so simple. Large, disruptive issues will generally receive the proper attention they deserve. The problem I see is in handling issues that are subtle and/or infrequent. In these cases, a judgment must be made with regards to how much time to invest resolving the root issue vs. performing an expedient workaround. In my experience in working with new clients, I’ve seen people tolerate minor and/or infrequent issues much longer than appropriate.

Technology Planning & Execution

Having a well thought-out, methodical plan to keep your systems up to date is the surest way to achieve the best results. The pace of technological advance is very rapid. The pace at which you adopt newer technology is a key factor in how successful you will be in managing your firm’s technology.

The best approach is to make continual, small, conservative upgrades. In this manner, you will always have systems that are reasonably current. By making small and proven upgrades, these upgrades are fairly low risk. Additionally, you will spread your costs out over time. To achieve the best results, it’s important to be running current, mainstream versions of software.

I have seen firms that have migrated to the newest software release before it was ready. You never want to be the firm uncovering and reporting all the bugs; let other people do that. Even more common, I find firms that put off upgrades for a long-time and then find themselves “under the gun” to catch up and fix things that no longer work without performing major upgrades quickly. This level of pressure to perform major rapid upgrades creates unnecessary drama and risk. System upgrades should be an ongoing background activity. You never want system upgrades in the foreground of your business.

Striking the Right Balance

I recommend replacing hardware on a 3-5 year cycle and replace 1/3^rd to 1/5^th of your systems per year. Plan your software upgrades with sufficient time after major releases to work out issues, but soon enough so that you remain current. For Microsoft software, this typically means waiting until the first service pack is released. For other software, you’ll want to see what others are doing and possibly consider upgrading perhaps 6 months after major software release (depends on the software).

I recommend that your technical people sit down with those that are responsible for financial matters of your firm on a regular basis (at least once per year) to jointly review your technology plan and make the decisions that best suit your firm. The goal should be to maintain a minimum of a 36-month plan. For technology planning and updates, slow & steady always wins the race. 

For all of its virtues, it has attracted more attention for its sassy answers to trick questions. One user commanded, “Beam me up.” The phone responded, “Sorry, Captain, your tricorder is in Airplane Mode.”

Google is in the know about trick questions too. After 13 years of research, some of its super smart engineers have created algorithms able to answer such questions. Ask it the meaning of life,  the universe and everything. It answers “42,” a reference to the favorite geek book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

A lot of work has gone into creating the sarcasm. The Siri group at Apple, one its largest software teams, started with an artificial intelligence project from SRI International. Now, it continually fine tunes Siri responses. It attempts to forge an emotional tie by regularly using the customer’s nickname in responses, as well as those of other important people and places in the customer’s life.
What makes today’s artificial intelligences so much fun isn’t that it can give answers to prescribed questions. Computers have done that for years. Now, they can carry on conversations about ridiculous topics. There are several answers to the same question on the iPhone and Android.

Saving Time

Say you have to type a quick email or report and you’d rather not depend on the fairly small on-screen keyboard that makes it very easy to type an “F” when you intended to hit the “D.” The editors at Macworld, in a recent online feature, have a suggestion: If you’re browsing in Safari—before tapping on the address bar, an action that automatically brings up your on-screen keyboard—rotate your iPhone to a horizontal position. If you tap the address bar now, your on-screen keyboard will also appear in horizontal mode. It will be larger, making it simpler for those of us with sluggish fingers to tap out those emails without filling them with typos. The editors at Macworld also offer a timesaving tip for making phone calls. If you are browsing in Safari and you happen upon the phone number of that resort at which you need to make a reservation, just tap the onscreen number. Your iPhone will automatically dial it for you.

More Efficient Typing

Apple itself offers a number of tips for getting more out of your iPhone. If you’re typing with the on-screen keyboard, try tapping the space bar twice at the conclusion of a sentence. Your iPhone will automatically add a period and then capitalize the next word you type. If you need to spice up your message with special characters, just touch and hold a letter for several seconds. As you do this, a variety of special characters will show up. After that you can easily insert these symbols into your message.

Quick Printing, Personalized Entertainment

You can print messages and documents easily from your iPhone if you own an AirPrint-enabled printer. To print an email message, simply tap the Reply icon then select “Print.” This will automatically send your email to your printer. If you want to print a full Web page, tap the “Action” icon and, again, select “Print.”

For you music lovers out there, you can create a music playlist on the run. Access the iPod app, tap the “Playlists” icon chose the “Add Playlist” icon. Relabel your playlist and add any video or song on your phone simply by touching it.

One part of the problem: credit bureaus don’t check social security numbers with the Social Security Administration in order to verify a person’s name and age. That means thieves  can use the number with their own name, or a fake name, to open credit accounts, get student loans, home, boat and car loans, receive government benefits, unemployment compensation, tax refunds or access to medical care and employment, all using your child’s number. The crime will not be known until your child grows up and is denied credit because of debts on his credit report.

To obtain your child’s credit report, you have to contact a credit bureau through the mail by sending them your child’s complete name, address, date of birth, a copy of the child’s birth certificate, a copy of the child’s social security card, and a copy of your own driver’s license or other government-issued proof of identity.
Also, the proof must include your residential address along with a current utility bill that also includes your home address. Mail these items to one or more of these credit bureaus:

• Equifax, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374.
• Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen TX 75013.
• TransUnion, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834.

Be suspicious of credit offers sent to your children. Notify credit bureaus, then check your child’s credit report. You need the report to prove your child is a victim. Contact your local police to file a police report if you have any suspicions. Learn more by contacting the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or (877) IDTHEFT.

While most of us use this technology on a daily basis, most of us do not know how it works. How does a screen know what to do when we touch an icon? There are many different types of touchscreen technologies but they all operate based on a similar idea.

Resistive touchscreens

This is the most common and the most inexpensive type of touchscreen technology today. With resistive technology, screens are covered with an electrically conductive layer. Your fingertip causes the electrical current to alter when you touch the screen. The device’s controller receives the data and preforms the action you requested.

Surface wave touchscreen

Another popular type of touchscreen is the surface wave model. This kind of screen utilizes ultrasonic waves that pass over the touchscreen panel. Whenever you touch the panel, you absorb a part of the wave. Again, this sends information to the device’s controller, which in turn tells the unit what you want it to do.

Capacitive touchscreens

Devices that rely on capacitive touchscreens tend to have the sharpest image quality. Capacitive touchscreens are coated with a material that sends a continuous electrical current over the sensor. Fortunately, the human body is also a type of electrical device. Which means that when you touch the screen you absorb some of the current. The device registers this disruption, causing it to send information to its controller. The device will then perform the action which you requested.

Luckily, we don’t have to truly understand the science behind touchscreen technology have fun with it, and we don’t have to be engineers to understand that this technology isn’t going away any time soon.

Google Wallet

A new idea comes from Google. With Google Wallet, you can store your credit cards on your smartphone, along with special offers and coupons. Use your phone to pay merchants who accept Google Wallet with the tap of a button on your phone.

The Bitcoin revolution?

Bitcoin has been available since 2009 and is a peer-to-peer digital currency.
It may be used to purchase products and services online. The technology behind Bitcoin is considered to be extremely hard to hack, which assists in easing most security concerns.

Of course, Bitcoin is hardly a worldwide digital currency. For one thing, it is not legal tender. So most retailers, even in the online world, don’t accept it, and there’s no guarantee that Bitcoin won’t simply disappear. Entrepreneurs may produce an alternative digital currency that proves more popular, and consumers could instead flock to that. This could render Bitcoin valueless.

The digital currency model

There are many advantages to ditching paper money. You can’t lose it, you don’t have to worry about having exact change, and there’s no need to replace damaged currency, which saves time, energy, and funds.

Digital currency is also more secure. Should you be mugged and carrying a fair amount of cash, it is very unlikely you will ever get that money back. If your credit card is stolen, however, you can quickly call your credit card company, cancel the card and recover most if not all of any fraudulent charges to the account.

Holdouts

Not everyone is sold on the concept of digital currency. Many people still don’t use credit cards or even have a computer. They prefer to use paper money, as it feels more real to them. We will just have to see how the world changes and if the luddites out there will change their minds.

Why would a business want to do implement telecommuting as an option? Some firms are being forced to because they’ve run out of office space or to accommodate “road warriors.” But many are doing it for these reasons…

• Partners and key staff working 60+ hours a week are using it as a way to continue working after hours and on weekends from the convenience of their home office.
• Allowing employees to work from home means firms can cut back on office space, lowering rent and utility bills. Not only is this lowering overhead, but it’s making for happier employees who no longer have to fill their gas tanks.
• Telecommuting actually increases employee productivity, lowers stress levels, and improves retention. On average, small businesses report saving $85,000 to $93,000 per year in lower turnover, reduced operating costs (gas, utilities, office space) and increased productivity after implementing teleworking programs.  (Source: International Teleworking Advocacy Group)
• Some companies are allowing their employees to work from home two or three days out of a week instead of giving them a raise – a bonus many will gladly take over more money. This also works well if you have limited office space because employees can rotate desk usage.
• It allows you to keep great employees that need or want to relocate, need to stay home to take care of a sick family member, or who are sick, injured, pregnant, or otherwise unable to physically come into the office.

                Of course, telecommuting might not be right for every employee on staff, but it is a great option (and reward) for key managers or employees who are self-motivated and measured by results rather than hours worked.

One of the biggest fears many business owners have about allowing people to work from home is the loss of control they have over that person. They believe that without someone standing over them, employees will goof off during work hours and become less productive. Here are a few guidelines to consider:

1. Phone system. If you want your work-from-home employee to be able to make and receive calls and appear as though they are in the office to the caller, then consider Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology. VoIP allows phone extensions to be located wherever you have internet access.
2. Technology check. Look for a consultant who has experience setting up remote access and strong client references. Ensure that your critical applications can be accessed through your remote setup. Will printers work? Where will data be stored?
3. Content filtering and security. With the proper configuration you can make sure your data is secure from hackers and also get detailed reporting of web activity while connected to your company’s network for employees working remotely.
4. Employee Agreements. Consider agreements that outline the rules for your employees when working from home and that define rules of use and maintenance for computer equipment, cell phones, PDAs, laptops, printers, etc.
5. Circuits. Investigate circuit options to ensure fast reliable network connectivity and employee productivity. If your office has only has a T1 for internet connectivity, it may not be enough and telecommuter performance may suffer.

Many firms have employees that have relocated out-of-state, working remotely via IP phone and effective remote access. Others have satellite offices where an IP phone is the most convenient and cost-effective solution. I personally have one out-of-state employee telecommuting full-time via IP phone and have made the commitment for all my employees have IP phones at their home. It’s more convenient & effective when occasional telecommuting needs arise. Additionally, when employees leave a client site late in the day, it may be closer and more efficient to work from home for the remainder of the day.

If you have any questions or would like discuss ways to make your telecommuter experience more productive, I’d be happy to help out, just send me an email or give me a call.