Windows 7 was released to the public last Thursday. I have been using this product since it was in Beta and never had it freeze up, crash, or otherwise misbehave. While no one should run out and purchase it, when you need a new PC, it is a great operating system. Microsoft has done a terrific job with this and hit the ball out of the park! Be sure to avoid upgrading from Vista as any upgrade has issues and leftovers from the previous version. Fresh install only if you must, but best to keep what you have and then when you need new computers, purchase them with Windows 7. You will be glad you did!

As summer arrives, so does the season for stormy weather and more unforseen incidents that threaten data.  Hear how one disaster turned into a good news story!  To hear the 30 second summary, click on the link below.

Good News from an Earthquake

To download The 12 Insider Secrets to Protect Your Data, click here.

surgical mask

The floods, earthquakes and tornadoes of 2008 motivated many companies to revisit or begin Business Continuity Planning. The recent news of a potential Swine Flu Pandemic is just one more reminder of the importance of having a working plan in place.  A vital piece of continuity planning is workforce planning specifically for a pandemic. This should include establishing remote access, web conferencing, and identifying backup sites incase sites go down.

In case of a pandemic, companies need to ensure that key personnel can work remotely with secure computer and internet access. Critical systems must be accessible with contingencies in place for access if key personnel get sick and their responsibilities need to be taken over. BeckITSystems includes products to secure workers and centrally manage remote desktops and laptops for all our clients.

In recent years businesses have focused on Business Continuity with specific Pandemic initiatives and virtualization server technology aimed at helping firms keep computer systems and network infrastructures up and running in the event of an outbreak or disaster.

Web conferencing will help your team stay productive and allow them to conduct business without having to travel during times of potential outbreak. Remote access to files and documents is critical to making web conferencing effective.

Locating and equipping a remote operations site during a crisis is next to impossible.  Companies such as Agility, specialize in continuity solutions that provide power, technology, space and connectivity in the event of a disaster.

This is a good opportunity for you to emphasize to your employees the normal flu season messages–hand hygiene, stay home if you don’t feel well, etc. Access to a guide for data backup and disaster recovery is located at www.ManageMyTechnology.com.  This blog recently featured a 12 part series on web-worker tools. Most of the tools are free, all are on the Internet and all provide excellent collaboration features plus management insight into the work. For more information on Business Continuity and Web-Worker Program Planning, you may contact BeckITSystems, Inc. on the web at www.BeckITSystems.com ; by email at KeepITGoing@BeckITSystems.com ; or by phone at (703) 433-0730.  

A podcast of a good success story of business continuity is found at www.BusinessTechRadio.com  I recommend this 3 minute mp3 to you!

Swine Flu Update

The recent cases of swine flu in Mexico and the US are concerning, because they have occurred in individuals who have not had contact with livestock, indicating human-to-human transmission.

Knowledge workers today spend extensive effort in researching and finding data on the Internet. Retain in retrieving researched data is often a challenge.  Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. Oh yes, did I also tell you that it’s free? Like most web tools, there is an advanced feature set available on a paid subscription basis.

Evernote captures your data and allows you to retrieve it from overriding devices from the Web. The Web worker’s job is to make sure you have selected good key words. So there will be easily retrieval later. In addition, Evernot provides client software that allows synchronizing the online database with multiple Windows or Macintosh and even Windows mobile hardware.

If you are a road warrior, you will LOVE the mobile client that allows you to search on your PDA! Oh yes, did I also tell you that it’s free?

Sharing the information you have stored with coworkers, supervisors or anyone is as easy as clicking on the e-mail icon. Evernote will send the information by e-mail to your recipients. If you are already deeply engaged in the Google online tools, then you may want to use Google notebook instead. Google notebook is similar in functions and of course interacts with the other Google applications. If you later decide to leave Google behind, there is an import facility in Evernote that accepts all the Google notebook data you have created.

The expense and usability of VPNs is not recommended for Web Workers.  Secure remote access is best accomplished using a tool that allows remote control of and in the office computer. This provides access to one of business applications and network speeds with the utmost security.

Most Web worker arrangements include worktime in the office as well as worktime an alternate location. With that arrangement the Web worker has a PC already installed in the organization’s office. As a result secure access to the employees dedicated computer is all that is needed to access corporate computing tools remotely. VPN has been the tool of choice, because of its security. Today LogMeIn provides the encrypted VPN tunnel for security with remote access to the employee’s in-office computer. Best of all, operating LogMeIn is simple and highly reliable.

LogMeIn is a tool that can easily be set-up, provides VPN encryption, and, depending on the feature set required, is free or inexpensive.  Check out this wonderful application and the different versions available at www.LogMeIn.com.

When you need to have a conference call, Calliflower combines some of the features of time bridge to set up a meeting with the features needed to have a conference call. Basic features are free with the numbers to call or not toll-free. When collaboration tools and presentation capability is included.

If you have VoIP, for instance Skype, you can integrate it with Calliflower in place of the standard phone and avoid long-distance charges. Service works with any phone. When you call the number, enter a 10, and begin talking. The call manager can record the call in MP3 format, and even mute lines so that only one speaker can be heard, or open them so that questions can be fielded or discussion take place. Won’t your manager be impressed when you show him or her how you can schedule your own conference calls from your home office?

Whether you choose the premium or free versions, Calliflower is great value. The free option lets you host conference calls, manage conference call invitations, send reminders via email or SMS, record conference calls and more. You won’t pay a dime, but you will pay long distance service for the toll costs of reaching the Calliflower facility in Minnesota, USA.

If you may need to share documents or presentations in real time, or want to have local call in numbers (now available in 18 countries)., you will  need to upgrade to the Premium version.  The Calliflower Premium is the best solution for a full feature set. Calliflower Premium comes with all of the features of thefree version, plus document sharing, local call-in numbers, multiple organizer accounts, and the ability to delegate organization of the call to a third party.  And at $50 per month for unlimited usage, Calliflower Premium is still less money than virtually every other conference calling and webinar solution available today. 

If you’re a moderate to heavy conference call user — making several calls per week — or you need the document sharing features of Calliflower Premium, or it’s important to you to have international attendance on your calls, then you’ll want to choose Calliflower Premium.  For light conference call users, the free option is the best choice.

Today’s   Blog begins with a review of two facts that you may have missed followed by  a question.

Today we learn that the Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the last six months – that is more than $ 555,555 per day or $23,148 per hour, responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems. Press reports say that Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, the head of the U.S. Strategic Command, said the military is only beginning to track the costs (so the numbers above are probably not complete), which are caused by regular and continuing attacks against military networks ranging from the Pentagon to bases around the country.   Other reports say that rogue software has been found in the electrical distribution grid of the USA that the Russians and Chinese can activate to disrupt our supply of electricity.

HERE’S THE QUESTION:  If highly sophisticated and well funded enterprises like the Pentagon and the national electrical suppliers are this vulnerable, what does that say about your computer security?

Don’t think you have a problem because your organization is small and of no interest to Internet marauders?  Think again.  In my experience, when a computer is connected to the Internet, within minutes there are thousands of attacks on it.  Protect yourself!

SOME SUGGESTIONS: First be sure you have some security.  Anything is better than nothing!  At the very least, turn on the Windows firewall.  Be aware that the best security is a layered security.  If you have a connection to the Internet, a Firewall is recommended.  Anti-virus and Anti-Spy-Ware software is essential in today’s world.  If you can afford it, invest in a Spam Filter or at least set up Outlook in a way that dumps questionable email into the Junk folder.  Lastly, refrain from opening web sites and emails or attachments you do not personally know and expect and even then, DO NOT open attachments to emails unless you expected to receive it.  When in doubt, do the old fashioned thing — call the sender to confirm they sent it to you!  And above all……never, never, never open emails or attachments sent from yourself …. unless, of course, you actually sent it.   It constantly amazes me that organizations will spend a large portion of their revenue on staff and computers, but fail to take even these basic steps to protect the enterprise.

And be sure you are backing up your data AND testing t he backups every week!  It is a disaster to need the data backup to restore data only to find out that the backup is corrupted or has not been working for weeks or months.  If you are still using tape backup, dump it and implement disk to disk backup with off-site storage.

These simple and basic steps will go a very long way to limiting your risk and providing security that will assure your security.  There is much more to do to protect your computers, but at least start with these.  What are you waiting for?

An important part of business continuity and Web worker strategies is the ability to communicate, work together, and coordinate meetings. When the organization’s team is geographically dispersed, especially in the case of working from home, out of necessity due to emergency, the ordinary activity of organizing the team, scheduling meetings, and doing all of this across diverse computing platforms available from the members home can be difficult.

A simple thing like scheduling meetings can become very difficult when the team is working from home or other dispersed locations. We usually think of sending an invitation in Outlook and accepting it for the meeting to be added to the schedule and the Outlook calendar. In a Web worker environment, other scheduling applications may be included. There is an excellent web tool that is able to coordinate meetings with many platforms as long as you have the attendees e-mail address.

With TimeBridge, the meeting attendees will receive an e-mail message with the options for a meeting time. Invitees don’t need a  TimeBridge account to reply.  As the meeting organizer you will receive a response from each invitation. Once the meeting is set ,everyone on your list will receive an e-mail confirmation with links to import the meeting information, and the appointment into their calendar, weatherthat  is Google, Outlook, Yahoo, iCal or some other application.

All the details can be found at http://www.timebridge.com/home.php .   TimeBridge ridge provides convenience, cross-platform functionality, and a shared calendar– all for FREE!

The last Web worker tool introduced a cross-platform instant messaging tool. While instant messaging is an excellent tool for short and quick communication, their are times when the full-blown meeting is needed. Most of the time meetings are about face-to-face interaction on a focused topic. In many meetings you are not looking at people so much as presentations, whiteboards, outlines and other materials. There are excellent tools on the Internet that provide the opportunity for face-to-face meetings virtual in. These tools are more dense than ever.

One of the best online conferencing tools is dimdim. Eminem is easy, has no software, and is free for up to 20 people. For a reasonable annual fee a full set of features are available for a large number of people to participate. 

With a paid subscription to the full feature set,  all attendees can simultaneously annotate a presentation, mark up a whiteboard, send instant messages and broadcast their audio and video.   Hosts can enable any attendee to take control of the meeting to share their PowerPoints, PDFs, whiteboards, even share their desktops.  And best of all Dimdim  links, Mac, Linux, and Windows. Supported browsers include Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox.

As a business continuity and disaster recovery tool, dim dim offers organizations the ability to meet together. Even when the members are geographically dispersed.

While it is not necessary to download software to use the service, there is downloadable open source software and open source APIs available on the website which allow customization.

When the office needs to share something with you or vice versa a sales meeting with the team who is not together is required, or just an all hands meeting without requiring travel — Dimdim is the way to go.

 You can learn more about it on the Internet at the dim dim sight. That follows:   http://www.dimdim.com/

Today’s Web worker tool is for all of the spreadsheet addicts working outside of your office. There is a better way is on the Internet. For longtime programs that use relational databases have been out of the reach of ordinary mortals. Not anymore. Since 1999 Intuit has provided an increasingly attractive and online application that is relatively easy to use and is called QuickBase.

I belong to an international peer group that uses QuickBase for benchmarking. It is a proven effective, accurate and ubiquitous application for the people. Putting databases online ensure security, remote access, and, for your supervisor, direct insight into your work and its outcome. QuickBbase licenses for 10 users and up and costs about $250 per month. This is competitive with other similar services on the Internet.

QuickBase is powerful enough to store and process data for billing, CRM, HR, vacation calendaring, time and attendance reporting, project management and other serious business activities. Anyone in the organization can create a database from scratch and Intit  provides standard templates that you can select for a rapid start. Once the database is created is very easy to add users and notify them of their access through e-mail. Users can have various roles so that people can edit or not; view only; or have total control. In addition, users can generate their own customized reports from the data. While there are many other options on the Internet,I highly recommend Intuits QuickBase.

You can see for yourself by clicking on the link and touring the site. I think you will be favorably impressed with the diversity of applications available from the templates as well as the accomplishments of many companies that implemented QuickBase for their own purposes.  Check it out!  http://quickbase.intuit.com/