Remember all those commercials for Windows 7? You know, the ones where everyone imagines himself more beautiful than he is in real life and takes credit for the ideas behind Windows 7? Well, Microsoft is fast approaching the day when it officially introduces the Windows 8 operating system to the general public. Let’s hope the commercials for Window 8 are as entertaining as those for Windows 7. More important, let’s hope that Windows 8 is the great improvement that Microsoft promises it will be. While some companies are talking about upgrading to Windows 7, Microsoft has been beta testing Windows 8 with a Developer Preview version since September 2011. The guide for the Developer Preview can be downloaded from Microsoft’s website. Although the developer’s version is incomplete, the one that will be available for the public to test will be almost fully operational. On Microsoft’s Windows 8 page, people can get a glimpse of what to expect once the operating system is ready to use. Apps and content will appear on the start screen. And each user can customize his start screen menu – if you will – so that only the things that are most important to him appear. So, someone could have news updates, the weather, email, even the top movie in his Netflix queue populated on his start screen. Other new features include two touch keyboards. One is a full size keyboard, and the other is a thumb keyboard. Windows 8 allows users to access their Metro style apps wherever they go. “When you sign in with your connected Microsoft account to another PC running Windows 8, your Metro style apps and settings go with you, so it’s just like you’re using your own PC,” the Developer Preview guide explains. “You’ll also be signed in to all of the websites you were signed in to before. Your connected account is like a portable, personal PC that appears on any Windows 8-based PC you’re using. You’re always ready to pick back up where you left off no matter where you are.” With the Windows Store, users can choose from among thousands of apps to purchase and download to their devices. Microsoft promises that the Windows 8 operating system will be more secure than previous operating systems. It will be better able to “resist malware because of a trusted boot-up process that automatically repairs drivers and reinforces policies with no action required from users.” This is an important feature for businesses. More and more employers are equipping their employees with laptops, tablets and smart phones. The promise that a new operating system will help business owners keep their company data safe is a strong selling point. There’s a lot to look forward to with Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system. Apps and touch keyboards and personalized start screens are just a few of the things consumers can expect. Anyone who’s interested in giving it try can expect the “customer preview” to be launched in late February 2012. Are you looking for a Microsoft Partner to help with your day-to-day IT support? Look no further. Give us a call and we will help you with all your Microsoft support.
See the article here:
Coming Soon: Window 8
There they stand, every Feb. 2, those very important men in their top hats and fine coats, waiting for a fat little rodent to emerge from his home and make a prediction. As the legend goes, if the groundhog comes out of his burrow on a sunny day, he’ll see his shadow and run back inside, which means another six weeks of winter lay ahead. If the groundhog comes out on a cloudy day, he won’t see his shadow, which means folks can expect an early spring. Once known as Candlemas, some theorize that Groundhog Day has been around for close to 1,000 years. When people still used the Julian calendar, the spring equinox came exactly six weeks after Feb. 2. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar caused some confusion, so they appointed a rodent as mediator. In Pennsylvania, folks have been gathering by the thousands in Punxsutawney since the 19 th century. Although Groundhog Day celebrations take place throughout the United and States and Canada, the one in Punxsutawney is the most famous, not only because it receives national news coverage, but also because it was immortalized in the movie “Groundhog Day.” Yes, Ontario’s Wiarton Willie has been forever overshadowed (pun intended) by Punxsutawney Phil. Other, less famous groundhogs include Smith Lake Jake in Graysville, Alabama; Staten Island Chuck in Staten Island, New York; Balzac Billy in Balzac, Alberta; and Shubenacadie Sam in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Some say the groundhog has an accuracy rate of 75% to 90%. Others, who have conducted actual studies on the phenomenon, say it’s closer to 40%. Ridiculous or not, the groundhog as prognosticator is a widely accepted norm. Here’s hoping Punxsutawney Phil or Wiarton Willie, or whichever little guy comes out to make a prediction, emerges under cloudy a cloudy sky. 
Business owners need to give serious consideration to their hardware maintenance and software assurance policies. If you refuse the extended warranty on a new vacuum cleaner, and the vacuum cleaner fails, you can just go buy a new vacuum cleaner. With technology, things are not so simple. The affect that poorly maintained hardware or software can have on your business goes far beyond the mere cost of replacing it. Let’s consider some of the benefits of maintenance: Maintenance is insurance – Most hardware maintenance agreements include a replacement option in case the hardware fails. A next-business-day option guarantees that hardware failure issues will be resolved within 24 hours. Access to support – If you decide to stick with an older software program, it may not be eligible for technical support from the manufacturer. Hanging on to ancient software programs isn’t good for business if it means paying extra for technical support or, worse, having to resolve the issues yourself. Better than a warranty – Maintenance or software assurance agreements usually provide not only the right to remediation or replacement if your hardware or software fails, but also the latest upgrades or newest codes. This improved functionality can have a significant effect on your employees’ productivity and your company’s bottom line. Reduced support costs – Having a current maintenance agreement means spending less time requesting technical support. Your IT staff should have the necessary training to integrate hardware and software into your company’s infrastructure. With a current maintenance agreement, your IT staff can interact directly with the hardware or software manufacturer, which helps them to solve problems faster. Without a current maintenance agreement, chronic problems that fall outside your IT staff’s area of expertise could take hours to resolve, which could have a devastating effect on your ability to do business. When you’re debating whether or not to update your hardware or software agreement, there are a few things you should take into consideration. What’s the cost of a failure? If your hardware or software fails, how much will it affect your business? Which would cost you more in the long run, replacing the hardware or software or lost productivity and business operations? For example, how much money would a store lose if its old cash registers stopped working, and they had no maintenance contract to cover repairs? Processing sales by hand is time consuming, and it’s certain that some customers would not want to wait. Make sure you have current maintenance contracts for anything that’s vital to your company’s operations, such as core switch, primary business application and production servers. What’s the cost of maintenance? Each hardware manufacturer has its own maintenance and support options. For example, if a company has 50 versions of the same firewall deployed, it may be more cost effective to forgo the NBD support option and purchase an extra firewall as a spare. You could also see if it’s possible to get a software assurance or phone support option at a lower cost. How skilled is your IT staff? Determine your IT staff’s weakest areas and backup those areas with increased maintenance support from the manufacturer. How much down time can your business tolerate? Many manufacturers have four-hour responses and 24/7 options for those businesses that have to be up and running as quickly as possible. You can do without the extended warranty that comes with a new microwave. But your business can’t and shouldn’t have to function without current maintenance agreements for your mission-critical hardware and software products. 
Many business owners fail to understand why it is important to manage the life cycles of their IT systems and keep technology up to date. Often, they will postpone hardware refreshes during difficult economic times to save money. This is a mistake. They may save a little money today, but in the long run, the cost of repairs and technical support could end up costing two or even three times what they originally saved. That doesn’t include the losses incurred as a result of decreased employee productivity. Here are seven reasons why keeping your company’s IT infrastructure up to date is so important: Prevents unexpected down time Nothing lasts forever. Hardware is bound break down sooner or later. Hardware that’s used often is at increased risk. Idle employees affect your company’s bottom line. Making sure they have the latest equipment and software will increase productivity as well as your profit margin. Keeps critical systems under warranty IT systems that are critical to business operations should always have a current warranty or maintenance contract, just in case something needs to be repaired or replaced. Old hardware may have expired warranties or maintenance contracts and may not be eligible for current ones. Improves performance Hardware refreshes provide access to improvements including, faster processing, increased memory, more storage and newer technology. These improvements allow systems to operate at peak performance, which saves time and allows you to give your customers to best possible service. New functionality Updated hardware and software generally provide access to innovations and security improvements that, again, help you to give your customers high quality service. Anything that helps you keep up with or even surpass the competition is worth the time and expense to do. Reduces operating expenses Often, the cost of hardware replacements can be offset by reduced operating expenses. For example, if a $1,000 desktop replacement allows an employee who makes $30/hour to increase efficiency by 10 minutes per hour, the cost of that desktop will be recuperated within 5 weeks and provide a savings of $8,600 over the rest of the year. Reduces support costs Older hardware tends to be slower and more prone to failures than newer hardware. So, companies that do not replace older systems will require technical support more often. Even when support is available at a fixed rate, the more time spent on fixing problems translates into less time spent on proactive service that would ultimately ends up costing the company less time and money. Happy employees One of the biggest drawbacks of an IT system failure is simply the affect it has on employees. Also known as the annoyance factor or frustration factor, this is the greatest driver behind system upgrades. Savvy business owners understand the value of keeping employees happy and productive. Given the cost savings generated by regular hardware refreshes, it should be unimaginable for any IT company – even during tough economic times – to consider cutting corners by delaying hardware refreshes or software upgrades. Are you looking for a trustworthy IT support firm to help your business? Contact us today to learn more about how our team of IT Professionals can help ensure the lifecycle of your IT systems are maintained properly. 
If there’s one area where people should be willing to splurge, it’s anti-virus software. Most companies, like McAfee, charge for a whole year of protection, which includes updates. Since even anti-virus protection from reputable companies isn’t 100% guaranteed, why would anyone want to stack the deck against himself by skimping on anti-virus protection? Some people can’t afford to pay McAfee or Symantec for anti-virus protection. The free software is the best they can do. But that’s probably not true for most. Most people who use free anti-virus software want to save money. So, they decide to go with free anti-virus software because they believe it will provide them with enough protection. It won’t. Using free anti-virus software is like going out into the rain and using an umbrella with holes in it. Free anti-virus software companies can’t keep up with all the new viruses, malware, etc. that’s coming out. In order to do that, they would have to stop offering the software for free. So, it’s impossible for users to be as well protected as those who buy security software from reputable companies. But there’s another, more serious danger. Sometimes free anti-virus software contains the very viruses it claims to guard against. And make no mistake, malware and viruses can not only wreak havoc on a person’s computer, but they can also end up costing her a lot of money. Malware can lead to corrupted files, crashed hard drives or, worse, identity theft. So, in the long run, it just doesn’t pay to take a chance on free anti-virus software. Some ways to tell if a computer is infected are: If popups suddenly appear on the computer If the system becomes sluggish or often crashes If unfamiliar files show up on the computer If the computer suddenly has little or no hard drive space or memory If the Internet browser goes to certain pages or the home page changes Sadly, if the free anti-virus software is legitimate, it won’t take effect until after a computer has been infected. And how much damage could have been done by that time? Free anti-virus software doesn’t come with any type of firewall protection. That has to be installed separately. This can be a time consuming process, especially for someone who’s not computer savvy. If there’s a compatibility issue with the firewall protection, then the whole process has to begin again. So, although the anti-virus software didn’t cost anything financially, it cost a lot in time and frustration. Sometimes, the offer of free anti-virus software is just a marketing ploy. Once the customer installs the free software, he’s inundated with popups warning him that he’s not fully protected and must buy the “complete” version of the software for full protection. This is not the same as the free scans or free trials offered by companies like McAfee or Symantec. With all the threats on the Internet these days, choosing to save money by using free anti-virus software seems counterintuitive, especially for people who use their computers for business. Looking for a trusted IT support team who can take care of your business needs? Call us today. We are your team of IT Professional who know what it takes to support your business. 
And so it begins. According to a press release issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Jan. 19, 2012, four people have been arrested and charged as participants in an international organized crime ring. On the list of their alleged crimes is copyright infringement; it is one of the biggest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States. Kim Schmitz (aka Kim Dotcom and Kim Tim Jim Vestor), 37, the founder of Megaupload.com, and three of his cohorts — chief marketing officer Finn Batato, 38; chief technical officer Mathias Ortmann, 40; and programmer Bram van der Kolk (aka Bramos), 29 — were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand, at the request of the FBI and the United States Department of Justice. Three others, graphic designer, Julius Bencko, 35; software programmer Andrus Nomm, 32; and head of business development Sven Echternach, 39 are still free. In addition to arresting the conspirators, the Auckland police seized more than $12 million in cash and assets. The group is alleged to have not only facilitated online piracy but encouraged it by offering incentives for uploading pirated content, including movies (prior to their theatrical releases), electronic books, music and other popular copyrighted works. Specifically, they allegedly paid people whom they knew uploaded pirated content. When the copyright holders informed them that they had pirated content on their websites, they only went through the motions of removing it. The FBI estimates that the group’s activities cost copyright holders $500 million in potential earnings while generating $175 million in profits for themselves through the sale of advertising and premium memberships. The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit copyright infringement is five years in prison. The maximum penalties for the other charges, conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, are 20 years each. So, Schmitz et al are looking at a maximum of 45 years in prison if found guilty on all counts. The announcement of these arrests came just one day after Wikipedia, Reddit and other sites “went dark” to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which legislators are considering passing into laws. The case is part of the Department of Justices’ IP Task Force, which seeks to “combat the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property crimes, protect the health and safety of American consumers and safeguard the nation’s economic security against those who seek to profit illegally from American creativity, innovation and hard work.” According to Ry Crozier in his article for IT News , the hacker group Anonymous shut down the Department of Justice’s website as well as the websites of the Motion Picture Association of America, Record Industry of America and Universal Music in response to the FBI’s shutting down of Megaupload.com and its affiliate Megavideo.com. The case against Kim Schmitz and alleged his co-conspirators will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Anyone who visits either of those sites will see the following: 
You always want to do your best. You want everyone around you to know that you are dedicated and motivated to succeed. You want your customers or clients to know that you care about them and will give them a high quality product or service. Sometimes, you can push yourself too hard, burn yourself out and become less productive and less effective. Believe it or not, you can “give it your all” without getting all worn out. Jason Womack, in his book Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More , offers several tips that you can use to reduce some of the stress and strain of running a business or managing a department. I’ve listed my top five below, in no particular order. Have shorter meetings. Most people hate meetings because they think of them as unproductive time sucks. But they don’t have to be. Meetings can be useful ways to keep up with how important projects are progressing and delegate new responsibilities. Womack recommends cutting a one hour meeting down to 45 minutes. Knowing you have less time in which to get things done will help you keep the meeting focused. Take advantage of “idle” time. This is my favorite. I see people doing this all the time; I do it myself. Always carry some work with you. Have some documents on hand to read while you’re waiting for a meeting to get started, while waiting to board a flight or while riding on public transportation. You can also use this time to send or reply to emails. Unclutter your life. Womack recommends unsubscribing to newsletters and other non-essentials that bombard you via email. If you like reading newsletters but find they distract you from business, then you could create an email account for receiving newsletters and other unimportant emails, and give yourself a reminder to check that account once a week, maybe on Sunday when you’re having your morning coffee. Eliminate distractions. Maybe newsletters in your inbox don’t distract you. Maybe it’s something else, like email popups that let you know every time a new email message comes in. Maybe it’s Skype popups that draw your attention away from your work and toward conversations in which you’re not even involved. Those problems are easily solved; just disable the popups or set your Skype status to Do Not Disturb. But what if your distractions come in human form? If you have your own office, you could establish an open-door policy: If the door isn’t open, you aren’t available. If you work in an open office or cubicle, you’ll have to be firm with colleagues who always seem to need “a minute” of your time, and make sure they understand when you absolutely can’t be distracted. Don’t try to do everything at once. If you have a big project you’re working on, instead of trying to get it all done at once, break it up into pieces. For instance, you have three months to complete a project, then set aside a block of time to work on it every day, once a week, bi-weekly, whatever works best for you. If you have several projects to complete, then prioritize them. Which ones are the most important or have the shortest deadline? Or, which ones require the least amount of time to complete? Again, it’s whatever works best for you. Dedication is a virtue. But, you won’t do yourself or anybody else any good if you burn the midnight oil until you’re all burned out. Another great way to avoid burnout or office fatigue is to trust your IT support and services to us. We are your local IT support specialists and we can help you with all your day-to-day IT needs. Give us a call. 
Disaster is unavoidable. Weather is unpredictable, accidents happen and people make mistakes, sometimes costly ones. If you’re prepared with a disaster recovery plan, you can save yourself valuable time and money and get back to business with a minimum of fuss. The first step in creating a disaster recovery plan is to prioritize your data. What is absolutely essential to the running of your business? Storing data in the cloud can ensure that nothing important gets lost permanently. There are numerous cloud storage companies, so finding one that fits your company’s needs shouldn’t take long. For large enterprises, cloud storage may be the only option. But smaller companies do have alternatives. As an additional backup, you could keep essential data, like client and vendor lists, on an external hard drive or thumb drive, depending on the size of your company, and lock it away in a safe place. Once you’ve determined what data your company can’t function without, you’re ready to formulate an actual plan. Imagine what you would do if your business were destroyed by fire or flood. What steps would you have to take to get your company back in business in the shortest amount of time? What tools would you need? Figuring out how to overcome the worst thing that could happen will help you handle less severe disasters with aplomb. Indispensable employees are curse. One scenario you definitely want to avoid is the one where mission-critical tasks can’t get done because Joe Everything is out sick and can’t be reached by phone, and no one, not even you, has any idea how to do his job. The best way to ensure that your business keeps running smoothly, regardless of who gets sick or injured and can’t come to work, is to have each employee record the tasks that she is responsible for completing and provide step-by-step instructions on how to do them. Finally, if you haven’t already, you want to make sure your team operates like a combat platoon when it comes to disaster recovery. In a combat platoon, if the lieutenant falls or gets captured, then the highest ranking noncommissioned officer (NCO) steps up to take over. If the highest-ranking NCO falls or gets captured, then the next in line steps up to take over and so on all the way down to private. When it comes to executing your disaster recovery plan, there should be someone who can take over for you if you aren’t there. And that person should have someone who can take over if he isn’t there and so on, all the way down to the lowest ranking person in the company. This ensures that no matter who is absent, your disaster recovery plan can be executed and your business can be up and running in the shortest amount of time. Life is unpredictable, so every business should be equipped with some type of disaster recovery plan. Don’t run the risk of losing vital company data to fire, flood or theft by neglecting to store important information and have a way to get your business “back on its feet” as quickly as possible. 
Guest Blogger – Samantha Garner, GoForth Institute Small businesses have an advantage over larger businesses – they’re small! They’re efficient, flexible and adaptive – responding quickly to changing customer tastes and needs. Another area where small business can outdo bigger businesses is in productivity. How to measure – and then increase – productivity in your small business Productivity is naturally easier to measure in manufacturing businesses. In a service business, productivity can be measured by the number of services provided in a certain period of time. However, failed services aren’t always easy to find and measure. Service companies rely instead on measures of customer satisfaction, and the number of complaints received. Improving productivity in labour-intensive service businesses is challenging because these businesses can’t rely on increased automation to improve efficiency the way manufacturing firms can. Nonetheless, small service firms are still finding ways to improve productivity. Some doctor’s offices, for example, combine booked and walk-in appointment times in their medical practices which makes the most efficient use of a doctor’s time, and provides more access to the doctor for their patients. Many product and service businesses are making use of internet technology, web-based stores and e-commerce to streamline customer transactions – customers can see if a particular product is available in inventory before they get in the car. The speed at which business transactions are occurring is increasing, and customers have more access to information about the products and services they plan to purchase. This makes them better educated and more knowledgeable. Uncovering avenues to productivity and efficiency Improving small business productivity in the operations process involves an analysis of workflow, individual jobs, equipment, technology, physical layout, working conditions and customer feedback options. This usually means that you’ll need to answer the following questions: What customer experience are we after? Have we asked customers what their expectations are? What does the workflow to create our product or service look like? Is it being done in the most efficient way, with the least amount of waste? Is there duplication of effort in people’s jobs? Do we have the right equipment? Can we afford to buy better, more efficient equipment? Do we have the computing and telecommunication technology to get the job done well? Can we arrange our physical layout to improve productivity or communication among employees? Does our physical layout enhance employees’ productivity, or hamper it? Do our employees have what they need to do their jobs well – proper lighting, office furniture, supplies, relaxation areas? Do our customers have several convenient ways of communicating with us? Do we regularly communicate with our customers? Each small business operations situation is unique and should be analyzed for ways to improve operations efficiency and productivity. An electrical contractor who works out of a service vehicle can insure that his workspace (the truck or van) is properly stocked with new and replacement parts, and appointments can be booked in a way that reduces travel time and ultimately customer costs. Sometimes the most efficient way of doing something gets buried under years of doing something the same way. We know, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” We’re not suggesting that you do – but we are asking to you to improve productivity and efficiency over the lifetime of your business. You and your customers will benefit. At GoForth Institute, we live and breathe small business – because we’re entrepreneurs too! Our team is made up of fellow entrepreneurs dedicated to improving your odds of small business success. 