Information technology (IT) has provided us with many things to make our lives more convenient. The quality of our lives would diminish greatly without the convenience of shopping online, sharing documents in Google Docs and other file sharing platforms, connecting with friends and family via Facebook, or watching music videos on our cell phones. But it’s hard to understand what some of them are, how and when to use them, and how they operate in general. Part of the reason so many small-business owners are reluctant to use cloud computing is because they don’t know exactly what the cloud is or how they could use it effectively in their businesses. Quite simply, the cloud is just another way of saying the Internet. The two are one and the same. If you watch movies or television shows on Hulu, you’re taking advantage of what the cloud has to offer. When you buy e-books or music or videos on Amazon, you’re using the public cloud. Once you’ve bought it, you can watch the same video over and over again on your computer or cell phone just by logging in to your Amazon account. That’s cloud storage. If you share or collaborate on documents with your employees in Google Docs, you’re already using the cloud for business. So, that’s the cloud. And the cloud plays a huge role in mobility. The United States, possibly more than any other country on Earth, is populated with people who love instant gratification. Like Veruca Salt in “ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ,” they want everything NOW. Smart phones allow them to – for the most part – have that wish. A smart phone is, in essence, a mini-computer. You no longer have to be trapped at desk or, more important, worry about lugging a laptop around with you all day. The average laptop weighs between five and seven pounds. Tablets weigh about one or two pounds and will easily fit inside a brief case or large hand bag. Smart phones only weigh a few ounces and fit in your pocket. Thanks to Wi-Fi, people can access the Internet with their smart phones and do all the things that they do on their home desktops or laptops while in a park, riding public transportation or sitting in a restaurant waiting to be served. But remember, smart phones are mini-computers. That means you have to protect the information you store on your smart phone the same way you would if it were on your computer, especially if you use your smart phone for business. You have to have security software downloaded to your smart phone to protect it from malware and viruses. You have to password protect it so that if it should get lost or stolen, the information stored on it can’t be easily accessed. Yes, mobility is great, particularly for people like lawyers, real estate agents and sales professionals who travel a lot, but it requires a healthy dose of responsibility from those who truly want to reap the benefits. Unlike the cloud and mobility, big data is much tougher concept to explain. Here’s how Wikipedia explains it: “Big data consists of data sets that grow so large that they become awkward to work with using on-hand database management tools. Difficulties include capture, storage, search, sharing, analytics and visualizing. This trend continues because of the benefits of working with larger and larger data sets allowing analysts to ‘spot business trends, prevent diseases and combat crime.’” According to Gordon Haff of Cnet News, “Endpoint devices like smartphones and sensors create massive amounts of data. Large compute farms bring the processing power needed to make that data useful.” Clear as mud, right? Technology, though wonderful, can boggle the mind of those who don’t have an intimate relationship with it. Just know that even with electronic data, there’s a place for everything, and everything has a place … until we run out of space for it.
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Where is Information Technology Heading?
There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding Windows 8 lately, mainly because it’s shaping up to be a real contender for Apple’s iPad. Yes, the iPad 3 is already out and Windows 8 is still in its testing phase, but some who have tried it – and who know a thing or two about computers – have given the kind of positive feedback that makes people at least curious if not 100% sold on Microsoft’s new offering. On April 24, 2012, at the Windows developer event in Tokyo, Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky announced that the Release Preview of Windows 8 is scheduled for “early June.” As you may recall, Microsoft released its consumer preview version of Windows 8 back in February 2012. Windows 8 Server has now been officially named Windows Server 2012, whose release preview is also scheduled for “early June.” Based on Windows 7’s schedule, Mary-Jo Foley of ZDNet.com predicts that Windows 8 release to manufacturing (RTM) date will be sometime in late July or August and that the final product release will occur in October. Whenever Microsoft decides to release the final version of Windows 8, you can bet there will be people out there who are eager to give it try. The ability to use it with standard desktop and laptop computers is a pretty strong selling point. 
Why You Should Upgrade Windows 7 The introduction of first the developer and then the customer previews of Windows 8 have caused some people to forget all about Windows 7. We must remember that wide release of Windows 8 remains months away, and many small-business owners are just starting to upgrade their companies’ computers to the Windows 7 operating system. In 2009, after Window 7’s wide release, Scott Steinberg, in his post for Entrepreneur.com , listed 10 reasons why small-business owners should upgrade to Windows 7. Some of those reasons still make sense today. Steinberg’s first reason is one that should appeal to everyone who still uses the Windows Vista operating system. Vista used a lot of memory and processing speed to power its graphical user interface. Windows 7 demands so little that even computers with only 1GHz of power and 1GB of memory can support it. This is important for the smallest of small-business owners who can’t afford to buy new computers. The upgrade version of Windows 7 Professional sells for $199.99 and the full version sells for $299.99. According to Microsoft , if your computers have Windows XP, you’re eligible for the upgrade version. You are advised to transfer all files to an external hard drive before installing Windows 7. Once the new operating system has been installed, you can transfer all data from the external hard drive back onto your computer. Windows 7 is easier to navigate. One feature that I particularly like is the Aero Snap that will condense a window’s size if you move it to the extreme right or left of your screen. This is wonderful for people who want to look at two documents or a document and a Web page simultaneously. A feature that I sometimes use inadvertently is the Aero Peek feature that turns all windows transparent so I can look at my desktop. But it’s just as easy to use a short cut like pressing the Windows key and the letter D at the same time to simply reduce every window at once. If I hit them again, all my open windows reappear as quickly as they vanished. You have fewer hardware and software compatibility issues with Windows 7 because it works well with most hardware and software without your having to download and install additional drivers, a task that sucks time and zaps productivity like few others. Believe it or not, you don’t have to wait for Windows 8 to use physical gestures to navigate your operating system or pull up documents. If you own a touch-screen compatible computer, then you’re set. Finally, Windows 7 performs better than Vista, according to Steinberg. It has a larger business software library and makes your work and Internet experiences more enjoyable. The hullabaloo that surrounds the debut of new technology like Windows 8 resembles the excitement that accompanies the announcement of a fashion designer’s new collection at New York Fashion Week. In each case, everyone conveniently forgets what they already have, conveniently and affordably, available to them. Never fear small-business owners with small budgets. Windows 7 is still here. 
People running Windows servers have yet another cyber threat to worry about. Something known as RansomWare has been making the rounds lately, holding small-business owners’ important files hostage until they meet the hackers’ ransom demands. Small businesses tend to come under fire from hackers more often than larger businesses because small businesses often use less stringent security measures to protect their servers than do large enterprises. These days, it’s much easier for small-business owners to find managed services providers or cloud storage providers with payment plans that fit most budgets. And the time to look into the kinds of protections that such companies offer is before something like RansomWare hits the scene. Security Software company Emisoft issued a press release on Apr. 19, warning people of this latest threat to Windows servers. According to Emisoft, anti-virus and anti-malware software are useless against RansomWare. The hackers are primarily targeting Windows servers that can be accessed via remote desktop protocol (RDP) from the Internet. If the server relies on weak password policies or has none at all, hackers can easily “crack commonly used user names via dictionary-based brute-force attacks and thus gain access to the system. The hackers can then easily disable any active security software.” Once a company’s server has been accessed, the hackers upload something known as Anti-Cyber-Crime Department of Federal Internet Security Agency (ACCDFISA) malware that proceeds to install a “crypto malware component” as a service that deletes backups and then snatches important files and locks them away in an encrypted Roschal Archive (RAR) file. Joe P. of nFocus Technologies explained in his blog post that he was instructed to pay $100 via Moneypak, Paysafecard or Ukash in order to unlock the files that had been stolen from his client’s server. Although his client’s employee had used a complicated password, hackers were still able to gain access to and compromise the employee’s account. Hackers get more sophisticated every day. That’s why it’s so important for all business owners, but especially small-business owners, to have several layers of protection guarding their servers, computers and smart devices. The longer it takes for a hacker to “get the goods,” the more likely he is to give up and go somewhere else. This isn’t guaranteed, though, so business leaders should also have more than one backup plan for important files. No business, be it large, medium or small, can ever consider itself 100% from hackers. 
In April, we reported that Global Payments, the company that processes credit card transactions for Visa and MasterCard, had been hacked and that approximately 1.5 million users’ credit card information had been compromised. Recent reports indicate that the situation could be worse. According to Krebs on Security , Global Payments’ system could have been penetrated by hackers as far back as June 2011. In March, Visa and MasterCard issued two alerts, within a week of each other, to card-issuing banks, warning them about the breach. Not long afterward, the Internet was abuzz with the late-breaking news. Since then, Krebs on Security reports, “Visa and MasterCard have issued at least seven updates, warning of additional compromised cards and pushing the window of vulnerability at Global Payments back further each time.” What does this mean for Visa and MasterCard users? Well, for one thing, it means that the number of compromised accounts could be greater than the originally reported 1.5 million users, though Global Payments insists that the original estimate is correct. Small- and medium-business owners who use Visa or MasterCard for business might want to keep an eye out for fraudulent activity on their own cards and warn their clients about the possibility that they, too, could be at risk. Where the hack originated remains a mystery. Probably the best thing to do right now is to simply cancel old Visa and MasterCard credit cards and start over with new ones. 
The consumer preview of Windows 8 has been out long enough for people to get some idea of how using Microsoft’s new operating system on a tablet compares to any iPad, but in particular, the iPad 3. It has its pluses and minuses, like everything else, but overall, those in the know seem to think that, yes, Windows 8 can give the iPad a run for its money. Karl Volkman, a tech expert at SRV Network, Inc. listed six features that he believes make Windows 8 a contender in its battle with the iPad. As you probably know, Windows 8 is an operating system, and the iPad is a tablet computer. The reason people are making comparisons is because although the Windows 8 operating system can be used on a laptop or desktop computer, it is a better fit and was probably designed for a tablet. Windows 8 has huge colorful, customizable apps on the start screen where the iPad has apps just like the kind you would see on a smartphone. When comparing the two, Josh from The Verge described the Windows 8 app menu as requiring more gestures to make things happen as opposed to physically touching the screen. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Now, when it comes to browsers, Internet Explorer 10, which comes as part of the Windows 8 operating system package, wins hands down. Internet Explorer 10 is lightning fast for both opening and closing Web pages. According to Volkman, Windows 8 can “handle more devices,” which “makes it easier to access multiple files and add-ons in a single domain.” This feature could be very useful for doctors, lawyers and sales professionals in any industry. Also quite handy is the fact that you can view two apps at once with Windows 8, something that can’t be done on an iPad. When Josh from The Verge demonstrated this, I thought about how helpful it would be to be able to read an email and look at the document referenced in the email message on the same screen. Euphoria. And for those of you with “fat fingers,” Windows 8 allows you to resize the keyboard to make typing easier. Now, when it comes to doing business, depending on what kind of business you do, using a tablet isn’t a viable option. That’s where Windows 8 really trumps the iPad. Macbooks don’t have apps; however, if you can adapt an Apple computer to work with Windows 7, then chances are, eventually, you’ll be able to do the same thing with Windows 8. Until then, Windows 8 is going to dominate with people who either can’t or don’t want to use a tablet computer but want the convenience of apps on their home screens and the speed of IE 10 when they go online. So, yes, Windows 8 can compete with the iPad and even win in some arenas. But keep in mind, Windows 8 is still in the testing phase. We won’t really know how much of a contender it is until the full version debuts, presumably, later this year. 
Have you ever had a cell phone plan that just didn’t work for you, and you wanted to end it and try something different? Maybe you found yourself in a financial situation that made having a cell phone plan something of a luxury. Whatever your reasons for wanting to end the contract, you had to pay quite bit to get out of it. Well, according to the Herald News , some proposed changes to Canada’s Consumer Protection Act could change all that. Complaints from more than 150 consumers in Nova Scotia to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, the Better Business Bureau and local government led to the proposed legislation that would limit the penalty for ending a cellular contract early to a maximum of $50. The new legislation would also prevent cell phone companies from automatically renewing or extending consumers’ contracts and require them to provide consumers with information about safe cell phone use and cyber bullying. Some believe that this new legislation could lead to cell phone providers treating their customers with more respect because they will no longer be able to impose inhibitive financial penalties on dissatisfied customers who want to take their business elsewhere. Tory Opposition leader Jamie Baillie, who manages his two daughters’ cell phone accounts as well as his own, told the Herald News that he supports the proposed amendment but cautioned: “In order to ensure that we don’t drive up the cost for consumers, I think we should be working with all provinces to make sure we have national standards for simplified cell phone contracts and lower fees.” Only those contracts signed after the amendments take effect in fall 2012, barring any unforeseen causes for delay, will benefit from this new legislation. 