Take a moment and think about your business and if you are prepared for a disaster. If you are like most business owners or managers you have some form of backup and maybe even a basic disaster recovery plan. While this is a start, recent big disasters around the world have proven that a simple backup is not enough. If you feel that your business is under prepared, there are steps you can take to fix that.

Here are five tips to help ensure that your business is fully ready for the next disaster.

1. Backup everything While it can be tempting to only backup the most important data and programs, it can be a chore to identify what is deemed to be important. Who knows, a file that is non-essential today may become essential in the future. If it is lost due to a disaster, this could prove to be a problem.

It would be a good idea to look for a backup solution that covers all data and programs. But, having a full backup solution isn't enough, you also need to ensure that recovery is easy and can be implemented quickly.

2. Look into tiered recovery Establishing a tiered recovery method means identifying the value and importance of existing systems and utilizing a recovery method that meets needs. It would be a good idea to identify mission critical systems and adopt a recovery method that can have these systems up and running as quickly as possible. From there you can tier different systems and match a recovery method. For example, archived files are likely not needed right away, so they can be recovered at a later date, using a slower recovery method.

3. Keep copies of all keys and licenses With the amount of software and programs businesses use on a daily basis growing, it would be a good idea to keep copies of the activation keys (the string of digits and letters you enter to activate the full version of software) and purchased licenses.

While many of these are now distributed electronically through email, there are still software developers that distribute keys by mail or with the physical install CDs. If you lose the codes in a fire, you will be out of luck and have to purchase the software again. This is an extra charge you likely don't want.

4. Pick the right recovery locations The best recovery plans offer numerous backup solutions which are hosted in different locations. A good provider knows this and will utilize data storage centers as far apart as possible. If you choose to backup your own data, it would not be a good idea to keep the backups in the office.

Similarly, if you are preparing for a big disaster, you likely have physical locations that you can move to if your main business location is damaged or destroyed. Optimal plans will have more than one location identified, and have them as far apart as possible. This will minimize the chances of losing full operations and increase your business's ability to bounce back quicker.

5. Match your recovery plan to your business There are so many different backup and recovery options that it can be tough to pick one. The best course of action is to look at your systems and how they work. If you operate strictly offline, a cloud based backup solution likely isn't your best bet. Or, if you operate fully in the cloud, a physical tape or hard disk backup may not be optimal.

If you are looking to beef up, or establish a disaster recovery plan, try working with an IT partner like us, who can help you find the optimal solution that can meet your needs and budget.

Operating a business is never easy. There is always something that threatens your business, and many disasters are simply beyond your control. These disasters are a part of business, and owners need to be prepared for almost anything. For many companies, the only way to prepare for adverse times is by developing a Business Continuity Plan.

Some companies are hesitant to adopt a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) because of the perceived costs and complexity involved. We won't deny that plans are usually on the complex side, but there are good reasons as to why your company should adopt one. Here's five.

1. Your business will be seen as more valuable Banks, venture capitalists and other investors tend to air on the side of caution, and as such will usually look to businesses that appear to be stable as more viable investment vehicles. Companies with a BCP are often seen to be more valuable, as they can address diverse situations better than those without. As a result, they will make the investor more money over time.

2. Compliance Big companies in a number of industries have had continuity plans for years and many have started to look for suppliers/vendors with continuity plans. Beyond that, some industries and government bodies have made BCP a requirement. If you are a vendor, supplier or even in specific industries, it is a good idea to have one in order for business to run smoothly.

3. Potentially lower insurance premiums Operating a business is filled with risks, and business managers are often looking for ways to minimize it. One way includes the purchase of insurance - many industries and situations require you to carry it. Generally, insurance providers will give more favorable rates to companies that take steps to minimize risk. A solid BCP will go a long way in showcasing how risk-averse your company is, which could lead to lower rates or at the very least, stable rates.

4. More efficient communication Developing a BCP involves constant, company-wide communication in order for it to be successful. For many businesses, this involves collaboration between team members who don't normally work together on a regular basis.

A BCP also fosters communication plans during disasters, both within the organization - most employees have a role, and will need to work together to pull through - and outside - customers, suppliers and other stakeholders will be contacting you. If your employees know how to communicate what needs to be done, effects of the disaster will be minimized.

5. Survival Recent natural disasters around the globe have highlighted that businesses without a plan will most likely be forced out of business. Having a BCP will minimize the chances of this, while preparing your business for survival.

If you are looking to implement a business continuity plan, or improve on an already existing one, please contact us today. We may have a solution for you.

One of the hardest things about operating smaller businesses is often competing with larger businesses that have marketing budgets equal to your yearly profits. Where and how do you compete? One of the best ways is through the use of the Internet, more specifically social media sites like Facebook. A little apprehensive about how good of a service Facebook can be? Some facts and figures might help.

Here are some interesting Facebook facts and figures.

Number of active users: over 1 billion. Number of mobile users: 600 million. That’s right, over half of the users access Facebook from their mobile phones. Number of likes since launch: 1.13 trillion. It’s crazy, thats 1,130 likes per person. Number of connections: Facebook's 1 billion users are connected to 140.3 billion other users. Talk about six degrees of separation! Number of locally tagged posts: 17 billion. The ability to add your location to posts was introduced in August 2010, and this statistic came from September 2012.

These are just a few Facebook facts associated with the recent 1 billionth active user milestone, reached in October. It’s amazing to think that 1/7th of the world’s population are active Facebook users. Imagine what the number would be if it wasn’t blocked in China?

So, what do these numbers mean for you? Well, first of all, it means a huge potential network of clients/friends. If 1 billion users are connected with 140.3 billion other users, that means that the average number of friends a user has is 140.3. Imagine running an ad campaign on any medium, having 140 of your closest friends see it, and share it with their friends. Your brand has the potential to go global and viral in a very short amount of time.

How do you leverage these numbers? Most companies use Facebook Ads, a service which allows you to place ads that users will see and potentially click on. If leveraged correctly, Facebook is one powerful marketing platform, regardless of the size of the company. If your company doesn’t have a presence on Facebook, you’re missing out on the potential it can bring. Call us. We can help you establish a presence.

The Boy Scouts are famous for their motto, 'Be Prepared'. And many live up to it. In an interview, Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the Boy Scouts was once asked what they should be prepared for. His answer, "Anything". Companies should take this to heart, and always be prepared for every eventuality. One way this can be done is through Business Continuity - a plan or system that helps businesses get through disasters relatively unscathed. If you're looking to adopt a continuity plan, there's a few things you should prepare beforehand.

Here's four questions you should answer when looking into adopting a Business Continuity plan.

1. What systems need to be recovered first? A good idea is to request each department/role list their essential systems and rank them in the order they need them back online in order to do their jobs. From here, you can compare answers and rank them in priority. For example, If all roles say they need Internet connection back online first, you know that the Internet is the first system that needs to be recovered.

2. What do we need to assure customers of stability? For the majority of businesses, the customer is the lifeblood. However, most customers will only stick around for a limited amount of time before going to a competitor if your business can't meet their needs. To keep customers loyal during a time of disaster, you need to prove you are either stable, or working to get there. Some examples of this could be a backup site with basic functionality that can take the place of your main website if it goes down.

3. What do business partners require? Your business partners are just as important as your customers and are often the link between the two. With partners, you often have set requirements that you need to meet in order to continue order fulfillment and shipment. You need to be aware of what these are and the related systems. After all, how are you going to get your product to your customers?

4. Are there any contractual requirements with vendors? Businesses that work with suppliers or vendors often have contractual obligations such as payment due on a certain date, or a set product order volume to fulfill the contract. As with business partners, you need to be clear on what these obligations are, and how you meet them. For example, if you pay a supplier on the 10th of every month, most will expect payment on the 10th, regardless of if you are operational or not.

Once you have the answers you needed you can take a step back and try to come up with a timeline of how long continuity actions should take and what your priorities are. From here, you can draft an actual plan, or look for vendors that can work with your systems and provide a continuity plan or service that meets your needs.

If you are looking for a business continuity system for your business please give us a call, we may have a solution that fits with your business.

Superstorm Sandy, the recent storm that pummeled the Eastern US, brought with it a lot of lessons for all affected. For those in the IT industry the most important lesson was that their disaster preparedness may not be as robust as they thought. Many businesses will react to this by wanting to be better prepared for major disasters. This is positive action but it is important to stress that there are also a million little issues that could pose a bigger threat to your organization. One of those is password management - who is in control of the important passwords.

Search for Terry Childs online and you'll find a number of articles about a former Network Administrator for the city of San Francisco who is currently in jail for supposedly doing his job. His job, as a network administrator, was to manage the city's network. When he was asked by his boss for the passwords to critical parts of the network, he refused on the grounds that the request went against the established network policy.

Issues like this: One employee or vendor in control of vital passwords, can pose a big problem to companies, especially during times of disaster. Imagine if you work with an administrator who is based in New York, and they lost power during Sandy. What could you do if your network crashed, or you needed access to your system and someone else has all the passwords?

The most crucial factor is you shouldn't trust one person or organization with passwords to vital systems. We don't mean personal passwords to systems, we mean passwords to vital systems, like servers or Internet connections. If one person has the passwords, there's just too much risk. If they are disgruntled, they have the power to do some serious damage, and if they are injured or are no longer alive, you'll face untold amounts in lost profit, and fees in recovering passwords and information.

There are a number of things you can do to mitigate problems like these.

• Keep a password list - It could be a good idea to keep a physical list of the more important passwords. This is an important document, so it's a good idea to not leave this one lying around. If you have a safety deposit box or safe in the office you can put the list here.
• Set passwords to the position, not the employee - Many companies will often give passwords to one person who will be in charge of these. When they advance, or if they switch roles, they will often take a password with them. Instead, look at organizing this a different way around: Assign a password to the position rather than an individual so that when they leave the person filling their role is given this password instead.
• Assign a person to be in charge of passwords - This is a good idea, especially if you work with Managed Service Providers. A person of authority within your organization should be the main contact person, and they should have copies of all passwords given to outside companies.
• Change passwords regularly - To avoid having employees steal things it's a good idea to change your passwords on a regular basis. If an employee leaves a position and is in charge of an important password, you should take steps to change this scenario even if you trust the person.
• Create the right policy - If you are going to share passwords, or have a limited number of people who know them, it's a good idea to create a policy that clearly defines: what position has access to what; what happens when someone leaves; how to recover passwords; how many backups will be kept; how and when the password is to be shared. Basically you want to ensure you aren't caught flat footed. With employees, confidentiality agreements that explicitly state what they can and can't share and the consequences of breaching the policy should also be clearly defined and followed.
• Pick who to trust - Important passwords shouldn't be shared with everyone, and you should take steps to vet the trustworthiness of the person or company you will be giving passwords to. If you have an established sharing process, and a vendor you're considering working with is pushing a policy that is different from yours, it may be a good idea to look for someone whose policies are closer to yours, or who can work around your policies.

If you are in the unfortunate position of not having the passwords to your system, it's a good idea to get in touch with IT professionals like us, as we are often able to recover systems and passwords, or at the very least, reset them. After you recover your systems, it's a good idea to test for vulnerabilities, especially if the last person in charge had a tendency to not share information. We can help with this and any other concerns with password management and recovery, so please contact us if you would like to learn more.

If the United States is the brain of the world, Asia is the beating heart that powers it. Anyone who has been to Asia can attest to a region that is booming. Economic recession is a word thrown around to describe countries in the EU, as well as the US. In Asia, the focus is on growth and natural disasters, of which there are plenty. Because of this, companies have taken to Disaster Recovery (DR) in droves. The question is, how are companies based in Asia dealing with DR? And is there anything you can learn?

A report published by the EMC corporation in the summer highlights the current state of Disaster Recovery in Asia. The report takes an in-depth look at IT spending and the views of IT decision makers on Disaster Recovery in the Asia Pacific Region - South East Asia, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and India.

The findings of the report are interesting considering current socioeconomic and natural conditions in the region. Asia, to date, has been largely unaffected by the negative economic conditions in both Europe and North America. According to the Q2 2012 Asia Job Index report released by Robert Walters, the number of IT positions advertised in major regions has grown across all sub-regions in Asia.

The most impressive countries were: Japan which saw IT postings achieve a quarter-on-quarter growth of 8%, compared to a country-wide quarter-on-quarter average decrease of postings across all industries of -4.6%. Malaysia is the other IT star, seeing IT positions grow 24.2% quarter-on-quarter, compared to a nation wide average growth of postings across all industries of 13.4%. On comparison, the whole Business Services Industry, including IT, in the US, achieved a growth of approximately 11%.

These figures for Asia show that companies in the region are investing in IT services and positions. The EMC’s findings parallel this, noting that many companies are investing more on DR possibly due to the relatively high number of disasters, natural or otherwise, affecting the region in the past year. On average, companies invested 11% of their IT budget on DR plans. Companies in North America spend between 2% and 4% of their annual IT budget on DR plans. This is a big difference, but is it paying off?

Looking deeper into the survey it can be noted that in the past year, 47% of respondents saw some form of data loss. The average amount of data lost was 484GB. Malaysia and India were hardest hit with an average loss of 1,099GB and 713GB lost, respectively. The top three reasons for loss were reported as being due to: data corruption (58%), hardware failure (50%) and loss of power (35%).

Despite the larger spending, the information reveals that many companies in Asia may not be spending their DR budgets wisely. Almost half of companies have experienced negative effects from some kind of emergency they likely could have prepared for.

In this region, and in all regions, the amount of data available to, and stored by companies is growing exponentially. If this trend of inadequate spending continues, companies will stand to see loss of data compounded.

We highly recommend that you take this information into account when developing your DR plans, and ensure that your budgets are properly allocated. For help with adopting the right DR strategy please contact us, we may have an effective plan that meets your needs.

Today’s tech based society is all about doing more than one thing at the same time - commonly labeled as ‘being efficient’. With the heavy adoption of smartphones, we can take our office and work with us to our kids soccer games, or check our email during the commute in hopes of getting ahead of the day’s work. If you have an Android phone, there are many ways you can use it to multitask. Widgets are one of those.

Widgets are small apps that enable a user to perform a function of an app e.g., change the song playing without having to open the music player on your Android. Widgets are an integral part of the Android platform as most of them allow users to execute the main function of an app from the home screen. Widgets Anywhere, USD$1.99 on Google Play, is a great app for Android users who love multi-tasking. It allows users to have access to their favorite widget even while in a program.

The app is currently available for devices using Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and 4.1 (Jelly Bean). If you have Jelly Bean, you can easily bring up your favorite widget by pressing and holding on the Home button (center button), and selecting the Widgets Anywhere logo. This will work anywhere, making it easy for you to multitask.

You can also set the size, transparency and visibility along with what widget is shown from the apps settings. The only downside we can see with this app is that it replaces the Google Now shortcut on Jelly Bean, however, few users utilize this feature anyway.

This app definitely makes the Android user experience easier, especially if you’re a heavy widget user. If you’d like to know more about using Android in your business please contact us.

The Internet is a magical thing; a gateway or connection to the rest of the world. Currently, the Internet is quick enough to do nearly anything without delay, and as such, companies have come to expect Internet connections to always be fast. The truth is, connection speed varies widely, and this can create problems for many companies.

Have you noticed that from time to time the Internet is a lot slower than it should be? If so, this could be because something is hogging all the bandwidth, which is the rate at which data is transferred in and out of one connection. Here are six of the most common bandwidth hogs.

1. YouTube. If you allow employees to watch YouTube or connect to other streaming services, and they are using it frequently, you’ll notice a significant decrease in overall Internet speed. Some companies have noted that 40 staff using YouTube will account for over half of the total bandwidth usage.
2. FTP sites. Some companies run FTP sites that host essential files that employees can download. When more employees are downloading/uploading files to the FTP site there’s less bandwidth available for other operations, so the Internet will be slower.
3. P2P. P2P covers a large number of aspects including video conferencing and sharing of files via programs such as BitTorrent. All P2P services use an incredibly large amount of bandwidth when in operation, slowing the Internet to a point where speeds from 10 years ago were faster.
4. Online backup. Backing up essential files will capitalize bandwidth leaving very little for other operations. It’s a good idea to conduct backups after office hours to minimize interruptions.
5. Encryption. In certain industries regulatory bodies require a certain level of encryption, or for companies to take certain steps to secure data. Any extra encryption or security features will slow sites down, however this usually cannot be avoided.
6. Spam/Virus/Malware. As many scams aim at stealing information the main way this is done is by sending the information over an Internet connection, that is your Internet connection. If you have viruses or other security threats you can guarantee that your Internet will be slower.

If you notice your Internet is slowing down at certain times, it’s a good idea to check and see if any of these six bandwidth hogs are in action. You can:

• conduct a virus scan to look for malware;
• ensure your computers aren’t backing up and if they are schedule the backup for later;
• turn off or block any and all sharing services, and schedule video conferencing for times when bandwidth isn’t needed by other functions; and,
• limit the bandwidth assigned to YouTube and other streaming services.

Before you tinker with any network connections though, it’s best to contact an expert . We may not just be able to help, but potentially provide an even better solution for you, speeding up your connection and your business success.

It seems that natural disasters are happening at a higher frequency than ever before. This could be because of climate change or the fact that news can travel around the world in seconds, or any other number of reasons. Business continuity - ensuring your business can stay operational during adverse times - should be an important part of your business. Many owners recognize this and take steps to backup their data. This is a good start, but it isn’t enough.

Here are five things you should be doing, aside from backing up your data, to ensure you're ready for anything.

• Where to work. One of the first things you should consider is where you're going to work if your office is inaccessible. Hotels, convention centers or other office buildings are viable locations. Whichever location you pick, you should pick at least two different places, as far apart as possible. You should also be sure to inform your staff and include maps of the routes to the locations you’ve chosen.
• Replacement equipment. It’s incredibly important that you know exactly what equipment you use and how integral it is to operations. For mission critical equipment (equipment your company absolutely can’t work without) you need to have a plan in place as to how you can quickly replace lost equipment, the cost of it and replacement time. For less important equipment, you should have a couple of vendors in mind.
• Communication systems. During adverse business conditions it’s vitally important that you and your employees are able to communicate both with one another and with your clients. You should look into a communication system that’s flexible, can be established wherever you are and allows you to keep your numbers. VoIP is a great system, telecommuting is another option as well.
• Coordinate staff. You’re staff drive your business, without them, your business likely won’t be able to run. With the continuity plan you develop, it’s important that you have hard and soft copies of the plan that are accessible to all staff, and staff know their role in the plan. When your plan is enacted you need to contact your staff and ensure that there aren’t any problems.
• Access to critical documents. If you have a good backup location, can set up equipment quickly and staff know their roles you may think your plan is perfect. You’re missing one key element: access to documents, employees won’t be able to work without them. It’s important to ensure that you can access your data backups, which means you should probably keep copies offsite and in the cloud if possible.

A continuity plan is important, hopefully you’ll never have to enact it. Nevertheless, you should plan for the worse. If you’re unsure of where to start, or feel your current plan is inadequate, please contact us.

Disasters happen on a daily basis. Sometimes they’re big, wiping out communities, other times they’re small, affecting one online machine or computer. No matter the size of disaster, it pays for businesses, especially small businesses, to prepare for the worst. The only problem is, many small businesses don’t prepare and pay the price.

When a disaster strikes, 25% or more of small businesses affected will fail. Why do they fail? It’s not because of defects in the physical location, it’s mainly because they didn’t take the necessary steps to ensure that their business’s technology and related data is protected.

Because the modern business relies so heavily on technology, it’s essential that businesses have a business continuity plan (BCP) to minimize the loss of vital data, or in many cases, not lose any data at all. This is an important asset that will, one day, minimize losses felt due to any type of disaster. Small business owners know this, but many don’t know where to start. If you’re one of these owners, here are six tips on how you can prepare.

1. Establish a backup regime. Data backup is one of the most important things you can do, be sure to regularly backup your corporate files, servers and user data files. A truly prepared company will have backups in a number of locations that can be easily accessed.
2. Ensure solid communication platforms. One of the first things people do in a disaster is try to communicate with each other to ensure everything is ok. You can guarantee that some customers and employees will be calling to check in, so you need to have communication lines that work.
3. Train employees. A BCP plan is useless if your employees don’t know their role in the implementation of the plan. It’s important that you train your employees on their roles, and that you communicate with them your expectations.
4. Contingency plans. Like storing your data backups, you should set up contingency plans with the involved parties in your business. You should know where to go to do your banking, what your vendors’ or suppliers’ plans are and how they affect you, and most importantly: you should have a few locations where you can set up your business if the physical property is damaged.
5. Review and practice all plans. Everything changes at one time or another, maybe an employee leaves or you adopt a new computer system. This makes it important to periodically practice your plans, review what worked and what didn’t, and update accordingly.
6. Work with an expert. Planning for disaster is a tough thing to do well, considering all the elements to focus on and work with. To ensure a viable plan for your business, working with a recovery expert can help ensure that you get a plan that works for you while taking the stress off.

If you’re worried about your business’s disaster preparedness, please contact us. We can work with you to develop a solution, or provide you with the information and contacts to set you on the right path.