IT Solutions

October 2009
In this issue

No Room for Risk
Go Virtual
Win Over a Dream Client
Windows 7 Professional
Lock Up Your Servers
Surveillance
Quotes of the Month

Surveillance NOT Just for Spies

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Terms such as surveillance, undercover and covert conjure up images typically seen in a James Bond or Mission Impossible movie. These days, however, there are practical yet affordable surveillance applications and equipment businesses can use to creatively save time and money.

Practical Application #1: “Eyes” for Blind Areas in a Business or for Off-hours.

Picture the typical car dealership with vehicles spanning several rows and often around corners. If some cars are located out of the front desk’s view, a monitoring system can allow employees to multitask more effectively between office paperwork and customer visits. This same dealer could also utilize a camera system to record customers visiting the dealership when closed. If employees recognize a shopper, they can possibly turn missed opportunities into sales.

In addition, businesses selling easy-to-grab and easy-to-hide items, can utilize video surveillance to help alert them when customers enter blind spots. Employees are then able to assist customers while possibly reducing shoplifting concerns.

Practical Application #2: Cameras with Audio Triggers

Consider again the car dealership above – it is possible to have a camera directed on a particular model that is being sold. Whenever someone walks into the camera’s scope, it triggers an audio announcing all of the vehicle’s attributes. This audio feature can be utilized during closed hours, or signage can welcome customers to hear the pitch without talking to a sales person.

Quote from Melissa

I guess the real reason that
my wife and I had children
is the same reason that Napoleon had for invading Russia: it seemed like a
good idea at the time.

- Bill Cosby

1801 Tully Road Suite E
Modesto, CA 95354
Voice: (209) 578 9739
800 845 4628
Fax: (209) 578 5463

When Times are Tough, There’s No Room for Risk

Don't stop fortifying against risk
Four ways to mitigate risk in a tough economy

Every business deals with risk. But medium-sized businesses, with smaller IT staff and tighter operating budgets are often more exposed to risk than larger companies. This reality is never more evident than in a down economy: When the repercussions of a business disruption are as grave as they are, how do you insulate your business from risk?

"For mid-sized businesses, the financial impact of business disruptions is tremendous," said Anil Miglani, senior vice president, AMI-Partners. According to strategy consulting firm AMI-Partners, in 2008 medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion due to security breaches and loss of data.

However, taking the right precautions with your IT infrastructure can help you steer clear of danger. Here are four steps you can take to mitigate risks to your revenue, your reputation, and your investment – all the things that keep you awake at night as you wait for this storm to pass.

Go Virtual? 9 Questions To Ask

Randi Smith-Todorowski's business was in the wrong place at the right time.

Atlas Martial Arts, the business she co-founded in Scottsdale, Ariz., was thriving. But the local economy wasn't. "The enthusiasm was there," she says. "But people were cutting back on luxury items, taking second jobs and traveling for work."

So with the end of their five-year lease imminent, Smith-Todorowski and her partner did what an increasing number of businesses are doing: they took their business virtual.

Into the cloud
It's hard to say precisely how many businesses are giving up bricks-and-mortar storefronts for Web sites, or moving "into the cloud" in tech parlance. Counting them is inherently difficult, says Daniel Meyerov, the chief executive of Los Angeles-based OnlyBusiness.com.

But there's anecdotal evidence from Meyerov and other experts that more businesses are taking a path into the cloud.

"It hit me when I got something in the mail from my alma mater, the University of Florida, about a complete online MBA," says Smith-Todorowski. "The world is really ready for the online Black Belt."

That's when she had the idea of turning Atlas (www.atlasmartialarts.com) into a "virtual" academy. For a monthly membership subscription fee, students would have access to Kung Fu and Tai Chi videos, and could learn their chosen martial art at their own pace. In addition to saving on office rent, Smith-Todorowski and her partner have managed to dramatically expand the reach of their business. "We've been able to enroll members nationwide and internationally from as far as Spain," she says.

Is your business ready to head for the cloud? Here are nine questions to ask before you do.

5 Ways to Win Over a Dream Client

Every business has a dream client — one prospect they'd give just about anything to land.

The gap between that wish and reality can often be substantial. But it's not hopeless. Here are five different issues that may separate you and the customer of a lifetime, along with strategies that may turn your wish list into a working relationship.

1. "I'm working with a competitor."
Most every business has a competitor with a significant client in the fold — one that you'd dearly love to bring into your own. The first step is to avoid the issue of loyalty. No matter if the customer is satisfied or not, they may feel a degree of attachment to a business with which they've worked for some time. Instead, offer a fresh perspective." Ask them if the current company is giving them anything new — fresh ideas or new ways of approaching things," says Alan Weiss, author of "How to Write A Proposal that's Accepted Every Time."

Windows 7 Professional Has Arrived
Keep Your Business Moving Forward with Windows 7 on your PC

Designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, the Windows® 7 Professional operating system delivers a powerful combination of innovation, improved performance, and productivity.

We’re ready to help focus on what matters most, your business, by providing you with a solution that:

Works the way you want. Fast, reliable, and compatible, Windows 7 Professional delivers a solid foundation for running a business in today’s competitive environment.
Helps you get more done. Find what you need quickly, easily connect to your networks, and be more productive—whether you’re at work, at home, or on the road.
Safeguards your work. Keep your business up and running with new security and recovery options that help prevent security threats and data loss.

Lock Up Your Servers!

One aspect often overlooked when securing our information is physical security. The goal of physical security is to control who can walk up to the information and touch it. The idea is to prevent unwanted information disclosure, loss, or corruption, the same as when securing the information across the network or from the internet. The difference is that physical security deals with the “real world".

For most of us, this doesn't mean training your Chihuahua as an attack dog or outfitting your employees with dark shades, cheap suits and sleeve microphones; it simply means using some common sense.

Before we can take measures to physically secure our information, we need to know what type of information needs to be protected. No need to post armed guards around your product catalog after it's been published: it's meant to be seen by others. Before it's published could be a different story as you may not want your competition getting a sneak peek. In other words, we need to classify our information.