Disaster Recovery: The Most Critical Part To Data Backups That Most Companies Overlook

Posted in: Backup & Disaster Recovery, Blog, Featured, Small Business Management Strategies, Small Business Security Strategies by Andrew Moon on August 23, 2011

A few months back tornados ripped through Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, Alabama causing massive devastation. If you were fortunate, you only had to suffer through minor interruptions of utility services, with others paying a far steeper price.  In fact, a colleague of mine who also offers IT services had his office in Joplin reduced to a pile of rubble. This got me thinking about how important disaster recovery planning is to any business. No one expects terrible things to happen, but when they do, having that plan in place can really save your bacon. And one of the MOST important aspects of this is the recovery part – how are you going to get that data back onto a working platform that allows you to continue serving your customers and operating your business. The shocker for most business owners is that simply having a copy of the data does NOT guarantee a fast recovery. Let me give you an analogy to help you understand…

Let’s suppose we put together a disaster recovery plan for your home. Your house would represent the server and platform, and all your furniture and personal items would be the data. Now let’s suppose we could make a backup of your home by making an exact copy of everything that’s in your house (all your furniture, appliances, clothing, etc.) and storing it in a “backup” shed. Then the unthinkable happens: your house gets leveled by a tornado, flood or fire and everything is gone (or a critical part of it is damaged and needs to be replaced). You would think, ”Well, at least I have a copy!” True, but the first thing you would need to do is replace the home itself (remember, that’s the platform that everything resides on). Next you would have to ”reinstall” the services like gas, electricity and water (let’s call that the software). Then you would have to haul everything from the shed back to the house and “reformat” it by arranging it into the house. Depending on the extent of the damage done to your house, that could take days or weeks; chances are you’d have to find a hotel to live out of in the meantime. In addition, there’s the time and cost of moving everything back in and re-arranging and restoring everything to its proper place.

Plus, the above assumes you have a recent, working copy of your entire home and everything in it. If you failed to make a copy – or if the shed where you were storing everything had a water leak that destroyed everything inside due to mold – then you’re really out of luck.

Of course, this is a simple analogy – and there are ways to backup your data and network so that recovery can happen inexpensively in a matter of hours versus days or weeks. But if you simply think having a tape backup is going to be your saving grace, you might be unpleasantly surprised. I can’t tell you the number of businesses who ended up losing incredibly valuable, irreplaceable data because they didn’t think through the RECOVERY part of the backup equation.

So what do you need to think about? First, the way you backup your data should be based on how important your data is and how fast you would need to be back up and running in the event of a disaster. If losing your data would only be a mild inconvenience and you could stand to be down for a couple of days, then tape backups may be okay. If that’s not an option for you and there are certain critical functions that need to happen to keep you from getting into hot water with your customers and to prevent you losing a LOT of cash, then you want something more reliable than tape drives.

The BEST thing to do is contact our office to schedule a strategy meeting to go over your needs and expectations for what should happen in the event of downtime or an outright disaster. That way you know for sure what to expect and – more importantly – how to accurately prepare for a disaster.

Careful! Phishing E-mails On The Rise

Posted in: Blog, Small Business Security Strategies, Technology Quick Tips by Andrew Moon on August 16, 2011

A phishing e-mail is an e-mail sent by a hacker designed to fool the recipient into downloading a virus, giving up their credit card number, personal information (like a social security number), or account or login information to a particular web site. Often these e-mails are well designed to look exactly like an official notification from the site they are trying to emulate.

For example, a recent phishing e-mail was circulated that appeared to come from Facebook stating that videos or photos of Osama Bin Laden’s death were posted online. These e-mails looked exactly like a legitimate Facebook e-mail and even appeared to come from ”Facebookmail.com.” Once you clicked on the e-mail the phishing site would attempt to install a virus on your machine.

And now due to recent security breaches with Sony and e-mail marketer Epsilion, phishing attacks are going to increase – and they are going to get more sophisticated and harder to distinguish from legitimate e-mails. That’s because the hackers that were able to access the private databases of the above mentioned companies now have the name, e-mail and interests of the subscribers, and in some cases birthdays, addresses and more. That means a phishing e-mail can be personalized with relevant information that the user provided to Sony, making the e-mail appear to be more legitimate and the user more likely to click on the links provided and take the actions requested. Now more than ever it’s critical that you are wary of e-mail notifications and the actions they request you take. Even having good anti-virus software installed won’t protect you if you give your account information away freely.

Is Your Head In The Cloud?

Posted in: Cloud Computing, Hot New Tech Products, Trends and Tools, Network Logix News, Small Business Growth Strategies, Small Business Management Strategies by Andrew Moon on August 9, 2011

Cloud computing is coming and it will change the way all companies work.  But can you believe the hype? There’s certainly no shortage of books written about the subject, conferences dedicated to its discussion and everyone seems to have a jargon-laden opinion not to mention a product to sell.

But it’s certainly true – there are plenty of awesome things to say about cloud computing.  The main advantages are:

• You can pick and choose the applications you use and pay for – on demand

• Payment for cloud applications is usually incremental which saves money

• All software updates are automated

• Because the servers are not your own there’s no investment, upkeep or replacement costs

• If your workforce is mobile  they will have better access to company data if you store your data in the cloud

• You can scale up easily by paying for additional application users without capital expenditure

These benefits can save  smaller  businesses plenty of time and money. But for every person who raves about the cloud there are others who talk about the risks. Here are two objections we hear most often:

“But is it secure?”

For our clients, security issues are mainly to do with the security and privacy of information stored. So can you be sure that your data is secure and not at risk from hackers or your competitors’ beady eyes? For most small businesses these security risks are reduced to a minimum by:

• Windows security routinely managing day to day security

• Hosted centres where data is held are highly secure installations that do not routinely allow personnel inside the premises

• Data encryption

“It’s just too new!”

Cloud computing has been seen by many as yet another new distraction – especially when the past couple of years have bought more pressing challenges. With many companies now using the cloud for email, IT support or online data back-up very successfully it’s no longer seen as new or particularly risky. Our advice?

• Start small

• Get some expert help to weigh up the potential savings for your business

• Move parts of your IT infrastructure  to the cloud one at a time.

(If you would like some free cloud consultancy contact us or look out for our new e-course coming soon.)

Is Best Buy’s New Electronics “Buy Back” Program All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

Posted in: Blog, Technology Quick Tips by Andrew Moon on August 2, 2011

You may have heard about the new “Buy Back” program being offered by Best Buy. The premise behind Best Buy’s Buy Back program is simple: Buy a technology product in certain categories – mobile phones (but not pre-paid phones), laptops, netbooks, tablet computers and TVs – from Best Buy, and the store will let you bring it back and receive a portion of the purchase price. Of course, there are “catches.”

First, the Buy Back program isn’t free. Its upfront cost is based on what you’re buying. For example, the Buy Back benefit on a $2,500 TV would cost $349.99. New laptops can run $70 and phones $40 to $60.

Second, Best Buy won’t give you the full purchase price back. The amount is based on the age of the device and the condition it’s in. An item returned within six months will get you a maximum of 50% of the purchase price provided it’s in good condition and you have all the parts. If you wait 18 to 24 months, you’ll get no more than 20% and if you wait 24 to 48 months, you’ll only get 10%.

Finally, you don’t get cash but a Best Buy gift card, which, naturally, can only be used at Best Buy. So is it a good deal? Depends on how of ten you like to upgrade your equipment and how much you frequent Best Buy stores. If you like new things and love Best Buy, it’s probably a great deal. However, there are many critics of the promotion who say the only beneficiary is Best Buy.