Navigating the I.T. Minefield » disaster recovery

Who Do I Recommend for Data Backup?

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:58:31 +0000

Good question. The honest answer is that I don’t recommend any particular vendor. I’m not an affiliate for any service provider. I do this in order to maintain my objectivity…to do what is best for the client, not my wallet.

The solution that is appropriate for a solopreneur might not be appropriate for a law office. What is appropriate for a law office might not be the best choice for a small manufacturing concern. Even among industries, solutions will likely differ.

In 5 Essential Practices of the Best Data Backup Services I described what you should look for in a service provider. Before you start looking for service providers you need to take a look at your data. Here are 4 things I consider before looking at a particular service:

Where is the data stored? Are the files stored on a central server or are they dispersed at various computers?
How is the data used? What percentage of the files are mission critical (business can’t run without them) versus those that are kept for archive purposes?
Does your industry have any special security or backup/restoration requirements (e.g. the ability to recover a single email)?
How long can you be without the data before your business begins to suffer?

Other considerations will arise as you or your service provider examine your data, but these are a good place to start. All of them will impact the cost for data backup. Choose the solution that will best support your business.

Wishing you a safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

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Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America saving them millions to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield.

To download the sample chapter “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/zAcdl . To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Launching an Application for Your Clients

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:20:56 +0000

I have recently spent time talking with early stage companies about application development. They’re all gung-ho to launch their application as a service. They’re giving the developers part ownership in the company. They’re talking to potential clients. You know the excitement!

WHOA! I find that several areas are often overlooked during the development process that leave the business vulnerable.

Define the finished application and determine the cost to develop it. Compare that cost to your estimates for compensation for the developer as an owner. An ownership position in the company may be significantly more compensation than you would have paid to just develop the application. You may be fine with that…just be aware and don’t give away the farm.
Before bringing the developer on as an owner, be sure this person is someone you can work with as an owner. Ending the relationship with an equity partner is not as easy as a Vegas divorce. It can be very messy and painful.
Be sure the application becomes the property of your company, a work for hire. Why? This is to protect you in the event of problems with the developer.
Demand the application developer provide you a copy of all files, processes and documentation for the application. You must protect your business and your clients in the event the developer’s business fails. The documentation must be clear enough that you could hand it to another developer and they could begin supporting your business.
Whether you are hosting the application or it is hosted by the developer, ensure your client’s data is protected (safe from hacking, encrypted, etc.)
If you are not hosting the application on your own servers, ensure the developer or the company hosting it has a disaster recovery plan that has been tested. A SAS70 Type-2 audit shows they have actually tested their plan. A Type-1 audit says the plan works on paper. You need a Type-2 audit.
If you are hosting the application you need a disaster recovery plan. You must protect your clients. If you lose their information you can be subject to a lawsuit.

These are just a few of the areas that can leave a business vulnerable.

Wishing you safe passage through the IT Minefield!

Preparing for 2010

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:18:30 +0000

Tulsa still has a great deal of snow on the ground and roads…and it is not likely to melt away soon. I decided to venture out in my car this afternoon. As I drove to my destination I noticed several pods of cars on the side of the road.

Judging by their positions, I suspect that one car lost control and the others tried to avoid a head-on collision. They were probably moving along just fine; nothing looming on the horizon.

What struck me as I drove is that this often happens to small businesses of all sizes: solopreneur, small home office, small office or small business with fewer than 20 computers. They are simply not prepared for unexpected events. It always happens to the other guy.

So as we get ready to start the New Year, is your business prepared? A relatively “small” incident can destroy your business. While you cannot plan for everything, you can do several things to mitigate the risks and reduce your time to recover. Here are a few different things to consider:

1) Do you have adequate insurance to replace computing and other equipment?

2) Do you have a hardware and software asset inventory to facilitate discussions with the insurance company and your I.T. support personnel?

3) Do you have a good data backup provider?

4) Have you tested the backup by restoring the data?

5) Have you identified the critical processes in your business and created plans that will allow you to function if a resource becomes available?

6) Is your security software up-to-date?

7) Do you have a disaster recovery or business continuity plan?

Take the time to assess your current situation and contact your favorite managed service provider or computer repair technician if you need help. If you don’t have one, feel free to ask questions of @ITMinefield on twitter.

To download the chapter, “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/1VAZRX.

Best wishes for a prosperous 2010.

Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

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If you’d like to purchase a copy of Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

My Laptop Has been Stolen!

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:38:44 +0000

A savvy young executive left her laptop in the room at a hotel she stays at regularly while traveling. It was always safe in the room. She knew the housekeeping crew by name and they knew her (so did hotel management). The laptop was sitting on the desk in plain sight while the housekeeping cleaned the room. The door was open. A man, who apparently was walking up and down the hall looking into rooms, pretended to be her associate. He walked into the room, picked up the laptop and walked out.

Gone. Without a trace.

Laptop theft is more prevalent than you might realize, particularly doing the holiday period. All you (or an employee) have to do is turn your back for a few seconds and a backpack or briefcase will disappear. Sometimes after you’ve done everything right to secure your laptop it will still be stolen. Your data (company/personal financial information, sensitive communications, client communications, and intellectual property) are now exposed to the world. What can you do to protect yourself?

1) Set passwords for accessing the computer. Make it hard for the thief to access the accounts on your computer. Some laptops come equipped with a finger print scanner…consider using it.

2) Set passwords for accessing documents with sensitive information. In Office 2007, you can do this by selecting the Prepare Option, Encrypt Document.

3) Encrypt your data. You can purchase a separate program that will encrypt data on your hard drive, separate and apart from what is available in MSOffice.

4) Backup company data to a remote site. If the only copy is on a laptop, you’re in trouble.

5) Install a program such as Laptop Lojack. There’s a chance you might be able to get your laptop back.

If your laptop is stolen and you didn’t take any preventive measures, then invest in LifeLock or one of the other identity theft protection products.

All it takes is a few minutes and a little forethought to save yourself a lot of future pain.

If you have questions, contact your favorite IT service provider or feel free to DM me @ITMinefield on Twitter.

Wishing you safe passage through the IT Minefield!

___________________________________

This topic is discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America (saving them millions) to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield- Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise.

The Kids are Coming Over…Hide the Computer!

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:31:26 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Time to gather for family, fellowship, food and fun! You may be fortunate enough to have younger children or teenagers running around who are pretty tech savvy. It won’t take long for them to find your computer and start to work amusing themselves. If it gets really quiet you should go check on them.

When you get back to work on Friday (or Monday) you will find that your computer isn’t working as well as it did on Wednesday. You call your relatives to see if you can figure out what happened. You will soon discover that you were visited by the invisible Family Circus gremlins “Not me” and “Ida Know”.

If you can’t lock up your computer or easily hide it, then here are three easy tips to protect yourself and your computer during the holiday gathering.

1) Be sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date. Those kids will take your computer places you never thought about and download “innocent” software. Unfortunately, in their innocence, they will expose your business lifeline to spyware, adware or worse a virus or Trojan. Five minutes could save you a lot of pain or a trip to the computer doctor to eradicate the virus.

2) Create a System Restore Point and note the date and time you did it. How? On many computers, click Start -> Help & Support -> Undo Changes to Your Computer with System Restore. Then click the button Create Restore Point. IF something really ugly happens, you can then restore your system settings to a point in time when you know things were running well.

3) Go to your local office supply store and buy a mini-notebook. It sounds expensive, but if the kids limit their activities to the mini, you’ve spared yourself a lot of pain. If the mini is attacked by a virus, you can easily wipe the hard drive and start over.

Enjoy your time with family and friends this Thanksgiving season.

Leslie

By the way…if you don’t want your Start Task Bar to move (it is frustrating to put it back in place), right click somewhere in the blue area, be sure “Lock the Task Bar” is checked.

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Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America (saving them millions) to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield- Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. http://bit.ly/SNL4W

My Last Upgrade was in 2000. Am I OK?

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:13:42 +0000

OK. Time for all you small business owners and non-profits to fess up: How many of you have an application that is old? I mean really old, say 1999 or older. I know there are more of you out there than the few I visited this year. One client was upgrading 1999 QuickBooks to 2009. We had to send the database to the vendor for help.

All right, I’ll start. I have a desktop that still runs Windows ME with Quicken 2004, Office 2000 and a few other older applications. Norton is out of date, so I don’t connect it to the internet. This computer serves one purpose only…it balances my check book. It also has a couple of other programs that are no longer available. My travelling laptop does not contain financial or sensitive data.

As you can see, I’m not necessarily an advocate of upgrading just because an upgrade is available, but I understand the consequences of my choice. I know that if something really ugly happens to Windows ME or the hard drive I could continue to conduct business.

Every business owner needs to be aware of the ramifications of their choices. I generally don’t recommend ten years between upgrades for anyone. Here are three questions to consider:

1) Is the application stable? If yes, you may choose not to upgrade. It is not impacting your ability to conduct business. However, understand that most vendors only support the two most current versions of an application. If it breaks, they will not feel obligated to provide a fix. You will be forced to upgrade and it may not be as easy as buying the new version and installing it.

2) Is there a special feature in the application that simplifies the tasks performed by my employees or provides us with a competitive advantage? If yes, then upgrade and enjoy.

3) Is the application part of a “mission critical” business process (a process without which your business cannot function)? If yes, then staying current is important for disaster planning purposes. You want critical processes back up and running as quickly as possible.

Often the reason for delaying an upgrade is financial. That’s OK. Just be aware of how your choices impact your ability to do business.

If you have questions, contact your favorite IT service provider or feel free to DM me @ITMinefield on Twitter.

Wishing you safe passage through the IT Minefield!

___________________________________

This topic is discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America (saving them millions) to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield- Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise.

Before Disaster Strikes

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:17:34 +0000

My laptop won’t be stolen. My building won’t burn down. My facility is secure. Our sprinkler system is foolproof. Tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes…not a problem. You might even live in a part of the country that doesn’t experience many natural disasters and crime isn’t high. But you are vulnerable! We all think “that won’t happen to me”. Then when it does, we sit there, dumbfounded and woefully unprepared.

Most small businesses that suffer a significant disruption never reopen their doors. Of those that do, most close their doors within 2 years of re-opening. This is one time it is good to be in the minority. Here are six steps you can take before disaster strikes:

1) Invest the time to at least think about disaster recovery for your business (http://bit.ly/2vAUyO) and start to formulate a plan. If you need help or have questions, please ask your service provider. Feel free to ask me if you don’t have a provider.

Which processes are critical to your business?
Upon which technologies (computers, network, etc.) do these processes depend?
How quickly do you need to have service restored?

2) Backup your data. If you’re using a backup appliance which you bought from the office supply store, be sure you send or take the backup offsite. It doesn’t help you if the data is in the office when it is destroyed.

3) Test your data backup by restoring the data. The time to discover the data won’t restore properly is not in the middle of a real disaster.

4) Get replacement value insurance to cover your computers and network hardware and software. Remember, the cost to replace the hardware and software will be at current prices. A cash value policy will only cover the original cost less depreciation. You could end up spending a lot of money out of your own pocket.

5) Document your hardware and software assets. It simplifies dealing with the insurance company and gives you a starting point for replacing the assets.

6) Secure a service provider to support you if you don’t have in-house support. Recovering from a disaster of any size is a complex task. Most service providers are not able to take on ad-hoc recovery requests. You want someone in your corner before you need them.

These are steps every business can take to reduce the impact of a disaster. You will need to examine your business closely to cover any other gaps. Preparing for a disaster is a little like buying insurance. You may never need it, but if you do it’s great to know you’re covered. To download the chapter, “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/1VAZRX.

Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

___________________________________________

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.