Happy New Year from sunny San Diego! It’s really hard to complain about 70° days in December. I don’t know what happened to our weather the last few weeks but Christmas was more like a summer vacation than the start of winter. Hopefully everyone took some time off got a chance to spend time with friends and family.

The horizon brings exciting new developments from a business and social perspective. Looking into the crystal ball for 2012, we expect to see major changes in mobility, IT infrastructure as a monthly service, virtualization, adoption of cloud technology platforms, and increased “consumerization” of IT in the workplace.

Mobility – Access to information from anywhere you can find internet access has become a reality: information, people, and the office – anywhere, anytime and anyplace. This will grow exponentially as more devices enter the marketplace. Had a video conference meeting from Starbucks lately? Look for improved feature sets on tablets, smart phones, ultra books and other smart devices. Think where you would be today without your iPhone.

IT Infrastructure as a Monthly Service - Why invest large amounts of capital to replace existing business server and infrastructure when you can get the latest and greatest technology for one low monthly fee that can scale to meet the changes your business demands? This will eliminate the 3-5 year hardware refresh cycle while recovering some office space and lowering utility costs.

Virtualization – Server virtualization has been around for a few years now and companies have been adopting this option to reduce capital expenditures and do more with less physical hardware. It’s provided huge savings to companies that have deployed this technology. Now we can look forward to virtualizing the PC desktop and business applications while connecting with our smart devices. Please see the article below titled ‘Six Reasons Small Businesses Need Virtualization’ for a more extensive list of benefits.

Adoption of Cloud Services – “The Cloud”, as it is referred to, is going to see a lot of traction in 2012 as companies look for ways to reduce IT costs, improve profitability with technology solutions and reduce IT risk exposure. “The Cloud” comes in many flavors and will require a different skill set than IT has needed in the past to take advantage of all the benefits this technology can provide.

Increased “Consumerization” of IT in the workplace – Many companies are seeing staff use personal electronic devices to access corporate resources like email, the internet, lines of business systems, etc.; and this will only increase throughout the coming year. While this is a great benefit, it also comes with considerable risk to the company: security, viruses and potential for theft of corporate information.

That is what our technology industry crystal ball shows for 2012. TNCC has invested in these areas throughout 2011 and will also do so in 2012 so we can continue to be a leading IT and business resource for San Diego businesses.

Fred Harrah, CEO
760-744-0442 x 208

Used with Permission from Small Business Trends By Shashi Bellamkonda

We’re in the New Year and the time for making resolutions about health, wealth, family and oddball bucket lists. Don’t forget about making resolutions about your online presence as well. Your website 2012 resolutions should include content, communications, community, conversations and conversion.  The secret of successful small business owners is that they spend more time “on the business” than “in the business.” One of the tools for spending on your business is your web presence.

Small businesses are great at customer service and realize that their next customer will come from a current customer – Word of Mouth. In the digital world word of mouth is “word of mouse” a powerful tool to gain new customers. A new era of marketing is unfolding and digital marketing helps you in your objective to influence behavior to change positively towards you.  The audience who need your product and services are increasingly searching for them online. It is interesting to see how the communication tools are coming together.

Read more…

Used with Permission from Microsoft

These days, it seems that just about everybody uses a laptop or notebook computer to get work done away from the office or on the road. Unfortunately, the pervasiveness of laptop computing has made portable systems an easy target for theft. If your laptop computer is stolen, or if someone gains access to your files while your back is turned, your company information—not to mention your personal and financial data—can be exposed.

Looking for information about security features you can use on your laptop to keep your data safe while you travel? This article covers some of the most pertinent. If you’d like more general security suggestions (whether on the road or at the office), check out 10 ways to work more securely.

Use these 10 tips to learn how you can help protect your laptop from theft when you’re on the road.

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Used with Permission from Spend Matters by Mark Schaffner

Although many would have you believe otherwise, the cloud cannot create world peace. It can’t end hunger, lower taxes, or make your coffee taste better.

Although these specific claims haven’t been attributed to the cloud just yet, the cloud has been so exaggerated and misunderstood that the average organization isn’t really sure of what the cloud is.

If the cloud is not a panacea, what is it? The best and most accurate description I’ve ever heard came from our CTO, Bilal Soylu. The cloud, in his words, is simply another utility, delivering computing as a service, rather than a product.

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Used with Permission from Infusionsoft by Joseph Manna

As an entrepreneur, you’re probably a hunter. A hunter for information, tips, techniques and best practices to manage and grow your small business. The good news is, there is a ton of valuable information out there from authorities on entrepreneurship that you need to be drinking from right now. I’ve narrowed a large list of blogs down to the nine blogs you must read.

What makes a blog a must-read? Frequent updates, fresh content, and amazing information are just the start of what I consider a blog to be a must-read. Stop scavenging and hunt for the best information to grow your business. The truth is, there is a lot of crap out there that will just waste your time. I promise you that these blogs will give you a ton of value.

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Used with Permission from CIO By Paul Mah

If you run a small or mid-sized business, server virtualization promises cost savngs and improved IT efficiency. To help ensure you understand the advantages, we drew up a list of the most tangible benefits that virtualization has to offer small and mid-sized businesses.

CIO — Server virtualization has been around for more than 10 years and while issues such as storage and I/O bottlenecks can still rear their head, the multi-faceted advantages offered by virtualization are real and attainable even if you run a small business—and since your competitors may not have discovered the benefits of the technology yet you may gain a significant competitive advantage. To help ensure you understand server virtualization, we drew up a list of the most tangible advantages that virtualization has to offer smaller businesses.

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The use of social networks has changed the way many people communicate with each other online. In the same vein, internal social networks can also enhance communications within a given organization, but only if the right policies to govern its use are developed and implemented by the company it belongs to.

With the waves created by social networking in how companies do business nowadays, many have also utilized the same principle to develop internal social networks to enhance their in-house communications as well. However, the use of this new medium of communication also requires that companies develop new policies to cover its use.

One concern that may leave you apprehensive about creating an internal social network might be the fear that it could be abused by employees. However, reports have shown that introducing an in-house social network has produced generally positive results.

As long as company policies regarding the use of internal social networks are developed and implemented properly, employees will view such a network as an extension of the workplace, and will try to put their best foot forward. Such policies must specifically tackle the use of the internal social network, and many experts recommend revising existing company rules that govern the use of email, IT resources, and even external social networks. To be on the safe side, it’s a good idea to consult with a lawyer to avoid any legal problems with the policy in the future.

Who’s going to be in charge? Your managers, of course. Since the social network will be for company use, it follows that department heads should be given administrative duties and permissions which they will use for moderating communications and discussions in and pertaining do their respective sections.

While an internal social network can do wonders for your in-house communications, good policies and rules pertaining to its use will be what keep it working like a well-oiled machine.

It doesn’t matter how solid your security system is –any hacker or online thief can figure out a weak password in a couple of hours through trial and error. Don’t risk being a victim of a security breach and data theft. Avoid these passwords that are especially easy to crack.

If you think using ‘password’ as your password is no big deal, then it’s time to rethink.

Security experts have recently compiled a list of the worst passwords users can choose, and ‘password’ is at the very top of the list. Weak passwords make your information more vulnerable simply because hackers can guess them. It may be easier to pick a password that you don’t have to think about, but it’s a choice that you may come to regret.

To help you avoid common password choice mistakes that users make, management application provider SplashData has compiled a list of the 25 worst passwords to use:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

Make a smart password choice
Experts advise using a combination of letters and numbers when creating your passwords, and to avoid things that anyone might be able to guess, such as birthdays and anniversary dates. Passwords with eight characters or more are safer and it’s best to use different passwords for different accounts and websites. Use a password manager to help you keep track of all of your passwords if you’re finding it difficult to remember them all..

No matter how sophisticated your security system is, a weak password gives hackers and online thieves an advantage. Helping all the users in your organization understand the importance of password strength will help you secure the IT systems in your organization.

If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us so we can develop a comprehensive and custom security blueprint that meets your specific needs.

Reference: Worst Internet Passwords

If you are using Windows Gadgets (or those small mini-applications that are embedded on your desktop that show interesting things like the latest news, weather updates, or sports scores), you may sometimes wish you can just quickly hide them to declutter your workspace.

In Windows 7, you can do just that. Simply right-click on the desktop, go to View, and then clear the check mark on Show desktop gadgets. This will hide the gadgets. If you want to bring them back, just restore the check mark again.

Employees using their own mobile devices for work may seem like a good idea at first – it’s less expense for you, the employer, and they can also make employees more productive. However, it also means that you are allowing potentially unsecure devices to access your company’s data. The solution? An effective IT security policy that balances personal freedom to use these devices and your need to secure important business information.

As technology continues to become more affordable and accessible to consumers, it’s an inevitable fact that employers will see more and more of their employees using their own personal devices such as laptops and mobile phones to access the company’s IT system.

This can be a dangerous thing. Since these devices aren’t company owned and regulated, you have limited access and control over how they are used. Employees could download all sorts of malware and viruses on their devices and pass the infection along to your IT system when they access it.

The solution: a comprehensive IT security policy. It’s important that you find a compromise between the freedom of the employee to use the device as desired and your need to keep your IT system safe from viruses and other threats to your data’s security. Steps such as having employees run mobile device management (MDM) software on their devices is one of many actions you can take to lessen the risk of security breaches. You may also want to implement applications and software that check and screen for malware, both for laptops and mobile devices. And don’t forget that while Android seems to have a bigger problem with malicious software, Apple isn’t exactly virus-free, either.

Employees have a right to use their personal devices as they see fit, but not at the expense of important company information stored in your IT system. Running a tight ship in terms of security is an effective way to protect your business interests and your sensitive company data. If you are interested in knowing more about developing a concrete and effective IT security policy for personal device use as well as general system access, please don’t hesitate to give us a call so we can sit down with you and discuss a custom security blueprint that’s just right for you.