E-Newsletter November 2008

Many of you are already familiar with the Small Business Server (SBS) product and use it to run your business on a daily basis. Many of that same group has also been waiting for the release of the new version so that they can finally upgrade their older out of warranty hardware and get the benefits of the latest technology at the same time. We already have multiple projects under way to migrate these customers to the new SBS 2008 platform, so if you’d like us to get you on our list for completion by year end, please reach out and let us know. itSynergy has always been one of the top firms in the world when it comes to SBS and is the only company in the Southwest with a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for SBS on staff.

EBS is a new product to the Microsoft lineup and can be thought of as a ’big brother’ to SBS. EBS has many of the same features as SBS (such as the popular Remote Web Workplace) but also adds additional products and functionality more appropriate for larger companies. EBS is targeted at companies with 50-250 PCs, and unlike SBS which has a maximum user count limit of 75, EBS raises that limit to 300. EBS also is deployed on 3 or 4 servers (depending on whether a customer chooses the Standard or Premium edition) and has much more built in redundancy that is more suited to the larger organizations it targets.

I am VERY proud of some of the bragging rights the itSynergy team has when it comes to EBS. Our team worked very closely with Microsoft and some of our top customers over the last 6 months through Microsoft’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP) to implement EBS in production environments prior to public release. Through that work, we can claim the largest EBS installation in history, the most complex EBS installation in history, the first RTM (final) version installation in history, and the first fully virtualized EBS installation in history. I have no hesitation whatsoever is saying that our team has the most qualified experts on EBS in the world outside of Microsoft.

To help our customers get up to speed with both of these new products and what these products can do for our customer’s businesses, we have set up two LunchCast events next week to give you the low down on both of these new products. I would encourage you to join us for one or both of these webcasts to learn about how these products can add to the strategic advantage created by your technology.

You can read about the events and register here. Please join us!

Have a great month!

Cut Prices in a Sluggish Economy? No Way
by Rieva Lesonsky
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

This economy is really starting to affect my business. Business is down. People around here seem to be staying at home and not shopping. I'm thinking of cutting prices to bring people in. What do you think?

A: Don't do it. Seriously, cutting prices seems to be the first thing entrepreneurs think about when the economy heads into a downturn. The reasoning is that this is the only way to combat the fact that consumers, clients and businesses are spending less.

Generally, however, this is not a smart strategy. It sends a bad message to your customers-they'll likely think you've been overcharging them all along. Or that you're desperate, which will make them wonder if your business is about to go under and if they should start doing business elsewhere.

If you cut prices, your customers may sit around, waiting for you to discount once (or twice) again before actually buying. Another danger is once the recession ends, your clients may object to your newly raised prices. You also don't want to start a price war with your competitors where all players are likely to suffer. And finally, unless you cut your costs as well, cutting your prices will just lead to lowered profitability. And that's a formula for disaster.

So what should you do?

Beware This Latest Threat to Your Personal Identity!

by Scott Jordan, President, DELTEC

It is really too bad, but the reality today is that we can’t be too trusting any more. It seems like there is some criminal around every corner ready to dupe us into giving up personal information and then stealing us blind. The only solution is to be vigilant, and sadly, a little paranoid.

The latest of the schemes already has a name. It is called "vishing." If that doesn’t sound descriptive, don’t worry, it will make sense soon. Many of you may remember hearing of a technique called "phishing", a play on words that basically names a social engineering technique used to steal your identity, or at least parts of it. The phishing technique relied on an email sent to you, apparently from a trusted source, such as Microsoft, eBay, or a major bank, asking you to follow a web link to "reactivate" or "update" your account. The email, link, and everything was cleverly disguised to look very legitimate. However, the link, of course, led to a site that happily collected your personal information directly into a criminal’s database for later sale on the black market. The term "phishing" then was coined as a nomenclature for the practice of fishing for credit cards, social security numbers, bank account numbers, and the like.

Read more

System Engineering Corner Notes from the Network Engineering Department: Note to readers: As our network engineers work with all of you across our entire customer base, they observe trends and issues that many people have in common, or that many customers will find helpful to know about. This section is designed to give them a mechanism to communicate those issues to you, with the hope that YOU might benefit from.

A False Sense of Security

About a month ago, one of our Technology Advisors was talking with a prospective customer about our itSynergize Managed Backup solution. The prospect asked us to provide him with some documentation relating to the security of the data being backed up.

We dutifully provided the requested explanation using all kinds of fancy lingo like "256 bit encryption", "secure tunnel", "datacenter", etc. A few days later, we were sitting around talking about the question and answer and couldn’t help but laugh. It was truly a geek moment as only someone with a deep knowledge of technology would ’get it’, but the reason we were laughing is that it really hit home to us just what a false sense of security the average user of technology has. When someone technical looks at the question of the security of our backup solution, it really is quite funny in light of the big picture.

Here’s why:

Customers are (understandably) worried about the security of the data that our Managed Backup solution backs up. We go to GREAT pains to ensure the security of that solution. The second data hits our backup device it is encrypted. The encrypted data is then transferred over an encrypted connection to the offsite storage location (effectively a belt and suspenders approach). All of that encryption and security means that even if the backup server was physically compromised (i.e. stolen), the thieves would NOT be able to access the data - it would be worthless to them.

That all sounds great you say - but why is that so funny? If you think about most customers, where does their backup device sit? That’s right - right next to the server. And where does the data that is being backed up come from? Right again - the server. So that leads us to the funny part - what good does it do to have such a secure backup solution when the data on the server ITSELF is not encrypted??? In effect, customers are FAR more exposed from a security standpoint by the data that resides on their server BEFORE it is backed up then they are by the data AFTER it has been backed up. So while this prospect was busy worrying about the security of our backup solution, someone could have stolen his server, inserted a common password hack CD to reset the administrator password (all of our engineers carry one for emergencies - it takes about 60 seconds to hack a server) and immediately accessed EVERY piece of data that was there.

The real message here is that this example illustrates that people in general have an EXTREMELY large false sense of security when it comes to technology. Ever send confidential or privileged information or documents to a colleague in the office via email? Who has administrative level access to your system? Have you ever walked by someone’s computer and noticed that one or more programs (or even the desktop) are open and available? Have you ever asked someone walking around your office unescorted that you didn’t recognize what they were doing there? Is your password written down anywhere?

Do you know that administrative level access grants someone access to EVERYTHING on your system - data, documents, emails, etc.? Since most of our customers give us administrative level access to their system, have you asked us what our security policies are lately? Many of you are familiar with our two factor authentication system that we have asked all customers to install - proof positive that we think about these type of things so you don’t have to. But who else (vendors, employees, etc.) has that administrative level access and what are they doing to protect it?

As people ’in the know’ when it comes to technology security, we see the insecurity of technology clearly. We aren’t suggesting putting onerous restrictions in place that make the technology so hard to use it becomes impractical. We simply ask you to think about the security of your data and technology the same way you think about security in other areas of your life. If you lock the doors to your house, lock the car in a parking lot, or have an alarm system (or even a guard dog) then you are already thinking about physical security of the things that are important to you. Might not be a bad idea to put some thought into the security of your data.

Give us a call - we can show you where you are exposed in your environment today and give you the options for plugging those holes!

November 2008
In this issue

 □  Welcome
 □  Cut Prices?
 □  Personal Identity Threat
 □  Engineering Corner
 □  Referral Program
 □  Using Mapping Tools to
     Increase Sales

itSynergy Referral Program

Can we buy you dinner and send you to the movies? How about make a donation to your favorite charity in your name? Earn rewards for referring new customers to itSynergy. For more details, please visit here.
 

4 Tips for Using Mapping Tools to Increase Sales
by Christopher Elliott
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Seeing is believing, at least when it comes to your customers.

Put another way, it's one thing to know your clients - to have a detailed profile of each one in your records. It's another to actually see them. Unless you're taking reliable sales data and plotting it on mapping and analysis tools, experts say you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to increase sales and expand your business.

"Mapping helps you focus," says James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, a Boston marketing strategy and research firm. "If you map, you can find your customers. And once you've found them, you can reach them."

Representing data visually used to be an expensive proposition for a small business. The applications that did it were pricey; the consultants that helped you run the programs were unaffordable. But the Internet, and applications such as Microsoft MapPoint, have made it easier - and cheaper - to get the job done.

When I think of mapping, I imagine military leaders stooped over a giant map of a battlefield. But modern-day mapping is nothing like the War Room - or even pushpins on giant paper charts. Today's mapping systems are inexpensive, and, yes, they're even user-friendly.

Here are four tips for successfully integrated mapping into your business strategies.

1. Begin with reliable data.
"You can't do any kind of forecasting unless you start with good sales data," says Joel Schneider, an independent management consultant and founder of Liberty Technology Advisors in Northbrook, Ill. How do you know if the data you're collecting is adequate? Your back-end accounting system should have several years of sales history. Depending on the kind of business you run, it should include a customer's phone number, mailing address and e-mail address, at a minimum. Preferably, you also should have sales history so that you can project demand from the client. If you aren't capturing that data, now is a good time to start, Schneider suggests.

MapPoint has numerous tutorials that allow you see what kind of data is useful for mapping purposes and then help you prepare your data before you import it into the program. There's also a sample file that's helpful for getting an idea for the different ways in which data can be categorized. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Program Files\Microsoft MapPoint\Samples\, and double-click the SampData.xls file

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Quote of the month

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

--WT Purkiser

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