“Until They Did” or “Why Businesses Will Move Away from MS Office”

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Choice Die
So much of the discussion about Microsoft versus Google and others includes a mention that businesses will not give up using Microsoft Office for other alternatives.  The general wisdom is that Google Apps and other solutions are niche players, but will never have a significant presence in the enterprise.

But are those that ignore history doomed to repeat it?

Not too long ago …

  • Nobody got fired for choosing IBM …. until they did.
  • No business would seriously choose a CLEC over their established telephony carrier … until they did.
  • No IT leader would stake his or her reputation on free Red Hat Linux over Solaris or A/IX … until they did.
  • No business would ever move off of the secure Blackberry network … until they did.

Flash forward to now.

  • Businesses are not going to reconsider their use and licensing of Microsoft Office  … Until …

 

Is Your PC a Dead-End?

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xplogo
While security updates for Windows XP will continue well into 2015, the end of support and non-security updates is less than 50 days away.  According to IDC, as reported by Reuters, shipments of PCs fell 9.85 is 2013 and are expected to drop another 6.1% this year.  As more knowledge workers rely on mobile devices, the need for, and desire for, traditional desktops and laptops is vanishing.

So what is your next move?

If you upgrade from XP, your choices are limited.  Windows 8.x has been soundly rejected as a productivity killer and support challenge by enterprises as well as small and mid-size businesses.  With the expected release of Windows 9 sometime in the next year, Windows to 7 is a dead end.

Even worse, moving off XP triggers a wave of related costs, as your hardware, endpoint protection, Office suite, client access licenses, backup software, etc. must all undergo upgrades at the same time (see our prior post on this topic here).

Maybe, the “same ole, same ole” just does not work anymore.   Maybe, it is time to explore new options.  Here is some food for thought.

Hosted VDI:  Hosted VDI, or virtual desktop infrastructure, environments provide you with your operating system, productivity apps, endpoint protection, disk space, and data protection — as a service.  Rather than capital expenditures, project fees, and on-going maintenance and support costs, hosted VDI services charge monthly fees for the resources you need/use and each user with an account.  Most hosted VDI services (including ours) let you install legacy and custom applications as well.  You get the environment you need without huge expenditures and version lock-in.

Cloud Back Office:  Google Apps is the best example of how businesses can provide back office IT services without building infrastructure.  Leveraging Google Apps as a platform, businesses gain email, communication, collaboration, and productivity services.  As important, Google Apps can provide robust and secure file services and cloud print services.  Beyond replacing your email server, Google Apps can replace file and print servers as well.

L.O.B. Cloud:  With greater cloud acceptance comes greater availability of cloud-based line of business (LOB) applications and systems.  From CRM and service applications to professional service automation (PSA) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, many businesses can find the line of business applications they use in the cloud.  Moving to LOB Cloud solutions, eliminates the need for complex on-premise systems as well as significant operational expense.

New End Devices:  As reported by CNET, Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, says that Chromebooks “have surprised us.”  Here is why. When you move to the cloud, you can change your end-user devices. To access cloud services and hosted VDI, you need an Internet connection and a compatible browser.  Tablets, thin clients, and Chromebooks become viable, lower cost solutions that give users access to the applications and data they need, without the acquisition and operating costs of heavy hardware and the Microsoft ecosystem.

So what is your next move?

Do you follow your current vendors without question?  Or, is it time to look at the innovative options and new market leading solutions?

Do you continue to carry the full Microsoft burden? Or, do you move to nimble hardware and cloud/hosted solutions, renting only the Microsoft environment you actually need?

Leave a comment, below, or contact us to explore your options.

Controls for Hangouts with Outside Parties

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Hangouts Icon
This month added additional admin controls to Hangouts that help improve information privacy and security.

Administrators can now ensure users receive a warning when chatting outside the domain, letting users know that they are now sharing information outside the organization.

Additionally, when set, group chat conversations will split if an outside party is added, keeping previous internal-only communications private.

More information is available in this support post.

Picking a Backup Solution is Missing the Point!

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Data Protection
A 2013 study by The 2112 Group titled “”2013 State of Cloud Backup” found that small and mid-size interest in robust backup solutions more than triples after a significant data loss event, only 54% of SMBs felt that improved data recovery, business continuity, and IT reliability were sufficient motivators to deploy a new or improved solution.

Our perspective, is that focusing on backup misses the point entirely!

As we have blogged in the past: backup is easy; recovery is hard.  More accurately, the ability to recover and restore defines the value proposition.  Everything else about “backup” solutions — including the technology and methods — is irrelevant until you define the value of recovery and restore.

Stop thinking about Backup!  Instead, think about:

Continuity:  The ability for you company to continue to operate at an appropriately effective level during events that disrupt normal operations.   For some businesses, this means zero downtime.  For others, answering the phones and access to email may be sufficient for hours or days, or as an interim state until line of business systems come back online.  Still other businesses may need all systems up and running with 1 or 2 business days.

Recovery:  The ability to gain access to data and systems that became unavailable due to damage or failures.  Whether your disk array fails, a pipe bursts above your servers, or a virus eats through your files, recovery requires repair or replacement before systems and data can be restored.

Restore:  The ability to retrieve a prior version of data or a system.  Most restores are a result of user action or minor system issues.  How far back you need to go and the availability of past versions defines how long it will take to both retrieve the information and for the user to replace lost work, if any.  For some, a daily version meets the need.  For others, going back a day means resource-consuming rework so multiple versions each day are appropriate.

Focus on a building a Data Protection Solution and your required “Return to Operation” (RTO) time.  Remember that different parts of your business, different systems, may have different RTO requirements.

  • Assess your continuity, recovery, and restore needs and priorities
  • Understand the likely and not-so-likely risks to your systems and your business and create a “use case”.
  • Looking at each use case:
    • Identify changes to your IT infrastructure that could mitigate risk
    • Identify the type of solution that can provide the needed continuity, recovery, and restore services
  • Collate the use cases and solution types as your requirements

With requirements in hand, evaluating data protection solutions, technologies, and services becomes a manageable process.  Keep in mind, the data protection solution may include a mix of backup/restore, backup/recovery, archiving, disaster recovery, and other components.

 

3 Alternatives to Google Notifier

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GoogleNotifierInstall
Google Notifier is going away.  But, you do have options for see and preview new Gmail messages, and to receive Calendar notifications on the desktop.

To get started, uninstall Google Notifier before it no longer functions

Unread Email Count at a Glance

Install the Google Mail Checker application for Chrome to see your unread email count at a glance.

Desktop Gmail Notifications

You can setup Desktop Notifications in your Gmail account by following these instructions.

Desktop Calendar Notifications

While still in the Calendar Lab, you can enable Gentle Reminders, which will let you see calendar notifications from your desktop.  To do so:

1) Go to your Calendar’s settings > Labs > Enable Gentle reminders > Save.

2) Go back to the “General” settings page and make sure that “Show floating desktop notifications” is checked.

 

Managing Web Meetings and Hangouts

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As more organizations adopt Hangouts and other web meeting tools, some of the etiquette rules common for in-person meetings warrant an updated (or just a friendly reminder).

Here are 5 ways to better manage web meetings

1) Understand and Manage the Technology

Make sure you understand how to use the technology and take time to hold practice meetings to tune your skills.  In addition to leading the meeting, you may need to manage features such as mute, document sharing, desktop sharing, chat, and questions.  You may also be managing which video feed attendees see by default.  Controlling these features while conducing a meeting takes practice.  In some cases, you may want to have a “producer” work the controls for you.

2) Define Your Purpose and Outcome

All meetings should have a purpose.  Before scheduling the meeting, define your purpose. Whether to discuss an issue, review status, or make decisions, communicate the purpose clearly with invitees and set expectations so that people arrive on time and prepared.

Consider the desired outcome as well.  Who are the key stakeholders and who are the influencers?  What do you want attendees to think or do after the meeting?  Keep in mind that “Deciding between A and B” is a different desired outcome than “Decide to do A and not B”.

3) Be Professional

Preparation is critical.  More than an agenda, provide invitees with appropriate background materials and sufficient time to review and formulate questions or concerns. Solicit input and suggestions of issues that may arise in the meeting so that you may address or alleviate these before the meeting.

4) Make Your Points; Support Your Ideas

During the meeting, present and speak confidently.  It is fine to be assertive, but not aggressive or defensive.  Be clear.  Be concise.  Organize your thoughts and make your point in a concise statement.  Continue with supporting information as needed.

Questions will be asked.  Expect them, be ready to answer, have your supporting facts and opinions, and don’t take them personally.

5) Manage Conflicts and Stay in Control

Conflicts will happen.  While never desirable and sometimes unpleasant, with sound preparation and confident meeting skills, conflicts can be managed.

Understand who is attending the meetings and, as much as possible, their priorities and viewpoints.  After providing an agenda and supporting materials in advance, solicit invitees for issues and concerns.  Don’t wait for the meeting; start to work on resolving them before the meeting.

If conflict is anticipated, or arises during the meeting, step back and introduce more formality.  Refresh the structure of the meeting and how people can best participate.  Keep the meeting focused on the agenda, and control the microphones if needed to maintain order.

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With planning and practice, web meetings will take advantage of the convenience and ability to share information dynamically, without sacrificing decorum and effective outcomes.

 

 

Google Presentations Getting Better with Master Slide

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masterslideSince its launch, Google Docs has often been criticized for its lack of maturity when compared to Microsoft Office. With major upgrades to Documents and Sheets, the gap has certainly closed quite a bit over the past 18 months.

This months, Google Slides takes a giant leap forward as well, with the addition of the Master Slide feature.  With the ability to create a master template, specific to your presentation, you no longer need to edit common elements on every slide.

This video from Google provides and overview and demo.

 

Cloud File Sync & Sharing: Risks and Solutions (Part 3)

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Secure Cloud
This blog post is the third in a series on the data risks and solutions available for file sync and sharing services.

In the first two posts in this series, we focused on some of the risks and basic concepts for file sync and sharing services.  In this post, we focus on ways to mitigate risks.

Provide Employees with an Approved File Sharing Service. As we have noted in our prior posts, if you do not provide an approved service, employees will sign up for and use one of their own.  The difference?  With an approved services, you have access to your employees’ data and clear ownership of the information.  You can also monitor and manage for adoption, usage, and (if desired) adherence to policies.

Have a Clear Policy. Let employees know that personal and company data and systems are to remain separate, and why.  Provide a list of approved file sharing and sync services, as well as a clear an concise statement which other services may not be used (i.e., all others) and why.  The policy should include consequences for violations, along with a means for approved exceptions.

Block or Blacklist Unauthorized Tools. For many organizations without decent web filtering services in place, this recommendation will be difficult to implement.

Audit Workstations for Unauthorized Use.  Beyond application monitoring, when you scan workstations for application inventories, look to see if sync service agents have been installed.

With a moderate planning effort and reasonable monitoring and enforcement efforts, businesses can take advantage of the conveniences that file sharing and sync services offer, without exposing data to unnecessary risk and loss.

 

Cloud Backup: Small Businesses Hesitate at their Own Peril

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Cloud Backup
According to a recent survey of IT service firms conducted by The 2112 Group, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs with up to 250 employees) do not respond to most marketing efforts.  The lack of interest appears to be due to underlying concerns about data security, bandwidth, availability, and recurring costs.

Not surprisingly, SMBs become interested in cloud backup after a data loss or downtime. Having experienced disruption or loss, SMBs better understand the cost of a failed recovery compared with the cost of adequate protection.

Businesses that move to cloud backup sited their primary motivations as:

  • Improved data protection and business continuity (34%)
  • Better overall IT reliability (20%)
  • Reduced IT costs (16%)

The challenge for us, as a cloud solutions provider, is to meet our customers’ objectives while addressing issues of security, bandwidth, availability, and cost.

The challenge for SMBs, as our customer or prospective customer, is to recognize the value of cloud-based backup before a crisis.  And, understand that by offering a range of solutions, we can ensure data integrity while keeping costs in-line.

 

Is Your E-Waste Part of the Solution?

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4thbin logo
According to a recent report by “Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative”, a coalition of United Nations agencies, governments, non-profits, and science organizations, the amount of e-waste generated will increase by a third in just the next five years.

And, unfortunately, much of the e-waste ends up in poor countries, polluting water and food supplies and contaminating poor workers that strip the waste for precious metals without protection from the hazardous chemicals and materials.  If your e-waste is being picked up for free, chances are it’s being dumped.

Your, e-waste, however, can be part of the solution.  By only working with certified e-waste recyclers and handlers.  Look for the e-Stewards and R2 certifications, along with ISO 14001 credentials.

For our customers in the New York metro area, we partner with The 4th Bin for responsible e-waste recycling.  Not in the area?  Contact The 4th Bin; they will help you find an e-Steward certified e-waste processor near you.