Click here to read “Virtualization Options for SMBs (Part I)”
To virtualize or not to virtualize? That is the question…
I’m always telling potential clients that the primary difference between their company and large corporations is just size. Their demand for performance, uptime and flexibility is the same along with many of the applications in use. So why shouldn’t small businesses use the same tools as the big companies and make IT more efficient and far less complicated?
As we discussed in Part I of “Virtualization Options for SMBs”, vendors are beginning to focus more on the SMB space by providing the tools and programs to organizations responsible for providing the support that small businesses require.
In Part II, I want to focus on the topic from a more broad perspective and not just servers or applications. I’m thinking of virtualizing IT as a whole. This can include…
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To virtualize or not to virtualize? That is the question… Whether it is better in the minds of small businesses to suffer the unending challenges of solo consultants, physical servers and conventional application delivery, or to take control of their IT infrastructures through virtualization and by doing so ending the cycle of rebuilds, installs and complicated business continuity strategies. To be ridged, to be wasteful, no more.
Small businesses today are starting to pick up on this thing known as “virtualization”, however they struggle with the path they should take and the products to use. So much so that they jump in with both feet without the proper planning required to fully benefit or they shy away from it completely due to a lack of understanding. There appears to be no happy medium at this point within the SMB. There is however a light at the end of the tunnel. Vendors are beginning to focus more on the SMB space by providing the tools and programs to organizations responsible for providing the support that small businesses require.
What does Virtualization mean to your Small Business?
Ask five small business owners and you may get five different answers. In Part 1 of “Virtualization Options for Small Businesses”, I will discuss two aspects of IT that are most often associated with virtualization.
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Seems like magic doesn’t it? Most people haven’t really thought about how it works but they will certainly know when it doesn’t work. There are many stops in the journey of an email before you see that envelope in your system tray, but there is one crucial stop that is worth mentioning – the MX record.
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Everyone in IT has a horror story or two when it comes to office moves. From the 5 year old server not booting up at its new location to the missing keyboards/monitors/printers and no Internet access, many interruptions to businesses can be with eliminated with proper planning and a few of these…..
Tips for a Successful Office Move
1) Order your new Internet/phone lines YESTERDAY
The most common delay in moving into new office space are delays in delivery of your Internet and phone lines from your service providers. However, this can be avoided.
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Beginning on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010, Thrive Networks became aware of an email attack on Salesforce.com users. Those affected first received an email with the subject of “Salesforce: Unauthorized access” and contained a link for the user to reset their password.
These emails are not from Salesforce.com or the Salesforce Systems team. An outside attacker is attempting to compromise the recipients PC by tricking them into clicking a link that will download a malicious file named “salesforce.exe”.
If you have received this email, you are advised to delete the message immediately. If you believe your computer has been compromised, immediately disconnect from your networks and run an anti-virus or anti-spyware application. In addition, have your administrator change the password for your local machine as well as to your Salesforce.com User Account.
Steps to Protect Yourself
There are several things you can do to protect yourself against Salesforce Phishing and Malware attacks in the future:
- Use caution when clicking on links in emails that link to Salesforce.com. Just because the message may say “Click here to Login to Salesforce.com” doesn’t actually mean the link points to www.salesforce.com/login.jsp
- You should always login to SF in one of the following ways
Looking for more information on “How to Protect Yourself from Spyware”? Michael Gray, Thrive’s Director of Network Operations, has some helpful advice. Click here to read more.
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As I left the office tonight, an intense band of thunder storms was moving quickly across Northern Mass/ Southern NH. The handful of fat but lazy raindrops that were falling as I crossed the parking lot had, by the time I reached the highway, turned into sheets of rain which were punctuated periodically by the flashing of lightning. To make matters worse, I had to stop and run an errand. Getting soaked in the process, seemed inevitable.
The rain hadn’t slowed as I stepped out of my car. Upon entering the store, while I made my way towards the back of the store, there was a sudden brown out. Power was never fully lost, but the lights dimmed and flickered for 2 or 3 seconds. Upon making my selections and heading to the counter, it became very clear that I wasn’t going anywhere.
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Click here to read “IT Budgeting for Small Businesses (Part I)”
“Penny-Wise, Pound Foolish” is never the right approach to budgeting. A few phrases we hear in the business world are Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). These phrases should ring true to anyone making a technology decision. This type of analysis should be done for investments in all facets of technology including new technologies, core infrastructure replacement and end user/general maintenance.
It has been my experience that businesses do an excellent job on finding the ROI/TCO for new technologies they will introduce or major server upgrades. However, they often overlook the smaller pieces of technology in their environment. Here are several things that your business may want to consider:
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What is the life expectancy of my server?…
Clients often ask me that question. More often than not, I find myself answering – What types of applications do you plan on running? And how important are these applications to your organization?
As you probably have guessed, email is typically one of the most critical systems to small and medium-sized businesses. Yet it amazes me that while many companies try to squeak four and five years out of their server hardware, they are reluctant to keep that equipment under warranty beyond the original three years that came with it. I’ve heard clients tell me things like “well, it’s been fine for the past three years so it should continue to run normally” or “buying a warranty on an older piece of hardware isn’t worth the money.”
Every time I hear one of those excuses, it makes me cringe. Here’s the reality of the situation…
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