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| Tech News from FlexITechs | April 21, 2010
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FlexITechs
Celebrating
5th Anniversary!
FlexITechs is celebrating its 5th Anniversary this year.
After two years as the computer services arm of our sister company, Sussex County Online, FlexITechs was formed in 2004 to better define the computer services offered by owner Eric Magill.
We thank all of our customers who have made it possible for us to reach our 5th anniversary! |
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Greetings!
Thank you for your continued interest in FlexITechs. If you'd prefer not to receive our occasional email newsletters, use the "Unsubscribe" link above. Sincerely, Eric Magill, FlexITechs |
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Preparing for Summer Storms
The most catastrophic damage to computers, including fried motherboards and hard drives, is caused by lightning strikes or power outages.
With the thunderstorm season approaching, I thought it would be a good time to review best practices for homeowners and businesses for protecting your computer equipment during such weather events.
The importance of your computer systems to your home or business and your computer systems' power requirements will determine how much money you spend on storm-proofing your technology equipment.
If your computer systems are critical to you, you will want to install battery backups, or Universal Power Supplies, that provide a financial guarantee against damage.
The best thing about the battery backup is it protects against the damage caused by power outages, which are most prevalent during storm season, but can occur any time of year as we saw during this winter's major snow storms.
A UPS will provide lightning protection but most importantly, will keep your computers on long enough to allow you to shut them down normally rather than suffer the trauma of a sudden loss of power.
If you install the software and cabling that come with most battery backups, you can even set your computer system to shut down gracefully by itself. A side benefit is that you'll be able to keep working for 10-15 minutes on the battery while waiting to see if the power comes back on.
A regular surge protector, while effective against lightning strikes, does not protect against damage from a power outage, but if your computer isn't that critical to you, you may prefer to spend $15-$25 on a surge protector than $75 to $100 on a battery backup. Again, look for a surge protector that offers a financial guarantee against lightning damage.
If you haven't replaced your battery backup or surge protector for a few years, it's time to look for another one, as they lose their effectiveness over time, especially if they've been hit by lightning.
Also, in the case of battery backups, remember not to plug laser printers or air conditioners or other high-power devices into them, and be sure the battery backup you purchase is powerful enough to run your computer equipment in the event of a power failure.
You also want to be sure that your homeowners' or business insurance covers storm damage.
For information on battery backups or for a consultation on power protection for your home or business computers, call FlexITechs at 302-537-4198.
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FlexITechs Going to School
As part of our on-going education, Eric Magill of FlexITechs will attend the SMB Nation Spring 2010 conference in East Brunswick, N.J., from Thursday, April 29 through Sunday, May 2, 2010. We'll be unavailable for on-site visits those four days, so if you have any pressing computer issues that need attention, be sure to call me by Tuesday, April 27, to get on my schedule before I go away. SMB Nation is dedicated to furthering the education of Microsoft Small Business Specialists like FlexITechs. This year's conference highlights advanced technologies such as cloud computing, smartphones, Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010 (coming out in July), and IT security. I'll be back in the office on Monday, May 3, at 8 a.m. |
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BizTech Talk -- Acceptable Use Policies
One of the most important documents you can create for your business is an Acceptable Use Policy that details how employees can and can not use the company network's resources, from their workstations to the Internet to printers to flash drives to wireless devices and everything in between.
Without such a document, your ability to discipline employees for improper network usage would be severely limited if an employee chose to contest your disciplinary measure in court.
And don't forget to require that all employees read and sign the document to indicate that they have read and understand the policy and the consequences for violating the policy.
With an Acceptable Use Policy, you state in concise, clear terms what is allowed and not allowed on the network and what the consequences are for violating the policy.
You might, for instance, ban personal use of network resources to alleviate the risk of costly malware infections that can cripple a workstation or steal company or customer information. You might also ban employees' ability to bring in flash drives or other devices that could be used to copy company data or to bring in a wireless access point and attach it to your network, which could make your network available to outside eyes.
You might also state that any personal files on the network become the property of the company and that employees' use of the network will be monitored for possible violations of the policy.
The policy must also declare what consequences will be suffered for violations of the policy, up to and including termination. Failure to state the consequences will likely result in a lost lawsuit if an employee contests your decision.
As an example of how important it is to be clear in your AUP, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that an employee's personal emails to her attorney regarding a potential lawsuit against her employer that had been retrieved by the company's monitoring system were not company property.
The court ruled that the employee had an expectation of privacy due not only to the long-standing tradition of attorney-client privilege, but also because the company's AUP allows "some" personal use of the network, refers to usage of company email accounts but not personal email accounts, and did not notify employees that their personal emails would be collected.
As always with legal documents, you want your lawyer to look over your AUP before implementing it.
For help with developing an Acceptable Use Policy and accompanying Security Plan for your firm, contact Eric Magill at 302-537-4198.
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We thank you for your past business and hope we can continue to fulfill your technology needs in the future. If you have any questions about current technology issues, feel free to contact us at 537-4198. |
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Sincerely,
Eric Magill
FlexITechs
Microsoft Small Business Specialist |
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| Save 10% |
Through May 15, 2010, you can save 10% off the installation of any new computer product (computer, printer, camera, etc.). Call FlexITechs at 537-4198 to set up an appointment.
| Offer Expires: May 15, 2010
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