IT Security for your business.  It's a serious topic.  But you're covered, right?  I mean, you've got your anti-virus.  Your firewall is...well, it's doing what firewalls do.  And you have to enter a password to get into your computer (the proof of which is on your post-it note cleverly concealed on the side of your monitor).

So you're covered...right?

Let's see.  Our next free lunchinar (Wednesday Feb 18, 11:30-1pm) will talk about developing the strategy that's right for your organization.  The right balance of cost, security and complexity.

Bob here.  Database performance is a fun topic.  "I'm running reports overnight.  They take 3 hours!"  Not necessarily the end of the world (still waiting for me in the morning)."There's a customer on our web site.  It takes 15 seconds to see their order status."  Ok, now we've got a problem.

"Sooooo...let's buy new hardware."  That's the quickest and often the easiest (in terms of justifying the expense) sell to management.  Because more...more cpu, more memory, more disk...that's going to fix it, right?

Not necessarily.  If you're not measuring what was actually happening during those 15 seconds, then you don't know why it took so long.  That's why we have Performance Counters.  Metrics we can get (in real time, if needed) to tell us what's actually going on.  Why it took 15 seconds (or 3 hours, for that matter).  And the conclusions we can come to from these metrics?

Did you like the other article about databases?  The one about SQL Performance Counters?  If you did, then you'll love this upcoming free webinar!

Welcome to our second monthly Database webinar.  Doug Tombow will introduce you to some key concepts as well as provide some understandable examples of what you should be thinking about regarding the performance of your data.

Topics presented:

• Why does Data Performance matter?
• Data Performance is Relative
• Determining Your Required Data Performance Levels
• Monitoring Data Performance

The presentation will be aimed at the non-technical level.

And a lucky attendee will get a free copy of Microsoft Office 2013 Professional!

Click here to see the report and more!

We're happy to announce our February Office Webinar topic:  Visio 2013 Extras

This session is designed to cover more Visio diagrams and features.  We will learn how to create and work with your own stencils.  Create and save background pages and how to apply them to other diagrams.  Did you know you could create calendars in Visio?  How about a project timeline?  Another diagram that is useful is the brainstorming diagram, which utilizes the legend feature.  The legend can be used in a flowchart or any other diagram.

We will learn how to use the container feature.  Create layers in a diagram and import an excel spreadsheet into an organizational chart using the import function.

Click here for more!

Google Glass is dead.

As in Monty Python and the Holy Grail "I'm not dead yet" kind of dead.

As you may have heard, the primary incarnation of Google Glass, the "Explorer" program, was ended last week.  The program is moving to a different division, with different management (more details here).

I'm finally ready to make my opinion officially known about Google Glass. It failed. Very successfully.

And somewhere the Apple Newton will have a friend in tech heaven to hang out with.

Confused?

Ok, some history.  The Newton was the first handheld computing device that was introduced into the mass market (by Apple).  Apple started working on it back in 1987 (this info is both from memory and Wikepedia.

It wasn't really the first PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), but it caught the public's eye.  A complete reimagination of how the user interacts with their computing device (and application).  Remember this was the late 80's and early 90's.  The Internet is at best in its infancy.  eCommerce and the dot com bubbles aren't bubbling yet.  Even Windows '95 isn't out yet.

Read more here.

Hey folks, Brandon here! Something we've talked about to for the past year or so is Ransomware, a type of malware designed to encrypt your files causing you to not be able to access them, then demand a monetary ransom to get access to your files again. Every couple of months there seems to be a new wave of these coming out and one seems to have started going out this week......So of course Steve and I decided to download the latest and greatest in Cryptowall and try it out!

So let's talk about how this new wave of Cryptowall is being distributed and how it works.

Note that this version is using Java to run. When we didn't have Java installed, the virus couldn't do anything. Unfortunately, removing Java from all your machines isn't really a good way to prevent this sort of thing, as it'll cause new issues. The best thing to do is to keep everything up to date, as companies are constantly releasing security updates.

Read more here.

Bob here.  I've had several discussions with companies about how Microsoft is looking to use Lync, along with Skype, to muscle into the telephony world, actually replacing old phone systems (ie, PBX's and the like).

This is a good (somewhat techie) article discussing that very process.  However, most of the discussion is centered on the on site Lync implementations.  I think we're going to see additional movement in late 2015-2016 timeframe where smaller organizations (This article excerpt, by Kevin Keller, originally appeared here.

Microsoft Lync has had a good year in 2014, with a reported 5 million Lync voice seats now deployed and an ecosystem expanding around the tool. This isn't to say there aren't challenges ahead, though, especially as Microsoft moves ahead on its Skype for Business rebranding initiative. Let's take a closer look at this year's highlights and next year's intentions. 

Inside Sales Position for leading IT Managed Service Provider in Hudson, OH

Position responsibilities include executing an Inside Sales Strategy that will result in qualified appointments with prospective customers and that will explore additional opportunities for existing clients. 

 We expect you to become knowledgeable on all the products and solutions we present.  This high-energy, self-paced environment with a high volume of phone calls, email, and orders requires an associate to handle multiple tasks efficiently. Position requires primarily outbound prospecting and cold-calling.

 (Click here for more details)