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September
2013
In this issue: |
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Are YOU Compliant? |
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Cloud Computing Right for Your SMB? |
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Protect Your Small Business |
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Avoid Repeating Yourself |
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Gamification |
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Get
Professional Documents |
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Mid Year
Tax Planning |
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Worth a Click! |
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Quote and Cartoon |
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Archives |
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Business Continuity Tip |
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Patch Right |
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Involuntary IT Managers |
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Perfect BYOD Recipe |
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Mobile Ticketing |
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Worth a
Click!
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The first principle is that
you must not fool yourself,
and you are the easiest
person to fool.
~
Richard
Feynman |
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Archives:Click here to view past editions of our
newsletter.
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Business
Continuity Tip
When Lightning Strikes Summer is the peak season for one of the nation's deadliest weather phenomena – lightning. In the United States, an average of 53 people are killed each year by lightning, and hundreds more are severely injured. Agility has assembled the following resources to help prepare both your employees and your business.
Lightning Safety – Educate employees, friends and family on the dangers associated with strong thunderstorms and lightning.
Click here for helpful information on what you can do before, during and after the storm.
Lightning Protection System – Install a lightning protection system (otherwise known as a “lightning rod”) to protecting your building and other assets.
Surge Protectors – To protect your electrical equipment, UL-listed surge arrestors should be installed on the main electrical service panel, as well as incoming phone, cable, satellite and data lines.
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Are YOU Compliant?
Most of us are not, in so many ways! The dictionary
definition of compliant is “inclined to agree with
others or obey rules, esp. to an excessive degree;
acquiescent”. Doesn’t sound like most folks these
days. However, for the newsletter, we’re really
talking about acronym compliance: HIPAA, PCI, SOX,
GMP, FISMA, HITECH, and on and on. While few
companies need to be concerned with all of these,
most companies DO need to consider at least some of
them. Let’s look at two of these that have the most
far reaching implications for many of our readers,
HIPAA and PCI.
HIPAA: Whether you like it or not, agree or not
politically, HIPAA (American Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is with
us, and fines are already being collected for
non-compliance. If you are a healthcare provider,
the implications are much larger than we can cover
in a newsletter. The regulations for this cover a
broad range of topics including:
Read more |
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Is Cloud Computing Right for Your SMB?
This is not a technical how-to – it’s a discussion about where cloud computing is today for small to medium-sized businesses. Is it time for your business to move to the cloud? Where is cloud computing at today?
Read more |
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7 Ways to Protect Your Small Business from
Fraud and Cybercrime
used with permission from SBA.gov
by Caron Beesley
How secure are your small business assets from fraud, identity theft and cybercrime?
According to the
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), companies with less than 100 employees lose approximately $155,000 as a result of fraud each year. Small businesses also have a higher fraud rate than larger companies and non-business owners.
Read more
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Avoid repeating yourself: Create a Word macro
used with permission from Microsoft
by Emily Warn
Repeatedly entering the same information in document after document, over and over...there has to be a quicker way, right? Word macros can save you time (and potentially, some sanity) by automating repetitive tasks.
Read more
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Gamification. Buzzword or the next big thing?
used with
permission from HP Technology at Work
Remember those little gold stars you used to get in elementary school when you did something well? Most kids strive to achieve those stars, even though they have no real value. So, why do teachers reward students with them? And why do students like to receive them?
Read more
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Get a professional document fast with Word's Quick Styles
Have you ever been handed a document and been asked to “clean it up” or “change it to our branding”? It’s a contract, statement of work, or a twenty page proposal. Multiple people have modified and added to it. There are different fonts and font sizes, it’s impossible to tell where sections end and begin... and it will take you hours to comb through it and correct it all.
Read more
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Mid-Year Tax Planning: Do It Now to Save Later
used with permission from SBA.gov
by Barbara Weltman
With just about half of the year already in the books, now is the ideal time to take stock of your business activities year-to-date. This will enable you to take wise tax actions that will pay off on your tax bill when you file your 2013 income tax return next year.
Read more
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Patch right and keep hackers out
used with
permission from HP Technology at Work
In the arms race between network administrators and hackers, battles are fought over the security holes in enterprise software. Your best defence is the patches that vendors release to plug those holes.
Read more
The cloud allows "Involuntary IT Managers" to increase efficiencies
used with permission from the Microsoft SMB Blog
by Cindy Bates
For most small businesses, relying on one person to fulfill multiple business roles is nothing new. From restaurant owners who moonlight as bookkeepers, to shop managers who maintain the email server, keeping a small business running often requires multitasking.
Read more
The perfect BYOD recipe:"Finding the balance between protecting corporate data and providing privacy"
used with
permission from HP Technology at Work
by Mike Jennett, Senior Program Manager, HP Enterprise Mobility
I was just listening to Jon Stewart interview NY Times writer Michael Moss about his new book Salt Sugar Fat and he said something that struck a chord with me. He was talking about the science of creating food and something called the
"Bliss factor." That perfect balance that will ensure that the products are a smash hit with consumers.
Read more
Why Mobile Ticketing is Just the Ticket
Used with the permission of http://thenetwork.cisco.com
by Jason Deign
The paper ticket is fast becoming a thing of the past as travel firms, entertainment companies, and others switch to mobile ticketing.
Read more
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