MAR 2012 • VOLUME 4• ISSUE 3 • $49.99 CAD How to Determine the True Cost of Any IT Upgrade, Transition or Ad- dition 2 Tech Tip of the Month/The Techie Dictionary 2 How Can Cloud Computing Help You? 3 Social Media Up- dates—FaceBook and Twitter 3 Are Your Employ- ees Using Their Personal Devices To Work? 4 Follow us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/ tdcnet WHAT’S INSIDE… If you aren’t sure about the an- swer to the above question, or if you think it would only be a short period of time, read on. Below are 3 common misunderstandings most business owners have about their data backup that give them a false sense of securi- ty. Misunderstanding #1: Believing That Tape and Hard Drive Backups Are A Reli- able Way To Secure Your Data. Wrong! Tape and Hard Drive Backups have an aver- age failure rate of 100% (no, that’s not a ty- po). What makes this even worse is that tape backups will APPEAR to be working, giving you a false sense of security. Misunderstanding #2: Relying On An Inexpensive, Automated Online Backup Provider To Backup Your Company Data. Tread carefully here and make sure that you’ve really done your homework on your chosen solution. Here are a few questions to ask of any offsite backup provider before you trust your company data with them: 1. Ask if you have the option to have your initial backup performed through a hard copy. With the amount of data on most company’s servers, an initial backup performed over the web can take months to complete. 2. Make sure that database files can be stored and recovered easily. Many cheap online backup services only hold simple office or media files, while ignor- ing your most important database files or making those incredibly difficult to re- cover. 3. Demand daily status reports. Any rep- utable backup service will send you a daily e-mail to verify that everything is backed up. The more professional solu- tions will allow you to notify more than 1 person (like your IT guy) in addition to yourself. Misunderstanding #3: Trusting Your Backup Is Automatically Working With- out Doing Periodic Test Restores. We see this happening a LOT… a business owner thinks their backups are working be- cause they don’t see any error messages or apparent problems. Then, when they need to restore a file (or their entire server), they discover the backups stopped working MONTHS ago and all that data is gone. Luck Is For Leprechauns! Want To Know For Sure If Your Data Is Safe? Our FREE Disaster Recovery Audit Re- veals the Truth… During the month of March we are giving away a FREE Data Backup Audit – a $350 value. At no cost or obli- gation, we’ll come to your office and review your current backup to verify that your data is being backed up properly and could be restored in the event of a disaster. We can also show you the fastest, most reliable way to make sure you NEVER have to worry about losing all your data or being “out of business” be- cause of a natural disaster, virus, hacker attack, hardware failure or other data- erasing disaster. To claim your FREE Data Backup Au- dit, contact us at (416) 913-8998 or visit www.tdcnet.ca/green. But you better hurry because this offer expires March 31, 2012! If your server suddenly crashed and ALL your data was erased, how long would it be before your business was back up and running as usual? A Monthly Strategy Brief with Proven Computer Techniques to Improve the Speed, Security and Performance of Your Company’s Network Managing Uptime
Transcript
MAR 2012 • VOLUME 4• ISSUE 3 • $49.99 CAD
How to Determine
the True Cost of
Any IT Upgrade,
Transition or Ad-
dition
2
Tech Tip of the
Month/The Techie
Dictionary
2
How Can Cloud
Computing Help
You?
3
Social Media Up-
dates—FaceBook
and Twitter
3
Are Your Employ-
ees Using Their
Personal Devices
To Work?
4
Follow us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/tdcnet
WHAT’S INSIDE…
If you aren’t sure about the an-
swer to the above question, or if
you think it would only be a short
period of time, read on. Below are
3 common misunderstandings
most business owners have about their data
backup that give them a false sense of securi-
ty.
Misunderstanding #1: Believing That
Tape and Hard Drive Backups Are A Reli-
able Way To Secure Your Data. Wrong! Tape and Hard Drive Backups have an aver-
age failure rate of 100% (no, that’s not a ty-
po). What makes this even worse is that tape
backups will APPEAR to be working, giving
you a false sense of security.
Misunderstanding #2: Relying On An
Inexpensive, Automated Online Backup
Provider To Backup Your Company Data. Tread carefully here and make sure that
you’ve really done your homework on your
chosen solution. Here are a few questions to
ask of any offsite backup provider before you
trust your company data with them:
1. Ask if you have the option to have
your initial backup performed
through a hard copy. With the amount
of data on most company’s servers, an
initial backup performed over the web
can take months to complete.
2. Make sure that database files can be
stored and recovered easily. Many
cheap online backup services only hold
simple office or media files, while ignor-
ing your most important database files or
making those incredibly difficult to re-
cover.
3. Demand daily status reports. Any rep-
utable backup service will send you a
daily e-mail to verify that everything is
backed up. The more professional solu-
tions will allow you to notify more than
1 person (like your IT guy) in addition to
yourself.
Misunderstanding #3: Trusting Your
Backup Is Automatically Working With-
out Doing Periodic Test Restores. We see this happening a LOT… a business
owner thinks their backups are working be-
cause they don’t see any error messages or
apparent problems. Then, when they need to
restore a file (or their entire server), they
discover the backups stopped working
MONTHS ago and all that data is gone.
Luck Is For Leprechauns! Want To
Know For Sure If Your Data Is Safe?
Our FREE Disaster Recovery Audit Re-
veals the Truth…
During the month of
March we are giving
away a FREE Data
Backup Audit – a $350
value. At no cost or obli-
gation, we’ll come to
your office and review
your current backup to
verify that your data is being backed up
properly and could be restored in the event
of a disaster. We can also show you the
fastest, most reliable way to make sure you
NEVER have to worry about losing all
your data or being “out of business” be-
cause of a natural disaster, virus, hacker
attack, hardware failure or other data-
erasing disaster.
To claim your FREE Data Backup Au-
dit, contact us at (416) 913-8998 or visit
www.tdcnet.ca/green. But you better
hurry because this offer expires March
31, 2012!
If your server suddenly crashed
and ALL your data was erased, how
long would it be before your business
was back up and running as usual?
A Monthly Strategy Brief with Proven Computer Techniques to Improve the Speed, Security and Performance of Your Company’s Network
Managing Uptime
TECH TIP OF THE MONTH
Sorting e-mails in Outlook 1. Click on the column header of the first column you want
to sort (eg. “from”) 2. Click to the second column header by holding the shift
key (eg “received”). Now your emails are first sorted by sender and second by receiving date.
Techie Dictionary
IP Address: A label attached to each device
( e.g. computer or printer) participating in a
computer network. The IP Address indi-
cates where the device is located on the
network.
Recent Post from www.tdcnet.ca/blog How to Determine the True Cost of Any Upgrade,
Transition or Addition
MANAGING UPTIME PAGE 2
We’re often asked about the ROI (return on investment) for technol-ogy. Truth is, we don’t believe you “invest” in technology. Investments are things that provide a measura-ble, quantifiable return for your money. Of course it can easily be argued that technology does provide a return for your money. If you don’t think so, try communicating with your clients and market without e-mail or tracking inventory with pen and paper. And the right technology applied with a smart strategy can certainly give any business owner a strategic advantage in faster delivery of goods and services to customers, greater productivity, lowered production costs and the like. In fact, there aren’t too many businesses that can operate without a few core IT applications. But the reality is that your bank account is going to be a bit lighter after you in-stall that new upgrade or technology, so how do you know if that IT upgrade or project is worth the money? The right way to look at the true price of any IT project or upgrade is to look at TCO or “total cost of ownership” and not just the PRICE of the project or upgrade. For ex-ample, if you buy a car, the price of the car is only one cost of owning it. You also have to consider insurance, gas and routine maintenance like new tires and oil changes to get an accu-rate look at what you’ll pay. Therefore, the total COST of owning a car is far more than just the price tag – and a cheaper car up front can end up costing more in the long-haul if frequent repairs are needed.
In IT, the same principle applies. You have to look at the TOTAL cost of a particular IT decision, not just the price tag, when comparing options. For example, the real cost of not upgrading a network may actually be higher than spending several thousand dollars on new equipment and upgrades when you accurately assess the total cost of maintenance, service fees and poor performance. These days, many business owners are looking at “going to the cloud” because they want to save money. And in many cases, it will do just that, but the cost savings will of-ten come in the form of cheaper devices, less maintenance and low (or no) upgrade costs over a 3 year period – not in a month to month service fee. So before you say “No” or “Yes” to that next IT project, make sure you are taking into consideration the TOTAL cost of your decision, and make sure you are talking to a true pro who understands the difference between the price of something and the total cost.
Follow us on Twitter!
www.twitter.com/TDCNet Follow us on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/company/tdcnet-inc.
MAR 2012 • VOLUME 4• ISSUE 3 • $49.99 CAD Page 3
Where: www.tdcnet.ca/whycloud If you have heard all the hype around cloud compu-
ting but still don’t know what it is and how it can help you, read on…
On Thursday, March 8, we recorded an eye-opening webinar that explained in simple, non-technical terms what cloud computing is, the pros and cons and how it can help you significantly cut the complexity and cost of IT.
You’ll Learn:
In non-techie terms, what is cloud computing and how it can significantly cut your IT support, hardware and software costs. In fact, it can eliminate the need for you to pay for ongoing IT maintenance and up-grades altogether.
5 critical questions you need to ask yourself to deter-mine if cloud computing is a good fit for your compa-ny.
Answers to frequently asked questions about security, where your data is stored, internet speed/connectivity.
How you and your employees can easily work at home or on the road without being saddled with VPN issues, slow connectivity or other problems.
How to have automatic “business continuity” so you never lose data or experience significant downtime due to disasters, viruses, hardware malfunction and human error.
A significant competitive advantage you’ll gain with cloud computing, and why you NEVER want your competition to get there first.
Who Should Watch This Video? C-Level executives and Managers who want to learn
how cloud computing can lower IT costs and provide strategic work flow and operational benefits to their organization. While IT executives are welcome to at-tend, this session will not be a deep five into the tech-nical aspects of cloud computing.
To watch the video, visit www.tdcnet.ca/whycloud
Attention: Free Executive Webinar:
How Cloud Computing Will Cut Your IT Costs,
Eliminate Expensive Computer Upgrades And
Free You To Work From Anywhere On Any
Device
Not Following us on Facebook or Twitter? Here’s what you’ve been missing...
It’s only natural that employees will want to check e-mail and do other work-related activities from home or on the road, often using their own personal devices. But be careful! You could be opening up a serious security loophole by allowing this. Since these personal devices aren’t company owned and regulated, you have limited access and control over how they are used. Employees can easily download malware and viruses and infect your net-work when they connect, send e-mails or transfer files. Another risk is the security of the device. If an employee loses or misplaces a device with confidential cli-ent information on it, it puts a responsi-bility on YOU to notify clients and can lead to a costly PR nightmare or security breach. That’s not to say you shouldn’t allow employees to
use personal devices – but if you do, then you need to make sure these devices are being secured and backed up like every other device in your network. The type of re-
mote security monitoring you need will depend on the device, the information being stored or accessed and the laws regarding the information you store for patients or clients. If you are interested in knowing more about developing a concrete and effective IT security policy for personal device use as well as general system ac-cess, please don’t hesitate to give us a call so we can sit down with you and discuss a custom security blueprint that’s just right for you.
What does the circle in the centre of the Celtic cross represent?
a) The circle of life b) The sun c) Never-ending hope d) Window of opportunity
Remember, first person to
call in with the correct answer wins a Tim Horton’s gift
card! (416) 913-8998
Can you answer the question correctly?
Last month’s question was: Computer Scientist, Tim Bern-ers-Lee is noted for creating? a) The First Computer b) The World Wide Web c) Turbo Tax Software d) Web Conferencing The correct answer was b) The World Wide Web. Last Month’s Winner: No one answered the question right last month. Better luck next time!
