Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Don't Lose your Docs!

FACT:   ALL Computer Hard Drives WILL DIE - and along with its data.

It's not a question of if, it’s a question of when.
  
What will happen when your company computer crashes?
What Documents will you lose?

FACT:   The average computer user (in a business) has > 50% of their important data / docs saved on their LOCAL PC.

Thus, when your computer crashes (say a hard drive failure) you are likely to LOSE half of your important files!

If you OK with this, stop reading. 
If you have a problem with this then TAKE NOTE.

I believe this is a real area of concern, and action should be taken to rectify.


I hear SO MANY times:
"If it's not broke don't fix it"  -- Right?              


Sometimes this does apply - BUT in the world of IT - this is WRONG.
I believe, often time it's what you don’t know, that you don’t know, that can really come back and hurt.


You may say, "oh I have a server, and I save all my files there".  While this hopefully is true, for most business they are doing nothing to save all your LOCAL documents. The stuff in 'My Documents', 'My Pictures', etc.

This is especially true if you’re using a laptop.

When you create a new Word doc or Excel file or pretty much any new file and just click 'save', do you know where it goes? By default it will go to your LOCAL computer.

And by default, your LOCAL computer files are NOT BACKED UP!  If you think they are, ask your IT Provider to show / prove they are.

So how do you protect your LOCAL Docs?

The Solution:      Document Redirection.

Document Redirection is not new. It’s a standard feature built into almost all computers and servers in use today. It's just that most don’t use it.


Document Redirection is rather intuitive. Your LOCAL documents in the 'My Documents' folder are redirected to a private folder on the server. In other words, your My Documents are actually on the server. Your LOCAL computer has a sync’d set of these files. Any new files or changes are automatically sync’d live to the server. All in the background without any special action. 

In this manner, when your computer completely fails; I could install a new computer, setup the Document Redirection and WHAM BAM all your My Documents are back :)

This is 100% FREE technology. Your IT Provider just has to care enough about your company and your data to setup and maintain it.

Yes like any other time you use technology as a solution, you are adding some complexity. Thus, adding some additional IT Maintenance is needed. For an experienced IT Provider this should be easily incorporated into their existing IT Maintenance Program.

For all our clients that enroll in the DataCare Program, Document Redirection is automatically configured by us when a computer or user is setup. And all DataCare Clients Document Redirection data is also included in the routine server backups.

Essentially our clients have a double backup of their LOCAL data, opposed to most business who plan to LOSE their LOCAL data.


 
(hopefully you are replacing your computer before it fails. Read more here)


Quick Side note:   It is very common for users to save / download files to their LOCAL desktop.  This is a bad practice. Although there are methods to sync / backup the desktop, they are cumbersome and sticky, thus LOCAL desktop items are NOT protected.

The rule of thumb is 'if it’s on your desktop, be willing to lose it'.

We strongly encourage everyone to save to a Server or your 'My Documents' protected by Document Redirection.

If you want to be Protected and Secure, contact me.
Mention this blog post and I will give you a Data Protection / Backup Evaluation FREE.


Happy Clicking!

Nathan DeSutter
IT Consultant
559-674-1301

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Is your IT a Profit Point? or an Expense?


I Declare that everyone's IT should be a PROFIT POINT and NOT and Expense.

I strongly believe we make our clients more money than IT Support costs.

My methodology is to focus on the "end result".

What's the "end result" ?
The same thing everyone wants for their company = Satisfied Customers, Happy Employees, Enjoyable work environment, and a bottom line to make you smile.  :)

In IT this means:
  • Computers are always working
  • Servers don't go down
  • My Data is always available
  • Peace of mind that everything is safe
  • People can work efficiently
  • Staff is constantly trained in ways to improve their day to day operations.
  • And that's just the tip of the ice burg.....

I summarize this into 3 Value Based Categories:
  1. Downtime Prevention
  2. Our ability to promptly remediate issues that can arise
  3. Making the network and users increasingly efficient


"It is better to Plan and Prevent.....then to Repair and Repent"


How do you "Plan and Prevent" in IT - thus generating Profit?
  • By properly Controlling Changes and actions done on network.
  • Using Powerful Enterprise based tools to ensure the Network is:
      • Safe, Secure, Stable. 
      • Performance Tuned
      • Data backup and servers are monitored
      • Hardware is monitored for health risks
  • Documentation
      • Reduces time to act
      • Makes remediation prompt
      • Provides tracking and planning before failure 
  • Training
      • My entire staff has a Passion to Relentlessly Improve everyone and everything we come in contact with.
      • Users get 1 on 1, Personalized Training
      • If you have ever asked Me (Nathan) or my staff a question, and you're not a better computer user thereafter, tell me and lunch is on me.
  • Exceed Expectations
      • The strategy here is taken from "Man in the Desert".

        In this illustration a man in the Desert NEEDS more than a glass of water. He needs food, clothes, shelter, transportation, care, and more. Thus to exceed our customer expectations we first address / fix the immediate needs. Work to rectify the problem not just the incident. Then we educate, train, plan, prevent and enhance the computer, network, server and YOU the user.

I took my Ideology, Passion, Experience and Methodology - packaged it into what I call DataCare.




DataCare = our Flat Rate IT Support Plan.

Ask any of our existing clients and their staff, and you will hear our methodologies has improved their company.

PLEASE Let me help improve YOUR Company, and increase YOUR bottom line.

Call or email me.

Nathan DeSutter
IT Consultant
Compnology.com
559-674-1301
nathan@maderacomputers.com

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Facebook Addiction

Facebook Addiction
You know you're addicted to social networking when:




Nathan DeSutter
IT Consultant
Compnology.com