Blog

Email is SO ubiquitous these days, it’s hard to remember how life was before it existed.   In some ways, email is a positive boon, facilitating rapid communication amongst people, regardless of their geographic location.  It’s so easy to send documents back and forth, the fax machine is now gathering dust in the corner.

But there’s a dark side to the email revolution, too.   Here are three ways email can really cause you problems, and things you can do to mitigate them:

1. Email Facilitates Misunderstood Communications
Email communication is inherently different than spoken or “snail mail” communication.  For one thing, when you’re speaking with someone live, (in person, or on the phone), you get constant signals that complement the words you’re hearing.  In addition, you give off signals that clarify the meaning and intent behind your words as well.  Email is so immediate, it’s all too easy to get a message, misinterpret it and fire off an inappropriate reply – all within seconds.

We’ve all experienced the pitfalls to the sterile nature of email communication.  If you get an email that’s all in caps, don’t you feel like you’re being yelled at?  Doesn’t sometimes a witty remark get completely misinterpreted as something else?

To reduce the likelihood of misunderstood messages, slow down.  After you type an email message, take a moment to read it carefully before sending it.
• Are there any ambiguities you’d like to clear up before sending?
• Did you forget to attach a promised document?
• Are you sending to the right person?   (The “auto-fill” feature can be tricky!)
• Messages written while you’re emotional should be allowed to age for at least an hour, and then re-read before sending.   You might only be upset for a few minutes, but what you write while upset will persist.
• Never assume your email message is truly confidential.

I have my Outlook set to a one minute delay once I hit send.  That gives me time to say “whoops!’ and stop it from going – it’s come in handy a number of times!

2. Email is a Common Attack Vector
The scourge of unsolicited commercial email (a/k/a/ Spam) is well known.  It’s estimated that more than 80% of the bandwidth on the Internet is spam-related.  In addition you get phishing attempts (emails that try and trick you into clicking links to provide personal information), email based malware (viruses, worms, etc) and well-meaning, but time-wasting emails from friends.

Avoid phishing attacks and malware by never, EVER clicking a link in an email unless you know and trust the sender – personally.  NEVER click a link in an email that appears to be from a bank, or credit card company, LinkedIn, Facebook or any other online entity.  If you believe your bank really wants you to contact them, call them, or point a browser directly to them to initiate contact.   If you believe someone you know has posted a cool picture you want to see on Facebook, then point a browser directly at Facebook to see it – DON’T click the link.

In general, don’t open or reply to emails that don’t feel right.   You know how your friends write – if the subject line looks “off”, don’t open it – delete it instead.  Create a new message to your friend and ask if they sent an email to you recently.

Don’t pass along those breathless communications about people in need, terrible new laws, amazing facts, free offers, etc. – they’re almost ALWAYS hoaxes.  They don’t really harm anyone, but you’re helping to clog up the internet with drivel.

3. Email Wants To Get – and Keep — Your Attention
It’s hard not to drop what you’re doing when you get a notification of an email.  The urge to read it and respond is irresistible.    We think we can drop what we’re doing, read and respond and get back the main task at hand – but it’s not true.  Multiple studies have shown that multi-tasking makes for terrible productivity.  The concentration you need to do really good work is broken every time you get distracted, and getting back to that level of concentration takes time.

The answer for this is simple – turn off the email notification feature.  Allow yourself times during the day to deal with email, but stay away from it otherwise.   If someone needs to get ahold of you right away – they’ll call.

Email is a great thing – I’m glad we have it.  But we can’t let it run our lives.   Imagine if someone invented a hammer you couldn’t bear to put down – it would be awful.  Email is a little like that: a useful tool, but it can steal your concentration if you let it.

Many technology users consider security methods an impediment to productivity.   Remembering passwords is a pain, and having to change them on a regular basis is a hassle, too.  “Why do I need to worry about this stuff?”, folks wonder.  “I don’t have anything worth stealing!”

“Security by obscurity” is one the Great Myths in IT security.  There IS no obscurity anymore.  Automated programs constantly probe connected systems to look for vulnerabilities to exploit, and even of you don’t have any information worth stealing, having access to your computer can be enough to cause a lot of trouble for you and your company.

One common vulnerability is a weak password.    Malware can automatically try thousands of likely passwords, so you need to make sure your password is unlikely.   A strong password will be at least 8 characters, and have a mixture of alpha, numeric, and special characters.   “But that’s too hard to memorize!”, you exclaim.  Maybe not – here are some tricks for creating a strong password you CAN remember.

Left up to our own choices, a lot of us would choose a password that’s a common word, like a pet’s name, a sports team or something like that.   Let’s start with that.  Let’s say you’re a Giants fan.  “giants” is too short, and it’s a dictionary word that makes it undesirable as a password.   How about TheGiants?  A little better – it’s longer and has lower and upper case alpha characters, but it’s still vulnerable to a brute force attack.   Let’s get some numbers and special characters in there by substituting some characters.  How about “Th@G1ant5”?   You still have your basic mnemonic – your favorite team, but you’ve substituted an @ symbol for the “e” (they look a little similar) and a “1” for the “i”, and a “5” for the “s”.

You can work this trick backwards, too.  Let’s say you wanted to use a phone number as a password.  Terrible idea – a decent hacker would solve it in no time.  But what if you made some odd substitutions?  If your phone number is 5104551020, you could make the password S10_4SS_io2o.  This is a very strong password.

Another common issue with password is social engineering.  This is where someone gets your password through more human-based means.  Someone might call you and say they’re working on your system and need your password to do the work – if you don’t know them, don’t fall for it!    A real administrator would have admin-level rights to your system and shouldn’t need your password at all!  Another common mistake is “hiding” your password under your keyboard.  Really? You think someone doesn’t think to look there first?  Well it’s better than having your passwords on sticky notes on your monitor…

Like a chain only being as strong as its weakest link, your company’s security is only as effective as its weakest point.   There are a lot of tools and devices to protect your network and data, but everyone has to do their part to ensure they’re not making it easier for someone or something to attack your systems.

How secure is your company’s network?   Ask about our free Network Assessment, and make security a part of your business process – today!

Most businesses have some sort of technology infrastructure, and once it gets large and/or complicated enough, that infrastructure needs to be cared for.

For some companies, their needs are modest enough to be handled ably by someone in the office who happens to be technically astute.  Others decide to hire a person whose sole responsibility is caring for the company network and its users.

As the company grows, the IT department often escapes the scrutiny and accountability that most sound businesses require of, say, the accounting or sales departments.   Management knows the company needs the network to operate, but the notion of implementing controls or accountability into the IT department just doesn’t come up.  Technology is looked upon as an expense – the cost of doing business, like light bulbs or copier paper.

This philosophy will work  — up to a point.  As your company grows, you WILL need your IT department to be able to document its processes and report on its activities, in order to control costs, and evaluate staffing needs.    But how can the average small-to-medium size company find, evaluate and install the tools necessary to do this?

IT Service companies use Professional Services Automation (PSA) software to handle incoming services requests, perform triage, assign resources, and track responses, response times, and internal costs of support.    How can smaller businesses, for whom IT Services is NOT their core business, afford such sophisticated tools?

The answer is: Partner with your IT Service Provider.   Many PSA packages are extensible – allowing their clients to utilize their tools to have a dedicated service board, handle internal service requests and escalate to the IT Provider’s team as needed.  If you want your IT department to run like a business, work with a company that runs IT as its core business!

Clare Computer Solutions can extend their Professional Services Automation system for use by clients’ IT departments – enabling smooth integration of the clients’ IT resources with Clare’s helpdesk and field technical staff.  Contact us to find out how this could help your business.

It wasn’t too long ago that companies that had networks controlled the devices used to access the networks.    The devices were terminals or PCs, and they were expensive (and complicated), provided only by the company, and had to meet stringent specifications defined by those who administered the network.  Nobody brought in their own PC or terminal and expected to connect it to the network, any more than they would bring a cubicle from home.

Networks, and the devices that access them (now known as “endpoints”) have undergone rapid transformation in the past few years.   Desktop PCs and workstations are still ubiquitous in office settings, but workers now expect to be able to get on the network when they’re NOT in the office, and they want to access the network in a variety of ways.   They may wish to work on their laptops from home or the local coffee shop.   More recently, they expect to be able to work from tablets (like iPads) and smart phones.

This trend has exploded so quickly, and network access is so easy from such a wide variety of devices, that the choice of device is now driven by the user – NOT the company.   Companies may try to standardize on a specific remote access platform (Androids or iPods or iPhones, for example), but users expect to be able to use the device of their choosing.

The positive side of this trend is, when users get to choose their access devices, they are more likely to take the time to become proficient (and productive) on the devices.   If the devices lack capabilities they need to do their jobs, it exerts market pressure on the manufacturers to constantly upgrade the devices in order to retain and grow their market share.

The negative side of the trend is a lack of control and possibly, a lack of security for the company’s network.   iPods and smart phones are really just little computers, and therefore can become an attack vector for malware.   Network administrators have been fighting the malware fight for a long time, but having a sudden variety of new devices gaining access to company data is a potential for serious security problems.   Cell phones, tablets and laptops are also easy to lose (over 10,000 cell phones are left in taxis in New York every day!) – and the consequences for allowing sensitive uncrypted data to reside on them could be severe.

There’s no way to put the “genie back in the bottle” – consumer-driven demand for endpoint devices is here to stay.  Network administrators will have to adapt, and find ways to manage and secure these devices.   New management tools and policies can allow this wide variety of devices to have easy and secure access to company networks – but companies will have to make sure they stay educated on these technologies.

Clare Computer Solutions can help your company take advantage of the popular new devices, while ensuring network and data access is managed and secure.

The rate of change in technology has always been rapid, but now changes come faster than ever.  This can pose some challenges for companies.   Technology goes from being brand new to being outdated in the wink of an eye! Sometimes, it seems the ink has barely dried on your purchase order for servers or software and it’s time to buy them again!

However, as brief as the lifecycle on technology appears, there is an orderly pattern, and companies can avoid the “sticker shock” and cashflow surprises by implementing a strategy for asset management with a technology refresh plan.

Many companies don’t realize the importance of an IT strategy.  They purchase technology as needed (often reacting to a crisis), then forget about it until it grows old and stops working.   Then they have to act reactively in crisis mode again, and the vicious cycle is repeated.  Cashflow takes a hit from unplanned expenditures, and time and energy are poured into damage control.

With a cogent IT Strategy, any purchase of technology is done after consideration of the company’s immediate needs AND longer term goals.   The long term IT Strategy will also have a plan for scheduled technology refreshes to phase out aging equipment before it fails or underperforms.  On some cases, the refresh may include implementation of newer technologies, such as virtualization or cloud computing.  Implementing these updates before the aging infrastructure causes problems will save money and prevent interruptions in productivity.

Often, the reasons companies don’t have well-developed IT Strategies is that the skill set to create and implement them is not available on staff.  Working with an outside IT Provider can give companies access to CIO/CTO strategic planning, without having to bear the expense of hiring a person with those skills.  Clare Computer Solutions provides CIO-level strategic planning for companies, including technology refresh, budget planning, asset management and long-term strategic planning. This helps businesses compete more effectively, and meet their growth goals through the alignment of business and IT.

Clare Computer Solutions, a San Francisco Bay Area IT service provider, headquartered in San Ramon, California has announced a series of seminars for businesses on the subject of Cloud Computing.

The 90-minute seminars are free and will provide information on how cloud computing can improve efficiency and help businesses to reach their goals and objectives. Attendees will discover how the cloud affects a company’s technology choices and the pros and cons of moving to the cloud.

The seminar series’ initial event was a Lunch’n Learn, “Cloud Computing-What Does It Mean For Your Business?” hosted by Clare Computer and Quest.  It was held in February, and the attendees were enthusiastic about the information that was provided during the fast-paced event.

The same seminar will be presented at a breakfast event on Tuesday, March 20 at 1000 Broadway in Oakland, California from 8:30 a.m. (8:00 a.m. check in) to 10:00 a.m.

“We are offering these free seminars, because we believe it is important for companies to understand the business impact of the cloud as well as how to choose the cloud solution that best fits their business needs,” says Brad Mendonsa, CEO of Clare Computer Solutions.

For more information or to register, visit: http://www.clarecomputer.com/events