Busines Networking | Briscoe Network Solutions

Transitioning with Office 365 and SharePoint

November 25, 2011 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

The last couple of years as I learned more about BPOS and SharePoint, I began encouraging small businesses to test and experiment with SharePoint as a document management/collaboration system. To this effort, I’ve posted several notes and “How to videos” illustrating simple uses of SharePoint.

As a collaboration tool, SharePoint has many facets which were illustrated by a real estate company I visited recently. They are an Office 365 business using SharePoint to automate many of the paper shuffling aspects of their business; including maintaining an up to date MLS listing of the current market, their current sales listings, pending sales; plus a reservoir of standard forms/documents needed in the sales process. Further, they are using mobile devices (phones and tablets) to be fully interactive their SharePoint site. I was quite impressed by their ambition and understanding of the potential of the SharePoint tool.

I’m well aware that new technology requires increased understanding and training (me included) but how long did it take you to learn to saw in a straight line, bake you first “perfect” cake or knit a pair of socks. This point is again stressed in a recent a blog posting from Robert Crane (SharePoint) evangelist, http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2011/11/02/it%e2%80%99s-more-than-that.aspx. The defense rests!

Let’s recap:

Office 365 for professionals and small businesses (P-1) is designed for organizations with one to 25 employees and there are a number of assumptions that come with this option. Like with all cloud applications the fundamental selling point is that a business reduces its overhead by eliminating or reducing dependence on an in house server. Originally, the primary reasons behind the marketing of Microsoft Small Business server was giving the staff a company branded email with shared calendars and easy access to shared document. This still is the first assumption of the O-365 (P-1) option. Not only do we reduce the need for an on premises server but the mail server maintenance and spam/malware issues are handled by Microsoft and SharePoint becomes the location for shared documents. The next significant Office 365 selling point is Web Applications; i.e. Word, Excel, Power Point, and One Note, giving users access anywhere to standard Microsoft productivity applications whether they have Office 2010 installed or not. Documents, spreadsheets, or presentations are saved to SharePoint 2010 allowing all collaborators anywhere access.

I like the simplicity of this approach but I’m aware that many small businesses are not that simple. Productivity tools are designed for tasks as needed not just “bells, whistles or hype”. More directly, beyond email and simple document storage, to truly gain the full potential of this technology a little planning is necessary.

Download Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses (Plan P1): Service Description and really read the document. It is easy to get snowed by the technical aspects of SharePoint but stay focused on the potentials for your business needs.
I suggest beginning with a full review of your business processes and outline those steps: What happens when you meet a new contact? Who approves what documents? Who needs to access your inventory? Etc.
Literally, graphically display site pages with stake holder descriptions, processes and workflows. If you’ve organized your current website this is primarily the same process but you are looking from an interactive perspective; i.e., feel, touch, open, view, and contribute.
What technology features will you need to automate you process or who will need to have access to your information and how will they access it? At this point things can get difficult and it may be time to call a SharePoint professional but take note:
- What security needs will you have?
- Who will be accessing your site?
- Why?
- Will you need to create a sub site for each set of users?

Always keep in mind that the vision is yours and the structure must meet your demands; also note that those “demands” will change over time and as you, your staff, and clients become more familiar with SharePoint as it relates to your business.

Learning curve:

Become aware of the limitations for Office 365 P1. Brett Hill of Office 365 has posted a listing of major limitations which you should be aware, http://www.office365answers.com/AllArticles/ID/2344/Office-365s-P-Plan-What-you-must-know.aspx. Note: Brett states that O-365 P1, user account passwords are set not to expire (default 90 days) but that has not been my experience.
This option has no Microsoft phone or ticket support thus you need to become familiar with the Office 365 Community.
The biggest boon for businesses is the capacity to share with external clients and vendors; this presents a couple of issues.
1. Who can access your site? You may invite external users to share your site or documents but they must have a Windows Live ID or Hotmail account to be able to authenticate for accessing any content. See, http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/154/p/12697/57469.aspx#57469. My understanding is that this will evolve in time but I want you to be aware of this issue.
2. How to share. See. http://community.office365.com/en-us/b/the_grid/archive/2011/08/11/how-to-share-sharepoint-online-sites-with-external-users-office-365-grid-user-post.aspx. Also see and view video, http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/152/p/8008/33039.aspx#33039.
3. Site security. Unlike on premises SharePoint that offers a secured socket layer (SSL) for external access, that is not currently available with O-365 P1 SharePoint. Please review the following community posting for how to secure specific site information, http://community.office365.com/en-us/b/the_grid/archive/2011/09/12/office-365-sharepoint-online-sharer-beware.aspx.

I encourage small businesses who are contemplating purchasing or upgrading their server to add Office 365 to their evaluation process; try it for 30 days it’s free!

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Filed Under: Blog, Office 365, Sharepoint Tagged With: Busines networking, Office 365, Sharepoint, small business

Are You Upholding Your Digital Rep? “10 Easy” Steps for Reputation Management

September 22, 2011 By CoreyY Leave a Comment

Reputation management is one of the fastest growing parts of online marketing and that’s most apparent by the number of specialists and companies cropping up claiming to be experts. What they don’t want you to know, however, is that reputation management is no more difficult than the normal PR any small business needs, only done with online resources such as Facebook, Yelp, Twitter and other popular social media sites as well as the Local pages for search engines, such as Google Local.

Social Media is all about interacting with your customers.

At it’s core, reputation management means that you keep appraised of what people are saying online about your business and what your business says back. Managing this digital PR is what gets a bit more complex. What sites do you watch? How can you control how your digital business identity is perceived? The simple answer is that you can’t absolutely control everything that’s said on the internet. You can, however, work at doing all you can to interact positively with customers in as many ways as you can manage.

Reputation Management is about connecting with them.

To help you prioritize, here are some simple steps to get started managing your own online reputation:

10. Ask yourself if you’re willing to make the commitment. Reputation management is a process that takes fairly constant monitoring, and could mean you’re spending anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes on it per day. If you find that you’re not willing to put that much effort in, you’re better off hiring a specialist. Your customers won’t be appreciative of a halfhearted attempt, and you shouldn’t be satisfied with one either.

9. Devise a strategy. What do you want to accomplish with your online presence? It can be anything from wanting to gain more customers through broadcasting promotions using social media to actively making the experience for established customers better through direct interaction. Whether that interaction is through responding to reviews or inviting customers to communicate directly via Facebook is your choice.

8. Don’t Spam. It’s tempting to post every little thing that comes to mind to Twitter and Facebook using a personal account, and it can be much more damaging to indulge that urge with your business account. Try and keep your posting to a healthy balance of minimalistic and timely. Have a sale? By all means, post a short notice with a link to your site! Closed during a holiday? Feel free to wish all of your customers a happy holiday and inform them that you’ll be closed. Do not, however, post 8 different articles about semi-related topics to your industry on top of that. Your customers like to be reminded that you’re around and care about them. They don’t want to feel like you’re dominating their online lives.

7. Make sure you’re registered. Besides Facebook and Twitter, do you know where else customers go to get the lowdown on a company they want to try? (Hint: It’s usually a review site.) Do you have a Google Places listing? What about a Local listing on Bing? Is your Yelp account active, and are you listed on other places such as CitySearch? How are customers supposed to learn more about the customer experience you provide if you don’t give them a chance to see what other customers are saying about you?

6. Get reviews. As I mentioned above, customers want to see what other customers are saying about you before they want to be your patron. Seeing the good, the bad and the “meh” reviews helps them decide if you’re a good fit. So, find ways to get your customers to give you feedback! Even if you train your staff to remind new customers you’d love them to write about their experiences with you can generate reviews for your business.

5. Surveys and testimonials are your friend. There are plenty of companies that offer easy and inexpensive survey services and data collection, and many times, solid customer testimonials can come from these. (My suggestion would be to Google “Online survey tools” and then use common sense in choosing an option. When in doubt, Google the site name. If it’s not legit, someone more than likely has blogged about it.) Simply set some questions that will help you determine if your service is at the level you are happy with, and then leave your customers a chance to make a comment. You may be surprised what you learn.

4. Check your listings! Once you have a Google Places listing, Yelp account, etc, check them regularly. Reputation management at its core is keeping your online reputation as sterling as possible. Unanswered concerns written in online reviews can make you appear uncaring, or in agreement with angry customers. Not checking your listings also doesn’t allow you to utlize the good online reviews can do. Remember, critique is necessary for continued growth and improvement, and unsolicited reviews are an excellent source of honestly. (Of course, they are also an excellent source of insanity, but you should be able to weed the crazy out from the actual reasonable reviews. If you can’t, you may need more help than an article can give.)

3. Don’t Be Afraid. Sure there’s a chance that someone will give you a bad review. In fact, the more customers you ask, the better chance you’ll get a nasty review. You need to let go of that fear right now. The internet is all about having a thick skin, and those of us that deal with customers and not peers must have the thickest skin of all. Remember that you aren’t a person to these angry reviewers. You are a business, and they aren’t happy with you, right or wrong. Take a deep breath, think of the sunny beach you’d rather be on, and move on to the next tip, which is:

2. Responsibly address concerns. Whether you deal with Yelp or the reviews Google and other services collect from their users, there’s generally a way to get in contact with those unsatisfied customers. Yelp lets you privately and publicly address the problem. With Facebook and Twitter, responding to negative comments are only a few keystrokes away. Get your customer service hat on and do your best to be understanding, polite and brief.o not give in to the temptation to put someone in their place. It’s tempting to call someone out for being unreasonable in a public forum, but who does that really hurt? Them for being unreasonable or you for eagerly rising to the occasion to discredit them? Think long and hard about how you want to appear when responding to customer complaints online, and you shouldn’t hit any snags. A good resource is the Yelp Support Center. I find that their advice on how to properly respond to negative reviews nicely covers how you should deal with most dissatisfied customers online. Which brings me to my last bit of advice:

1. Above all else, be mindful! Whether you’re sharing a video on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter or responding to a review on Yelp, stop and think before you press enter. Is what you’re saying going to help your customers? Does it represent your business the way you want potential customers to see it? What will someone that’s never been your customer think? As long as you’re mindful of these questions and keep in mind that you are acting as the face of your business, you can handle your own reputation management with relative ease.

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Filed Under: Blog, Corey's Corner, Customer Relations Tagged With: Busines networking, Corey's Corner

Getting started with SharePoint: Creating a vacation calendar

May 25, 2011 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Imagine my surprise when I visited one of my clients this past week to discover that they had created a staff vacation calendar. They have been using Small Business Server 2003 and now 2008 for about five years and had resisted any suggestion that they look at SharePoint. I had envisioned them using SP as a document repository, or “library” to house a number of business related books and document in PDF format that are currently accessed via CDs. Needless to say this fell on deaf ears; but the calendar is a hit. Well maybe you don’t need a document library or business knowledge base but how about trying calendar? The following two videos demonstrate how to set up a calendar in SharePoint. Keep in mind that SharePoint items can be set to integrate with your desktop Outlook.

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Filed Under: Blog, Business Tools, Office Tools, Sharepoint Tagged With: Busines networking, Microsoft, Sharepoint, small business

The Tablet Race!

March 31, 2011 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Rightly or wrongly I pride myself as not being tantalized and mesmerized by technology gadgets. Not only does my 2 years old+ Lenovo X61 convertible tablet go with me everywhere but it is my office. As much as I like my Lenovo I’ve always longed for a slightly smaller tablet. Note I said tablet not laptop or notebook. The option to write, take notes, or view videos/webinars in tablet mode is most appreciated. Now enter the iPad and the world is agog. It’s not just the iPad but also e-Readers, such as Kindle, Nook, Touch, etc. On a recent plane trip, I couldn’t believe the number of flat tablet sized Internet enabled devices. I plan to replace my Lenovo spring/summer 2012 and now I’ve begun my research. I’d like to share that process with you.

What is a smart phone, tablet, netbook, or notebook? Let’s be honest, there really isn’t much significance in debating nomenclature when discussing web based devices and the line blurs based on what you need or want; the real issue is portability. There is plenty of excitement about apps; but in reality apps are specialty items either for specific users, uses or markets. My primary use for a cell phone is for telephone calls (yes, I like talking to people and find it less confusing), good reception and location availability are my primary concerns. Beyond that email and text are secondary but if reception and availability is fulfilled then the other functions work accordingly.

I’m not a big app person and I don’t listen to music unless walking, writing, or on an airplane; thus apps are not a part of my criteria. For me everything personally and professionally is web based, including my email client (Google Premier), network monitoring and management tools, troubleshooting research (tech support sites), and marketing (Constant Contact, Biznik, and this web site). On the other hand I store documents, and download and test applications which support my business. What do you need your device for?

My Selection Criteria:

Size-10-11″screen. I don’t care what my brother-in-law says and what features are available, you won’t catch me reading “War and Peace” on my smart phone.
Weight- Not an issue for me.
Operating system: Although I’m not opposed to the Android operating system, I’m not app oriented. I need to not only read and edit Microsoft Office documents but I’ll need access to Windows utilities for monitoring or testing client networks.
Ports and connectors: I use external storage devices in my business from storing documents to backing up customer servers to external hard drives. I also run wireless software and USB external hardware for TV and projector viewing thus I’ll be looking for a number of USB ports for these services. In addition, part of my job is testing client wired networks which make an available Ethernet port essential.
Durability: I won’t be carrying my tablet in my hip pocket but it will go with me everywhere and it will need to stand up to being tossed by a haughty TSA agent.

These are my preliminary selection criteria as I look forward to searching for a new tablet; in that same vein, Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal reminds us that 2011 will be the year of the tablet with numerous offerings from all types of manufacturers who see this as a lucrative market.

Beyond my own tablet angst, I found that two of my current Microsoft oriented professional magazines were also getting on board the Tablet train. The Channel Pro magazine provides a high level overview outlining the proliferation of the small form factor PC business as it relates to IT professionals and should give you an understanding of the growth and options available in the PC market.

In the same vein, the Redmond Channel Partner, which targets part of the same tech professional market, looks at the functional aspect of full tablet PCs as it relates to Microsoft and Windows business. Take a look at both articles. I think you will find them informative and if you are like me, will not hurry to buy your next business tablet. On second thought, I still enter contests hoping to win a new iPad2!

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Filed Under: Blog, Business Tools, Trends Tagged With: Busines networking

MS Company Web 2010 video

March 28, 2011 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Recently I had a conversation with my brother who was lamenting that with his company’s mail server upgrade he is no longer able to access his public folder calendars from his smart phone. Given his dismay I was not able to console him regarding his loss. Not to mention that my statements regarding Microsoft’s desire to replace public folders with SharePoint brought no solace. In my final desperation I forwarded the following link which I thought would explain Microsoft’s position better than I could, http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-GB/exchangesvrclients/thread/5549b57c-175e-47c4-991b-8b38117335fb.

From a more healthy position than sibling discourse, is Robert Crane, an Australian SharePoint guru who provides advanced technical information to small business technology consultants such as me. Although I understand Microsoft’s position, the whole cloud computing buzz is about placing everything in your web browser and solving the years old issue of cross platform computing. The primary problem with SharePoint is only a select group of people see its value as a tool. As I’ve mentioned before, my initial attraction to Robert was the fact that he produces good training SharePoint videos which I think help to bridge the learning gap for those interested or starting to explore SharePoint. Let me repeat, “Those starting to explore SharePoint”; as with any technology it is essential that we first understand that we have a need and take the time to learn the new technology. Robert has published an updated video, “Getting started with CompanyWeb 2010”. CompanyWeb is the SharePoint offering included with Small Business Server. Take time and see if you can find a use for SharePoint in your business.

Getting Started With Companyweb

View more documents from Robert Crane

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Filed Under: Blog, Sharepoint Tagged With: Busines networking, Sharepoint

Is Your Wireless Naked? – Continued

January 5, 2011 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Pardon me if I lost momentum during the holiday blitz but I hadn’t forgotten that we are following Brian Posey’s articles on wireless security.

I’ve chosen to follow Brian because he’s a known expert and I want my readers to become familiar with security issues and good technology support sites, but I feel no inclination to repeat Brian’s work and somehow “tweeting” just doesn’t do it. In his December article, Brian focus is on the visibility of your wireless access point, SSID broadcasting and MAC address filtering.

I’ve always thought that MAC address filtering was cool but as Brian points out it isn’t always practical. To the point, many SOHO wireless devices will automatically populate attached network adapter device addresses (MAC address) and give you, the user, the opportunity to “lock in” only those addresses. This is a simple process until Cousin Max or your attorney visits and wants to connect his laptop to your network. My suggestion for businesses concerned about security is: set up a second wireless device which distributes a different range of addresses for non-office computers. If this sounds complicated, call me.

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Filed Under: Blog, Business Tools, Network Security Tagged With: Busines networking, Network Security

Are you ready for the cloud? Part 2

November 17, 2010 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Much of the hype about browser computing is as if it were a great mystery or new slice of bread but most of us are already involved with various forms of “cloud” computing as we check our bank balance; send email using our Gmail, Yahoo, MSN accounts; pay our telephone bill online; review our stock selections; create online photo albums and order books or movies. So the concept of Cloud (browser) computing is not new but rather a different way to leverage the flexibility of internet-based applications. The questions is: will components of cloud computing replace your current hardware/software infrastructure?

One of the innovators in cloud computing that I respect is Scott Barlow, of Reflexion Networks. Scott noted the following in an article in ChannelPro Magazine:

“Technology practitioners increasingly recognize that we are moving toward a purchase/delivery model in which, as former Gartner Group VP Craig Baty observed, customers are shifting from the “acquisition of assets to the acquisition of access.” Of course, what’s driving this shift are the compelling advantages of the model, such as avoiding the time and expense of deploying and maintaining on-premises software and hardware, swapping capital budget dollars for operating budget dollars, and potentially freeing up internal resources for other priorities, even “going green.’“

The assumption is that the hardware and software costs of computer/server, operating systems, and business productivity software can be supplanted by ongoing less expensive monthly subscription web based services. Although we believe this to be basically true it is not all inclusive. Realistically, as a business owner you are looking at two aspects of the situation:

Are there online applications you will integrate into your network to leverage online computing power for a more reasonable cost without the hassles of on-site network hardware or software management?
Can you move all of your network computer functions to the cloud?

The first example is most easily demonstrated by Google Apps with a branded (xxx@yourdomainname.com) email, shared calendars and documents. At $50 per year per user this becomes an inexpensive option for a small company that doesn’t have specialty line of business software. Most significant, users no longer need to be in the same physical location to access work tools. Google Apps and Microsoft BPOS (soon to be Office 365) try to fill that all in one niche and although I think they are quite functional, they aren’t as helpful when specialty applications are needed, sensitive documents need to be stored or there are large capacity needs.

There are a number of specialty apps which can complement both a cloud and/or hardware infrastructure, such as customer relationship management tools such as Salesforce, Sugar CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM; accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online; secure professional document exchange such as Acct1st.com and Experience Denistry; or collaboration tools from 37 Signals. These niche online tools may serve your needs by not requiring additional hardware or software expenses for your network infrastructure; recognizing that the process of “going to the cloud”, doesn’t have to be an all in one solution.

More specifically, my first question is what is your motivation? In tech parlance we often talk about what is your pain, i.e., what is the problem you are trying to solve? It becomes imperative that you become specific about what’s your motivation is and what problem you want to solve. From my point of view this can be two questions.

For example, it’s time to replace your server or upgrade your workstations or even purchase your first server. Traditional thinking would involve the cost of a new server, the cost of migrating data and services from the old to the new, the time commitment for this change and does it involve any down time effecting staff and clients. A more prudent way of looking at the situation would to consider what functions does the server perform?

Is or will you be hosting your email on the server? If so, will this include calendar sharing? Can this function be better served with hosted Exchange or another form of hosted email? Will the online solution integrate with your on-site server? Do you need it to? What is the monthly subscription cost?
Does/will your server host any direct business applications? Are there online offerings from your specialty vendor? Does the online version have the same functionality as the on-site version? Does the online version need to integrate into your on-site software or online email client? Client database? Inventory and price listing? What is the monthly subscription cost?
Many specialty solutions may not work for your business “out of the box” and may need to be customized; can you do the customizations? What are the costs associated with customizing the user interface or database?
Is your server used for document storage and collaboration? How sensitive is the information? Do you need to manage various versions of documents? If so, is there an adequate online solution for this? How much data do you need to store online? What is the security level of the stored online data? Where is it the online data stored?
Does the server manage data backup? Is there a cost effective online backup option? My bias here is that there should always be on site backup for rapid operational recovery and minimum business down time.

You and your technology support person should ask these questions to vendor tech support persons when considering online solutions. Note, I said vendor technology support persons, not the sales person. The motivation for the sales person is often too self-evident but a tech person should know how his/her solution will work with work with your needs and thus minimize the support calls you will have to make to them. We’ve all had some “sales” person offer a product just for pennies a day and that is one of the prime allures for online services, i.e., a subscription based approach is a most cost effective way to handle technology infrastructure. I suggest that you take a long look at the time cost of money. If your server costs you $2500 plus $2500 installation, that is $5000 plus normal maintenance over an expected life time of the server of 3-5 years. On the other hand, an hosted exchange option with SharePoint which costs $14/mailbox, the cost for a 10 user office over 5 years is $8400 plus setup and maintains; whereas, a 25 user office would cost $21000.

In conclusion, we aren’t trying to come up with an outline of specific rules for whether you should “go to the cloud”; because we realize that you are already using various browser solutions in your everyday life. More importantly, we have suggested that you begin taking a serious look at how you use technology in your business. Briscoe Network Solutions runs well with Google premier apps for email for two people ($50/year/person); Constant Contact ($135/year); and Word Press blogging site ($250 setup including hosting). On the other hand, Ebony Knight, Inc. our parent company is server based as we backup documents from workstations, host QuickBooks database, Exchange database, SharePoint, integrated antivirus for the network, and we use a smart host to filter our incoming email. What works for us may not work for you, but asking yourself some key questions can help you find the solution that is both cost effective and compatible with your business needs.

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Filed Under: Blog, Online Tools, Resource Center Tagged With: Busines networking, IT support, Network Assessment, small business

Is your wireless still naked? #2

October 29, 2010 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

In my last wireless post I mentioned that Brian Posey was writing a series on wireless security and rather than duplicate effort I direct you to his latest blog postings on wireless security. Brian reiterates what we discussed in our article about simple security, i.e., most wireless appliances are configured through your web browser and the default user name and passwords are well known and used by everyone. Changing the default password is a simple security step which many techs either don’t configure or forget to configure. The excuses that access to the access point is infrequent and over time passwords may be forgotten only means that the network hasn’t been documented. As to default passwords, as Brian covers in his article, the following chart is a case in point.

Common Wireless Device Browser Access Defaults
Device	Access Address	User-name	Password
Linksys	http://192.168.1.1/	“blank” or admin	admin
Netgear	http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1	admin	password or 1234
Trendnet	http://192.168.1.1	admin	admin
DLink	http://192.168.0.1	admin	“blank” or admin

Now before you get upset that I’ve given up the farm, just think are you using the default passwords with your wireless access points; are you using the default IP address; did you know that this information is readily available from the manufacturers support site? Take a little time, read Brian’s article, and think about it. Are you going to make any changes?

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Filed Under: Backup and Security, Blog, Business Tools, Maintenance, Network Maintenance, Network Security Tagged With: Busines networking, computer maintenance, IT support, Maintenance Plans, Network Security, small business

Is your wireless naked?

October 14, 2010 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

Over the years I have always been reluctant to endorse or install wireless networks for clients, but who am I fooling as I set in my neighborhood coffee shop and begin this post? Wireless networking is fact of life for all of us, so let’s be clear that the primary issue with wireless networks is always security. Wireless network security has two major points of vulnerability: 1. Laptop vulnerability in open networks and 2. Securing wireless access points (wireless routers).

Whether your workstation is wired or wireless it can always be a target for hackers or malicious malware (viruses, Trojans, worms, etc.). All networks should have a physical/hardware firewall separating the network computers from the Internet. Depending on the level of sophistication, the firewall can not only provide separate private addresses for the local network, thus separating the local network from internet, but more sophisticated firewalls can also control or limit the type of inbound and outbound traffic. In many coffee shops and open networks there is no access control except network address translation (NAT) to provide private addresses for multiple machines which allows them to access the internet using one internet connection. This is done to accommodate all wireless users that may come in wanting to use the wireless internet. Some “hot spots” require a web interface logon which may require an additional paid access or some kind of acknowledgment (room number or agreement) which may mean that remote access is better controlled with increased security. In addition, some of these locations may limit remote access Virtual Private Networking (VPN) or remote desktop access (RDP) allowing only web based email or Remote Web Workplace connections. In that case, however, the security is increased.

On the other hand, you are at the local neighborhood coffee shop and what do you do?

Install a personal firewall! The following links provide a list of current personal firewalls including several that are free: http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm#Top_Picks and http://personal-firewall-software-review.toptenreviews.com/. I don’t make any recommendations because other than intrusion defense the various models work differently. Some are configured automatically (my favorite) while others are more technical; if you don’t know what SMB or ICMP means, work with the more easily managed applications.

As stated earlier, I believe all sites whether office or home should always have a physical firewall in place and wireless routers can also serve that purpose. Note that the range can be varied both in function and cost; recently one of the professional magazines to which I subscribe gave a list of 5 quality WLAN (Wireless Local Access Network) adapters: http://www.channelpro-digital.com/channelpro/201009?folio=20#pg22. Take time to do a little research about the appliance you want to buy; besides being rated for bandwidth speed, I recommend that the appliance have a web interface that you can understand and if you are using virtual private networking to access a site make sure that its firewall can be configurable and that it allows VPN pass through. When I encounter a router that I’m not familiar with, I go to the manufacturer site and look at the user manual and view not only technical specs but also how to configure the router for my clients.

Finding the right wireless adapter/access point is only part of the issue when setting up a wireless network. Almost all of the consumer grade products come ready to go, just plug it in and you can reach the internet. Although this can make life simple, an open network is an invitation to trouble; therefore the next step, configure encrypted wireless access. Did you look at how to configure wireless security when you reviewed the user manual? Use WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encrypted security. We aren’t a how to site but take a look at Brian Posey’s evolving discussion regarding Wi-Fi vulnerabilities and how to secure your home or office network: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Securing-Wireless-Network-Traffic-Part1.html. Wireless networks are a fact of all of our lives but there are risks; please play heads up ball.

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Filed Under: Backup and Security, Blog, BNS Services, Maintenance, Network Maintenance, Network Security Tagged With: BNS Services, Busines networking, computer maintenance, Network Maintenance, Network Security, small business

Now is the time for Windows 7

September 1, 2010 By Phill Briscoe Leave a Comment

I’ve been using Windows 7 for over a year at this point and after Vista have been quite pleased. Standard practice for many independent IT pros has been to recommend delaying installing new operating systems until many of the kinks had been worked out. In addition, Windows XP does not have a natural migration path to Windows 7, i.e. clean install. My recommendation was for businesses to wait and replace existing Windows XP computers with new Windows 7 machines; but that was last year. What are we doing now?

Recently, I received several requests inquiring about the cost associated with “upgrading” Windows XP workstations to Windows 7. Well, my hourly rates stay fairly standard depending on the tasks but more importantly: Who am I talking to, what kind of business are we talking about, and what is the condition of the workstations and network? I understand the reluctance to exchange information with a stranger but I don’t proceed unless we can meet and those questions are answered. Given my position I thought I’d take the time to outline several issues about installing Windows 7 Business edition.

First off, if you are a business please purchase Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate for your network. These versions allow for more network flexibility and improved network functionality, printing, and security. Yes, I know Costco, Best Buy, and Fry’s have good deals on various home versions on new computers but purchasing the appropriate version saves us all potential problems down the road when you decide to grow your network or install a server to your network. More specifically, let me highlight a few issues that need to be considered before you consider moving to Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit):

There is no Windows 7 upgrade path for the following operating systems:
1. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP, Windows Vista® RTM, Windows Vista Starter, Windows 7 M3, Windows 7 Beta, Windows 7 RC, or Windows 7 IDS.
2. Windows NT® Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2.
Supported upgrade paths:

From Windows Vista (SP1, SP2)		Upgrade to Windows 7
Business		Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate
Enterprise		Enterprise
Home Basic		Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate
Home Premium		Home Premium, Ultimate
Ultimate		Ultimate

Is your current computer hardware adequate to run Windows 7? I know that your computer is labeled Vista compatible but will all Windows 7 features work? Take time to explore the Windows 7 system requirements. Better yet Microsoft has supplied a tool, Windows 7 Upgrade Advisory tool, this can save you research time and point out hardware limitations and possible hardware upgrades if necessary.
Included in the hardware requirements is driver support for network adapters and video cards. The advisory tool should inform you of this factor but if there is any doubt, check with the hardware vendor and download the appropriate driver before you begin you upgrade or installation. Believe me this will save you quite a lot of time and hassle.
Whether you upgrade or perform a clean install, check to make sure that your favorite line of business software and other applications will work with Windows 7. This is particularly important if you move from 32 to 64 bit hardware. In addition to going to the vendor support website, use your favorite search engine, explore the experiences of other users, and call the vendor if there is any doubt. There is nothing more sad than listening to a client who has their major database in dos, Excel 2000, or FoxPro but doesn’t realize this until they upgraded their entire network and all of their business is dependent on this software. Do you buy the upgrade version of your software; migrate the database to new software; have new software built or start from scratch and manually re-input a lifetime of customer and inventory information?
Whether you are doing a clean install or an upgrade it is essential that you backup your data before you begin. Note: backup will include all of your documents and data but not applications (programs). Also note, that Windows XP backup is not compatible with Windows 7. If you use third party backup tools make sure they are compatible with Windows 7. To facilitate the backup of data prior to moving to Windows 7, Microsoft provides the “Easy Transfer Tool”.
For more complete information about “Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7“, see http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7.

I’ll talk about early adoption later but from here on out as businesses purchase new computers or look to upgrade their networks, Windows 7 is going to be the operating system of choice. Fear of change should not be a guideline as you move forward but advance planning should be your mantra.

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