Running a business is stressful enough without having to constantly worry about technology. Most entrepreneurs and CEOs aren’t IT pros, but typically have an idea about what they need their technology to provide. Namely – automation, communication, and collaboration with customers, staff and partners.

If nothing else, most CEOs know they need the basics – like email and Internet access, along with basic productivity software. But then there are industry specific software choices, and software to tackle project management and CRM. It can get very complicated, very fast.

As a business grows, I’ve seen dozens of ways that entrepreneurs try to address tech challenges – everything from hiring a teenage neighbor who is great with computers to full-time staff.  Then of course there are hourly consultants, or managed services providers. Every business is different, and no answer is perfect.

As a veteran of the IT industry and someone who has built a few businesses myself – and made plenty of mistakes along the way – I’m here to provide a few helpful tips and pitfalls to watch out for when it comes to managing technology and a business at the same time – hopefully while remaining sane and enjoying success.

Top Five Pitfalls

In no particular order, allow me to share a Top 5 list of common IT mistakes I’ve seen made over and over. Try NOT to do anything on this list.

1.) Failing to Back-Up Data Properly

Here’s a sure-fire way to know if you fall into this category. Can you answer the question, “How do you back up your data?” With confidence and clarity? Do you know you’re safe if that server in the closet (that one that might not be properly cooled or protected) crashes or if there’s a fire or flood at the office? Who backs up your data? How often? If you don’t know the answer to this question, go find out. Right away.

And don’t think for a moment that if you are safe if your IT guy takes back-up tapes home every evening. Make sure you run a disaster recovery test at least once a year to make sure you’re safe. Make pretend everything at the office gets wiped out. Can you still operate the next day? The next week?

2.) Lack of Alignment Between Leadership and IT Direction

Like it or not, your technology choices say a lot about your business before you might even have a chance to speak to a customer. Put it this way, have you ever judged a person by the type of laptop he uses or the smart phone he carries? Technology says a lot about your personality as an individual and as a business. You should stop to think about the kind of business you run and whether or not the technology in place supports your vision. If you want a culture of innovation but provide employees with old computers and outdated systems, you might have a hard time pulling that one off. As a business leader, your responsibility is to set a certain tone and set of expectations. Make sure your technology enables your employees to fulfill them or you might be setting them up for failure.

3.) Buying Technology Without a Clear Business Case

Here’s one I see every week. A CEO either gets bad advice or decides for himself that he simply must have a certain new type of software or server solution and pulls the trigger without examining the business case. Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve been to companies where there are more servers than employees? Especially when you’re starting out, you should always investigate pay-as-you-go (or free trial) cloud computing options.

Many times, even full-time, trusted IT staff will steer a CEO wrong when it comes to technology buying decisions. I have seen it time and time again. Someone gets a hold of the latest issue of PC World and convinces the CEO that the business must have the latest software but can’t explain exactly why. No one stops to ask the tough questions like “Why do we need this?” and “What will it deliver?” Don’t just buy for the sake of buying the latest thing, make sure there’s a clear business case.

4.) Failing to Budget Appropriate Dollars and Resources

How do you know how much to spend on IT? Typically, I’ve found that it’s appropriate to spend about 1 to 1.5 percent of annual revenue on IT. This will at least give you a ballpark so you can budget and should include hardware, software, and support. This does not include investment in items like custom development or software applications that might provide specific revenue streams. Problems inevitably arise in any organization of any size when the CEO tries to skimp on IT. It’s the problems that you don’t even know could occur that could put you in trouble. Do your business a favor and invest properly in IT so that your customers and partners can count on you.

5.) Failing to Set Standards for Technology Conduct

Do your employees know what’s expected of them from a technology conduct perspective? Is it OK to use the corporate account for personal email and IM? Do you let employees use Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media sites at work? These are important decisions and discussions you must have. Failing to do so may lead to embarrassing situations or even undetected viruses and problems. My best advice is to follow your company’s culture in setting policies. If you prefer an open, laid back environment, there might be no harm in allowing occasional visits to Facebook, but it’s important to put policies in writing along with protective technologies, and hold employees accountable. After all, that’s your job as CEO.

I hope this list helps you get a handle on some of the key IT challenges and decisions you must face in order to run a successful business. Obviously you’ll run into other problems along the way, but if you set clear expectations, do your homework, and ask the tough questions before buying anything, you’ll be way ahead of the game.

Rick Crane, President & CEO, GoBeyond IT

PROS

1. Email and Calendar are very intuitive. Email has been in the palm of our hands for years with devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Smartphones. However, the iPad takes mobile email to a whole new level. You can scan through previews of each email and select the one you want to read with ease. Another great feature is that when you add applications such as PDF readers, Pages, Quick Office, or iAnnotate, you have the option to open attachments in any of the installed corresponding programs. The Calendar has multiple views, and appointments are color-coded depending upon the type of calendar. For instance, if you have multiple calendars – Personal & Work. Adding an appointment with attendees is simple. Syncing with Microsoft is a no brainer.

2. The ability to take notes with applications called PenUltimate and iAnnotate. I take notes in different digital notebooks and then email the page after the meeting with follow-up, etc. I also like that with the application, iAnnotate, you can actually sign documents without having to print them out. This is critical for someone who needs to sign a lot of contracts or edit/fill out a lot of PDF documents.

4. Ample Battery Life. I got on a plane leaving San Francisco at 7:30AM and got arrived after a layover to Philadelphia at 7:00PM and still had 20% battery life remaining. I would say I worked on the plane, but I mostly played Card Shark.

5. Landscape Feature. The landscape feature makes reading attachments, books, and websites easier.

6. The App Store. Having the App Store readily accessible makes solving problems convenient.

7. Pay for what you need. You are not locked into a contract – you can buy bandwidth as you need it. For example, if you want to go on vacation and you don’t think you will use a lot of cellular that month, you can just stop it. Bandwidth is purchased in Unlimited or 250MB packages.

CONS

1. Flash is unavailable. I realize that this feature was avoided to increase battery life and performance, but I hate that I need to boot up my laptop to surf certain websites.

2. Pages is OKAY. This application is practical for someone who is just creating a basic document. However, if you are trying to edit a word document, it just simply doesn’t work. The document imports with a totally different look and feel.

3. The External USB Keyboard is not efficient. You have to initiate the keyboard every time you want to use it. The feel of the keyboard and the use of it with applications not specifically created by Apple work, but not consistently.

4. A few design frustrations. The glass screen easily displays fingerprints, and the Apple case is durable, but makes it hard to access the side controls.

CONCLUSION

All in all, the iPad is a great tool, but many day-to-day functions leave a lot to be desired.

Rick Crane, President & CEO, GoBeyond IT

Spyware

In response to the staggering growth of spyware, a small industry specialized in anti-spyware software has emerged. Running anti-spyware software has become a widely recognized element of computer security practices for computers.

For instance, statistics have shown that nearly 90% of all computers are affected by spyware. To put it in perspective, that is virtually everyone with an Internet connection!

Protect your personal information and stay safe online by following these quick and easy security tips provided by LAVASOFT:

1. Be sure to have anti-spyware, anti-virus, anti-spam and firewall software, and always have Windows auto-update turned on.
2. Only go to websites you trust. Be cautious of free, file-sharing programs, which are often bundled with sneaky spyware.
3. Read all End User License Agreements and Privacy Statements carefully before installing new software.
4. Never click “Agree” or “OK” to close a pop-up window – that can trigger spyware. Only click on the red “x” in the corner or click on Alt + F4 to close the window safely.
5. Update your software regularly to make sure you have all the latest security updates.
6. Use an updated Web Browser to make sure you’re taking advantage of its current safety features. Firefox or Opera are great alternatives that may help lower your risk of malware attacks.
7. Adjust your Browser security settings to Medium or Higher.
8. Do not let other people use your computer.
9. Be wary of e-mail attachments and links in both e-mail and instant messages. Use caution even when the message appears to come from a safe sender, as identity information in messages can easily be spoofed.
10. Secure sensitive online information through file encryption software.
11. Be cautious about giving out your personal information to anyone. Find out why the information is needed, and if it’s absolutely necessary to give out.
12. Shred digital documents that contain personal or financial information before discarding them. This prevents hackers from bypassing information that has not been permanently deleted from your computer.
13. Choose secure passwords with both numbers and letters. Never use birthdays, family or pet names.
14. Never log into your bank or other financial accounts from public computers or from wireless networks where login information can be stolen.
15. Stay alert to the latest scams. Awareness and caution are effective methods to counter fraud.
16. Share security tips you learn with friends and family.

In addition to the advice above, please check out the list below for specific software programs that we currently recommend to our clients:

Malwarebytes has developed a variety of tools that can identify and remove malicious software from your computer. You can download a free version or the full version, which unlocks more enhanced features.

UnHack Me is specifically designed to detect and remove Rootkits. A rootkit is a program that installs a “backdoor” on a computer or network, giving a hacker full control. It hides files, registry keys, and network connections from your eyes. This program is free, but is usually for more advanced users.

Lavasoft Ad -Aware combats the most complex forms of malware, protecting you from viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, keyloggers, password stealers, and much more. Minimal strain on system resources and advanced real-time detection technology.  A free version is available along with Business, Pro and Plus.

AVG is an anti-virus software that keeps you safe from harmful sites, provides protection against viruses and spyware, and has automatic updates to ensure consistency and efficiency.  There are both free and upgraded versions.

Spy Sweeper provides the most comprehensive anti-spyware solution available – continuous monitoring, advanced detection, automatic defense updates, and free customer support.  Starts at $39.95/year for up to three computers.

Please keep in mind that these programs need to be updated regularly, and not all of them are needed simultaneously. Only one is sufficient depending upon your needs, and some programs can identify more malware than others. We do recommend, however, that if you were to get an “infection” on your computer, that you should run a combination of these programs to ensure all viruses are found and removed.

Surf safely. Secure your network.

What is the other half?  Testing. Testing does two things for your recovery strategy: it identifies weaknesses, and it alerts you to misconceptions about your overall strategy. Weakness in a plan is just that, weakness.  It is common to see people try to gloss over or even hide deficiencies that appear during testing.  Don’t be afraid of the results and don’t avoid them.  Fix them. Finding hidden problems is the point of carrying out exercises and scenarios.  It is so much easier to find solutions to issues in a non-production environment than it is to do it when you are in a real situation.

Misconception is another concept that can be lost in testing.  What I mean by misconception, is you might think that you have an air tight plan.  You know all of your dependencies and have accounted for every possible problem.  Don’t be so sure.  I have carried out testing on a system and had it go smoothly with little issue.  Then the next time I conduct the same test, it fails because one of the dependencies has changed and no one thought to update the plan.

If you have not previously worked in a Disaster Recovery capacity, creating plans and testing scenarios may seem like a difficult task.  It can be.  I will not try and tell you it is not.  Much of the information that is available is not easy to find, and many times what you find is only a portion of an entire concept.  Having no clear starting point and some (but not all) of the information you need, can lead to endless frustration.

One way to make sure that all of your time, effort, and money are not wasted is to employ the help of an outside resource, like a consultant or vendor.  Assistance with planning and testing from an outside company has many advantages: They are 100% focused on your needs and goals.  This means that you will need minimal internal resources to assist. They have gained invaluable experience from working in multiple environments.  Many times an experienced IT services company can provide solutions and offer insights that you would never have thought of yourself. Everything that they offer equals times savings, which can add up to cost savings over time.

Vendors are in the business of supplying solutions. If you purchase a backup or recovery solution from a third party, they will often offer additional services that fall right in line with planning and testing those solutions.  Some vendors will even work with existing recovery plans and integrate their product solution right into it for you.  It is in a solution provider’s best interest to have complementary services like this.

Photo Credit: Network 24

Matthew Shallue, Disaster Recovery Specialist and Systems Administrator, Financial Industry.

You can find more of Matthew’s work on his blog, Disaster Admin.

Hi there.  The name’s Robroy.  You don’t know me, but – can I ask a personal question?  It’s about your medical history.

Have you ever had amnesia?

No?  Me neither.  In fact, I have never even met someone who had it.  And yet, rare as it is in real life, amnesia must be one of the most commonly dramatized illnesses in all of Hollywood.

Goldie Hawn lost her memory in Overboard.  Mickey Rourke lost his memory in Angel Heart.  So did Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic.  And Jim Carrey in … what was that one called … Spotless in Seattle?

Wouldn’t it be great if we had amnesia?  If more companies caught a little case of it?  Think of the benefits.  We could wipe out all of our old excuses.  Starting with the software and technology that runs and grows our business.  You’d take one look at our server racks and say, “Why are we hosting our stuff on company hardware, instead of in the cloud?”

You’d be absolutely right.  With cloud computing, we could get more computer power, instantly, on demand, at a fraction of the cost.

And nobody could say, “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it!”  Because we wouldn’t know that.  We’d have amnesia.

Right?  That Hitchcock classic, Spellbound.  Gregory Peck.  Let’s list some more in the comments below.  Who else had amnesia?

Rob Macdonald, Partner & Senior Consultant, EntreQuest.

Read more Robroy at www.robroysblog.com

The local weather report said “blizzard by week’s end.” As the week progressed, folks were even calling this the “Storm of the Century,” and “Snowmagedeon.” After much consideration, I sent a company-wide e-mail Thursday night, informing them that Friday would be a snow day. You see, a “snow day” for us means that all phones are forwarded, all systems are available via online desktops, and it is business as usual. Our teams can collaborate via Instant Messenger, and we can share files and computer screens using tools like Skype and GoToMeeting, etc. Short of meeting with clients face-to-face, we are still able to conduct face-to-face meetings via webcams and GoToMeeting. I even conducted my first Skype to Skype video interview for a potential Project Manager. I am happy to report she has been hired.

Now, what does it take to create a successful “snow day?” Well, besides 27 inches of snow, you must examine all areas of the operation to determine what job functions simply can’t be done without being present in the office. Additionally, consider what functions can’t be done without utility services to your office. You may ask, “Why start from what can’t be done?” Well, most folks take care of the obvious elements, but forget things like phone forwarding, remote access, client notifications, and alternative methods for simply getting business done.

This snow day has caused us to review our current plan for what we call “work from home,” and determine what worked and what didn’t. I highly recommend, while it is still fresh in everyone’s mind, to have a meeting with key personnel to discuss the impact of the storm on both the business and your employees. Did your employees feel connected? Connected with a purpose? Did they feel out of touch? Or, did they fall right in line?

An idea that resulted from our recent snow day was the ability to train our professional staff online, while working from home. Think about it. Everyone who is in production, accounting, or finance, needs to refine or update their skills every so often. What better time to do this then on a snow day. Another idea was the thought of creating a list of items to do on a snow day. This is a list compiled of things that would be ideal to finish, but are not necessarily high priority. For example, we are currently testing an Online Forms Tool. I spent last Friday working with the service provider in California to set this up. This is something that probably wouldn’t have gotten done without a snow day.

So I ask, how productive was your company’s snow day?

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Rick Crane, President & CEO, GoBeyond IT

Let’s relate this to Golf.

How many times have you been invited to play a new golf course that you have never been on (I apologize if you are not a golfer, but if you are not that is your problem)? First of all, it is exciting to play a new course, and second, you know nothing about the course except what you have heard from someone else.  You step on the first tee, and you bomb the ball right down the middle –“because that’s what you do.” However, when you get to where your ball should be, you find that it rolled into the pond. How did that happen? Well, if you would have visited the course before, you would have known that it was only 220 yards to the water, and you could have hit your 3 iron 200 yards. Instead, you bombed your Driver 240 yards smack dead into the pond. Why did that happen?  Because you didn’t have a plan of attack to play the course – you just showed up, and decided to try and “figure it out.”  You think to yourself, “Oh well, I’ve got 11 more brand new golf balls fresh out of the pack.” Is that the way you would treat your business? How many times do you miss before you look at what is right and what is wrong? That’s all fine and dandy for a Sunday golfer but what do the Pros do? Let’s take a look.

Before Pros even play the course themselves, they send out their caddy to walk the course and take precise measurements. They do this by walking the course forward and backwards. Now, if the goal of a golfer is to get the ball into the hole, where should they start? The hole of course! Looking up the fairway from the hole paints a completely different picture. You are able to see where the course designer strategically placed all of the “obstacles.” However, you may not have noticed these same “obstacles” from the tee box.

Once the caddy has his measurements, he takes this knowledge and directs the Pro to hit the ball from the tee to a very specific location on the fairway (with intentions to set him up to be in the best possible position to hit his next shot onto the green).  The Pro must trust all the information that his caddy has given him so that the only thing left for him to do is to visualize where the ball is going, and then commit to that beautiful swing that he has spend countless hours perfecting. He hits his next shot onto the green, sinks his putt, and makes a birdie. Now, he has to repeat this process 17 more times.

Is this what your sales cycle feels like? How prepared are you for challenges that you can not foresee? Most importantly, how accurate is the information that you have available to you to make good business decisions?

Mike Gillett, Account Executive, GoBeyond IT

I found a tool called Corelytics created by CoreConnex. Corelytics is an application that will enable me to determine what my goals are for the year by using company data from QuickBooks. Hooray! It also compares my financial data against thousands of other service providers just like me.

Corelytics was up and running in about 30 minutes, and I was able to import my QuickBooks data with a few simple steps. There was a need to interact with a Corelytics representative; however, the process was virtually painless. Amazingly, in rapid fashion, I’m now able to evaluate and dissect my QuickBooks data from a much different perspective. This application has already helped me make some key decisions, and it has only been running for 1 day! I am happy to report that the cost was $349.00 for setup, and $49.00 per month.

The second application is Get Satisfaction. This application enables customers to rate your service. It also provides clients with a support portal that has a lot of user interactions. I am excited about Get Satisfaction because I truly think this will help us to connect with our clients. Community based support and client ratings are rapidly becoming the only way people buy a product or service. We will be trying Get Satisfaction, along with other functions of our business, to increase client satisfaction and loyalty.

I am amazed at how fast one can find and implement ideas using applications delivered from the Cloud. The two applications listed above would have taken thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours, and a lot of trial and error to execute in years past. Instead, in the time it takes me to finish a good meal, I have two applications that I couldn’t be happier with. I think you’ll agree.

Rick Crane, President & CEO, GoBeyond IT

Essentially, Green Computing is the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment (whew!). In a nutshell, it is the term used to denote the efficient use of resources in computing.

Now, I’m not the tree-hugging – let’s start a revolution – peace, love & happiness – type (not to sound stereotypical or anything – trust me, I’m not judging). But, I do believe that even the smallest changes and commitments in the way we use computers and technology, do make a big difference in both the environment and our business models. Whether it’s turning off your monitor when it’s not in use, refurbishing and reusing old computers, or server virtualization – we must be proactive in our efforts to help pave the way for green computing. After all, every little “click” counts.

Our Green Resolution for 2010
Over the past six months we embarked on a study which proved that 50% of the time systems were logged on, they remained idle. In an effort to enable our clients to do more with less, we recognized the need to provide them with the same quality of technology, in a quantity that makes sense for their job function. As a proud supporter of Green Computing, GoBeyond IT is proud to announce the launch of the Hosted Hourly Desktop: a fully-hosted Microsoft Desktop that give companies the flexibility to pay for what they need, when they need it. The Hosted Hourly Desktop provides current and future clients with an opportunity to right size their technology – conserving energy and their budget.

What’s your green business resolution for 2010?

Lindsey Paolucci, Marketing Manager, GoBeyond IT

Upon further review, you need to dig deeper to see why their process works so well.  Let’s take a look. Jimmy Johns is a Culture and a way of doing business. Jimmy Johns success lies in the preparation to take care of the customer through proper planning and staffing. When you enter the store you are greeted immediately.  The cashier asks to take your order. Next to the cashier is the “breadman” who listens to the customer and begins to prepare the bread by cutting and garnishing the sandwich. He/She passes the sandwich to their teammate who puts the required meat on the sandwich, and then passes it to a third teammate who wraps it up for the customer. Meanwhile, the “breadman” is listening for the next order. This is all performed in sixty seconds or less.

How is it performed consistently? Two breads, seven meats, one cheese, and freshly prepared tuna.  No soups, no salads, no toasting of the bread, no hot foods. If you want cross selling, you can get chips, pickles, cookies, fountain sodas and bottled water.  That’s it! Jimmy Johns will not even offer you a bag or napkins for one sandwich.  They want you to go around to the end to get it yourself (but you would never notice that unless someone pointed it out for you).  Most people walk out the door with the sandwich in hand, no bag or napkins – paper product savings adds up! The process is so seamless that you don’t care about napkins or a bag. Your meal is delivered to you fast and it tastes great.

Why does this model work so well? SIMPLICITY! They are not spending millions of dollars trying to develop the next great bottled fruit spritzer with extra virgin pomegranate juices to try and capture 1/10th of 1% of market share.  They take the approach from Field of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come.”

Now, you might be asking yourself -”how does this relate to my business model?”  Have you spent so much time trying to invent, market and sell the next latest and greatest thing to come along, or are you focusing on your core competencies that establish and still run you business profitability today?  Are you lean and mean so that as the economy turns, you are poised for growth?

Our company is like the Jimmy Johns of the world in that we provide a simplistic approach to your technology. We focus on one thing and one thing only – we make sure your IT works, and works well.  We don’t do websites, we don’t do SEO, we don’t sell software! But, we will take care of your IT so you don’t have to. We deliver it fast, seamless, and I promise your meals will taste better as a result if IT!

Mike Gillett, Account Executive, GoBeyond IT