As our devices and workflows become more and more technically advanced, the amount of data available to a company of any size has increased exponentially. For small businesses that have been using spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel, this data could quickly overwhelm your Business Intelligence (BI) efforts. To avoid this, many software vendors have introduced Software as a Solution (SaaS) apps specifically for small businesses.

Here is an overview of four Business Intelligence SaaS apps that you could use in your business:

KPI KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a company that offers a cloud based dashboard that integrates with your CRM or ERP software. It provides a way for businesses to visualize, analyze and report real-time data from your business’s key metrics. All the results can be viewed on your computer or on your mobile device.

GoodData GoodData is an on demand BI provider that offers users a base service that they can add apps to as and when needed. The whole service and dashboards are stored and run in the cloud, and are considerably cheaper than traditional BI services.

Bimotics Bimotics offers an on demand BI service for businesses in almost every major sector. They offer one suite that has data connectors, an established BI engine and analytical tools that should meet most small businesses’ needs. The suite can also be accessed by almost any mobile device.

Tibco Silver Spotfire Silver Spotfire is a cloud based SaaS aimed at individuals and small businesses. It lets users create interactive dashboards and visual analytics without the need of costly infrastructure. This app also integrates with major social media services, allowing users to put live dashboards on their blogs.

These are just four useful apps that you can use in your business. If you’re interested in how you can integrate BI solutions into your business, please contact us.

It’s common to see companies showing confidence in their security systems. Their networks are protected from external threats, which can often lead to a false sense of being secure. With this attitude, they may stop thinking about security and fail to establish internal measures within their networks, and this is a grave mistake.

In recent years the majority of security threats and compromises have come from within the company. A common threat to companies is the logic bomb - malware that targets IT systems and deletes data. As a logic bomb is introduced from within the network, the blame often lies with a disgruntled employee with full access to internal systems.

Insider threats Giving employees full access to the network when they don’t need it is a common mistake often made by companies. There’s little need for an employee who does graphic design to have access to weekly sales records. This practice could set your company up for a considerable security problem in the future.

Dawn Cappelli, an insider-threat expert at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute stressed, "These types of insider attacks happen to businesses of all sizes, from small companies to very large corporations." This is an important issue businesses should be aware of if they want to remain secure.

Take Precautions Security threats can be a particularly harsh nightmare for small businesses, as many don’t have an IT department or staff with the technical expertise needed to maintain a secure network. If you’re one of these organizations, it’s a good idea to hire an outside consultant to help you with your network security. With consultants, it’s important that you maintain close contact with them to ensure any issues that crop up are dealt with expeditiously.

If you don’t work with an external company there are a few things you should do when you have an employee leave the company. First, their accounts should be deleted immediately and their access privileges should also be revoked. Second, if you have accounts with shared passwords, you should change them to ensure an ex-employee can’t gain access to the system.

If you’d like to learn more about internal security, and measures you can take to ensure you are safe, we are ready to help you. Please contact us.

If the past 10 years has taught us anything, it’s that many managers are woefully underprepared for disasters of any kind. We’re resilient though, and will always find a way to survive. One of the keys to a business’s survival during times of hardship is the Business Continuity Plan (BCP). A vast majority of organizations have one and believe it to be effective, but is it?

Here are six key non-IT functions and processes that need to be in place to ensure your company is ready to effectively execute your BCP.

Easy to use plans Many continuity plans have been developed mainly for the IT department, as such, they can be a little complicated to understand and follow if employees don’t have a technical background. You should aim to have a plan that’s easy to follow and can be understood by all employees.

Communicate plans Remember that your plan encompasses all facets of your organization. It’s crucial that every employee knows their role and the relevant actions to take when the plan is executed. To do this, you need to ensure that all employees have access to a copy of the plan and any changes or updates are clearly communicated.

Test plans Beyond communication, it’s important to conduct regular tests, with every quarter being sufficient. The tests should be as real as possible and span all departments within the organization. This will ensure that employees are aware of how they, and the systems, will react under duress. It’ll be beneficial to your business if the first time the employees execute the plan isn’t during an emergency.

Short term and long term plans Your BCP should consist of both long term and short term elements that can be easily adapted to meet changing business environments and the emergence of new threats. You should aim for an even mix of short and long term solutions that cover as wide a variety of situations as possible.

Ensure buy-in from all levels If you’re in the process of instituting a BCP you should ensure that the whole organization is onboard with the plan. If an employee is unsure about the validity of a part of the plan, take the time to find out why and ask for suggestions. An uninformed or uncooperative employee could be the difference between survival and failure in a disaster situation.

Update and Review After every test, staff turnover and technological update, you should review the plans and make changes if necessary. Essentially, if anything in the company changes, review and update the plan. Remember: just because you have an effective plan this month, doesn’t mean it’ll be so in the future.

Continuity plans are only as strong as the weakest link. In an emergency, the last thing you want is an employee following the wrong process or be unsure of what they should be doing. If this happens, you could see an exponential growth in recovery time and costs. We’re ready to tell you more, so please contact us if you would like to talk continuity planning.

Smartphones are one of the tools that have been instrumental in blurring the lines between our personal and professional lives. While we’re at home, we access our work email and while we’re at work, we’re checking our personal email, all on the same device. As such, we tend to have a large amount of confidential information on our phones and should be taking steps to secure them.

Whether you have an Android, iPhone or Windows Phone 7, here are two tips to keep your smartphone secure:

Lock your screen If you have data or information on your phone you would like to keep secure, the first thing you should do is lock your screen. Most smartphone users lock their phone with a 4 digit number combination, but it’s recommended you use a password for higher security.

• On Android. To establish a password on your device go to Settings and select Security. Press Screen lock. On Ice Cream Sandwich, you have six options for security, with the least secure at the top and most secure at the bottom. Many users select Pattern or Password. Enter the password twice and press Confirm.
• On iPhone. Select the Settings app followed by General. From there select Passcode Lock and turn it on. You’ll be asked to set your passcode and confirm it.
• On Windows Phone. To set a passcode go to the home screen of your device. Open Settings from your Application list and select Lock & Wallpaper. Press Password, enter your password and then press Done.

It’s recommended that you set a password that’s unique. Don’t use your birthday, address or phone number. At the same time, you have to make it easy to remember. If you’re having trouble coming up with a password, this video by Mozilla is a big help.

Enable remote wipe While passwords and other security codes will go a long way in preventing others from accessing your phone, it often isn’t enough. The next step in device security is to set up the ability to remotely wipe your device.

• On Android. At this time there is no native remote wipe option on your phone. You’ll have to download an app from the Play store. The apps work by using a push service - you “push” the commands to your phone from another source i.e., a website. When you install the app, you’ll have to register your phone and access it from a website.
• On iPhone. The iPhone has remote wipe capabilities which can be accessed through iCloud. On your device select Settings, iCloud and turn on Find my iPhone. If you lose your phone log into iCloud and select Find my iPhone. From there you’ll be able to remotely wipe your device.
• On Windows Phone. If you lose your phone you can remotely wipe it by going to the Windows Phone website, logging in and selecting My Phone. From there you’ll be able to wipe your phone.

Even if you don’t have confidential information on your phone, it’s a good idea to, at the very least, set a solid passcode on your phone. Adding the ability to remotely wipe your phone will ensure the information won’t be viewed by other people. If you’d like other ways to keep your mobile phone secure, please contact us.

Businesses have been using Microsoft Office for years and many users, if polled, would count themselves as experts. Users in their numbers have already adopted Microsoft’s cloud offering, Office 365, as their main office productivity suite. The same features from previous versions are included, not forgetting the option to include electronic business cards in your emails.

Here’s how to create and share an electronic business card:

Create an Electronic Business Card

1. Open Outlook and select Contacts followed by Home. Click on New Contact.
2. When the Contact window opens, press Business Card and the Edit Business Card window will open.
3. You will be able to enter contact information into the relevant areas under the Fields box.
4. If you want to add an image or change the layout of the business card, press the Layout button located in the right side of the screen.
5. When you have entered the information, press Ok and the business card will be saved as a .vcf file which is readable by most email clients.

Add an Electronic Business Card to an Email If you have saved a contact’s information as a business card, you can easily attach the card to an email.

1. In a message select the Contacts pane and search for the business card you would like to attach. When you find it, click it.
2. Select the Home tab, followed by Forward Contact. A drop-down menu will open, select As a Business Card.
3. You will see the business card as an attachment in the email.

Add a Business Card as a Signature You can add a business card to your signature in any email.

1. When you create an email message click Signature and select Add signature.
2. Select the signature you would like to use, if you have one. If not, press anywhere in the white space below Edit signature.
3. Click Business Card beside the paragraph alignment buttons in the Edit signature field.
4. Select the contact name you use and press Ok. Your contact information will show up at the bottom of the email as a downloadable .vcf file.

If you’re a user of Office 365 and would like to learn more, or would like more information on Office 365 or other products, please give us a call.

With the explosion of technological devices in recent years, companies have been given a golden opportunity to foster a more collaborative environment. This has not been lost on business owners, who have adopted tools that work best with a joint effort en masse. There’s a drawback to this however, many teams simply don’t gel well in the first place, and this makes the tools redundant.

Here are seven tips on how to improve collaboration within the office environment.

1. Open communication. One of the keys to successful teams is the adoption and encouragement of an open communication culture. With this, teams are better able to grasp what’s going on within the company, and be more efficient contributors and team players.
2. Use the right technology. It seems like there are a million different software and technology options out there. Some of the tools available offer some fantastic features and it’s easy to get sucked in by a flashy component. It’s important that when choosing a tool you pick one that meets your company’s needs and is easy to use.
3. Collaboration tools must play well with others. It’s beneficial to select systems that can be seamlessly integrated with other tools and software used by your employees. If your solutions don’t work together, all parties won’t be able to work together.
4. Employee learning is key. When you find the perfect tool to use, be careful to take time and learn how to effectively use it. Training for the users of the tool is equally important.
5. Work hard, play harder. Teams and departments should step away from their computers and actually have face-to-face meetings at least once a week. These meetings should be a mixture of formal and informal, and offer employees a chance to come together as a team, unwind and share ideas. A team that can interact well will always work together with greater efficiency.
6. Mobilize. The smartphone is here to stay and with each passing year the number of users grows exponentially. It’s beneficial to encourage the use of these devices, and look for mobile solutions that allow users to be a part of the group while out of the office. If you do allow mobile devices, be sure to establish a clear usage policy so employees know how and when they should be using their phones.
7. Don’t just focus on internal collaboration. One of the most common mistakes companies make is that they focus on group participation within the business, but don’t provide adequate support for external interactions. Be sure you integrate tools that provide stakeholders with a way to connect and work with teams within the company.

With a team that interacts effectively you’ll see happier employees and higher profits: a win-win situation. If you have any questions regarding collaboration tools, or other ways to increase business value please don’t hesitate to contact us.

One selling point of the Mac is that the OS, OSX, is more secure than a computer running Windows. Many Mac users have been lulled into a sense of complacency and have been taking inadequate steps to protect their systems. A recent trojan has shocked these users into reality and left many of them wondering if their systems really are secure.

If you mention “OS X” and “virus” in the same sentence, you’ll get some weird looks from Mac users. Traditionally viruses and trojans on OS X were near non-existent, but there’s a Mac specific trojan, codenamed Flashback, that has affected more than 600,000 computers. This is big news as it shows that machines running OS X may not be as secure as first thought.

Many Mac owners are unsure of what exactly the Flashback trojan is, what it does and how to ensure they’re not infected. We’re here to help clarify the situation.

What is a Trojan and What Does Flashback Do? In general terms, a trojan is a piece of malicious software that infects a computer and gives control of part, or the whole computer to hackers. The Flashback trojan takes advantage of an OS X Java vulnerability and infects computers by tricking them into downloading a fake Java update.

When the program is installed, Flashback will download and install the main trojan code without the need for permission from the administrator. From there it proceeds to hijack your browser, redirect search queries to websites developed by hackers, and then take advantage of pay-per-click advertising.

Why Should I be Worried? While this version hijacks your browser, there are far more sinister things it could do. As this trojan acts as a downloader, there’s nothing stopping the developers from updating the malware to steal passwords, banking information and other confidential information.

How do I Ensure My Mac is Clean? Apple has released an update for machines running OS X 10.6 and later. The first step you should take is to update your computer to patch the vulnerability. To update your Mac:

1. Press the Apple logo, located in the top right hand of your screen.
2. Select Software Update...
3. Press Install and Restart.

While the patch will prevent Flashback from working, it won’t delete the program if you’ve been infected. The Internet security company F-Secure has developed a script that scans your computer and removes Flashback if found. Once you have downloaded the script, open and run it. The script will search your computer and place the infected files in an encrypted ZIP folder labeled Flashback_quarantine.zip.

Flashback has infected a higher number of Macs than any other trojan to date and goes to show that Macs also have security flaws. This also serves as a reminder that you should have a virus scanner and security program running on your Mac. If you have any questions regarding the security of your Mac or other devices, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to help keep your machines secure.

Data is all around us, it seems that wherever we go we’re leaving a data trail the size of a mountain. It’s estimated that in 2011 we generated 1.8 Zettabytes (10^21) of it. By 2015 that number is expected to be 7.8 Zettabytes per year. The amount of data out there is simply overwhelming, spawning the term “big data”, and it’s quickly becoming the next step in the evolution of how we view and work with data.

You’ve probably been reading technology blogs and have seen Big Data mentioned in conjunction with large companies, maybe even dismissed it as something, “for the big guys”. While Big Data is currently the focus of large companies, it won’t stay that way for long and it will pay to know about it.

What is Big Data? In recent years the amount of data available has exploded and companies have reached a point where there’s so much of it available they can’t physically store or analyze it using existing means. This quandary is called Big Data.

Frank Moss, former director of MIT Media Lab, describes Big Data as coming from, “Computers, smart phones, GPS devices, embedded microprocessors, sensors...[which] are forming a ‘societal nervous system’ that is generating a cloud of data that’s growing at an exponential rate.”

This growth has overwhelmed many companies causing a need for Big Data solutions. These solutions provide businesses with a way to immediately make sense of vast amounts of information, make informed decisions and exploit data.

What can I Do With Big Data? The uses of Big Data are near limitless. For small businesses the best deployment, currently, is for market research. You can use Big Data to help decrease the risk of decisions by increasing your knowledge of current trends, your target market’s demographics and customer buying patterns. Research that would normally take weeks can be done in minutes or seconds, allowing your company to make better marketing decisions quicker and with a higher chance of success.

Are SMEs Ready for Big Data? Large companies are utilizing Big Data because they simply can’t keep up with the incredible amount of data generated. At the same time, smaller organizations have simply not reached the point where they are being overwhelmed by data, therefore there’s no pressing need to look into it. This is rapidly changing though, so it’s beneficial to keep your eye on developments.

If you have any more questions regarding Big Data or Business Intelligence and their uses within your organization please contact us, we will be happy to sit down with you.

There are many tools businesses use during their day-to-day operations, but only a few are used by businesses across all industries. One that will be familiar to all is the office suite; comprised of a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software and an email client. The most popular being Microsoft Office, which Microsoft has recently moved to the cloud.

Microsoft’s cloud based office suite for businesses is called Microsoft Office 365. Office 365 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote - and Microsoft Server products e.g., Lync 2010 and SharePoint Server. All programs are accessed via a Web browser, offering users the ability to access the programs from the office, home or anywhere in between.

On March 14, 2012 Microsoft held a press conference announcing that the price of Office 365 subscriptions will be reduced by up to 20%. This decrease will apply to all new and renewing direct customers.

The price cut is a great advantage to many potential customers as it makes Office 365 more competitive with other cloud based office solutions such as Google Apps. This is also beneficial as many businesses already use the desktop versions of Microsoft Office. If they switch to Office 365, employees will be comfortable with the cloud version, as the software is exactly the same as the desktop version.

It’s the perfect time to look into Office 365 and see what it can bring to your organization. If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft Office 365 or other products from Microsoft, we are your go-to experts and will be more than happy to help.

Business continuity planning - an important consideration companies have been looking into, and adopting in increasing numbers. It’s vital that businesses can operate in any condition and that they won’t be affected by disasters. One of the steps in implementing a successful protection strategy involves working out whether to use software or templates.

The decision between templates and software can be a tough one to make, as whichever one you choose, you’ll be using and relying on for a long time. To help you we’ve covered some pros and cons on both choices:

Using Software If you choose to go with a software program, you will be walked through the whole process allowing you to develop a useable plan. Another benefit of using software is that you’ll be able to develop reports if needs be.

The drawbacks of using software include cost, inflexibility and learning time. For the most part, business continuity planning software is not cheap, and at times can be inflexible due to limits within the program. If you have a niche need, the software may not cover it. In addition, as with mastering any program, the learning curve can be quite steep.

In general, using software would be advantageous for companies that have a bigger budget for the development of a continuity plan. Software is also a good bet if you don’t have staff who are experts in continuity planning, or if you operate in an industry where a continuity plan is necessary, e.g., companies working with healthcare insurance, or manufacturing companies that have introduced ISO 9000.

Using Templates If you feel that your company is not ready for software you can use templates to help you develop your plan. These solutions are mostly written plans that you adapt to meet your business needs. They’re useful if you’re just starting to do continuity planning, as they provide a normally solid foundation, and are generally a lot cheaper than software.

A limitation to using templates is that they can be a little too basic at times, and may not meet your needs. Granted, most plans will follow a basic structure and your developer will need to adapt some steps for your relevant region and industry.

As each industry is different, it’s hard to make a recommendation on what type of planning style companies should take. We recommend you take your time, do your due diligence and weigh out what’s best for your business. No matter which method you choose to go ahead with, ensure that it’s easy to implement, and that you’ll be able to teach your staff how to run the plan.

If you feel really lost or are not sure what to do, talking to professional consultants could go a long way in helping you develop a plan. If you’d like to learn more about business continuity planning please contact us - we are happy to help.