It’s once again time to review your IT Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plan. Actually, since Hurricane season officially started June 1st, it is well past time. You do have a plan, don’t you? There is an adage from a wise but unknown sage that goes something like this: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Lofty words and a bold assertion, but they are based in fact.

Business continuity vendors like to toss out widely quoted statistics that 80% of businesses that experience system outages longer than 10 days, fail within 18 months. Searching the web for “business continuity statistics” yields widely varying and possibly even questionable results. Even so, it is clear that, based on data post Ike, Rita, and Katrina, a significant number of businesses failed to recover. Once we clear the hurricane season, there are always hardware failure, fires, theft, sabotage, even the possibility of a pandemic that could result in a partial or total loss of systems and data or availability to them.

Even if your business survives, what are you at risk to lose? eCommerce, phone, or even email sales losses can be easily computed by taking average daily sales and dividing it by 24. Chances are that if a significant portion of your revenue is generated this way, it won’t take many hours before the cost justification for protecting these systems becomes apparent.

Disaster Recovery refers to your ability to recover key systems from a catastrophic event. Business continuity refers to the ability for your business to continue to functions during that recovery. Two different concepts, but they intermesh at many points in your IT infrastructure.

Key Questions to Ask Yourself

As a decision maker for your company, how do you determine your risk? How do you balance recoverability with cost? How much protection is enough? What technologies are available for protecting critical systems and which ones are right for my needs and budget?

There are many “DR in a box” offerings (we have one ourselves) some of which only address rudimentary DR/BC needs (not ours, of course), but consideration should be made for the unique needs of your company. There are a dizzying array of products and services available that range from backup to tape or disk and storage offsite to complete duplication of systems, replication of data, and automatic failover capabilities to a secure location. Cloud services are featured prominently in many offerings. What is right for your business and your budget? A start to answering these questions would be to consider the following:

• What systems does my company need to operate on a day to day basis? (Phones and voicemail, email, data, applications)

• How long can my company do without access to those systems? You may be indefinitely without phones by using cell phones and forwarding your main number to an alternate phone, but access to data or email may be required within a single business day or even within a few hours. If your company relies on a web presence for ordering you may not be able to tolerate any downtime.

Once you identify what you need to operate and determine the maximum acceptable downtime for each system, you have determined the minimum standards for the products and processes needed to recover those systems.

Case in Point

I’ll use my company, RSA Corp, as an example of this process. As a services-based business, RSA Corp does not manufacture or distribute products, and as such we are not dependent on a specific physical location as much as we depend on access to data. When we underwent our DR/BC exercise initially, we identified that because our revenue was based on services billing that our AR, AP, Payroll, and timekeeping systems were essential.

RSA Corp essentially has two core services offerings; IT staffing and IT services. Staffing essentially needs access to their CRM and phones to continue to function. Services needs access to our monitoring, ticketing, client data systems, and application development environments. Everyone needs access to email. Because we use telecommunications extensively in the course of business, it was also decided that maintaining our main and helpdesk phone numbers was a priority. That’s it really – no dependencies on a physical office per se. Consequently, our plan was to configure our systems in such a way that as long as a user had access to a Microsoft OS based PC with Windows XP or newer or a Laptop, and internet connectivity, they could perform any essential functions.

Because we contract to provide services to clients on a round the clock basis, we had already collocated a significant portion of our IT infrastructure to a secure hosting facility away from proximity to the Gulf. We placed our IP phone system, data storage, email, app servers, and monitoring systems in the facility which reasonably insured access to them in the event our business office should become unavailable. Our ticketing and payroll systems are web based SaaS and hosted by the provider. Our IP phone system allows users to take their phones anywhere there is a working internet connection and reconnect to our phone controller. Access to applications and email was provided by using Microsoft Terminal Server, and email was also available via Microsoft Exchange webmail for desktop users and either webmail or Outlook Anywhere for laptop users. VPN capability was established to allow transparent access to the infrastructure for laptop users as well.

Own and Host or Lease from the Cloud

One additional consideration would be whether it is financially desirable to own the equipment to be used for DR/BC, if any. And would you benefit more from accounting for the cost as a Capital Expense or as an Operating Expense? The technology you choose may impact one or the other, or even both.

Clearly, there are many considerations in producing a Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity plan that is right for your business. Why not schedule an appointment with one of RSA’s DR/BC specialists to begin working on your plan before the next major storm or thief pays you a visit?

The decision whether or not (or when) to upgrade is complex and dependent on many factors. Upgrading operating systems can create a competitive advantage, increase productivity and reduce administrative overhead. Alternatively, upgrading can cause compatibility issues with core applications, reduce productivity and significantly impact budgets and the bottom line. Due to mixed reviews of Vista, many businesses have chosen to delay upgrading to the controversial operating system and are waiting for Microsoft to either fix it or produce something better. The immediate positive reviews of the recently released Windows 7 beta are encouraging, but should you bet your business on it?

Windows 7 is looming on the horizon. It’s hard to believe, but Windows XP first arrived in 2001. XP is a good OS and a significant improvement over Windows 2000 in many business-relevant ways. This was especially evident with the release of service pack 2 and its improved networking and security capabilities.

Businesses have been riding the XP train for eight years, despite Vista being available for some time now. Hesitation exists because upgrading can be a headache, and there’s the often-stated mindset that you should never opt for the first release of a Microsoft OS. Whatever the reason, many businesses wait until Microsoft has “worked the bugs out.” I‘ve often heard the belief that the best way to adopt new OS releases from Microsoft is to let someone else do its beta testing.

Like it or not, the XP train is reaching the end of the track. Support officially ended for XP in April 2009, with extended support until 2014. That means no more updates and no more free support from Microsoft duration. It also means you cannot buy a new PC installed with XP, and the legal ability to downgrade from Vista to XP will no longer be an option. So one way or another, decision makers are going to face a choice of operating systems that will not include XP.

It is not all bad news though.

I’ve been using Windows 7 both in beta and release candidate for several months on both my home PC and my corporate laptop. I use my laptop as both a desktop replacement at the office and as a mobile workstation for multiple client-site use.

How 7 Works and Plays in the Enterprise and in Multi-Client and Remote Use

1. Simpler and faster networking – Network browsing is fast and efficient, unlike Vista where long lags can occur when clicking on a network drive. Wireless configuration and reconnecting to existing networks is more streamlined and easier to achieve.

2. User account control – In Vista, UAC was unmanageable, whereas 7 is unobtrusive. I eventually ended up turning it off in Vista, which did nothing for security.

3. Faster boot times – In all but a few cases where a user was using a stripped-down version of XP on a fast computer, 7 still boots faster. Unlike XP, which seems to get slower over time, my laptop still boots as fast as it did the day I installed 7. I’ve experienced this on platforms ranging from an older Pentium M 1.6 and a more current Centrino Dual Core.

4. Faster and easier install – I’ve smoothly installed 7 on eight different devices. No muss, no fuss, no drama. My greatest fear of driver availability on my production laptop has been laid to rest. When Microsoft released Vista, it introduced new driver architecture primarily for the graphics and sound subsystems. The difficulty of finding drivers early in an OS release is legendary. With 7, I’ve only encountered a handful of devices, mostly older printers, for which I have failed or had to search to find drivers. Where 7 drivers were not available, typically Vista drivers worked. Only one device has failed to work properly – an older Tektronix Phaser printer. Windows 7 included drivers are extensive. What’s more impressive about the availability of drivers is that I installed the 64-bit version instead of the more common 32-bit.

5. Blue Screens – Lots of blues with Vista, not one in 7. Your results may vary, but consider I currently have three different VPN clients and a host of diagnostic applications on my machine that do interesting things to the IP stack of my laptop.

Points in Favor of Windows 7 for the Enterprise

• Ability to remove Internet Explorer 8 and use other browsers exclusively
• Improved network browsing and searching speed and capabilities
• Improved troubleshooting and remote support capabilities
• Improved file browser over both XP and especially over Vista

Included apps (Paint, Notepad, Calculator) are greatly improved in both function and look and feel. Windows 7 is vastly better than Vista and has proven itself robust and usable for both home and business. If you have the opportunity thru purchasing new equipment or reloading an existing machine, pick up a copy of 7 when it hits the market (October 22, 2009) and give it a try.

If you’ve had a chance to work with Windows 7 beta..what are your thoughts?

On Tuesday Apple held the iPhone 3.0 event. The event announced the roadmap for the 3.0 firmware for the iPhone, iPod touch and whatever comes next (maybe a netbook or tablet?) With more than 100 new features, this release is definitely the biggest yet. That’s right; it’s bigger than the 2.0 release, which announced Exchange ActiveSync.

Even with the release of more than 100 new features, the focus of the event was really for the developers. Apple finally launched the push notification service, which coders have been clamoring for since they hinted at it a year ago. Apparently, there were some scaling issues, but the service is ready to go.

Apple decided the push service was the path to pursue because the phone doesn’t allow apps to run in the background. The idea behind that thought is…background apps affect battery life and phone performance. Push notifications allow you to close a chat program mid-conversation but still receive updates. Then, it allows you to reply when ready even though the app is not running.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a beta copy of the iPhone 3.0 firmware update the day it was released. Early adoption rules! After doing some breathing exercises and removing the grin on my face that went from one ear to the other, I got a chance to play with the new firmware Apple will release in June to bring the iPhone back to the forefront of mobile technology.

It’s strange to run an Apple beta release. It feels sort of the way an out of body experience might feel. It’s very alien to run Apple hardware that has glaring issues. Nonetheless, Apple was able to add hundreds of new features without compromising the useability of the device.

Highlights

Cut, Copy and Paste
Finally! You can now cut, copy and paste between applications. If you want to text someone a URL from Safari, now you can.

Spotlight
Like OS X, the entire phone is indexed so you can search across almost everything. If you enter a search term, such as “Jack,” your phone searches the iPod and returns your My Morning Jacket tunes, Jack Black’s contact info, emails, notes…anything with Jack in it.

Landscape
Finally, you can type emails on a big, touchscreen keyboard. The way the Lord intended! SMS and notes too.

MMS
Not really a big deal to me, but apparently MMS matters to someone…

It’s kind of funny that a handful of times I’ve thought to myself, “You know this phone is great, but I wish it did [insert feature here].” It seems like everything I’ve thought of, so did they.

This definitely puts the iPhone back out in front in the smartphone race. This includes the Palm Pre, especially with rumors of possible Palm Pre production issues and the patent suit pending by Apple over multi-touch. It was seen as the iPhone’s only real threat (even though it may seal Palm’s fate Palm Pre: Chronicle of a Death Foretold).

It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to edit Word and Excel documents, making it a real corporate contender.

For a complete feature list and more than everything you wanted to know about the 3.0 release, check the excellent coverage at Gizmodo: iPhone 3.0 OS Guide: Everything You Need to Know.

Another entry from the why didn’t we think of that before? department is Microsoft’s quiet addition of the “Fix it” button to a handful of Knowledge Base (KB) articles.

According to Microsoft, this is the first step in improving Windows Error Reporting, which is the annoying box that pops up either after an application crashes or Windows itself implodes.

The vision is…when you send the error report to Microsoft, you may get a suggestion for a one-click fix it. So far, Microsoft says that more than 75,000 customers have tried it out since December 2008, and 95 percent said it solved their problem.

I have two thoughts about Fix it.

I love the idea, in principle, but where was this when I was running Windows 98?

On the other hand, Microsoft KB articles can be difficult to understand. Often an article can describe an issue extremely similar to yours, but meant for a different operating system or software version. In desperation, inexperienced users might run the fix and end up causing more problems in the end.

Also, some KB articles involve editing the registry. If the Fix it button changes my registry and my PC becomes a paper weight, how can I fix that? Hopefully there has been some type of discussion at Microsoft regarding this subject.

Maybe that’s why it’s been a quiet deployment, sort of a live beta. Use with caution!

Now if they could just click a button and fix Vista, oh wait Windows 7 is coming….

If you haven’t seen the pictures yet, you’re missing out. Unless you work for the Department of Transportation, they’re really quite humorous. Hackers have taken it upon themselves to warn motorists of zombie attacks.

Several hacker sites listed instructions on how to change the text in common construction signs around the country. One of the first cities affected was Austin, Texas. Signs touted “Zombies ahead!” or “Zombies in Area! Run.”

This has spawned a rash of sign tampering across the United States. In Indiana, “Raptors Ahead” appeared on one sign warning motorists about the dangers of a possible encounter with the calculating pre-historic killing machine.

According to one of the hacker sites, the ADDCO machines are easily editable. The default passwords are rarely changed by crews. If they are, you can reset them to defaults with a simple key combination.

After I stopped laughing, this made me think of the importance of physical security and implementing security best practices. If you have default passwords left on any of your network gear, you could be vulnerable to zombie attacks as well.

If all you have is a padlock protecting your servers, how much would it really take for someone to break in and change your marquee?

Just when you thought Palm was out of the smartphone battle, it comes back firing with a touchscreen salvo, which appears to have its crosshairs directly on Apple’s iPhone.

It’s the Palm Pre…

The talk of CES 2009, the Pre is poised to bring Palm back towards the front of the pack. It sports a new operating system, dubbed WebOS. Like the iPhone and Android, the Pre is easy to develop for because most of the apps can be written in Java, HTML or CSS. From the demos I’ve seen, the screen redraws are extremely smooth.

In the screenshots below, you get an idea of WebOS. Check out the home screen; the phone screen; and call screen with reminders, a missed call, a text message and a song playing.

Palm offers immediate alerts without having to close a screen. The above image displays what Palm calls “cards.” You can move through applications quickly with cards. For instance, flipping from calendar to maps to photos to emails is easy as turning a card.

An interesting concept about the browser is that it displays the actual Web page and not just a screen capture like the iPhone. Mobile Safari has to reload the page when selected, whereas the Palm browser brings up the actual page already loaded.

One of the coolest new features of the Pre is an accessory. Palm is offering touchstone as an optional accessory. Touchstone is an inductive charger/cradle that allows you to charge the phone by placing it on the “puck.”

Another great feature from the why hasn’t someone done this before department is something Palm calls Synergy, which is essentially a contact aggregator. It pools your contacts from all your accounts and social networking sites like Gmail, Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, AIM, etc. and combines them into database or “stacks.” It also does its best to reduce duplicates in these stacks, keeping your contacts organized.

Palm’s Pre is set for release in mid-2009, with exclusive sales through Sprint. For all you ever wanted to know about the Pre, check out Palm’s “Pre view” press release.

Since the 80s, your operating system choices have been Windows, maybe Apple if you were daring, or Linux if you were the type who likes to tinker. We all know who the clear winner has been. Windows has dominated the OS landscape since it released Windows 95. However, Microsoft’s reign may be coming to an end. The next war for platform dominance is upon us…it’s your Web browser.

It may seem far-fetched, but if you’ve ever used Gmail or Google Docs, you’ve already sampled the idea of running applications directly in your browser and may not have even realized it.

In May, Google announced Google Gears, which is a plugin that helps websites run more full-featured, application-style pages through a browser and includes the ability to use them offline. The thinking is…with Gears you should be able to run any type of application without having to install the app on your desktop. This includes anything from a word processing app (Google Docs) to email (Gmail or MySpace messaging) to video. It’s still a work in progress, but the early results are promising.

Gears works on several platforms, but Google felt it needed a multi-threaded platform that could throttle these Java virtual machines (JVM) and separate them within the browser. The thought being, if one of these JVMs started running away or wanting to crash, Chrome (Google’s new Web browser) could shut it down before it brought down the whole browser.

Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer users can appreciate that. Enter Chrome. Google markets the new browser as a fun, new, easy way to surf the Web, but hidden under the fluff is a sleek weapon with purpose. The perfect example of form meets function. Google produced a Web browser to accentuate Gears features and make Web applications that use Gears scream, like Google Docs and Gmail.

At first thought, I wondered why Google would try to undercut all of its work on the development of Firefox, an open source browser by Mozilla. Google is the largest financial contributor to the popular Mozilla browser. It was only after I started digging into the concepts behind Chrome that I started to understand, Google is taking direct aim at Microsoft Windows and Office.

Imagine the ability to run the exact same application – whether at home or at work, online or offline, on Windows, Mac or Linux – and have the exact same look and feel no matter which operating system you are running. For example, if you use Google Docs on your Windows PC at the office and save all your work, go home and fire Google Docs on your Mac, you have the same exact look and feel. Same menus, everything. Once again, Google excels in making the simply impossible, simply doable.

This concept puts pressure on the industry titans to make stable, lean operating systems, because that will be the basis for PC purchases going forward. Asking yourself, “Will this machine run my office suite?” will be a thing of the past. The question will be, “Which Web browser should I run?”

Google isn’t the only company working on these rich Internet applications (RIA) and plugins. Adobe and Mozilla are also working on their own offerings, which would offer the same type of experience.  Each flavor is a little different, but the ideas are mostly the same.

Most of these new tools leverage AJAX, a Web development platform, which can asynchronously retrieve server data in the background without requiring a refresh. This makes an RIA seem more like a desktop application because it refreshes data in real-time. You can read more about Adobe Air, Google Gears and Mozilla Prism, and in some cases see them in action. For a good demo on Gears, sign up for Google Docs, choose offline settings, install Gears and take a test drive. If you have Gmail account, sign up for Docs under your settings menu.

If you spend any time on your cell phone and are in the market for a new Bluetooth headset, go buy the Aliph Jawbone 2 right now. I had been burned by Motorola and Plantronics on my last two purchases. Weak signal, bad battery, etc. I did some homework on this one though. I knew a couple of people who bought the original and loved it, but were just unhappy with the size (The original was twice as big).

I bought this little guy when I evacuated for Hurricane Ike, because I knew I was going to be on the phone a lot in the following weeks. What a good investment. It’s already paid for itself.

Here’s what separates the Jawbone from the rest:

Jawbone eliminates real-world noise better than any other headset because it’s the only one that can accurately separate speech from ambient noise. It uses patented NoiseAssassin technology that incorporates a Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) and advanced DSP algorithms developed for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The VAS is able to detect very accurately when you’re talking and capture the frequencies of your speech even in the presence of noise. It works in conjunction with the NoiseAssassin algorithms and Jawbone’s two microphones to accurately model the noise environment–and then aggressively eliminate it.

And it really works. There’s a little rubber button that your cheek vibrates when you talk. When you’re not talking, it cuts off the microphone, drastically improving call quality. I quizzed several callers in noisy situations, and so far, no one has been able to tell that I’m in my car or at a pub, or wherever!

These numbers are tested:

*When you’re headset is out of range from your phone, it turns off automatically to conserve battery. Awesome feature! CNET reviewed the original Jawbone as the highest rated Bluetooth headset, with concerns about only its size and awkward ear shape. The Jawbone 2 has addressed these issues with a more lightweight design and improved ear comfort.

Check out this video demonstration from www.us.Jawbone.com…

The Aliph Jawbone 2 will run you between $94.99 and $121.95, and definitely worth it.

What other headsets are working for you? Have you experienced Jawbone and gotten the same results?