Episode #10 – Jason Kuhn, CIO at RSA Corp, discusses spam and viruses, how they become a nuisance and how disaster recovery can help a company rebound from their effects.

Episode #8 – Jason Kuhn, CIO of RSA Corp, explains possible difficulties in purchasing technology and what companies can do to avoid these problems and get the most out of their new technology.

Sometimes purchasing new technology for your business can be like embarking into alien territory. A copy machine doesn’t just make copies anymore. What happens when the bells and whistles you bought don’t work right?

You bought and implemented a whiz-bang technology, but after the rep installs it, how do you keep it running? How does it morph to support you as your needs grow? The true report card on success comes once the rep leaves, and you’re on your own.

Small and medium businesses face challenges with evaluating, implementing and supporting the technologies required by their growing companies. They often turn to an IT partner to address these challenges. Just like an author tells a story, so should an IT partner translate technology into business value. However, many partners try to sell a solution composed of features and presumed benefits without really understanding the needs and culture of the business prospect.

I’ve had more than one conversation with a client that started like this…“Oh, by the way, we’ll be moving our office in two to three months.” This should be music to my ears since we’re in the business of supporting our client’s technology needs. However, office relocation can easily become a painful experience. We often encounter issues with the availability and variety of data communication providers at the client’s new location. In spite of the perceived availability of high-speed data communications, it isn’t always that easy.

The existence of an underperforming ERP system is often recognized by certain elements within operations. The existing ERP system adequately supports the processes for which it was initially implemented. However, expanded processes are addressed through often manual means.

If you were unfortunate enough to experience Hurricane Ike, how did your email server fare? Not everyone can afford to keep their servers in a nice, safe data center or colocation facility. Does that mean your business is subject to your building’s physical power or Internet connection? The answer to that question is absolutely not. There are two ways small businesses can increase email uptime without breaking the bank.

Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are all about a company’s ability to survive and continue operations in the face of physical and environmental events, such as natural disasters (fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc), network outages, disgruntled employees and computer viruses. Critical business technologies – telephone, email, Internet, corporate applications, databases – must be included in the planning process to ensure corporate survival and continued operation.

Hurricane season is officially here. Businesses are now planning and refining their disaster recovery and business continuity plans to prepare for potential disruptions. Companies need to make sure and investigate a few specific areas – offsite backup, colocation, email continuity and data recovery. A VoIP telephone network is another smart continuity tool. more…