Acroment Technologies is a leading provider of outsourced IT services to small businesses in NE Ohio. To reach our growth goals for 2010 and beyond, we are currently accepting resumes of experienced Account Executives who would like to be a part of a small, passionate, and unique culture. This position would be ideal for someone with a background in IT Staffing or selling technology professional services. Little/no travel required. Aggressive compensation plan with unlimited potential. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the following link.

http://www.acroment.com/about/careers/account-executive/

Acroment is proud to be a first time title sponsor for the 2010 COSE Strategic Planning course. Eric Clemens will be giving a prentation on the top “things every executive needs to know about their IT systems” on January 9, 2010. Business owners are encouraged to join me to hear my presentation and check out the course.

COSE’s Strategic Planning Course is a six-month intensive, results-oriented strategic planning process for quality minded companies and organizations that want to grow. This course will enable you to take advantage of the experience of other entrepreneurs who have built successful companies. Based on your business type, you will be matched with a course alumnus who will act as your mentor and attend each class session with you. The business relationships that are forged and the networking that takes place among students and mentors make this course a powerful and valuable tool for your business.

Please contact me if you would like more information and can attend.

In the last few days, I have received this email to alert me of a critical Microsoft Outlook update.

If you have received this email, or one like it, DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IN THIS EMAIL!

Although the link in this email appears to be a link to the Microsoft update website, when you click it, it directs you to http://update.microsoft.com.kiffi1.net which is NOT the Microsoft update website. I am not sure what kind of virus it asks you to download (because I have not downloaded it myself) but whatever it is, I am sure it isn’t good.

Microsoft will never send you a link to download an update directly from an email message. Windows updates are only installed directly from the Windows Update program on your computer, or by manually browsing their download website for a specific update.

If you feel that you have already downloaded this in error, let us know right away so we can address this problem.

For our Plan A Clients – we update your systems for you – so there is no need for you to every apply updates to your system manually.

Acroment Technologies is excited to announce that we have completed a deal to acquire the business assets of Pervasive Support Systems. Assets of Pervasive Support Systems include the assets of Hal-Com Inc. and MCF Information Services (dba fastwebupdates.com).

This is an exciting opportunity for us on several fronts. First, Hal-Com Inc. had been providing IT support solutions to Cleveland businesses for over 20 years. It has a very diverse background of offerings which include website hosting, Domain Name Management, and Apple Macintosh support.

Second, MCF Information Services (dba FastWebUpdates.com) had been in business for nearly 10 years providing on-demand website design and website support services on a national level. This acquisition will allow Acroment to provide support for Apple Macintosh networks and website design services to our existing customer base. It will also enable Acroment to provide our Plan A Proactive Support Program to Pervasive customers.

We look forward to meeting with Pervasive’s customers and learning more about their businesses. Thank you to everyone who has helped our business reach this milestone!

First, let me start by clearly pointing out that no matter how much data you have, you always should have a backup. No matter what that backup is, online or offline.

What is an offline backup? An offline backup is any kind of backup where your data is stored on removable media such as a memory stick, CD-ROM disk, DVD disk, or external hard drive. Years ago, the primary storage device for offline backups were tapes. Tapes are no longer a viable solution for a lot of backups because they lack the storage capacity and are more expensive per gigabyte than other forms of storage.

What is an online backup? For purposes of this post, we’ll define an online backup as being a backup to a 3^rd party internet backup service such as Carbonite (www.carbonite.com) or Mozy (www.mozy.com).

So what is the difference between online and offline backups?

Online backups: Your backup can be retrieved from any computer in the world that has access to the internet. Most online backup services backup your data in the background so you never have to think about running your backup or keeping it up to date. Plus you are protected if your offline backup is lost, stolen, or destroyed (fire/flood/malfunction/etc).

Offline Backups: You can backup to an offline media faster than it takes to upload all of your data to the Internet. Same goes for recovering your data – faster recovery time.

The most secure approach to backing up your data is to use a mix of online and offline backups. So your backup has a backup (so to speak).

For offline backups: I recommend the Maxtor OneTouch External USB hard drive. It includes everything you need and is very easy to setup and use. Once you have the drive setup, you simply press the button on the drive itself to backup your system. They range in price from $75 to $350 depending on how much storage you need and you can purchase them at many office supply and computer stores.

For an online backup solution: I recommend that you give Carbonite a try. I’ve used both Mozy and Carbonite and they both have comparable features. One thing I did like about Carbonite over Mozy was how easy to setup it was – the install program TALKS you through the setup. Mozy had more options about what to backup, but for a novice, options can be confusing. One thing I did like about Mozy was that they will send you a DVD copy of your backup (for a fee) if you don’t want to wait to download all of your files in the event of a system restore, Carbonite does not offer that at this time. Carbonite was also less expensive per year for a single computer and offers unlimited storage. Time spent recovering data from an online service should be a critical factor if you are looking at online backup solutions for your business.

For the conspiracy theorists’ out there: I have not looked into the companies that own Mozy or Carbonite so I cannot confirm that they are worth trusting with your data. As a technology professional, I would tell you that it is highly unlikely that anyone at these companies would want to sort through the millions of user accounts, petabytes (that’s 1,000 terabytes, or 1 million gigabytes) of data to look at YOUR stuff. But keep in mind that your data (no matter how encrypted) is being stored on someone else’s system. If that bothers you – than online backups are not for you. I would suggest that you purchase two (or more) of the Maxtor OneTouch drives I’ve recommended above and store one (or more) in a bank safe deposit box, and keep one at home.

For our customers, we use a multi-stage hybrid backup system with online, offline (onsite), and offline (offsite) systems. Contact us if you would like more information about our Plan A program.

Other helpful reading: PCMag.com review of online backup providers

Do you want another monitor for your desktop PC or laptop? Don’t want to invest in a dual-port video card? The Mimo UM-710 may be the answer to your prayers!

The Mimo UM-710 is a 7″ LCD display which you can connect to any computer with a spare USB port. Nothing else required. This makes it very easy to setup multiple displays on any computer or laptop to meet your needs.

The maximum resolution for the screen is only 800×480 which doesn’t give you the display capabilities for a full sized monitor, however if you just want to have your email, IM, or TweetDeck running on another display – this is the solution for you. I purchased this so that I could watch the dashboard of our helpdesk in real-time. I didn’t want to upgrade to a more powerful video card (yet) and add another 22″ monitor to my desk. This fits the bill nicely.

I was impressed at how easy the setup was. It didn’t even require a reboot of my computer. It was plug-n-play as advertised. The screen is sharp and easy to read (for me).

Other models are available (one with a touch screen, one with a webcam), however may not be available for purchase in the U.S. The UM-710 retails for $129.99. I found mine on eBay for just a little more than $100 (new).

For more info read Engadget.com: Nanovision Mimo UM-710 hands-on and impressions

Action Shots:

My desktop:

Upclose of the Mimo UM-710:

Start here, you need to have a twitter account

Have a Twitter Strategy: from the inbound marketing pros at pr2020

Tweetdeck, Great program for accessing and using twitter from a Windows PC

Twitterholic.com, A fun site for finding the most popular twitter users.

Twitterberry, you guessed it, Twitter from your Blackberry

More Time Saving Twitter Tips from the inbound marking guru Paul Roetzer from PR 2020

Ultimate List of Small Busienss Twitter Users 

A Comparison of twitter desktop tools.

http://www.listio.com/reviews/2008/08/comparison-twitter-tools-and-applications/

First, if you have Plan A from Acroment – you are already protected from this virus and have nothing to worry about.

Second, if you are a computer user who updates their computer on a regular basis with the latest updates from Microsoft, have a current anti-virus subscription, and have scanned your computer recently; you also have nothing to worry about.

Now, for the remaining 10 million or so other computer users out there, here is what you need to know.

Conficker is a worm that once installed on your computer system, will lay dormant until April 1^st, 2009. On April 1^st, the worm activates and downloads new instructions for itself from the Internet. No one knows for sure what these instructions will be, but it is expected that the new instructions will be to gather information from your computer to try and exploit your personal data to be used for malicious activities.

The Conficker worm exploits a vulnerability in Windows computers which was patched by Microsoft last year. If you have visited the Microsoft Windows Update site since then, and updated your computer. You are safe.

What if I don’t turn on my computer today?

The virus will simply activate the next time you turn on your computer.

What if my computer is not connected to the internet?

Well, if that is the case, then you may not have the virus at all. However, the virus can be transmitted to your computer from other media like USB drives and CD-ROMs that you may have gotten from a “friend”. So it is best to update your system any way.

Where can I find more information?

• Blog post from Westfield Insurance about Conficker
• Visit the Microsoft Conficker Site
• Conficker Information from Symantec
• Conficker on Wikipedia

I think it is great when the news about viruses reaches the mainstream media. Often it serves as a reminder to all computer users that it is vital that they protect their computer and keep it up to date with the latest security updates and virus information. You take the time to maintain your car and home, this is a great reminder that we need to maintain our computers as well.

I read a LOT of blogs, newsgroups, and internet forums about technology and also participate in some for other IT companies to stay on top of trends.

A recent poster said this in one of my IT professional newsgroups:

“Coincidentally, two different longtime clients of mine asked me about getting a new phone system today.

 

I’d like to explore possibly getting into the phone system game. I know there are numerous, inexpensive VOIP systems out there.

 

Can anyone recommend a company? I am particularly interested in a company that offers a solution that is easy to configure and has good support/documentation considering I will be learning as I go.”

It is appalling to me that any IT professional would take something as critical as your phone system under their wing and “learn as [they] go”. Yet, so many business owners, who are hungry to take another problem off of their plate and trust their technology provider, would ask this question of their IT provider and trust their response no matter what. “I recommend calling ABC Phone Company” becomes a reasonable answer. Just as “Well, you know, we can install one for you” does.

The line between voice (phone) and data (computer) networks is becoming thinner. I would highly recommend that you DO ask your IT provider about your telecommunication needs. They may have some specific things for you to look out for when selecting a system. However, when they come back and tell you that “oh yeah, we sell those too”. You should take a cautious look at the solution they are providing before you sign on the dotted line.

Would you ask your podiatrist to perform a tonsillectomy? Would you ask a criminal defense attorney to do your estate planning? Unlikely. No doubt that the Podiatrist learned about your tonsils in anatomy class. And I’m sure the attorney had a class in law school about estate planning. But that doesn’t make them experts you should trust about those matters. You already understand that – but because technology is foreign, you take the advice of your IT providers’ recommendation at face value.

Certainly, there are counter arguments here – it is impossible to know EVERYTHING and we all learn as we as you go at some point. With products like the Cisco UC500 and Microsoft Response point, programming and setting up phone systems have become very easy for professionals like myself.

Unlike the attorney and the podiatrist, IT professionals don’t have a bar or board that grants authority to its practitioners. Should we? If an attorney messed up a case they run the risk of being disbarred. Those are stiff consequences for someone who might be learning as they go. Technology is just as important to your business. Don’t take decisions you make about what vendors to work with lightly.

Regardless, its best to not put all your eggs in one basket. If you have a problem (someday) with the computer service your IT consultant is providing, you going to have to fire your IT provider AND your telephone provider in the same day. Now, rather than having one problem, you have two.

I feel that the same goes for purchasing computers and technology products through your IT Consultant. In the long run you are better off separating your venders from your advisors.

Windows 7 Beta Users… No new IE8 for you!

Like many other Windows 7 Beta users, I am frustrated with the build of IE8 that was included. I was so frustrated with it not loading sites and doing the most simple tasks (like logging into Netflix) that I installed Firefox.

So, after hearing that IE8 has been released, I fired up my ThinkPad, hopeful that I could go back to use IE in Windows 7. Instead, I was presented with this very polite message.

… back to my silent suffering. Waiting for the next update/release of Windows 7. Hoping for a better browser.