Defining IT: A CFO’s Glossary

In the many years we’ve been managing IT for small and medium sized businesses, we’ve learned that in most cases the CFO makes decisions, with the help of their IT guy – who translates the “geek speak” into English. So we thought it would be helpful if you had a quick cheat sheet to decipher the lingo:

• Windows Domain – The name of your Windows network. It serves to identify what machines are "on your network" and resources that can be accessed.
• Virtual Machines – or “VM’s” allow you to segment a parent, or host server into multiple, smaller servers, to serve different purposes. The VMs subdivide the CPU, RAM and hard disk space of the much larger host server and can appear and function in your network as if they were plugged in. This allows you to fully utilize the computing power of the hardware you've purchased.
• Switch – This is a network device that enables intercommunication between devices on your network.
• Cloud – There are mixed uses for this term, but the most generic relates to any computing services that you utilize outside of your environment. Cloud computing refers to the consolidation of many devices, and their combined resources - disk space, processing cycles, and RAM, are offered as virtual machines or blocks, to businessess as as a highly flexible service. 
• SQL Server – Pronounced “sequel”, it is Microsoft's database software. For environments with a business system or high reporting requirements, this application typically resides on its own dedicated machine.
• SharePoint – It is Microsoft's de facto collaboration software for sharing files, internal discussion boards, announcements, and more. Many businesses use SharePoint for their intranets. The foundation, or basic installation, is included with SQL Server licenses.
• Exchange and Exchange Server – A Microsoft software product that handles email and typically requires its own hardware for optimum performance. In a nutshell, it’s your business’ post office.
• Co-location – “Co-lo” – Instead of having your own servers locally in your office data center, you can lease space from co-location facilities to house and cool your server. Your devices are locked within their own racks so that other tenants cannot access your hardware.
• Virtual Private Network – “VPN” allows a remote machine to securely access local files and resources in the datacenter as if they were directly connected to the office network.
• IP Address – Internet Protocol is a set of numbers that identify a device within a network. This address is usually masked from the outside world and all traffic from a business will appear to others as coming from a single address. IP addresses can also be used to reference a web site without a friendly domain name.
• File Transfer Protocol – “FTP” typically refers to the application that is used to upload/download files to and from an external file server, but essentially it is the protocol or methodology for transfering data from device to device across the internet. Other protocols include HTTP, for web page data, and SMTP for email. Some examples of commonly used FTP applications are Filezilla, Cyberduck and WSFTP.
• Active Directory – For organizations operating under a Windows domain, the Active Directory Server or “AD” is used to handle all of the accounts, policies, and types of devices that can connect to your network.
• Firewall – A network device that filters traffic to and from the web. It’s primarily used to secure your network from intrusions and prevent staff from accessing dangerous or inappropriate websites.

Let us know if there are other definitions we can share on this post.

Ten IT issues businesses will face this year

At Channel Dynamix, we believe that to completely manage our customer’s IT infrastructure, it starts with sharing knowledge that empowers the community around them.  When businesses interact with one another using safe computing practices, and understand that they’re a part of interconnected system – we all strengthen our security and reap the benefits.  We all know how easy it easy for an email virus to travel from business to business.  So, help us out and review the list of IT issues below that many businesses deal with and see if there things that you might consider improving:

1. Spyware infections – can cost a business up to $8,000 per year* for removal and downtime.  Spyware, as their name indicates, is made to avoid detection by most anti-virus tools and often slip past firewall security via emails and web page links. They work silently in the background transmitting data back to their originator, and typically don’t make their presence known until unusual patterns in bandwidth and network performance are detected through monitoring.
   
   
2. Network downtime – Connectivity is mission critical to a business.  Being disconnected can bring an organization to its knees.  With everything from phones to your entire cloud infrastructure relying on internet connectivity, businesses can lose nearly 1%* of their annual revenue due to unplanned downtime.  The number is even greater with smaller companies.  It could be as simple as your provider going down, or a misconfigured firewall.  Losing connectivity translates to an immediate loss of productivity.
   
   
3. Sub-optimal systems and hardware – Anything operating in your data center that is out-of-warranty, or has officially been deemed “end-of-life”  by the vendor needs to be on the high priority list for virtualization or upgrade.  Older devices may fail unexpectedly or even worse die after a scheduled or unscheduled reboot.
   
   
4. Lack of 24/7 monitoring, alerting & reporting – Need to know why your Internet connection always slows down to a crawl at 2:38PM?  Monitoring enables you to detect threats like spyware, pending hardware failures, and unapproved activities.  Alerts help you stay a step ahead of failures, and get you out of the break-fix mentality.  Most businesses handle IT like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.  Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away.  Waiting for a problem to go away or blow up may cost much more in unplanned downtime than becoming proactive with your IT.  Finally, share reports throughout the team, this keeps everyone moving in the same direction, and they may even notice something you may have overlooked.
   
   
5. Security breaches due to viruses and out-of-date patching – Unlike spyware, viruses are meant to take a machine down.  Keeping all of your devices up-to-date with the latest patches and virus definitions is a simple way to quickly secure many known vulnerabilities.  In addition, having procedures in place that teach users how to detect and react to a virus will limit the exposure of the infected machine to other devices. 
   
   
6. Backups are untested or non-existent – Most businesses take the time to go through a variety of backup methods. Whether it’s on portable hard drives, cloud backup, or whatever.  Very few actually test and verify that their backups are actually usable or successful.  Schedule a time and procedure to simulate a disaster recovery drill.  It’ll help you sleep better a night knowing how long it’ll take to recover and how much data you might actually lose.
   
   
7. Not testing your backup power supply – You may have a room full of UPS devices and even a backup diesel generator, but simply not testing whether your plan will succeed might mean they’re completely useless in the event of a power outage.  This very thing has taken down whole data centers, so be sure when lightning strikes or a tractor trailer smashes into your local transformer.  In addition, utilizing scripting or remote management to safely shut down devices when an outage is detected could extend the life of your hardware and save data.
   
   
8. Not having an inventory of IT assets – The first step to controlling IT is to make a list and check it twice.  Know what devices you have, where they’re at, who has access to them, what operating system and applications they’re running.  Also, make sure they’re all still under warranty against damage and loss.  You can’t control your IT without know what you’re dealing with.
   
   
9. Emailed passwords and secure information – Just to be clear, email is usually if not ever, secure. Let your staff know that sending usernames and passwords over email is not safe practice.  Also, show them how to password protect or encrypt documents by zipping them up. 
   
   
10. Lack of mobile security policy - It’s a fact of life that corporate laptops and mobile devices, phones, and tablets, can fall into the wrong hands.  Ensure that all laptops are password protected and even better, remotely wiped in case something happens.  With Windows 7 Enterprise and Vista Ultimate, you can turn on BitLocker to fully encrypt your drive. Finally, teach your staff how to lock their machines and create strong passwords. 
    
    

We hope some of this information will help make your organization's IT more resilient and secure.  If you need help implementing anything, let us know.

*Source: Level Platforms

Channel Dynamix IT Staff Picks

At Channel Dynamix, beyond keeping systems happily humming along, enforcing policies, and rescuing our customers from IT disasters, the Clark Kent sides of us are quite the geeky bunch.  So, from time to time we informally survey our IT staff to see what kind of tech toys they’re in to and share it with you guys.

What mobile phone do you prefer?

With a resounding majority, the Apple iPhone.

What tablet device do you prefer?

Again, Apple wins with the iPad.

What wireless router do you recommend for business or home?

Cisco/Linksys came out on top with Netgear and the Airport Extreme + Time Capsule tying for second.

What portable hard drive brand do you prefer?

Western Digital, with Seagate in a very close second.

What do you recommend for personal backup?

Rackspace’s Jungle Disk and Time Machine for the Apple folks.

What is your favorite gaming device or console?

Surprisingly, the Wii won out with the Xbox and PS3 tied for second.  The Wii does tend to be more popular among staff with families.

What is your preferred web browser?

Resoundingly, Google Chrome.

What do you recommend for personal anti-virus or anti-malware protection?

Symantec Norton came out on top.  Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG tied for second.  Honestly, anything is better than nothing.  Mac folks ran Norton on their Windows VMs.

What is your preferred personal email service?

Apparently, the folks that use Chrome prefer Gmail, go figure.

What tech blog or information site do you visit most often?

No clear winner here.  Mixed bag among Techcrunch, Tom’s Hardware, Arstechnica and Engadget

Bonus Question: What tech buying or bargain site do you recommend?

Amazon.com had the strongest showing with NewEgg.com as the runner-up.

Take the survey yourself and let us what you’re in to and whether you agree with the results! Of course these are the personal opinions of our staff and in no way represent an official recommendation from Channel Dynamix or its affiliates.

Channel Dynamix Named to CRN’s Inaugural Next-Gen 250 List

Channel Dynamix Named to CRN’s Inaugural Next-Gen 250 List

Ranking Highlights the Up and Coming VARS in North America

Houston, Texas, September 1, 2011 – Channel Dynamix, today announced Everything Channel has named the company to the first ever 2011 CRN Next-Gen 250 list.  The CRN Next-Gen 250 is an annual listing of innovative and nimble business and technology integrators, solution providers, and resellers in North America offering solutions and services in cloud computing, mobility, unified communications, virtualization and other emerging technologies.

The CRN Next-Generation 250 list is comprised of the most exciting new solution provider organizations (founded 2000-2011) bringing new and emerging implementation ideas and business models to the market. Channel Dynamix’ products and service are geared toward optimizing IT processes from infrastructure architecture and maintenance to business analytics.  The soft economy has businesses looking to Channel Dynamix to help them do more with less.  The company starts with an end-to-end IT assessment to uncover efficiencies and implements innovative solutions to turn IT from a cost center into a profit driver.   To view a sample of the listing visit www.crn.com. 

“Our small and mid-sized business clients are constantly seeking to maintain their market share in this economy.” says Joe Alapat, Channel Dynamix’ COO, “It’s now more crucial than ever that we play a role in ensuring that their IT works for them and not against them.”

“In today’s competitive environment solution providers have to do more than just talk about innovation. The ability to quickly implement new processes, models and technologies is what drives margins and the bottom line,” said Kelley Damore, VP, Editorial Director, Everything Channel. “The CRN Next-gen 250 highlights the most interesting new solution providers who are demonstrating such innovation and uncovers the new techniques and technologies that are driving their success.”

“We’re excited to be listed among the top professionals in the business, and are honored to be recognized for our efforts by CRN.”

Channel Dynamix

Houston-based Channel Dynamix provides managed IT services, business intelligence, data integration, and content managed website development that enables businesses to analyze and share information.  Founded in 1999, the company serves businesses nationwide, from financial services organizations to manufacturing and oil and gas production.

Everything Channel

Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/everythingchnl.

UBM plc (www.ubm.com)

UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

Contacts:

Scott Regan, Senior Marketing Manager

Everything Channel

508.416.1186

scott.regan@ec.ubm.com

Joe Alapat

Channel Dynamix

713.914.0200

info@channeldynamix.com

     

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Channel Dynamix joins Amazon Web Services Solution Providers Program

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:

Channel Dynamix

Vincent Tran

1415 N. Loop West, Ste. 300

Houston, TX 77008

713.914.0200

vtran@channeldynamix.com

Channel Dynamix joins Amazon Web Services Solution Providers Program

Businesses will now be able to take advantage of cloud-based computing with Channel Dynamix -

Houston, Texas (February 21, 2011) - Channel Dynamix has been selected to participate in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Solution Providers Program. Cloud computing is changing the way companies of all sizes work online and as an AWS Solutions Provider, Channel Dynamix customers will be able to take advantage of the flexibility and cost-effective nature of cloud-based servers and infrastructure

As an AWS provider, Channel Dynamix gives its customers additional Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) options. By leveraging the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Channel Dynamix can rapidly deploy, monitor, and manage customer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.  In addition, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) allows Channel Dynamix customers to scale on-premise infrastructure with cloud servers. Above the OS Server support is a Channel Dynamix service layer designed to provide businesses with assistance in the setup, maintenance, and deployment of their applications, business, and data systems on cloud and traditional servers.

“The reduction in resource requirements results in significant cost savings that simply cannot be achieved with on-premise IT infrastructure,” says Channel Dynamix COO Joe Alapat. “Amazon EC2 fulfilled the promise of cloud-based infrastructure for us, providing a solid foundation for our Managed Private Cloud and Above the OS Server support offerings.”

Managed Private Cloud is a platform-agnostic solution designed to allow businesses more flexibility in the way they work while saving both money and time.  The solution can be used independently or in conjunction with on-premise hardware, and includes monitoring and notification services.

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About Channel Dynamix

Houston-based Channel Dynamix provides managed IT services, business intelligence, data integration, and content managed website development that enable businesses to analyze and share information.  Founded in 1999, the company serves businesses nationwide, from financial services organizations to manufacturing and oil and gas production.

Official AWS Listing

http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/solution-providers/channeldynamix/

Tips on Maximizing your IT Budget

As printed in OFDealer September 2010 Issue from OFDA

By Dave Brysch and Vincent Tran

 

Ensuring your business takes full advantage of the latest advances in technology can have a significant positive

impact on productivity and the bottom line. But successfully managing your company’s technology investment can be tricky business. There is a fine line between the putting yourself on the “bleeding edge” and falling behind. Finding the balance means staying competitive.

Making do with what you have

Existing hardware requires continual maintenance and monitoring. The failure of a desktop or server can mean costly downtime or recovery.  

• Keep up with patches and software updates. Whether on old or new hardware, keeping up the latest protection can save hours of costly recovery. Always be sure you thoroughly test all upgrades and know how to roll back before deploying them.  
• Keep it clean. Dust, static, moisture, fluctuations in temperature and humidity can wreak havoc on a data center. Have proper and regular cleaning schedules.  
• Protect your machines with battery backups rather than just surge protectors. Battery backups do a better job of providing your equipment with a constant stream of “clean” power, free of spikes and dips. They also prevent sudden shut-downs, which can be disastrous to hardware. 
• Restrict traffic and access to your hardware by implementing security policies. This can prevent accidents and 
• limit the introduction of unwanted elements into your data center. When it comes to software, make sure you authorize what’s being installed on all workstations.  
• Test your disaster scenarios. Set up testing periods where you take down servers and fail over to their backups. Understand how long the entire process will take and what it will mean to the business. Test your backup power generators and batteries. Check that your software backups are really working. 
• Vendor warranties and support policies. Research whether the products you’re using are still under warranty, have outstanding recalls or have available support for older, “end-of-life” models. Lacking support when you most need it is a recipe for disaster. 

Upgrading or replacing

• Knowing when to upgrade is only half of the equation. Acquiring the right hardware, the right way, is the rest of the battle. 
• Explore software-as-a-service (SAAS) and infrastructure as-a-service (IAAS) offerings. On demand services allow you to take advantage of the latest technology without incurring a large cash outlay.
• Cloud-based IAAS offerings can drastically reduce or even eliminate on-site server hardware and the costs associated with operating a data center. An added benefit to IAAS is your data and business systems are located in a secured off-site location. 
• Warranties, warranties, warranties. For mission-critical appliances and devices, there’s never a bad time to have the original vendor insure your purchase. With high-touch devices such as laptops and mobile phones/PDAs it’s even more important. Consider third-party providers who are beginning to offer warranties that are just as good as the manufacturer warranty, and sometimes at a lower price. 
• Price out scalability. Whether it’s a new laser printer or a new server, identify the device’s weakest link and determine what it requires to function properly at peak demand. With a printer, it could be as simple as knowing when and where to purchase toner. With servers and hardware, determine if it’s capable of
  being upgraded with new drives and RAM. 
• Research and test compatibility. Often times the latest and greatest devices may not necessarily provide backwards compatibility. Make sure you have all the cables, wiring, and space required to properly support the new devices.

General advice

• Set up monitoring. Monitoring applications enables you to track the health and vital signs of your network and lets you remain proactive in paring down costs and planning upgrades. For instance, network monitoring lets you know if the bandwidth you’re paying for is too much or too little. You can quickly determine the hard disk utilization of a particular server and if a desktop has unauthorized or out-dated software installed. Monitoring is the first step towards maximizing your IT ROI.
• Keep anti-virus, malware, spyware up-to-date. Out of date security not only is dangerous to your customers’ data, but a compromised machine leads to early failures and can result in a complete loss. Your entire corporate security is only as strong as your weakest point.
• Hire a reliable vendor to support your IT staff. Most businesses rely on one or two IT staffers operating a help desk in break/fix mode. All too often, they are constantly repairing and maintaining devices, and never planning ahead. They’re usually spread thin, and are unable to keep up-to-date on the latest certifications and skill sets. Utilizing an IT vendor that offers a broad range of services—and fixed rates—can help ensure
  consistent service levels.
• Review telecom and software contracts. Negotiating down costly connectivity, telephony and support contracts can quickly reduce monthly operating expenditures. Vendors will often renegotiate rather than lose a customer. 

You may already have many of these tips instilled, but if you haven’t, start today. Once you’ve identified and corrected the inefficiencies, you can start utilizing IT as a way to help drive productivity and increase efficiency rather than as a burden and uncontrollable expense.

Dave Brysch | President | Channel Dynamix
Dave has a long history of providing software and IT services for the contract furniture dealer market. His experience stems from years of developing custom applications and supporting complex, mission critical infrastructure. He founded Channel Dynamix in 1999, and has since guided it to become a leading provider of analytics and managed IT services.

Vincent Tran | Channel Dynamix
Vincent heads the Interactive Services division for Channel Dynamix. He specializes in web and application User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) development, with a focus on how people interact with data. Prior to joining the IT side, he ran his own award-winning creative and web agency for nearly a decade. 

Follow him on Twitter @channeldynamix

Top 10 Web browsing and Email habits

IT departments face an unending battle against malicious software, especially in highly networked corporate environments. They’re defending attacks on proprietary data and overall threats to productivity.  By developing good web habits, and being aware of how threats are introduced, you can help keep your dealership running smoothly.  We’ve put together a short list of tips, but it’s most important that you follow your IT department’s policies and guidelines.

Web browsing

1.)    Perform regular Windows and Anti-virus/Anti-SPAM updates. “Patch Tuesday”  is when Microsoft generally releases security and other updates.  It’s on the second Tuesday of each month. 

2.)    Use a current web browser. Ninety-percent of bad things happen via email or through your web browser.  If you happen to notice new toolbars at the top of your browser, start seeing random pop-ups or alerts requesting you to install anti-virus software, it’s typically a sign of a malware infection.  

3.)    Only download files from trusted sites. It probably goes without saying, but don't visit adult, music sharing, cracks, serials, “warez” websites. 

4.)    Surf securely. Make sure “https” precedes the domain name and the “lock” icon appears on your browser when visiting secure sites that are requesting credit card or other personal information.

5.)    Read and understand all pop-ups before clicking Agree/Ignore/OK.  If possible, you should close any browser pop-ups using Alt-F4 or clicking the red “x” in the corner rather than selecting a button in the dialogue box. Contact your IT help desk immediately if you suspect anything, and before trying to diagnose or fix a problem yourself.

Email

6.)    Use “strong” passwords. Strong passwords contain at least 8 characters, upper/lower case, numbers and special characters.  Try to update your passwords at least every 6 months.

7.)    Avoid requesting or sending usernames and passwords via email.  Email is not secure, and if you must, you can send it in separate emails or call the recipient with either the username or password.

8.)    Be wary of clicking on links in email even if you know the sender. Most viruses and phishing scams are spread via contacts so they’re generally from someone that may be in your address book. Be cautious of links, just because it appears to go to a certain site,  it doesn't mean it will take you to that site.

9.)    Be cautious of attachments. if you’re not expecting an email attachment and if the attachment is an executable (.exe) or script (.scr) file, do not open the file.  Microsoft office files may sometimes contain macro viruses as well.  Having an up-to-date anit-SPAM and anti-virus software should prevent most of these attachments from making it into your inbox.

10.) Keep it simple. For greatest security, disable HTML in your email and use plain text only.  This will allow you to see the exact URL in the sender’s email.

For business owners, putting in place a network monitoring application to track irregularities in network or web traffic, resource utilization and unauthorized apps, may help curb the spread of viruses and malware.  This will also allow you or your administrators to ensure each device on your network is up-to-date and prevent failures before they occur.  

And finally, as with any type of defense, you’re only as strong as your weakest point.  So keep in mind that your computer is a part of a greater network, and keeping it healthy is important for the entire organization.  Happy surfing!