February 2009
In this issue:

● Why Outsource?
● New Backup &
Recovery Options
● Are You Prepared?
● Planning for a
Quick Recovery

Planning for a Quick Recovery

Learn about what you can do to quickly and effectively recover your business’ systems in the event of a disruption.

For most small and mid-sized businesses, computing systems and electronic information are necessary to conduct business on a daily basis. You shouldn’t have to think about disasters causing you to lose valuable resources and data, but the reality is that the risk of unforeseen circumstances and disruptions to IT systems is always present. If your IT systems go down, it’s not only inconvenient, it could cost your business a substantial amount of money. A study by Forrester Research estimated that the average cost of downtime for an e-commerce site is $8,000 per hour.

Read on for some recommendations

Just for Laughs

Quote of the Month

Time is too slow
for those who wait,
too swift for
those who fear,
too long for
those who grieve,
too short for
those who rejoice,
but for those who love, time is eternity.

‾Henry Van Dyke

Why outsource, isn’t that un-American?

Hardly! Outsourcing is as American as Mom and Apple Pie! A lot of people believe that outsourcing is the problem with America’s economy today. For the most part they equate outsourcing with sending jobs overseas (off-shoring). The fact is that outsourcing started long ago when production lines where first formed to manufacture everything from nails for building to autos for driving.

Yes, outsourcing has gotten very sophisticated over the last decade or so. Yes, we are competing on a global scale for jobs, especially in certain sectors. But the fact remains that small businesses can help themselves grow and thrive by outsourcing tasks that are:

1. Difficult to master quickly
2. Better done by someone at a lower overall (more efficient) pay scale

For example, you can do your taxes yourself, or you can hire an accountant. I don’t hire an accountant to add the numbers up for me on a form (Turbo Tax can do that just fine). I hire an accountant to make sure the numbers are in the right boxes, that’s outsourcing. It would take me months (or years) to gain even the slightest competitive advantage on my accountant, so I rely on him and his firm to do the best job possible.
In another example, when you are thinking about moving your business, are you going to go to a commercial realtor an expert on getting the best deals in the market or are you going to wing it on your own? Wing it and the odds are strong that your new space will cost you more than if you had used a professional.

Think about it, we all outsource every day, whether it’s educating our children, going to the gym, having our car repaired or eating out for lunch or dinner. We rely on the expertise of others to help us get through the day.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat with business owners, they might be educated as an engineer, doctor, lawyer or an architect, who will say to me, “well I can do that task myself, why do I need you?” My comeback is always the same, why would you pay $100 for something that can be easily had for $20? AND I’ll give you a better result 99.999% of the time, guaranteed!

Think about the use of your time, it is your most valuable asset. We all get 24 hours in a day, that‘s it. Whether you are Warren Buffet or the person in the mirror, we are all limited by this. Winners in business, and in life, are very good at managing their 24 hours and they do this by focus and delegation. How else can you run a successful business, or anything else for that matter?

I just finished the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. He makes a very good case that to be a true expert you need 10,000 hours of experience in your chosen field (Read the book for the details). Focus on the things you do well, and Outsource (delegate) the things you don’t. You’ll move forward faster with better results!

Mike
mikego@sf-it.com

New Backup & Recovery Options for SMBs

Small to mid-sized businesses can always benefit from any IT enhancement that will save both time and money. Unfortunately, many SMBs are not able to get the benefits from IT that they need, chiefly due to lack of resources and expertise. For that reason, many SMBs are exploring the Software-as-a-Service options that are now available – these options cost less and are run by experts.

Capabilities that are delivered via the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model (sometimes called “online services”) are provided to end users over the Web, rather than software that is installed and maintained in-house by the customer. With SaaS, a vendor (or other service provider) owns, hosts, manages, and updates the software so that customers need not implement or manage software applications themselves, but can rely on experts to do it for them. Customers pay for SaaS on a subscription or per-use basis, which simplifies budget planning, reduces upfront costs, makes payments more predictable, and lowers total cost of ownership. This allows SMBs to eliminate many of the overhead IT expenses and operational concerns commonly associated with traditional software products. Also, SMBs using SaaS will never have to deal with an IT infrastructure that has become obsolete over time.

Despite all of its benefits, some SMBs are hesitant to make the move to SaaS applications. Why? Many are resistant to change what is working for them; the “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” kind of thinking. Other SMBs worry that their unique business needs can’t be met by a new SaaS solution – that the solution will be feature-poor or unreliable. Still others are afraid the transition to SaaS would not be smooth, and that the vendor won’t be available to help (or worse – that the vendor will not be around in a year or two!). Finally, another common obstacle is that businesses worry about the security of their data when it’s hosted and/or stored offsite by a vendor.

Read on for more

Are You Prepared In
Case of Disaster?

You can prevent these unfortunate consequences by protecting your data with an effective disaster recovery plan and proper backup processes. Since disasters don’t usually strike with advance warning, take time to prepare for them now — call StrategicFusion for assistance. We’ll help you develop a backup and recovery plan using the following steps:

STEP ONE
Risk Assessment
Together, we’ll identify the different kinds of information in your business and the impact of losing each type. From there, you can decide which data your business can temporarily do without and which is critical.

STEP TWO
Plan Development
During this step, we’ll help you build a list of partners who should be called in response to a disaster and prioritize the systems to be recovered in order of importance. We’ll also guide you through the process of collecting passwords, security identification and equipment information to assist during a recovery.

STEP THREE
Testing
After your plan has been defined, we’ll test it using the people who will actually complete the recovery. This will allow us to identify areas that need improvement and ensure that your staff members understand their duties.

STEP FOUR
Maintenance
During regular reviews of your plan, we’ll incorporate necessary system, equipment and procedure updates. Reviews are also excellent opportunities to train your team on changes to the plan.

With your disaster recovery plan in place, you’ll be able to shift your focus to protecting your data. For many businesses, tape backup is the most popular choice — primarily because it offers ease of use, cost-effectiveness and flexibility. In addition to designing an effective solution, we can recommend procedures to help you and your staff avoid common mistakes that occur during the backup process.