Databranch Newsletter

March 2009
In this issue

> Speed Up Computer
> Weakest Link
> Why Outsource?
> Holding a Web Meeting
> Just for Laughs

Holding a Web meeting? 5 pitfalls to avoid

by Christopher Elliott
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Think hard now. Can you remember your first virtual meeting? For many of you, it was in the latter decades of the 20th century, and you likely called it a "teleconference." If so, chances are you can recall how simple — but expensive — the technology used to be.

Well, virtual meetings aren't expensive anymore.

But they're still relatively simple, even if you're talking now about meetings held via the Internet instead of by phone.

In fact, getting up and running with Web conferencing software today is so easy that virtually anyone with a PC and an Internet connection can do it. For example, it took me less than two minutes to sign up for Microsoft Office Live Meeting's free 14-day trial.

If it's that easy, how much harder can holding a Web conference be?

Please forward this newsletter to anyone else in your organization who might be interested!

5 Easy Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
reprinted with permission from HP

One of the most common complaints heard by IT helpdesks is: "My computer is running too slowly - what can I do?" There are actually a number of reasons why this could be happening, and luckily, a number of ways to solve the problem.

Here are our top five recommendations to help boost your desktop or notebook PC's speed and performance.

The Weakest Link in Network Security Continued
by Peter Alexander
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Your small-business network may be protected by firewalls, intrusion detection and other state-of-the-art security technologies. And yet, all it takes is one person's carelessness, and suddenly it's as if you have no network security at all.

Let me give you an example. In March 2006, a major financial services firm with extensive network security disclosed that one of its portable computers was stolen. The laptop contained the Social Security numbers of nearly 200,000 people. How did it happen? An employee of the firm, dining in a restaurant with colleagues, had locked the laptop in the trunk of a SUV. During dinner, one of the employee's colleagues retrieved an item from the vehicle and forgot to re-lock it. As fate would have it, there was a rash of car thefts occurring in that particular area at that particular time, and the rest is history.

The moral of that story is clear: No matter how secure your network may be, it's only as secure as its weakest link. And people--meaning you and your employees--are often the weakest link. It's important to note that poor security puts your business, as well as your partners, at risk. As a result, many enterprises and organizations, such as credit-card companies, now specify and require minimum levels of security you must have in order to do business with them.

So what can you do?

Why outsource, isn't that un-American?
by Mike Gonsalves, StrategicFusion

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

Just for Laughs

Quote of the Month

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between the two is sometimes as great as a month."

~ Henry Van Dyke

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