IT Business Consulting Newsletters

Subscribe to TomK's monthly newsletter to receive valuable IT and Management information for your business.

April 2009
Improving the Reliability & Speed of Your Business Internet Connection
Your Internet Gateway is one of your most important business IT resources. While critical to mundane business functions (email, research, purchasing, banking, etc), the Internet is absolutely essential to YOUR business, as it is your primary contact point with your guests and your owners.

This article explains how you can virtually eliminate Internet outages, while doubling your Internet bandwidth, at very little cost.
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May 2009
Evaluate Communications Circuits to Reduce Your Operating Expenses
Every company has significant monthly operating expenses tied to their external communications circuits - Internet, Remote Office Connectivity, and Telecomm. Is your company using the most efficient, economical circuits to support your business?

In this article, I highlight potential areas where you might be able to reduce expenses while increasing circuit performance.
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June 2009
Introducing Computing Resource Maintenance, Management, and Monitoring
Losing a PC for a couple of days can cost you revenue and productivity, while causing unnecessary aggravation and distraction. Losing a Business Server for even a day can grind your business to a halt. And the thought of permanently losing Property Management data, departmental data, or email will bring chills to any manager.

This article introduces the practices and some tools (often free) that can help you prevent these losses, cost effectively manage your resources, and centrally control your environment.
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July 2009
Securely Implement a Public Wireless Hot Spot
Implementing a Public Wireless Hot Spot in your office is a GREAT idea! It is very inexpensive, provides your guests with a nice value add, and can draw walk-ins who will get to experience your wonderful staff, observe your outstanding operation, and potentially leave with a brochure or property listing. It is also a good way to differentiate your business from your competitors!

This article explains how to do it, securely.
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August 2009 – Feb 2010
Successful creation and launch of The TomK Consulting Group

March 2010
Protect Your Company from Viruses and Malware with Enterprise Anti Virus Systems
As mentioned in the introductory article "Introducing Computing Resource Maintenance, Management, and Monitoring", providing complete and comprehensive Anti Virus and Anti Malware protection for your Enterprise is one of the most important things you MUST do to safeguard your company’s computing resources.

This article discusses the ins and outs of desktop Anti Virus & Anti Malware protection, specifically for the Enterprise environment!
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April 2010
Got Spam? Eradicate Spam and Email Viruses BEFORE they get to Your Environment!
While centrally protecting and monitoring your desktops from viruses and malware is key to your security (see our March newsletter "Protect Your Company from Viruses and Malware with Enterprise Anti Virus Systems"), a properly layered security system should block or remove the nasties well before they get to the desktop. Since most infections arrive via email and Spam, you need to ensure you have effective, centralized email protection and Spam filtering systems in place.

This article discusses best practices to centrally protect Your Environment from these very real threats.
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May 2010
Got Spam? Continuing with Spam Filters – Your Q & A!
I received so many questions concerning Spam protection from last month’s newsletter, (see our April Newsletter “Got Spam? Eradicate Spam and Email Viruses BEFORE they get to Your Environment!”), that I feel obligated to answer your questions and provide the requested detail. This newsletter is really for you, and you asked! So…

In this article I answer YOUR questions concerning enterprise Spam filters & clear up some misconceptions.
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June 2010
Centrally Manage Microsoft Updates Across Your Enterprise… For Free!
One issue that is extremely important to the safety of your environment, but is often overlooked, concerns Microsoft Updates. Security holes in Microsoft products are a HUGE issue, and you need to be sure these updates are properly installed on ALL of your devices. This is just as critical to your environment’s well being as the previously discussed Anti Virus protections for Servers, PCs, and email.

This article highlights this next layer of enterprise protection, discussing why it is so important and providing methods that will allow you to provide full control, management, and monitoring of Microsoft Updates across your Enterprise (and it is Free!).
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July 2010
Zero Downtime! It IS attainable and I’ll show you how to do it!
Zero Downtime is not magic... It just takes a bit of foresight, a bit of intelligent design, and a bit of paying attention.

This article describes the use of cost effective systems redundancy, rapid response support contracts, and proactive monitoring of your systems. These three concepts, coupled with the strategies I’ve already shown you, have provided Zero Downtime for many of my clients. It can be yours as well!
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August 2010
Maintain Zero Downtime with Systems Monitoring!
Over the last several months we’ve discussed putting a number of systems & best practices in place to protect your environment and achieve Zero Downtime. Now we need to keep an eye on them to optimize their effectiveness and to ensure they are working properly.

This article shows you how to effectively monitor the important systems we have put in place. In many cases, we can automate the monitoring process so systems send you daily reports and special emails when something goes awry. Proactively monitoring and managing your systems is the key to maintaining Zero Downtime!
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September 2010
Complete Web Site Re-design

October 2010
Backup the Company Jewels!
We've discussed methods to achieve Zero Downtime throughout the last several articles, but at some point you WILL need to resort to Backup Data. It is all but inevitable! So you need to ensure your data sets are being backed up completely and regularly. This is Absolutely Critical!!! Your data sets ARE the Company Jewels!

This month's article shows you all you need to develop a backup strategy that will work for your company, including the Why, What, and How, along with Monitoring and those ever present "gotcha's".
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November 2010
Simplify Data Organization and User Management… with Active Directory!
Can your staff easily get to and share the data that they need to do their jobs? Is that data available only to those that need it? Are you sure that your financials are locked down? Can you give new or reassigned staff immediate access to the data and resources that they need, with no effort?

This month’s article shows you how to use Active Directory (AD) to organize your data for easy accessibility for the staff that need access, while preventing access to others. We also show you how to manage your users with AD to easily provide them with access to the data and resources that they need, and easily alter their access as they change roles within your enterprise.
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December 2010
Warmest Wishes To All for a Wonderous Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2011!

January 2011
Think “Functional Roles” when Allocating Staff and Resources!
As today’s organizations become more efficient, leaner, and more flexible, the old static Organization Chart’s value has diminished. Staff and resource management can become quite tricky as Users’ functional roles cross these static borders. Last month’s article often mentioned Functional Roles and Functional Departments in relation to efficiently managing and allocating your resources.

This month’s article discusses using the concept of Functional Roles to rethink classifying, utilizing, managing, and optimizing your most important resource: your talented staff.
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February 2011
Is Windows 7 ready for YOUR Business?!?
Is your business ready for Windows 7? Or more importantly, is Windows 7 ready for YOUR Business?!?

After the Vista debacle, concern is appropriate... As many of my clients and associates have been expressing concern over Windows 7, I'm bumping February's scheduled topic to discuss this timely issue.

So this month's article discusses some of our experiences with Windows 7 in VRM environments, the Windows 7 options as they may apply to Your Business, and your available options should you wish to maintain an XP environment.
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April 2011
A Reasonable Expectation of Privacy...
Is Your Business complying with and protected from a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy?

This month’s article discusses the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy as it relates to how your Business handles incoming communications (email, phone, and postal mail), outbound email, and corporate resources utilized by your staff.

The article is based on general research and observations. It is meant to get you thinking about potential liabilities, present ideas to begin protecting your Company from those liabilities, but mostly to help protect your Company’s reputation.
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May 2011
Use Group Policy to Centrally Tune YOUR Business Computing Environment… - It’s Free!
If your Business runs on a Windows network, as do most, you have access to an awesome tool that allows you to centrally manage settings and properties for all of your Users, PCs, and Servers… and it’s free!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss Microsoft’s Group Policy and the Group Policy Manager – what it is, how it works, and how it can help you manage your very important business computing environment.
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June 2011
Protect your Company’s Data and Reputation... Lock Your PC!
If your staff (or you) just walks away from their PCs, anyone can sit down and access all their info, all the corporate data they have access to, and all their email. They can even send emails to anyone (and everyone in the address books) masquerading as the logged-in user!

In this month’s article I review the usual methods for locking PCs, and their pitfalls. Then I provide a simple, ingenious method to lock your PC in a half second no matter where you are in the PC – no more excuses and no more unintentional disclosures!
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July 2011
Spammers and Your Email Account
You open your Email and suddenly there are 50 “Non-Delivery Reports” in your in-box!
And they keep coming!!
And coming!!!

You think... Does my PC have a virus? Is this bad? Why are they there? How can I stop them?

Well, it might be a virus and it might not. It might be bad, or it might just be a temporary nuisance.

In this month’s article I explain what these Non-Delivery Reports are, why they happen, and how to determine whether their arrival is a serious concern or a temporary nuisance.
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August 2011
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) – a key Business Enabler
You have staff wanting to work from home, traveling staff who need to access company resources, and managers that need access to resources from wherever, whenever. Or you need to transparently connect that new remote office to main office resources within a tight budget.

Enter the Virtual Private Network, or VPN. These gems allow you to connect remote offices securely and inexpensively, and enable your staff to work remotely from anywhere.

In this month’s newsletter I’ll explain what VPNs are, how to deploy them, and how you can use them to improve your business performance at little cost.
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September 2011
Hurricane Preparation and Remote Operations
What you need to do in preparation of a serious storm depends on the severity of the storm, the type of storm expected, and the vulnerabilities of your site.

Typically, we are concerned with storm surge entering the building, structural damage from winds or flying debris, windswept rain entering through breached windows, walls, or roof, and electrical damage from lightning or “shorts”.

Once your local IT resources are protected to the best of our ability, we need to consider ongoing operations while the effects of the storm impact your environment.

In this month’s newsletter I’ll present multiple recommendations that have helped my clients mitigate IT loses and maintain operations through a number of severe hurricanes. I hope you find it helpful as well.
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October 2011
Remote Access Alternatives to VPNs
So you or your managers need to access corporate resources remotely, but you don’t want to mess with VPNs
(as discussed in our August Newsletter, Virtual Private Networks– a key Business Enabler).

There are a few alternatives that are pretty easy to set up and can be free, but they do have a few caveats... there’s a surprise!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss a few of the more popular Remote Access alternatives, their Pros & Cons in a corporate environment, and provide recommendations.
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November 2011
Secure Passwords - You need to get this right!
Passwords are THE keys to your Corporate Jewels. They are also an important safeguard to your personal identity. Proper creation and management of passwords is SO important...

We recently found several weak passwords while running a security audit. This is so important, so dangerous, and so easy to correct, I’m pushing Secure Passwords ahead of this month’s scheduled topic.

In this month’s newsletter I discuss what a Secure Password is, methods to create passwords that are secure but easy to remember, and best practices for managing your passwords. I’ll also discuss how to easily auto-enforce Secure Passwords & Password Policies on your networks.
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December 2011
End of Year Security Summary
While we all prepare for the holidays thinking “peace, brotherhood, and good will”, the bad guys are still out there, and are hunting for easy targets. Maintaining basic security measures will help keep you out of their sights.

So please, as you prepare for the New Year, ensure your business is protected with (at least) the seven security basics I highlight in this month’s newsletter.
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I wish you all a joyous holiday season, and a healthy, happy, and successful 2012!

January 2012
Employee IT Use & Abuse Policy - Retain Control, Reduce Liability
You need to ensure your employees understand “Acceptable Use” regarding company IT Resources. Unacceptable use can lead to wasted resources, reduced productivity and, if no Use and Abuse Policy is in place, lawsuits directed towards you and your business.

I found that a large number of businesses I recently visited had no IT Use and Abuse Policy in place. Like bad passwords, this is very important, very dangerous, and very easy to correct

In this month’s newsletter I discuss why an IT Use and Abuse Policy is so important, what the policy needs to include, and how to insure your staff acknowledges they have read and understand the policy.
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February 2012
If Your Employees Continue To Abuse the Internet - Some Options
I received a lot of interesting feedback concerning last month’s article on creating "Employee IT Use and Abuse Policies". Several folks asked for pointers on developing their company IT Abuse Policy, but I was most asked, “If they just don’t listen/comply, how can we regulate employee abuse of the Company Internet?”

There are several options available, running from simple to complex, and from free (but cumbersome) to pricy (but elegant).

In this month’s newsletter I discuss various options that are available to shut down employee abuse of your company’s Internet circuits and the resultant lost productivity.
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