Strategic planning is all about seeing the bigger picture of things. It is about making steps and lighting the road ahead, so the company will not go astray from goals and objectives as they work to improve their business. Large, established firms need strategic planning to maintain their business standard. Small businesses need it to streamline the opportunities they will need to take for progressive growth and development.

Even IT services need to be factored in while coming up with strategic planning models. There are a number of business opportunities and possibly profitable initiatives that require some system tweaks before even starting anything. For example, your company may have desktop and server maintenance under control, but what if the server you are currently using is not compatible with that of a potential client or business partner? What if the higher-ups decide you should try out a new software application for your department? While infrastructure upgrades and program switches technically do not take too long to accomplish, it takes time to get used to the new system and controls. Time needs to be allotted for the transition, especially when the change is something as major as switching to a new and entirely different software application.

Strategic planning for small business IT allows the company to set priorities and create long term IT plans that go beyond monthly or quarterly issues. For many companies, however, sitting down with key decision makers and agreeing on the first steps to take can be an incredibly trying and stressful task because each one has his own competing objectives. Don’t forget the budget needs to be taken into account too. A third-party IT support service can act as the objective advisor for building strategic IT management plans. With them in the picture, it is easier to come up with the most feasible actions and create reasonable timetables for each planned progressive step.

A good IT Support Service will take the time to sit down with clients and try to thoroughly understand their business goals and objectives. This includes learning about the inner workings of a department, the competitive landscape and the technicalities of the company’s network infrastructure before plunging ahead into IT infrastructure development.

At the same time, an experienced IT support service will not drop the ball. A reviewing stage should be conducted at least every six months or so, to make sure that the current IT management plan is still aligned with the client’s current business goals and to allow for course corrections where necessary. Of course, it is more practical to stop and improve something while it is still at the planning stage. It would be difficult both for the strategic planning IT specialist and the client to change something when the action has already been executed.

Some IT specialists tend to forego this important check-up stage, saying that their only job is to plan, not fix. But fixing is part and parcel of strategic planning. You cannot say a house is clean when all you did was dust and vacuum, while forgetting to arrange the furniture in their proper spaces, right? Many companies, especially small business ventures that do not delve into sticky technical matters, have little idea of what to do if their new server starts acting up. All Covered IT specialists, on the other hand, are available every step of the way, from the planning stage to execution and project evaluation. With the complex IT issues taken care of by professional experts, clients can focus more on what they do best: Building their businesses and raising profit. You can browse through our website to learn more about the different professional IT services All Covered offers or call us at 866-446-1133.

Andreas Krebs
Marketing Manager, All Covered, Inc.

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Cloud computing is a generic, catch-all term that many people use to explain many different IT concepts, solutions and services that might or might not be actually be cloud computing.  Because cloud computing is constantly evolving, the IT industry has had a difficult time creating a concrete definition for the concept.  This article will focus on defining the basic nature of cloud computing, which won’t change, regardless of how cloud computing evolves.

What it is

Cloud Computing is an IT service intended for business use that vendors such as Salesforce.com, Rackspace and WebSense offer “on-demand.”  Vendors provide “on-demand” services such as CRM, off-site storage, hosted email solutions, secure web portals, etc.  Instead of spending money on applications and hardware, businesses have access to the same resources without the commitment of ownership.

Where it’s located

Because services are provided over the internet, the vendor can be located anywhere in the world and it won’t impact quality of service.     Businesses can access most purchased solutions through a secure device such as a workstation, laptop or smartphone and a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Key characteristics

While each cloud computing vendor will operate with a slightly different business plan, all vendors do share similarities.

• Affordable- As an “on-demand” service, vendors will only charge businesses for the resources used.  Typically, you will sign a contract of some sort, but the terms are flexible and should meet your business needs.
• Scalable- Most vendors provide cloud computing services to organizations of any size.  Your business will not be restricted by its number of users or amount of data.
• Self-service- While vendors will maintain the hardware and the solution, your business will be responsible for maintaining all data.
• Multi-tenancy- Vendors store data from multiple companies on the same hardware.  Don’t worry; your business’s data will be kept separate and secure through application architecture, while sharing resources such as storage, memory and processing power.
• Redundant data storage- Most solutions provide multiple physical sites where they will store multiple copies of data, making cloud computing suitable for businesses that need high-availability.

Key Benefits

Every business that uses cloud computing solutions will realize many benefits.  While some benefits will be particular to your individual business, two key benefits that all businesses realize are as follows:

• No out-of-pocket infrastructure costs- With cloud computing, your business won’t need to buy additional servers, hardware or networking equipment to take advantage of a solution.
• Simple to support- Vendors will service and support their solution, upgrading and patching your solution so you don’t have to.

Types of solutions

• Managed email- Many vendors offer solutions that will work well at your physical business site and on you mobile devices such as iPhones, Blackberries and other smartphones.
• Email Archiving- With cloud computing, your business can store an unlimited amount of email, providing your business with a clear audit trail.
• Secure Web Gateway- This cloud computing solution will babysit your network by limiting access to specific web pages and blocking access to others.  This enhanced security will help protect your entire IT network from malware.
• CRM- Vendors such as Salesforce.com and Dynamics provide customizable customer management, sales, and marketing campaign tools for your business.
• Finance/Accounting- The vendor will host the software application, process the data, integrate it with taxes and also take care of payroll, expenses and other business needs.

To learn more

To learn more about cloud computing and how your business will benefit from one or more of the available solutions, please contact the outsource IT consulting experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Andreas Krebs
Marketing Manager, All Covered, Inc.

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Over the past month or so, All Covered has posted multiple articles regarding virtualization.  A few articles focused on the big picture—discussing virtualization in general.  Other articles concentrated on the three different types of virtualization: server, desktop and application.  Several other articles focused on virtualization architecture—drafting your virtualization plans.   This article, last in the current series, will focus on some final key points to keep in mind as you adopt the right virtualization solutions for your business.

Things to Consider

• Assess your business’s virtualization needs. As with any technology, it’s important to know what your business needs and identify how the proposed solution, in this case virtualization, will benefit your business.
• Choose the best virtualization solution. Just because you can virtualize everything from the servers to workstations to applications doesn’t mean that you should.  Be careful to select the virtualization solutions that meet your business’s unique IT needs.
• Define user needs.  Understand how people use the computers, servers and other IT devices in your business.  This will help you make a list of required features you’re your virtualization solution should have.
• Identify users that will need to use the virtualization solution. Choosing the best virtualization solution should take into account which users will use virtualization solutions.  Will everyone in your small business need these solutions?  Does anyone work remotely?  Will they be accessing the solutions by smartphone?  As described in previous articles, different user needs require different virtualization solutions.
• Define system security needs. IT network security can be impacted by a chosen virtualization solution.  Depending on which virtual solutions you choose, your firewall and perimeter security may need to be modified.
• Plan your backups.  Virtualized systems may need to be backed-up differently than non-virtualized system.  The total amount of backed-up data may increase or decrease, depending upon your chosen virtualization solution.
• Determine your uptime needs. If your business requires that your virtualized system must have high availability as part of its solution, make sure that your software and hardware will support it.
• Create a realistic budget. Choosing the best virtualization solutions for your business may be costly.  Keep in mind that you might have to purchase hardware and other applications to support the virtualization process.  Also, keep in mind that you should not “go cheap.”  The best virtualization solutions might cost more, but you are guaranteed to get a trustworthy product that will meet your business’s needs.

Follow-up

Regardless of which virtualization solution you choose for your small business, keep in mind the above key points before you commit time or money.  Whether you only need some advice or a complete virtualization plan and installation, please contact the virtualization experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Andreas Krebs
Marketing Manager, All Covered, Inc.

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One of the transformative effects of current events at the end of the last decade has been the trend of people paying more attention to the work of non-profit organizations. They do all manner of work that most people take for granted: From educational services for out-of-school youth, to caring for veterans of war, or even participating in the occasional volunteer clean-up projects to help make a beach or a park safer and neater.

One can wonder: “If people are doing this kind of work, why doesn’t it always succeed in ridding society of its ills?” The short answer: Finances. The fact still remains that non-profit organizations operate (and should operate) like a small business enterprise. The objectives will differ – one is aimed towards earning money, while the other uses money for a greater goal – but that dichotomy takes nothing away from the missions that all businesses should target: Sustainable income, efficient processes, a well-trained competent staff and growth.

Imagine, then, the good that coordinated IT services can do for a non-profit organization. For example, an organization needs to do both work at the office, and work must also take place in the field. These two functions can be coordinated easily with network communications devices.

If, for example, your organization is a team of paralegal advisors who help take the preliminary acts for filing of court petitions or cases, you will invariably need to draw up a lot of legal documents, many of which can be more easily stored and more readily accessed with a digital database. For another example, a team involved with advocacy for a far-flung community organizing with indigenous people may be made more streamlined if there were means to transmit real-time events happening with the community online to a live internet audience, and with people in the headquarters taking care of promotions, attention-grabbing and the like.

If remote mobile Internet is not feasible in distant locations, another way could be to synchronize data gathered on the field with information in the headquarters regularly via physical means. Images from cameras or data collected with mobile devices can be consolidated and sorted easily upon return, for better strategizing. Imagine how much more money organizations can raise, or how many more lives they can save, with a proper, information-based plan of action.

These are examples of activities that information technology can help make better. These tasks are vital for a non-profit group from a field operations standpoint; however, there are also challenges that must be addressed at the home headquarters. One oft-cited example of this is the task of managing paperwork, forms and other notes that all need proper filing, sound organizing, and easy searching, retrieval and access. A paperless, remotely accessed system for such data can be critical. Financial papers, like tax forms, employee wages and expense accounts, cannot be left to just basic note taking and record keeping. It pays to have this information secured, so as any potential threats to security can be kept away.

These are all good areas for a non-profit group to invest in technology in. The trouble, however, is that not all such organizations have the finances to invest in technology, let alone work with it continuously. Most funding for such groups must go to operations, and while investing in IT can make them more efficient, it is not that easy to put money into it in the first place. There is also the matter of skill – not all people who are part of non-profit organizations have the kind of training or specialized knowledge that can useful in certain tight spots. If, for example, something goes wrong with a network router, or if the team will need to procure new computer monitors, then it may not be easy to find that kind of specialized help.

Starting up or strengthening a team’s IT applications like this might be best left for the IT consulting professionals. All Covered, for example, has experience in handling non-profit groups like Child, Family & Community Services, Inc., by working well within their budget and still accomplishing their needs. For more help on how All Covered can help you with your IT strategy and make technology work for you call us at 866-446-1133.

Andreas Krebs
Marketing Manager, All Covered, Inc.

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Application virtualization allows any application to run on any operating system in any location.  Virtualizing applications drastically reduces compatibility issues and makes it easy to go mobile. The flexibility of application virtualization makes it an ideal IT tool for businesses when it used as part of a comprehensive IT plan.

This article focuses on application virtualization architecture, which will help you define your business’s desktop virtualization needs and draft a plan to incorporate it into your IT plan.

Application Virtualization Architecture

As part of your application virtualization plan, you need to decide which type of end-user platform will best suit your business needs. Each platform has distinct advantages that should be considered.  Key points to consider are as follows:

• Smartphones- Virtual applications can be configured to “offline” mode where the applications are stored on a smartphone’s hard drive, or they can be set up to “stream” from the phone’s internet connection when the application is needed.
• Remote machines- Virtualized applications are accessible through direct streaming from the internet, connection through a secure VPN or in offline mode.  Using virtualized applications in offline mode is great for situations such as travel where you need access to an application but don’t have internet access.
• Local network systems- Application virtualization works best for local systems and gives a superior multimedia experience that can’t be rivaled by smartphones and offsite computers.

Possible Limitations

As you draft your application virtualization plan, consider the possible limitations that might affect your specific technology needs.  Potential limitations include the following:

• Poor multimedia experience- Most virtualized applications are unable to deliver a rich multimedia experience to smartphones.  Some virtualized multimedia programs will run better than others will—talk to your IT consultant about your specific software needs.
• Poor peripheral device support- While virtual applications do often work better with peripherals than virtualized serves and workstations there are still limitations that might impact your business.  Applications that require a USB security key may not work.  Virtual applications don’t always work well with high-end video cards.  If you run a virtualized application on a virtualized workstation, the peripheral devices will experience the limitations of the virtualized application.
• Security compatibility issues- Unlike most applications, security apps such as antivirus, antimalware or software firewalls can’t be virtualized.  Keep in mind that virtualized applications don’t interact with an operating system; security applications need to interact with the operating system to do their job.

Talk to the Experts

To learn more about the specific ways that application virtualization can benefit your business and to get help drafting a customized plan that will best meet your business’s needs, please contact the virtualization experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Andreas Krebs
Marketing Manager, All Covered, Inc.

Contact All Covered

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