CMIT Solutions of Columbia

The Five Most Glaring Holes in Small Business IT Security

As an IT service provider to small businesses, we see a few common problems among new customers. Whether it’s because of oversight, ignorance, neglect, or user error, the following five issues at best keep many small businesses from achieving their full potential and, at worst, jeopardize a company’s very existence.

1.       Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) – A company’s electronic data is one of its most valuable—and fragile—assets. A shocking number of small businesses either rely on manual backups or just keep their fingers crossed. For maximum protection, a business needs not only an automated backup system (to minimize human error), but also a thoroughly tested and simple-to-implement disaster recovery plan in order to get the business back up and running.

2.       Adherence to Security Protocols – Your car alarm won’t give you much protection if you leave your keys on the hood. As with many security systems, the human factor is often one of the weakest links. Poor login management, shared passwords, and other shortcuts leave your computers and network open to threats. Educating your staff about the importance of adhering to security measures (and making sure they do) is of utmost importance.

3.       Outdated Equipment – This especially applies to network infrastructure such as routers, bridges, and firewalls. Just because a device still works doesn’t mean it is working securely. As security protocols have progressed, especially in the wireless space, manufacturers have had to increase performance to keep up with increasingly complicated encryption schemes. Running older hardware makes you an easier target (and therefore more attractive) for hackers.

4.       Unsecured Mobile Devices – Yes, employees love the convenience of accessing their email via a smartphone, but smartphones are also easy to lose (as are laptops and USB drives). What if that device held sensitive information? Or provided a direct path into your corporate server? Again, adherence to proper security protocols is paramount. All devices need to be protected with robust, regularly changing passwords, and all employees need to understand and adhere to a written “acceptable use” policy.

5.       Lack of Cohesive IT Strategy – Most companies expand their IT infrastructure as their business grows. As such, they often find themselves with a patchwork system. Smart business owners see IT as a strategic business asset, not just a necessary evil. Investing in a coherent, well-designed IT infrastructure not only provides security and increased performance, but also does good things for your bottom line. 

Break Out of the Box with These PowerPoint Alternatives

Tired of the same old boring PowerPoint templates? Want to create a presentation that will really engage your audience? Take these PowerPoint alternatives for a free test drive.

Google Docs Presentation – This app bears a striking resemblance to PowerPoint, but it’s web-based, which means it’s easily shareable and conducive to collaboration among your team members. Importing your existing PowerPoint slides is a snap, too.  Many users will find embedding web content into a presentation far more intuitive with this app than with PowerPoint. It also appears to be more stable than PowerPoint when handling video content. And it’s completely free-of-charge.

SlideRocket –SlideRocket also incorporates a slide-based approach to organizing presentations, but offers oh-so-much more, including an integrated library of media assets, automated Flickr searches, and the ability to embed real-time information (e.g., a Twitter or RSS feed, which are also searchable). Most intriguingly, SlideRocket offers analytics (unfortunately, only with the paid version) that track how users interact with your presentations, such as how long they spend on each slide and which ones get viewed multiple times. You can also embed forms or polls into the presentation to gather info from your audience. Free for the “Lite” version.

Prezi – Prezi gained almost overnight fame after James Geary used it in his “Mixing Mind and Metaphor” presentation at the 2009 TEDGlobal conference in Oxford. It dispenses with PowerPoint’s slide-based approach, instead utilizing flowing, zooming, spinning, motion-based depictions for a rich, immersive experience. Check out this video for a concrete example. Prezi works great on the iPad too, supporting drag-to-pan and pinch-to-zoom gestures. The basic web-based version is free, and the desktop version comes with a 30-day free trial.