November 16th, 2011 by tammyc

Tax Relief for Small Business 2011

In business, “Time is Money”.  The Small Business Jobs & Credit Act of 2010 was created by Congress and provides key tax incentives for investments in new business equipment. It is commonly referred to as Section 179.    

Within Section 179, there are new “Deduction and Bonus Depreciation” limits that allow you to upgrade your business technology and receive HUGE tax relief credits.   Therefore you can basically write-off 100% of all the equipment and software your business needs to buy or finance this year!   

What’s New in 2011?

  • Deduction limit is increased to $500,000. The total amount of equipment that can be purchased increased to $2 million. This includes most new and used capital equipment, and also includes certain software
  • “Bonus Depreciation” increases to 100% on qualified assets. However, this can be taken on new equipment only.

Look around your office.  

  • Is your network really connected?   
  • Is your technology working for you or against you? Slowing down your productivity? 
  • How old is your technology hardware?
  • Do you know about new Small Business cost effective and efficient software applications? 

Get your head in the “Cloud”. Don’t know about the cloud or how it increases your productivity?  Section 179 tax breaks can get you there!  Don’t lose your chance to leverage latest technology and invest in your company’s future.  

Experience, Quality, Commitment and Integrity when planning your Tax Relief.  Contact All Covered at www.allcovered.com/locations/tampa/ or the Tampa office at 813-259-1300.  You will speak directly to a representative who will be able assist you with your IT project or planning needs.  

For additional information, please visit www.irs.gov or contact the IRS helpline at 800-829-4933.

Always a Silver Lining in the All Covered “Cloud”

October 18th, 2011 by tammyc

All Covered expands its IT Services Suite now offering cloud server solution to small businesses throughout the US. The cloud servers are designed to host business applications like hosted SQL Server, hosted Exchange Server and hosted SharePoint. All Covered CIO Tim Crawford shared, “… it’s just another way All Covered is bringing enterprise-class solutions to the SMB level, at an SMB price.”
Vertical IT Solutions now a part of All Covered looks forward to providing service to their local clients who best benefit with SMB cloud technology as well as helping All Covered expand this technology option to other small businesses throughout the US.

http://www.mspmentor.net/2011/10/14/all-covered-adds-cloud-servers-to-it-services-suite/

Is your Business’s Privacy or Security at Risk with Social Media Sites?

September 21st, 2011 by tammyc

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn are influential tools that allow companies to market their services beyond its four walls, street and city to meet, interact with and connect with people all around the world. However, be mindful of the potential risks to your business that accompany the use of social networking resources.  We all know that cyber bullies exist in the realm of every social networking site waiting to strike and ruin your business and its reputation. 

What to Privatize and what to Publicize?

Establish guidelines to protect your business’s personal and/or professional data. Share with your employees what should or should not be made public on these sites. In some markets, competition drives a business to be a success or failure.  Would your small business suffer from too much public access to your current or future plans?  be private or public. As the leader of your company,

One of the most effective ways to protect your company’s social media site(s) is to “…restrict the privacy settings of your social networking profile to limit who can access any personal information you might share on the site.”  Remember, in the cyber world, once it posted, more than likely it is out there in some form forever.

 Protecting your Investment!

However, source leaks regarding your current operations and/or future models are not the only cause for concern when it comes to social media sites. Every business operates using internal or outsourced IT departments.  IT products and software hold the central hub of day to day information. 

Social networking sites open the platform for scams and viruses that originate from your company.  To avoid these highways of destruction, make sure your systems support strong authentication.  Some tips include:

  • Use one-time log in passwords when using public computers or even your phone
  • Enable social networking website to be encrypted (HTTPS)
  • Use discernment when opening links within an email and on social networking sights as well installing apps.  Instead access site directly to check for messages or notifications from the website.

 These are just a few helpful tips to remember as you begin to explore, use and market your business within the world of social networking. 

Resource: http://www.securingthehuman.org/newsletters/ouch/issues/OUCH-201109_en.pdf

Microsoft Windows 8: Tablet Users – “We’ll have an app for that!”

September 16th, 2011 by tammyc

On Tuesday, September 14, Microsoft Corporation shared publically developmental samples of its new version of Windows 8.  Over 5,000 Samsung tablets were given out to those attending a recent developer’s conference so they could test it and experience the features first-hand.  Many were quite impressed.   The new version features touchscreens capability and is designed to use less memory to allow for use of app such as Facebook, messaging or newsfeeds to name a few.  

Tablet users could have a viable option to iPad as soon as next year.  It is not scheduled for release until sometime mid to late 2012; however, I am excited about the new version of Windows 8 and can’t wait to begin testing it soon on my computer.

Resources:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/watch-out-apple-windows-8-could-trump-the-ipad-172971#disqus_thread

 http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=1&id=206113&hb=5

Vertical IT Solutions Named to CRN’s Inaugural Next-Gen 250 List

September 12th, 2011 by tammyc

Everything Channel has named Vertical IT Solutions to the first ever 2011 CRN Next-Gen 250 list.  The CRN Next-Gen 250 is an annual listing of innovative and nimble business and technology integrators, solution providers, and resellers in North America offering solutions and services in cloud computing, mobility, unified communications, virtualization and other emerging technologies.  Kelley Damore, VP, Editorial Director, Everything Channel said, “The CRN Next-gen 250 highlights the most interesting new solution providers who are demonstrating such innovation and uncovers the new techniques and technologies that are driving their success.”  VITS’s goal is to leverage technologies as a business productivity tool for the companies it serves. Through the connect IT relationship, industry experts at VITS train and develop clients’ employees so they are savvy and confident users of the system, which makes them more productive and enables clients to grow their businesses.  

In addition, Vertical IT Solutions was recognized with the Best Employee Retention Strategy honor by CRN Next-Gen 250.  

Everything Channel

Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/everythingchnl.

UBM plc (www.ubm.com)

UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world’s buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

Irene, Katia, Lee, Maria and Nate – Oh My!

September 8th, 2011 by Joel Wonicker-Cook

The US has just begun to clean up from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee and now Maria’s headed towards the Caribbean Ocean and Nate is near the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula.  As most Floridians know, Labor Day brings the “real” start to hurricane season and this year is a prime example.  We’ve already hit our 13th named storm of the 2011 season and it’s only half over.

 If you haven’t reviewed your hurricane readiness plan this year, or don’t have one, read our earlier blog post here: http://www.verticalit.com/blog/?p=435.  The best time to prepare for a storm is before one’s got Tampa Bay in its tracks.

 Resources:

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/

http://hurricane.accuweather.com/hurricane/index.asp

BrightHouse Not So Bright

September 7th, 2011 by Joel Wonicker-Cook

My ISP is down! My business and personal phones service is unusable!  Upwards of 1 million Bright House Networks customers across the Tampa Bay area lost their telephone, cable TV and Internet service for much of Tuesday. Unfortunately, the outage disconnected Bright House customers and from St. Pete Beach to Lakeland to Spring Hill affecting area businesses leaving them in the dark regarding communication and productivity. BrightHouse officials noted the culprit was a software bug. However, it took 6 hours to isolate and finally resolve the issue.  Can your business afford to be down for almost an entire business day? How can your company be productive in the dark? 

Commentary:

Over the past 5 years, Internet service reliability has increased substantially, but yesterday service disruption by BrightHouse is a reminder of both our reliance on connections to run our business, and the disruption a service outage causes.  If you experienced this firsthand, I don’t need to say more.

We recommend every business have redundant Internet connections from different providers such as Verizon FiOS, TW Telecom and yes, Bright House Networks.  That way, if one connection is temporarily disrupted, your business won’t come to a screeching halt.  And most of today’s Internet firewalls support multiple connections, so you may not even need to buy any hardware.

To learn more about your options, give us a call at (813) 259-1300, or visit us at www.verticalit.com

Be Prepared: The Motto of a True Scout, and a Well-Prepared IT Pro

July 14th, 2011 by Joel Wonicker-Cook

“Where to begin?” is usually the first question I hear. Preparation for disasters of all sizes and frequency is the key to ensuring continuous operations for your organization.

Start with the fundamentals. Too often, IT professionals and organizations think about the BIG one, otherwise known as – the hurricane. We are nearing the two-month mark of hurricane season and starting to see threatening storms brew just south of us. However, mitigating everyday risks is equally, if not more vital to your day-to-day operations. There are many other types of risks of data loss to consider, such as: file deletion, Internet connection loss, server failure or the dreaded fire-flood-theft trifecta.

Here are some of the fundamentals and steps for creating a risk tolerance matrix to present to executive management:

  • Devise a plan that includes a method to identify and decrease risk. Develop a process to first identify the risk, such as Internet or hard drive failure, etc.
  • Assess the probability of the disaster, its impact on the organization and determine its priority through easy computation.

Here are two examples:

Example 1: Loss of Internet connection – probability: 5, impact: 5, priority: 25

Example 2: Hurricane – probability: 2, impact: 10, priority: 20

Most of you would probably agree that loosing Internet connection is very likely occurrence and disrupts the entire organization. Further, you have probably already offset this risk by implementing a second connection along with a firewall with automatic fail-over.
 
Begin looking at all your points of possible failure and whether they are local and related to servers, network, Internet connectivity or fire, flood, theft or hurricanes. When this first step is complete, identify the probability and impact of each. From this, the priority and action plan will become clear. Address the highest priority first. Initially, the order of this list may surprise you, but this approach is a very methodical way to address disaster preparedness issues. This list then becomes your risk tolerance matrix to review with your executive team.

Organizations often focus on the catastrophic events that are in the news. Beware, as more frequently the small things are the ones that can derail your business plans.

If you need assistance in creating your risk tolerance matrix, our consulting team has experience in assisting clients, IT professionals, and business executives in making sense of it all by creating a plan to address their overall disaster preparedness planning strategy. Learn more by contacting us here.

Going away on vacation? Stay Connected!

July 14th, 2011 by Joel Wonicker-Cook

Summer vacation time is here and you would like to get away, but you also feel the need to remain connected to the office, email and various applications. If you are like many people, you probably already have a BlackBerry or iPhone to retrieve your email. Access to your full network, data and systems can be a plus. Remote access can be helpful while you take a break from the office. It furnishes a user-friendly system that can allow anyone, with appropriate permissions, to gain access while outside the office. Remote access is especially useful for telecommuters, mobile workers or in the event of unexpected absences from the office. Here are a few basic definitions to help you in understanding this valuable tool:

Remote access is the ability to gain access to some or all of the applications and data you might typically use while sitting at your desk. An example of such accessibility would be access to your email systems via a Web browser such as Internet Explorer. What about being able to access the applications or programs that you run on your desktop, such as Microsoft Office, accounting applications or CRM application? While you may already employ some Internet-based or hosted applications, we will focus on those running within an office.

The leading request for remote access is almost always for email, the main communications link for most businesses. Cell phone providers have addressed this need with an increase in production of smart phones, such as the BlackBerry and iPhone that allow access to email. If your company utilizes Microsoft’s Exchange server, access to Outlook Web Access (OWA) is full-featured and easy to use. OWA is simply Outlook, presented by way of a Web browser. Once it has been properly configured, users simply open Internet Explorer, type in an address such as: webmail.mycompany.com, and enter their usual username and password. Voila! All emails – new and old, sent and saved emails, contacts, your full calendar-they are available at your fingertips! The Exchange 2007 version looks just like the full Outlook client.

Remote access to your desktop applications.
For a very small office, remote access can be accomplished via the Remote Desktop (RDP) functionality built-into Windows XP Pro and Vista Business. Users can remotely access their own computers, along with all of the applications and data residing on that particular computer. While some advanced planning is necessary, this can be a great way for some users to get to essential files while on the road.

Windows Terminal Services or Citrix’s XenApp (formerly MetaFrame) are robust solutions for frequent remote access, often used by larger companies or branch offices. These two solutions employ a dedicated server for remote access and enable many simultaneous users to access business applications and data while outside the office. These solutions for both large and small companies are centrally managed and require little bandwidth. This is essential when there are multiple remote users.

Virtual Private Networks or VPN.

VPN essentially provides a secure tunnel for the transfer of data between a user’s computer and the corporate network. While this is great from a remote access and security perspective, it is not speedy and necessitates the remote computer having required applications installed. VPN along with remote desktop or terminal services gives you both security and fast access. Advancements in today’s SSL-VPN appliances make it easier to gain access to data and servers, such as terminal and application servers. Users gain access to Webmail and drive mappings to remote desktop and terminal services, all within their browsers.

Hurricane Preparedness 2011

June 16th, 2011 by Joel Wonicker-Cook

As we head into this year’s hurricane season, you are probably concerned about your family, employees and business.  While we all learned to be prepared from previous storms, and saw the devastating impact many have had on the Gulf Coast over the years, we want to provide you with information to help you prepare your business for the worst and to facilitate recovery from the possible impact of a storm.  As hurricane season has begun, taking action today is most important. 

All business owners and managers should develop a basic understanding of hurricane preparedness. You are responsible for planning to protect facilities and employees. Below, are some suggested pre-hurricane season planning activities.

1. Determine which members of your staff will need to carry out hurricane preparations and who you can reasonably expect to be available. Some employees may need to assist their own families or relatives in evacuating from threatened areas. You will probably need all of your building maintenance staff to prepare your facility for a hurricane. Regularly update your list of employee phone numbers and insure each department head has a copy.

2. Develop a simple written plan which incorporates a set of Hurricane Task Assignments for your staff. Get input regarding the tasks to be accomplished from all of the various work centers at your facility.

a. Outline the specific tasks that must be performed to protect your facility during a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning, how they will be accomplished, and who will perform them.

b. It is probably desirable to develop teams for many tasks – a team to board up, a team to secure exterior equipment, and so forth. Staff members who will be performing unfamiliar tasks may need some instruction in these tasks and the use of any equipment that may be required to accomplish those tasks.

3. Outline your hurricane response plan and task assignments at a training session.  Training to familiarize the staff should be conducted at the beginning of every hurricane season – and during the season if there is high staff turnover. Update team assignments on a regular basis.

4.  Right now is the best time to review your property and business disruption insurance with your agent.  Having a clear expectation of your coverage will allow you to make informed decisions regarding equipment replacement.

5.  Develop a clear Hurricane Watch/Warning Countdown.  If you establish a clear timeline for office closure, you’ll minimize employee anxiety and disruption before the storm.

6.  Ensure that you have a copy of your computer system’s backup offsite, whether it’s via tape rotation, offsite hard drives or Internet-based system.  Should you have a catastrophic failure of your building, having a set of your valuable data offsite is essential.

7.  Discuss computer network and phone system replacement timelines with your IT department or outside provider.  Knowing how to quickly replace any damaged systems can be the difference in a quick or protracted recovery.  Remember that supply chain and transportation disruptions may occur, hampering your recovery efforts.

As a former Boy Scout, the best advice I can give is:  be prepared.  Many businesses have no plans, which can result in significant employee anxiety before the storm and chaos in recovering from the storm.  Create a written plan and form a hurricane prep team.  It is essential to communicate that plan to the entire workforce.  Data and equipment should be protected year round, find out more on the best technology for protection by contacting Vertical IT Solutions 813-259-1300 or visit our website at verticalit.com register for one of our educational sessions to get ready and stay prepared!