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James Gaskin

Small Business Tech

By James E. Gaskin

James E. Gaskin writes books (16 so far), articles, and jokes about technology and real life from his home office in the Dallas area. Gaskin has been helping small and medium sized businesses use technology intelligently since 1986. Contact him.

This column is also available as an e-mail newsletter.

More power yet more green
09/04/08
Modern digital technology is catching up with the telephone system from the 1950s. How? Ma Bell used to send voltage down the phone wires to ring the bell on your phone. Today, PoE (Power over Ethernet) sends voltage down the network wires to power a variety of digital devices. That's helpful, but a coming upgrade may really make some powerful, or rather less power-hungry, news.
Explaining Geeks to Humans and the Inverse
08/28/08
It's that time of year again: summer's cooling down, school's starting, and I've set my schedule of ITEC conference appearances for the fall. If you read this column and want to come say hello, I'd love to meet you.
Outside help, inside connections
08/21/08
As companies grow, problems never disappear but they do change. Very small companies need help in many areas during a time they can least afford regular onsite help. Larger companies have onsite help, but also have users in multiple locations, adding a new class of problems. PlumChoice wants to help the first group, and WorldExtend wants to help the second group.
New twists on Wi-Fi
08/14/08
It's a wireless world, some say, conveniently overlooking the giant balls of cables behind every personal computer and every server, router and printer. But many want to expand the wireless world, so let's look at two companies doing just that.
Online project management tricks
08/07/08
The term "Project Management" usually brings pained looks to business people because they associate it with Microsoft Project. The tool may make their lives easier, but the software costs hundreds of dollars per user, and worse, the desktop-centric management application of yesterday doesn't fit well with the distributed workforce reality of today. What's more, when you take the plunge, getting up to speed on the methodology takes time before you see results.
Your technology tent pole
07/31/08
One of my favorite questions for analysts and consultants is what small businesses should learn from big businesses. Let me quote Michael Dortch, long time IT analyst now with the Aberdeen Group, from an interview I did with him last spring: "If you are not entirely dependent on IT to do business and succeed competitively now, you will be by the time I'm finished speaking."
Plugging iPhones into small businesses
07/24/08
Apple's iPhone drew criticism when first released because of tepid enterprise business support. Small businesses felt the pain of iPhone envy more sharply than their enterprise counterparts because of the high upfront cost of the first iPhone and the back-end support requirements for high-end e-mail and communication servers.
Focus on restore, not backup
07/17/08
Everyone always worries about backup, backup, backup. Guess what? None of your users, or managers for that matter, care one bit about backup. All the want is restore, and they want it immediately. So shift your focus from backup to restore.
Remembering longer passwords easily
07/10/08
One of the members of the Master Mind Security Panel during the ITEC show in Charlotte, Dan Colby, made a great point. Basically, he said "quit using passwords."
Roundup from the Charlotte ITEC show
07/03/08
I had the pleasure of providing the keynote speech for the ITEC regional IT conference in Charlotte, N.C. this week and had a great time visiting the area for the first time. Even better, I had the chance to sit down and talk to IT folks fighting the good fight in the Southeast.
Will the death of XP really hurt you?
06/26/08
Microsoft warned us well over a year ago that XP will Die Die Die, at least on new computers, by the end of June, 2008. Petitions and prayers notwithstanding, XP has a firm date with Boot Hill. RIP, XP.
Consumerization of small business IT
06/19/08
During the Altiris user conference in April, I watched a lunch panel discuss the "consumerization of IT" and whether that's a good thing. My initial thought was that it was probably bad for enterprises that want to control everything, but may be good for smaller businesses.
Laptop safety questions
06/12/08
Let me say thanks to the Women's Business Council of the Southwest for inviting me to teach them about laptop safety. The business backgrounds of the members ranged from huge company manager to sole proprietor to corporate lawyer and everything in between. That's what made their questions so interesting, because they came from all directions.
Summer slowdown strategies
06/05/08
Gershwin is wrong about this particular summer. The livin' ain't easy. Besides the normal slowdown many companies feel during the summer months, when you consider the widening recession and skyrocketing gasoline prices, this summer promises more pain than pleasure. It's like we have a sunburn before we even get to the beach.
A new All-in-One server
05/29/08
Almost exactly seven years ago, I reviewed four different "All-in-One" Internet appliances that included file, e-mail and Web servers and some other workgroup type utilities. A purple cube, eight inches on each side, called the Qube 3 from Cobalt (purchased by Sun) won the comparison. The review is still available, but alas, none of the products are. The All-in-One market is tough, and many small businesses go with the flow and buy Microsoft's Small Business Server, which includes most of the All-in-One features.
Better network printing
05/22/08
That "paperless office" idea was nice, but it may be time to give it up. Quit wishing and hoping you will no longer buy paper by the case load. Quit dreaming of the day when an easy to use and inexpensive electronic document management system falls into your lap. People love to print on paper, so it's time to get the company printing system organized. It's even more critical when the company uses some type of non-Windows host. Those add a new level of printing complication.
Collecting money regularly
05/15/08
Every business owner and accounting manager asks the same question: How can I bill and collect more money with less hassle?
Laptop wireless security refresher
05/08/08
Let's recap: during my first Laptop Safety Seminar in Indianapolis on April 23, I was surprised at how many questions from the audience concerned basic laptop wireless security. People love laptops and love wireless connections, but don't love the extra security steps required so too often just avoid them. Not a good plan.
Data breach laws cover everyone
05/01/08
During the first Laptop Safety Seminar we gave in Indianapolis on April 23, I was surprised at how many questions we got from the audience about basic wireless laptop security. Of course, when my co-presenter Kim Brand of sponsor FileEngine demonstrated how easy it is to hack a Windows computer over the type of Wi-Fi service provided by coffee houses and hotels, the questions started coming even faster.
Management+Security, Security+Management
04/24/08
Continuing our discussion of support tools from Bomgar last week, let me report on the Altiris ManageFusion user conference in Las Vegas that happened in early April. Almost exactly a year after being acquired by Symantec, Altiris employees and users report mostly good things about the new products and integration with Symantec.
Appliance based remote computer control
04/17/08
The old reach out and touch someone slogan from the phone company means, in the technical support business, to reach out and touch someone's computer. Doing so in person takes expertise and patience. Doing so remotely takes expertise, patience and special tools. Those special tools have always been software, whether run from your own computer or servers, or provided by a hosted service provider. The Bomgar Box family (Appliance-Based Remote Desktop Access) uses a hardware appliance rather than software.
Avaya's small business phone ploy
04/10/08
I'm not thrilled that Avaya calls its phone line Unified Communications for Small Business, because "Unified Communications" normally means putting all your communication eggs in one basket. You know, e-mails and voice mails and faxes and the like in your inbox. But, I like the fact Avaya surveyed small businesses and then changed its product to reflect what those small businesses said.
Spring column cleaning
04/03/08
It's spring, even if you're still sloshing through snow where you live. Traditionally, this is a time for cleaning up the muck of winter, so let me address some messes I and others have made. I like to think I only make misstatements while others make mistakes, but you can judge.
PCI audits from the inside
03/27/08
After discussing the new, more stringent PCI (Payment Card Industry) guidelines several times, including last month, let's dig even deeper. Two companies involved in both ends of the PCI process graciously talked to me about what one did to pass, and how the other evaluated its progress to get a passing grade on its assessment.
Mail services reach out for you
03/20/08
If e-mail is the killer app of the Internet, spam is the scourge of the same. Small businesses that reach out via e-mail campaigns, trying to do the right thing after listening to marketing advice, often run into a buzzsaw of criticism from e-mail recipients. "Spammer scumbag" is a relatively polite response businesses see even when they carefully monitor the e-mail campaign they run themselves without help.

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