What is the one thing that you do that gives you that little tingle of satisfaction in your brain?

For our General Manager, Scott Maulsby, it is checking an item off his list of things to do for the day. Our bookkeeper, Lila Steinhoff, loves it when the checking account balances at the end of the month.

Our technicians get that little twinge of brain satisfaction when they fix a problem that no one else could.

What Happens in the Mind of a Network Support Technician?

We love a challenge. There is nothing better than a person coming to one of our techs with a problem that “no one else has been able to fix”. We eat up that stuff.

Try this out the next time your home computer isn’t working and your technical friend isn’t very motivated to fix it for you: Tell your friend that you gave your computer to three other technicians (even if you haven’t), and they said it was impossible to fix.

I bet it is fixed before the end of the day.

We’re On your Network Server and Workstation Problems like a Pack of Wild Dogs

Because DedicatedIT’s staff loves a challenge and gets immense pleasure from fixing ‘impossible’ computer problems, we seek out broken networks. We love it when we land a new South Florida small business client and their network is in shambles.

We begin by performing an onsite assessment of your network and log as many as a hundred service tickets for things that need repair. We classify them based on their priority and their impact to your business.

Then, we do what we do best: find problems and fix them.

The benefit to your small business is two-fold:

• Your network becomes more stable as we search for and fix problems. The longer you are with DedicatedIT, the fewer problems you will have. Guaranteed.
• Because you are on a fixed-free, unlimited support contract, you are not paying by the hour. We fix everything we can because it benefits both companies to provide you the most stable network possible. (That, and we really do love this stuff.)

What’s Better than Fixing Computer Network Problems?

Getting responses like these to our “how’d we do” emails that go out after we close a ticket:

• Great job. Fast, knowledgeable, efficient. Not afraid to get one’s hands dirty. Thanks.
• My computer is working good, and it was fixed in good time. thank you.
• All better, thanks guys. Great job as always.
• Terrific! Thanks Ben!!!!
• Awesome once again!
• Great!
• Great, thank you.
• You guys are awesome!
• I wasn’t here for the final fix but it’s working now; thanks guys!
• Thank YOU so much for your immediate response and stellar “find” Friday evening. For all you do, thank you again.

And, these are just from the past three weeks.

Have a Computer Network in South Florida that is in Shambles?

Here is a comment we recently received from a client we picked up about a month ago.

I should win the monthly prize for having the most tickets in such a short time. My concerns of years of neglect and mass disorganization of our systems are being confirmed. Ben’s doing a great job. — George

Do what George did and call DedicatedIT today. We will handle anything you throw at us.

Mention this blog post when you setup a meeting with one of our account managers, and we’ll send a technician with them to provide a no-cost network assessment. (Normally valued at $400.)

I am told by our clients that our response times, our ‘fix it the first time’ mentality and our staff”s warm personalities are what keep them doing business with us.

However, I know that our monitoring system has something to do with it, as well. You see, we have a monitoring system that watches our clients’ computer systems 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It alerts our team to services that need to be restarted, settings that need to be tuned, configurations that aren’t optimal and even software that is outdated. It’s this ability to be proactive and catch and correct small issues before they become big ones that gives a managed services provider like DedicatedIT the upper hand.

Every Managed Services Provider has a Computer Network Monitoring System now-a-days, Right?

Yep, but they don’t make the MASSIVE investment, of nearly $50,000, that DedicatedIT spent on our first one. Because the bar has been set low enough to allow nearly anyone with a credit card to become a managed services provider, how the data, that these monitoring systems create, is used is the most important distinguishing factor now.

South Florida Medical Office asks us to hit ‘Snooze’

Most of our clients sign up for one of our unlimited computer network service plans, but a few decide to keep their monthly costs low and go with a bare-essentials, preventative maintenance and monitoring only plan. The primary difference between the two is that, with the unlimited plans, we just fix stuff without asking you. With our lower-cost plan, we let you know that something needs to be fixed and you tell us if/when you want it fixed and then we bill you hourly. You can even decide to fix it yourself if you feel comfortable.

Recently, we received an email from one of our low-cost plan clients:

I am fully aware of the server status and all surrounding issues at this point. I will be in contact with your team, as I previously discussed with Adam, as soon as I have resolved the issues at hand. We can then discuss, Dedicated IT’s future role with the company.

No need to keep sending emails reminding us of the server status needing this type of assistance at this point

At first, I was taken aback from the email. Then, I quickly become very proud of our company. Our process worked!

1. An alert came in to notify us of something not quite right.
2. Our staff took ownership and reviewed the information.
3. Next, they emailed the client to let them know about the issue.
4. Included in the email were the options and our recommendation.
5. Each few days, we followed up with our client to make sure it was top of mind.
6. After weeks, the client got a stern “DANGER, DANGER” email.
7. Finally, obviously fed up with our tenacity, the client emailed us and asked us to stop.

My response to our client?

[Business owner] hired DedicatedIT to ensure that your network is safe. It could be considered negligent if we did not email you to let you know that backups and/or hard drives are failing. As always, it is up to you all how/whether you want the items fixed, but we need to continue to alert you.

I hope that you understand.

Will your South Florida Managed Services Provider Stand up to YOU when it’s the RIGHT thing to do?

Just because a company is able to purchase a monitoring and billing system that let’s them become a managed services provider doesn’t mean that they have the processes, management structure and confidence in place to actually BE a managed services provider.

Make sure that your company is in good hands. It takes more than software and a credit card to be a high-quality, long-lasting business partner who won’t let you shoot yourself in the foot.

Read more about our Managed Services and Computer Network Services plans for your South Florida business with 10 to 150 employees.

“I LOVE the speed of the system and the new monitor is AWESOME” – Sue Ellen

Lake Worth Law Office Computer Network Upgrade

This past week, one of our clients got their desktop computers upgraded to Windows 7 without charge. This didn’t happen as part of a holiday promotion, or because we were feeling extra generous.

The upgraded performed by DedicatedIT included:

• Upgrading the desktop computers from Windows XP to Windows 7.
• Migrating all personal settings like wallpaper and printers.
• Reinstalling all of their applications (WordPerfect, Time tracking, etc.)
• Training their staff how to get around Windows 7.

What did this South Florida law firm (Lake Worth, specifically) do so right to have a major upgrade like this completed for no charge?

• Step #1: Started doing business with DedicatedIT in 2001.
• Step #2: Signed a  DedicatedIT Complete contract for their Lake Worth computer network support.
• Step #3: Purchased Microsoft Software Assurance as recommended by DedicatedIT.
• Step #4: Let us do our thing.

Result of the Computer Network Upgrade?

The upgrade was delivered on time and with minimal pain to the staff. More importantly, they didn’t spend a dime.

[update 1/4/2010]: Spoke with our client today. The paralegals are happy with the upgrade, but did complain a little about the way that some functions in Word Perfect when used on Windows 7. They did admit that it was likely just a “change” thing and they will get used to it.

Refreshingly simple computer network support for your South Florida business (or law firm) with 10 to 150 employees.

Time to Relax

You’ve earned it. You’ve survived another year of one of the toughest stretches of economic climates since the Great Depression. Just being here is testament to your credentials as a business person.

Vacation to New Orleans

Carly (my wife) and I just got back from New Orleans for our anniversary. We spent five days touring the city, eating at only locally-owned restaurants and talking with the locals.

Speaking of eating and talking with locals in New Orleans. I went to a place called Port of Call about 10 years ago for what I remember as the best hamburger I have ever had in my life. Turns out, Port of Call is now touristy and overrated. Now, the place to go is Coops. The hamburgers were great. Check it out if you ever head into that part of town.

Carly even convinced me to take an hour to Christmas Carol in Jackson Square with thousands of other people. Trust me. This was a BIG accomplishment on her part. No, I will not be providing audio evidence. You probably wouldn’t want it anyhow.

Very Happy Holiday

What does all this have to do with very unhappy, happy holiday and our businesses?

I’m glad that you asked.

I was able to relax more than I ever have for any vacation I have ever taken. Why? Because I felt safe about three most critical parts of my business: staff, processes and my computer data.

Previously, my wife was a very unhappy person when we traveled or took time off. Mainly, because I spent the entire time answering the phone, checking my email and dealing with problems. When I wasn’t actively working, my mind was spinning with all of the reasons that something could be wrong with the company and it stressed me out to no end. She would be talking to me about the sights, sounds and smells of our trip, and I would respond “uh-huh”, not realizing that I wasn’t actively listening. Trust me, this was no way for either of us to relax.

While I can’t help you directly with finding the proper staff or designing the best processes for your business, I’d be happy to refer you to the different business consultants who have helped me along the way. Feel free to contact me any time.

Computer Network Services and Safe Data

What I can do is make it so that you are not thinking about your computer systems or your data. We have a proven track record with attorneys, accountants, engineering and manufacturing firms. Contact us to talk about your industry and how we can help you. We even have a few spots left between now and the end of the year. We can get it done before you go out of town.

You really do need at least ONE of these:

• A one-time full computer network audit to spot any significant problems.
• Actively (and inexpensively) monitor your systems 24x7x365 for problems.
• A backup system that will allow you to NEVER worry about data again.
• A support plan that gives you all of the above and unlimited support.
• A cloud-based application hosting system that allows you to get rid of your servers.

Don’t give the gift of an unhappy holiday to your family again this year.

Reach out to me via any of the methods below.

Adam Steinhoff
DedicatedIT
Direct: 561-491-5725
Email: asteinhoff@DedicatedIT.com
Twitter: @adamsteinhoff
LinkedIn: AdamSteinhoff

Contact us today so that you (and your family members) can have a happy holiday without thinking about your business.

When I worked for a Fortune 100 company years ago, I figured our ‘IT’ would be up 24/7/365. I mean, we had 40+ people watching our ‘IT’, and the data center was state of the art. Then ‘IT’ went down. For 5 hours. It was amazing to watch 800+ people running around asking ‘what should I do?’

They got us back up after 40+ people worked on IT for 6 hours straight. Ouch.

Most people call it ‘IT’ and treat ‘IT’ like a noun.

Many business owners think you can buy one ‘IT’ and be done. ‘IT’ is actually a verb. It is quite dynamic. ‘IT’ needs to be updated, upgraded, monitored, measured, backed up, etc.

But really, how important is ‘IT’?

We’ve heard it many times: “I don’t know why I have all this crap. I wish we could go back to the way it was in the old days.”

Go ahead. Close your eyes and imagine what your business would be like with no computers. I know you have them, but imagine that they don’t work. Imagine that they haven’t worked for 2 hours. How about 6 hours? Now one day. Then, one week.

• Could your business function with pencil and paper?
• Will your employees be able to handle a quick change to pencil and paper?
• How would you communicate effectively without email?
• How do you quickly research issues without Google and Wikipedia?
• Would your customers be able to tell you don’t have computers?
• What is the potential loss in opportunity?

Hopefully, (for us) you have realized just how important these computer systems are to your business, and you know that there is no going back to the ‘good old days’ before computers.

You own the ‘IT’, but who is performing the ‘IT’?

We’ve established that ‘IT’ is critical and that it is both a noun and a verb. Chances are that you own your workstations, servers, routers, switches, backup systems and the cabling that hooks it all together – the noun usage of  ‘IT’.

Who is actually making sure that all of those things are working properly – the verb usage of ‘IT’?

These things need to be done regularly:

• Event log reviews to spot small problems before they become big ones.
• Security patching to ensure that the latest threat can be prevented.
• Backup system monitoring and testing to ensure you can recover.
• Disk space checks and other preventative maintenance tasks.
• Process review to make sure your employees are as productive as they can be.

And, even when you have someone watching all these things, you still need someone to call if/when something bad happens.

Choose DedicatedIT to be your ‘IT’

If any of these sound familiar, your company may have outgrown your computer guy:

• You keep having the same problems over and over with no good explanation of why.
• You are told “I’ll be there really soon; I’m just finishing up with another client.”
• The last time you needed to recover data, it took days, not hours, to get back to normal.
• Your computer guy is at your office so much, you are thinking about inviting him to the holiday party.

We have a better solution. It’s a proactive, unlimited network support plan.

Our network operations center will watch your network 24x7x365 and proactively respond when something doesn’t look right. Additionally, between the hours of 7AM and 7PM, Monday through Friday, you may call our South Florida based support line as much as you want. NO EXTRA hourly charges. Period.

Online Social Networking Sites: Well Monitored

Your employees are buzzing because Twitter is down and Facebook is running painfully slow.

Within seconds of a Twitter or Facebook problem — even a minor slow down — hundreds of thousands of people — from tweens enjoying the last of their summer vacation to corporate executives — are aware of the problems and teams of engineers begin working to correct the problem.

Your Company’s Exchange Server Status: Unknown

Funny, isn’t it? Twitter and Facebook may be viable promotional and brand management tools but they aren’t the core of your business technology infrastructure. Yet, you are far more aware of their ups, downs, performance and reliability than your own servers. Why is that?

Honestly, right now, do you know:

• How many days before your Microsoft Exchange email server runs out of disk space?
• When was the last time your Microsoft SQL Server had a full backup?
• Does your Windows IIS server have the most recent security patches?
• Do your desktops have anti-virus software and is it up to date?

24/7 Monitoring of Your Critical Systems and Patch Application

DedicatedIT has the solution to sleepless nights: 24×7 Remote Monitoring and Remediation.

The monitoring, care and feeding of your Microsoft Windows Servers and network equipment is critical. What you don’t know can hurt your business. Call today (561-491-5725) and learn how we can help to protect your critical information infrastructure.

Cloud Computing is More Buzzword than New Technology

Cloud computing simply means the system is too complex or dynamic to be explained but is so reliable that no one really cares that it can’t be explained. More or less.

Your Business is Already Using the Cloud

Here are some clouds you’re using right now in your business:

• When you’re placing a call on your telephone, you’re using the cloud. Your phone just works. You pick it up and you get telephone service. It’s very reliable, and you don’t have a clue how it really works.
• When you plug in your office coffee maker and grab electricity from the local utility, you’re using the cloud. You don’t care how the electricity is generated, you just want your coffee quick and hot.
• When you’re working late and order a pizza, you’re using the cloud. That sausage and onion pizza is output from the cloud. You don’t know exactly where it was cooked, who cooked it, the path it took to get to your office or where the ingredients originated. Best of all, you don’t care so long as they remembered the garlic dipping sauce.

The common denominator in all of the above is that you care about the end result, not about the process. Cloud computing is about improving results quality without getting involved with the process.

Reasons to Move Your Servers and Resources Into the Cloud

The short answer is the cloud is more reliable, better performing and less expensive than hosting your own services.

The only way you’re going to know if the cloud has a silver lining for your business is by making a phone call and then sitting down with DedicatedIT in front of a white board. No silver lining, no cloud. It’s that simple. Let the bottom line lead your business, not buzzwords.

Already in the Cloud and Need an Umbrella?

Some clouds just bring rain.

If you got into the cloud — or into the wrong cloud — and want out, we can help you there, too. As wonderful as outsourced services can be with the correct managed services provider, there are some good reasons to host your own services in your own office or in a co-location facility.

We can help you determine if it is time to get out of the rain.

Eight out of ten hurricanes come in August, September or October. Worse yet, 95% of major hurricanes (winds greater than 110 miles an hour) hit in just those three months. (Thank you Eliot Kleinberg of the Palm Beach Post.)

So, while hurricane season started June 1, think of that as preseason training.

Would Your Company’s Computers Survive a Hurricane?

Who cares? No, really. Who cares if your computers get through the storm? The question you need to answer is if your business will get through the storm.

Specifically, some questions you need to be asking are:

• Will our employees be able to access our critical business systems?
• Will we have internet access and email?
• Will our phones still work?
• Are my employees able to work remotely, from their house or a temporary office location?
• Is our data backed up to multiple locations?
• How do we communicate with employees who may not have phone service?
• Are we planning to just limp along in the days immediately after the storm or do we plan on being fully-functional for all our client needs?

Too Late to Fully Prepare for the 2009 Hurricane Season

We could tell you that if you call today we can have all your computer systems protected for the 2009 hurricane season. If we did, we’d be lying.

We can help mitigate your exposure. We can virtualize your most critical systems and place them in our data center. We can establish off-site replication and server backups. We can even help you figure out how much UPS and generator power you need for your in-house computer systems and network.

What we can’t do is provide a full business continuity plan for 2009. We can’t do it and we’d be very leery of an IT services firm that would make that sort of claim this late in the season.

Start Planning Now for the 2010 Hurricane Season

Even if we could deliver a complete business continuity plan in time for this hurricane season, you don’t have it in your technology budget. So, please contact DedicatedIT today (561-491-5725) and let’s talk about 2010.

Our company is based in South Florida and we specialize in protecting your company’s technology needs in the Miami to Palm Beach to Jupiter area. We know what must be done to keep your company online because we have taken the same steps to keep our company online.

Quick Network, Server Fixes for the 2009 Hurricane Season

Before a hurricane knocks out your business, you should have a complete network assessment performed. With that document in hand, you will better know your liabilities and you’ll have the information necessary to rebuild your computer systems should it be necessary.

Funny, true story… A Swedish couple typed Carpi into their GPS and it took them to Carpi, an industrial town at the north end of Italy instead of Capri, a famous island tourist destination.

Their typo — and blind faith in technology — sent them on an 800-mile wild goose chase.

Is Technology Leading Your Company in the Right Direction?

That’s a damn fine question, if I do say so myself. It’s also completely wrong.

Technology shouldn’t be leading your company anywhere. Technology should be supporting your company’s goals, not defining goals. Technology should be your accelerator, not your rudder.

Unfortunately, many consultants in our industry focus too much on technology and selling the latest (high-margin) products and not enough on your business goals. If your technology consultant or your internal IT staff doesn’t try to understand your business goals as well as you do, it’s time to find someone new.

You don’t want technology working in parallel with your business. You want your business up front leading and technology in back plowing the fields or pushing you along.

Find a Partner and Adviser for your Business Technology Needs

DedicatedIT doesn’t know your business as well as you do… yet.

The first thing that we do for any new client on our computer network support and managed services plans is to get to know you.

Before we recommend anything, we’re going to sit down with you and have a long discussion about your immediate business needs and long-range company goals. Invite us to your strategic planning meetings. Only once we have a good understanding of those goals will we be able to help you with your technology road map. For instance, when was the last time your computer networking support and services company offered to help you land new business by helping you with social media.

Let us be your travel agent as well as your GPS. Call today: 561-491-5725.

The next time you’re at the local mall or office complex, keep an eye out for security guards. You’ll find there are more of them and they are working longer hours.

Bad Economy Means More, Not Less, Security Needed

One of my friends works in the corporate offices of an international security firm. (Think: mall cops, not hired mercenaries ala Blackwater.) I commented that business must be bad for her industry because so many stores and offices are closing. What is left to guard?

Her company is having a record year.

When business is booming, there is enough legitimate traffic that criminals have fewer opportunity to vandalize and steal. Also, fewer people have the need to steal because they have real jobs and better things to do. When an office building or mall is half empty, well, that just invites the criminal element.

Malls are adding additional officers for day shifts. Office buildings that may have only had night security are now adding a day shift to patrol unoccupied or under-occupied floors.

What About Your Computer, Network, Data and System Security?

There are a lot of out of work programmers and technologists out there. They have time on their hands and skills that could be easily leveraged to gain access to your computing infrastructure.

While the physical world is adding to its security presence, companies are reducing their security bugets while at the same time facing more threats.

If you don’t have someone in your organization who has protecting your data and systems as a job responsibility, you have a problem; now more than ever.

Call Today for Full Network Assessment and Audit

You have holes in your network. Some of those holes should be fixed. In some cases, you may make a reasoned business decision not to plug holes because of cost or potential for exploitation. Here’s the key: you need to know which is which.

Call today (561-491-5725) for a complete network audit and advice as to what holes need to be plugged.