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 Originally published on ACSINET website blog by Courtney Kaufman.
Seems like just yesterday phones were simple devices for making and receiving phone calls. These days, smartphones are as functional as full-fledged desktop PCs and hold valuable applications, e-mail messages, photos, videos, documents and, of course, phone numbers and contact information. If losing the data on your phone would be a true disaster, then you’ll want to back up your phone as regularly and carefully as you do your other devices.
Major smartphone platforms can back up their data to a computer or to a cloud backup via the Internet. Here are a couple of resources you can use with popular smartphones to ensure that all of your data is properly backed up.
iPhone
iCloud is Apple’s new service for backing up your iPhone and other media you purchase through iTunes. When you sign up, iCloud will automatically backup the mail, calendar and contacts on your iPhone, as well as any music, books, apps, videos or media on your iPad, Mac or even your PC. iCloud uses the power of cloud computing to sync your devices automatically, so you don’t have to dock your device to keep things in sync.
Android
Start with the settings on your phone; go to “Settings > Privacy” on your phone and make sure the “Back up my settings” and “Automatic restore” options are checked. Next, go to “Settings > Accounts” and sync, open your Gmail account, and check off all options. With these settings in place, your contacts, system settings, apps, calendar, and e-mail will be restored whenever you set up a new Android phone with that same Gmail account. However, this is only a basic backup; it won’t save the photos and text messages on your phone.
For a more complete backup, you might try MyBackup Pro ($5 plus 50 MB online storage for free and $1 to $2 per month for more online storage). The program runs automated scheduled backups, supports a wide range of Android phones and will back up app install files that do not have copyright protections programmed into them. If your phone is rooted, you might consider Titanium Backup ($5.99 for Pro), which backs up all apps, all data associated with them and the Android Market links that show you’ve paid for them. It also saves most phone Pro versions and will integrate with Dropbox.
If you need help evaluating your needs more thoroughly, or as part of a company-wide mobile device management assessment/plan, please contact us today.
Today, Microsoft announced Office365 lower prices across the board, for the bundled suite as well as individual products/services, such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online. This new Office 365 lower price still qualifies for the 15% promotional rebate for all clients buying new subscriptions until June 30th. In addition, new customers buying Office 365 at lower prices also still qualify for Office365 migration and support promotions from Lanlogic. Office 365 migration and support promotions include options such as free Office365 migration planning, free Office 365 support for 30 days, and free Office365 trial and test subscriptions. Contact us today to learn more.
Always choose the best – Bay Area IT Consulting
You already lost control… now what?
Who knew that BYOD(Bring Your Own Device) was the new IT religious war? BYOD is inevitable but it’s not the end of the world. Too much FUD and too little history surrounds this exciting new era of enterprise computing.
Points to Ponder:
- Economic Reality Check
- Arguments against BYOD revisited
- The Support Argument
- Hidden Costs
- Security
- The biggest problem with BYOD
Conclusion: Proactive Mobile Device Management(MDM) will solve most of the issues and most of the needed functionality is already here. Lanlogic has spent the last year working with clients in different industries that were early adopters and gave us a chance to really understand how to help future adoptees evaluate their needs and make appropriate recommendations.
The winner of the ZDNET debate on BYOD shares their final thoughts.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
Is a Bring Your Own Device(BYOD) policy only a great idea until you try to manage it?
ZDNET hosted a live debate last year between two industry experts and collected a lot of questions and experiences from real-world experiences.
PRO: It’s a smart and easy transition
CON: It’s a management nightmare
Reality: BYOD is HOT and policies need to be created.
Questions Asked:
- What are the hurdles and gotchas to BYOD?
- What about the cool factor?
- What about Security?
- Which vendors should we consider?
- Microsoft is in this game too?
- What is Mobile Data Management?
- What about Bring Your Own Laptop?
- Do iPads and other tablets pose different challenges?
- If employees buy their own favorite mobile devices, should employers provide monthly subsidies, like reimbursing mileage on a persnal vehicle?
- What kinds of companies should support BYOD?
- BYOD versus Choose Your Own Device(from our list of approved company choices)
Who won the debate? You’ll have to read the whole article, but let’s just say… companies lose control when they do nothing.
Contact us today to learn more about our experience.
Do you know the dangers of employee-owned devices?
TechRepublic did an excellent job of reviewing challenges associated with supporting mobile devices in the corporate IT environment that are employee-owned.
Points to Ponder:
- Potential Lack of Ongoing Support
- Security
- No Centralized Management or Tracking
- Uncertain Costs
- Loss of control of data
Conclusion: Before your company agrees to support employee-owned devices in your IT environment, you should consider all of the ramifications and make sure you get ahead of your users so there are no surprises. Lanlogic has helped clients understand their options, uncover real needs, and justify investing in solutions, training and support.
Contact us to learn more about our experiences helping other clients.
Need Help Deciding How to Address BYOD issues within your IT environment?
2011 was the year everyone seemed to want to really “access everything from anywhere.” Apple sold over 37 million iPhones and 15 million iPads… in the last 3 months. Android smartphones and tablets now number 250 million devices globally.
Most of these personal devices are NOT being purchased by companies for their employees to use. But yet, company data and usernames and passwords are saved on these little marvels. Whose data is at risk?
If an employee asks us to let him or her use their new iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, or other favorite mobile device of their choice to do work… why worry?
Our clients didn’t think it was anything to worry about in the beginning either. But then, they realized it might be something to plan for and manage better.
We have learned a lot on the topic and will be providing some some points to ponder and suggestions for taking the initiative.
Contact us today to lean more about how we can help.
Business Development/Sales Rep position available
In business since 1995 with a solid management team and a reference client list others drool for, Lanlogic is growing again. If you’re looking for the next step in your sales career, we’re ready to give you the freedom to generate as many new clients as you want to. No account management to worry about, no marketing to moonlight with, and no worries about depending on others to ensure your commission checks have no chargebacks.
Lanlogic receives some of the highest-rated service satisfaction scores in the industry, our clients love us and refer us to their peers, and our whole team works together to ensure every new client you attract gets the very best IT service and support.
Your job is simple – find and close new business with organizations that really want the very best IT service and support in the bay area:
- Find qualified prospects that are serious about investing in IT stability and support
- Show them how our approach to IT service management is completely different and infinitely more valuable than how they might be doing things today
- Persuade them to trust us more than they have trusted any other IT service provider, in return for complete ownership and responsibility for their current IT environment
If you’re the type of person that excels at delivering only the very best, for yourself and your clients, then Lanlogic is the place for you.
Our expectations are high:
- Excellent communication and presentation skills (verbal/written, private/public)
- 2 years new business development experience in a contacting C-level decision-makers in the Small and Midsize Business Market in the bay area
- Successful 4-year university/college experience, including graduating with a degree
- Professional Appearance – you need to “fit in” on the golf course or in the boardroom
- Self-motivated – “If it is to be, it is up to me”
- Aptitude for technology sales – You want to stand in line for the new iPhone every year
Activities you need to perform successfully every day:
- Calling decision-makers and gatekeepers that need to be educated about our value
- Persuading them to meet with you
- Convincing them to trust you and trust us to deliver a better experience
Rewards:
- Excellent compensation plan – salary + commission
- Excellent benefits – medical/dental/long-term care, 401K, expense account
- Excellent tools – laptop, smartphone, conference room, data center to show off
- Excellent support – Senior Level Technical Account Managers assigned to every new client
- Excellent solutions to sell – You will not be left without an option for your customers
Please send resume and compensation history to jobs at lanlogic dot com
In your cover letter, tell us your experience around best methods to find new business.
American small business spend billions of dollars each year on IT support, yet most of them don’t have a thoughtful IT support strategy to ensure they are getting the most bang for their buck. The following seven tips will help you get the most from you provider of technical support.
1. Establish a relationship with a provider.
Dig your well before you are thirsty. Don’t just call an IT support provider when you have a technical support emergency. Get to know one while sailing is smooth and build a stable relationship with them. This will help them get to know you, your needs, and your systems during a time of relative calm, which is easier on everyone. That way when you really do need them, they’ll be prepared and able to help you as efficiently as possible.
2. Treat your IT support provider like a part of your team.
As a continuation of tip No. 1, treat your IT support provider as a part of your team, not just a vendor. The more you are open with them about your goals, priorities, and concerns, the more they will be able to help you. Show them the trust and respect of a professional, and they will bend over backward for you.
3. Be clear about your expectations.
Every business has different needs and expectations. Some can’t afford any downtime and are willing to pay to be up 24/7, while others are just fine if their computers don’t work for a few hours and don’t want to pay higher rates to ensure uptime. Be clear about your expectations, so your service provider can align their service and costs with your expectations.
4. Let them monitor your systems.
IT support professionals have access to amazing remote monitoring and management tools that let them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. These tools can monitor the health of your systems and alert your IT support team of a possible problem before it becomes a disaster. This decreases costs and the likelihood of computer downtime.
5. Find someone with experience in the hardware and software you use.
You don’t want your IT support specialist to learn on the job while you are picking up the tab. Find someone who has experience in the majority of the hardware and software you use. At the same time, be realistic and understand that your technical support team may not have experience in everything you use; tell them that you’d like them to make the investment in learning the technology at their cost as a sign of commitment to a long term relationship with you.
6. Find a provider that does remote support.
Ninety percent of IT support issues can be resolved over the phone or internet. Find a service provider that is staffed to provide effective remote support so you can minimize the costs and wasted time associated with waiting for a service provider to drive to your office.
7. Find a provider that offers managed services
“Managed Services” is a term used by IT support providers to describe an ongoing IT management relationship with a client that generally includes the proactive management of the client’s technology (versus just reactively responding when something is wrong) for a flat monthly fee. This combination of proactive services on a flat monthly budget can really benefit small businesses by removing some of the costly surprises that come with working with a service provider on an hourly basis.
Ask Lanlogic about our new TotalCare Managed IT Services coming in 2012.
Sign up for Office 365 Exchange Server Online Migration and Support in December and receive one of these great offers:
1. 15% rebate on your subscription costs, applied as a rebate check
2. FREE Postini Message Security anti-spam and anti-malware protection for the first year
3. FREE Custom Email Migration Plan for your organization of 50+ users
4. Or a Partridge in a Pear Tree … wait … How about a Completely FREE Migration Project for your and your users, when you sign up for our Rapid Response Center Help Desk Service for one year?
Contact us today.
Per Monster.com, “Employers overwhelmingly point to internship experience as the most important factor they consider in hiring new college graduates for full-time positions.” So help get your foot in the door with an internship at Lanlogic.
We’re looking for a few good entrepreneurs – to fill our positions for marketing interns. Do you have a self-starter personality, great thought leadership skills, and the drive to learn and work in a team environment? Is good customer service one of your top work priorities? Then we want to hear from you!
Marketing interns will shadow the Director of Sales & Marketing on the development and management of the marketing department. Job responsibilities include:
- Social media management (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blog, etc.)
- Database management
- Help create and host webinars
- Help design a marketing plan and budget for the department
- Work on internal marketing: polishing the company’s image and branding
In addition to these opportunities, interns will attend regular meetings within the company to gain valuable insight into how marketing drives many aspects of the overall business. We are seeking candidates who can devote at least 10 hours a weeks to the internship, and we are willing to work around class schedules.
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