Building fire knocks out network, Chromebooks help county clerk restore service

The phone call came on a Thursday afternoon and Friday morning I was in my car on my way to downtown Mount Clemens to deliver several Chromebooks to Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh, and her employees to help get them through this crisis...

The Fire

On Wednesday, April 17th, 2013, the Macomb County Building in downtown Mount Clemens, Michigan, had an electrical fire that destroyed the fiber, network and phone connections to the county’s data center, displacing 200 employees and several departments. See, “State of Emergency: Hackel says County Building shut down for months following fire,” Macomb Daily, April 19, 2013.


Thankfully no one was hurt.


As any IT professional can imagine, this was a major event, critically disrupting technology service across departments. The wiring, which connected the county network to the data was burned. Since the fire, users had to do their best to carry on with paper documents, a frantic return to carbon copies and limited phone service.

What about the data?! How much did Macomb County lose? How much work will it require to reconstitute the data?

The Silver Lining

Macomb County recently switched to Google Apps for Government, including secure Gmail services for most employees, which means their email is hosted in Google’s secure data centers and is accessible from any device with an Internet connection, anywhere.

This is disaster business continuity redefined and is a huge life-saver for Google Apps users, including Macomb County employees. None of their email data was lost. Although the network was disrupted, email remained accessible from cell phones and other Internet devices. Fortunately, thanks to heroic efforts by the county’s IT Department, no other data was lost, either.

Prior to the switch to Google Apps this may not have been the case, to put it simply.

“I am even more pleased with our County Executive’s decision to ‘go Google.’ Our staff maintained Gmail communication throughout the emergency. We only needed an Internet connection after the fire to start quickly restoring some services,” said Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh.

Chromebooks being delivered to Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh and Administrative Assistant Crystal Brenner by Michael Jefferies.

How does Newmind fit into this story?

Signaled by the Bat Light. Newmind Brought out the Bat Mobile

Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh and her department integrated their workflow with Google Apps for Government and developed a solid relationship with Google in order to share their experiences with other organizations considering moving their email services to Google. When the fire struck, Carmella’s staff contacted Google to see if there was anyway to get a few Chromebooks to use for displaced workers due to the fire.

Who did Google call? Their trusty, go-to partner Newmind Group.

Here’s where that phone call comes into play, and I got in my car and drove to Mount Clemens to drop off several Chromebooks.

“We were thrilled when Newmind stepped forward to provide Chromebooks for use on the Macomb County Circuit Court Building’s wireless Internet network. Even though the county’s servers were down, our email, calendars and documents were accessible with the Chromebooks,” said Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh.

“We are using the Chromebooks to provide public service at our temporary public real estate records search area for our Register of Deeds counter. We are also using Chromebooks to access our email, calendars, and documents and to track security paper.”

Having never used a Chromebook before, and having no IT background, Macomb County Register of Deeds employee Traci Thompson became the department’s Chromebook administrator after a 15-minute crash-course on connecting to the wireless network. This photo shows Chromebooks provided by Newmind at the temporary Register of Deeds public search counter in the Court Building.

Backup & Disaster Recovery

It was very motivating to see in practice how cloud-based technologies, like Google Apps, can ensure that data isn’t lost, service isn’t interrupted, and even when bad stuff happens, the right technology can reduce and even eliminate damages. All I could think about was the other organizations across the country who have not yet made the transition to the next generation of backup, redundancy and disaster recovery tools?

If we can help them make the transition to these tools then we can help them avoid scenarios like the one Macomb is facing now. Our disaster recovery solutions allow servers to be spun up virtually in the cloud within 5 minutes of failure. In Macomb’s case, that would have meant that only minutes after the fire, all data, not just Google Apps, would have been accessible via the cloud.

Learn More About Data Backup

Schedule a 1:1 consultation with Newmind Group and learn how we can help with:

• Reduced Downtime & Data Loss During a Disaster
• Data protection for multiple platforms and devices
• Application Aware backups

Schedule

Michael Jefferies' is happiest when problems are being solved and life is becoming more awesome.

At Newmind, Michael consults with clients to discover their organizational objectives and works alongside them to identify, analyze, and implement technologies that can help take them there. He believes that technology is not merely a part of business, but in fact provides endless opportunities to increase fun, efficiency and profitability.

June 2013 Data Backup Survey

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete our survey. We are surveying businesses gather their feedback about trends in data backup. This survey should take you approximately 5 minutes to complete.

The information you provide can be accessed only by our internal research team, and reported in aggregate. If you would like to be notified of the published results of this survey, you will be able to enter your email address at the end of the survey.

This survey will be available for submission until June 18, 2013. Should you have any technical problems, please contact Daniel Proczko at DanielP@NewmindGroup.com or 269-271-2688.

Build IT Together 2013 [Live Blog]

The official live blog of Build IT Together!

8:00 - We're at the Radisson setting up. Just unpacked the brand new Google Pixel and Google Glass. I'm sure you can't wait to try them on!

8:30 - First attendees are just showing up


Welcome Address

9:00 - We played a sweet movie about our experiences with IT, old tech to new tech. (I'll post it here after we upload it.)

9:05 - Daniel Jefferies reminisces about past IT practices and timelines the progressions of IT.

9:11 - Daniel Jefferies "How many people are excited about riding in self-driving car?" Only about 4 people raised their hands.

9:14 - "All that computing power is on your desk, now. All these tool were born during the personal productivity era, but it's changed again. The era we're in now. we've got all that computing, that used to be on our desks, is now in our pocket." - Daniel Jefferies

9:18 - "Many of our tools are built for me doing my own work, but most of our work, is make the team productive. Make the stuff work together." - Daniel Jefferies

9:21 - Sharing the pains of scaling and "technical debt". Technical Debt, the investment in technology and processes that makes it hard to move to new and better tech. "There is a great deal of pain moving to a new system." - Daniel Jefferies

9:25 - Attendees are being encouraged to reach out to businesses of different sizes to exchange experience and collaborate together, to better understand the pains we all face in IT.

Let's get to know each other - Activity

Congratulations to Ed Freed of the City of Kalamazoo,
who won a Samsung Chromebook!

9:26 - Attendees are working together on a peer evaluation survey. Matt Vollmar & Michael Jefferies are leading attendees through the survey.

All of the attendees are working on Chromebooks!

Questions range from IT outsourcing, to backup & recovery, networking, file sharing, to content filtering and device management. This survey will allow attendees to see real time results and compare their current systems with others at the event.

9:40 - Connecting about the pains of not having IT personnel at every business location and how working remotely has changed.

9:42 - Survey results are showing that there are many companies that have a lot of locations, yet very few IT personnel. This is very common in Government and Education industries.

9:43 - Combination of outsourced IT and in-house IT provides internal staff the ability to work on high value projects instead of projects that just "keep the lights on," like anti-virus.

9:46 - Mobility and access to files across multiple devices and platforms is difficult and can be a major pain among IT departments.

9:47 - Face-to-face video collaboration helps bring the workforce closer together.

9:49 - Question "Why would a company want to keep 10gb of email? There is a legal issue with hall that information."

"If we provide everyone with that much storage or more, images, and files are replicated multiple times, and backed up multiple times versus a file sharing program where a single file is shared to multiple people."

"A good practice may be to implement a and archiving policy and enforce it."

"As to employees using email as file storage, it may be a symptom of the email system, and file storage system being difficult to use."

Productivity sins: Inbox as to-do list, Using email as a memory vault

"Culture shift for people is the hardest part. You can give them a Ferrari, they still drive it 20mph." Meaning, you can give tools, but cultivating better use of those tools is the hardest part.

10:00 - Reporting and real-time data is very important for organizations to find their pulse or rhythm.

10:02 - Diagnosing a problem is a must, but if a problem occurs, how quickly can you diagnose and give an answer as to what the problem is?

Answers are ranging from minutes, to seconds, to the ever popular "We'll look into it and let you know shortly."

One of our attendees organizations has built a troubleshooting tool that can help employees reach a diagnoses in minutes.

"The answer and diagnosing is becoming even more difficult with the advent of multiple platforms, technologies, software, etc..."

10:06 - "The pain we see all over the place. People like us are on Facebook, email, etc, we don't know the tools to know when or how much, but to be able to go to your leadership and say, 'Let me look it up...oh, well, Johnny is on YouTube, using 20% of our bandwidth' So you can walk right over to his desk."

10:07 - Debate over open policies of network usage and differentiating between useful use and non-useful use.

Bandwidth cost is the question at hand, but the cost of bandwidth is falling fast.

10:09 - Promoting a productive culture that empowers and encourages employees to provide results of their position can help alleviate improper use of resources. Collaboration helps each employee keep each other accountable as well.

Locking employees out does not stop employees form trying to get around. So, its more important to create a cultural shift.

10:13 - Challenge: Move away from normal work-week. Let them work when they are most productive.

10:30 - Attendees have split into their respective breakout sessions.

10:39 - 6.1% of business data is lost and not recoverable, according to the IDC. Unfortunately this data cannot be picked or chosen and includes financials, confidential emails, memos, business plans, personnel data, etc.

10:45 - Both early sessions "Backup & Disaster Recovery" & "Mobility" are working in groups to identify their own pain points and collectively and collaboratively brainstorm solutions, essentially sharing experience and knowledge.

"I hate being a tape Jockey."

11:15 - Break

11:30 - Starting up sessions on "Helpdesk & Monitoring" and "Network, Mobile Device Management"

Content Filtering Solutions in EDU [Infograph]

The results of our content-filtering survey are out. The infograph below illustrates the distribution of solutions among the survey respondents and features respondents felt were lacking from their current solution.

Not too long ago we came across a new content-filtering solution that addresses the desired improvements identified in this survey. The platform is called Securly, and we really think you should look into it. Let us know if you want a tour.

4 Simple Steps to an Effective BYOD & Mobile Policy

There is building momentum toward creating a connected & mobile workforce. This trend requires business data access through personal mobile devices. News headlines of leaked business-critical data, financial statements, corporate espionage, hacked corporate accounts, corrupted data flash across your eyes. BYOD & mobile devices won’t end in catastrophe or cause friction within your organization, but will require some change management and a mobile policy and some Mobile Device Management (MDM).

We took some time to chat with some IT directors and found some research showing that,

• 60 percent of IT professionals believe 25 percent or less of their employees are accessing work related information on their smartphone or tablet.
• 57 percent of users said they access work related information on their smartphone or tablet at least once a week.

It became clear that a BYOD/mobile policy is becoming a necessity and should have the following elements:

1. Set of expectations that align with your organization’s goals 
2. Clear and plain language 
3. Concise, so that everyone reads it 
4. Tools to enforce (Mobile Device Management)

Mobile Expectations

You want the most out of all of your employees and the best way to do that is to let them know exactly what you expect. Many employees are not privy to the overarching strategy of an organization and feel that their efforts are lost in the shuffle, as are their desires and need for work-life balance. Explaining how mobile devices fit into the corporate culture and goals of the organization will provide guidelines for their use within day-to-day operations. Your employees will appreciate being allowed to stay connected to their families and personal lives.

Clear and Plain Language

“Thou shall not pass”, Gandalf can get away with such words, but a mobile policy that is going to be understood should be written with plain English and not legalese. When was the last time you actually read the user agreement license on a new piece of software? (Well, you’re the head of IT, so probably always, but the majority of employees won’t.) So keep the language simple and clear. Using normal conversational vernacular will suffice.

Concise

One of our favorite mottos is KISS “Keep It Simple Stupid”. A mobile policy over 2 pages is probably pushing it. Remember, this is a document that should be a guideline for usage, not document every possible scenario (which is impossible, because that time the rhino came into the company bathroom to use their cell phone for a personal call, was not foreseeable...and not true, but you get the picture). Also, 11pt font single spaced makes our eyes cross and causes vertigo (not really, but it is hard to read) and we want everyone to read the new policy. If the entire policy can fit on a single page, great. If not, don’t go over 2 pages. We all have work to do.

What Not To Include

Policies already sound like a proverbial “ball and chain” and when approaching it employees will cringe thinking that management is going to restrict usage again or impose some arcane security requirement, or ban use all-together. When approaching your mobile policy, do not include the security policy or write an entirely new one. You’ve already got one and to keep it easy all you have to do is make sure the policy fits within it.

Mobile Device Management Tools

Sometimes its not enough to just have a policy; you want to sleep more soundly. Finding the right tool can be hard. You want to improve productivity, but you do want to keep data safe while keeping up morale. When evaluating an MDM be sure that it covers all types of devices, Mac PC, Android iOS, etc, provides network analysis, scales with your business, supports BYOD (if you’re not supplying mobile devices), links ties in with business reporting, and supports content management.

Newmind Group device management clients benefit from these features, but if you're not ready to make the jump to such a robust tool, try the lighter Meraki Mobile Device Management platform. It will monitor multiple device types, from iPads and Androids to Macs and PCs, and even monitor recent locations, and allow administrators to lock and erase devices, among other great features.

Meraki Mobile Device Management device list and connectivity.

Those are just 2 of the many tools available to help make your workforce mobile, collaborative, productive and secure.

Now go forth and create your mobile & BYOD policies. Remember to keep them short & clear, with easy to digest expectations that fit within your current security policy and you’ll be one step closer to a more connected & efficient workforce.

Why we want to Build IT Together

My experiences with the Kalamazoo entrepreneurial community

For the past couple of years I have had the privilege of being involved in the growing entrepreneurial community in Kalamazoo. A series of events and meetups over the course of that time, sponsored by Startup Zoo, have brought many like minded folks together, caused businesses to be formed, partnerships to emerge and has brought me into the lives of some fantastic people.


Many of these people are now my friends and StartupZoo meetups and events have become fun opportunities to get together with those friends and talk about what we love, technology and entrepreneurship. I’ve also gained very meaningful support and insight from other entrepreneurs and business owners in the area like Jen Randell of Maestro and Matt Mace of Blue Granite.

Why can’t we strengthen the IT community?

Sounds like a lot of fun right? It has been. But the experience has gotten me thinking. Why can’t we form the same connections and collaborative relationships in the IT community here in Southwest Michigan.

I am convinced that we can.

That is what our Build IT Together event is all about. I want to bring the IT community together to form relationships, learn from each other, and have a lot of fun doing it. I hope that this can be the start of many more IT community focused events, not just presented by Newmind, but presented and hosted by other IT leaders in the area as well.

Speaking of which, I’ve got some new announcements about the event to share with you.

Meraki added as sponsor

I’m excited to announce that we have added Meraki as a sponsor of our Build IT Together event. Meraki has been leading the networking equipment space in recent years with their cloud connected and managed network equipment. Their recent acquisition by Cisco validates that leadership. They will be sponsoring our 4th workshop and I am hoping that we will be able to send you home with some opportunities to get some free Meraki gear as well.

Strong participation from the community, Thank You!

Finally, I want to thank the community for the strong participation and support they are already showing for the event. We have confirmed that IT leaders and staff from Cornerstone University, MPI Research, Kalsec, Greenleaf Hospitality, Davenport University, the City of Kalamazoo, and many more, will be in attendance.

Thank you so much for supporting this event and the IT community in Kalamazoo. I’m really looking forward to meeting you and learning from each other on May 21st.

Daniel Jefferies is the founder of Newmind Group. Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Newmind Group began as a small, regional IT company in 2003. Since then, we have opened offices in Charleston, Minneapolis, and Silicon Valley, and have grown in scope and size to become a national provider of cloud computing solutions for businesses of all sizes. Our specialty is moving legacy systems to more cost effective and reliable cloud based systems hosted by Google, Amazon, and Rackspace.