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.

Newmind named to Michigan 50

It has been a busy couple of months at Newmind.

The team is growing, business is expanding and our friends in the press are saying kind things about us.

On top of all that, we are proud to announce that Newmind has been named to the Michigan 50!

The “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch”, or "Michigan 50" for short, is a list of remarkable second-stage companies from across the state. Winners are selected by Michigan-based judges from the banking, economic development, entrepreneurship development, industrial and venture capital communities.

Needless to say, we are honored to be named among such a great group of thriving companies.  It was also a lot of fun to learn that our neighbors Gazelle Sports and Genemarkers, here in Kalamazoo, were also named to the list.

"Our team is passionate about helping our clients in Michigan and across the country use technology to experience more productivity and enjoyment at work."  said Daniel Jefferies, founder of Newmind.  "That obviously means we work extremely hard.  As a team leader it is so fulfilling to see the work of Newminders, and the success of our clients, recognized on the Michigan 50 list."

"Michigan is a great place to start and grow a business and one reason for that is the work of organizations that feed the entrepreneurial community like those who underwrite the Michigan 50."  continued Jefferies.   "Thanks to the Edward Lowe Foundation, MEDC, Consumers Energy, and all the other underwriters."

So what is next for Newmind?

Well, as we have in the past we want to continue to assist and support the IT community, especially here in our hometown of Kalamazoo.   We are inviting IT leaders and staff to our Build IT Together event on May 21st at the Radisson Plaza Hotel.    The event is designed to get IT leaders and staff from the community together to share and compare solutions and best practices.  We are really excited to see what we can learn from each other at this event.

Make the Internet Safer for Students

The age of the internet can be a scary place to raise kids. Once upon a time, if a kiddo was interested in more adult topics, their only resource was the bank of encyclopedias. These days, even completely innocuous searches can uncover some pretty eye opening content, and kids are connected to the internet now more than ever. To the standard user, tools like Google SafeSearch are heartening, but hardly block out all the bad.

Consider the weighty responsibility of keeping content clean for a household of children, then imagine the exponential growth of that weight when you’re the one responsible for hundreds, or even thousands, of other people’s children as in a school environment. Sure, schools have more tools at their fingertips to control the safety of the information kids are accessing, but ask your average 7th grader how to get around their school’s proxy and they can walk you through it step by step. Schools who use Chromebooks are able to blacklist and whitelist different sites, but putting blanket permissions of sites with aggregate information can be cutting off your nose to spite your face: not all of YouTube is foul, after all.

Developers Vinay Mahadik and Bharath Madhusudan saw that need. “We conceptualized Securly when co-founder Vinay noticed his six-year old nephew accidentally viewing an inappropriate video on YouTube,” Mr. Madhudsan told Newmind. “Since then we have used our 17+ years of collective enterprise network security experience to build a web filter that protects kids without blocking out modern educational social media tools such as YouTube, Google and Wikipedia from being used in the classroom.”

Securly is different than other filtering solutions because it is designed for schools from the ground up, and acknowledges that there isn’t always a clear demarcation between good and bad. Securly focuses on granular controls on every device, even in 1:1 programs that allow hardware to leave the building.

Newmind is excited to be partnering with Securly in making the EDU environment safer for students and easier for administrators. Learn more about Securly at Newmind’s upcoming webinars.

Newmind adds to leadership team

Wow. We can’t believe its almost been 10 years since Newmind was first founded in 2003.  In the early days we did simple computer and server maintenance and as we grew, larger and larger companies began to take notice and ask us for help.

Now we are nationwide, 900 customers strong, and bringing new innovations to our friends in education,  winning awards, and setting the standard for our clients on how to execute “smooth and painless” technology upgrades. We’ve also had a lot of fun along the way.

Today we open a new chapter at +Newmind Group as we welcome a friend from the past into the key role of leading our Sales & Marketing that will help us move forward.  +Matthew Vollmar was Newmind employee #3, and along the way he left us to have some new adventures and find his path.   He is now returning to Newmind with the exact skillset, knowledge, and experiences that we need to take our team into the future.


To say we are excited is a massive understatement.  So here is a little Q&A with Matt.  We know you will love him as much as we do.

What did you do at HP?
I was an Account Delivery Manager in the HP Enterprise Services organization.  This means that I managed the day-to-day delivery of the IT Outsourced services for a client, including management of SLAs, Customer Satisfaction, Employee oversight and Finances.

How do you plan on using that experience to move Newmind forward?
Newmind uses technology to make work more productive, profitable, and enjoyable for our customers.  To me, this is the epitome of a great IT Services philosophy, with the focus being on service and the relationship that we build in order to make that service better.  I’ve developed a lot of expertise in lining up IT Services with the expectations of a customer.  Since Newmind’s focus is on customer relationship, I have the opportunity to help grow this unique company so that more customers can benefit from our blend of technical skill and strong customer relationship.

What is your personal philosophy on managing a team?
I was taught from an early age that a true leader is someone who serves those that are being lead.  To me, this means helping others find their groove and increasing their level of awesome.  I like to work with people to move roadblocks out of the way so that they can succeed more and more often.  If my team wins then I win.  It is a humbling but pivotal moment when you realize that the skills and accomplishments of the team outweigh your own as a leader.  My goal is to cast the vision of where we want to go and harness the skills of each individual member of the team to bring that vision to fruition.

Last thing you read?
Since this position offers a lot of new challenges for me in a very practical sense, I’ve been reading some sales and marketing thought-leader blogs.  I’ve also read a couple of Sherlock Holmes stories, the autobiography of Ben Franklin and a book on parenting.

Favorite superhero?
Interesting question.  I love to watch Sci-Fi and Superhero movies but I don’t know that I’ve ever really picked a favorite.  I wasn’t a comic book geek as a kid (my loss).  My favorite image of a hero is Jesus because of his love for people and his example of leading through serving.

You left Newmind, but came back. What do you think has changed more in the hiatus: you or Newmind? explain.
I think both Newmind and I have matured significantly. I’ve transitioned from someone who avoided people-management and was only interested in technical work to discover that my true passion is in leadership.  Newmind has taken a strong leadership in the local entrepreneurial community as well as excelling in the technical fields that they’ve pursued, including developing a strong relationship with Google.  In a sense, both Newmind and I have come into our strength over the last 5-7 years and now we will join forces and become invincible!!!!  Or at least a lot more awesome.

Newmind Internships

Gumption. Chutzpah. Call it what you will, but you know that spirit of confidence and adventure? That stuff inside a person that made pioneers move West or caused a man to move out to the woods to live deliberately (that’s not too grandiose, right?). That ingredient in a person that allows them to step outside the confines of the “norm” and purposefully move forward. Yes, THAT. That is the stuff Newmind interns are made of.


Any internship is about experience, and a Newmind internship is no different. With Newmind though, that experience comes with seeing how a successful team operates, working with today’s technology, and cultivating a talent that our interns know they have but aren’t sure how to use. All of these are invaluable to someone starting out or changing paths. The one common thread with some of the past Newmind interns is that the time that they’ve spent in their internship helped them find themselves and their path into the future.

Nicolas Yarosz
Certified Google Apps Trainer
Certified Google Apps Sales Specialist

“[Applying] for the job was a bit of an adventure,” Nicolas, a past Sales intern says. “I knew starting out would be a challenge, but that it would be satisfying because it would be an accelerated learning experience and a safe place to take risks. It was an opportunity to work with a company that would provide me a lot of room to grow, and grow quickly. It was worth the investment of my time.”

What is it about Newmind that makes an internship worthwhile? Apart from getting their hands dirty with technology, the culture is what past interns harken back to. “Each person [in the organization] has a lot of influence, and the group is really a family. The fact that I can make a difference for so many people is rewarding. In so many jobs you don’t see the fruits of your actions and this is really exciting. A collaborative environment, honest communication, honest feedback, honest exchange, the freedom to be myself and for my personality to shine. I don’t need to conform to the man, man,” Logan, a Newmind Tech Intern, laughs. “Newmind trusts their employees. I’m personally responsible for my own space and my own work. I feel like I have ownership of my own position, and having so much personal responsibility can be much harder than just being trained to be a yes man.”

Logan Jensen
Certified Google Apps Trainer

“The culture encourages me to let my personality shine," Nicolas continues. "I’m not thinking in the back of my mind that I’m not saying the right thing in the right way. That makes customers more comfortable because they know they’re talking to a real human being. I’m cared about by my owner and my co-workers. A lot is expected of you, but it’s not a corporate thing, it’s a cultural thing.”

Like a lot of industry internships, the Newmind internships are unpaid for a time. “We begin with a list of clear goals for each intern,” says Daniel Jefferies, founder of Newmind. “As soon as the goals are met, normally within the first 1 to 2 months of part time work, interns start earning a modest hourly wage. Some interns become full time members of the team after their internship is complete”

Our interns agree that what they get out of the experience is worth it. “It wasn’t too exciting to not be paid,” Nicolas says. “It was tough, but it was worth the sacrifice. Interning with Newmind Group provided me with the skills and experience that will always make me a more valuable employee. They have made me valuable to Newmind as well, and prepared me for a real life job. This job forced me to learn how to prioritize and organize well, and that is invaluable in many other areas of my life. What I learned at Newmind as an intern has not only affected my job here, but also how successful I can be in life.”

Newmind is currently accepting applications for internships.
Visit http://www.newmindgroup.com/site/jobs/  for more information.

Password Security and Protecting Yourself Online

There is a 14 year old right now in their parents' basement on a computer. They don’t know your password, but with a little time and ingenuity they could get into your email account. Once they’re in your email account, it’s just a matter of time before they’re in your Amazon, Netflix, bank, and even Paypal. Heck, even public figures have learned the hard way that password reminder tools can hurt just as much as they can help.

That password that stands between you and chaos, can be a string of six alphanumerics or if you’re a real overachiever it might be 16 characters and substitute a $ for an S. Ohhhh, tricky.

The thing is, that pa5$w0rd helps spread a false perception that your online data is secure. These days, accounts are daisy chained together for your convenience, but it’s pretty convenient for a hacker too. How many sites are setup with your email address as your username? How many other sites are setup to login with your Facebook or Twitter account? Get one and you’ve got them all, and that’s not hard to do with some of your personal information that’s publicly available and easily found online.


Hackers compromise data every day, and it doesn’t always make the headlines. For every incident of Anonymous taking down the banks and government agencies in Israel that makes national news, there are countless others that don’t. Hospitals, schools, insurance agencies, NASA. If they can get in there, your little email account is no sweat.

The move to the cloud has been a slow one, so it’s no wonder that we’ve been lulled into complacency.  In the early days of the internet, the “cloud” was barely a vapor, so your passwords could reasonably serve their purpose as their were few avenues of mayhem that a hackers could follow.

Now though, your photos, documents, money, communications... they’re all in the cloud. They’re safe from physical destruction there. A fire, flood, or hurricane can’t compromise them, but as these online accounts have blossomed, online providers have acquiesced to the user desire for convenience and have created a system riddled with vulnerability. We’ve been told that our savior here is the password, but the notion of a “strong” password is a lollypop we’re given to cover up the bitter taste of inherent weaknesses in the system.

Passwords can be guessed, stolen, cracked, lifted, and reset. Yes, people still choose terrible passwords. Yes, people recycle usernames and passwords from site to site. Yes, criminals can be tricky and make you think you’re doing one thing when you’re really doing another. And yes, the bad guys can take much more nefarious levels of tricking you. Then end result is the same though.

So what can you do? I mean, this is all pretty bleak! Short of installing a usb retina scanner or moving to the hills and going off the grid, what are your options?

There are actions you can take. There are actions you should take. And now.

1. Two factor verification. 
Some sites use multiple factors to authenticate the user at login. These can be knowledge factors (something you know like a password or PIN), inherence factors (something you are like a biometric of some sort), and possession factors (something you have like a mobile device or IT card). 

If you’re using Google Apps, you can enable 2-step verification for your domain to add that extra layer of security. Once it’s been enabled for your domain, the user selects the method for receiving their verification code on their mobile device: text message, phone call, via the Authenticator app on smartphones. 

After the initial setup, at the next login the user will enter their username and password as usual, then on a second page they will be prompted to enter their verification code from their phone. 

This two factor authentication is just the start for the Google, who is looking into other methods of verification and is vigilant at watching the patterns of your account and letting you know if anything odd happens. 

What happens if a device is lost or stolen? Google Apps supports Mobile Device Management tools, and Android devices that are registered in the Account Admin Panel can be remotely wiped if they might be compromised. 

2. Lie to your security questions.
Trick ‘em. What city were you born in? Where did you honeymoon? What is your mother’s maiden name? The Sea of Tranquility, Xanadu, and Mad Max. If it’s something I can look up on your Facebook page, it’s not something that should be guarding you online. Make up answers and stop being so predictable. 

3. Create a new email account. 
Make a whole new email account that isn’t tied to your name, and use it only for your password resets. If you use a password manager like LastPass, tie that to this new email account as well. The key is to NOT have all of your eggs in one basket, and to stop daisy chaining everything together. 

4. Have some password savvy. 
Substituting numbers for letter is sooooo 2010.  Most hacking tools have these built into their tools now, so stop it. But don’t use dictionary words either, unless you’re using a string of them. Simplicity, length, and variance are all factors to consider when you’re choosing passwords. 

5. Erase the loose ends.
Head over to spokeo.com and search for yourself.
Freaked out yet? It’s easy to hop on sites like Spokeo, Pipl, or Whitepages and find out the basics to start an attack, but it’s also simple to preemptively go on those sites and have your listing removed. Do it. 

We didn’t want to bring you a bunch of doom and gloom to darken your day, but being on the cloud in this day and age means being vigilant in keeping your data as safe as you can. Luckily, if you’re using Google Apps, there are some extra measures you can easily take that will make you that much safer online.

Security training. Auditing. Two factor authorization. It can all be a little overwhelming. If you have any questions about online security tools, or how to incorporate them into your business, contact Newmind today. As always, we’re here to help.

You talked. We listened.

Teachers Have Great Ideas!

We love hearing from our customers, and we use your suggestions whenever we can to improve our services. A suggestion came up recently that has made us look at our Chromebooks packages and decide to make some changes.

The story goes like this. The purchasing agent for a school district in Texas placed an order for several of the original Samsung Series-5 Chromebooks back in April 2012. During implementation, the technology instructors found them to be great devices for their students and in September, 2012 the purchasing agent called Newmind up again to order a bunch more Chromebooks as well as some charging carts.

The catch? During the lapse between these two orders, Google had announced the much faster and sleeker Samsung 550 Chromebook, and it was these that the purchasing agent requested for the second order. What the purchasing agent didn’t know was that the tech instructors in the school district were consistently using the VGA dongles, included with every Samsung Series-5 Chromebook, to connect to powerpoint machines, etc., which Samsung had decided to not include with the new Samsung 550 Chromebook.

So, when the second order of Chromebooks arrived in early October, Vicki, the head of technology instructors for the district, called us up wondering where her dongles were. I explained that Samsung had discovered that most Chromebooks users had found them to be of little value so they were not being added to the 550 Chromebooks.

Needless to say Vicki was bummed by the news. We talked about it for a while and she completely agreed that having a VGA dongle for every Chromebook wasn’t really that useful and understood their decision. She did have an idea for us though.

Vicki’s suggestion? For every charging cart we sell, include one VGA dongle so that each “mobile Chromebooks lab” has a way for teachers to connect to their power point machines. This way, no matter if purchasing agents, teachers, principals, or others are the ones actually placing the orders, the folks in the classroom who end up using the Chromebooks will have the tools they need to be successful.

All of us on the Chromebooks team here at Newmind talked about Vicki’s idea. We all love it and have decided to implement it. In those larger organizations that have different people making the purchases than who end up using the devices, we want to be that stop-gap to make sure that the end-users have what they need to be successful.

A big thank you goes out to Vicki in Texas for helping us identify this way for us to better help our customers. For all you other Newmind clients out there, we’d love to hear what you think are good ideas to make us better at meeting your technology needs, so don’t hold back.