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.

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.