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.
Friday, 24 May 2013
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Build IT Together 2013 [Live Blog]
The official live blog of Build IT Together!
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! |
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"
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.
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.
Thursday, 16 May 2013
4 Simple Steps to an Effective BYOD & Mobile Policy
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:
- Set of expectations that align with your organization’s goals
- Clear and plain language
- Concise, so that everyone reads it
- 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.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
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
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.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)