The Wrong Conclusion: My Business cannot afford outages, That's why I don't want to go to the Cloud

Gmail was down today for most users for at least an hour, with Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Play and some other Google services remaining down for another hour or more. A side effect: attempts to access Google services during the outage was causing Google Chrome to crash.

Facebook was down today for about 15 minutes, following another brief outage on November 30.

Microsoft Office 365 mailboxes went down for five hours on November 13, following a brief period the previous week when mail delivery was slow.

Apple’s iCloud mail service went down on September 10 for almost two million people, and stayed down for two days.

I could go on and on......

There are the usual articles online today advising businesses to beware of trusting the cloud. One New York Times blogger wrote: “The cutoff highlights the downside of relying on information stored only in the cloud of the Internet, particularly for businesses that pay to use Google Apps, including Gmail, Docs for word processing and Drive for file storage.”

That’s the wrong conclusion. The honest and correct conclusion is:

Outages happen.

Fact of the matter is that outages happen on your own networks far more often than they do in the cloud and the effects of those outages usually have far more in the way of consequences. Outages happen on the equipment in your office. Your servers, workstations or backup systems will fail at unpredictable times and for unpredictable periods of time due to hardware or other issues beyond anyone's control.

How long has email been around? Email is a cloud solution, mostly provided by companies operating in the cloud (The Internet) and sometimes in a Private cloud hosted on your own premises. I can state with absolute certainty that everyone has experienced outages  due to a variety of factors.

If I had to wager a guess, most of the naysayers out there either have a vested interest in the technology they currently supply you or they were influenced by those self serving interests who currently service their infrastructure.

The really important thing to consider is that outages do happen and that no one is capable of delivering technology  100% of the time, 24x7, 365 days a year.

As long as you choose your suppliers and cloud platforms carefully, the Cloud WILL be in your future. The big companies are building very resilient infrastructures for cloud services and continue to get better and better at it on a daily basis.

Your business is driven in part by economics and the fact is, sooner or later, you're business IT will be in the cloud, you simply will not be able to afford to ignore it.



Listen Up - There will be challenges but it's still going to happen and it will be relatively FAST. Let's make certain the transition is done correctly and for the right reasons.

The Age of the Disposable Computer

You've just purchased a brand new MacBook, Windows 8 Tablet or any of the other new tablets or smartphones on the market.

You've paid $1,000 plus for it and you are very, very happy. After a period of time, usually a year, your warranty runs out. You are very, very happy.

Then the unthinkable happens and it just stops working. No problem you think... I'll just call my computer guy and he will fix it and make it better... And that is when it dawns on you.....

You're pretty much screwed and you have to buy a new one. You've just spent $400, $700, $800 or spent over a $1,000 a little over a year ago and you cannot get it fixed?

Your computer guy is nowhere to be found because he's out of business. He used to build computers for people, replace hard drives when they broke etc..... That's OK because you know where he lives and you call him up for help but... he cannot do a thing for you. Why?

When you bought that shiny new MacBook, PC, Laptop computer or tablet, what you didn't realize is that the manufacturer had built it NOT to be serviced.

• That shiny new MacBook was built with the hard drive, and memory sticks soldered to the motherboard. None of it can efficiently be replaced by a neighborhood technician. Many Microsoft based ultrabooks are built the same way. Soon all laptops will be built that way.
• The shiny new laptop that you paid for is built in such a way that a technician has to take the entire thing apart just to get to the hard drive. The labor costs to do this are prohibitive so you just replace it.
• All of a sudden you realize that shiny new desktop with Windows 8 you bought last year didn't come with recovery media to reinstall Windows, didn't offer to help you create recovery media yourself and doesn't even have a label with the Windows activation key. 

What the hay! That sickening feeling comes over you..... You're sunk.

So there it is. It may not be environmentally friendly but those are the economic metrics of todays high tech sector.

If you read my previous post on the Big Switch, you probably know just one of the driving forces behind all of this.

Not all is lost. The economic metrics will give birth to new businesses that will help you in many cases. Desktops for example, are still reasonably easy to service for example and there will still be methods to deal with those in a cost effective manner. Custom built desktops for business will be a viable option although you will pay more for them.

Those shiny new ultra thin, ultra light devices are something else however.... still, someone may come up with something. After all, they are selling millions of those aren't they? Then again, I said that about the millions of smart phones being produced.

The Big Switch is happening, get it. If you didn't read my post, maybe this will help. When you watch this, think about whatever shiny device you just bought.

The Big Switch - An unstoppable Force

The book "The Big Switch" by Nicholas Carr is a fascinating look into what is happening with Computing  and computers today. It's a succinct and compelling story of the current move to the Cloud.

Compelling because we are so exposed to it that most of us don't even realize it is happening.

Carr goes into great detail about the last big switch that happened over a 100 years ago with the advent of electricity. It tells the story about water powered manufacturing, Edison and the societal revolution he started with his invention of a system that distributed electricity to it's users.

Edison had to invent an entire system, the first distributed networks:

• Devices to produce the electricity,
• The electric light bulb that he hoped would replace gas and oil fired lamps,
• A method to measure how much electricity you used and
• A way to get that electricity to you at a lower cost than alternate sources of light and power to drive manufacturing.

By the time the Edison General Electric Company became General Electric, there were many thousands of small central stations that produced electricity to homes and small business over a one mile square grid. Direct current being generated couldn't be transmitted over long distances and manufacturers built their own power plants using those components that General Electric and other competitors sold them. At the turn of the century, private electric plants numbered over 50,000 whereas there were only 3,600 plus central stations.

It took one of Edison's own protégé's to see beyond his own vision.  Samuel Insull switched to alternating current and built giant utilities that soon displaced the private electric plants and smaller central stations. He made the production of electricity so inexpensive through economies of scale that users of electricity simply could not afford to ignore his new distribution system.

Carr likens that revolution which transformed our lives in such a big way to what is happening today with computing. Like the distribution of electricity, the economies of scale just now coming to bear with giant cloud utilities will make the move to cheaper more reliable forms of computing inevitable.

Like the evolution of distributed electricity, the current move to the cloud will displace a workforce which is no longer needed and, over time,  will create a whole set of new opportunities.

Just a little example.... Only 10 years ago, migrating your stuff from one computer to another was a complicated affair. Most people hired techs to do the work because it was just beyond our abilities. These days, many of us have made the move to the cloud. We buy a new computing device, log in to our cloud accounts and it's all there. This 100% ease of migration isn't available to everyone of course.... not yet.



And, as they say, THIS is what inspires me. I  want to ensure that every small business that I help manage, takes full advantage and sharpens their competitive edge.

Windows 8 - Setup your default Tile - I useful reason for it.

There is no shortage of guides for learning Windows 8 basics, starting with Microsoft’s guide to new features. Here’s an article that goes through the basics of the Charms bar, the Start Screen, switching apps and snapping them to the sidebar, printing from apps, and more.

Instead of writing a tutorial, I’ll be giving you a series of tips that aren’t as well known – settings that might make Windows 8 more comfortable and easier to adjust to.

Most of you will see Windows 8 for the first time on a new computer. Your immediate goal will likely be to make it as similar as possible to Windows 7, which will mean spending most of your time on the familiar desktop with the taskbar.

There is one simple but profoundly important change that I urge you to do on your first Windows 8 PC.

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TIP

Find the “Desktop” tile on the Start screen and drag it to the top left position.

The top left tile is the default tile. When you’re on the Start screen and you hit Enter, you’ll go immediately to the Desktop.

Applies to: Windows 8 on desktop PCs and notebooks Does not apply to: Windows 8/Windows RT on tablets or phones

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The minute that Windows 8 starts and you see the Start Screen, hit Enter. Bang! You’ve bypassed the Start Screen and you’re at your desktop. If you’re in a full-screen Windows 8 app and want to go back to work, hit the Windows key to go to the Start Screen, then hit Enter. Bang! Back to work.

It will be easier to stay in the desktop if you put your most-used programs on the taskbar by right-clicking them on the Start screen, then clicking on Pin To Taskbar. You’ll be able to run Windows 8 for days at a time without ever visiting the Start screen.

The urgency fades away as you become familiar with Windows 8. The Start screen becomes familiar, the full-screen apps turn out to be useful after all, it becomes natural to hit Windows key + C to bring up the Charms bar, and gradually it’s not as important to dive to the desktop right away. Even then it’s still easier to have the desktop tile in that upper left position because you’ll primarily be using desktop programs on your computer for the foreseeable future.

Don’t be afraid to get Windows 8 on your next computer! More tips to come.

Windows 8 vs Windows RT Why I will only recommend tablets running the full Windows 8 version

Bottom Line I'm talking about choice. My previous post talked about the two versions of Windows on tablet, Windows 8 VS Windows RT. You might want to refresh your memory by reading it.

I believe most business users of Windows products will expect to be using the same programs they are currently running on their Windows XP and Windows 7 computers on the new Windows tablets.

Windows RT, the version being supplied with tablets built using the ARM processor, will not run many of the programs users are using on their desktops. The ARM processor is the same processor used in IOS and Android tablets.

For example, if you are using the Chrome Browser to sync email, contacts and settings across devices, you will be disappointed if you purchase a Windows RT tablet. Like IOS, the best you will ever see is a crippled version of it, if that is, you ever see it at all.

Same thing applies to users of the popular Mozilla Firefox software, programs like VLC Player, SMPlayer and a multitude of other software like cloud drives, games and utilities.

If you are content to use only Email, Office 2013 and whatever else you can obtain through the new Windows App store then, by all means, purchase an Windows RT Tablet.  Other notable software packages available on the Windows App store for free are things like Mail, Netflix, Skype, Skydrive, Remote Desktop etc....

In my position, I need to be able to run legacy programs I currently run on XP and 7 so that limits me to buying a full blown Windows 8 Pro tablet.

Lets look at pricing. Here in Canada, The ARM powered Surface RT, with 32gig of storage is available for $519, the optional Touch Cover adds a $100 to the ticket price or $619.

An Atom powered Lenovo Tablet 2 running Windows 8 Pro will be selling for $629, with option keyboard and dock $799.

Acer also has an Atom powered tablet, the Acer Iconia W510, will sell for $499 and will offer various upgrades including a Windows 8 Pro package with keyboard dock and 64 gigs of storage for $750.  Acer will also offer models running the more powerful Intel Core processors starting at $799

Business and power users  I believe will not opt for RT and will only be interested in the full Windows 8 powered tablets. I am not alone as HP has announced it will only be selling Windows 8 tablets and devices and will shy away completely for Windows RT devices.

Check out this story... I highly recommend you read it. It's titled "3 Days in the life of a former Windows RT user" It is not a satire... but an educated guess at what someone purchasing a Windows RT device might experience: http://www.zdnet.com/three-days-in-the-life-of-a-once-and-former-microsoft-surface-rt-user-7000006421/

Windows 8 - What version should you use?

Short Answer .... it depends on how you expect to use it.

I won't repeat what is well stated in this article, so review that first please: http://bit.ly/Pkaqbm

A couple of things summarize that article quite well:

1. If you purchase an ARM powered device that comes with Windows 8 RT, you cannot upgrade
2. If you purchase an x86 or x64 powered device you are limited to using the Full Windows 8
3. Windows 8 RT - the RT means RunTime, a limited version of 8 designed for ARM powered tablets and phones.
4. A Windows 8 RT device will not run legacy programs you now use on XP or Windows 7
5. A Windows 8 RT device will not allow you to run a desktop like you now have on XP or Windows 7

So those are the basic elements you have to consider when considering a "Windows 8 RT" or "Windows 8" Tablet.

It's expected that Windows 8 RT devices will be selling for about 1/2 the price of the full x86 powered Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro powered tablets.... so making the right choice is more than just dollars and cents. It will really depend on what and how you plan to use to use it.

Outside of email and Internet browsing, If you need to be able to run many of the programs you now use on XP, Vista and Windows 7 directly on the tablet, you will have to spend the extra money for the full Windows 8  ( and Pro) tablets.

If all you need is the ability to run email, browse the internet and connect back to your office to access a physical or virtual  PC located there, you will most likely be equiping yourself with a Windows 8 RT tablet.

Personally, I think most business users will want the full power of the full Windows 8 powered tablets. It's obvious that HP believes the same since they will not be offering the RT powered devices.

For budget consious corporate networks, the ability to a have a full desktop at work using multiple monitors etc.... and, the ability to unplug the tablet from it's dock for mobile access is going to be a powerful incentive. Just check this out for example and use your imagination. Picture two full Page Oriented monitors on either side of this baby with keyboard and mouse + the ability of un-docking it and slipping it into a back-pack or briefcase when on the road.





That's an image of an Acer Iconia W700. The versions I have seen pricing on are very good. The Acer W700 with 64GB SSD Hard drive will sell for  $799. Not much more than the WIFI only 64gb iPad2. Business users who need the power will definately see the value in selecting and using full Windows 8 devices.

WARNING.... Many will be confused about the differences between the lower priced RT Windows tablets compared to the fully Windows 8 x86 or x64 powered tablets.

Another way of looking at this is quiet simple. If you currently need to drag along a laptop because your iPad doesn't do everything you need to do, stay away from the lower priced RT Windows tablets.... Sell or give away your laptop and iPad and get a full powered X86 or X64 Windows 8  tablet.

There will be many Windows 8RT and Windows 8 devices on the market at the end of October... do your homework and make the right choice.....  Expect to see a lot of buzz from HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Samsung etc..... 

Windows 8 - Built-In Protection

It's my second post of the day and, as in previous pre-release versions, Windows 8 in it's default configeration offers a lot of protection. It's not perfect but a stretch above free  and many paid-for protection programs. The venerable Windows Defender has morphed. When you open the software, longtime users of Windows Security Essentials will recognize the GUI (Graphical User Interface).... and it appears to be hopped up, specially if the default UAC settings remain.

As part of what I do (Network Administration, Forensics etc....) I routinely use tools that generally are referred to as "Hacking Tools". These tools have to be excluded from normal antivirus and antimalware tools. Windows 8, in it's default setup, is no exception.

If one were to also supplement this with, let's say, a paid version of MalwareBytes, I would have to say your pretty well protected compared to Windows 7 equiped with Security Essentials plus MalwareBytes.

Check out this http://www.pcworld.com/article/255776/windows_8_security_whats_new.html



Don't get me wrong.... It's not perfect compared to a well designed security fence which includes commercial firewalls, DNS filtering and the like.

I've seen a lot of infected computers, some were even well protected but it was the user that either allowed it after warnings or as a result of these warnings being turned off, there is no way to defend against that..... A prudent user of course doesn't do that .

One problem I've yet to investigate are the steps one has to take if a user wants to install his favorite antivirus/antimalware software instead. We already know that running two such programs concurrently is usually problematic. More on that later.

Here's a screenshot of the Windows 8 version of Windows Defender, click on the image to see it bigger:

It's early on and I will say with certainty that I will continue to recommend those commercial products on my roster.... I can guarantee they will be much better but for those that don't want to or cannot afford it, this is good news.

For a blurb on how to remove Windows Defender so you can install your favored security systems, check out this link http://bit.ly/SKJSeu

Tah! for Now!

Windows 8 First Impressions

We'll, I've tested the pre-beta, beta and release candidate versions extensively and have been excited to get my hands on the final version. Although I've had access to it for about a month, I finally installed it on an old IBM X41 Tablet laptop I had kicking around...... This laptop is freaking old, an antique by today's standards and yet, Windows 8 was quick to install and is operating better than XP ever did.... Everything just works.

It's not a good picture but this is the old X41 Tablet.... Built in late 2004

They stopped making the X41 in early 2006 and, in it's heyday, sold for about $2,000..... By today's standards, it's a dinosaur. Even with it's slow hard drive, slow processor and meager amount of memory, it works great with Windows 8. The Pen stylus is fully functional and it works better than it ever did with XP.


Missing Start Button:
I've never understood what the big deal was about.... who needs or uses it? Windows 8 is feature rich and really doesn't require a "Start" button. I really don't use it except to click it and click the search box to quickly search for programs I don't use frequently... With Windows 8, you just start typing and the search happens automatically.

So really, I don't need the start button but apparently it's a really big deal to a lot of people so I went about looking at 3rd party solutions which already exist. I won't get into all of them since they all pretty much do the same thing... but I did settle on one that I think most people would like. It's called Classic Shell, it's open source (FREE), doesn't prompt you to install optional crapware and is easy to configure and install... Check out the link that's located here http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Let's compare my various desktops (XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8). You can click on the images for a larger view.

 My Windows XP Desktop

 My Windows 7 Desktop

 My Windows 8 Desktop (With Classic Shell)

 
I'll admit that I am not a typical user but I am also not unique. I never did find a bunch of desktop icons useful to me. Once you have a program or two opened, you don't see those pesky desktop icons any way. I've always used the much more efficient Toolbars.... Guess what, they still exist in Windows 8 and you turn them on in exactly the same way.

With Windows Vista, 7 and now 8.... frequently used programs can be pinned to the taskbar....

Windows 8 First impressions? I Love IT!

Are You Still Using Outlook in your business?

In the last couple of years, there has been a massive move away from traditional email clients like Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird etc....

Here are just some of the reasons:

1. The growth of SmartPhones and tablets meant more hassles trying to secure and sync your email, contacts etc.... 
2. Data Security and the growing size of that data. If you forgot to backup that data and your PC crashed, your primary concern was recovering that data
3. Getting a new PC meant transferring all of that data and that could get expensive.
4. For businesses managing their own email servers, email was just one cost factor that could be minimized by using newer technologies.
5. I could go on and on but those are the key points.....

Do I still use Outlook? The answer is Yes and No, let me explain.

I use GOOGLE Apps. I suppose I could be using Office 365 or some other similar medium but, for me, GOOGLE Apps is just what I prefer. I am not alone. In North America, even large government agencies and businesses have made the move.

GOOGLE Apps is a "cloud" service. Nothing new or revolutionary about that since all email is essentially a "cloud" service. What's different about it and other initiates like Office 365 and Outlook.com is that "Webmail" has become very powerful with features that can outshine the features you could previously only find in programs like Outlook.

Even if there haven't been any situations I am aware of where there was permanent data loss attributable to a GOOGLE Data Center crash, I don't want to tempt fate so I use Outlook as a POP client to give me a local hard copy of my GOOGLE Apps data. I know many others who use different means of accomplishing the same thing or don't bother with it at all.

So what has the move done for me?

• I manage my email using a browser on my PC, on my Laptop, on my Tablet and SmartPhone. I generally do not use the email clients built into my SmartPhone or Tablet. 
• Any decent browser on any decent device will work just fine. 
• If I read and archive or delete my email on any of my devices, I don't need to redo it on any of my other devices.
• If I were to lose my laptop, I won't have to worry since the data on it is slim or non-existent.
• Getting a new SmartPhone, Tablet, Laptop or PC is a much smoother affair.
• The rules I have setup to automatically label incoming email work the same on all of my devices.
• The signature attached to email is the same no matter which device is being used.
• Contacts and appointments are the same on all of my devices without having to plug in anything.
• Much of the SPAM and other virus laden email that flood Outlook inbox's everywhere never make it to my inbox
• I can manage a zero inbox solution that I could never have accomplished with Outlook. Saves a ton of time.