Intuit goes dark for two days, giving pause to the small business owner
6.21.10
The not-so-silver lining of cloud computing: Intuit goes dark for two days, giving pause to the small business owner
NORWALK, CT, June 21 -- Things did not go as planned when Joe Presto of the Norwalk-based IT consulting firm Desktop Guerrillas tried to send out his monthly invoices last Tuesday night. After error messages kept popping up, Presto did a Google search and quickly determined that the issue was with Intuit’s system, not his own. The next morning he learned the full scope of the outage: 300,000 of Intuits clients had been affected, most using online versions of office mainstays like TurboTax, Quickbooks, and Quickbase.
Desktop Guerrillas’ clients could certainly wait for their bills, and Presto was able to get them out later in the week, but the outage had a far more debilitating effect on some other users relying on Intuit’s products, which provide critical line-of-business applications. As the comments on Intuit’s blog in reaction to its apology indicated, an extended outage like this can cripple a business.
Intuit’s trip-up is the downside of what many IT professionals dub the “Year of the Cloud,” in which more and more companies have moved their services to third party providers rather than running them in-house. Joe Presto is not surprised by the outage, nor the outrage. “To many businesses, ‘The Cloud’ is a magic place where issues and maintenance are a thing of the past,” he says. “In reality, these services can be just a prone to outage as an internally-run product.”
He brings up several points to consider:
How resilient is your cloud service’s infrastructure? “Clouds are a perfect description to these outsourced services” says Presto. “Because there’s typically zero visibility into their architecture and operation.” A sharp webpage or even a trusted name can easily mask a poorly implemented service, as Intuit’s case last week showed. “As Intuit described it, an accidental power failure brought down main and backup systems and resulted in a two-day outage,” says Presto. ”This begs the question of why a backup system was so closely linked with the primary system. And why would a power outage take so long to recover from? That’s not to say that clients that host their own servers are without danger, but at least it’s within their control to design a disaster recovery plan.”
This raises another question: How safe is your data? “Clients who use hosted applications need to assume that their data could very easily be gone tomorrow and they should plan accordingly,” says Presto, a former IBMer who started Desktop Guerrillas in 2004. Many cloud vendors, he says, don’t provide an easy way to export data, which could represent a major exposure. “If businesses don’t have a way to personally ensure the availability of their data, they may want to look at other solutions,” Presto states. “For instance, although our ticket management system is hosted, we download data at least twice a day. Losing that data could cost us tens of thousands of dollars, so we guard it with our lives.”
Still, cloud computing is not all doom and gloom. “Cloud services can provide great value and are a valued part of any solution we provide to our clients, but we don’t make any claims about availability that the cloud vendor won’t back up with a service level agreement. The false sense of security can result in a business whose core processes are less protected than if they offered them in-house.”
About Desktop Guerrillas
Desktop Guerrillas provides IT support to small and midsize businesses in Fairfield County, Connecticut. More information can be found at www.desktopguerrilas.com
Media contact: Jennifer Wulff, Desktop Guerrillas, (203) 842-4043
Westchester County Passes Wireless Network Security Law
6.8.06
Desktop Guerrillas offers businesses expert advice for securing their networks
[Stamford, Conn., June 8, 2006] Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in this country. Criminals are enticed with a precious bounty – your credit line. We’ve all gotten used to shredding our credit card statements, but what about the businesses that are cavalier with our personal information?
On April 20, Westchester County enacted a law requiring any business that uses a customer’s financial information to take “minimum security measures” to protect their wireless network. Businesses have 180 days to comply with the new law.
Joe Presto, president of the technology consulting firm Desktop Guerrillas, agrees that enabling security features on a business’s wireless network is a must. However, care must be taken to ensure against improper setup by inexperienced technicians or users. “Not all encryption methods are created equal,” says Presto. “The most common type – called ‘WEP’ – is far from secure, yet that's what most businesses are relying on to protect their network. A skilled computer user can breach it in minutes.”
To properly secure your business, Presto recommends following at a minimum:
- Use WPA instead of WEP. Upgrade any wireless devices that aren’t WPA-compatible, as you cannot mix the two technologies.
- Choose a strong encryption key. If words are used as part of the key, hackers may be able to guess at your key through a “dictionary attack.” Use a completely random set of letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Don’t give your wireless network a name that would identify your company. Use a unique but non-identifiable name such as “wire3811.”
A newsletter which covers wireless security in more detail is available online at www.desktopguerrillas.com. Desktop Guerrillas is also available for on-site evaluations of wireless networks. More information on this service is available by emailing info@desktopguerrillas.com or by calling (888) 999-1139.
Contact:
Joe Presto, Desktop Guerrillas president, (888) 999-1139 ext 801, joe@desktopguerrillas.com
Desktop Guerrillas Featured on Cablevision News 12
1.13.06
The press juggernaut continues with a segment on News 12’s “12 On The Money.” View it online or watch for it on Cablevision channel 12.
Read All About It: Desktop Guerrillas Profiled In Three Local Publications
1.8.06
Watch your mailboxes this week, as we are featured in the business section of The Stamford Hour, The Norwalk Hour, and The Wilton Villager. A special thanks to our clients who were kind enough to participate in the article.Click here to view the article.
Protect Yourself From The Latest Windows Security Exposure
1.5.06
A significant vulnerability in Windows was discovered in the past week. It allows anyone to execute code on a computer simply by having an image displayed on the system. This means various forms of malware can be distributed to your computer without your authorization; all you need to do is visit the wrong website or preview the wrong email. in fact, indexing programs like Google Desktop Search can also trigger an outbreak.
Hundreds of websites are taking advantage of this exploit, leading Microsoft to release a patch ahead of their normal schedule. If you have automatic updates turned on, you should already have the patch. If not, visit Microsoft Update and patch your system.
As always, please contact us if you have any concerns.
New Brief: Flirting with Disaster
11.16.05
Our latest brief covers the important topic of the oft-ignored “business continuity plan.” In it, we provide some great tips on protecting your business from any number of issues that might otherwise leave you without your critical company data. Download it from our Guerilla Briefs section.
Windows Small Business Server 2003 - $650 complete
10.15.05
It’s a little-known secret that you can get the best of Microsoft’s server software - including Exchange for messaging and collaboration - in a “small business” version with very few limitations. We have a fantastic deal for those interested in moving up to a server for their business; a Dell 2.8 GHz server with a gig of ram is only $650, including Small Business Server 2003 software and a 5 user license. This is a great way to consolidate all your data and enhance your employees' collaboration ability. Contact us for all the details.
We’re now an authorized Cingular Channel Partner
10.8.05
With our new status, we can provide you with complete messaging solutions, including Blackberry voice and data plans. We also have access to some unique Cingular promotions; for example, we can offer Blackberry Enterprise Server (typically $4,000) at no charge with the purchase of 10 Blackberry devices. It’s a great option for those looking to provide always-on messaging, scheduling, and even web browsing to their employees.
Expanded remote support services
10.2.05
We’ve partnered with 3AM Labs to provide additional remote support options to our customers. Anywhere you have an Internet connection – at home, on vacation, even while traveling, we can connect to your system and help diagnose and repair issues. We’ll continue to provide a VPN solution as well as this service enables us to provide unattended support, helping to keep your systems operating and not interrupting your workday. We also recommend 3AM Labs’ business offering, LogMeIn, for providing remote access to your own computers. Their service is cheaper than GoToMyPC, and they even have a free version which, while not having the bells and whistles of their premium product, still provides the basics for anyone needing to access a home or business computer on the go.
Is your wireless network secure?
9.30.05
If a wireless network is part of your business, you should read our October newsletter. Your current network may leave yourself vulnerable to hackers who can gain access in a matter of minutes. Our newsletter goes out to all our clients. If you haven’t worked with us before, email us at newsletter@desktopguerrillas.com and we’ll send you a copy.
Now everyone's a member
9.10.05
We’ve restructured our pricing and eliminated the monthly fee for our remote support. This way, even the smallest of enterprises can more economically take advantage of our on-demand support. No need to contact us; you will find it removed from the September invoices.
