TrueVault™ leverages eFolder technologies to secure Canadian data

Posted using ShareThis

Secure Online Backup hits Canada

Posted using ShareThis

Who isn’t being affected by all the craziness in our world?  With the global financial markets failing on every continent and economic instability rampant everywhere, this is a time to make sure you’ve got your bases covered.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity earlier this week to speak to 78 people on “Avoiding a Business Disaster” which I think is extremely relevant to all businesses in all industries.  Not only are companies running on the financial razor’s edge, but the majority of businesses big and small, successful and not-so-much are completely ignoring the importance of protecting their computer data.  

With a bankruptcy rate of 94% for companies that have a major data loss, there isn’t much else to be said. Computers are extremely important in all businesses and the data that get’s created on them is irreplaceable.  I always tell people, “It’s easy to buy a new computer, but there is no store on earth that sells your data!”.  If you lose it, it’s gone forever!  So if you’re not proactive and make the small investment to implement a quality data backup and more importantly data recovery solution, then you are asking for trouble.  It’s not a matter of “if”, but a matter “when” your business will experience computer problems and major data loss.  Computers aren’t perfect, and we the users are definitely nowhere close to perfect.

You must automatically back up your data onsite and to a long-term secure offsite storage provider or you will only have a small chance of recovering your data “when” you lose it.  There are very few backup solutions that actually give you a fighting chance of not losing your data.  Tapes don’t, disk backup doesn’t, and definitely most online only backup providers don’t.  That’s right, online backup sucks too!  Have you ever tried downloading gigs and gigs of data over the internet?  Especially from home / professional online only backup services that you pay less for than a cup of coffee?  I only have one thing to say about the fact that 70% of recoveries fail with most backup solutions… What’s the point in backup, if you can’t recover?

Enough with me ranting.  As you may be well aware, I am extremely passionate about the proper protection of computer data.  It is our business to assure that our clients have the best chance of recovering their data accurately and on-time when they need it most.   It pains me to see that close to 100% of businesses are not using an adequate data protection solution.

There are many factors that make up a proper backup and recovery solution; onsite backup, offsite backup, granular recovery, bulk recovery, security, compression, data integrity, automation, archiving, efficiency, incremental-forever storage, geopolitical location, geographical location, long-term secure storage, customer service, total cost of ownership, long-term data management, future-proofing, affordability, etc…the list goes on and on.  All these factors and many more have been considered by us at Toggle Networks to build the best backup and recovery service available on the market today.

When your world is crashing and it’s taking your data with it, Toggle will be here to make sure you don’t lose a thing.  Now the financial markets crashing is a different story, as we haven’t figured out how to recover your money yet!

That’s what I told the Toggle team last Thursday at our weekly staff meeting.  You should have seen the blank stares and raised eyebrows looking back at me.  I know most of the team thinks I’ve already gone off the deep end, but this statement still managed to cause a stir.  Fortunately for them I followed up “Stop Cooperating!” with:

Start Collaborating!

I distinctly remember a half cocked expression smacked across Jered’s face and words uttering from his mouth saying “What’s the difference? They’re the same!”.  Jered was completely justified in his reaction, as any thesaurus will tell you cooperate and collaborate are synonyms of each other.  Sure their definitions in a dictionary are almost identical and both roughly mean “to work with others”.  But this is one of those times when the “real” world definition of certain words has come to mean something quite different.  Not so much for the word “collaborate”, but “cooperate” definitely has a different “real” world meaning when applied to most structured organizations where authority is exercised.  Toggle is no different, and I as its self-appointed leader have been asking people to cooperate with me for the last 6 years.  Think about it for a second…what does cooperate really mean.  How about…”do what I say or you’re fired!”…or…”I told you to cooperate with me!”…etc. 

We are taught how to cooperate when we are very young and I think it’s likely the dictionary’s definition is not consulted in this time honored educational right of passage.  It starts as children with our parents telling us to cooperate with them.  Not optionally I might add.  We are then told to cooperate throughout school by our teachers and parents again.  And finally into the business world as most organizations are structured top down with “cooperation” in mind.

So let’s ask ourselves the question, “What would happen if we stopped ‘cooperating’ and started ‘collaborating’ instead?”.  What does that mean?  What would happen to authoritative power?  Would anarchy ensue?  Will people wander aimlessly through the halls of institutions everywhere?  Well, in our organization for the last 3 business days I am happy to report that Chaos Theory hasn’t taken a hold of Toggle…yet.  We’ll have to see what happens in the coming weeks, but so far the idea of collaborating with one another has created a very positive change in our company.  It has generated a level of leadership, creativity and productivity seconded only to the day before a long weekend.  Which is this Friday I might add.  Who knows what will happen!

I’ll leave you with that for now and if I don’t have a mutiny on my hands in the next few days, maybe someone on the team will collaborate with me and post a blog on what it means to “Start Collaborating”.

Application Service Providers (ASP) are represented by a growing number of IT businesses delivering computer services from a central datacenter.  ASP solutions are very effective at reducing and in some cases eliminating the need for complex computer systems at the customers’ site.  A well run ASP service caters to businesses with niche computing needs or streamlined industry computer practices. 

The costs for an ASP service may seem high at first until factoring in the total cost of ownership associated with building and managing a complex computer system onsite.  Many businesses shy away from not “owning” their computer system and look unfavourably on ASP’s.  This will change in the future as computer systems become more centralized and monthly computer services become the accepted norm.  It is typically not in the best interest for businesses that do not specialize in IT to be responsible for an IT solution.  It doesn’t make sense to have an IT guy diagnose and illness, so why should a doctors be responsible for the health of their computer systems.

ASP’s are becoming more prevalent, however there are still many questions that must be asked before jumping on the ASP bandwagon.  A complete ASP solution will only require “dumb” terminals at the customers’ site, which begs the question what if there are other needs like accounting, email, pictures, peripherals, etc. not supported by the ASP.  Maybe there is equipment onsite like x-ray or manufacturing machines that need to communicate with a “smart” terminal or server.  I would say the most prevalent concerns one should have with an ASP is stability, security and disaster recovery.   ASP solutions rely completely on the quality of the Internet connection at the customer and service providers’ site.  Your service will only be as good as quality and security of computer infrastructure provided by the ASP.  And most importantly all your eggs are in one basket, so you must be absolutely confident that the ASP has a comprehensive disaster avoidance, disaster response and disaster recovery solution in place.

When considering an ASP, make sure you get a rock solid Service Level Agreement (SLA).  Ensure the ASP is backed by a proven disaster recovery solution and has taken every possible security precaution.  Consult with an IT professional who understands the ins and outs of ASP services to see if it is right for you in both the short and long term.

Don’t be too quick to assume that ASP’s are the one-stop miracle IT solution you’ve always dreamed about.   Be aware and proceed with caution.

It’ been a long time coming.  I finally joined the ranks of ultimate dork-dom and bought myself a pocket protector…oops, I mean Bluetooth headset.  Yes, I have now completely integrated myself into the digital world of communications by attaching technology to my body.  It’s already bad enough that I’m walking around with my BlackBerry hanging off my hip at all times.  Now I feel like I just had an implant inserted into my brain…which will likely be the next step after my new Bluetooth headset.

Why Ryan would ever do such a thing?  Like pocket protectors, it definitely isn’t to make a fashion statement.  It comes from my need for function and the desire to decrease the odds of getting brain cancer from excessive cell phone usage.  There is much debate over cell phones causing harm to our bodies.   Even if it is false and they are totally safe, why take the risk.  I can’t get rid of my phone and want to live a long and healthy life; so if I can take some preventative measures, why not?

The only problem I’ve had so far with the new Bluetooth headset is the overwhelming insecurity I feel wearing it in public.  I’m told by fellow super dork Lee that my insecurities will pass once I embrace the true dork that lies within all of us!

Even if my cell phone won’t kill me, the car accident I may one day have while driving with my knees, with a phone in one hand and a drink in the other will probably get the job done much quicker!

“I’m sorry, it’s not our responsibility that you can’t recover your data, we only provide backup.”

“So I’ve been paying you good money to backup my data and I can’t get it back?  You mean tell me that ALL my files are gone?  Well that means I’m pretty much …”

It’s an unsettling thought to ever think you could be having this conversation.  Scary thing is it happens all too often.  Stats show that 70% of disaster recovery attempts from backup products and services fail are incomplete or ineffective.   It’s wild to think that most options for data backup aren’t very good at recovering data.  Sure there are multitudes of ways to backup your data.  Tapes, CDs, DVDs, online backup, disk backup, replication, and the list goes on.  But how many data protection products and services can actually ensure recovery of your data completely when you need it most?

So what’s the point in backup if you can’t recover?

I know Lee is sooo impressed with his new iPhone, but I’m still diggin’ Blackberry. I’m not entirely sure how Lee managed to go from a brand new Blackberry Curve to an iPhone in under 2 months…but I’m not complaining. I snatched his “old” Blackberry Curve first thing this morning before anyone else could upgrade from their Blackberry 8700!

I know Lee is writing cutting edge iPhone apps because iPhones are “cool”, however I don’t think he relized what he just gave up. This Curve is seriously loaded with everything a person needs in a cell phone packed with a media player, camera, email, internet, messaging, video, Google maps, GPS, Facebook and much much more. I’m even writing this blog entry from it right now. It’s absolutely the best communication device I have ever had, bar-none!

Lee can keep his trendy iPhone. Blackberry is still the best business communication device in my opinion!

It’s T-minus 36 hours and counting till noon Saturday when I’ll be tormented by a very perplexing question.  Do I work or do I play?  Why so perplexing you ask.  Well it’s not too often that my wife and kids leave the city without me for an entire week.  Jae is off to be a counselor at a summer camp, and the kids are going with their Nana and Buba camping at the lake.  

So here I am stuck with a question I usually have no problem answering.  Work is fun and I give it my all each and everyday as a business owner and passionate industry professional.  Play is not something I ever worry about, it just happens for me.   I have a life full of tons of fun with my wife, goofing around with the kids or hanging out with friends and family.  My days are usually so jam packed with family and work that the decision is always made for me.  Was bachelorhood so difficult?  I honestly can’t remember.

Part of me wants to work 24 hours a day stopping only for fluid breaks while pulling repeated all nighters like I did in years past.  The other part is saying beer, pizza, Wii, tee-times, action movies, more pizza and way more beer!!  9 years ago I wouldn’t have hesitated, jumping head long into anything that began and ended with beer…but here I am. 

Maybe I’ll compromise.  I’ll work 16 hours and play for 8, work 16, … hmmm…umm…oh man…I’m not going to make it past the first round of beer.  I’m so confused.  Maybe I’ll just stick to longer than average work days and going to bed early.

Anyone want to join Souk and I at our Sunday morning tee-time?

Planes and I are friends.  I take full advantage of the convenience of flying when I can; however, I’m always wary of the risks associated with flight.  I’m not scared of flying, but my body and mind warn me of the dangers every time the pilot guns it down the runway and the plane rockets off the end of the airstrip gaining altitude faster than I can legally drive.  I classify the whole experience as a really well engineered “Hail Mary” pass.  The pilot’s the QB, I’m the ball and the receiver is a thin strip of rock a few thousand miles away decorated in Christmas lights.

There are really only two things that give me comfort when flying.  Not my seat belt…and definitely not my oxygen mask.   The first is the beer and pretzels served by a friendly flight crew.   But most comforting is a second engine strapped to our heavier than air wings.   I’m sure with a good pilot we could glide down to earth with no engine power and land in a farmer’s field, the middle of the ocean or the oh-so-beautiful Rocky Mountains.  However, if you are thinking what I’m thinking, arriving a little behind schedule on that second engine sounds a whole lot better than putting your head between your legs while the pilot tells you to brace yourself.  I’d sure be thanking the engineer who thought “Two engines are better than one”.   Double the performance, more efficient, cheaper flights and you’ve always got a backup when disaster strikes.

Interesting Thought:  I wonder how often two engined planes lose an engine and the passengers never know it?

Computers are just like planes, except they crash a lot more.  Does your disaster recovery have two engines or one?