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When Times are Tough, There’s No Room for Risk
used with permission from the HP Midsize Business Center

Don't Stop fortifying against risk

Four ways to mitigate risk in a tough economy

Every business deals with risk. But medium-sized businesses, with smaller IT staff and tighter operating budgets are often more exposed to risk than larger companies. This reality is never more evident than in a down economy: When the repercussions of a business disruption are as grave as they are, how do you insulate your business from risk?

"For mid-sized businesses, the financial impact of business disruptions is tremendous," said Anil Miglani, senior vice president, AMI-Partners. "We estimate that through security breaches and data loss alone, medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion in 2008."

According to strategy consulting firm AMI-Partners, in 2008 medium-sized businesses worldwide lost approximately US$4.7 billion due to security breaches and loss of data.

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One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this:
To rise above the little things.

~John Burroughs
 

►Just for Laughs

Most articles about virtualization discuss the technology in the context of "big" business. They are glowing about the potential for "data center consolidation" or "reduced system maintenance expenses." Or they rave about the prospects for a better disaster recovery plan, better security and extra flexibility for employees.

What about small business? The good news is if you are a small business owner, there are plenty of short- and long-term benefits from virtualization-and you don't need a big budget. (That makes virtualization attractive in a brutal economic climate.)

So what is virtualization? Quite simply, it is technology that explodes the traditional one-to-one relationship between computer hardware and the software that runs it. Virtualization software allows you to create two or more complete computing environments on a single piece of hardware. The proliferation of systems with multi-core microprocessors has made virtualization possible across a wide range of business applications.

Here's a big benefit: Instead of buying more than one server for your growing small business, you can "virtualize." In fact, many things can be virtualized beyond servers: desktop systems, storage devices and even networks. Virtual memory, for example, allows a computer to "borrow" from disk storage to extend its available memory resources-enhancing the user experience without you even realizing it. Likewise, one physical server, which runs one application, can be transformed to look like multiple servers when virtualization technology is applied.

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It can be tempting to avoid new purchases when dealing with a tight budget or a need to cut costs. When it comes to your office’s computer equipment, however, delaying a PC refresh can actually increase your operating expenses. Maintenance and support costs go up significantly over time, and productivity goes down.

Learn about the major costs associated with maintaining and supporting PCs and the six ways in which a PC refresh can benefit your business.

1. Save on repair costs
For most businesses, it’s best to replace aging equipment rather than repair it.  Maintenance costs on PCs more than three years old can run nearly two and half times higher than on a new PC [1]. From software crashes to hard drive failure, a lot can go wrong as a computer ages.

2. Increase productivity
When your computers work more efficiently, so do you and your employees. Faster processors, such as the Intel® Core 2™ Duo and Intel® vPro™ technology (available on select HP notebook PCs and HP desktop PCs can operate up to six times faster than a three-year old Intel® Pentium® processor. In the case of an Intel® VPro™ PC, users experience 32 percent less system downtime.

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Introduction
Is your desktop so cluttered you can’t even see your background picture? It’s time for a quick and easy PC deep cleaning. Enjoy a more organized filing system and hard drive that will help run programs faster. Now roll up your sleeves—let’s get your files, programs and photos under control.

Create a plan of action
Start off by thinking about what you’re going to do with the files and photos that are collecting dust on your PC’s hard drive. You basically have three choices when it comes to organizing: delete, file or store.

• Delete any files that you no longer need: old party invitations, bad digital photos, 2-year old PTA letters and programs you haven’t used in a few years.
• File any documents or photos you use regularly: your most recent photos, important documents you’ve scanned or projects you’re working on.
• Store items you will need in the future: all your digital photos, insurance and mortgage paperwork you’ve scanned, your journal or creative writing. You will also want to store important items that need a duplicate saved in a backup location.

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