We always hear about the most popular gadgets on the market. But for every technology that changes our lives there is something that flops. It’s difficult to judge what the public will take a fancy too, so companies take a risk when they release something. Here we explore several technologies that fall outside of the “took flight” category.

Famous tech failures

• Apple TV: This device gives users the capability to purchase entertainment from iTunes then stream it to the device of their choice. Good idea? Most likely, if it wasn’t so limited to iTunes. 

• Sony Mylo: Mylo came in under the radar that is why you may not remember it. This was a Wi-Fi-enabled mobile device from Sony that allowed people to connect to the Internet, send e-mail and it included Skype! It didn’t get much attention as the iPhone and its app store overwhelmed it.

The Segway peters out

• Segway PT: It was believed that the Segway PT would replace cars in urban areas. It made it easy for people to just zip to the market or make the short commute downtown. But it never quite caught on. Unfortunately for the manufacturers, people believed balancing on two wheels made them look a little silly.

The CueCat doesn’t purr

• CueCat: Shaped like a cat, the CueCat was a barcode reader introduced to the public in 1999. It allowed consumers to open a link to an Internet address by scanning a barcode on a product. The thought was that consumers would enjoy surfing to a website without having to enter in that site’s address. This hypothesis proved flawed, and it wasn’t long before the CueCat’s maker, Digital Convergence Corporation, was out of business.

It is easy to fall into the mistaken idea that you already possess enough safeguards in position to protect your small business. You almost certainly stay up to date with the latest antivirus software, but is that adequate? You also probably believe that since you’re not really a huge corporation, you don’t have to worry about cyber criminals hacking into your system. But here’s the unfortunate reality: cyber criminals have upped their game and are beginning to target small businesses increasingly more. Let’s take a closer look to  give you a better understanding of the level of danger your business may be under.

Small firms: low-hanging fruit

Sadly, small companies make easy targets, so hackers are beginning to concentrate on them. Small firms are quick hacks and the criminals can make more hacks at a quicker rate. With more chances, their probability of stealing useful information goes up drastically. As a small business, you may not think you have any valuable data, but in today’s world even the most basic information may be used to do damage to someone else. Credit card purchases are the most common targets of cyber criminals. Every time your system runs a transaction, it must authenticate the cardholder’s information. This information can contain card numbers, addresses, names, and more. Your customers do not want this information stolen!

How hackers gain access to your data

Even though you most likely have systems in place to safeguard your data, hackers will make use of multiple points of entry, so firewalls alone may not be enough. Harmful email attachments are probably the biggest offenders. These attachments can leave your system wide open for data mining. This year alone in the first quarter, 6 million malware programs were found. Aside from these more high-tech tactics, cyber criminals also use low-tech means to steal information. Telephone calls or even personal visits by someone posing as a network administrator or security firm can be detrimental. We all hope our workers are smart enough not to be seduced by an apparent phishing scam, but it only takes one slip up to open yourself up for attack.

The buck stops with you

Many people assume that since credit card companies are usually accountable for any counterfeit charges that occur from a hacking event, that data security isn’t crucial. While this may be true for a consumer, for a business owner the end result may be very different. Consumers will hold you responsible personally should their information be stolen. Damage control after an attack can cost an organization thousands of dollars and in some cases a single attack can spell the end of business in general.

An ounce of prevention…

Data security is critical and any additional precautions you can take will be wise. Use strong passwords and update your existing security systems often. Educate your staff on safety measures they can take, such as creating strong passwords and never giving out login information. Hiring an outside consultant to help you ensure you and your client’s information is safe is another good idea. Simple measures can give you peace of mind that your systems are safe, and your clients will know you have their best interests at heart.

Our last blog focused on company culture as well as the effect it can have on your brand. Your company’s culture, good or bad, shows up in your brands reputation. We discussed ways to measure the cultural health of your company, but just how do you give your company a cultural makeover?

The first step is to ask yourself a couple of questions to get a sense of the “feel” you want your business to have:

• How do you want your company to feel? Fun, creative, open, accepting, respectful, etc?
• What are your company’s values and how can the culture echo them?
• How is information shared with employees? Are they left in the dark frequently?
• Do you reward employees and in what ways? 
• Does everybody in the company feel heard? If not, how could you improve this?

These may lead to more questions. To find answers try brainstorming with your co-workers. Below are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:

Suggestion/Thought box – Giving people a way to share their thoughts, anonymously or not, makes the culture of a company feel more open. You could learn some important things that need tweaking and may wish to bring them up in companywide meetings.

Empower employees – Give people ownership over their jobs by treating them like peers rather than peons. You can achieve this by being more transparent; don’t just communicate when you have successes, tell them when things aren’t going perfectly. It will build a team full of mutual support.

Flexible hours – Providing people with some flexibility to get their work done shows confidence. Trusting them to regulate themselves will cause them to respect you more.

Dress code – Today it is unusual that people have to wear suits and ties regularly.  Giving employees freedom to express themselves using their clothing is an easy strategy to make them feel accepted for who they are. To take this one step further, think about themed days: silly hat day, bright clothing day, 80’s day, etc. It’s astounding how beneficial self-expression can be.

Celebrate – Your business is the sum of everyone in it. Celebrate your team with group activities.  For example, cater lunch for everyone, have a movie or game day, or just throw a party. This can result in more cohesion within your team and promote cooperation.

Below is a variety of things that real companies do to add some fun to their culture:

• Spontaneous Nerf gun wars
• Painting inspirational quotes on the walls
• Hitting a loud gong when there is a success to let the whole company know
• Foosball tournaments
• Lunchtime Yoga
• Lunchtime Crafting Club
• Monday Mad Libs, whoever wishes to contribute, does, and then the completed Mad Lib is emailed to the company

Strategy and finances are not the only aspects of a successful company, but they are typically what companies focus on. It might not seem obvious, but company culture plays an essential role too. It can affect your branding, marketing, and day-to-day operations, and how the public views your company. For example when we think of brands like Apple, Google, and Starbucks, not only do their logos and products come to mind, but a multitude of positive qualities: warmth, efficiency, fun, excellence, etc. These attributes are thanks in part to each company’s positive business culture.

Why Culture is so Important

Giving your employees a sense of ownership over their jobs ensures that they feel empowered, and empowerment encourages innovative thinking. This all begins with a healthy workplace culture. If people feel invisible or stifled in their work place, they will do the minimum required of them. It’s human nature to want to feel like we are part of something and that we have some control over our lives. Don’t forget that your brand is comprised of the individuals in your company. So nurturing a good company culture isn’t just the responsibility of the HR department, but of everyone, from the CEO to the janitor.

If you are not yet convinced, here are some of the obvious advantages of cultivating a healthy culture.

• Focus – The old adage is true; two heads are better then one. When all the people in a company are focused on the same goal, everything runs more efficiently. This kind of focus comes with a healthy culture; your employees will care about the collective goal because they feel like they are a part of it. When individuals do not feel like they are part of the team, they don’t care about the goal, and this can result in cynicism.

• Cohesion – The basis of cohesion is strong communication between associates, whether they are dealing with successes or roadblocks. Strong communication strengthens teamwork and makes operations run more smoothly. In a workplace with an unhealthy culture, people could be nervous to offer feedback about problems that arise or may not care enough to act quickly when issues do arise.

• Motivation – It may seem obvious that a enthusiastic workforce gets things done, but firms that are not aware of the health of their culture might be suffering when it comes to efficiency.

Measuring the Cultural Health of Your Company

Cultural health should be evaluated regularly. So how do you measure the cultural health of a company? First, look at how people are managed, are they just given a job with no input or do they have some control over their jobs? Are monotonous tasks distributed so everyone has the opportunity to be challenged? While some people may never be happy, if you find the overwhelming consensus to be poor it may be time to look at making a few adjustments to how the business is run to improve the culture and the overall health of the company. Visit again soon to learn some helpful tips on creating a positive work environment.

Chances are you started your company because you love what you do. You opened your doors because you have a strong product that you believe in.  You probably did not start a business because your paperwork skills were unparalleled.  Paperwork is an essential and necessary evil for any business owner and accurate invoicing can’t be ignored. We all need cash flow to keep our businesses afloat, so employing a good invoicing system can help us keep cash in the bank and our customers happy!

Invoicing help online

Online invoicing services are plentiful nowadays that make the financial side of business much more manageable. Online services make the tedious task of paperwork much quicker.  Depending on the service you use, the communication to the client can also be automatic! Let’s take a look at some of the most respected online invoicing services available:

A free but powerful invoicing service

BillingBoss has a huge advantage: It’s free. This online tool enables you to set up automatic invoicing of repeat customers and send out once-off invoices to those customers who aren’t regular. Don’t be misled because this service is free. It ought to be plenty robust enough for the majority of small business owners.

A power tool

AcceptPay isn’t free. It costs $30 a month, but it’s a robust program. Offered by American Express, AcceptPay works with QuickBooks, will accept online payments, and of course, offers you a variety of options in relation to sending out invoices and collecting payments. The $30 expense is a small price to pay for such a effective online invoicing tool.

Invoicing for the tech-savvy

Lastly we’ll consider the most customizable option of the bunch, BambooInvoice. This open source program is hosted on your own servers and can be easily customized for your business’ needs. So if you require more control and are a bit tech-savvy, BambooInvoice might be your best choice.

The best news for entrepreneurs is that these services are merely a small sample of the numerous online invoicing services available, most of them free or low-cost. Those business owners who wish to quickly gain control over their invoicing process should check them out.

Cyber crimes happen daily, and everyday IT security companies track and record details around these attacks. Microsoft is upping its game and releasing a real-time threat feed so that its fellow partners can study current threats it finds and discover the best steps to proactively take against them.

With Microsoft’s success in tackling botnets, they’ve been able to amass a lot of data around the specific threats these botnets pose. By allowing the botnets to contaminate highly monitored environments, Microsoft had been able to isolate and remove the harmful bots and also discover how they work.

Microsoft is now able to gather threat information and share it with ISPs, government agencies, private companies, and CERTs. The result of such a move by Microsoft can be significant. Analysts point out that while a real-time threat feed won’t lower the quantity of attacks, it can help information security specialists respond to these threats faster. This could limit the level of damage brought on by these attacks.

Microsoft’s live threat feed could have an even more important impact: It could lead the information security industry to share more data. For too long, companies have hesitated to discuss important security information that they fear can result in a copycat attack. This is a mistaken belief as cyber criminals are already exchanging information amongst themselves. It’s a good idea, therefore, for security professionals to also share real-time information.

Microsoft’s real-time feed is an excellent first step toward a change for the better in IT security. Let’s hope this trend continues and that the IT security world will recognize that secrecy is not more important than sharing information!

The cloud has been a great thing for small business owners struggling through tough economic times. Rather than purchasing expensive enterprise software, business owners can save their dollars by accessing powerful computing programs in the cloud, from high-end word processors and project-management tools to spreadsheets and Photoshop alternatives. But, the cloud isn’t perfect, especially when it comes to security issues. Entrepreneurs need to be aware that their documents, presentations, and marketing materials can be damaged when they’re stored in the cloud.

Password issues

The greatest security issue that company owners face with regards to cloud computing happens to also be the biggest security issue that users also face with regards to computing: passwords which are either too easy to guess or shared too freely.

You must always carefully select passwords to your projects stored in the cloud. The more complex your passwords are the more difficult they are to guess. One way to accomplish this is to use a combination of numbers and letters in your passwords. Also, you should not share these passwords with lots of people.

Hacker alert

Hackers, malware, and spyware are issues for anybody who owns a computer. Likewise, they are significant issues for cloud environments. As a user of a third party cloud storage service, you do not have control over the security of the cloud which can be very frightening for business owners. Large companies must create their own security for the data that is stored in the cloud.

Common sense protection

Protecting yourself from theft in the cloud can be as simple as applying some common sense practices.

First, think about the type of information you would be storing in the cloud. Whatever is incredibly sensitive may not be the best to store in the cloud. It could be safer to back up this information on a personal system and find a more secure way to store it.

Secondly, be careful about who is allowed access to the data stored in the cloud. It seems obvious that business owners protect their laptops and desktops with passwords. The same should be applied to the cloud.

The advantages of cloud computing are obvious. Not only can you free up needed space on your servers and computers, you can backup priceless data and effortlessly share it within your company. But when it comes to data sharing and storage for your business, you might have some doubts about cloud security, particularly if your business requires you to protect consumer data in a manner that is compliant with HIPAA, PCI or Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

Do cloud storage solutions adhere to these regulations? Are they required to? If they haven’t spelled it out in their privacy policies, it is safest to assume they are not compliant. We’ll explore this more below.

Compliance

Security has long been an important issue and as increasingly more companies utilize the cloud for storage solutions the question arises: How secure is the cloud? Storing information in the cloud can be quite economical, yet the cost for improperly handling customer data can be quite high. If your organization needs to comply with regulations like HIPAA, your primary dilemma is what regulations do cloud services comply with.

Who is responsible

Whose responsibility is the security of the cloud? It is not currently required that a service provider be explicit about their compliance with these regulations. While the safest option is to assume that if they haven’t clearly stated that they’re in compliance in their privacy policy, they are not. This might mean that cloud computing is not for you. However, if your business doesn’t require tight regulations, then the advantages of cloud computing could be a great solution for you. 

In the end, as cloud computing service providers are not required by law to be transparent regarding their security, the responsibility rests in your hands. If you choose to use the cloud, it’s your responsibility to choose a service provider you trust. Weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision for your business.

Disasters can happen to any company and they come in many forms and severities. They can be everything from a natural disaster, to a well-meaning employee accidently downloading a destructive virus, to something crucial getting mistakenly deleted. These what-ifs can keep you up at night, so for your own reassurance develop a disaster recovery plan.

Decide What’s Important

First off, figure out what data is the most critical to get your company back up and running. What information must be backed up and saved and what can you afford to lose? This should help you determine what you need to back up. Choosing an online provider or storing your data in the cloud can be the best way to make sure you can retrieve your data quickly.

Make a Plan

The second step is figuring out the steps that need to be taken to get your company back on its feet as quickly as possible. Think about the worst possible scenario and the way to recover from that. Which systems have to be recovered first and what technology will be needed to do this?

Know Your Workflows

While you have the overall picture of how your organization runs, you almost certainly don’t know each and every process everyone does. Have your staff document the processes and workflows they perform to complete tasks for the company. In case of something tragic, anyone can read the process document and preform an important task.

Decide Who is in Charge

I’m sure you have the big picture of your company procedures, but what about all the day-to-day processes that you don’t have memorized? Ask your workers to document their workflows and the specific tasks they preform. That way, if something does happen, anybody can pick up where they left off and nothing gets looked over.

When we hear of disaster people often think it can’t happen to them, but we never know what is around the corner. It’s important to be prepared. Having a strong disaster recovery plan will not only make you feel more secure, but will comfort your employees as well.

It wasn’t that long ago that inventor Dean Kamen thought his two-wheeled personal transportation device, the Segway, would transform transportation.  Unfortunately, the Segway has become synonymous with technology failure.  Kamen imagined a future filled people zipping about on a Segway PT scooter to run errands and travel to work.

That vision hasn’t quite come to fruition and it’s pretty infrequent that you see someone using a Segway. They’re still around and have recently observed their 10th anniversary. So while they may be classified as a tech failure, they’re still alive and kicking.

How do they work though? Below we’ll take a look at the tech powering the Segway.

Powering the Segway

Each Segway PT is powered by electric motors that are, in turn, fueled by phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries. Segway owners may charge these batteries by plugging their Segways into common household electrical sockets. The unit doesn’t fall over due to its two computers loaded with proprietary software, pair of tilt sensors, and five gyroscopic sensors.

Making the Segway Move

The sensors register if the user shifts their body weight to change the direction and speed of movement. In other words, when you wish to go forward at a quicker pace, you would pull the handlebars closer to your body and lean forward slightly. The Segway’s present top speed is 12.5 mph and is best suited for areas with lots of wide, flat sidewalk space.

Lowered Expectations

The device never did live up to its hype. Many technology experts predicted the Segway PT would be a bigger deal than the Internet. As a result, when company officials unveiled the first Segway scooter in December of 2001 in Manhattan, expectations soared.

In the 10 years since its release, the Segway hasn’t totally failed, but its strange appearance and goofy riding style has made it nearly impossible to achieve its expected level of success.