With the advancement of wireless technologies such as 3g, wifi, and wimax, mobile computing for businesses has become a real option.  Users can accomplish all the business functions just about anywhere a wireless network is available.  The connection speeds range from a few hundred KB up to 100’s of MBs, but the connectivity is there.

As we embrace these mobile technologies, productivity increases, but so does network exposure to security threats and exploits.  To enable these mobile devices, tunnels have to be opened up into the network to allow access.  VPNs and advanced authentication address most of the transmission worries, but what about the actual devices themselves?

User error is the main reason for security failures in today’s work environment.  A few studies have shown how easy it is to get on someone’s PC or make a phone call and gain access to critical information.  A couple of simple recommendations can drastically reduce your exposure.

1.) Be sure your cell phones are password protected. The blackberry can actually be set to erase all data when a hack is attempted.

2.)  Make sure ALL of your mobile devices are encrypted.  If you encrypt all mobile devices, you’ll make them useless to anyone that doesn’t have the password.  They’ll have to completely erase the operating system to gain any access to the device.

By making sure transmission is encrypted through VPNs, SSL, and secure keys while making sure the actual devices themselves are secured through passwords and system level encryption, your exposure created by mobile devices will be decreased substantially.

Chavvon Smith

On a daily basis we meet with physicians that are researching or in the buying phase for an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) System.  It’s mandated by the government to go paperless, so physicians are taking it seriously.  The problem is no one solution meets the needs and problems of each facility and the workflow.

Some facilities are waiting to implement EMR because of pricing issues, others don’t understand the technology, and some are just not ready to completely change their workflow.  Dr.s like having pen and paper to jot down notes on a pad and file it into a chart.  Asking them to carry around a laptop and type notes, prescriptions, and diagnosis into the system is a big chore.

By working with so many facilities, we have a good understanding of the problems.  If a single EMR system addressed pricing, workflow, and technology issues, what would the adoption rate be?

We think Emrgen will accomplish just that.  We’ll be publishing more details on the new product soon.

Chavvon Smith

When we think of healthcare, we usually think of small doctor’s offices (clinics) or large hospitals.  In the past, the hospitals were usually up to date with technology trends while the clinics were way behind using paper and other dated business systems.

In recent years, the gap between clinics and hospitals has closed and it’s beginning to converge.  Information and communication needs to be shared freely between the two sources and most clinics lack the staff or expertise to make this happen.  Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and secure communications, such as VPNs, are becoming the standard.

Without the proper expertise, the decision on what technologies to use can be a costly mistake.  Security and HIPAA are the driving forces in the healthcare sector.  Administration shouldn’t just look at the immediate cost, but they should address the long term trends and compare the benefits and drawbacks.  There are plenty of options to achieve business objectives so facilities should just be well informed before making a decision.

Chavvon Smith

90% of the clients that we visit avoid technology because of the cost and commitment involved. They currently use an hourly tech support service and when a problem arises, the clock starts ticking. Budgeting and cash flow are two of the biggest problems that small and medium sized businesses face and nothing is worse than an unexpected bill that throws things our of order.

The effects are cumulative. Something breaks, the business tries to patch it themselves, employees become less productive and the products and services suffer as a result. Eventually, a technical expert is needed and the bill won’t be small.

Silis offers flat rate technology services that provide all the expertise you need and your bill is always the same. Contact us for a free consultation.

Chavvon Smith

We go into customer sites on a daily basis and the first thing we look at is data backups.  We find a variety of systems in place from tivoli, box.net, and Suzy bringing home CD’s on a daily basis.  The one thing they all have in common is that they rarely work.

About 70% of data backups fail in an unmanaged environment.  Connection speeds are too slow, files are open, or some other problem keeps the backup from completing successfully.  Clients gain a false sense of security and never take the time to analyze the logs to see if the backup is actually working.

Data loss can have a devastating effect on a business.  Years of work and intellectual property can be instantly lost.  As part of our Managed IT solutions, Silis manages daily backups on a daily basis to ensure your business is protected.  We house your data in our secure data center and we can deliver backups the same day for data recovery.

Pay attention to your data, it’s important.

 Chavvon Smith

We’re seeing customers migrate to, and buy, the Vista operating system and they really don’t know why.  If you don’t have a clear need to upgrade to Vista, don’t.  Windows XP does a great job in 99.9% of situations and Vista still has lots of bugs.  The big problems arise when users try to integrate Vista into a primarily XP environment.  The interoperability isn’t quite there yet and we’ve seen some sites completely halt production due to Vista bugs.  If you’re thinking of migrating to Vista, give us a call and let’s discuss it.

Chavvon Smith

Welcome to the Silis Technologies blog.  We’ll keep in touch with our customers and let you know about updates in the field of technology, problems we’re seeing and information in general.  Check back often for updates.

Chavvon