Thursday, May 28, 2009

Windows 7 Release Candidate

Microsoft sent me 8 copies of Windows 7 the other day. If you have a geeky side and would like to install Windows 7 on your computer to play around with before it comes out, let me know and I’ll get one of these over to you.

It should be noted that this is the release candidate and being pre-release there will be no in-place upgrade to the final product. You’ll have to wipe out and start over. So it’s for experimental purposes only.

Ted’s been our early adopter and he loves it. He’s been running it since beta 1 which is probably a year ago by now. Diana actually runs Windows Server 2008 on her laptop and Vista and Windows 7 in a virtual environment within it. Are they geeks or what? :) But hey, that’s how we learn…on our own systems not yours.

There is no official release date yet for Windows 7 but it is anticipated that it will be available for the holiday buying season.

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Monday, May 18, 2009

Request for Assistance

We need you to help test a new extremely economical backup system. We are looking for volunteers. There is no risk and it will not disrupt you current backup. If you are interested please contact either Amy or your technician.

Harbor Computer Services has entered into a beta testing agreement with Symform. I had the pleasure of meeting the brains at Symform on my last trip to Seattle. They asked to meet with me and all I was able to give them was 30 minutes in the hotel lobby while I waited to catch my shuttle to my flight home. What I saw in those 30 minutes absolutely blew me away.

Symform has create a completely revolutionary means of economically storing your backup off-site over the Internet. They have developed a system that completely eliminates the expense, risk and slow recovery time. I believe that their backup system will not just introduce the market to a new backup method but that it will disrupt and rock the establishment.

In order to properly test this new backup method we need to have at least 10 of our clients use it. We do not have to change anything about your current backup system, so there is no risk. The current backup will remain unchanged and will continue to work.

The only investment required is a USB drive that can remain attached to the server at all times. If you already own one, then we can use it; if you don’t one would need to be purchased. This test will run until September and there will be no service fee.

If our testing succeeds, then the price we expect to be able to offer for unlimited off-site backup of your data is $30 per month per server and $6 per month per workstation. Until now, we’ve not been able to touch off-site backup for less than $3 per GB. If you have 100GB of data, that’s $300 a month. See why I think this is going to rock the establishment?

Since there is no risk I hope that many of you will choose to participate. Please let us know as soon as possible.

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Free Backup Software for Home

You may recall that a few months ago, I announced that I was serving on the Elite Technology Team (ETT) with GFI Security, Inc. The ETT is a board of advisors to the CEO and management team at GFI. As part of that effort and through the on-going changes and improvement at GFI as it relates to small and medium business, they acquired a company that produced backup software. The first release of this product under GFI, is a free version for home use.  

To assist home PC users in these troubled economic times and to help them understand the importance of data backups, GFI Software today announced the release of a free version of its newly-developed backup and recovery software GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition. Perfect for home users, GFI Backup 2009 will allow all PC users to safeguard their precious memories in the form of pictures, video, Office documents and any files on the computer.

There will be a future edition of this product for small businesses. In the mean time you can use this version for free at home.

Get it here: http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm/free-backup-software/

I recommend that you backup your home PC to a USB drive.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

New Remote Support Connection

Harbor Computer Services has changed remote support products. We will now be using NTR Global. NTR Global provides the same support opportunities that the previous solution did, plus a few additional features on the management end.

We have also taken in some feedback from clients that the previous URL for support was difficult to type. Previously we used the website provided by the support software, this time we have integrated it into our own website and purchased a shorter URL for you.

The URL for our support page is now http://harborsupport.net This is where you will enter in the code that your technician provides to you to allow them into your computer. Upon entering the code, an installation of the remote client will occur. When the session ends, the remote client is automatically uninstalled from your computer. This secures your computer and prevents remote access without your permission.

When you visit the site you will notice that it is actually just another tab on our corporate website, http://www.harborcomputerservices.net

We hope that this integration will make it easier for you to use.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

More Powerful Local Marketing

This crossed my inbox this morning and I thought it was very appropriate and good news for us Michigan businesses. It turns out that the #1 thing that creates loyal customers is not whether you are local or not but how easy it is for them to resolve problems with your product. And that feature gives you an 18% advantage. Of course this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be shopping local; we’ve got to support our neighbors but what it does mean is that you can expand out of your local region and be successful.

What's 18% More Powerful Than Location in Local Marketing?

Conventional wisdom dictates that local marketing isn't scalable because proximity is the primary advantage of local suppliers. In the small business community, this just isn't true. While location is important, ease of problem resolution is a much stronger driver of local selection.


In a recent Warrillow survey, we asked small business owners to make trade-off decisions between benefits of local suppliers across dimensions like convenience, relationship, and community. As a group, convenience factors were a strong driver of local affinity, and fixing problems easily topped the list of convenience benefits. In fact, problem resolution was roughly 20% more powerful than proximity in small business owners' assessment of local strengths.

It's easy to see how proximity can mask the stronger driver of easy problem resolution – the two are complimentary in the mind of a small business owner. Don't let your lack of local presence blind you from the core issues of accessibility and fast problem solving. Business owners didn't get into business to navigate your internal help desks; don't make them spend a second more in queue, in line, or in process than is absolutely necessary.

 
Once you've got your service function in order, talk about it! But be warned, “Great customer service” is neither believable nor specific enough to drive home your ability to quickly solve problems. Quoting issue resolution turnaround times, accessibility options, and specific staff qualifications are much more powerful than watered down service claims in the small business marketplace.

p.s. If you’d like to subscribe to Warrillow’s newsletter you can and it’s free. Go to www.warrillow.com I find their information interesting and useful.

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