Buenos Patches!
No software program is perfect. As bugs & problems are discovered, the developer, or a third party, may fix them. This fix is called a software “patch.” If the problem is related to a security issue, it’s called software “vulnerability.”
Microsoft has published 11 security patches or updates, for the Windows operating system, and Microsoft Office. This doesn’t mean that viruses, worms, or other programs that could exploit this vulnerability exist; but that such exploitation is possible. Microsoft distributes its own patches every Tuesday.  They’re usually set up to download at 3:00 AM; but only if your computer is on.  (Some patches are not yet thoroughly tested by Microsoft.) 
Sometimes a patch can cause the server to malfunction. Our Managed Services clients have peace-of-mind confidence in our rigid testing process. We make sure that all patches are compatible with Microsoft server 2003 and Small Business 2003, as well as Windows XP and Vista.

Get Your Back Up!
Backing up your important company data is critically important.  Making sure it can be retrieved is even more important!  Too often, backup programs that appear to be doing their job are not.  When the time comes to retrieve the data, it’s either not there, or can’t be accessed for retrieval.
(Bad… for morale, and for business!)  Fortunately, there are ways to make sure that you have dependable back-up, and that your important data can be retrieve. 
Always….ALWAYS back up your important data!  Whether it’s QuickBooks, My Documents, or any other program that contains important data, carefully check to see that the data is in the back-up set.  Once a month, retrieve a portion of the data into a Temp folder. Be sure it opens.
Important: Make sure that a set of data is taken off-site, in case of robbery or fire.  You never know.  Case-in-point: The recent news story about a prankster lifting a car onto a building with a forklift.  The car fell through the roof, and the front-end of the bumper landed on the company’s server, which was loaded with important data.  (Not known if the server was backed up or not). 

How Are Things?
How are your server and system doing?  How do you know your system is running at peak efficiency? Okay, the computers get defragged once in a while.  There is antivirus on the system. Fine. Now, what else do we need? 
Good news! New software has come out that does all that for you.  It will do sweeps of your system for viruses and malware.  Plus, with this state-of- the-art software, there are parameters, i.e. memory usage, disk space, page files, and many others—all monitored. 
If one parameter falls out of spec, someone is alerted, and the problem is immediately looking into.  Oftentimes, log files will fill up, and need to be cleared; or, the hard drive will fill up and slow down the system or (worse!) make it crash. Our System Monitoring Board helps our clients avoid these production interferences, slow-downs, and interruptions. In many instances, problems are solved before anyone is even aware there is a problem.
If you’d like a demonstration of our services, please contact us. We’d be proud to strut our stuff for you.