As we enter fall, many small and mid-sized businesses are worrying about the flu. What will happen if my whole staff gets sick? Should I encourage getting the flu shot? Or just hope for the best?

Here at Mother, we prepare for flu season. We do things like find out what our company health insurance will cover for the H1N1 shot and make sure employees are aware. We offer reimbursement for anyone who gets the flu shot in before December. We send employees who are sick home. Employees are also encouraged to work remotely if they start to feel something coming on (but are able to perform their job duties).

We recommend any small or mid-sized business consider taking steps to keep their employees healthy. One of the most important things to consider is how well is your business model suited to handling "disasters" (be it the flu, weather, etc.) Some ways Mother's model is disaster (and flu!) resistant are:

• All employees have the capability to work remotely (so as not to spread germs) and can perform client network management from  home.
• The majority of our network maintenance activities are automated.
• All client facing employees have skill sets that overlap (so if someone is out sick, our clients still have full outsourced IT services).
• Most client work can be performed remotely, so we can limit face to face client-Mother contact if necessary.
• We rotate the on duty 24/7 engineer so employees are able to get enough rest.

What about you? How well suited are you to surviving this flu season?

What you need to know will be a recurring theme on my blog. I believe the majority of business owners, executives, and managers are interested in IT - but only to a point. All they want to know is the need to know. So that's what I'll give you - no fluff, no filler.

Managed Print Services (MPS) has been getting a lot of attention recently. What is it? Why should it interest you? And how can you find a good MPS?

What is it? Managed Print Services is basically outsourced IT (what Mother does) but for printers. Whereas we provide network management and maintenance for your servers and PCs, an MPS does this for printers and multipurpose devices (like a printer/scanner/copier combo). The MPS firms we work with generally offer clients a quarterly rate based on projected monthly usage. This rate will include the projected "clicks" (prints or copies you make), service for when the printer breaks, toner and other supplies, paper, and even the lease for the actual printer. It's a flat rate for all you need for printing, copying, and scanning. Pretty cool!

Why should it interest you?  Do you know how often you print? How much money you spend? Would you like to only allow certain employees to print color or on certain machines? Are your printers spread through your office haphazardly? A good Managed Print Services firm will help you understand how much money you actually spend on printing and what you can do to reduce that (bonus - that's good for the environment). They will also reconfigure your printers so you only have what you need and what people use (so you don't waste money on toner for printers that aren't being used). Plus they can offer you tons of ways to help monitor and restrict how much printing you do - everything from only giving x amount of copies to an employee to requiring a job code be punched in at the printer before it will print. Of course, these aren't required, but it is nice to have the option.

How can you find a good MPS? Your outsourced IT provider (like Mother) should be able to recommend a good partner. We go through the rigors of finding good IT vendor that we can confidently recommend. Then, if you decide you like them too, we will help manage your relationship with them to make things easier for you. If you'd like us to recommend someone, you can contact us here.

This blog post, written by a Clayton Moulynox of Evolve IT Australia (an Australian company with a similar offering to Mother), says it better than I can today.

Read the full article here. This is my favorite quote:

"If you don't have a partnership with a technology company that understands business you're likely to be left behind in the wake of your competitors. IT companies are changing their business models to a more consultative partnering approach, and most are dropping the old fashioned adhoc break/fix type support altogehter. So if you rely on your IT guy there will inevitably be one day soon he's not available to assist you when you need urgent support, and you might just find yourself up a familiar creek without a paddle because you don't have a strong partnership with an IT company. I believe the number of IT companies willing to answer your call to provide adhoc support will reduce as their business models shift to managed services with long term clients who look to them for business improvement, not just IT support."

Cloud computing is one of the hot things in I.T. right now. Everyone is talking about it. But does anyone actually know what it means? Is this something you might want to use - or is it something you already are using? Let Mother help enlighten a "cloudy" topic.

Many people engage in cloud computing without even realizing it. Many companies like ours who offer managed IT services have offerings "in the cloud." At its simplest, it includes such ubiquitous online applications as Hotmail (which has been around since 1996), Flickr and YouTube. Software and files are traditionally stored on a user’s own desktop or a local server. Cloud computing, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), is different because it stores resources remotely and delivers them over the internet. Data and services can then be accessed from any computer, irrespective of location or even operating system. All you need is a web connection.

Cloud computing is catching on with even the big guys. Microsoft released a ‘lightweight’ web version of Office, which includes programs such as Word and Excel. It’s a significant move by the software giant. In 2007, Office generated around $19 billion for the company, almost a third of its total revenue. 

It’s easy to see why cloud computing - in all its forms - continues to gain momentum. Users can work anywhere and, if your computer breaks or your laptop is stolen, you won’t lose any data. Its scalability means you only pay for the resources you need. The cost and hassle of maintaining lots of computers and software is someone else’s responsibility. And the economies of scale offered by the cloud mean that services can be made available at lower prices.

What does this mean for your business? Cloud computing allows some companies to outsource their entire IT infrastructure. How will it work with your business?

One of the best parts of my job is meeting other small and mid sized business owners and executives. I really enjoy talking and listening to people who have the same ups and downs my management team and I do. One thing I hear a lot is, "we just don't have the money for managed IT."

This is like a dagger in my heart. Not only because it means I might be losing a deal, but also because it's just wrong! Do you not have money for lights? For chairs? For a toilet? Of course you do! Because these are some of the basic necessities of running a good business. Well, I can tell you having solid network management and consistent network maintenance IS an absolute essential of running a good business.

It's like a car. Sure some months I might not feel like I want to pay for an oil change or new brake pads. Or insurance! But I know that it's necessary to keeping my car running and doing it's job - allowing me to get to my destinations.

A good outsourced IT company will do just that for your network. A good managed IT services firm will provide network management that keeps your systems running smoothly. They'll catch little things before they interrupt your business. They'll provide maintenance to help you prolong the life of your current machines - and give you plenty of time to budget and prepare for expenditures. You'll get a whole team and not just one employee. Nothing will wait because of illness, vacation, or turnover. A good IT partner will help you get where you want to go.

 I'm passionate about having IT management as a part of your daily operations because I've seen too many companies suffer from bad IT service. They only get help when something is broken or they pay way too much for a problem that could have been avoided. I hope you won't be one of them.