December 2008
In this issue
■ President's Message
■ Hiring Internal IT Staff
■ Meet the Staff
■ Personal Identity Threat
■ Messaging Rules
|
Meet
the Staff
Sean Schwartz
If you have ever called our Live
Help Desk, chances are you have spoken with Sean Schwartz. As
the Support Team Leader for Radical Support, Sean guides our
Help Desk in providing the fastest and most helpful resolutions
to our clients. Last month he personally handled 880 tickets,
many of which were created by our Network Operations Center (NOC)
on behalf of our clients.
Sean was born in Clearwater,
Florida and raised in New York, North Carolina and Georgia.
After high school, he joined the US Army as a combat engineer
and traveled the world - Europe, Kuwait, Turkey, Somalia, Kenya
and many other countries. Sean's military specializations were
in explosives and landmine warfare.
During his Army career, Sean took
computer correspondence courses through Troy State University
and local colleges. Sean's specialty is Desktop Support. In his
spare time, Sean enjoys painting and competition shooting. What
would Sean do if he won the lottery? Take his wife on a tour of
Northern Europe.
Open your presents at
Christmastime but be thankful year round for the
gifts you receive.
--Lorinda Ruth
Lowen
|
|
Message from the President
Holiday Drive -
The Drake House
 The
northern metro area has over 9,000 homeless people. Almost 50%
are children and there are very few places for them to turn for
help. One very special place called The Drake House (
http://www.thedrakehouse.org/ ) is here in Roswell for women
and children. Thousands of busy people drive past this little
treasure of 15 apartments every day without knowing what's
inside. The Drake House provides temporary housing for homeless
women and children and the chance to change their lives. The
families are provided housing for up to 90 days to help them get
back on their feet. The women must be free of alcohol and drugs.
The staff and volunteers at The Drake House help the women find
employment, teach parenting and life skills, and rely 100% on
donations.
During this holiday
season, Radical Support is leading a drive to help these women
and children. We are collecting things like canned food and gift
cards to help maintain and augment the food pantry so the women
can use their earnings for their future. Donated gift cards from
Walmart, Target and Kroger are used to buy supplies for the
apartments and supplement the canned goods with fresh fruits,
vegetables and meats. Urgently needed items are listed here:
-
Walmart, Target or
Kroger gift cards
-
Gasoline gift
cards
-
100% fruit juice &
juice boxes
-
Canned fruit
-
Canned tuna,
salmon or chicken
-
Boxed dinners
(Hamburger Helper, etc.)
-
Spaghetti sauce
and pasta
-
Toilet tissue
-
Laundry detergent
(powdered HP)
-
Hand and bath soap
-
Dish soap and
dishwasher detergent
-
Towel sets
In addition to leading
this drive, Radical Support has committed to matching all
donations up to $1,000.00. We would love to have you join us in
helping these families. The next time you shop for groceries,
please consider picking up a few extra items or a gift card for
those who need it so desperately.
Our Radical Support
elves will gladly pick up your donated items for delivery to The
Drake House. Please contact Cheryl Hofmann at 770-542-0050 or
chofmann@radicalsupport.com to coordinate your pick up
or obtain more information. Thank you for your support!
John Carter |
|
|
Thinking about hiring your own
internal IT staff - think again!
Outsourcing your IT brings additional
business value
by Stuart R. Crawford, V.P., IT
Matters, Inc.
Businesses today wrestle and grapple with the thought of hiring their
own technology support staff to support their daily need for IT support
without fully understanding the risks and the costs associated with
having their own team of technology professionals.
Business owners, C level
execs and Managers are attracted to the idea of having a team or a
consultant readily available within shouting distance down the hall,
basically having an IT resource committed to them 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. However, many of today's business owners across the country are
not aware of the total risks their business is exposed to by electing to
bring their technology support in-house.
More often than not it is
purely a cost based decision, on the surface it may appear to be more
cost effective to hire a consultant or employee who is committed as a
full time employee. CFOs and Accounting Managers often look only at the
cost of having their IT outsourced and or attracted to hiring someone
for a few thousand dollars a month as part of their staff will save
their company in the long run. This is not the case in reality and by
having a full time employee will actually end up costing business today
more in the long run.
So what are the advantages
of having an IT Partner who focuses on delivering a complete managed
technology solution? |
|
Beware This Latest Threat to Your
Personal Identity!
by Scott Jordan, President,
DELTEC It is really
too bad, but the reality today is that we can't be too trusting any
more. It seems like there is some criminal around every corner ready to
dupe us into giving up personal information and then stealing us blind.
The only solution is to be vigilant, and sadly, a little paranoid.
The latest of the schemes
already has a name. It is called "vishing." If that doesn't sound
descriptive, don't worry, it will make sense soon. Many of you may
remember hearing of a technique called "phishing", a play on words that
basically names a social engineering technique used to steal your
identity, or at least parts of it.
The phishing technique relied on an
email sent to you, apparently from a trusted source, such as Microsoft,
eBay, or a major bank, asking you to follow a web link to "reactivate"
or "update" your account.
Read more
7 Instant Messaging Rules for the
Workplace
reprinted with permission from the HP
Small and Medium Business Website
Because of its efficiency and
speed, instant messaging, or IM for short, has become a valuable
interoffice tool for employees to exchange information and collaborate
in real time. The
advantages of IM are clear. But there are drawbacks too. IM can be
distracting; employees can waste time using it for personal
conversations; and IM technology is often not secure, leaving corporate
networks more vulnerable to viruses and attacks. And because of the
informal nature of IM, it can sometimes lead to embarrassing or serious
mistakes. By
following these seven rules for appropriate IM use, you can avoid common
pitfalls and make the most out of this effective and convenient
communications tool. |
