CK Computer Solutions » Web

Smart Phones – the Tools of the Trade

admin — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:03 +0000

The workplace is mobile today. Teleconferencing is an integral part of the lives of millions of employees in transit around the world; the advent of the smart phone combined with on-line collaboration services allows business to happen anywhere and everywhere.

The mobile workforce is growing in Europe. Mobile phone usage in Ireland is one of the largest per head of population. It is forecasted that 57pc of the workforce in Ireland will be mobile by 2016. Businesses have an important decision to make in this age of many choices. Should the company invest in iPhones or Androids? Vodaphone and O2 dominate 85pc of the marketplace in Ireland and offer models of both phones free with certain plans. Beyond price there is a more serious consideration, the compatibility issues between mobile phones. It is with this consideration that the iPhone ranks higher than the Android.

The Android phone runs Google’s Android mobile operating system. Google offers the Android software to many phone manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola. Android phones can vary in size, features, quality and weight. This has lead to a fragmentation, the existence of multiple versions of the Android operating system across different models of phones. If employees choose Androids, a business may find that through the lack of quality control employees buy different models of the Android phone. This can become a problem when an on-line meeting or business app is used and some employees have trouble due to incompatibilities. These problems cause inefficiencies that translate to hidden costs. Apple, on the other hand, has a tighter control over the hardware and software of the iPhone. This standard has lead to more stability. As long as employees update their phones regularly through iTunes, the work force will remain synchronized.

Another consideration to be taken into account is the ease in which a user can configure the interface. Partly due to the flexibility of the Android, the phone is highly configurable. This may be advantageous to a regular user but in terms of business, the phone is the property of the company. Any phone should be able to be picked up and used by any employee. Your business phone is not your personal property. A colleague may need to borrow another colleague’s phone and if the interface has been configured to be extremely unique, time is wasted learning to do what can be done quickly on his or her own phone. The iPhone is not as configurable; its interface is more standard and tends toward the simple.

Another issue to be considered by a business is social networking. Tweeting, facebook and accessing YouTube can waste valuable work time. To prevent this behavior it is best to make it policy that a mobile phone does not have cell phone apps installed that are not business related.

The choice between iPhone and Android is different for personal use as compared to business use. For a number of considerations based on standardizations as well as the availability cheaper iPhone business apps, an iPhone is a better choice for business.

Avoiding IT Security Issues After Employee Leave or Termination

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:00:37 +0000

Terminating an employee can be a challenging time for many businesses and organizations. While there are many potential reasons for employee termination, it’s often an emotionally-charged time for businesses and employees. Some employees who are leaving a workplace may do things that are counterproductive for a company. For employees who are not expecting a layoff or termination, a sense of resentment can often lead to company sabotage. The following guide provides simple tips for avoiding IT security issues after employee termination.

It’s important to make several arrangements before an employee is notified of his or her termination. While it’s important to immediately cease access to confidential information, it’s important to do it immediately before the termination. This will prevent the employee from having time to figure out what is happening.There are several things that a company should do to prevent a terminated employee from accessing critical information. It’s a good idea to block an employee’s email accounts and computer passwords several minutes before a termination. In addition, it’s important to immediately remove any access rights to other sources of information. This can include public access databases, customer resource management software, etc.In addition, it’s important to block an individual’s access to business-related social media profiles. There has been some controversy in recent months over employees who have claimed ownership of a social media profile they created while working for a business. While this social media profile may be branded with a business’s name, it also may have the employee’s name visible. In these situations, it’s important to find effective ways to gain access to these accounts.

There are several potential techniques for gaining access to an employee’s social media accounts. Most of these methods will require surveillance over the course of a few weeks. In addition, some methods of retrieving information may be illegal in some areas. It’s important to conduct proper research into local rules and regulations before taking control of social media profiles.

One of the easiest ways to gain access to an employee’s social media profiles is through the use of a keylogger on a company owned computer. A keylogger can be set up to automatically record the passwords for a variety of social media websites and email services. While it is inappropriate to take control of personal accounts, it’s often acceptable to take control of public social media profiles. This can be a great way for a company to manage its expensive assets and minimize loss.

In addition, a gag order may be appropriate for employees with a high visibility. This will prevent an employee from badmouthing a company after he or she has been asked to leave.

[img: http://timsstrategy.com/laid-off-fired-or-leaving-on-your-own/]

Stop Sopa Ireland

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:00:17 +0000

Minister Seán Sherlock has proposed a new law which is best explained here. It will be enacted by a single stroke of his pen.

Why are we opposed to this law?

It is vague in the extreme. There are no details of what is considered a transgression. It isn’t clear if the site targeted will even be informed of the proceedings.
The mere threat that allowing a user to post content could land the service in court will ensure that no service allows it. The implications are no more social media for Ireland, who the hell is going to take that risk?? This scares us greatly but will TERRIFY the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook. Of course we have to stay here and live with it. They and their thousands of jobs, don’t.
Its not fair. This is akin to letting Bank of Ireland take proceedings against the National Toll Roads Ltd when a getaway-driver uses the M50. Pretty soon, no one will want to build roads.
It kills innovation and scares away foreign investment. Boards might have the clout and money to fight some of these injunctions. Smaller operators simply won’t.
This wont even work. This will take the pirates 10 minutes to circumvent and I can demonstrate that easily if anyone wants to see.

How you can help sign the petition against this http://stopsopaireland.com/

Web Design Fuel

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:00:36 +0000

Fuel is a Dublin based design and web solutions company. Services include Website Design as well as Corporate Identity, Branding & Print Design; but Fuel specialise in providing website content management solutions. Fuel have developed completely customised content management solutions on over 80 websites currently running in Ireland and the UK, providing their clients with complete control over all of the website content displayed.

In particular we’d like to point you towards Fuel’s CMS Packages
http://www.fuel.ie/about/packages/
which offer an affordable solutions for all levels of business.

Fuel’s regular clients range from small private companies to mid-sized enterprises. Providing each of their clients with the same professional and personal service, Fuel strives to supply innovative and tailor-made solutions to every project.

For a full portfolio of work and previous clients please visit www.fuel.ie