My friend, Corey Smith, over at DocumentBurner has been so kind in allowing me the use of his servers. It is so great to encounter someone paying-it-forward in life; it’s just such a rare treat. Needless to say, Thank you, Corey.

So I just conducted my first upgrade of WordPress to 2.5, and I must say it is refreshing experience when I can upgrade the entire site in less than 45 minutes. That’s including updating plugins, and posting this article. If more upgrades went this smoothly, I’m not sure I would have a job Thanks to Microsoft and many other companies for making a job for poor ole’ me!

My friend, Corey, had an interesting post over at Office Product News contending that most C-level executives do not see security as an over-arching strategy…

A common misconception is that security is simply a one-stop shop… This is just not the case. In days long gone, perimeter defenses were mostly adequate in protecting networks from severe attacks.

However, corporate IT quickly learned what one virus or trojan let loose on the internal network might do.

Today security most definitely needs to be a game of stratagem consisting of layering on levels of desktop security, server level protection, infrastructure checkpoints, perimeter walls, and constant user-level training.

Folks, eat it, live it, breath it. If you want to be cheap about things just unplug your computer from the wall, stick it in the closet, close the door, and walk away…

In the March 17 edition of InformationWeek, John Foley writes a rather sobering article about the dangers of Peer-2-Peer (P2P) clients to your business’s well-being. Pfizer is now in hot water for exposing an estimated 17,000 employee’s personal data via a P2P network.

It all started when the spouse of a Pfizer employee used file-sharing software on a company laptop, presumably to swap music or other content with other P2P users. Unknowingly, the laptop user also exposed 2,300 work files, including those containing sensitive Pfizer employee data–names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and bonus information resident on the laptop.

What is P2P software you ask? Simply put, it is a group of computers, often referred to as nodes, collectively sharing files such as music, movies, or programs. However, this is not limited to these types of files. P2P networks can often contain typical documents individuals may want to share, or unknowingly share, such as Microsoft Office documents, personal data, or other unscrupulous information.

Last September, authorities in Seattle arrested 35-year-old Gregory Kopiloff on charges that he used LimeWire to amass federal tax returns, student financial aid applications, and credit reports, then used them to open accounts in other people’s names. Kopiloff pleaded guilty and is due for sentencing March 17.

P2P networks such as LimeWire, Kazaa, eMule, BearShare, Morpheus, and BitTorrent (the list goes on) have gotten the attention of many of the governmental agencies in charge of national security such as the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, and U.S. Secret Service as they are realizing the amount of information being searched by potential enemies of the state.

Lastly, you should be concerned with malware payloads that can be slipped in through the back door after installing these seemingly helpful software packages. In some instances dozens of malicious viruses, trojans, key-loggers, or root-kits might be potentially installed on an innocent computer giving whomever control over both personal information as well as your computer.

In summary, P2P software has had its uses, and is not in and of itself a bad thing. However, this type of solution is not to be taken lightly and should not be used in corporate settings or on corporate property, as a general rule. Once the information is out there, there are no ‘take-backs’.

The article mentions several protection services above and beyond typical security software thay you may be interested in looking into. I know I am for my company’s network…

Today we wrap up our review of John Mancini’s article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 10 influencer in the DMS space this year and evaluate social technology trends today:

10. A need to connect in new ways. End users need to find each other and learn from each other more than ever.

‘A need to connect in new ways,” Mancini writes… a fairly open-ended comment, but one that has some profound implications, and a statement that would indicated end-users aren’t exchanging information as readily as before…

This brings up a wonderful question of whether the up and coming generation is more apt to share information amongst themselves because of exposure to such an abundant growth of information and social media in general?

I’m sure there are studies and reports, but look around. The Corporate America of yesterday is getting turned on its ear. Big business still rules the roost, and the almighty dollar is high on the priority list of just about everyone, in the corporate sectors of America at least. However, I see an amazing and growing prevalence to gleefully share discoveries, much like scientists would revel in the discovery of some new star.

Newsgroups and message boards of the past offered no glitz or glam to attract users, and it was often hard to comb through what information was there. It finally seems that technology has actually become usable in the mainstream to improve the quality of life in general.

Add to this the simple fact people are more easily able to connect across larger geographies. First things like travel became easier with the additions of automobiles and trains; now we find ourselves in a brave new world where travel isn’t even as necessary; a time where mobile phones worldwide are close (or already) out numbers traditional land based lines, global positioning systems (GPS) are available in consumer-based handheld devices, and social media tools such as Twitter allows you to literally track what someone’s every move is.

I dare not dream of what tomorrow may hold for us, but the sunrise upon today offers a glimmer of what is to come: A world of open dialogue and information sharing which has Corporate America’s ears perked to be sure. We used to talk about globalization when I was in college, a few short years ago; well my friends - it is here.

John states people must find new ways to connect. Those ‘new ways’ are here so Corporate America must find applications for use of these tools to improve the business, increase efficiencies, and most of all increase mind-share from the grass roots to ivory tower.

Today we discuss the increasing tensions between control and access. In a recent article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 9 influencer in the DMS space this year:

9. Increasing tensions between control and access.  There are more and more ways to create, print and distribute information.  Trying to control everything will be a frustrating task. This will be exacerbated by the increasing power of search tools and the entry of younger workers into our workforces. The pendulum has been on the” control” side of the document management world for a while; it’s now on the move.

This is an issue of constant debate and consternation among newbies and pundits alike. This is much like anything in life, and security and convenience (access) are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Total control favors the individual or those in power, whereas access favors the masses and gives the individuals better control (or the illusion of better control) over a smaller cross-section of their area of influence.

 As our government trends towards more socialistic policy, too much control becomes a debate. For instance the debate revolving around socialized medicine is a classic debate of control versus access. This being said, we are really talking about who should have access to the information contained on the documents?

What is attactive about a [good] document management solution (DMS) is it offers access with a layer of control. A good solution will allow the owner(s) a leash, of a fashion. For instance, if they decide a certain group of people need access they can grant a level of access, and deny access to another group - or even layer varying rights like viewing, editing, or even deleting records.

John hits on an excellent point that companies of a size most definitely struggle with. In a smaller company, one person or a handful of people have all the access and control of information necessary to conduct their jobs effectively. As the business grows more specialized responsibilities are assigned and silos of information become prevalent - or bottlenecks in the flow of information.

To continue to grow, good companies blast through these dead-zones of information and empower associates access to information while keeping the leash on and allowing it to be yanked if someone gets out of control. It usually isn’t until something quite bad happens (theft, loss, etc.) that a company realizes how loose their perceived control actually is. This realization is usually followed by an extreme tightening of the belt except in the wisest of companies and causes a huge culture-crash.

Enterprises are a bit different, and government organizations even more so. Within enterprises, the ability to report on access is extremely important, specifically in publicly traded companies or companies heavily regulated by government agencies. While control is important, access is a consideration as well. IT usually plays heavily in this teeter-totter of the enterprise because they are charged as gatekeepers.

Control is usually more important than access in the public sector, and even with recent legislation enabling citizens access to more documents the access is almost never expedient because there is no enterprise-level initiatives for DMS.

All organizations are coming to grips with the wild fire of access to information provided by access to the Internet and social media (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Twitter, etc.). People have come to revere social media as authoratative (see Wikipedia), and feel both empowered and entitled to have access.

Smart business executives and management are undergoing an awakening to the power of social media within the company as a means to turn-on new levels of productivity and tap previously unrealized resources by assisting associates in blurring their work and home lives… afterall, isn’t it a greater benefit to have a production-focused individual rather than a clock-puncher?

In a nutshell, technology empowers and distracts people. The blurring of lines between work and home has become a dangerous trend that can threaten one’s sanity just a bit. However, everyone feels they have to have a constant flow of information (access), but we must ask whether we are in control of the information or if the information is in control of us, demanding we continually check-in to see if we missed anything.

Indeed, the debate of control and access will rage on, and in every case a culture (be it corporate or a nation) must make constant decisions as to which will win. Generally, most sane individuals will choose a median approach - a compromise of reasonably controlled access. So should there be all of this drama of who should have what?

Too little information means we cannot provide knowledgeable service, and too much information can provide more options than necessary and short-circuit the decision-making process. I would contend we ask ourselves what information is necessary to do our job and keep us as close as possible to our valued customers. No more or no less information is needed.

Up next, we finish our series on the top 10 drivers of document solutions this year. We ask why do we feel such a need to connect?

I have just spent the past 3 weeks working with my firewall vendor’s technical support trying to extend our corporate VoIP network to our branch offices.  It was suppose to be a simple thing and only require a few clicks of the mouse…

Let me start by saying a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone system is a wonderful solution to expand the corporate phone system into branch offices and finally connect corporate associates with branch associates. This helps with productivity as call groups can be rerouted without a lot of hassle and phone messaging systems can usually be integrated with e-mail messaging systems, such as Microsoft Exchange. The best thing is technology prices have made a VoIP solution affordable for the SMB.

The challenge is that it does require a higher degree of technical skill to handle a multi-site solution and making some things work can be very tricky. Although many people claim maintaining a VoIP phone system is usually less maintenance, this is not entirely true. The adds, moves, and changes are much easier - in fact just about anyone can be trained to do this. It is the expansions that can get you stuck in the mud. Additionally, several different vendors must often be involved, because a VoIP phone system lives on top of several other layers. This is not a bad thing, but just a simple fact to be aware of.

After spending a little while on the phone with our vendor support for the VoIP phone system, we quickly came to the conclusion there were some configuration issues in our firewall routing - the phones couldn’t talk to each other. The strangest thing was we could place all calls from each branch office back to corporate, but the branch offices could not talk with one another without dialing an outside line.

After working almost 3 weeks with the firewall vendor’s technical support, the engineer stops today and asks us why we didn’t want to configure it another way versus what we were trying to do? I stopped dead in my tracks and put my head in my hand. Why didn’t I think of this 2 weeks ago? More importantly why didn’t he recommend this 2 weeks ago when we were beating our heads against the wall fruitlessly attempting to make a certain configuration work?

Here are the lessons I took away from all of this: Flip the problem on its side and look at it differently, ask other exports for their insight, and don’t be afraid to ask, “What are you trying to accomplish?’ By asking the right questions up front in your problem-solving session or sales call with a customer — you might just save you and your customer a lot of time and be the hero!

Today we discuss the blurring of technology lines. In a recent article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 8 influencer in the DMS space this year:

8. The blurring of technology lines.  What does your business need? Copiers? Scanners? Records management? Content management?  Document management? Business process management?  E-mail management?  Most likely, all of the above in some configuration. And the solution providers who can help end users figure out the appropriate configuration – they won’t all be the same – will find end users racing to their door.

John strikes a cord with this article. It resonates a simple truth, “Add value to your customers’ business and make them clients for life.” More than ever, companies are looking for answers. They hire analysts and accounts to give them a clue about what’s going on in this rat race. They hire consultants to spin a web and show them a future where they are rich and wise. They hire marketing and public relations firms to package all of this up and put a nice bow on top…

What happened to common sense?

To some extent, people are a little scared about all of this technology being thrown at them. In reality, it’s a lot of F.U.D. Combine this with the intent of some opportunistic individuals who are looking to capitalize on a little ‘man behind the curtain’ (so to speak). So what’s this common sense nonsense all about, anyway?

 For those of you who haven’t read Jim Collins’ Good to Great, get it, read it, and sleep with it! I can’t tell you one book that a business should live by… It’s not a bible by any means, but it has some good ole fashion common sense advise. Collins goes on to say that you have to have the right people in the right seats on the bus and get the wrong people off.

With all of this waving of fists and frothing of mouths going on about the ‘document industry’ people keep missing the one truth that a business is not four walls and a roof, it is a group of like minded and passionate individuals working as a team. File that!

In a recent post by Michael Krigsman over at ZDNet, Krigsman asks if IT is becoming extinct (also note the cute url post: (…?p=666). While Michael most definitely has experience within the technology industry, the title is a bit sensationalist and the subject matter seems a bit over-the-top… While I agree many of the yester-year IT leaders are ill informed on how to bridge business objectives using technology, I disagree that IT will become extinct.

The executives must understand how to hire talent that is customer service focused, and not keep hiring the “computer guy” (SNL). Of course IT as a whole is not going extinct, but Krigsman is correct in that many job roles are becoming a commodity. However, there are so many dynamics abound within each company, let alone a vertical or IT as whole, to simply gloss over and come to some reactionary hypothesis.

Just because individuals are espousing this gripe or that complaint about corporate IT, it shouldn’t coerce you into putting on blinders and cracking the whip…

After all, we are talking about people when it is all said and done. What was it the once beating heart of IT cared so deeply about? Wasn’t it a way to help people reach new levels of productivity and feel good about their contributions without having to repeat the meaningless and mindless tasks required of yesterday’s business?

Ah, there is nothing better than spending hours and weeks trying to solve one little annoying problem only to stump the technical support engineers so badly that the only thing they can say is that we need to upgrade our software yet again… I am told we are pretty far behind, and it would be advisable to upgrade!

Geez, I just loaded “the latest” software in December, and 3 months later I am pretty far behind? Now, I am used to recommending customers stay up-to-date with patches and security holes, but to have a major release for core infrastructure stuff - business affecting systems - is, well, a tad agresssive.

Needless to say, I can’t go forward with my technical support issue until this is put to bed so let’s hope the upgrade process goes smoothly (crossing my fingers)…

Does anyone else get a little frustrated with this? Is the breakneck pace of software upgrades in your buiness, well, breaking your neck?

Today we discuss the need for best practices in document solutions. In a recent article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 7 influencer in the DMS space this year:

7. An accelerating need for quantifiable best practices in the user community.  Why does every implementation seem to sound like it is starting from scratch? Haven’t we all collectively learned something that can be documented and shared without paying some consultant a ton of money? Is there some role that a magazine like imageSource can play in helping to aggregate all these end user successes?

John strikes on something very near and dear to my heart… Well, John I hate to break it to you but the simple reason there are very few (if any) published best practices is the simple fact that many solutions providers (formerly copier dealers) are sales driven organizations. Does the motto, “Let’s sell the solution first and figure out how to make it work later,” ring any bells?

Without being funny, there is some element of truth in this. Many solutions providers are still trying to figure out just how to sell a good solution that works and makes them money. Let me tell you, it was tough just to get a network survey to connect a copier. Can you imagine trying the change to the culture necessary to facilitate a well conceived and executed discovery process?

About the closest person I’ve seen to having the secret sauce is Darrell Amy, over at Dealer Marketing Systems, with his ProSolutions Bootcamp. I know there is the stigma of a high-priced consultant, but with all of the “dealer community” still trying to get their hands around document solutions it’s tough to come up with the entire process overnight. Darrell has some good talk tracks to tie some disparate sales processes and solutions processes in place. However, it’s still up to the dealer to come up with the installation and support processes. It might be possible to look to a vendor/manufacturer, but often times they do not hold your customers as dear as you might.

Most solutions providers are still struggling to get things going, and may even be in their first year of selling document solutions. The pain is tremendously high and the returns are not yet realized. Many will fall by the way side, but I have hope that John’s vision of a common collective of information might yet be available. I do wonder though, as protective as the dealer community is with it’s information, would this utopian vision of knowledge sharing become available?

Interestingly enough, I must say I’ve been impressed with the overall amount of knowledge sharing the community is willing to offer. Everytime I have asked for advice or information it has been offered quickly and happily. Of course, I’m not in direct competition with the those I’m asking either.

Here’s what it will take to achieve the knowledge share John references:

1. Higher level of maturation within the solutions provider ecosystem.

2. Established and/or dominant players at the provider level.

3. Consolidation of CMS/DMS vendors, thus providing a standardization of sorts.

4. A panel of representatives willing to organize the information (build and they will come).

The reason it feels like every implementation is starting from scratch is we have not yet even scratched the surface of the proverbial solutions path. With these four things, it might be possible to finally create some type of knowledge sharing system. Only time will tell…

Tomorrow we discuss number 8 on the list, the blurring lines of technology in the solutions arena.