COMPUTER SERVICES
UNGEEKED
The ultimate small-business owner’s guide for finding a professional,
competent, honest, and dependable computer services provider.
By Bob Breitman and Drew Sanford
Read this book and you’ll discover:
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The five types of technical support available, and the pros
and cons of each.
Why a combination of traditional computer services, private
cloud and public cloud offerings may be the best solution for
your company.
How to avoid getting ripped off, disappointed and/or paying
for substandard work.
The 12 warning signs that you hired the wrong
computer services provider.
Viruses, worms, spyware and hackers: what you need to
know to protect your company from invasion.
Everything you need to know about contracts, payment
schedules and rate negotiations.
The 23 revealing questions you should ask any computer
services provider before giving them access to your
company’s network.
Why you need to avoid “cheap” or “bargain” computer
repair shops.
How to turn technology into a competitive advantage instead
of a drain on your time, money and resources.
Why your business needs managed services.
Why cloud computing might be the right solution for your
company
Computer Services Ungeeked
Copyright ©2012 IT that Works and Technology Marketing Toolkit, Inc.
Second Edition printed November 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photography, recording or information retrieval system, without written
permission from the authors.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
The publisher and the authors make no representations of warranties
with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this
work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without
limitation warranties of fitness for a specific purpose. No warranty may
be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice
and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.
This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not
engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services.
If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent
professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the authors
shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an
organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or
potential source of further information does not mean that the authors
or the publisher endorse the information the organization or Web site
may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should
be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed
or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
ISBN: 978-1-4276-5107-5
Printed in the United States of America
“The team at IT that Works are pros when it comes to
business technology. Bob and Drew have distilled that deep
body of knowledge into a book that’s easy to read and gets
straight to the point. The list of 23 questions to ask of a
computer consultant before you hire them alone is worth
the price of admission here – not to mention the 12 warning
signs that you’ve hired the wrong consultant.”
Matt Roush
Editor, The Great Lakes IT Report
An e-publication of WWJ Newsradio 950
Computer Services Ungeeked Co-Authors
Bob Breitman is the President/CEO of IT
that Works (Midwest). Mr. Breitman spent
19 years with GM, EDS and AT Kearney. In
1999 he became CIO of a $3.5 billion group
of 12 automotive and industrial Tier-1 and
aftermarket suppliers where he significantly
reduced operating expenses while increasing
uptime and customer satisfaction.
He
assembled an information services management team that was
responsible for developing and deploying a strategic IS plan that
enabled the company’s business and marketing plans.
Mr. Breitman has undergraduate and graduate degrees in
Operations Research from Cornell University.
Drew Sanford is the CTO of IT that Works
(Midwest). Mr. Sanford has spent the last 20
years helping companies utilize technology to
give them sustainable competitive advantage
in the marketplace. He has served as interim
CIO for numerous organizations, focusing on
establishing a strategic vision for Information
Technology and implementing it. Mr. Sanford
believes that Information Technology with the correct vision can
be a strategic enabler to any organization and not a necessary evil.
Mr. Sanford has an undergraduate degree in Business
Administration from Belmont University.
IT that Works is a Managed Services Provider that specializes in
Hosted Exchange and SharePoint solutions, Hosted Desktops
and Applications, and Managed Backup and Data Recovery. IT
that Works is a member of the Microsoft Partner Network with
6 Silver competencies, an ExtendAsp Partner, a Citrix Service
Provider, McAfee F3 SP Reseller, and an eFolder Partner.
Toll Free: 888-488-4289
Fax: 866-486-6681
Midwest Regional Office
30150 Telegraph Road Suite 120
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
South Regional Office
750 Old Hickory Boulevard
2 Brentwood Commons
Suite 150
Brentwood, TN 37027
CONTENTS
Chapter SEVEN......................................................................................... 7
Moving To The Cloud
7
5 Critical Facts You Must Know Before Moving To The
Cloud
8
What Is Cloud Computing?
8
What About Office 365 And Google Apps?
11
Pros And Cons Of Moving To The Cloud
12
Different Types Of Cloud Solutions Explained:
16
Cloud Service Models
17
FAQs About Security; Where You Data Is Held And
Internet Connectivity
18
What To Look For When Hiring A Cloud Integrator
19
Critical Questions To Ask Your IT Company Or Computer
Consultant BEFORE Letting Them Move Your Network To
The Cloud
20
Conclusion: Walk Before You Run
22
Chapter SEVEN
Moving To The Cloud
Undoubtedly you’ve heard all the commotion around
cloud computing and how it’s the “next big thing.” Yet,
despite all the hype, no one really seems to understand what
cloud computing is or how it can help your business.
That’s why we wanted to set the record straight and
explain what cloud computing is, how it can (possibly) help
your business and if so, what you need to know to make
good decisions about choosing a vendor.
Why “possibly”? Because cloud computing is NOT a
good fit for every company; and if you don’t get all the facts
and fully understand the pros and cons, you can make some
VERY poor and expensive decisions that you’ll deeply
regret later.
That said, for some companies, cloud computing can
actually lower IT costs by 30% to 40%; greatly improve the
ability for remote workers to connect and work; simplify the
entire IT infrastructure; and genuinely solve a number of
technology problems that they’ve been trying to work
around for years.
But for companies that have not been spending money
to keep their IT infrastructure up to current standards, the
cost of moving to the cloud may be a shock. It will,
however, generally be cheaper in the long run than doing it
internally.
Also note that Microsoft recently (Fall 2012) announced
the end-of-life for Small Business Server (SBS) – the
mainstay solution for many small businesses. This has made
the future for these businesses cloudy.
So can the cloud help YOU? By the end of this chapter
you’ll know, or at least you’ll have a much better
understanding of the benefits and risks of the cloud.
5 Critical Facts You Must Know
Before Moving To The Cloud
In this chapter we’re going to talk about five very
important facts you need to know before you consider
cloud computing for your company. They include:
1. What is cloud computing?
2. The pros AND cons of this new technology.
3. The various types of cloud computing options
available (there is more than just one).
4. Answers to
questions.
important,
frequently
asked
5. What questions to ask your IT pro before letting
them “sell” you on moving all or part of your
network and applications to the cloud.
What Is Cloud Computing?
Wikipedia defines cloud computing as, “Cloud
computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and
software) that are delivered as a service over a network
(typically the Internet).”
But what the heck does that mean?
The easiest way to understand what cloud computing is
and to gain insight into why it’s growing in popularity, is to
compare it to the evolution of public utilities. Let’s look at
the evolution of electricity, for example.
Back in the industrial age, factories had to generate their
own power in order to run the machines that produced the
hard goods they manufactured. Whether textiles or railroad
spikes, machines gave these companies enormous
competitive advantages by producing more goods with
fewer workers and in less time. For many years, the
generation of power was every bit as important to their
company’s success as the skill of their workers and quality of
their products.
Unfortunately, this put factories into TWO
businesses: the business of producing their goods and the
business of generating power. Then the concept of
delivering power (electricity) as a utility was introduced by
Thomas Edison when he developed a commercial-grade
replacement for gas lighting and heating using centrally
generated and distributed electricity. From there, as they say,
the rest is history.
The concept of generating electric current in central
power plants for delivery to factories as a utility caught on
fast. This meant that manufacturers no long had to be in the
business of generating their own power. In fact, it quickly
became a competitive necessity for factories to take
advantage of the lower costs offered by public utilities.
Almost overnight, thousands of steam engines and electric
generators were rendered obsolete and left to rust next to
the factories they used to power.
A series of inventions and scientific breakthroughs made
public utilities possible, but what drove demand was pure
economics. Utility companies leveraged economies of scale
that single manufacturing plants simply couldn’t match in
performance or in price. In fact, the price of power dropped
so significantly, that it quickly became affordable for
factories and every household in the country.
Today, we are in a similar transformation following a
similar course. The only difference is that instead of cheap
and plentiful electricity, advancements in technology and
Internet connectivity are driving down the costs of
computing. With cloud computing, businesses can pay for
“computing power” like a utility without having the costs of
installing, hosting and supporting it.
Our simple definition of cloud computing is:
 It uses the Internet as a method of access.
 You don't own it, rather you rent it or lease it
because it is offered as a SERVICE.
 You don't have to do anything to scale up except
to pay for what you are using.
In fact, you are probably already experiencing the
benefits of cloud computing in some way without realizing
it. There are a number of cloud computing applications,
also called SaaS or “Software as a Service” that you might
already be using:
 Hosted Exchange, Office 365, or Google Apps
 NetSuite, Salesforce
 Constant Contact, iContact, Exact Target, or
other eMail broadcasting services
 Zoomerang, SurveyMonkey and other survey
tools
 LinkedIn
 Facebook
 Twitter
 All things Google (search, AdWords, maps, etc.)
Almost every single application you use today can be (or
already is) being delivered “in the cloud” where you can
access it and pay for it via your browser for a monthly fee.
You don’t purchase and install any software, but instead
access it via an Internet browser.
What About Office 365 And Google Apps?
Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google Apps are examples
of cloud computing; for a small monthly fee, you can get full
use of Microsoft Office applications that used to cost
hundreds of dollars to purchase. And, since these apps are
being powered by the cloud provider, you don’t need an
expensive desktop with lots of power to use them – just a
simple Internet connection on any device as the application
and the processing power exist in the cloud.
Google Apps doesn’t (currently) integrate with many
business applications which could prevent use of this
service. For example, if you use Microsoft’s Excel or Word
to make reports or create documents from your business
application, you might not be able to do that with Google
Apps.
Microsoft’s Office 365 has a number of limitations that
would make it a poor choice for a business, including that
there is no help desk support. If something goes wrong,
there isn’t a customer service help desk you can call for help.
Pros And Cons Of Moving To The Cloud
As you read this section, keep in mind there is no
“perfect” solution. All options – be it in-house, on-premise
or a cloud solution, both have strengths and weaknesses.
Each option must be evaluated before reaching a conclusion
on which option will work for you. (Warning: Do not let a
cloud expert tell you there is only “one way” of doing
something.) Most companies use a hybrid solution where
some of their applications are in the cloud, while some are
still hosted and maintained from an in-house server. here are
the general pros and cons of cloud computing:
Pros of Cloud Computing:
 Lowered IT costs. This is probably the single
most compelling reason why companies choose to
move their network (all or in part) to the cloud.
Not only are there savings on software licenses,
but also on hardware (servers and workstations) as
well as on IT support.
This ONLY applies to companies that are
actually keeping their IT infrastructure up to
date or are looking at bringing an aging
infrastructure up to current standards. If you
are not spending money on IT and don’t plan
to, the cloud will NOT save you money.
In fact, we save our clients an average of 30% to
40% when we move some or part of their
network functionality to the cloud. So if you hate
constantly writing big checks for IT upgrades,
you’ll really want to look into cloud computing.
Included in this report are examples of how we’ve
done this for other clients and their savings.
 Ability to access your desktop and/or
applications from anywhere and from any
device. If you travel , have remote workers who
prefer to use an iPad (or other mobile device)
while traveling and a laptop at your house, cloud
computing enables work using any of these
devices while having access to a consistent
desktop for all of your applications and data
 Disaster recovery and backup are automated.
Your office server is vulnerable to many threats
including viruses, human error, hardware failure,
software corruption and physical damage caused
by a fire, flood, or other natural disaster. If your
server were in the cloud and your office was
reduced to rubble, you could easily purchase a
new laptop and be running within the same day.
This would NOT be the case if you had a
traditional network and were using tape drives,
CDs, USB drives or other physical storage devices
to back up your system. Note that the building of
a colleague of ours in Joplin, Missouri was
completely wiped out by a tornado as were the
offices of many of his clients. He had deployed a
backup solution using a hybrid of on-premise and
cloud backups. He and his clients experienced no
data loss and were up and running in days.
Like a public utility, cloud platforms are more
robust and secure than an average business
network because they utilize economies of scale to
invest heavily in security, redundancy, and failover
systems, making them far less likely to fail.
 It’s faster, cheaper, and easier to use by new
employees. If you have a seasonal workforce or a
lot of turnover, cloud computing will not only
lower your costs of setting up new accounts, but it
will make it much faster. Using self-provisioning
control panels, you can create new environments
and establish new users in minutes - not hours or
days. And you do not need to know the
technology as most of the technical “stuff” is
automated. For example, to add a new Microsoft
Exchange user with a Blackberry account, you do
not need to know Exchange, Active Directory,
Postini (for anti-virus and SPAM), or Blackberry
Enterprise server – you simply select the features
and everything is done for you.
 You use it without having to “own” it. More
importantly, you don’t own the responsibility of
having to install, update, and maintain the
infrastructure. This is particularly attractive for
companies who are new or expanding but don’t
want the large outlay of cash to purchase and
support an expensive computer network. Not
owning it also shifts risk to the cloud provider to
maintain current technology and to ensure that
more resource is available to you as needed.
 It’s a “greener” technology that will save on
power and reduce your electric bill. For smaller
companies, the power savings will be too small to
measure. However, for larger companies with
multiple servers who keep their servers running
24/7/365, the savings can be considerable.
Cons of Cloud Computing:
 Failure of the Internet connection. The
question is, “What happens when the Internet
fails in your current environment?” Most Internet
connections offer 99.9% availability (about 525
minutes of downtime a year). By adding a second
circuit from a different type of provider (e.g.,
Cable and a T1) you could reduce this to less than
one minute a year due to Internet failure versus
power or firewall failure.
 Data security. Many people are uncomfortable
having their data in some offsite location. This is a
valid concern and before you select a cloud
provider, you need to know where they store your
data, how (and if) it’s encrypted, who has access,
and how you can get it back. For more
information see “What To Look For When Hiring
a Cloud Integrator” later in this document. Your
data is probably more secure in the cloud than it is
in your office. Think about who has access to
your data and the physical infrastructure in the
office. How often are passwords changed and
how secure are they?
 Compliance Issues. There are a number of laws
and regulations such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley,
Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA that require
companies to control and protect their data and to
certify that they have knowledge and control over
who can access the data, who sees it, and how and
where it is stored. In a public cloud environment,
this can be problematic. Many cloud providers
(e.g., Google and Microsoft) won’t tell you
specifically where your data is stored – it may even
be outside the US.
While most cloud providers have well-defined
practices to ensure the safety of your data, as the
business owner, it’s YOUR responsibility if the
data is compromised, so it’s important that you
ask for some type of validation that they are in
compliance with regulations.
Different Types Of Cloud Solutions Explained:
When experts talk about the cloud, there are three
common deployment models – Private, Public, and
Hybrid clouds.
Simply… Private Clouds are focused on the needs of a
single organization. Private clouds may be on-premise or
hosted.
Public Clouds leverage a common infrastructure across
multiple organizations. This is commonly referred to as a
multi-tenant environment. Public Clouds are typically
offered as a utility, where you pay for what you use.
Hybrid Clouds leverage aspects of both Private and
Public Clouds. These are most common when there are
applications that have a requirement to be specific to a
company. Those applications are provided through a
Private Cloud architecture while other applications are
provided through a Public Cloud architecture. The Hybrid
cloud requires integration of the Private and Public
components.
Cloud Service Models
There are several cloud service models that apply to
the small businesses. These include:
 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) –The complete
hosted infrastructure, provided as a service,
typically from a data center. Clients pay as the
infrastructure is used. One of the major players in
this space is Rackspace. In this environment you
get the hardware, but you still have to deploy the
software and integration portions of the
architecture.
 Software as a Service (SaaS) – Cloud-based use of
software by an end-user. Typically one specific
application. Two common examples would be
SalesForce (a Customer Relationship Management
Solution) and Netsuite (an Enterprise Resource
Planning solution).
 Desktop as a Service (DaaS) –This is a more
recent entry in the marketplace. In this
environment your desktop and data can be in the
cloud with the typical desktop applications like
office and individual applications. Your desktop
and data will be available anytime, anywhere, on
any device.
 Business Computing as a Service (BCaaS) – The
complete business environment integrating
desktops,
applications,
servers,
eMail,
collaboration, communication, and security as an
integrated service.
FAQs About Security; Where You Data Is Held
And Internet Connectivity
Question: What if my Internet connection goes down
for an extended period of time?
Our Answer: Our clients install a high-availability
environment with a minimum of two different connections
to the Internet. They often also install two firewalls in a
high-availability failover configuration. This generally results
in less than one minute of Internet accessibility downtime
per year.
Question: What about security? Isn’t there a big risk of
someone accessing my data if it’s in the cloud?
Our Answer: In many cases, cloud computing is a
MORE secure way of accessing and storing data. Just
because your server is onsite doesn’t make it more secure; in
fact, most small to medium businesses can’t justify the cost
of securing their network the way a cloud provider can. And
most security breaches occur due to human error; one of
your employees downloads a file that contains a virus, they
don’t use secure passwords, or they simply eMail
confidential information to people who shouldn’t see it.
Other security breaches occur in on-site networks because
of improperly maintained in-house networks (no security
updates, software patches, or up-to-date anti-virus software).
That’s a FAR more common way networks get
compromised. Most cloud solutions require frequently
changed, complex passwords, and have security practices
that far exceed what typical small and medium-sized
companies deploy internally.
Question: Do I have to purchase new hardware
(servers, workstations) to move to the cloud?
Our Answer: No! That’s one of the selling points of
cloud computing. It allows you to use older workstations,
laptops and servers because the computing power is in the
cloud. Not only does that allow you to keep and use
hardware longer, but it allows you to buy less costly
workstations and laptops because you don’t need the
computing power required in the past. Because your
applications and data are in the cloud, you are no longer
dependent upon a specific piece of hardware. Many of our
clients use “thin-clients” in the office because they are
inexpensive and use less power. They often keep a spare
access device (thin-client or PC) in a closet. If a workstation
fails, they can replace it with the spare thin-client and be up
and running in minutes.
What To Look For When Hiring A Cloud Integrator
A “cloud integrator” is a fancy name for an IT
consultant who helps you set up and integrate the various
software and solutions into a cloud service specific for your
business. Unfortunately, as we’ve mentioned before, the
computer repair and consulting industry (along with many
others) has its share of incompetent or unethical people who
will try to take advantage of trusting business owners who
do not know what they are doing. Automotive repair shops,
electricians, plumbers, lawyers, realtors, dentists, doctors,
accountants, etc. are highly regulated to protect the
consumer from receiving substandard work or getting
ripped off. However, the computer industry is still largely
unregulated and there are few laws in existence to protect
the consumer – which is why it’s so important for you to
really research the company or person you are
considering to ensure that they have the experience to
set up, migrate, and support your network in the cloud.
Anyone can promote themselves as a cloud expert. Even
if they are honestly trying to do a good job for you, their
inexperience can impact network speed and performance or
in lost or corrupt data files. Here are seven questions to ask
your IT person before moving your network to the cloud:
Critical Questions To Ask Your IT Company Or
Computer Consultant BEFORE Letting Them Move Your
Network To The Cloud
Q1: How many cloud services clients do you have and can
you provide references?
Answer: You don’t want someone practicing on your network or
on your dollar. Ensure that they have real experience and
understand the needs of your business.
Q2: How quickly do they guarantee to have a technician
working on an outage or other problem?
Answer: Anyone paid to support your network should give you a
written SLA (Service Level Agreement) that outlines exactly how
IT issues get resolved and in what time frame. We also request
that they reveal their average resolution time with current clients
during the last 3-6 months.
They should also answer their phones from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
and provide an emergency after-hours (including weekends)
number to call if a problem arises.
If you cannot access your network because the Internet is down
or due to some other problem, you wait hours for a callback OR
(more importantly) for someone to start working on resolving the
issue. Make sure you get this in writing; often cheaper or less
experienced consultants won’t have this resource or will try and
convince you it’s not important. Don’t buy that excuse! They are
in the business of providing IT support and should have some
guarantees or standards
Q3: What’s your plan for transitioning our network to the
cloud to minimize problems and downtime?
Answer: Make sure that they run a simultaneous cloud
environment during the transition and don’t “turn off” the old
network until everyone is 100% confident that everything has
been transitioned and is working properly. You don’t want
someone to switch overnight without testing the environment
first.
Q4: Where will your data be stored?
Answer: You should receive full documentation about where
your data is, how it’s being secured and backed up and how you
access to it if necessary WITHOUT going through your
provider., you don’t want your cloud provider to be able to hold
your data (and your company) hostage. The agreement with your
provider should explicitly state that you own your data.
Q5: How will your data be secured and backed up?
Answer: If they tell you that your data will be stored in the back
of their office, what happens if THEY get destroyed by a fire,
flood or other disaster? What are they doing to secure the office
and access? Are they backing it up somewhere else? Make sure
they are SAS 70 Type II certified and have a failover plan in place
to ensure continuous service in the event that their location goes
down. If they are building on another platform, you still want to
find out where your data is and how it’s being backed up.
Q6: Do they have adequate errors and omissions insurance
as well as workers’ compensation insurance to protect
YOU?
Answer: If THEY cause a problem with your network that
causes you to be down for hours or days or to lose data, who’s
responsible? If one of their technicians gets hurt at your office,
who’s paying? In our litigious society, it’s important to ensure
that your provider and their employees are adequately insured
with both errors and omissions insurance AND workers’
compensation – and don’t be shy about asking to see their latest
insurance policies!
True Story: A few years ago, Best Buy’s Geek Squad was slapped
with multi-million dollar lawsuits from customers for the bad
behavior of their technicians. In some cases, their techs were
accessing, copying and distributing personal information from
customers’ PCs and laptops brought in for repairs. In other cases,
they lost clients’ laptops (and subsequently all the data on them)
and tried to cover it up. Bottom line: make sure the company you
are hiring has proper insurance to protect YOU.
Q7: When something goes wrong with your Internet service,
phone systems, printers or other IT services, who owns the
problem”?
My Answer: If they’ve moved you to the cloud, they should own
the problem for their clients so you don’t have to try and resolve
any of these issues on your own – that’s just plain old good
service and something many computer guys won’t do.
Conclusion: Walk Before You Run
The number of small and medium–size businesses that
have successfully migrated from on-premise to cloud
applications is growing rapidly. Indeed, many startups never
even consider on-premise software, but jump straight to the
cloud because of the financial and logistical advantages. If
you’re an existing company, you probably have a substantial
investment in traditional software, and your business
probably operates quite well with it. Yet sooner or later the
time will come—perhaps when your current software
requires a major and expensive upgrade—when the benefits
of the cloud become so compelling that it’s time to begin, or
at least consider, the transition. When that moment arrives,
take careful steps. Weigh all the pros and cons issues raised
in this chapter, and ask both yourself and your prospective
cloud vendors all the recommended questions. You’ll greatly
increase the odds that your migration will be a successful
one.