02 January 2011
Policy Change (explanation) - Labor Warranty
02/01/11 21:06 Filed in: Work
We do everything we can to ensure the smooth operation of our client systems. To date, we have an outstanding record of up-time, data preservation and money savings for our clients.
But, on occasion, we run into a pice of bad behaving software that causes us grief. In this instance an anti-virus product decided that all the files on the server were a virus and attempted to quarantine everything! It took several hours to restore the files and get the server to a stable state. It was decided that it was an isolated incident and to keep the anti-virus product in place but to place it in an information only mode. No files will be moved without manual intervention.
After three months, the anti-virus program got another bad signature file and did it again. Somehow it got switched form manual intervention to automatic again and deja vu. The reason I am not mentioning the particular AV product is because ALL of the major vendors have had this issue in one form or another. The client was not impressed and insisted that this incident be covered under our labor warranty. This system was not under our management (so there is no paper-trail to review) and we have done due-diligence / due-care in setting up the product.
While we recommend products, use and manage them, we cannot be responsible for problems with other companies products. Datajockeys constantly keeps watch over issues that may affect our client systems. We take a proactive approach and often head off problems before they show up. Our clients understand the need for bi-weekly maintenance on their systems and we use scenarios like this as a reminder to have a clear expectation of who is responsible for what.
Service Contracts - A Revisit
02/01/11 20:59 Filed in: Work
Most people use only one or two main software packages to run their business. Quickbooks, JobBOSS, Goldmine, etc. These are critical packages that should be under support contract from the manufacturer. Notice I specified form the manufacturer, not a 3rd party that is an "authorized dealer” but the manufacturer itself.
Normal cost for a software maintenance package is 20% of the original cost. Maintenance often includes:
- Software upgrades (even major revisions)
- Real tech support via phone or help-desk
- License management
If you need help accessing what software you should have on maintenance agreement, please give us a call.
Mail Steward - Mac
02/01/11 11:24
I was testing the online backup system. One of the pre-upload reports showed that I have a LOT of email to deal with. The thing about email programs is that they are only built to manage about 2,500 emails efficiently before getting progressively bogged down. The 2nd issue is that mail needs to be kept in a universal format. Outlook, Apple Mail, Eudora, and Exchange keep mail repositories in a proprietary format. So I did some research and found a neat little program for Apple Mail called Mail Steward http://www.mailsteward.com . It has some interesting videos (old version) and it is s straight forward and useable program.
The general procedure is this.
1) Get good backups of your data.
2) Install configure and run Mail Steward.
3) Delete email in your mail program as you see fit.
4) EIther schedule auto archive or manually run as you see fit.
Mail Steward will catalog your email remembering mail that has already ben archived.
Be sure to delete the archived email from your mail client to free up resources in your mail client. Please be aware that archiving will not necessarily reduce the amount of space needed for backups, it is for archiving in a universal format and to relieve congestion in your mail client.