How to Handle a Data Breach

"...Most channel partners are well versed in helping clients protect their data from outside attacks. But what should they tell their customers to do when the bad guys get in, despite their best efforts?"

Distinguishing Yourself

"...We’ve all seen them: those individuals to whom everyone is attracted, be it for challenging missions, professional counsel or even personal advice. They are accomplished, ambitious and seem to be great at pretty much everything they do. So how do you become one of them... and distinguish yourself from the rest of your fellow soldiers, officers and competing job seekers in the civilian workforce?"

Peering Into the Crystal Ball

"Predicting the future – or, at least anticipating it – is never easy, even in the best of times. For businesses, this task has become an even greater challenge over the past several years. At the same time, any organization that wants to position itself for survival must look ahead with this question in mind: How will things play out for 2012?"

Is 3D Flat?

"...As Hollywood studios and video game developers continue to push 3D projection into the home, the technology is starting to be adopted by commercial and government organizations as well. With the advent of numerous professional "pro-sumer" and consumer products available, the benefits of 3D projection technology applies to any company that works in design, marketing, styling, scientific visualization and even training..."

Evaluations Promote Peak Performance

"...It’s an exercise that many professionals tend to dread: the annual employee performance evaluation. Without them, however, it’s difficult for employees to ascertain what’s expected of them, in what areas they are performing well – and what they need to improve upon. For branch managers, employee evaluations are arguably the most effective vehicle through which they can work toward the goals they have set out for their specific locations, and the objectives that the company’s headquarters has established as well..."

Steady Does It

"...There was much talk of an economic ‘comeback’ during the first few months of 2011, but as the year moved on, holding steady was the best that many businesses could hope for. That said, there remain a number of promising opportunities for systems contractors, provided that they’re willing to position themselves to benefit from them..."

Pursuing Innovation as an SMB Business

"It’s a familiar story. You created your business filled with bold new ideas, but before long you found yourself doing the same things in the same way as the competition passed you by. So how do you jump-start — and maintain — a culture of continual innovation in everything from what you sell and how you sell it to how you support your customers?"

Projection Perfection

"...Predicting the future has never been easy, and in this economy, forecasting how much business your branch will do has become increasingly difficult. The trick? Remain optimistic, but be realistic – and give incentives to customers who are willing to commit..."

A Plan for the Worst

"Question: What would happen to your branch in the event of a flood, a hurricane, or a fire? The media images that all of us have been exposed to just this year alone demonstrate the fatal danger and crippling effects that disasters large and small have on people and companies. If you aren’t proactive in devising a plan on how you would react in the face of an emergency, you risk losing not only your business, but the people who make it possible..."

What They Think

"...You’re stiff. A little too serious. Not really interested in negotiating with people - you’d prefer to bark orders and boss them around. When it comes to what civilians think of those that have been in the military, we’ve heard it all before. But what about civilian employers? Are employers’ perceptions of veterans just as narrow...?"

Labor for Hire

"...We can all conjure up images of the classic temporary workers: the agency-provided souls who arrive at a company and pick up the slack before silently slinking away, often forgotten shortly after the door closes behind them. For businesses, this temporary labor is a relatively cost-effective way to deal with momentarily excessive workloads or special projects. For the temps themselves, it’s a way to supplement their income while they search for a full-time job. For the agencies — well, there are those fees..."

Power Trip

"...It would be difficult to find an entrepreneur that wasn’t, at some point, guilty of micro-managing. However, the reality is that if business leaders don’t empower their employees, chances are the organization won’t excel to its fullest potential.

But what is an 'empowered employee'? For Donald Guzauckas Jr., general manager of HB Group in North Haven, CT, empowered employees are those who understand the image, culture, goals, and objectives of the company. 'Simply offering a goal does not provide enough guidance for staff to act in a manner consistent with the image that we wish to present to our clients and potential clients,' he noted. While people may say that empowered employees can make autonomous decisions, he added, this is only true if they can act consistently individually, and as a group..."

Pulling It All Together

"...The term 'convergence' as it applies to AV and IT is by no means a new one. However, this doesn’t mean that during AV integration projects Information Technology specialists and their audiovisual counterparts always see eye-to-eye. In many cases, these undertakings feature unfamiliar territory for both camps, necessitating two elements that are arguably crucial in any venture: communication and planning..."

Young and (Already) Retired

"...It’s a common scenario: A young veteran is released from the service and it’s on to the hunt for a civilian job. Every employer wants to know about their prior work experience, but because the veteran joined the military straight out of secondary school, they haven't had the opportunity to gain any. Not only does this make the ‘work experience’ section of one’s resume difficult to fill out, the space under ‘education’ isn’t that easy to write, either - not for those who did, indeed, enlist right after high school graduation. An impossible challenge? Not at all - it just depends on how you examine your situation and your military experience..."

Computers Retire Too

"...How do you beat built-in obsolescence and wear and tear on your technology? You can’t – at least, not for long. However, what IT managers can do is plan effectively, and, in working with the financial department, get the most out of servers, networking equipment and PCs as cost effectively as possible..."

Getting to the Green

"...One would be hard-pressed to find a company that isn’t in business to make a profit. But what, at the branch level, affects profitability? In this economy, boosting – or even maintaining – profit levels requires good, old-fashioned common sense, and even a willingness to kiss some business goodbye…if, in the end, it’s not as earning you as much money as it may seem..."

Optimizing Your Office Lease Agreement

"...Next to payroll, rent is probably your largest bill, if not larger. While it’s unlikely that real estate will ever be cheap, there are ways you can optimize your lease agreement and physical office space to keep costs down..."

Design Matters

"... As conferencing technologies have become a standard feature of facility design, the focus on seamless integration of AV systems is no longer secondary. Coupled with this is the demand, in many cases, to implement systems in rooms designed for multiple applications — space and budgetary restrictions have put real estate at a premium, dictating the need for flexibility. And then there’s the ever-present issues concerning network infrastructure: As AV goes IT, its technology competes for bandwidth..."

Are Resumes Trendy?

"...As silly as it sounds, resumes are a bit like fashion: There are many different styles, many different designers, and even more opinions on what’s in and what’s out. While there is no secret format that guarantees landing a position (or even just an interview), there are a number of elements that job seekers should consider if they want their resume to be placed at the top of the pile..."

Safety Net: How to Add Revenue and Save Clients with Service Contracts

"...One is hard-pressed to find a business owner that isn’t interested in generating recurring revenue. In the systems integration industry, one of the ways of achieving this is through the sale of service agreements, contracts that bind clients to a fixed cost for maintenance, repair, and even emergency response. While those that have seen success with these swear by them, the reality is that few systems contracting companies have any kind of formal service agreement in place.

Why? For one thing, they’re not an easy sell, said Chuck Wilson, executive director of the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA). 'The value proposition is that you are selling the finest product in the world and it’s superior in every fashion,' he said. 'When you turn around and say, ‘For this dollar amount, when it breaks, we’ll fix it,’ it’s difficult to rationalize...'"