The Microsoft Software Asset Management Letter
Over the past year we have noticed many more customers receiving Microsoft Software Asset Management letters. Many customers report that these feel like a Microsoft Software License Audit. These letters ask the customer to confirm their accurate use of Microsoft software. Since many clients have acquired Microsoft licensing many different way over the years, it is frequently difficult for a client to easily determine what they own and what they are using. These engagements are known as SAM letters. SAM (Software Asset Management) is a function within Microsoft that focuses on customer compliancy. As Microsoft’s business evolves to be more cloud …
Agriculture and IT
Today Forbes hosted the AgTech Summit, which is part of their Reinventing America series. This was a very powerful summit with a great deal of information. The conference was held in Salinas, CA which is ideal given the Agriculture background and closeness to Silicon Valley. The future of technology in agriculture will be critical. In fact, Ag is expected to be one of the largest users of the IOT. Drones for agriculture is quickly going to outgrow the use of Drones for Military. And most importantly, the forecasted population growth will require dramatic technological improvements to keep up with the needed food supply. The …
We need to move past Backups. We need to move past Disaster Recovery….
IT organizations need to grow past talking about backups. We even need to grow past talking about Disaster Recovery. We need to mature to the point of talking about Business Continuity. This isn’t to say that backups aren’t important. We need to have them. We need to be able to recover from a local data loss. If a SQL server becomes corrupt we need to be able to restore and recover to the latest point possible. Remember, most issues that face a company aren’t disasters, they are localized losses that can be overcome with a great backup solution. This isn’t …
Hackers use Ads to Capture your Clicks
Beyond email phishing to trick unsuspecting email users, hackers have also been buying online ads on popular websites to capture your clicks and infect your computers. We’ve all seen ads with images on websites that look very interesting and almost impossible to ignore, such as “adorable kittens you’ve got to see” or “watch Grandma open new iPad on Christmas morning video”. Many of these ads are displayed on HuffingtonPost, CBSsports, Match.com and other popular websites. The ads are published online, frequently without the knowledge of the website company owner. This happens because websites sell their ad space the same way …
