• A secure lock code
• Keeping all Apple patches up-to-date
• Setting up the Find iPhone in iCloud (allows remote wipe. In mid-November, someone stole my iPad and I was able to pinpoint the location and have the iPad back with me safe and sound.)

Apple is, in my estimation, working hard to get the iPad accepted and implemented in offices. To that end, Apple has adopted some security measures. This blog is directed at senior executives, so some of these terms may not make sense—and that is okay:

• Support for WPA2 for Wi-Fi security (both PSK and Enterprise)
• Support for VPNs
• Password support including options for complexity, length, forced changes, lockout, etc.
• Integration with Exchange
• Ability for the IT department to enforce policies
• Remote data wipe
• PKI support including code signing requirements

If you, or IT, want to know more, check out Apple’s security overview. In particular, their iPad Security Overview and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync document.

I expect lots of posts on this blog. This is such a hot topic—so many more of these devices are in the hands of executives, and especially after the holidays.

Please post your comments on this blog.

Be sure to tag your videos with keywords that will lead people to your products and services. Drawing traffic to your website through videos can make a big difference in your organization’s success in search engines.

Videos don’t have to look super professional either. You can even use videos made with a webcam, a cell phone, or a small camera such as the Flip camera. Even short, one-minute videos on your website can be very helpful. In fact, keeping the videos short can encourage more people to watch them.

Talk to your web design company today and get some videos on your website if they aren’t already there.

Please post your comments on this blog.

With those services, the server is basically sending screen updates to the remote computer and receiving keystrokes and mouse movements from the remote user. Especially if you have a slow Internet connection, often the response speed is too slow and the remote user feels frustrated.

Even better, the next level is to allow the server to send some or all of the application on the remote computer so the application runs locally on the remote computer! This way, even if the remote user has a slow connection, the program usually runs quickly since the program is running on the remote computer.

Another advantage is that the user can be on an Apple Macintosh computer but launch Windows based applications streamed from the server without needing to install Windows on the remote computer.

In the process of visiting companies around the USA most weeks I notice that a lot of executives are frustrated by their Terminal Server or Citrix server limitations. What they do not recognize is that they are using ancient versions of those systems—ancient in computer time anyway. Once they try the newer versions of these technologies, they are usually amazed at the improved performance that five years of technology can make.

Before you decide your remote access technology isn’t working for you anymore, make sure you are using the latest technology. If you tried the technology before and didn’t like it for whatever reason, give it a try again. In the hands of a skilled practitioner, this technology can do wonders.

Please post your comments on this blog.

Without getting into the technical details, robust virtualization technology exists today that allows your operating systems and applications to be easily portable from one computer to the next, and even delivered to a machine quickly through the Internet.

This means that if a disaster strikes your main office—even a power failure that exceeds the capabilities of your standby power generator—your servers can basically migrate themselves to servers operating in one of your other offices or a safe data center of your choosing.  Keeping this in plain English: your users will still be able to get their work done as if nothing happened.

In the past, this kind of protection was very expensive, and now the prices are spiraling down. Some of the technologies you put in to save money on servers today, like server virtualization, come with this DRP advantage as a “side benefit” if you use it.  As you add technology to support remote users or simplify the IT management in your organization, like Terminal Services or Citrix Xen, also add the possibility for robust DRP.

As you upgrade your systems—be sure to get advice from a qualified professional about getting your Disaster Recovery Plan in order!

Today’s organizations have PDAs, cell phones, Blackberries, etc. All of these devices also hold sensitive data. So what happens when one of your employees is traveling for business and accidentally leaves his mobile phone or PDA in a taxi? If you had a central management system in place, that employee would simply call the IT department and tell them what happened. Then someone in IT can make a few keystrokes on the keyboard and erase everything in that particular phone or PDA.

Now, everything on that phone gets securely erased. And when I say securely erased, that means inside that phone it’s writing ones and zeros on the data card to actually erase information. Even data forensics can’t get that data back anymore. It’s just gone.

In the event that whoever rides in the taxi next finds the phone and somehow returns it to you, your IT department can make a few more keystrokes on the keyboard and restore all the data. That sure beats having to go through a four-hour process of reloading everything.

So don’t overlook your cell phone and PDA when it comes to data security. There are tools out there that will help you use them.

What are your thoughts on this topic?