How Businesses Can Innovate, Become More Efficient & Drive Real Growth in 2010

FREE Webinar – Register Now!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

10AM PST / 1PM EST

A streamlined, highly responsive IT organization that saves money and increases the value of technology investments is no longer an aspiration but a business imperative.  Join us to learn how your organization can deploy and use ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software effectively to improve performance and consistently put the right information into the hands of decision makers.

Join this free live Focus.com webinar and hear from industry leaders as they discuss 3 strategies for using your ERP to improve productivity, increase efficiencies, control costs and unlock visibility across your business.

You will learn:

• 3 game-changing strategies for using ERP to drive innovation, efficiency and revenue growth this year
• How your business can maximize an ERP system to adapt more quickly, develop and manage new and innovative business models and processes, and compete in the new economy
• Practical tips to improve performance across your Sales, Finance and IT teams

A Chance to Win
Live attendees will be entered for a chance to win an iPod Nano. One winner will be selected from the audience by random drawing.* If you’re interested but can’t attend the live event, register today and we will send you a link to the on-demand archive when available.

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Katherine Jones is President of Independent Consulting Services, a Bay area company focusing on marketing content, strategies, research and analysis. Her current research covers strategies in workforce planning and optimization. Previously, Dr. Jones has held Director of Marketing roles in the ERP business, providing integrated ERP solutions as a hosted service to middle market enterprises. She was a research director at Aberdeen Group in Boston for eight years, focusing on research on ERP and mid-market companies. Her focus there was on the fundamental processes of business operations and strategy, and the effects of technological change and innovation on these processes within the global organization. She has written widely on many areas of technology and business practices. A veteran in enterprise applications, Ms. Jones has been responsible for technical product marketing and strategic alliance management in several computer companies since 1984. She founded Independent Consulting Services in 1994 to provide marketing services to high tech companies. Prior to a high technology career, Dr. Jones was a university dean, involved in academic administration, research, and teaching. Dr. Jones is a frequent speaker and is widely published in the U.S. and abroad.

Erik Kaas is Director of Product Management for Mid Market ERP products at Sage. He is responsible for managing the product life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities. Erik manages a team of product managers responsible for specifying market requirements for current and future products. The product management team conducts market research supported by customer visits to ensure that engineering develops and releases products based on the needs of customers. Prior to Sage, Erik was responsible for product management at Pivotal Corporation, a provider of CRM solutions for mid market enterprises. He holds a Master in Computer Science degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) and a Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University (Canada).

Michael Oliver-Goodwin is a Contributing Editor for Focus. He is a widely published writer and an experienced editor for publications, including PC World, MacWeek and InfoWorld.

*Employees of associated companies are not eligible for drawing. Person must live in the US or Canada to be eligible. Winner is chosen at random. Winner will be notified at the conclusion of the live webinar. One prize will be given out per person selected from the drawing.

With so many anti-forensic tools and tricks out there, how can you be sure data is really deleted? While most people can delete a file, empty their recycle bin and uninstall programs – many don’t realize that the files they think are gone can be easily recovered with the use of ‘data carving’ tools. So, how can you permanently delete files? If you plan to sell or recycle a computer this is information you need to know.

In an article on csoonline.com, Corporate Investigations Manager Brandon Gregg lists the top three free programs you can access via the internet to ensure you are safe from the future users of your old computer. CCleaner, Eraser and Darik’s Boot and Nuke will each ensure that old files and information are gone for good.

CCleaner is a freeware program with multiple helpful tools. It can:

• Locate and remove unused files from your system, freeing up disk space and making your computer run faster.
• Permanently delete your internet history.
• Completely clean your registry using advanced features.

Eraser is a free and advanced open source security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Additionally it can wipe your ‘empty’ hard drive space. With this program you can set up instant or regularly scheduled erases of individual files, folders and drives.

Derik’s Boot and Nuke, or DBAN is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers by automatically and completely deleting the contents of any hard disk it can detect. In his article Brandon warns, “Please do not use Boot and Nuke if you aren’t knowledgeable about computers; you can turn your computer into a brick.” Therefore we also do not recommend you use it without professional assistance unless you plan to recycle and never use the computer again.

Like any good habit, these and other system cleaning programs only work if you use them consistently. Additionally, don’t forget about your external hard drives, thumb drives, and other storage devices where you may keep sensitive information.

To read the article, “How to Protect Your Privacy from Computer Forensics”, click here.

Disaster Recovery. This is a great topic for this week when much of the country has been inundated with severe winter weather. With earthquakes, tsunamis and blizzards, not to mention fires, floods and thefts – Disaster Recovery plans have become a non-negotiable necessity for companies today.

In their 5th consecutive annual report, Symantec’s 2009 Disaster Recovery Report shows improvement in the numbers of organizations who are implementing, testing and even using their DR plans. Of those surveyed, 93 percent said that they have had to put their DR plans to work, and that on average it takes 3 hours to achieve skeleton operations, and four hours to be completely up and running. This is a dramatic improvement over 2008’s report which showed 3 percent of respondents achieving skeleton operations within 12 hours, and 31 percent believing they could have complete operations within one day.

The number of CIO, CTO and IT Directors on DR committees increased from 33 percent in 2008 all the way up to 70 percent in 2009. That’s an excellent improvement.

With budgets for Disaster Recovery reportedly much higher in 2009, more companies are prepared for the unexpected. However the main issues that still remain are the testing and back up of virtual systems. Of those that tested their system, 25 percent failed. Additionally one third of those surveyed said that they don’t test their virtual environments regularly, and even more noted that they don’t regularly back them up. The only way to ensure your Disaster Recovery Plan will work is to be consistent, back up your data and test your systems and plan. Those that do will have a distinct advantage over their competitors.

To read more about the findings in an article on csoonline.com, click here.
To read Symantec’s Disaster Recover Research Report, or the key findings, click here.