How Resellers can Thrive When Microsoft Moves Sharepoint to the Cloud

by Alex Teu

In November 2008, Microsoft made its announcement that it would begin selling a web-based version of Sharepoint in 2010. With Google apps already making serious inroads into the SMB and Enterprise market, one has to wonder whether it's too little, too late. Being late to the dance does not even take into account that the web version will be inferior to its client server version. By business model necessity, this has to be so because of Microsoft will not allow its 100,000 plus licenses fall to the wayside.

With Microsoft's ecosystem of resellers and technology partners that come to rely on peddling Microsoft software to their customers, the good bet is still on Microsoft. When it comes to Outlook and Sharepoint, and Microsoft in general, the buying driver has not been superior technology or optimal business use. "Good enough" has been enough for most companies to continue sticking with good, ol' Microsoft. 

The better question is: what will resellers do and what value can they add assuming Microsoft's move to the cloud will translate into fewer on premise installations? One answer is that resellers will need to customize Sharepoint and develop applications to meet specific customer needs. The better answer is that resellers will succeed wherever a business solution is required, and the reseller helps bridge the solution gap. This can mean custom apps or simply configuring Sharepoint to solve a business problem.

To witness this winning formula, look no further than your typical Sharepoint deployments and experience today. At LeapFILE, we get a lot of inquiries from businesses that have Sharepoint but had tried to use it for for file transfer or to displace email. Using Sharepoint beyond its designed purpose of collaboration diminishes the application and leads to business project road blocks, team inertia and document chaos. On the other hand, resellers can advise their customers how to make use of Sharepoint's features to enhance project management and build shared work spaces that improve business workflows.

If you want to identify which resellers will succeed in the future when Microsoft finally makes their push into the cloud, they're likely the same ones today who are relied upon by their customers to help make their work life better.

Survey Results: Accountants on File Transfer & Document Management

by Julia Mak

A lot of the attendees from AICPA Tech+ were kind enough to take the time and filled out a survey for us during the exhibition. We wanted to utilize the opportunity we had with our community to try to gain a better understanding on what each and every user is looking for so we can continue to develop and improve.

Here are some of the results we got:

 

 

 

 

As seen from these results and echoed throughout the theme of the AICPA Tech+ conference, the greatest concern in current file transfer methods and document management is how to meet security and compliance requirements. With the increase awareness of new data privacy regulations, more and more firms are in search of a solution that will make the compliance process easier. Second to security issues, accountants also need a solution that is easy to use. Ease of use is an important criteria because not all firms have IT available to manage solutions, and even firms with sufficient IT capabilities want to have something that would not require additional overhead and administration efforts. So to sum it up, accountants really just need their solutions to be secure and easy to use.

Secure & Easy - these are the exact two pillars that LeapFILE’s services and products are built on; and these are the exact goals that we will continue to strive for in our products for the future. 

Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Email For File Transfer (Part 3/3)

by Tony Yang

To continue from my previous posts, here are the last two reasons why email isn't the best way to send large, confidential files.

Reason #4: Email systems aren’t secure enough for today’s business needs

Emails are routed over the public internet in clear text without any encryption. It's similar to carrying confidential papers in a see-through briefcase; if the wrong people look hard enough, they'll see exactly what you don't want them to see. With online security becoming more critical every day, company risk and employee liability are very real factors when dealing with private data.

Beyond encryption, other issues demonstrate the need for further security features not provided by standard email systems. With confidential information, it's imperative that the right person gets the file. Using an email application, this is performed simply by entering in an email address - and when programs auto-fill the wrong sender from an address book, one careless mistake can be devastating to a company's and its client's proprietary data.

In a situation like that, how can you actually tell that the email was sent to the wrong person? You could call the intended recipient to check to see if they got it or you could check your Sent folder to verify the address. In other words, no automated tracking and notification process exists for the end-user to control this.

From an IT perspective, how can the IT department centrally control and manage corporate communication when it comes to sending proprietary information? With email, this remains in the hand of the end-user, leaving critical files to the whim of hurried employees under deadline pressure.

Taking a further step back, the needs for encryption and security are starting to come from the rapid increase in government-sanctioned encryption/security and data privacy requirements...such as HIPAA, SOX, GLBA and various state-level data privacy breach notification laws. Legislation such as these acknowledge the growing reliance on online communication to expedite business and information sharing; yet at the same time, these acts create rigid standards that must be met by IT departments in their respective industries.

Reason #5: Email transfer is unreliable, untraceable, and can't be guaranteed.

Here is an amusing video on why email was invented, which playfully shows how unreliable the safe delivery of "snail" mail can be. However, I would argue that email is not much more reliable either, especially when you're trying to send confidential data or business-critical documents.

How many times does the question "Did you get my email?" get asked every day? When emails fail to arrive quickly, there could be any number of reasons - files sent as email attachments can be delayed or blocked due to server issues, the files could mistakenly be considered as a security threat or spam and thus sent into the junk folder, or the email may have been simply overlooked by the receiver because of the numerous emails bombarding us every day.

For snail mail, the US Postal Service gives the option to pay extra for notification, tracking, and delivery confirmation. Email systems don't natively come with those options. There’s simply no way to tell when or if a file was downloaded, whether the download was successful, or when that download occurred. In addition, because email attachments have no tracking system to verify who receives them, proprietary information can be inadvertently exposed.

Each year, the size of application files grows bigger and bigger. At the same time, size and security restrictions increase due to a growing focus on confidentiality and protection. Ultimately, every passing day further antiquates the use of email for large file transfer. Imagine if, in the video I mentioned above, the mail that the dogs were demolishing contained thousands of dollars in cash or precious diamonds. Well, emailing private data and sensitive files through regular email is not much different. What you really need is a file transfer solution built for business end-users and IT managers.

Here is a downloadable e-book with the complete "Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Use Email For File Transfer".

Join our live webinar on Thursday, July 9th at 10AM PT to learn more about this topic and how LeapFILE provides an easy and secure way to email large files without size or security limitations.

Webinar:  5 Reasons Why Email Should Not Be Used For File Transfer
Date:        Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Time:       10:00AM - 10:45AM Pacific Time
Cost:         Free
Register:  Click here

Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Email For File Transfer (Part 2/3)

by Tony Yang

In my previous post, I suggested five reasons why email is not the best conduit for tranferring large or confidential documents. These reasons are:

#1:   Email can’t support large file attachments
#2:   Updating email infrastructure can wreck IT budgets
#3:   Large files mean slow systems
#4:   Email systems aren’t secure enough
#5:   Email transfer is unreliable, untraceable, and can’t be guaranteed

I explained the first reason in my previous post, and in this post I'll explore reasons #2 and #3.

Reason #2: Updating email infrastructure can wreck IT budgets

When email becomes the default method for large file transfer, the problems in Reason #1 become inevitable. In order to keep email as the preferred file-transfer method, IT departments can pursue one (or both) of two options:

1. The IT department increases its active monitoring of the mail storage server, addressing issues and contacting appropriate employees when problems arise. Because business is a 24/7 global environment today, this requires continuous observation and analysis, pulling valuable resources away from other core tasks for troubleshooting, problem solving, and monitoring.
2. The IT department can spend more to upgrade hardware for increased mail storage requirements. However, a complete restructuring of email infrastructure comes with its own budget-busting price tag. The following table is a typical breakdown of hardware/software costs to support a Microsoft Exchange mailbox system:

That cost doesn’t include other additional security options, such as encryption and notification/tracking.

Any way you look at the numbers, there's no getting around the fact that an entire infrastructure upgrade will be costly. Even when it gets up and running, the problems from Reason #1 will continue to accumulate over time.

Reason #3: Large files mean slow systems

Picture a three-lane highway with cars and trucks moving along at a fast pace. Now imagine what happens if an oversized truck barrels down the highway, taking up two lanes while flashing emergency lights. The whole freeway slows down; in some areas, traffic will totally stop until the truck passes by. Why? Because the infrastructure can't support something that large without disrupting the regular flow of traffic.

In that scenario, cars and trucks are regular emails and that oversized truck is a large attachment being sent through the email server. Email servers aren't designed to handle large file transfers, and the process of delivering those files slows down network traffic. In a best-case scenario, things temporarily slow down while the large file moves from Inbox A to Inbox B. In a worst-case scenario, the infrastructure can't handle the overload and the email server crashes. Imagine the likelihood and the risk of this happening in medium or large corporations with hundreds if not thousands of users, where mail servers are handling numerous message transactions at any given point in time.

There's a reason why email systems have a cap on file sizes. Simply put, email servers weren't meant to be file-transfer conduits. File-size limits are meant to ensure that the infrastructure never encounters anything it can't handle. These limits can be one of the most frustrating issues facing end users. With files increasing in size as applications become more advanced and complicated, the file-size safeguard becomes a hindrance to day-to-day business users, slowing down communication – or even grinding it to a halt.

Please stay tuned for the remaining reasons why you shouldn't use email for file transfer.

Join our live webinar on Thursday, July 9th at 10AM PT to learn more about this topic and how LeapFILE provides an easy and secure way to email large files without size or security limitations.

Webinar:  5 Reasons Why Email Should Not Be Used For File Transfer
Date:        Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Time:       10:00AM - 10:45AM Pacific Time
Cost:         Free
Register:  Click here

Recapping AICPA Tech+ Conference

by Julia Mak

This was our first time attending the AICPA Tech+ Conference. I must say overall it was a pretty awesome experience despite how tiring it was being on my feet all day long. We would like to say thanks to all those who stopped by our booth during the show and learned a little bit of what LeapFILE is about. It was a very rewarding experience as we got the chance to interact with everyone, share ideas, and learn about what accountants are looking for in their solutions.

This year one of the major themes of the conference is the importance of data security and privacy. Many speakers discussed various aspects of new regulations, gaps in current practices, and of course the technologies that can help make the compliant process easier for accountants. One of the keynote speakers, Randy Johnston, tweeted about the top IT initiatives for this year: "#1. Security #2. Privacy #3. Secure data exchange". As the leading secure file exchange provider, we cannot agree with him more. After all, it is our goal to bridge the gap and make it easy for all of our users to securely exchange confidential information with anyone.

Some other highlights of the conference:

Interacting with the attendees during the exhibition

 
Luncheon Keynote Speaker, David Cieslak of Arxis Technology

Everyone socializing during the reception at the end of day

Alex demo-ing LeapFILE’s products to Chris Spivey of MIS Group

It was great seeing everyone and hope you all enjoyed the conference as much as we did!

Penny Wise, $9.75 Million Dollars Foolish - Discounter TJX Learns Hard Lesson about Data Security

by Alex Teu

TJX, the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, famous for attracting shoppers looking for brand name merchandise at bargain prices, likely regrets adopting the same frugal philosophy for their own corporate network security.

Today, TJX settled a lawsuit brought by 41 states for $9.75 million arising from a breach of its system in January 2007, exposing over 45 million credit and debit account information. The breach happened over an 18 month period when hackers were able to exploit a hole in TJX's wifi network, created by TJX's decision to continue using an old encryption protocol, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) instead of  more acceptable standards like WPA (WiFi Protected Access). To understand the gravity of this mistake, you should check the encryption protocol you use for your own personal wireless network. You'll find that you use WPA even for your own home network. It's foolish at best, and criminal at worst, that TJX would have used an old encryption protocol when it held customer financial information. TJX is like those homes whose signal you pick up because they have an unsecured network, and you start moving closer to improve the signal strength.

TJX's collosal mistake has been a slow, continuous bleed. It already settled a separate lawsuit by banks in December 2007 for $41 million, and several consumer class action lawsuits. Beyond the monetary penalties, TJX will continue to lose uncalculable equity in the world of public opinion and with consumers who are afraid to lose their private information.

You do not have to repeat TJX's myopic business decisions. There are numerous, affordable technologies to secure data sitting in every nook and cranny of your corporate network. Most of these technologies are available on a SaaS delivered business model so there is no excuse not to secure your data... today. You may regret what happens tomorrow. Ask TJX.

Enhance Data Security with Outlook and Email Plug-ins

by Alex Teu

With data privacy and security high on corporate IT's mind, every security consultant, solutions provider and blogger is coming out with a top 5 or top 10 in how to deal with this critical issue. It would not surprise me if David Letterman came out with his own Top 10 List (okay, maybe I would be a tad surprised).

Uniformly, these security checklists focus on a lockdown approach. Encrypt everything, use only plain text, use only IMAP, ban personal email, disallow instant messaging -- you get the message. I'd like to suggest a novel approach: Incentivize company employees not to go outside the company prescribed methods of file transfer. In other words, make it easy and give them every reason to follow company policy.

For example, many employees -- especially the Gen X and Y -ers -- have at their ready disposal some combination of personal email account like Gmail or Hotmail, instant messaging, and Facebook and Twitter, or sometimes all of the above (me: guilty as charged). A company may try to prohibit use of these rogue communication channels, enforce best practices with punitive consequences, and even employ a technology to block employee access. However, like the protesters in Iran over the recent Presidential Elections who got the word out to the world over Twitter despite a government crackdown on traditional communications, people will find a way.

Now, let's take an opposite tack. Suppose you can provide a secure, encrypted solution that's integrated seamlessly with your email client so that the end user does not have to do anything complicated like pressing another button or compress files or certifying keys. Better yet, make it so that end users do not do anything differently at all than what they're used to doing: clicking SEND. And then incentivize end users from using other channels by enabling them to send files of any format and any size.

This is exactly the scenario that is possible for IT administrators who use the LeapFILE Desktop Suite that includes an Outlook plugin which eliminates the security and size limitations of Exchange. Achieve complete security with all carrot, and no stick. And end complaints and support tickets because of large files and blocked emails. Talk about having your carrot cake and eating it, too.

Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Email For File Transfer (Part 1/3)

by Tony Yang

In today's global business environment, email may be the most critical communication tool for a company. Countless messages are fired off worldwide everyday, and while the emails containing just text usually find their destination, things aren't so certain for emails carrying attachments. File-size caps, server hiccups, spam filters – all of these can derail an email as it tries to reach its destination.

For the casual home user, the occasional email problem might be acceptable. For business, however, the delivery of time-sensitive files is absolutely critical for both meeting deadlines and maintaining day-to-day operations .

Part of the problem is that it's so easy to attach a file to an email - just point, click, and hit send. Most users don't understand the problems that can occur when sending files as attachments, but IT departments know it well: file- size problems, security issues, lack of tracking and reliability, etc. That's why email issues take up so much time for help desks in companies worldwide.

The need to transfer business files will never go away; in fact, it will only become more critical. What does that mean for the use of email attachments as a primary file-transfer method? If a company wants to ensure safe and timely delivery of critical files, then perhaps it's time to look for an alternative to email for transferring files. Here are the top five reasons why email shouldn’t be used for file transfer.

#1:   Email can’t support large file attachments
#2:   Updating email infrastructure can wreck IT budgets
#3:   Large files mean slow systems
#4:   Email systems aren’t secure enough
#5:   Email transfer is unreliable, untraceable, and can’t be guaranteed

Reason #1: Email can't support large file attachments

The following scenario has played out in offices around the world countless times. At the end of the day, a dedicated employee finishes a large document or presentation, attaches the file in an email, and hits send. The file whisks away into cyberspace and the relieved employee goes home for the day -- only to see a bounce-back email in his inbox the next morning, along with frenetic messages asking where the file is. One company’s email server might have a different attachment size limit from the destination server; thus, even though an internal email server will accept a file, it could still bounce back due to target restrictions. That unknown variable can be a great risk to business, especially during crunch time.

Even if they make it through, large files suck up significant storage space in several ways: in the recipient’s inbox, in the sender’s Sent folder, and in Trash/Deleted folders. This leads to over-quota problems, creating a chain reaction of logistical problems:

• Once an inbox is over quota, it will bounce back any messages sent to it, thus preventing critical communication.
• During this time, frantic IT support calls spike.
• The removal of old messages to free up storage space can result in the deletion of messages/files needed later on. When that happens, more calls are made to IT support.

From bounced-back emails to storage issues, just about everyone in the company is affected when large files are emailed. In the end, this winds up hurting the bottom line and costing staff productivity – something no business can afford to lose.

Please stay tuned for future posts on other reasons why you shouldn't use email for file transfer.

Join our live webinar on Thursday, July 9th at 10AM PT to learn more about this topic and how LeapFILE provides an easy and secure way to email large files without size or security limitations.

Webinar:  5 Reasons Why Email Should Not Be Used For File Transfer
Date:        Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Time:       10:00AM - 10:45AM Pacific Time
Cost:         Free
Register:  Click here

At the AICPA Tech+ Conference, It's All About Substance and Expertise, Not the Bling Bling

by Alex Teu

I just returned from the AICPA Tech+ Conference in Las Vegas, and confirmed that customers like substance and expertise. Cynics might argue that trade show and conference attendees go for the exotic locales or simply to "officially" take some time off away from the office. Or, to take the opportunity to bring the spouse and kids for a family vacation.

I say to those cynics that there is nothing wrong with receiving this ancillary benefit, especially when it was patently clear that attendees came to the AICPA Tech+ Conference to sincerely learn about the newest technologies and best practices that can help their practice. I noticed that most attendees had the staying power to endure the entire day's activities from 7 am to 6 pm, and even longer if they wanted to enjoy the evening mixers. Perhaps "endure" is not the right word when they were truly motivated by interest and desire to learn. "Endure" is definitely the wrong word when you consider the speakers at the show, and then it becomes clear why attendees rushed off to make certain sessions. I was able to attend sessions from David Cieslak, Randy Johnston and Chris Spivey. The attendance for each session was full, with standing room only and some sitting on the floor in the back. I am happy to report that I now know a little something about ETL ("Extract, Transform, Load"), some basics about setting up my own virtualized desktop, and the latest and greatest security technologies.

Here at LeapFILE, we seek to develop our customer base with the same approach. Focus on education and consultation. Knowing our customers and their business contexts and the nuanced work flow problems that arise. Provide suggestions on best practices and provide expertise on security compliance. 

Substance. Expertise. What a novel marketing concept.

Weekly Webinars for End Users and Administrators

by Charanjit Gill

We constantly ask our customers what we can do to help them maximize their use of LeapFILE. The common echo that comes up is the end user/administrator product training and the clear understanding of how to best set up and use LeapFILE in their workflow process. While our engineering team is busy working on the latest and greatest version of LeapFILE, the Client Service Team is pleased to announce something that should help.

We will now run regularly scheduled webinars for our users & administrators. The goal behind this initiative is to:

• Provide training to end users on how to install & use LeapFILE Desktop Client and Outlook plug-in effectively
• Train the Trainer - Educate the trainers/IT administrators about LeapFILE administration features, including account setup options, audit trail logs and reporting features so that their users can get the best out of LeapFILE while complying with the company's corporate security policy.
• Demonstrate the seamless Active Directory integration, showing the administrators how LeapFILE user management can be easy & seamless, and how their users can log into LeapFILE with their AD credentials and start using LeapFILE right away.

Register for any available session now by clicking here:

• Every Tuesday - End user training [11:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT]
• Every Wednesday - LDAP Integration [11:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT]
• Every Thursday - LeapFILE administrators[11:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT]

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the webinar.

If you find this useful, please let us know. Share your ideas.  Tell the world what has worked for you.  Meet other fellow LeapFILE'rs.   LeapFILE is here to provide dedicated customer service & support.