Perfect together describes the relationship between the accounting profession and information technology. If you think about all the job categories that have been positively impacted and enhanced by the power of information technology, accounting would be near the top.

Who are you wearing? That is the famous question reporters often ask celebrities as they traverse the red carpet on the way to their awards shows. But soon that might not be a question just asked of New Jersey stars like Jon Bon Jovi, Eli Manning and others, but of you and me as well.

Due to significant advances in networking and mobile technologies, more and more people are working remotely—client locations, hotels, home offices and backyard garden swings. As company IT infrastructures become more decentralized, keeping company computers, mobile devices and data secure has become much more challenging.

As the winter is in full swing, we’re all probably dreaming of warm and sunny islands and wishing we could work from there remotely. These days, the possibility exists, and the real question is how to do it best.

When clients tell us they want to work remotely, we always have to ask “What do you want to do?” There are many options out there and we strive to select the one that will best meet your needs.

We’ve all (or almost all) become reliant on our smartphones for so much that we take them everywhere. And now that summer is here and we are outside more, we’re happy to share some tips about Smart Summer Sense for Smartphones:

No Sun

Okay, we are not recommending lathering up your device with sunblock, but we are advocating exposing your phone to as little sun as possible.

Do you often travel for business and stay in hotels or motels? Or, maybe sometimes you travel for pleasure? You likely lock your hotel room door after you enter it. But if you are spending time in your room surfing the Internet using the free hotel Wi-Fi, you may have left that virtual door to the outside world wide open, leaving you and your data very vulnerable.

Allow employees to work from home. With gas prices soaring and employees traveling more than ever, the “virtual” office is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury. Allowing employees to work virtually from home or on the road will not only increase productivity, but also save you (and them!) on gas.

Wi-Fi access has come to be seen as a universal right by many. With so many of us using Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices these days, it is easy to understand why so many see it as a right. But even if that is true, does someone have the right to access YOUR Wi-Fi? The answer is no.

You’ve done ALL the things you need to do to prepare your business for winter weather:

Gotten rid of the leaves on the property and the roof
Cleared all drains to reduce possibilities of leaks
Arranged for snow plowing services for parking areas
Secured a snow thrower or shovels and a cache of ice melt to clear the sidewalks
Shut off all the outdoor faucets so no pipes freeze
Ensured that your fire system anti-freeze loops are serviced
Placed tall identifying markers adjacent to fire hydrants
Adjusted light timers inside and out to account for shorter daylight hours

BUT…have you done these things?

Planned for how staff will operate if access to the building is unavailable or if the power is out
Tested your remote access to your servers, data and email in advance
Made sure your servers are off the floor and secure
Ensured you have quality surge protectors with uninterruptible power supply batteries in place
Backed up all your data and made it available for your use remotely
Prepared a disaster recovery and/or business continuity plan and shared the appropriate pieces of the plan with your staff?

If you need help in any of these areas, give us a call.

Sony, Home Depot, Target.    All are big companies with huge market value, large customer databases, strong brand names and plenty of budget to spend on data security.  The same cannot be said for organizations in the small business community.   But are there lessons from these breaches that can provide learning to the owner or manager of a small business?  Yes, there certainly are.