March 25, 2009

Second Line Saves GraVoc a Day of Business

As described in the last GraVoc news item, the company’s website was temporarily out of service, as a car hit a utility pole a few blocks from GraVoc’s Peabody, MA offices. The accident resulted in GraVoc’s T1 line going out of service thirty minutes into what was scheduled to be a busy day of business, including Microsoft Dynamics AX training for a client.

GraVoc was able to continue business largely interrupted, however, as the business also utilizes a broadband connection that did not run through the affected utility pole. GraVoc’s systems were switched from the T1 connection to the broadband connection, and instead of delaying the training and being unable to access the Internet, GraVoc was able to continue with minimal interruption and very little lost time.

The GraVoc.com website was dependent on the T1 line and was therefore out of commission for slightly longer.

In terms of business continuity planning, GraVoc was prepared to deal with the event of the traffic accident and had workaround procedures in place to continue operations while the T1 line was disabled. While many businesses focus more on blizzards, hurricanes, fires, or earthquakes in business continuity planning, smaller and more likely events such as this accident can disrupt business just as much. A similar incident took place at a client business less than two weeks ago.

This event also reinforces the importance of having a secondary line of communication between a business’s offices and the outside world. Without the broadband line, GraVoc would have sacrificed almost a full day of business operations. Like its clients, GraVoc does not have time available to fret about communication systems being out of commission. Thanks to business continuity preparedness, GraVoc was able to salvage a productive day without a main communication line.

Among a wide range of services, GraVoc Associates, Inc. specializes in helping clients design business continuity plans so that procedures are in place to resume business as quickly as possible following a disaster. Based in Peabody, MA, GraVoc is celebrating fifteen years of serving small businesses in the Boston area and beyond with information system implementation, technological services, information security, and financial consulting. For more information, please visit GraVoc.com (which is back up and running) or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

March 23, 2009

GraVoc.com Unexpected Outage

Due to a traffic accident down the street from the GraVoc offices, GraVoc.com is currently experiencing an unexpected outage. Business is continuing as usual, however, and customers should still be able to reach GraVoc through the telephone at 978-538-9055.

The issues with the GraVoc website should be resolved by the end of the day today (Monday). Thank you for your patience.

March 4, 2009

New MGL 93-H Deadline: January 1, 2010

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has again pushed back the date at which the new Massachusetts General Law 93-H goes into effect. The new date is January 1, 2010.

MGL 93-H is better known as the "Massachusetts Data Protection Law."

A press release from the OCABR is available here.

Massachusetts General Laws 93-H and 93-I are generally considered the toughest laws in the nation regarding identity theft prevention. This law requires businesses containing either paper or electronic files with personal identifiable information to have a comprehensive information security policy. The specification of the information security policy are available in PDF format here.

Governor Deval Patrick announced the impending enforcement of this law last fall and GraVoc Associates, Inc. was one of the first firms to address the law’s tough standards. Starting in November, GraVoc began offering services to help small businesses safeguard its customers’ and employees’ personal information and comply with MGL 93-H. Since, the OCABR has given businesses more time to undertake 93-H compliance efforts, pushing back the January 1, 2009 deadline to May 1, 2009, and now to January 1, 2010.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, a full-service consulting firm based in Peabody, MA, is celebrating 15 years of business in Greater Boston and throughout New England. A versatile business, GraVoc offers a wide range of services in the fields of information systems, information technology, financial services, and information security. For more information on GraVoc, please visit GraVoc.com or call GraVoc’s offices at 978-538-9055.

March 3, 2009

GraVoc Software Website Unveiled

In an effort to make customers and potential customers aware of what GraVoc can do for them, GraVoc has taken tremendous strides to increase their online presence.  In the last few months, GraVoc.com got a complete makeover, the company has launched this news blog, and now the company is proud to unveil the NEW GraVocSoftware.com.

The new GraVoc Software.com has a comprehensive selection of GraVoc Software products which range from streamlining field service operations, to property management for landlords, to fourteen different add-ons to the Microsoft Dynamics GP enterprise resource planning solution.  This is by no means an all-inclusive list, as the full spectrum of GraVoc Software offerings is available on the new GraVocSoftware.com.

From the website, a visitor is able to see screen shots of various products and view the features that separate GraVoc’s software solutions from others in the market.  The website can also direct a user to contact GraVoc’s Peabody, MA-based offices to gather more information or to schedule live demonstrations.

A special thanks to DivergingSoul Media Production for spearheading the GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com projects.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, and is celebrating fifteen years of providing innovative solutions to clients in the fields of information systems, information technology, information security, and financial consulting.  For more information regarding GraVoc, please visit the new GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com, or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.