H1N1 Past Peak…For Now

The World Health Organization announced last month that the second wave of the H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic had abated slightly after reaching its height in the United States in November.  However, the organization warned of additional waves of the pandemic event and claimed that the event will likely linger through 2010 and perhaps 2011.

A characteristic of most pandemic events is that they come in waves.  The United States have already seen two waves of the H1N1 outbreak, the first coming in April through early June, and the second taking place as autumn arrived.  Viruses typically mutate over time, such as the Tamiflu-resistant strain that spread in small circles this fall, but they typically do not change so dramatically that someone who has already had the virus or a vaccine would become ill again.  Once the majority of the general population has developed an immunity toward the virus (through infection or immunization), the virus typically returns to patterns similar to the seasonal flu.

Effective pandemic planning strategies take into account additional waves of pandemic outbreak.  Many measures taken by organizations in response to the last two waves of 2009 H1N1 have readied businesses for an additional wave of H1N1 or an appropriate response to the feared H5N1 (avian) flu virus, which has not been widespread, but is feared to be more virulent.

GraVoc Associates, Inc., based in Peabody, MA, is dedicated to providing customers with solutions in the fields of information security, information systems, and professional services.  Serving Greater Boston, New England, and beyond since 1994, GraVoc offers pandemic planning services to ensure that your organization is prepared to respond to widespread illness, supply chain interruptions due to a pandemic event, and widespread employee absenteeism.  For more information about GraVoc, please visit GraVoc.com.  For previous blog posts on H1N1 on the GraVoc News Blog, please click here.

Buddy List Blues

In a recent whitepaper issued by MessageLabs, a division of Symantec, security risks surrounding instant messaging within a company are addressed in vivid detail.  The document, entitled “Bullet-proofing Instant Messaging,” claims that 80% of “corporate or enterprise users” utilized an instant messaging service.  While the practice of instant messaging opens up the possibility of many efficient opportunities in business processes, such as instant file transfer and rapid communication that allows multi-tasking more than the telephone does, users of instant messaging either on a business level or a personal level know that many risks come associated with it as well.

Some of the risks involved include the following:

• Quick spread of worms and malware from clicking links and automatically downloading files.
• Transfer of corrupted/untrusted files.
• Insecure access controls – IM services typically do not require industry-standard authentication procedures in terms of password strength or multifactor authentication.
• Liabilities with file sharing and copyright infringement:  If a user’s “buddy” sends, for example, an illegally-downloaded music file to the user, both the user and the company could be liable for copyright infringement.
• Perhaps most importantly, cleartext transfer of potentially confidential data.  Unlike internal email, this information typically does travel outside the organization’s firewall.

The document also outlines a variety of solutions to mitigate the risk that comes with instant messaging as a business solution.  Predictably (as it is their product), MessageLabs promotes software-as-a-service solutions as a way to secure instant messaging platforms.  They also mention options such as internally-developed secure IM platforms so that employees can IM each other from within the network.  Perhaps the most practical solution, however, is employee diligence:  If employees are careful about their behavior and the behavior of others surrounding their use of instant messaging, or of an organization strongly discourages instant messaging, opting to use email as a comparable mode of communication, many of the risks surrounding this practice can be reduced.

GraVoc Associates, Inc., located in Peabody, MA, is dedicated to providing solutions to its customers in Greater Boston, New England, and beyond through the use of technology.  Specializing in the practices of information systems, professional services, and information security, GraVoc occasionally uses the GraVoc News Blog as a way to call customers’ and visitors’ attention to relevant, engaging topics such as this one.  For more information on the company, please visit the GraVoc website at http://www.gravoc.com.

DivergingSoul Now Part of GraVoc

Effective January 1, 2010, DivergingSoul Media Productions is now a division of GraVoc Associates, Inc. This is an exciting milestone as these two companies become one and GraVoc’s staff increases to twenty with the addition of DivergingSoul’s Brian Gravel and Matt Molk. DivergingSoul has served both individuals and businesses since 2006 in the fields of audio and visual media production, web design, and creative marketing strategies.

DivergingSoul brings an additional creative influence to GraVoc, who currently serves Greater Boston, New England, and beyond in the fields of information systems, professional services, and information security. Some of the services DivergingSoul brings to the table include the DS2 Network, which leverages digital signage in high-traffic areas, and Web 2.0 services, which use creative strategies and the use of user-friendly technologies (such as blogs like this one, Facebook, RSS feeds, etc.) to promote a company’s message and web presence.

GraVoc President/CEO David Gravel considers the merger a logical step in line with industry demands: “There is a blurring of the lines between the technology practices,” he said. “More and more of our customers are asking us to be able to support their web and training needs. In that light, the merge with DivergingSoul is natural as it further extends our ability to address our customers’ needs.”

“We’ve had a strong working relationship in the past and we are looking forward to a new chapter in our company’s history,” said DivergingSoul co-founder Brian Gravel. “The worlds of IT and AV have been rapidly merging together and the combination of DivergingSoul and GraVoc will create a one-stop solution for media and information solutions.”

DivergingSoul will keep its brand identity while operating as a division of GraVoc: This is currently reflected on the revamped divergingsoul.com. More information about the services offered by GraVoc’s newest practice is also contained on the website.

As a result of the merger, the GraVoc website has undergone some changes in look and functionality. To see these changes, learn more about GraVoc, or learn more about GraVoc’s newest division, please visit http://www.gravoc.com.

Practicing What You Preach

Earlier this fall, I gave a short presentation on how the GraVoc News Blog had become a useful marketing tool for our organization because it helped show prospects, customers, and even competitors that GraVoc was a legitimate company with its finger on the pulse of its customers’ interests and concerns.

Shortly after the presentation the GraVoc News Blog had gone radio silent.  This is evidenced by the quantity of blog posts available in our archives for the month of November.  This illustrates that in order for the blog to continue as a useful tool, it requires constant nurturing, time, and attention.  My attention during this time shifted to other matters at hand, and the credibility of the blog suffered.

However, improvement is possible.  I wrote the last three blog posts, including this one, while snowed in earlier this month and unable to travel to work.  There was a limited amount of work I could do at the time, and I used my time effectively by going back and maintaining the blog by putting future posts into the draft section to be published later.  If I can juggle my responsibilities and maintain this space, a member of your organization can do that as well.  Roughly one hour a week is all it takes to turn your opinion or observations into a valuable marketing asset.

GraVoc Associates, Inc., a full-service technology consulting firm located in Peabody, MA, has served Greater Boston, New England, and beyond for over fifteen years in a wide variety of technology-related services, including the fields of information security, information systems, and professional services.  One of the services offered, is consulting on making media such as a blog work for your business’s marketing plan by proving your firm’s expertise and by enhancing your search engine optimization.  For more information, please see http://www.GraVoc.com or http://www.divergingsoul.com.

Also, please stay tuned to this blog on Thursday for a major announcement.

Warm Holiday Wishes from GraVoc

The entire GraVoc organization would like to take this time to send the best holiday wishes to all of our customers, vendors, families, and friends. 

GraVoc On Facebook

For those who do not personally institute a “No Facebook At Work” or even a “No Facebook At All” policy, GraVoc invites you to visit the company’s new Facebook fan page.  From the page, you will soon be able to view basic information about the company, connect with fellow customers/fans/well-wishers of the business, and have current posts of the GraVoc News Blog show up on your news feed.

Despite our expansion into this form of social media, GraVoc will not spam fans’ inboxes and will make all possible efforts to avoid the use of poor grammar, nonexistent punctuation, and web-speak acronyms.  The GraVoc Associates Facebook Fan Page is available here.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, based in Peabody, MA, specializes in providing technology-based solutions to small-to-midsized businesses in the fields of information systems, professional services, and information technology.  One of the services provided includes establishing your business’s web presence.  It is celebrating over fifteen years of business serving companies in a wide range of industries in Greater Boston, New England, and beyond.  For more information regarding the company, please visit GraVoc.com.

Northeast Ice Storm Anniversary (Part 2)

Note:  This is the second installment of a reflection on last year’s ice storm that devastated northern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and southern Maine.  For the first installment, please refer to this link.

While many employees of a firm see a snowy day or a loss of power such as the loss of power due to the 2008 ice storm as an unexpected and welcomed day off, it is a burden on the company at large.  It means lost revenue, customers without service, and still the same expenses:  Those very same employees celebrating the day off are still expected to get paid their salaries.  This is why it is so important to have a plan both written and ready to launch to minimize disaster-related downtime.  Customers, like those waiting for power in New Hampshire last year, won’t “just understand” that a business they are relying on doesn’t have their act together in the face of disaster.

Just as important if not moreso is the lesson unfortunately learned by Unitil.  The utilities company suffered irreversible reputational damage as a result to the slow response to the 2008 ice storm disaster.  Unitil is now either a punch line or a swear word in those areas of New Hampshire and Massachusetts that lost power for so long last year.  The business will now have to continue to dig themselves out of a hole to survive.  There is no doubt that the state of New Hampshire will be investigating Unitil’s past BCP to find out what went wrong last year, as well as its new one to determine whether there will be provisions in place to prevent a repeat of this week last year. 

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service technology consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA.  GraVoc has served Greater Boston, New England, and beyond for over fifteen years in the fields of information systems, information security, and professional services.  GraVoc’s disaster recovery/business continuity consulting has served, among other clients, many clients in the highly-regulated financial services industry, which provides a high standard for business continuity compliance.  For more information, please visit the GraVoc website at www.GraVoc.com.