One topic that is featured is the X-Arcade Tankstick for playing retro computer games using MAME.  I am partial to Defender and I have one of these rather large consoles as Defender is not playable without all the right controls.

The magazine also featured 13 niche Linux distro’s.  Ubuntu Satanic Edition made me chuckle, especially with release numbers of 666.

The sysadmin section talked about Guestfish which looks interesting as it allows you to interrogate virtual machines from the command line.

In the hotpicks section, Seahorse was given a mention as a way of saving passwords securely for sites.

There was a good article on recovering lost files using tools such as TestDisk and PhotoRec.

There was also a couple of good articles on PHP and Python programming.

We build all of our startup websites using WordPress along with a theme as it provides the most cost effective way to get a professional website up and running AND allow the customer to be fully in control of their site and content.

We’ve just added a mobile plugin to the Sapien website which means that users from mobile devices such as iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and Android will get a view of the site customised for their device.  This will speed up browsing on those devices and also optimise data usage.  Users can switch to the full site at any time.  Desktop users will get the full site as before.

Time to implement – < 5 minutes!

Call Sapien IT on 01223 852 872 if you are interested in our startup website package or you want to explore moving your site to a flexible platform.

My train suffered a further setback.  The brakes somehow got stuck on which meant the train could not move.  We had to wait for a very long time for the train to be collected by another train.

So far I’ve been on the train for over 2 and a half hours.  I’m not complaining though as I’ve been surprisingly productive.

Here is what I’ve managed to achieve on the train so far, leveraging Cloud technology:

1. Write this blog entry! (WordPress)
2. Collect and respond to emails – (Hosted exchange / Office 365)
3. Receive missed call information from my VoIP system with voice mails attached to the email (I chose not to divert calls to my mobile as I wasn’t sure if signal was strong enough for calls and also I don’t like chatting a lot in busy carriages).
4. Raise invoices. (Curdbee billing)
5. Check bank statements.
6. Read and create documents. (Syncplicity)
7. Create a new wordpress site. (Using my virtual server)

Amazon have had a lot of publicity with their cloud storage and elastic computing model.  It is mind bending to think that you can create new instances of servers / computers with a few mouse clicks.  No longer do you have to get quotes, wait for hardware, then hire a specialist to install and maintain.

VoIP has also received a lot of publicity and with a resonable internet connection, it works perfectly and gives you amazing flexibility that you wouldn’t find in most high end phone systems.

One feature of cloud computing that seems to be missing the headlines, is the Fax Machine.  Many people still need to use faxes for receiving signed contracts or sending documents to people who don’t use email.  A number of people have a fax machine that is old, cumbersome and has weird controls that to be honest you simply don’t need.  They also take up a huge amount of desk space.

Imagine your fax machine in the cloud.  It doesn’t take up any desk space, doesn’t need feeding with paper and is always on and never jams!  Even better, you can port your existing fax number over.

The system works by sending you an email with an attachment when you receive a fax.  You can have the email sent to any email address you like.

Sending faxes is a snap – simply send an email with the number of the fax that you want to send the document to and voilà, your fax is sent.  No longer do you have to stand over the fax machine waiting for the fax to be sent.

Three key things have been happening:

Hosted / Cloud services

We have had an influx of customers for our hosted / cloud services.  We are finding that clients are getting used to the concept of the cloud and can see ways that the cloud can make their business and their workforce more productive and in turn their businesses more profitable.  I won’t mention any client names here, however we have helped several businesses move to the cloud and they are quite simply amazed by the ease of migration and how little impact the move to cloud has on their current workflow.  In all cases, it has made their day to day work easier.  VoIP – Voice over IP / IP Telephony continues to grow at a rapid rate.  Hosted Exchange / Outlook 2010 / Outlook Web Access / Office 365 is a no-brainer and keeps people in a familiar working environment.  Out hosted file server is a god send as it allows people to work with files in the same way that they always have with the benefit of keeping co-workers up to date with changes without having to do anything.  Most of our clients are from Cambridge and surrounding areas, however we are seeing an increasing influx of clients from London.

Software Development

Our software development practice continues to grow.  We have recently taken on a project to interface with some fairly complex SOAP API’s.  We realise that new API’s are moving towards the REST protocol, API’s written a few years ago, tend to use SOAP.  We are writing API interface code using Python and the SUDS SOAP library.  SUDS hasn’t let us down yet – it is able to handle multiple endpoints, complex data types and has a nice pythonic interface.  Excellent for discovery as we get to grips with the API.

Cloud consultancy

A Cambridge based business approached us and asked how the Cloud could help their business.  This has led to a journey of discovery for us both.  The business wants to expand using low cost offshore resources however have an incumbent office based IT infrastructure.  Additionally, the processes and workflows are disjointed as they have stitched together many different systems.  We have recommended that they move to Brightpearl which is a hosted end to end sales order processing and fulfilment system.  We have also recommended that they leverage Zoho Reports for data mining.

Fixed Cost Websites

Our fixed cost websites are appealing to businesses during the economic slowdown.  A combination of WordPress, Theme and the ability to edit your own website without incurring additional charges is a compelling formula.

Hardware Upgrades

We are finding that a number of businesses have held on to their infrastructure way beyond the recommended three years.  With the imminent date when Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP, businesses are taking the plunge and switching to Windows 7.  Dell, which is our preferred supplier of choice, has some good offers at the moment.

Feel free to talk to us about anything.  If you want to understand cloud or hosted services, then feel free to talk to us whilst enjoying the warm British Weather.

July 2011 – Interesting Picks From Linux Format

We thought you may like to read about what we found interesting from the latest edition of Linux Format.

Cover CD

We loaded up the latest version of Ubuntu in Virtual Box.  We were hoping to try out the new Unity interface, however, Ubuntu reported that our hardware was not good enough to run.  Back to the same old boring brown with some purple then.  It’s fair to say that Ubuntu is fairly consistent, however, for us as a GUI, it doesn’t cut it yet for our customers.  We tried using Linux Mint which is a derivative of Ubuntu at last years Cambridge On Ice – everything worked fine apart from printing for some reason slowed down significantly or didn’t work after the first few print runs.  Don’t know why, however it was a quick change for Windows XP Pro and ticket printing resumed at the usual rate.

Blue Griffon

Blue Griffon looked interesting as a website editor.  We haven’t had time to download and test drive yet, however Linux Format gave the software 8/10.

Ratpoison

We’ve seen Ratpoison before.  As a person who likes keyboard shortcuts and hates toolbars, this distro appeals to me!

Hackers

Hackers is a book (also available on the kindle) which scores an amazing 10/10 with Linux Format.  Hacking is a term which has become synonymous with computer crime.  We call that cracking.  Hacking for us is the ability to look at a problem and think of all the pieces that need to come together to solve.  True Hacking and the open software movement was all in that spirit – allow us to re-use code to progress and improve and solve new problems.

Forgotten password

There was a snippet on how to recover a forgotten root password on Linux.  I’ve paraphrased it here – credit goes to the Linux Format team.

• Boot as far as the Grub menu
• Highlight the usual boot option and press E to edit
• Add rw single to the options and boot. (This boots in single user mode with the root partition mounted read / write.
• Now run passwd (or passwd username on Ubuntu) to set a new password, then reboot.
• If the single user option does not work with your distro, you can easily force the issue by adding rw init=/bin/sh to the boot options.  This bypasses the standard Linux init system entirely.

Given how easy it is to change the root password, you may want to think of different way of securing your system!

There is no doubt that running your own business is a very exciting and challenging.

Running a business usually involves seeking advice in a number of areas.  Quite often, people are in such a hurry that they don’t seek the right advice.  For example if you don’t speak with an accountant, you may end up paying too much tax or be involved in an investigation from the HMRC if you are not keeping the right books and records.  If you don’t seek the help of a lawyer, you may end up signing agreements with suppliers and business partners that won’t stand up should you need to pursue issues.

Seek Advice Before You Make Website, Email and Server Decisions

Technology decisions are equally important.  It’s very easy to logon to the internet and start searching, only to be quickly bewildered by an array of advice, products and services that claim to solve all of your problems.  Some services may also be free, or costs pence per month.  You are just starting a new business; you want to save money, should you click?  You can always fix things later?

This is the point that you should seek advice from a company that can listen to what you are trying to achieve with your business and advise you on two or three options that are explained in simple terms and allow you to make a clear distinction between the options.

Some common terms you may come across when searching for your own solution are:

• Email – Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Exchange, Hosted Exchange, Spam Filtering, Cloud
• Files – Backup, Server, Hosted file server, Cloud, Backups, Sharing, Data safe, Data store
• Websites – Domains, Website building tools, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Free, Easy, DNS, Hosting, Design, Templates
• Telephones – PBX, VoIP, Handset, Headset, Mobile, 3G
• Other systems required to run your business – Sage, Invoicing, Mamut, CRM, Zoho CRM, Salesforce, ACT, Microsoft Dynamics, hosted, cloud, Google apps
• Computers – Desktops, Laptops, Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac, Linux, iPad, Notebook, Netbook, Hosted desktop, Remote desktop, Cloud
• Remote access – VPN, Logmein, Cloud, Hosted, Remote desktop, iphone, ipad, blackberry, BES, security

The list is quite bewildering.  Unless you are a technology expert, it’s very difficult to know what you should do and what the right choices are for your business.

You will probably need different solutions at each stage of your business growth.  Starting with the right technology choice will not only take away the worry of not quite knowing which technology to choose, it will help your business grow from day 1.  Additionally, if you choose the right step from day 1, when your business grows, you will be able to build on good foundations.

Making the right choice at the start by seeking advice is in almost all cases easier than trying to make the decision yourself and then having to go back and fix later.  It will also save you money and give you the peace of mind that you have made the right choice for your new business and that you have advice on hand when you want to grow your business or move in to other areas.

Building and managing a technology infrastructure is costly.  Capital must be used to purchase servers. And support contracts put in place for maintaining and keeping the server lights on.

The traditional approach to IT where a server has been placed in the main office along with a telephone PBX has been a solution which has worked well for a number of years.

Changes in staff working locations be it from home or when travelling and expansion to new office locations is challenging the traditional IT approach.

Additionally, maintaining a server is costly and upgrades are time consuming and expensive.  Furthermore, when the server in the office is unavailable through loss of power, hardware failure or virus infections, the whole company is without the ability to access information and communicate with clients.

Cloud computing or hosted services are offering a compelling alternative to traditional IT solutions of installing and maintaining servers and / or a PBX.

Your current setup, working locations, numbers of staff and quality of connectivity will influence how much difference cloud computer or hosted services can help provide resilience for your technology and additionally help empower staff by enabling the right information at the right time wherever they are.

There are a great number services available.  Sound advice would be to ask an IT Support company who has a good knowledge of all services to help understand how your business operates and suggest practical ways that cloud computing and hosted service can help empower your business and staff.

Below is a selection of services that are on offer:

• Remote desktops
• Remote servers
• Email
• File storage
• Telephone systems
• Application e.g. SAGE

A company with good knowledge of traditional IT support and cloud computing and hosted services will be able to quickly help you choose which cloud computing / hosted services are right for your business.

The process of implementing cloud computing and hosted services is usually very straightforward and will not impact your business in any way.  Using a company with a good knowledge of cloud computing and hosted services will help you make a very smooth transition.

Everyone depends on IT for day to day personal and business needs.  IT is as essential as power and heating – without it, our daily business becomes more difficult and time consuming.

Like electricity, IT is expected just to work.  When it stops working, all IT problems should be fixed immediately and at minimal cost.  Additionally, it is the IT persons fault for the problem in the first place and anyone who cannot fix the problem is incompetent!

In short, it’s a tough job to be an IT support person.  They only get called when there is a problem and the people calling usually expect the IT person to instantly understand their problem with minimal detail.

One of the biggest challenges when looking for IT support for your home or business is who to pick?  There are hundreds of IT companies out there – they all seem to be brilliant at everything and the websites all look fantastic.

Below are some of the questions you may want to ask as you evaluate which IT support company to use:

• Location – are they close to your offices and able to attend to issues promptly?
• Years in business – have they been around for a while?
• Skills needed – can they support you now and in the future?

One big factor that should be considered is that the support company will speak with you to really understand what your business is about and what you plan to do in the next few months and longer term.  They should also want to understand what your current challenges are and suggest ways of overcoming them.

Ideally the IT support company should be able to offer alternatives and solutions in a way that makes sense to you and is not full of technical jargon.

Once the IT company understands your business and what you are trying to achieve, they will partner with you to find solutions not only to your day to day problems,  they will be able to suggest ways of helping your business grow through smarter working practices that help you work when you are out of the office or looking to expand.