Redmond Bound!

I'll be heading out this weekend to attend the MVP Summit at Microsoft in Washington.  This is my second opportunity to attend this event, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and catching up with some of the MVPs I met last year.  (Though I admit, I'm not looking forward to the chilly, wet weather.)  Meanwhile, enjoy the next few days and perhaps I'll have some stories to tell when I return!

Check out the Malware Response Guide

Microsoft recently published the new Malware Response Guide, officially known as the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Malware Response. 

I reviewed this guide in its beta stages a few months ago and it was a great read and a very useful guide.  If you have limited "official" procedures in place for handling infections on workstations, this is a great way to start that discussion with team members and use some of the tools mentioned to develop a plan that is specific to your organization.

I think the structure is well thought out and very logical. One can easily switch to the course of action that fits the needs of the user and the organization, as well as follow the instructions for preparing an offline scanning kit. I also appreciate the recommendations for additional reading so that I can go more in depth for the products I'm using.

While this guide likely won't change my organizations use of a third-party solution at this time, it greatly complements it by providing other tools from Microsoft that can support my existing tools, or give me an alternate set of tools if my vendor isn't as quick to produce a particular solution for new malware.

I think this guide shows that Microsoft is willing to support systems in all types of scenarios and the information is not written to exclude organizations who aren't committed to only Microsoft software. It provides great processes and talking points to bring any organization closer to having a more cohesive malware response plan.  Take a moment to download it and check it out.

Interesting Vendors and Products from SPTechCon

Last week, I popped over to the SPTechCon Expo Hall to check out some of the SharePoint related products that are available.  I’m relatively new to SharePoint, so this seemed like a great opportunity learn more about other ways to take advantage of SharePoint.

There were a lot of vendors that concentrated on using SharePoint as a document management solution, but that’s not an area I’m seriously considering for our SharePoint installation.  Primarily, I was looking for management tools since maintaining SharePoint is one of many things I manage on a day-to-day basis, so making things simpler is always a plus.

Here are a few products I might be looking at more closely this year:

AvePoint DocAve for SharePoint – AvePoint has a suite of products that are geared toward administration, data protection, compliance and migration.  Tools that catch my eye are their Administrator, SharePoint Antivirus, Report Center, Backup and Restore, Auditor and Migrator.

Commvault’s Simpana 9 – An information management software that touts up to 50% reduction in storage costs, 90% reduction of redundant data and 50% faster backups.  It includes modules for e-discovery, deduplication, records management and data archiving.  Works with file servers, email, SharePoint and a host of other places you store data, regardless of if that is on physical or virtual devices. 

MetaVis Migrator for SharePoint – Support migration from SharePoint 2010, 2007 and 2003, Exchange public folders and other file systems into the other SharePoint installations using a Windows Explorer interface. 

Later this week I’ll be hitting the expo floor at RSA in search of products to secure email. 

Thoughts from She’s Geeky: Being “Present” Despite Technology

One of the great sessions I attended at She’s Geeky unConference was one on “Being Present” in what you are doing, even though smart phones, email and other technologies clamor for our attention multiple times a day.

I admit that my BlackBerry is never far from my side.  Work emails, personal emails, Twitter and even Facebook raise alerts on my phone on a pretty regular basis.  It’s often hard to ignore them, especially when I’m known for responding quickly.  Not only do I feel like I’m staying current with what’s going on in my life and helping those that need my attention, random alerts from the device are equivalent to the intermittent reward system that makes slot machines so popular and addictive.  

It’s true – each little beep and ding give us a shot of chemicals in the brain that keep us wanting more and clearly many of us keep going back for it.  It’s now the “norm” for smart phones to take their place on the restaurant table next to the salt and pepper shakers.

I know what did it for me – unlimited texting. Texting quickly became my preferred mode of communicating.  Quick and to the point when I needed that, but also a way to have long random conversations with friends over the course of the day.  I perceived it as a way to be LESS intrusive than a phone call.  The receiver of the message could respond when they had the time.  But really, it became the best way for me to NOT have to be fully engaged with the person I was communication with.  I could text at my leisure – meanwhile researching a project, organizing my desk, or completing other tasks that I wouldn’t be able to do if I was on a phone call.

Soon that “polite” nudge of text message became a driving force to steal my attention and I’ve let it. And it just opened the door for emails and tweets and other alerts.  I’m a slave to my smart phone.  You probably are too.  Don’t deny it.

So how do we break the chain?  Screen-free days where we put down the phones and iPads and walk away from the computer?  I don’t know if I can do that for 24 hours, honestly.  How about dialing down the notifications on your phone?  Or declaring a room or area of your home “phone free”? 

I’m going to try a few things: I’m starting out by turning off the sounds for Facebook alerts and all emails.  I will also put it on vibrate or silent when I go to bed at night.  And maybe when I’m home I’ll find one central place to put it, instead of moving it around as I move around.  And of course, I need to be more aware of when I’m denying someone who’s in front of me my full attention – the phone needs to stay off the dinner table at my house.

Do you have other suggestions for staying “present” while your devices beckon?  Leave a comment.