Did a colleague forward this newsletter? Please email me to join the list and receive your own copy. Blog and Syndicated Articles Please visit the Technology Reflections Blog on the Web for new articles, explainers, and opinion. Here's a sampling of entries made this last month. The Cost of a Data Breach Backup Replacement for Vista Small Business: Exchange or Open Source The Diminishing Importance of Windows Hacking with Google Hackers Strike UltraDNS Neolingo A Zero-Day Flaw/Vulnerability is an exploit that takes place the same day that it becomes publicly known. Essentially, it is a hole in a piece of software that is immediately known and software companies can't issue a patch or fix fast enough to stop it; the attacks come on the day zero of the flaw being identified. Zero-Day Flaws are rapidly spread through the Internet by hacker list servers and mail broadcasts. News and Announcements Mickler & Associates, Inc. welcomes it's newest customer: Wayne Rivers CPA Bugs and Viruses Ho-Hum - it was another dull month on the virus front as nothing significant reared its ugly head, but there are a couple of interesting phishing scams circulating as of late. On April 25, 2007 the IRS warned against phishing scams stating that you paid more in income taxes than necessary and invites you to collect on the refund electronically, through clicking a hyperlink distributed with the email. The IRS confirms that, in fact, they do not notify taxpayers of refunds in this manner.   On May 1, 2007, Fraudwatch.com identified an eBay scam that praised you for your customer service and invites you to join a group of successful sellers on the online auction house. After receiving a fairly credible-looking message from eBay, you're presented with an equally-impressive form for surrendering your personal private information. This scam would play off people who sell products through eBay's channel. Click here to learn more about IT strategy Additional Resources for Technology and Business Professionals Forbes Small Business Contest Want to win a little extra capital for your small business? Enter Forbes' 500-word contest! Winners will receive a cool $100,000 of extra cash if the Forbes' folks like your existing business ideas.  $100 G's for 500 words? Sounds like a great return to me! GotVMail? Ditch your expensive office phone system: use an online service that allows you to setup and manage a virtual phone system for your company, giving your customers the impression that you're bigger than you actually are! It's a virtual phone system for under $10/month; great for small business. HIPAA Help for Small Businesses Provided by the Federal Dept of Health and Human Services, this website can walk you through your covered-entity status and direct you to numerous resources that will help address your compliance obligations.

Technology Reflections is a newsletter sponsored and prepared by Mickler & Associates, Inc. of Battle Ground, Washington.  The newsletter addresses the technology concerns of small business in every day lingo, and reflects on trends, issues, and tips to help your company gain competitive advantage from tech spend. Please feel free to distribute to colleagues and partners.

Tech Strategy and Core Competency

Okay, I want you to think for a minute about what your company does. What key things must your company do to be successful?

Ideas: "Create close customer relationships"; "Provide excellent dining experiences"; "Process claims efficiently and expeditiously"; "Maximize inventory churn"; "Be known as a brilliant salesperson"; "Instill confidence in every report we provide to our customers"; "Be on-time and ready".

If you were to take a piece of paper and write down four things your company does - or should do - to be successful, you would be identifying your company's core competencies.  In order to execute its business strategy, your company must be an expert in doing these four things.  They are central to your ability to carry out your business plan.

This is a good exercise. It's a great idea for you to know what these are.  There shouldn't be too many - not more than five or your business model might be too complex - but there should be more than two lest the value you provide to your customer be easily replicated by others.

Now that you've clearly articulated your core strengths, consider the business activities that support them or enable them.

Conceivably, you could write out a few business processes related to these competencies. Inventory issue and receipt; customer surveys; pre-prepared paperwork; home inspection; prepare invoices; research financial market. Again, you needn't go overboard here - these are the critical processes in your company that enable your core competencies. They should easily come to mind for you.

Good work!

Finally, I'd like you to examine your core competencies and supporting business activities and look to where technology currently plays a role in increasing the speed, accuracy, and reliability of these activities. How could a reduction in error rate improve a core competency? How could web-based self-services improve customer interaction? How could internal automation increase efficiency and economy of scale? Where are potential areas where data confidentiality could be breached? How could you do, what you do, better?

Ask yourself: if this supporting business process was faster, more accurate, more reliable, more secure, more automated - how would that affect this core competency and thoroughly delight my customers?

This exercise is just a part of using technology to improve competitive position.  This is one way that I work with my customers to illustrate how technology investments can improve key business processes and enhance core competency, not just allow you to make spreadsheets, see web pages, and read email. 

Now, you've already done a large chunk of the work here: if you want to explore a little more of what's on that piece of paper, give me a call. I can help you take this exercise to the next level in transforming your business model for measurable competitive results.

Russell P. Mickler, CISSP | MCSE
Principal Consultant, Mickler & Associates, Inc.
360.600.9508 | rmickler@micklerandassociates.com

Dell Bites Microsoft - News at 11

Last week, Dell announced that it would offer Windows XP and a Linux variant called Ubuntu as operating system choices for new PC's. There was such an uproar from its user community that Dell's proverbial arm was twisted in bringing back the legacy options.  Good heavens: offering consumers choices they want - a backlash against Microsoft?

Well, where CEO Ballmer is convinced that pirates from China and Brazil are stealing his software, the consumer activity back in the states would appear fairly troubling.  The number of Vista licenses purchased at retail stores was 59-percent less than the Windows XP licenses for the same period.  However, Microsoft did see a bump on licenses installed on new PC which allowed them to end their 3rd quarter with a 32-percent increase in sales - $14.4 billion - which was $510 million over industry expectations.

So what does this mean to the small business? 

• Consumers have received the message that purchasing a new Vista-Ready PC is a better option than attempting to upgrade a PC to Vista.

• Consumers were generally hesitant to invest in Vista, especially in the first month of sales, or they didn't immediately see the benefits in upgrading as they had with the Windows 2000 - Windows XP transition.

• Dell's announcement offering competitive options to Vista, this could mean even slower adoption of Vista as Microsoft rounds into its 4th quarter. The market isn't encouraging a rapid migration to Vista.

• Small business would be prudent to watch how the market responds to Vista prior to investment. Many drivers and application software are still incompatible with Vista - waiting for stronger market acceptance and compatibility isn't such a bad idea.

I think it means the market is saying, "Why rush?" Why run headlong into a new operating system to introduce more challenges yet few benefits over WindowsXP Professional? Why rush into deep surgery as portrayed on the Mac vs. PC commercials from Apple - whose profits, by the way, soared 88-percent in the first quarter of 2007 as compared to Microsoft's 4% -  when you can continue working with the PC you already have? I think the market is saying, "Why risk?" Why put the computing experience and your ability to do your work, satisfy your customers, be in business... in jeopardy? And I think the market is also saying, "What value?" What benefit is there to upgrade to something that consumes more processor and memory resources but offers no material design improvement since Windows95?

In a larger sense, I think the market is saying that Windows is increasingly irrelevant and I wrote about this in my blog; Dell's recent actions that defy the software giant's wishes by monopolizing new OEM licenses only underscores the point: Microsoft doesn't matter.

Heretic, you say? Perhaps - I owe most of my good fortunes to Bill - but I think we're entering an era where alternatives to Microsoft's o/s and productivity solutions offer real opportunity for small business.  SAAS (Software as a Service) combined with open source solutions - the rise of OpenOffice and Ubuntu into the public consciousness, for example, not to mention Apple - are truly competitive challenges to Microsoft.  Really: why pay for the cow when you can have the milk for free?  How will small businesses be convinced to pay ever-increasing licensing fees for redundant software?  Is the solution Aero - the new transparent interface to Windows - or real innovation in product design and development? 

So Dell bit Microsoft. Okay, maybe it's not big news but my guess is they won't be the only ones.  Microsoft has to change its value strategy fast or face a full pack of hungry wolves dying to take it down - not just Dell.

Russell P. Mickler, CISSP | MCSE
Principal Consultant, Mickler & Associates, Inc.
360.600.9508 | rmickler@micklerandassociates.com