A recent survey showed businesses are not doing what they should when it comes to "IT". The survey doesn't go into why the businesses but I think it may be because they don't know any better and they were trying to save some money. Years ago it was rare to see anyone carrying a laptop with them when they go to get a cup of coffee. Now it is almost expected to have your laptop or a smart phone with you when you get your daily cup of coffee. Technology is everywhere you turn and it is easy to gain access to data you need. No one thinks about all the risks that are being taken when accessing important websites or company files over the WiFi connection when drinking your coffee.

eWeek.com wrote an article about this survey that was done by Harris Interactive on behalf of Lenovo. The Lenovo-AMD Small Business Tech Survey, which sought to identify common issues and trends in technology use by small businesses, also uncovered several peculiar—and in some cases alarming—technology practices including relying on "piggybacking" on nearby WiFi networks and saving critical business files on USB thumb drives.

With the new year approaching, there are a few business topics and 2009 goals worth consideration. Many people might think of Murphy in negative terms but it is really quite the opposite. Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it will — and at the most inopportune time. Keeping Murphy in mind is the first step in making a business Murphy-proof. Murphy’s Law can seem undeniable. But do things really have to break just when the warranty expires? This is a good time to look at ways of keeping Mr. Murphy out of sight during the next year.

Have you ever heard the old saying, “You’re stepping over dollars to pick up pennies?” If you are like me, you have not only heard the saying but may have used it a time or two. The topic that we are covering this month ties right into the saying.

This month we will be talking about training. You’re probably asking yourself what correlation does training have to do with that saying. Having your business perform at its maximum when employees and software are involved can be a challenge. What are we talking about here? We are not just talking about software that does a function in your company. While it is working we have no complaints and think that everything is going great, or worse, what we don’t know about is not hurting us. We are talking about getting that software investment to make you more money in ways that you may not be aware of. How many people were trained when your system was installed?