2009-01-06T18:51:10Z Mike S Copyright 2009, Mike S SPHPBLOG check it out!]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry071217-195453 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z
At the end of the day MSB's goal is to make IT understandable, make IT manageable and to make it work well for you and your company!

So anyhow, Happh Holidays to you and yours. Thank you for making our little IT Consulting Company a success. We look forward to working with everyone in future.
]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry071217-195127 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z


Master Of Disaster
Monday, 15 October 2007
Protecting your company before the worst happens

By Bill Blanchard

Picture for a moment that it's a cloudy Friday afternoon. The weather forecast calls for heavy rains with high winds to hit the area over the weekend. You're ready to lock up your office for the day and start to put together that large deposit for the bank after a great week of sales.

You take one last look at the office and wonder, "What if water starts to leak in from the street?" You look at your watch, realize that the bank closes at 4 p.m., and rush out the door.

Tangled Web We Weave


Oftentimes, disaster planning is one of the last things on a small business owner's mind. With so many other things to worry about, a natural disaster or terrorist attack is the last thing you need consuming your thoughts. However, by having good practices and plans in place, you can have peace of mind knowing that you're protected.


First, we'll start with the basics. Many companies are tight on space and, in an effort to maximize their work areas, computers and cables get lodged into the strangest of places. I've visited many offices that have all of their primary networking equipment on the floor in a closet. A simple remedy is to acquire some small stools or stands for your computer equipment. Also, make sure that those surge protectors stay off the floor as well. That one foot off the floor in a flood can mean the difference between having a powered down server or a very expensive doorstop.


Secondly, where are your company's critical documents and data stored? You have that expensive tape drive backing up your data nightly, but are you rotating the tapes? Are you bringing one home with you? An inexpensive peace of mind solution is to make a complete backup of all your data (either onto a tape, CD or DVD) and put it in a safe deposit box at the local bank. That way, if you forget to take a tape home one night or if your home is struck by the same disaster, you are protected.


It is also a good idea to keep all of your original documents in a safe deposit box as well. Things such as your business's articles of incorporation, accounting ledgers or insurance forms can be difficult to replace if they are destroyed in a fire or flood. You can maintain copies of these documents at your work site if you need regular access to them.

Money For Something
Third, what would a day of downtime cost your company in revenue? Even companies with on-site IT staff suffer from 24 to 48 hours of downtime in the event of a server failure. This is due to the specialized nature of server hardware and the time it can take to receive replacement parts. So, if a day of downtime would cost your company $10,000 in lost revenue, it might be worthwhile to consider spending a couple thousand on solutions to minimize that downtime. Such solutions may include a secondary internet connection, a VPN solution so that employees can work from home, or even real-time remote backup software. Even though backup solutions don't provide an immediate return on investment, they'll be worth their weight in gold if you ever need them.


Finally, the last step of protecting your company against disaster is having a plan in place. While you shouldn't spend hours fretting over everything that could go wrong, it never hurts to be thorough. With solid practices and planning in place, the wound your company suffers from a disaster doesn't have to be a fatal one.

]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry071017-191305 2007-10-17T00:00:00Z 2007-10-17T00:00:00Z
The first website is now life. Click on the link below and checkout our banner ad. Other advertise there as well so you may need to refresh it once or twice.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/s ... y=BUSINESS

Tell your friends about us!]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry070910-153041 2007-09-10T00:00:00Z 2007-09-10T00:00:00Z
So far, I've learned that patience is an attribute one cannot live without when starting a new business. Things don't happen as fast as you'd like to see them happen, so you have to sit back, relax, crack open a cold one and just wait patiently.

I've also learned that new business is everywhere, you just have to learn to be prepared to grab it. I carry business cards wherever I go. I tell my friends to spread the word and hand them business cards. I take leads happily from anyone that's willing to hand me one. You can bump into someone while shopping at Target and they can be a small business owner, a person in charge of technology at their company, or simply someone who has the ear of another person who needs work done. I even went to a party at my girlfriend's house for her mother who had graduated college and met a woman who's company needed wesite work. Hey, when it comes to business, you have to be shameless.

Anyhow, after 60 days of no pay, endless hours of work, countless hours of figuring out how to get the word out and of course constant worry about where we were going to get more work it's all been worth it.]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry070826-221247 2007-08-26T00:00:00Z 2007-08-26T00:00:00Z Written by Cory Hopkins
Monday, 23 July 2007

Milford native uses lessons learned in battle to open his own business

It is often true that the best business deals begin with a handshake.

And the way Bill Blanchard sees it, if he can shake hands with a shopkeeper in Baghdad as a member of a U.S. Army Psychological Operations (PsyOp) team, he can shake hands with a small business owner just about anywhere.

Blanchard, 25, returned to his home in Milford on April 1 after a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq with the 305th Psychological Operations Company. In June, he and his two partners opened MSB Consulting.. Read the Full Article]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry070723-231002 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z
So, things are looking up, up, up!

Wish us luck and if you need pc/network support or website development services, let us know!]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry070718-013204 2007-07-17T00:00:00Z 2007-07-17T00:00:00Z MSB Consulting. The MSB is an acronym for our last names, and we're technology consultants. As you'd expect things are starting off a bit slowly, but it's all going pretty well all things considered. We had no delusions of grandeur when we started that we'd have tons of business right away. We fully expected to work our tails off to get things going.

The thing I find comforting is that the customers we have gained are good customers. Also, being as I'm the web designer for our company, it's nice that we've actually been pulling in steady web design work. I had concerns as to whether or not I'd be able to keep busy doing it, and whether I'd have to spend a good amount of my time working on networking and pc services, which, while I would do it of course, is just not what I want to do with my life.

So, our website is up, the marketing material is done. Customers are starting to call. We've got our business cards and we're getting rid of them like they're bad luck and things seem to be picking up. Wish us luck!

(..oh and if you're a small-medium sized business in Southern New England looking for computer/network/email/website services.. feel free to contact us.)]]> http://www.fearthemike.com/index.php?entry=entry070710-151019 2007-07-10T00:00:00Z 2007-07-10T00:00:00Z