We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to those of you who have made our progress possible throughout the last year and years before.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

What do you get when you have a room full of computer nerds for a conference?  IT Nation.

Last week IRIS Solutions sent two people down to IT Nation (the annual partner summit hosted by our management software company in Florida) to help develop our technical skills.  The conference was great for us and we got a good break from the day-to-day grind.  While down there we were able to network with other IT shops like ours and talk about best practice.

We met with different vendors such as ConnectWise, SonicWALL, Firebox, Axcient, Kaseya, Symform, and LabTech.  These may not sound like the types of companies you are used to hearing about, however they help shops like ours offer great solutions to our customer base.  These companies build products that we can offer our clients at a smaller scale since so many of the products offered and built for IT from companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and Cisco are built for large platforms.  The smaller channel driven providers like us help our deployment of technologies such as hosted Exchange, online backup, application performance, and other cloud-based services.

Overall we have made some significant improvements to our business.  We have developed better policies for ticket flow and problem resolution and are going to start using something called "email connector" to help keep up with support-based emails better.  We have also made improvements to our quoting system for faster turnaround on products and replacements. 

As we talked to other business partners like us there is one thing for sure; IT businesses like ours have a lot to offer other small to medium sized businesses.  The world of IT is changing so rapidly that it is hard to keep up, but in a small company like ours we can see a change coming and make immediate changes to our process and direction to overcome those obstacles.  Have you ever seen IBM do anything fast?  Think about this: IBM owned the computer market with the IBM XT in the mid to late '80s.  Around this time a small startup called Dell came in and took over the delivery of computers to individuals and businesses.  IBM could not change quickly enough and then Dell became the number one reseller.

IRIS Solutions is just the right sized company to help facilitate change for our evolving future in IT.  We learned a lot during IT Nation and are continuing to make improvements to our company.

We are a technology company that thrives on technical things and innovation. However, we could not do any of this without our current military and past veterans.  Thanks for what you do.

Just like ever other piece of popular up-and-coming technology, Google's Android Market has been infected with several malicious pieces of software.  By downloading apps from the market and from other sources, you may be exposing your phones and all of your data to would-be hackers. 

The new threat is DroidDreamLight.  DDL is a code that imbeds itself into the Android OS and collects and sends data to remote servers.  Your location, contacts, phone calls, text messages, and even your mobile browsing history, could be broadcast to hackers worldwide. Google announced over the weekend that 34 new apps that were added to the market had been infected with this Trojan.  Lookout Mobile Security and AVG discovered the code and alerted Google to take down the apps immediately, but  given the popularity of the market, the apps were downloaded by some 34,000 users in a matter of seconds before Google was able to pull them.

Just like standard PC and Apple user guidelines, always be cautious of what you're downloading.  Using a mobile security application, like Lookout Mobile, that scans applications as they are downloading to ensure they are safe to be installed.  No one wants their hundreds of contacts broadcast over the net to anyone who wants them.  Be on the lookout for suspicious SMS activity.  For example, if you see that your phone sent a text to a random number and you didn't send it, you may have malware.  Also be mindful of the permissions the application requests when it's installed.  If a game is asking for access to your contact list and your location, a red flag should be going up.

Just like other methods of information security, be vigilant, use common sense, and you should be safe.

We live in the age of the social network; Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn...they're everywhere!  Though these can be useful for reconnecting with old friends and family, or just catching up with the day-to-day activities of your acquaintances, the social network has become a hacker's playground.

Just in the last week four new security threats have been identified on the popular social networking site Facebook, all of which seem to redirect the user to another page.  The hacker plays on your urge to see who's been looking at your profile or on your desire to win a free iPad, but be weary of the shorter, unusual-looking links entered into others profiles and posts.  A news feed on Facebook from one of your best friends may say, "Look who sees your profile... click here... www.bity.bti."  In your mind you may be thinking, "How Cool!  Now I can see who's been looking at me!" but with just one click from the office computer you have exposed the entire database and network infrastructure to a savvy hacker.  These links should make you a little suspicious, no matter if you're on an office or personal computer, but the threat of such a breach should be enough to steer anyone away from such a link, or websites such as these altogether, due to the possibility of HIPAA violations and lawsuits that may result from private entries and information being scattered across the net.

Don't put yourself, your information, or your career/office in jeopardy, because the next time you see a post on one of these sites that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Have you ever been so frustrated with service you've received and felt like you had no place to turn to share your concerns?  If you're actually able to voice your frustrations do you have much hope that your comments will be taken seriously and addressed?

At IRIS Solutions we take customer service very seriously.  Our ticketing system, ConnectWise, sends automatically generated emails upon closure of tickets to the primary company contact on record.  These emails are sent as a follow up on the service work that was performed to give you the opportunity to let us know if the issue still persists and to send any feedback, positive or negative, on the service you received.  Also included at the bottom of the email is a link to a service survey to rate our performance.  We encourage you to complete this survey, no matter how high or low the score may be, so that we can work to continually improve upon the service we provide to our valued clients.

We enjoy sharing the scores and comments with our staff to offer constructive criticism or praise for a job well done.  The next time you receive a ticket closure email please take a moment to let us know how our service was for you.  We receive may positive comments but receive our fair share of negative feedback as well, which only helps us to work better for you and your office in the future.

Below are two positive comments received yesterday in regards to recent service work performed for their offices.  Keep the feeback coming and we'll continue to offer the best service and support we can!

• "I have always had a great experience with every technician that I have spoken with over the phone and in person.  Everyone is knowledgeable and friendly!  Thanks for all you do."
• "System is working beautifully!  Your entire team is a delight to work with!"

Thank you for visiting our new blog. We are very excited about sharing tech tips and company news with you in real time!