Use strong passwords. Passwords provide the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your computer. Weak passwords provide easy access to your computer and network. Strong passwords are considerably harder to crack, even with the latest password-cracking software.

A strong password:

• Contains at least eight characters.
• Does not contain your user name, real name, or company name.
• Does not contain a complete dictionary word.
• Is significantly different from previous passwords. Passwords that change just slightly—such as Password1, Password2, Password3—are not strong.
• Contains characters from each of the following groups:
  • Uppercase and/or lowercase letters.
  • Numbers
  • Symbols (!,@,#,$,%, etc.)

Are You Really Focused on Profits?
You're in it for the money.
Dr. Patrick Pierce, DBA, CPA

Business owners run their business to make money, right? Then why do so many owners make unprofitable decisions?

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal on June 5, 2006, titled "Major Airlines Fuel a Recovery by Grounding Unprofitable Flights." The article talked about the progress U.S. airlines are making to become profitable and provides several valuable thoughts for business owners.

In one part of the piece, writers Evan Perez and Melanie Trottman noted: "The big carriers, which for decades have doggedly pursued market share at any cost, now are focusing just as aggressively on the profitability of each route and flight. The so-called legacy carriers... have abandoned many of the tactics that have contributed to their cyclical weakness. They are increasingly unwilling to fly half-empty aircraft to stay competitive on a given route just for the sake of feeding their nationwide networks.

Though their recovery is still in its early stages... the airlines' new emphasis on profitability appears to be paying off."

Imagine that! Running the business in order to make money appears to be paying off. A brilliant strategy, indeed.

There are several fascinating points here that I would like you to carefully consider.

Be a Lover of Reality
If you ask a business owner whether he runs his company to make money, the answer will always be "Yes." The reality is, he doesn't. At the risk of sounding a bit blunt, you don't either. This is an important reality to recognize and accept.

Try this little test for the next 30 days. Listen for anyone in your company (including yourself) using words like "brand," "market share," or "shelf space." When you hear those words, you can be sure that you've just found an opportunity to make some money.
Why? Because those words always are used to justify unprofitable decisions. They are big red flags that you are not making decisions based on a common-sense approach to profitability. When you hear those words, ask yourself this simple question, "Are we making this decision based on profitability or for some other (possibly hidden) reason?" You have to clear away the smokescreen in order to put your focus on profitability and common-sense decision making.
Is Market Share Your Mantra?

For example, when you hear an executive justifying a decision based on its supposed impact on market share, he's really saying "I want to look good versus the competition, but it's a lot easier to give our products away than have to sell them at a profitable price." Here's what happens when market share becomes your mantra. The sales force gets the okay to start selling on price. Your salespeople cut prices in order to generate volume. The volume comes and the company ramps up quickly to meet the new demand. That ramp up always drives costs up. In a most companies the increased production creates capacity issues, and they begin to see requests for capital expenditures to solve the problem.

Meanwhile, the competition has lowered its prices to try to get some of the business back. The sales force has gotten used to selling on price, so it comes back to you with a plan to foil the competition by lowering the price--again. Profitability continues to be driven lower and lower while the need for cash to support the higher revenue goes up. That's a recipe for disaster.

This happens to company after company despite how illogical it sounds. You have to battle it by sticking to your guns. You have to be maniacal in your focus on profitability. Start by removing market share from your company's vocabulary and see how fast you can improve profitability. Remember, one of the fastest ways to make more money is to stop doing things that lose money.

OurTech Solutions can help you look at your business to maximize Profitability and increase positive Cash Flow. Your initial meetings are provided as a free service by OurTech Solutions.

Dr, Patrick Pierce, an affiliate partner of OurTech Solutions, is a consultant to small business owners and is part of a nationwide network of affiliated CFO’s. For business consulting services please call Dr. Pierce at (402) 614-4534.

The Business Software Alliance is the main global copyright-enforcement watchdog for such companies as Microsoft Corp., Adobe, Apple, Autodesk Symantec Corp, Borland, CA, Cadence Design Systems, Cisco Systems, Dell, EMC, Entrust, HP, IBM, Intel, and McAfee to name a few.

According to the BSA, thirty-five percent of the software installed in 2006 on personal computers (PCs) worldwide was obtained illegally, amounting to nearly $40 billion in global losses because of software piracy infringements. An independent study shows that 21 percent of software in the United States is unlicensed.

Of the $13 million that the BSA reaped in software violation settlements with North American companies last year, almost 90 percent came from small businesses, according to the Associated Press. And its leaders say they concentrate on small businesses because that's where illegitimate use of software is rampant.

Consider the case against a small 10-person architectural firm in Galveston, Texas, that was using unlicensed software. The BSA sent the company a letter demanding $67,000 -- most of one year's profit -- or else the BSA would seek more in court.

In this case, some employees had been unable to open files with the firm's drafting software, so they worked around it by installing programs they found on their own, breaking company rules. And receipts for legitimate software had been lost in the hubbub of running the company. The firm ended up paying a settlement of $40,000.

It is not uncommon for the BSA to demand at least twice the retail price of software deemed out of compliance. In calculating the value of the unlicensed software the BSA will use the "unbundled" price of software that is sold together. For example if a company loaded too many copies of a $300 package of Microsoft Office, the BSA might tally the retail value of every element in the package -- Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. -- which totals more than $1,000, and then at least double that.

While this may seem harsh, consider that under copyright law it could collect up to $150,000 per infringed work if it prevails in a lawsuit, or $30,000 even if the incident was unintentional.
Companies sometimes legitimately buy software and fail to follow the letter of the licensing agreements that accompany the programs. Often computers get handed down as newer, faster machines go to employees who perform more intensive computer work, and their old PCs go to and employee with lesser needs. Failing to delete the original software, even if it is not being used puts your company out of compliance.

While software piracy protection and compliance are the most significant function of the BSA, they do however make available information and tools to software users, businesses, consumers and students. Those resources include a free “Guide to Software Management” and a software audit tool that inventories installed software for comparison with license agreements.

OurTech Solutions also provides complete auditing for a company’s workstations, Notebooks, and Servers. This includes all installed software with license keys, version numbers, path and description, along with 40 other detailed configuration information. With our remote monitoring tools we can also report any changes to your network devices such as the installation of new software and exes.

Our auditing report includes:

• Complete hardware descriptions:
  • CPUs, PCI cards, memory and drives with user notes
• All installed software:
  • Licenses, version numbers, path and description
• System information from DMI and SMBIOS including:
  • PC make, model, serial number, mother board type
  • Over 40 other detailed configuration items
• OS information, version number and service pack
• Inventory of internal and external network links
• Current network settings including:
  • Local, WAN and gateway IP addresses
  • DNS, WINS, DHCP, and MAC address
• CPU, RAM and Disk Volume details
• Printers, local and network
• And more!

Protect your business against unnecessary fines and penalties, contact OurTech Solutions for a complete network audit.