What Do You Have Planned for 2014? Business Resolutions for a Great 2014!

Larry Winget, a successful business man and author, says that your success and business outcomes are your own fault. Make these recommended resolutions for success in 2014.

Refresh your website. In the race to master new social media tools, don’t overlook your own website. After all, social media efforts like Twitter campaigns end up driving traffic somewhere, right? It doesn't make any sense to build a beautiful and savvy Facebook presence that funnels people to a boring, inaccurate, and out-of-date website. Keep it current and engaging.

Get your books ready for tax time early. Are you notorious for waiting until the last minute to organize and file your taxes? Do you find yourself wading through emails, or scrounging through your car to find stray business receipts? Don’t wait until April to start on your 2013 tax forms. Start fresh in 2014 by organizing your books from day one (even if that means outsourcing your accounting).

Put time for you on the calendar. As an entrepreneur, remember that you are solely respons ib le for your own mot ivat ion, productivity and well-being. There’s no boss to pat you on the back or give you a raise. It is up to you to keep yourself motivated and inspired. In 2012 be sure to reward yourself for specific milestones like a big client win, meeting a tough deadline, or working "overtime" for multiple nights on end.

Get off of Windows XP by January 31. When Windows XP launched in 2001, it was widely adopted and quickly became one of the most popular operating systems from Microsoft - and it still is today. 12 years and three Microsoft operating systems later, XP still runs on roughly 31 percent of all PCs - that's an estimated 500 million PCs! On April 8, 2014, however, those 500 million PCs are scheduled for a rude awakening because the extended support for XP will end, forcing those enterprises to migrate

or be left open to severe security vulnerabilities. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring. Replace your Windows XP computers by January 31!

Pay off your credit cards. Now is not a good time to be carrying credit card or consumer debt of any kind. If you've been reading the papers at all lately, you know it's only a matter of time before the government raises taxes sharply to start paying for all the stimulus, bailout and other programs it's been putting in place, to say nothing of the healthcare, energy and environmental programs it's thinking about putting in place.

Go mobile. By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the web through mobile devices than through PCs. On average, 15% of all searches on Google today are from a mobile device. How well are you catering to this mobile population? Make 2012 the year you optimize your search marketing, email marketing and website to focus on this growing mobile community.

Be secure! (See Page 2) Review your technology and network security including your firewall, backup, and especially test the backup with full or selective file recovery. Your firewall must be up-to-date with the current manufacturer’s release and your backups are worthless if you cannot quickly recover your files. Test and verify often!

The Pilot - Business & Technology

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While working on your computer, sud-denly everything stopped working and the pop-up on the screen demands $300 to be paid within 3 days or your data will be lost forever. Will you pay? Unfortunately, if you are a victim of a new trend of malware called “ran-somware”, your only options are to pay the ransom or permanently lose data. Ransomware attacks have been around for as long as the field of information security itself, but for the most part, they've been labeled as a nuisance more so than as a true threat. Ransomware found active today ,called CryptoLocker, is changing this dramatically!

When originally uncovered in September, the Cryp-toLocker authors required payments be made within three days and only via the Bitcoin digital currency. They have since made adjustments to their demands, seemingly in an attempt to maximize their profit, including opening up payment options to include MoneyPak and making the pay-by date more flexible, though with escalating costs. Reportedly, the rising value of Bitcoins also forced a read-justment in prices. Without payment, though, the figures behind CryptoLocker threaten to delete the decryption key, leaving victims' data locked forever.

Until now it was fairly trivial to decrypt ransomware if en-cryption was even present. Security experts could often reverse-engineer the code and provide decryption algo-rithms to customers. In contrast, CryptoLocker's encryp-tion capabilities are VERY sophisticated. CryptoLocker uses commercial-grade 2,048-bit RSA encryption.

CryptoLocker is foolproof in the way it works, and once launched, there is no way to decrypt the data without the keys. In addition, CryptoLocker’s programming changes frequently making all anti-virus software useless as pro-tection from an infection.

There are two effective ways to protect yourself from the CryptoLocker infection. The first is to be extremely care-ful when deciding to open email attachments or down-load anything from the Internet. The second is to have

frequent backups of your computer system and all stored data.

Based on the success of CryptoLocker and the ease with which is spreads, it is likely that we will see ransomware increase around the world. The criminals who are spread-ing this are making money easily and fast. There is little protection from being infected, and unless you have a series of stored backups, you cannot recover your data without paying the ransom.

Law enforcement is powerless to stop these cr iminals since it originates in countries where there is little or no cooperation with U.S. law enforce-ment. Even law enforcement has pa id t he C ryp-toLocker ransom! A computer in the police department

of Swansea, Massachusetts, was hit by CryptoLocker on November 6. “It was an education for those who had to deal with it. The malware is so complicated and success-ful that you have to buy these bitcoins, which we had never heard of," Swansea Police Lt. Gregory Ryan told the Herald News in Massachusetts.

Be Secure In 2014! Would You Pay A Ransom To Recover Your Data? Ransomware is here.

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tech@beckitsystems.com

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Mac Corner: Cost Is Deceptive!Things in life are not always what they appear and that is especially true in technology! This month we analyze the true cost differential between a Mac desktop and an equivalent Windows business-class all-in-one computer. We measure the true cost differential between a Mac desktop and an equivalent Windows business-class all-in-one computer. Apple’s entry-level desktop is the 21.5-inch iMac. The $1,299.00 (USD) computer includes a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB RAM, a 1 TB hard disk, and Intel Iris Pro-powered graphics supporting 1920x1080 resolution. An HD camera is included within the all-in-one’s frame. There are four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt ports, and a gigabit Ether-net port.!Finding an apples-to-apples comparison can prove to be difficult. Few Windows all-in-one business-grade computers measure up to the Apple in terms of display size or specifications. HP offers the Elite 8300 (SKU D3K08UT) all-in-one for $1,205.00 (USD). The HP system offers potential for a direct compar-ison. It includes Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit, and a 23” display. However, only a 500 GB hard drive is included for that price. HP does not offer the ability to upgrade the computer to match the Apple iMac’s specifications. Adding a 1 TB drive could add $99 for the drive. The HP equivalent cost becomes $1,304 (USD).

However, that hardware total doesn’t factor necessary expenses, either in the form of a business’ in-house IT staff or an outside con-sultant’s time, to install the hard drive and reinstall Windows on the new disk, all of which likely voids the manufacturer’s limited hard-ware warranty. Those are real-world time, opportunity, and service costs businesses truly pay, but we won’t even try to estimate them here.The price differential between the Dell and the Apple is $99.00, but unfortunately, there are still significant differences be-tween the two systems. The Apple has a slightly smaller 21.5-inch display, integrated Bluetooth, and exponentially faster Thunderbolt connectivity.

Few business desktops are useful without office productivity applications. Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote are natural choices for Apple. Windows organizations naturally gravitate toward Mi-crosoft Office. The Home and Business 2013 edition adds $219.99 (USD) for Windows computers, whereas Apple businesses pay nothing for the Apple equivalent. The inclusion of office applications brings the totals to $1,299.00(USD) for the iMac and $1,523.99(USD) for the all-in-one Windows sys-tem. Obviously, the cost to upgrade the Windows system to match the Apple iMac will result in the Windows system’s price exceeding that of the iMac. On top of that, Windows users are left with a computer that is likely out of warranty, has slower peripheral connectivity (due to the lack of integrated Thunderbolt ports), and runs an operating system that is growing less popular by the day. In June the Gartner Group predicted that iOS/OS X will soon surpass Windows as the most popular computer platform. Here’s hoping that, should you still not be convinced Apple computers’ total cost of owner-ship is more competitive than Windows systems, the all-in-one Windows computer you buy is on sale. Otherwise, you may find your firm paying hundreds of dollars more per unit for an inferior computer.

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Business Insider 7 Critical Success Factors For 2014

Since 1999, BeckITSystems has worked with more than 1,000 businesses and non-profits. We have seen strong growing and thriving organizations; failing organizations,; and everything in-between. While some organizations survived only a few months, and others closed in a few years, we have noticed that over 90% succeed that practice the seven critical success factors outlined here. These are real! Do not just read this, make a point to practice each in 2014. A word of caution, while these principles are real, they are also difficult and will take a deliberate effort and invest-ment of time. Get started today!

Business Planning - Make your technology a strategic business asset - Clearly define your vision - Build on your expertise — Set a positive tone for your organization — accept blame, give credit by catching employees accom-plishing good things. Without a set of defined and worth-while goals, there is little for employees to work toward and your organization will just drift into oblivion. Try to schedule one day per quarter for strategic planning.

Know what you sell - Each organization has a reason to exist and a product or service to provide. It is important to keep that focus and build on your successes. It is not possible to be all things to all people. You started your organization for a reason and it is important to deliberate-ly keep a laser focus on that very purpose and product or service. Reduce entrance barriers, define your business edges, and have goals!

Have a sales focus - If you are not moving forward, you are moving backward! Be sure you are sales FO-CUSED and not just interested in sales. To be sales fo-cused, you must have dedicated sales resources supported by a process that will effectively grow your organization. Employee enthusiasm, corporate momentum, clients’ per-ception all have a sense of your organization often based on the growth or deterioration of your company customer base. In the Internet age we all have a lot of choices from competitors across the globe. Make a plan, work your plan, be accountable for the outcomes of your plan, adjust your plan, celebrate your successes!

Be process driven - All organizations, regardless of whether you provide services or products, can benefit by developing repeatable, successful, and scalable processes that will enable your organization to provide your product or service at the highest possible level of quality. Once those processes are implemented, your expertise can be-come institutionalized knowledge shared among your em-ployees to scale and grow your organization. Develop a culture of process in your organization to realize the goal of being able to deliver what you want to deliver every time. This will require the involvement of your entire team on a regular basis. Deliver your value in your own unique way-Be yourself, deliver your expertise in your own unique way! Your knowl-edge, experience, and training con-tribute to the reason thou are in business. You customers work with you because of the way you deliver. Stay on top of your SMART numbers - If you have goals they should be Specific, Measurable, Achiev-able, Relevant to your business plan, and Time limited (SMART). Once you have them, the resulting measure-ments become your SMART numbers which help every-one know if they are on the road to success! Obtain the necessary expertise - Ask for help. No one can know it all. An excellent resource is the nonprofit group SCORE, www.Score.org, which has 13,000 mem-bers dedicated to helping small businesses succeed through education and mentorship. Free of charge, these mentors will help you secure loans, write a business plan, structure the company, and understand a balance sheet. Contact them today for success in 2014!

Don’t be afraid to be yourself and deliver your expertise in

your own unique way!

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Always look first for simple solu-tions to complex technical re-quirements. Technology’s com-plex nature causes many busi-nesses to believe everything is difficult. The Apple TV’s simplicity, however, cost effectively delivers presentations onto a presentation device beautifully.!BeckITSystems frequently works with organizations seeking to effi-ciently utilize flexible spaces as meeting and conference rooms. Our technology support is often a valuable asset when a client dis-covers the designers and archi-tects failed to plan for audio, video, and technology needs. Sound systems, data cabling, and audio video connections are often missing entirely. Apple TV shines in such circumstances.!Enterprise ability in a small box

Costing $99.00 and measuring only 4” square by less than one inch tall, the device’s appearance is not impressive. Don’t judge a book by its cover! Apple TV’s small size is deceptive and a huge advantage.

The small size makes it easy to mount to the back of a large-screen TV using inexpensive zip ties, velcro or a specially made mounting bracket. Add a single HDMI cable to connect to the display, and your space is now a board room, meeting room, or training facility!

Once linked to a large-screen TV, the device makes it easy to con-nect Mac OS X computers and iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads. Thanks to AirPlay, web pages, photos, docu-ments, spreadsheets, videos, presentations, and other content are all easily dis-played on the conference or meeting room display.

With Apple TV connected to the display screen, there is no need for cables. Bulky audio and video cables don't need to be run awkwardly from the wall or desk-mounted display to a conference room table or dedicated PC, and you don't need to route cables neatly within the walls, which is expensive, disruptive, and un-necessary. Apple TV’s wireless technology and connectivity pro-vides a real-time display with ex-cellent sound production.

Apple TV is compatible with high-definition televisions including HDMI connectivity capable of 1080p HD.

Assuming your network already has an 802.11a, b, g, or n wire-less access point, the Apple TV is easily connected to the Internet. The Apple TV also provides a wired Ethernet port, making it possible to connect directly to wired networks if a standard Eth-ernet connection is readily avail-able.

In addition to providing business-es with the ability to leverage conference and meeting room displays for presentations pow-ered by Macs, iPhones and iPads, organizations can also fea-ture content available from iTunes, Netflix, Flickr, YouTube, The Weather Channel, Sky News, WSJ Live, and Vimeo, among other Internet services.

The Apple TV provides a lot of audio, video, and presentation power packed inside of a very small case. The cost doesn’t break the budget! Operating Apple TV is easy and requires nothing major like re-architecting meeting spaces. Cheap, simple, and effective, the marriage is an ideal combination for any busi-ness.

Does your organization use Apple TV? Share your experiences and pictures with us — tech@beckitsystems.com .

Apple TV For Conference Rooms!

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It’s new - It’s ShinyI WANT IT NOW!

Plugable’s Bluetooth Speaker Set

This $79 gadget is a great gift and a unique approach to a tablet or a phone stand. Not only will it hold your phone or your tablet for reading, watching a movie or just general use, it is a very nice Bluetooth speaker set with a great sound. It actually has 3 different ways to play your music. You can pair the speakers to your Bluetooth smart device, use NFC (Near Field Communication) to transmit the mu-sic or use the included auxiliary cable to connect your non Bluetooth devices.!The unit comes with an auxiliary cable and a charging ca-ble and both are 26 inches long. The stand weighs 9.5 ounces and it is easily folded up and portable. The speak-er contains a rechargeable internal Lithium battery that has an 850 mAh battery capacity. When it is fully charged it will play your music for up to 10 hours. It takes about 2 hours to charge the battery. The unit comes with a brief instruction manual.!

The stand is adjustable into many shapes to provide you with the right tablet mounting angle. The unit features an on/off switch to allow you to turn the speakers off and conserve power. Pairing the unit with Bluetooth is easy.!The sound quality out of this set of speakers was very good. It pro-vides a 5 watt output with good volume and the sound quality is very impressive. The bass is solid and the highs are clear and crisp. There is no volume control on the speaker stand so all of the volume control is accomplished with the input source from which you are streaming the music.!This is a good stand and a terrific set of speakers that makes a great gift! www.Plugable.com

CHANGES COMING TO THE PILOT IN 2014 As we move into 2014 changes are coming to the Pilot newsletter that we hope will serve you well. Over the years we have enjoyed providing this monthly source focused on “news you can use”. In 2014 we will change to provid-ing the Pilot on a bi-monthly basis. Each edition will be a bit larger and will main-tain some of our most popular features, including Business Insider’s Corner and the Bright Shiny Object. In between time we will be sending out a video news-letter for owners and executives. As al-ways, your feedback is needed to pro-vide a tool that is helpful to you. Please continue to supply us with feedback by calling or emailing us at:tech@BeckITSystems.com

Best wishes for happy holidays, a prosperous New Year, and a Very Merry Christmas!

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