|
June
2008
In this issue
√ Business
Continuity
Planning
√ Success Story
√ Sit Up
Straight
√ Employee
Spotlight
|
Sit Up Straight and Keep
Your Wrists in Neutral
By Monte
Enbysk
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small
Business Center
Ergonomics is not a
four-letter word — even though many business owners may think
otherwise.
That's because when business people hear the word
ergonomics, they immediately think of dollar signs — as in what it
will cost to outfit employee workstations with new setups to prevent
sometimes crippling injuries.
But the money needed may
be minimal, and your employees' health should be the overriding
concern, says Dan Eisman, vice president of marketing and product
development for HealthyComputing.com, an ergonomics consultant.
Painless simple adjustments to a computing environment, such as
getting a better chair or raising a monitor, may cost little but
makes a huge difference in injuries and employee absences.
Understanding how poor
positioning combined with no breaks can lead to musculoskeletal
disorders (MSDs) should be a priority for anyone who works at a PC
and/or employs others who do. (No, you don't have a federal law
threatening you with liability anymore if you don't.)
Read more |
|
Business Continuity Planning
Not Just for
Big Business
 Paul Sullivan has seen
it all. A 25-year veteran of disaster recovery and business
continuity management, Sullivan witnessed the growth of
continuity planning among the Fortune 1000 in the 1980s. He
watched, first hand, the successes and failures of business
continuity plans following the events of September 11, 2001
and in 2005 throughout the most active hurricane season in
recorded history. Today, Sullivan is helping small and
medium-sized companies plan for and recover after significant
business interruptions.
“Continuity
planning has always been associated with big business,” said
Sullivan, Vice President and General Manager, Agility Recovery
Solutions. “We’re using the same knowledge, strategies and
tactics we developed with the Fortune 1000 and implementing
them among small and medium-sized businesses across North
America.”
Agility Recovery
Solutions, a former division of General Electric, focuses
planning and recovery efforts on small and medium-sized
businesses, though the company continues to do work with
giants such as IBM and HP.
Why Business Continuity? Why
now? |
|
PMA
Capital
Insurance Company |
“IT Solutions’ careful planning and
attention to detail throughout the project made the
decision to continue the relationship for ongoing
support an easy one.”
Frank
Pantazopoulos,
Vice President &
Controller, PMA Capital Insurance
Company |
Success Story: Virtualization
Helps Client
Cut Costs, Improve Continuity
Background
PMA Capital Insurance Company (the ‘Company’ or
‘PMA’) is a domestic property and casualty reinsurance
subsidiary in run-off. In conjunction with an overall effort
to streamline the company’s IT infrastructure, PMA sought to
dramatically reduce its server count without sacrificing
speed, capacity or data integrity. In addition, PMA was
looking to partner with a technology consultant that could
take over the day-to-day support requirements that had
previously been managed by an in-house IT department.
The
Challenge
Prior to IT Solutions’ (ITS) involvement, PMA
was managing over 35 servers, 7 switches, and a storage area
network device (SAN). The age of the hardware and changes with
the user base meant they were due for an upgrade and
consolidation. But reducing these resources would have to be
carefully planned and deployed so as not to disrupt the
regular business workflow or risk loss of critical data in the
migration process. ITS had to work closely with the
application support staff to verify that their custom systems
would function properly in a virtual environment.
Being a new vendor
for PMA, ITS had to demonstrate appropriate expertise and
reliability through references and the sales process – always
a bigger challenge than working with an existing client. Also,
PMA had been working with consultants to supply helpdesk and
network support for a number of years. Not having any direct
involvement in the project, these resources did not have the
detailed knowledge and time to devote to the project that a
typical in-house stakeholder would bring to such an
effort.
The Solution |
|
 | |
Employee
Spotlight
David
Gathman
Name:
David Gathman
Title:
Senior Consultant
/Project Manager
Education:
University of Virginia -
BA, Drexel University - MBA
Home:
Hainesport NJ
First
job:
Lifeguard
Little known fact
about
you:
I was a lifeguard for 10 years in Ocean City,
NJ
Word that best describes you:
Focused
Like
best about your job: Seeing clients
The most
important lesson you’ve learned: Be thankful
Life
motto:
The grades you can repeat; the good times you
can’t.
Person most
interested in meeting:
General George S. Patton
Most
influential book:
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.
Salinger
Favorite movie:
Fight
Club
Favorite restaurant:
The Library
Favorite
vacation spot: Las Vegas
Favorite way to spend free time:
Hunting and fishing
Please forward this newsletter to
anyone else in
your organization who
might be
interested!
|
