Is “Shadow IT” a Threat to Your IT Department?

Many IT professionals and IT Service Providers are noticing an alarming trend in companies. Non-tech departments are taking IT into their own hands and purchasing software and hardware without the knowledge and formal “vetting” of  IT departments.   As technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous and as the fine line between consumer technology and business technology is quickly disappearing, this phenomenon, known as “Shadow IT”, is becoming more prevalent in organizations of all sizes.  In this quick article, we explore the definition of “Shadow IT” and why it represents a growing problem for IT Professionals and IT Service Providers.

Dropbox.com Is Not Ready

If you have a business, and you are using Dropbox.com, you do not want to store any of your files on its cloud-based storage system. They have proven that they are not (for now, at least) an enterprise-ready company, given the latest unfortunate news of user passwords being compromised.

Organizations using Dropbox.com should consult with IT departments or IT support service providers to make sure no classified or sensitive material exist on its cloud-based storage system. This, in fact, does show the vulnerability of cloud computing, but it’s usually not the case for the majority of the providers out there, that have major security policies in place to prevent such a compromise.

The security breach started with a stolen employee password, which led to the theft of a “project document” that contained user e-mail addresses. Confirmed by Dropbox on Tuesday, the hacker with the stolen information proceeded to spam European users of the cloud-based service with ads of gambling websites.

Edit Office Documents on Your Tablet

With sales of tablets skyrocketing, it will only be a matter of time before tablet sales severely hurt the laptop market.  Are you worried about using your tablet to edit office documents? It is important to be able to have a device that can support your business needs without any issue and having to comprise the functionality of a PC.

Businesses and organizations are embracing the use of tablets in the workplace and IT departments are just as enthusiastic.  Choosing the right tablet for your needs is a tough decision, but fortunately you can find useful apps for both the iPad and Android devices that are capable of editing documents created in Microsoft Office.

Here a guide brought to you by PCworld to help you get on your way: 

Facebook File Sharing Security Breach

Facebook is rolling out file sharing to all groups. Even though it has many restrictions, it still gives some competition and limits the growth potential of cloud storage services like iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox. MP3 music files and any copyright files are not allowed and the file size is limited to 25mb.  Although this is first version, be sure that Facebook will improve this in the future to compete.

This could be an issue for organizations having users spend too much time on Facebook and losing productivity, and also, IT departments having to deal with new security issues to the Facebook’s file sharing.  There is always a new target for Hackers as these new options evolve on Facebook and other cloud based technology, which is still to be determined. 

Supercharge Your Dropbox and Google Drive!

Ever want to drop a PDF in a folder and it would automatically reveal itself in your Kindle? Or importing your PDF files automatically sign themselves?  This kind of technology would be very useful for IT departments supporting their users without the special requests for help all the time by users. Now it can be done automatically, and these are just some of the features by Wappwolf which works along with your Dropbox or Google Drive account. 

Google Drive’s Cloud Problem

Security for Cloud services is a big issue and the debate continues about Cloud services for organizations. IT departments concerns are always about security with so much cybercriminal activity out there; how safe is your data?

Google Drive’s big announcement of taking on some competition against Dropbox and Microsoft Skydrive is good for consumers and organizations for all types of good reasons, but are the right security parameters in place to use their services?  

Dropbox Making Changes

Dropbox has been in the news since last week due to Google Drive dampening their products appeal. Dropbox has come back with changes that are going to be competitive with Google Drive.

IT departments and their users can really benefit from this healthy competition of Cloud technology, it will free up storage space on company networks among their users.  This also helps their IT support efforts for less Malware and viruses to be spread. 

SkyDrive Is Here To Flex On The Competition

Microsoft’s Skydrive is making its mark against the competition.  Watch out Dropbox…another competitor is here!!  Google Drive announced last week to also be a big threat against Dropbox. They have their eyes open now.  This is great for IT departments worried about back-ups and storage issues, it now opens up some room for relief. 

Microsoft Office On iPad?

It was all a dream, then this….Microsoft Office for my iPad.

It has been a few years now since I first moved to the Mac and iOS platforms and I remember all too well the concern I had over not having a compatible copy of Microsoft Office. How would I get things done? I was able to learn from a Mac savvy friend, that Microsoft Office was available.

Now, with my new iPad, I was asking myself the same thing all over again?  Solution is here and made easy!