Office Document Strategies Blog

A true story in her own words:  

In our increasingly electronic society we often forget to think about some of the other options which may be available for contacting our customers and prospective clients.  Mail is one of those strategies which can often be over looked.  In many businesses the postage system is forgotten simply because it takes a different effort to make use of it.

The date has come and gone for the end of Microsoft support for Windows Server 2003.  July 14th was the announced last date for security patches to be provided for this highly successful server software.  It has been predicted that as many as half of Canadian firms still have at least one server operating with the 2003 server software.  

With the end of regular security releases the potential for some sort of breach on these servers to occur increases over time.  The warnings have been out for some time but now action is needed. Those players who seem to take joy in finding ways to hack people's systems or who wish to attempt penetration for nefarious purposes will put greater effort into find vulnerabilities in the Server 2003 platform since they know that those vulnerabilities can be long lived without regular corrections.

Since 2003 was such a popular installation the numbers of potential targets are still large, unless companies (you?) take action now to replace the 2003 Server with an alternative.

Of course this becomes a time for upgrade.  Given that 2003 Server is over twelve years old, a lot has happened since its release and therefore there are many potential gains to be had with installing newer server software to be the backbone of your systems.

Probably the best bet if you are able is to jump to Windows Server 2012 R2 the current release of Microsoft.  There are many robust new features available in this platform that you can use to enhance your operations.  Of course one of the first things you need to know is whether your other line of business applications are supported on the platform.  If not then you may have to consider other solutions.

It is still possible to install Windows Server 2008 which was the release after 2003 but obviously it is not going to offer all of the latest enhancements nor will that installation likely have as long a life cycle as moving to the more recent release.  The one benefit is that many more line of business applications are going to have been rewritten to match up with this version of the server software simply because it is so much later in its life cycle.  Most currently offered packages will have been upgraded to this level for some time now and any bugs or issues should be well ironed out.

The biggest challenge for some companies may be if they have custom developed packages requiring the 2003 server software and there may be the need to reprogram or find new alternatives to be able to move on.  Given the inevitability of eventually having to replace the server making the changes now as soon as possible makes a lot of sense rather than investing more effort in anything based on running Server 2003. Of course doing this is not going to be easy but it can be accomplished with effort and planning.

Part of the challenge for migrating is making the decision on what to go to.  For many companies this involves a decision on whether to remain on their own servers or to move to a hosted or cloud environment.  both of these options have value but bring a whole new set of concerns to address before final changes are made.  When the decision makers are less comfortable with IT needs or lack in house skills to conduct assessments it makes it even harder to decide.  Servers have become the core of many business operations and no one wants to gamble on their operation.  This is where knowledgeable help is often needed.

If your decisions are not made by now, you are already behind the curve and will have to put some real effort into catching up.  Unlike workstation operating systems, server operating systems have a much larger overall impact on a business and it is much harder to isolate them from the network environment. When XP support was ended some systems might be taken off the network and still used for a while.  For a server this is almost impossible since the whole reason for a server is to facilitate centralization and interaction between users on the network it supports.

Windows Server 2003 has done its work for a long time and with great reliability and results for thousands of users. Its time has come.  It is time for it to have a rest and be replaced.

Lee K

Photo:  Windows Server 2003 logo trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Last week the Pan Am Games got started in Southern Ontario including Toronto, Milton, Hamilton, St. Catharines and Welland.  As a precursor to the the games starting IT World Canada published an interesting slide show featuring innovations in technology that have affected various sports.  These first time uses have morfed into regular part of the sports shown.  

One of the features of the slide show included what components of computer technology the games require.  How about 2400 workstations (desktops and laptops), 2300 monitors, 50 servers and  storage solutions spread across the 40 venues?  That's is a pretty massive collection of tools which are assembled just to keep a short but big event running.

What other things are affected by the Pan Am?  How about the drivers who now have to deal with more and less accessible HOV lanes?  Will the GPS technology that provides real time traffic data to users help them get to work or to event parking be a help?  This is something that gets taken for granted but the technology behind it is pretty impressive.  Google offers similar capability through Google Maps for cell phones.  The system of highway cameras run by MTO will also help. Of course there is also the temporary camera system being used to police the busiest highways to ensure people are following the rules as well.  Watch for the solar panels and the orange boxes along the HOV routes.

Employers are being encouraged to provide flexible work rules so that employees are not forced to be on the roads at the same time as Pan Am fans.  Flexible starting times, closing times and the ability for people to work from home are some of the steps being taken. Each of these has a technology component (information sharing systems, remote computer access, email, chat) that can help facilitate activity and keep people connected even if not in the office at the same time.

Of course public transit is a big part of dealing with the potential crowd issues and we all know that schedules, system operations and consumer information require big technology components to make it possible to handle the volumes of users.  There is a tool available called Triplinx that can help you plan public transit use.

Then there is the ticket process.  Most of those who will attend the many events and venues for the Pan Am Games will have accessed some information site to obtain information, buy tickets or get directions to their chosen sport.  Technology drives the ticket process from beginning to end.

Most of us take the underlying technology that helps our modern society to function for granted.  When major, short term impacts are created like the Pan Am events we can definitely be thankful that it is all there and functioning (usually very reliably) in order to keep our daily activities flowing inspite of the potential increases in volume of people moving.

Enjoy the games.

Lee K

Photo Credit:  Pan Am Games Toronto 2015

One of the biggest issues that many companies deal with when they consider cloud data security is becoming comfortable that their information will be secure and not subject to unauthorized access. 

One of the publications I follow regularly is IT World Canada.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I refer to some of their articles frequently, partially because they take a broad view of what constitutes I.T. and that helps me to see a wide variety of issues which can affect office environments. 

The electronic stewardship programs in effect in most Canadian provinces are reviewed each year and a new schedule of fees is established for consumer payment on the sale of goods.  The funds generated are supposed to cover the costs of collection, recycling and disposal of all electronic items covered by the system.

In 2014 Canada Post announced a five part restructuring plan designed to turn around its money losing operations.  The plan indicated that with the steps outlined Canada Post would be profitable within three years.  In fact, based upon the 2014 annual report the corporation moved much more quickly to accomplishing its profitability goals earning an operating profit of $299 million dollars.  Revenue also increased by just under $420 million for a 5.5% change.  

These are pretty significant numbers and upon review they may not be quite as surprising as first thought.  The news is not all rosy however.  Volumes in some areas, especially lettermail continued to drop, 5.4% and this drop was higher than in the previous year.  Transaction mail declined by 6.1% per address indicating that alternative methods are continuing to replace the mailed invoice for many activities.  Think of the push you receive from your personal as well as business vendors for you to accept electronic invoicing.  This is a trend which continues to grow.

On the good side the volume of domestic parcels increased by 9.2%.  One potential for this growth is an increase in online purchasing by consumers resulting more parcel deliveries being necessary in the marketplace. "Online shopping is growing our business from a position of strength," is how this phenomenon is described in the report.  It is an area which is anticipated to grow even though the parcel business is very competitive.

One reason there was growth in both revenues and profit was the change in the pricing structure for lettermail which was introduced in 2014.  Using a tiered pricing structure which provided for a lower price for those using postage meters and running higher volumes of mail when compared to occasional users buying single stamps, a three tiered price was introduced.  The base cost of a single first class stamp rose significantly over the 2013 level.  It is possible that this new higher cost aggravated the move away from mail to other forms of communication for low volume users.  It may also have affected the commercial use of mail as well.  Combined they probably account for a major portion of the drop in lettermail volume but potentially had a lower effect on the revenue associated since the per piece cost was higher.

Other changes in the plan are still being seen as controversial as Canada Post moves to end the final third of home delivery that was made to individual residences.  There is a significant back lash against this decision, including potential court action in some jurisdictions.  Just check on the stories from the City of Hamilton about the challenges to Canada Post's installation of new 'super boxes' to get some sense of the frustration.  Canada Post indicates that as the market changes there is a real need for them to reduce the costs of individual mail delivery and that the elimination of individual home delivery is one step in this fight.  Of course the reduction in workforce that is needed to be able to do this delivery will be a big help in meeting Canada Post's long term profitability goals.

Some commentators think that with the fast turn around in profits shown in 2014 Canada Post could move away from some of the more controversial parts of their plan but at this point there is not much indication this will happen.   According to one commentator the lettermail windfall in 2014 amounted to $238 million in extra revenue, more than half of the total increase realized.

No matter what your take on the 2014 results it is evident that Canada Post is making changes and that postal delivery in Canada is going to be different than it ever has been before.  Some of these differences are going to be great for most users and some may not.  

Every once in awhile an article comes across your desk that really capsules a challenging topic for IT operations.  This happened this week when I came across a listing for a recent publication from Europe which summarizes the security benefits and risks that come with cloud computing.  
Even better this publication is targeted directly at SMEs, (Small and Medium sized enterprises).