Image courtesy of Chris Metcalf.

We constantly hear people say they want “job security and career advancement opportunities.” The good news is that you have taken the first step toward this lofty goal as you enrolled in the Ashworth College Small Business Management program designed for entrepreneurs. Starting and operating your own business is one way to take control of your future. Is it possible to become indispensable in today’s workplace? As you recognize your strengths, you will also build confidence, realizing that you have what it takes to market yourself and your new business; yes, you can become indispensable!

The term, indispensable means that which is necessary or essential. In other words, if you are to become indispensable, then you must become necessary or essential to the marketplace. As we consider what this means for you and your new business, let’s consider your strengths. Hopefully, your strengths include what I like to call, “The 9 E’s to BEcoming Indispensable:”

1. Enthusiasm
2. Effective communication skills
3. Ethical work habits
4. Effective employees
5. Effective problem solving and decision making skills
6. Endearing customer relationships
7. Energetic work habits
8. Education
9. Experience!

Let’s take a quick look at each of these important aspects which may catapult you to becoming indispensable. There is a reason why the word, “Enthusiasm” is first on the list. Enthusiasm is contagious! If you are enthusiastic about your abilities, your company, and your product, others will “catch” the excitement, too. Don’t you just love to be around someone who is excited about their work? It isn’t necessarily the words they use; instead, it is their non-verbal language which conveys the energy and enthusiasm they have.

Effective communication skills are vital to the success of an entrepreneur. Not only must you have a good command of the English language, you must effectively practice communication skills through writing and speech. I’ve written two helpful books which have been published by Pearson Publishers of Boston. “Going from Stress to Success,” published in 2007, is a public speaking textbook. “Basic Writing for Business: A Technical Approach,” published in 2008, is a textbook which details the basic skills of business writing. A combination of the two texts should help you to become proficient in writing and in speech. Other books are available on the market. If you feel you are deficient in your writing and speaking skills, take a course or purchase a book which will help you to develop your communication skills.

Job security is out there for people who exhibit ethical work habits. Think before you say or do anything. Make sure that your actions are consistent with business principles of moral conduct. Just remember that your work should be of the caliber that you would be proud to sign your name to it at the end of the day. (more…)

Image courtesy of Giovanni Portelli.

Earlier today, I was notified by our help desk person about a problem that users across the network were experiencing—a textbook example of what we cover through your Computer Networking program.

First off, to outline how our IT personnel is structured, there is a help desk person who answers emails and phone calls from users across our network. Many of the issues that she is asked about are simple problems that she easily handles. Issues that she is unable to solve are then forwarded to one of three IT technicians who address level 2 problems. Issues that they are unable to address are then forwarded to me which we can refer to as level 3 problems.

Like many large networks, we manage Windows updates through a Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) server. It is a dedicated server which synchronizes with Microsoft on a daily basis checking for recent updates. I have configured the WSUS to download updates for Windows 7, XP, Server 2000, Server 2003, Server 2008, SQL 2005, Office 2007 and all security updates. The WSUS emails me whenever new updates are downloaded. I then approve or disapprove each update for our network. The approved updates are then dispersed to their corresponding computers across the network. This aspect is handled by something called Group Policy Management, which is beyond the scope of this course.

Some network administrators will first install new updates on experimental computers first to ensure that the updates don’t conflict with their current configurations but most organizations don’t have the man power or time to do this. I base my decision on how Microsoft categorizes the update and what its for.Recently, I approved an update for Internet Explorer 8 or IE8. Microsoft supplies numerous updates for IE as it is prone to attacks. Today, only a week after approving the update, the help desk began to get emails that users weren’t able to save Office 2007 files to their hard drives. (more…)

As leaders in the online education field, our faculty and staff here at Ashworth College believe it’s very important to continuously innovate dynamic ways to communicate with our student community. Our Ashworth College “Live” Events initiative has proven to be quite a hit and has helped us take our vision in exciting new directions, which is why we continue to exponentially increase the number and frequency of these events every month. These events are terrific opportunities to interact with Instructors on the cutting edge of their field and gain career advancement insights that only a true expert can provide.

In addition to our career training oriented chats, we host weekly student orientation chats that are open to existing students and anyone else simply interested in learning more about what Ashworth College is all about. The orientation chat allows you to get all of your questions answered and issues resolved by an Ashworth Student Advisor via “live” video stream. You don’t even need a web cam to participate—just show up and gain plenty of valuable personal, educational, and career advice to help you get ahead!

We’re adding new events on a daily basis, so please check out the Ashworth College Event Calendar for the latest information. Thanks everyone!

Image courtesy of SunGardAvailabilitySvcs’

A couple of weeks ago, I took a tour of a data storage facility managed by a company called SunGard. The building I went to was the size of a Wal-Mart and houses racks and racks of networking equipment comprising data centers for their clients. Sun Gard either allots customers a space to bring their own racks and equipment to build their data center or supplies the customer with the space and equipment they need for their data center. Customers can then either physically or remotely manage the equipment.

The reason why an organization would want their data center housed at a remote location such as this Sungard facility is for redundancy. First off, Sun Gard has two separate power lines coming into their facility and each power line draws power from a separate power grid. Should the surrounding area encounter a blackout from one grid going out, Sun Gard will still be up. Next is the cooling system. As I have written earlier, data centers generate a lot of heat due to the servers, so imagine how much heat is generated at a facility such as this. Sun Gard has huge air conditioning units and has a backup for each one, so if six units are needed, they have twelve. They have a command center which monitors both their power and cooling systems to ensure that everything is running perfect and that counter actions can be implemented quickly in the case of a problem.

They have a large room with shelves and shelves of UPS units—the largest UPS units I’ve seen up close. The administrator told me that the UPS units can keep the data centers up for up to fifteen minutes in the case of a complete power failure. They also had a water tank which held over a week’s worth of water.

All of this costs money of course, which is why the rental fees for data center customers aren’t cheap, but then again building the redundancy infrastructure that this facility boasts would require tremendous investment. With more and more companies resorting to cloud computing, facilities such as this one will continue to blossom across the globe.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Networking/Computer Network Security Instructor
Ashworth College

Image courtesy of Stanley Donwood

It’s standard practice that if you have an always-on Internet connection, then you should have a firewall, implemented in either hardware, such as a router, or in software. But even if you are using a dial-up connection, you really need a software firewall to protect you from intrusions. You would be surprised at the number of attempts to get into your PC a good software firewall will block on a PC using dial-up. A firewall will also notify you of attempts to go out to an Internet website. You can then allow or disallow the outbound traffic. You would want legitimate programs such as Windows to access the company’s website for update purposes, but you’re safer to block any programs that you don’t recognize from doing so. Be sure to check for correct spelling. Say you have Symantec’s anti virus program on your PC and have set it up for automatic virus signature updates. Your firewall will ask you whether you want to grant the program permission to go outbound. But some malware could identify itself as Symantek. Should you allow it to access the Internet, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Yes, it’s unfortunate that there are so many nasty things that can happen to your computer. And thwarting such attempts can cost you time and money, but you really need to do this. At minimum you need a firewall, an anti-virus program, and an anti-spyware utility. You’ll also need to update the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs’ signature files at least once a week, as well as scanning with each at least once a week, more frequently if you are online daily, then you should have a firewall, implemented in either hardware, such as a router, or in software. But even if you are using a dial-up connection, you really need a software firewall to protect you from intrusions. You would be surprised at the number of attempts to get into your PC a good software firewall will block on a PC using dial-up. A firewall will also notify you of attempts to go out to an Internet website. You can then allow or disallow the outbound traffic. You would want legitimate programs such as Windows to access the company’s website for update purposes, but you’re safer to block any programs that you don’t recognize from doing so. Be sure to check for correct spelling. (more…)

Image courtesy of Juria Yoshikawa.

When I was the account executive on Mr. & Mrs. “T” Cocktail Mixes, the responsibilities of the advertising agency extended beyond creating advertisements. The agency also prepared shelf talkers, table tents, and other point-of-sale items. The client directed us to produce these promotional items because he wanted the product advertising incorporated into all trade and sales promotion materials.

For example, “T” ran print ads in trade magazines targeting the grocery trade and the retail trade. The objectives were to convince grocery buyers to carry the Mr. & Mrs. “T” brand of cocktail mixes. For the retail trade, the objectives were the same: to convince bars and restaurants to buy and sell the “T” line of products. These advertisements utilized the same visual as the consumer ads. This strategy recognized that trade buyers were also consumers, and likely to see the same ads. However, the ads included modified copy, which spoke directly to the trade audience by addressing their needs. The copy detailed the advertising support behind the Mr. & Mrs. “T” line of products. This information was included to encourage purchases by demonstrating a consumer pull strategy. The copy encouraged grocery chains and retail outlets to carry the full line of products to fulfill anticipated consumer demand.

We also developed sales sheets for use by the “T” sales force. The front of the sell sheets featured, once again, a consumer print advertisement. The back of the sell sheet summarized the consumer advertising schedule. The Mr. & Mrs. “T” sales force used the sell sheet on sales calls with brokers and retailers to demonstrate the advertising support behind the brand, and encourage clients to buy the “T” line of cocktail mixes.

Furthermore, the agency developed contests to provide additional incentives to the trade to purchase the line of cocktail mixes. The media planners and the account team negotiated merchandising with the various consumer magazines chosen for the media plan. Southern Living and Sunset magazines were included in the media program in part because of their high reach against the grocery trade. (Research had shown that many purchase decision makers in the grocery store business read these magazines to keep informed of product introductions and consumer products for their stores.) Magazine merchandising supplied by these titles included tickets to college football bowl games. The client used these tickets as incentives for grocery buyers to stock and order more of his product. Through this integrated approach to advertising and promotions, Mr. & Mrs. “T” was in a better position to achieve its marketing goals.

Cheryl Syrett
Internet Marketing Instructor
Ashworth College