January – February 2016

vorite, and it’s free; and Last Pass which is also great, has a free version, and a premium version. How does it work? You create a ‘super’ user name and password for the password vault. You then enter each website you visit, or program you log into, along with the user name and password. When you want to log into any of these, you launch the vault (usually from your laptop/desktop) and click the URL in the vault, select ‘auto-type’ and you’re in! How to get started? Choose a vault, start with one or two sites and practice using the software. When you’re ready, move the rest. When it’s time to change passwords, let the vault auto-generate new ones! — CMW/LAW Wow, 30 years in IT, 1986-2016 Updates and Tips from Syscon Password Security There has to be an easier way! And there is... I’d like to introduce you to the Password Vault, but before I start, let me clarify some password Best Practices. Recently, a friend was tricked; they got an email from what looked like a known vendor asking to confirm their password; so they clicked the link, typed the user name and password, and that was the beginning of a very big ordeal—they had just given a hacker their password, the one they used for all their bank sites, credit cards, and so on. What a nightmare! You need a different password for each site, each account/bank you have—yes it’s a pain, but this is a great example of why it’s needed. Next, don’t re-use a password within 18 months, minimum. Use a ‘strong’ password, at least 8 characters, upper and lower case letters, numbers, at least one special character. The more complex, the better! So, how to keep track of all this? Writing them down and carrying them around, or sticky notes on your monitor are definitely out! (I have a story for this, too!) Now we can talk about the password vault—you use one ‘master’ password to get into the vault. In the vault are all the websites, application names, etc., along with their specific user name and password information, everything you visit or log into. Where to start? There are two you can take a look at for starters: Kee Pass at We’ve been assisting clients for 30 years and we have helped with a variety of business issues. Here are a few places we might be able to help you meet your 2016 resolutions! Goal: Increase Office Efficiency Maybe it’s double-entry of time, or manual spreadsheets with allocations of overhead, but there are usually some office processes that are very timeconsuming. We provide an Efficiency Review wher e we look at your work flow for potential solutions. You might need training on your software, a custom report, middleware so two systems can talk, or even our mobile time app to connect your field and office. Goal: Backups and Disaster recovery The top data loss reason is Employee Error, followed by computer virus attacks. Natural disasters are a consideration, but these top two are much more frequent. We offer Backup and Business Continuity solutions that are timetested.— CLW Syscon, Inc. 15 Spinning Wheel, Suite 218 Hinsdale, IL 60521 (630) 850-9039 VOICE (630) 850-9040 FAX Did You Know? Sage 100 Contractor I often get questions about managing old Jobs and old Vendors in the look up screen. It’s annoying to have so many on the list that are not used right now. We put a specific bracket in front of the name and short name to move these out of the regular look up list without losing them. Any bracket will do, but we use } . This moves the unused jobs/vendors to the bottom of the list, still keeping them in alphabetical order after the bracket, so you can find them easily, without seeing them each time you search for a job or vendor. Tip: run the 5-3-7 Payroll Audit each week, and definitely before preparing any quarterly reports. —CMW Upcoming Events January 14th webinar demo of Syscon Time App January 21st ‘No Pressure’ demo of Sage 100 Contractor January/February 2016 -- 1 of 2 - News, Client Feedback, Reminders—30 Years! 20 Years with Master Builder/ Sage 100 Contractor We’ve released all four video interviews with ’interesting’ experiences we’ve had in our 20-year history with this product. Anyone who knows Larry, knows that he can tell a great story—enjoy! CMW Client Survey We really want to know how we’re doing as we service your IT needs. In an effort to get your feedback without annoying you, we launched our ’blue guy’ faces—sad, neutral, happy. If you receive our survey email, just click on the face that represents your experience—it’s that easy! Backup versus Redundancy! We’ve watched businesses get burned many times on this issue. A backup is a separate ‘copy’ from which to restore. A RAID array or other redundant systems are important, but if they fail, there is nothing to restore. We recommend having a RAID array, especially on a server. This allows drives to ‘mirror’ data across the group of drives, so if a drive fails, it can be replaced and the array can rebuild without having to restore from a backup. BUT, if the RAID fails or becomes corrupt, you must have a backup from which to restore. There’s more than one type of backup—there are flat file backups where you have a copy of the file and can restore from the copy. BUT, you have to have a machine with the software installed in order to open the restored files; assuming the data is there and was not corrupted! There are image-based backups which include the Operating System and other software; this is ideal and saves so much time. —CMW What our clients say about our techs ‘Bob—thanks for your careful and diligent response and the extra effort you made in diverting potential disaster yesterday and late through the night. Your efforts exemplify what have made Syscon such a valued partner for us. Thank you, Bob! And please thank the whole team working behind you. - Dave, Christ Church of Oak Brook ‘Very patient and explained things along the way.’ for Evan - Lee, Ostrander Construction ‘Lenny always does a great job for us.’ Love what we do? Love how we do it? When you refer someone to Syscon and they become a client, we’ll reward you for your time, and thank you for your vote of confidence. Contact Brian Bruns at Syscon to share the contact details and sign up. Syscon, Inc. 15 Spinning Wheel Suite 218 Hinsdale, IL 60521 630-850-9039 Voice 630-850-9040 FAX Catherine presented several webinars in December including ’Closing the Year in Sage 100 Contractor’ for yearend planning. Sage 100 Contractor You have to be on version 19.7.28 (minimum) to have the 2016 Payroll Tax Tables and see the 1095, 1094 B and C reports. Let us know if you need help. January/February 2016 Larry is completing a Sage Paperless Implementation at a client in Downers Grove; he is certified with Sage for this product! -- 2 of 2 -