I’m working with an IT team to help each of them develop their professional development plans.  For most of the team, it’s really easy.  Help desk, server admins and network guys have clear technical course work and simple-to-acheive certifications to collect along the way.  It’s a path with many rewards and almost-instant gratification along the way. 

Plus, for more technical people, learning about new technology is fun!  Even better when the company pays for it.

It becomes somewhat more challenging when you start to look at the new IT Manager who leads the group.  In the past, he’s been focused on Cisco certification and his ITIL base certification.  Great – but as he’s having to get more hands-off technology, it’s time to move away from Cisco.  (more…)

Welcome to the new Knapp & Associates website!

A year ago Knapp & Associates made a major transition.  We moved out of the IT Support / Managed Services space to focus on IT management consulting for small-to-medium business.  Our mandate is to help companies maximize the value of their technology investment, through technology leadership, alignment with management, and process improvement.  In short, we find ways to save your company money or make more money using technology.

We’re very excited about launching this new website.  It took significant effort, both in terms of design and content creation. While I knew (conceptually) how hard it was to create content, I wasn’t prepared for how hard it really is.  I have even more respect for writers and designers now. If you like the site, I’m very happy to refer the designer!

Over the coming months you’ll find this blog will have a greater focus on IT strategy and management for small to medium business.  Of course, since I’m still a techie there will still be the odd geek article.

Enjoy the site.  If you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

Every company does a different level of disaster recovery and business continuity planning.  That’s completely appropriate – smaller companies with less technology dependency (and process maturity) do not require as thorough of a disaster recovery plan.

This past week I’ve been dealing with a very challenging disaster scenario.

The company in question is reasonably technology dependent, but not very sophisticated (lots of data, few automated processes, not a complex technology environment).  They have a solid backup system, a proper GFS rotation which includes off-site storage, and plenty of spare hardware in case of a major failure.  They’re doing everything correctly for a company of their sophistication.

What do you do when something falls outside of your disaster recovery plan? (more…)

I’ve now been using Windows 7 for about a month on both my desktop computer and my laptop.  So far, I’m quite impressed.  Microsoft has actually put together a stable, very functional operating system to replace Windows XP and Vista. 

Please note that this isn’t a review of Windows 7 – just a small gathering of thoughts.  (more…)

Somehow it doesn’t seem to matter what job it is that people apply for – they’re always dreadfully unprepared.  This time around I’m hiring more people for one of my other projects, QCDocs Systems. 

Like when I hired for my company and when I hired for the graphics designer role at QCDocs, I’m finding applicatants haven’t done their research first.  So far (it’s day 2 of resumes coming in), most people have read the instructions and at least included a cover letter. 

Not a single applicant has done their research yet.  When I ask for a cover letter that wows and shows me how this person will be an exceptional member of the team, I expect that they’d do a little reading .. of our website.  Maybe include some basic information in there to show that they have read the website or know something about our market.  Heck – even figure out what my NAME is from the site (they get my e-mail address, and I am highlighted on the site!)

Having written this .. perhaps it’ll show up when the right person searches for QCDocs on Google.  You never know. . .