Robin’s not the only one on the road!

As Robin has been criss-crossing the U.S. and flying over the pond to visit the Old Country, I have been on a whirlwind tour myself. I started by visiting RSA in San Francisco, CA for a few days, before stopping in our Seattle, WA office.

I have attended COMMON and the IBM Technical Conference several times over the years, and I have to say, the number of people at RSA is just mind-boggling! If you have never attended the RSA conference, it is quite a sight to see! Here I found thousands of people, hundreds of vendors, and a large selection of security topics to participate in. It was quite exciting to see such a buzz around the topic of security. If RSA is any indication, 2010 will be a big year for security projects!

My second week of travels brought me back to San Francisco, CA to kick off my workshop tour. I started in Oakland, CA, traveled to Irvine, CA, and then to Las Vegas, NV. The goal of these workshops was to help people get started with their IBM i Security Policy.

Some of the things we discussed included:

• Why a security policy is so important in today’s environment
• What government regulations and standards are driving the security policy projects
• Components of your security policy, both from a corporate perspective and specific to IBM i
• Business requirements considerations for your security policy
• Who to include in your security policy review team
• How to audit your IBM i
• What reports are available to support your security policy and how they are executed
• How PowerTech can help – tools available to help assess your system and simplify reporting

I really enjoyed working with everyone who attended my workshop, and hope everyone learned something valuable that can be applied to their security policy – I know I learned something from each workshop!

If you are interested in attending a workshop on this topic watch our newsletter, PowerNews, or check the blog for more cities and dates. I will be continuing my workshop tour over the next few months. I hope to see you in the future!

Well, a lot has happened for me since last week. After returning from Portland on Wednesday, I quickly laundered my clothes and repacked my suitcase. Less than 24 hours later, I headed back to the Minneapolis airport, this time with my two teenage kids; Jodan 15, and Sydney 13. We boarded a non-stop flight to London’s Heathrow airport. At 33,000 feet, and a temperature of -70 degrees Fahrenheit, we all said a temporary goodbye to the United States coastline, and I said a permanent goodbye to my “30’s.” A big sign of advancing years was that I had completely forgotten about the event until my daughter reminded me with a “Happy Birthday, Dad!” as we passed midnight.

As many of you know, I was born and raised in the United Kingdom and came to the U.S. twenty years ago as a high school foreign exchange student. I fell in love with Iowa back then, and upon my return home I started planning how I could come back. I took a job as a trainee programmer, and found myself learning to write RPG code on an AS/400. Eighteen months later, I took the plunge and packed all my worldy possessions into several large suitcases and never looked back.

For a number of reasons, eleven years has slipped by since my last return. I am now retraining myself in the art of driving on the left,and steering on the right! I am also quickly (re)adopting the accent of my ancestors, and reaquainting myself with the mighty Fish ‘n’ Chip.

The business purpose for my traveling here this week is due to the growth that we are seeing in security conversations in Europe. After a successful year at PowerTech, our Help/Systems International division is looking at ways to expand their contribution to that success. I will be working with the sales team to identify ways to best service new customers, for example by leveraging our fantastic no-charge compliance assessment offering. The technical teams are going to be briefed on a number of pertinent security topics, as well as discuss some aspects of product and operating system security.

Wednesday afternoon (10am CST in Minneapolis) Jill Martin, PowerTech’s product manager, and myself will connect the 4,000 miles between the two Help/Systems offices via WebEx to host our weekly Webinar security session. On Thursday, I am excited to be hosting a security workshop in the vein of the ones that I have been holding across the U.S. during the last couple of months. This session is now bordering on being “sold out,” so if you are interested, go to www.powertech.com and register.

Finally, I am taking a couple of days off at the beginning of next week to enjoy a little time with my UK-based family, and to show my kids more of “the old country.” I will be back in Minneapolis later in the week.

Have a great week everyone!

The  Oregon Trail covered  2,000 miles and took about six months to travel. Used up until to the mid-1800’s, the trail led travelers across what later became six states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Some 150 years later, my trip took only a week and involved Nevada, Utah, California, and Oregon.

My trip started in Reno, Nevada, with a visit to the local Reno/Sparks user group. I presented the popular “Top 10 vulnerabilities of IBM i that you need to fix NOW” and gave away another gift card and a number of great PowerTech t-shirts.

Last week also marked an exciting time for the PowerTech team back in Minneapolis with the release of a new version Network Security. Version 6 of our popular exit program solution includes a cleaner user interface, several new reports, and the ability to set rules for specific objects and IFS stream files. Watch for the formal announcements and press release.

I opted not to return to Minneapolis for the weekend, and instead drove the 90 minutes to South Lake Tahoe which straddles the Nevada/California state line. If you haven’t visited this part of the world, you are missing a treat. I visited when I was in town last Spring for COMMON, but seeing it in the midst of perfect winter conditions is spectacular, and skiers—cross-country and downhill—are in heaven here! The highlights for me included the bizarre sight of snow covered beaches, and the breathtaking Emerald Bay.

I arrived in Oregon late on Sunday night. On Monday, I conducted a security workshop at the offices of MSI Systems Integrators in downtown Portland. Afterward, I met with Sirius Computer Solutions, another PowerTech security partner, to talk about their growth in their security practice, and how PowerTech can provide additional sales support to their extensive organization. I am looking forward to following up on some of the action items that we put together.

The main purpose of my visit to Portland was to present to the local user group. On Tuesday, I repeated the popular session on the “Top 10 vulnerabilities of IBM i that you need to fix NOW.” This was one of the most engaging groups I have had the pleasure of meeting, and the normal 60 minute presentation ran close to two hours based on great questions and pertinent side discussions.

After the session, I followed the recommendation of one of the session attendees and took a short drive to the Columbia River Gorge. Even though the light was beginning to fail, I was able to capture some memorable images of the impressive Multnomah Falls, a combination of two water falls with a combined height of 611ft, more than three times the height of the Niagara Falls that I visited last month.

I fly back to Minnesota on Wednesday for a quick turnaround to repack my suitcase and then I am off to the Help/Systems, International office in the U.K. On a personal level, this trip has special significance as I was born and raised a short distance from the office location in Fleet. It has been almost 11 years since I last returned, and my two teenage children will be accompanying me back “home.”

I look forward to speaking with you again next week from England!

March is a big month for Massachusetts! On the 5^th, we see the official kickoff of “Maple Month,” which is a celebration of “all things maple.” Scheduled events include numerous pancake breakfasts and tours of local sugarhouses that open their doors to show visitors how sap from the maple trees is boiled into a syrup. If you would like to learn about the interesting syrup-making process, including how to make your own, check out the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association. Just be aware that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup!

On the compliance front, March 1^st marked the deadline to comply with the wide-reaching Massachusetts Law 201 CMR 17.00, which requires any business with 1 or more records of information about a Massachusetts resident to adequately protect their data. This new law complements the existing state breach notification law (General Law 93H), which allows for civil penalties of up to $50,000 for data breaches. What is groundbreaking about this law is that it is much more specific than other data protection laws about how the data is to be protected, and the fact that it affects companies not otherwise in a regulated industry.

201 CMR 17 consists of 5 sections which outline the scope, responsibility, and requirements for compliance. There is a definition of what is considered a “data breach;” primarily described as the unathorized acquisition or use of unencrypted data (or encrypted data in conjunction with the encryption key). All data that meets the “personal information” criteria requires protection, and it is the responsibility of the data owner or licensee to safeguard that information with a comprehensive security program.

Highlights of that security program include the requirement of a documented security policy, regular monitoring to ensure that the security program is working to prevent unauthorized access (or use) of personal data, and detailed documention of incident response. To ensure incidents may be investigated, the law also requires data breaches to be reported to the state’s Attorney General.

PowerTech is well positioned to assist organizations running IBM i that are required to comply with 201 CMR 17. Our Network Security access control and Authority Broker solutions work together with the IBM i operating system to satsify section 17.04 2a, which states that methods be implemented to “restrict access to records and files containing personal information to those who need such information to perform their job duties.” And Compliance Monitor can assist with paragraph 4, which requires personnel perform “reasonable monitoring of systems, for unauthorized use of or access to personal information.” But it doesn’t stop there! Our security experts can assist with configuring the operating system controls, and our leading technology partnerships can assist with encryption and anti-virus requirements.

The law was written to make companies take a “risk-based” approach to compliance that takes into account the size of the company, the type and amount of data being stored, as well as the nature of the business. There was also a well-publicized shift in the deadline for compliance from August 2009 to March 2010. That day has now come!

A complete copy of the law may be found at: 201 CMR 17.00.

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation (OCABR) also maintains a number of online resources regarding identity theft, including an FAQ on complying with law 201 CMR 17.00.

I fly out again Wednesday, on my way to Reno, Nevada. I am looking forward to this trip as I fell in love with the Reno/Tahoe area during my visit for COMMON 2009. I will be conducting a security workshop at the impressive Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, and also presenting the popular “Top 10 Security Risks You Need To Fix NOW” to the Reno-Sparks Midrange Users Group. From there I head to Portland, a new city for me, but one that I have heard is spectacularly beautiful. This will involve another workshop at the offices of a regional PowerTech partner, MSI Systems Integrators, and then a session for the Portland Users Group.

Have a great week, and I will be sharing an update from Portland next week.

After spending the first half of the week in Nashville, Tennessee, I jumped on a plane to make the trek north to Buffalo, New York. My first stop was the beautiful Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in downtown Niagara Falls, 15 miles north of Buffalo. The hotel is just a short walk from the three famous waterfalls that are the city’s namesake, and that impact the Niagara River that straddles the border between the United States and Canada. Although not exceptionally high, these falls are the most powerful in North America and are an important source of hydroelectric power, and one of the most recognized landmarks in the world.

Seneca Casino, one of PowerTech’s valued customers, graciously offered to host our 3^rd IBM i security workshop in their well-appointed conference facilities. The half-day session was another highly interactive one, and was accompanied by a fantastic lunch and free PowerTech giveaways. After bragging that previous sessions had finished within 5 minutes of the scheduled 4 hours, of course this session ran over; simply because of the great interaction and discussion with the attendees. For that reason, no one seemed to mind, and everyone seemed happy with the content that we provided, with topics that included system values, exit points, and object-level security.

Before heading back to Buffalo, I did make the short walk down to the breathtaking American and Bridal Veil Falls. If you have never seen this stunning sight—especially in the Winter—then it is hard to describe the power and sheer natural force of these natural wonders. While I had previously seen the view from the Canadian side in July, this was my first visit to the U.S. side. While a still-photograph doesn’t really do it justice, I hope my panorama conveys a fraction of its majesty.

The remainder of the evening was spent with the large group that comprises the Midrange Users Group of Western New York (www.mugwny.com). On this night, I presented a combined session called The Top 10 IBM i Security Vulnerabilities and The State of IBM i Security Study, which is based on the popular PowerTech white paper that is published annually. From the reaction of the crowd, some of the issues were quite eye-opening. Hopefully the information I provided will assist them with performing security improvements that might prevent corporate data from flowing out of the network as fast as water over the falls! As always, I offered to conduct a no-charge security review for anyone interested in using our fabulous automated Compliance Assessment solution.

Fortunately, the “lake effect snow” that I had been told about plaguing the region held off for the most part, and I was able to start my return travels on time. Ironically, while everyone had cautioned me about the likelihood of flight delays in and out of Buffalo, and my knowledge of the prevalence of seasonal delays at my connecting hub of Chicago’s O’Hare airport, it was my final destination of Des Moines, Iowa, that almost derailed my return. As we were beginning our descent into Des Moines, the pilot informed us that airport had just closed due to the blowing snow from a winter storm. We immediately went into holding pattern awaiting further instructions. The captain indicated that we had an extra 40 minutes worth of fuel in addition to the fuel required for a return to Chicago! Fortunately, we didn’t require much of either as the airport subsequently reopened and we were cleared to land after about 20 minutes of circling. I was so relieved that I didn’t have to end a fantastic work week with a winter travel horror story!

Thanks again for everyone’s continued hospitality on the road, both for the workshops and the user groups. I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank my team back in Minneapolis, especially Katie Carnicom, who tirelessly facilitates the numerous agendas (for me, as well as other members of staff), complicated travel schedules, and shipments of the t-shirts and presentation materials. It takes unbelievable organization to put these events on back-to-back, and she does an amazing job that allows me look good with little effort on my part!

This week will be a week to try and catch up, and then next week I will be off again, taking the workshop and user group presentation to Reno, Nevada, billed as “The Biggest Little City In The World.” That will be immediately followed by Portland, Oregon, the week of March 8^th.

Although it is my first visit to the city of Nashville, it’s immediately clear that it’s a Southern city with a bustling nightlife, and a place that takes pride in its heritage. Best known as the hub of country music, Nashville is home to everything from the Country Music Hall of Fame to “Cooters,” a museum dedicated to them “good ol’ boys,” the Dukes of Hazzard.

Although I don’t typically have time to visit many attractions on my trips, I would certainly love to come back and take some time to explore this town. I must say it was fun to eat dinner while listening to some live country music, as well as visit the spectacular Opryland Hotel. Traveling as much as I do, I thought I had seen it all, but this venue is truly spectacular consisting of three huge atriums complete with cascading waterfalls, winding overhead walkways, and a musically-inspired indoor fountain show.

My whistle-stop schedule started with a customer visit on Monday, and continued today with a half-day security workshop. It was another great interactive event, and opened the door to some great questions and numerous conversations regarding how customers are currently approaching the challenge of securing their data. It was fantastic to find that a number of the attendees are already running Powertech solutions to assist them, and fun to give away another box of shirts and a Starbucks gift card!

Last night found me up in front of a full room at the local Nashville user group where I presented a combination session on protecting the IBM i from FTP, ODBC, and Remote Command, along with how to configure auditing controls for IBM i. While the dinner and cheesecake were great, the best part of the evening was the highly interactive audience, and that is very satisfying to me as a speaker. There were a lot of pertinent questions and discussion around the two topics, and good conversation afterwards about security topics in general. I am also getting to enjoy the mass t-shirt distribution, as everyone seems to get a kick out of our “control freaks” t-shirts!

The hotel that hosted the user group also had a Nashville Songwriters event going on afterwards, and presented some of the talent behind hit songs recorded such country legends as Kenny Chesney, George Straight, and Trace Adkins. I am now preparing to head to the airport this morning for a flight to Buffalo, NY, to repeat the same events again in the Niagara Falls and Buffalo area. I will give you an update on that part of my trip next week.

As part of this entry, I thought I would share a funny story. As a Midwesterner, you’d think that I would be prepared for bad winter weather wherever I go, but upon waking here on my first morning in town I was more than a little surprised to see that Nashville was coated in a layer of black ice, topped with a couple of inches of powdery snow. I was dismayed to find that my car windows were frozen solid, and my windshield wipers “super-glued” to the glass. Unfortunately for me, the rental car agency didn’t include the normal obligatory corporate-branded ice scraper, so I had to make do with the edge of the hotel’s plastic room key. Halfway into this finger-numbing exercise, I was approached by a man carrying a can of de-icer and a scraper. While the scraper was making short work of removing the ice, I asked if this was a common event in Tennessee and mentioned that I was impressed that he was so well prepared. While I had assumed I would be leaving the winter weather behind me for a few days, I was definitely amused when he grinned at me and responded “I have no idea. I am just visiting from Illinois!” I should have known it would take a fellow sufferer to carry his own winter lifeline.

It has been a busy year, and it’s hard to believe we are well into February already. I have really been enjoying the recent interaction with class students, regional user groups, and PowerTech customers around the country and although it is one of my favorite responsibilities, it is not without its challenges. While I have a Blackberry pretty much velcro’d to my hand, it can be challenging to keep up on the daily affairs of the office in Minneapolis.

I actually hear that type of complaint from a lot from customers that I talk to: The daily challenge of finding the time to perform all of the necessary security forensics. It is always nice to visit with some of those same customers after they have installed a tool like PowerTech Compliance Monitor (CM), and to hear how the tasks that previously took hours or even days to perform, can now be reviewed and analyzed in a matter of minutes. For example, the task of comparing system values against your policy. Printing and hand-reviewing this information is not difficult, but takes a good eye and patience to do the compare. Compare that with CM’s ability to quickly and effortlessly print system value scorecards that color-code any non-compliant items for you, and provide a compliance ranking. Of course, although we ship a great policy template inside the product, you can modify it for your own requirements. Now, consider comparing the values on dozens or even hundreds of partitions and it doesn’t take long to see where the time savings start to really add up!

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (HR 4061). The bill passed easily with a vote of 422-5, and now goes before Congress. If passed into law, the bill provides various provisions, such as providing grants to students in the field of computer security in return for service to the government cybersecurity team, strengthening the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to influence the way cybersecurity is addressed though awareness campaigns, and requiring the President to perform an agency-by-agency assessment of the skills found in government’s cybersecurity workforce. It is the first major cybersecurity bill to be passed by either house in the current session of Congress, but is unlikely to be the last. For more information, visit http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4061/show

On another note, the PowerTech team is busy working on the finishing touches to Network Security v6.0, which is to be released soon. We are already actively working on ideas for several other product releases, as well as building a development wish list for NS v7.0. As an IBM business partner, we are now running tests on pre-release versions of IBM i to ensure that our products are approved and ready to go when IBM releases its latest iteration of the operating system. I will be taking a look at the new release soon with an eye on delivering an update regarding any new security enhancements that have been included.

If you are in Rochester, Minnesota today for the Large User Group (LUG) sessions at IBM, please consider yourself invited to our customer appreciation event at the DoubleTree hotel downtown.

As I am writing this, the snow is again falling and blowing. If you are in a geography that is being blasted by this storm, or even the last one that came through that ended up dropping a whopping 33” of snow on our nation’s capitol, stay safe. Next week I am headed to Nashville, and then on to Buffalo, so I have a feeling that I haven’t seen the last of Mother Nature! I am hosting an IBM i security workshop in both cities, and presenting at the local user groups. If you would like to get more information on these events, check the events section of the Web site at www.powertech.com.

It was another week on the road, this time heading slightly south to St Louis, Missouri. It was great to get away from the snow, although the air seemed just as cold as in Minneapolis. To say that it would be nice to feel a warm breeze at this point would be an understatement!

One of my first duties in town was to conduct our weekly PowerTech Webinar. The Webinar was titled Protect IBM i (AS400) Data From FTP, ODBC, and Remote Command, and it’s always one of the most popular Webinars that we do. It still surprises me that we have so many people attend this topic, and ask such great questions such as why IBM i is often exposed from a lack of access control, or auditing of network-initiated transactions. I suppose the statistic that 65% of IBM i servers that we audit still have no exit programs registered might explain some of the interest—even after two decades of awareness of this problem.

I was thrilled to also be presenting the first session of our new regional security workshops to a full room of attendees. For several hours, we whittled our way through numerous important aspects of IBM i security—from system values to adopted authority and from special authorities to network access. Based on the positive comments made on the evaluation forms, the class was a resounding success! It always makes it fun when an idea comes to fruition, and especially when it is so well received. Thanks to the IBM i team at MSI Systems Integrators for hosting the event at their downtown facilities, and for providing lunch for all of the attendees.

After the class, I traveled the 90 miles or so to Jefferson City and engaged with the mid-Missouri users group, presenting a session titled Top 10 Security Vulnerabilities. I would like to offer my appreciation to Huber and Associates for inviting me to present at their location, and also for the interest and interaction I received from the group. This presentation actually ran long because of some of the great discussion that we were having. Before I left, we emptied another box of cool PowerTech t-shirts, and raffled another gift-card.

I am now going to be back in the office for a couple of weeks to catch up on some of my other daily responsibilities, including helping host our upcoming online training classes for Network Security. After that, I will head out again for the next workshop and user group stops, this time in Nashville, Tennessee, and Buffalo, New York. I am especially excited about going to Buffalo, as it is being hosted at a PowerTech customer location. Plans are also being worked on for Reno and Portland events in early March, so if you work in those areas, we invite you to join us.

Before I close this week’s entry, I want to take a moment to say that my thoughts are with the family of IBM’s Craig Johnson, who died this past week in a car accident in Northern Iowa. Blizzard and whiteout conditions on Interstate 35 led to a massive 40-vehicle pile-up. This is the exact same route that I take weekly between Des Moines and Minneapolis, and I just happened to have stayed in Minneapolis that weekend due to my back-to-back travel plans. It certainly brings home how life can change in an instant, and how important it is to live each day as if it is your last.

Stay Warm!

With Gregg Bury and Jill Martin

JM:  Before we get started with the questions, why don’t you give us a quick introduction?

GB:  Well, my name is Gregg Bury. I’m a technical support consultant at PowerTech and I work with the System i and our software in security.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, in Seattle.

JM:  How long have you been with PowerTech?

GB:  It’s 10 years this year; joined in 2000.

JM:  Have you always been in customer support?

GB:  I have.  In the early days, it wasn’t just customer service. We did QA, and wrote our own documentation and guides and best practices, so it’s kind of narrowed now.  In the original days, there was a lot broader job description.

JM:  What makes our support unique?

GB:  Those of us in support have been here a long time, so we’re very aware of not just our software, but security needs and the System i.  Myself and my co-worker, Pablo Tellez—he’s been here 11 years—just by virtue of our length of time in service at this one company, I think gives us a lot of credibility and skill here.  And, we both like what we do and we care about the customers.

JM:  What is the knowledge level of our support?  (Level 1, 2, 3 etc)

GB:  Three being the highest?  At least 2 and edging into 3; generally when I consider 3, you’re getting into the development and the code and the software functions at a program level.

JM:  You take it further than level 2 often times, I bet you do a lot of research.

GB:  Yes, we research.  We dig into the deepest parts sometimes.  Sometimes with help.

JM:  What type of closure rate do we have for incoming calls? How often do you close calls after the initial contact?

GB:  Well, I’d say between 80%-90% easy.  While we’re on the call, we open it.  We may be creating the ticket at the moment they call, and most of the time by the time the call is done, it’s finished.  We’ve closed the call.

JM:  You’ve solved the problem for the customer?

GB:  Correct.

JM:  In addition to phone calls, what are some other ways to contact support?

GB:  Email; we have a support email address.  It’s mailbox that we monitor: support@powertech.com.  The phone and email are primary ways.  Often some will be referenced by either an account rep or someone else who transfers the call to us, but generally it’s the phone.

JM:  What do you like best about working with our customers?

GB:  I like problem solving.  People will call, they have a problem – often they’re stressed, and people often vent which is normal, but we don’t take it personally in that respect; but when we’re done, they’re often happy or satisfied that they’ve got your answer or at least we’re working on the problem.  So, I just like to solve problems.

JM:  Would you say that most of the calls or questions you guys get are related to defects or how-to questions?

GB:  At least 75%-80% are how-to questions.  Some of them might be dealing with the iSeries and how it works with security, or how to use our software.  Often they’re dealing with forensics: they had an event that happened that shouldn’t have or something, and they’ll call us about how to get some history and documentation of what happened.  Often it’s just on the iSeries or using our software.

JM:  So most of the calls you take are how-to questions on the software or on the operating system.  For instance, it’s not always just when there’s an actual problem.

GB:  Yeah, I think people have learned to trust us; not all of the calls we get have to do with our software, and maybe don’t even have to do with security, they just know that somehow we know what to do in this situation, and we’ll get calls on that just because they trust us.

JM:  What are some of the other things you get involved in as part of support?

GB:  QA (testing) often from the customer standpoint.  I know we have QA people who make sure the code is working, but we, in support, will do QA from a customer perspective; we know customers like to do a particular process in a particular way just by virtue of our calls.  Whether it’s running a report, adding access control rules, installing or uninstalling – various things like that.  We also find customers do things in unexpected ways that when development built the product, they didn’t foresee; Pablo and I know that and we will run our QA from that perspective.  Also, we have ideas and enhancements that we will supply back to development by virtue of repeated calls that we get from customers.  We are often involved in usability meetings with the products.

JM:  So, by being on the front lines and getting involved with new version product testing and enhancements, you’re able to add a lot of value to the direction of the product.

GB:  I think so and I hope so.

JM:  Any other thoughts you would like to share?

GB:  Well there’s a loaded one!  You know, our software targets security, but often people view our software as an end-all solution, but it should probably be viewed more as a tool to dealing with security.  Also, security is a verb, it’s not that you just put the software on and then forget about it, it’s ongoing.  The environments are changing, the laws change, the users – as everybody knows – come and go from the business, so they have to be added and removed, the way users do things – as users get smarter they’ll try new things, software applications are added – you know, the old thing with ODBC, and through Microsoft Excel, that was more or less a catalyst for Network Security – but they’re just tools and they can’t be forgotten, they have to be worked and used.  I think at PowerTech we do offer more than just the tools, we are offering our security expertise and experience.

Regardless of how much effort we expend to plan for “unexpected” events, sometimes things happen that are simply out of our control. Last week in Seattle, for example, a failed network component at the local communication service provider’s data center forced a temporary outage of our voice and data lines at our technical support center. Fortunately, having multiple locations means we could do some creative magic and reroute our callers to different offices. This ensured that anyone looking for help could still talk to a live person; something that Help/Systems companies take pride in.

Although the outage was sporadic, it did mean that our call handlers sometimes had to seek other people when they couldn’t forward the call to a technical support employee. Rather than simply take call-back information, I fielded one of the calls myself, and I am extremely glad that I did. It came from a large customer located in Niagara Falls, NY, who initially was a little surprised that a director was answering level 1 support calls (perhaps their surprise was less about my title than the concern of a “pencil pusher” trying to help them!). I explained that the support team was not available, but that I was interested in knowing what their question was, and that I would do my best to address it for them, or escalate it as soon as Seattle came back online. As we worked through some troubleshooting steps, it gave me a great opportunity to visit with them.

I was very happy to hear that they are “huge fans” of the PowerTech security solutions, and frequent listeners of my weekly educational Webinars, but especially proud of how complimentary they were of the support team that they (normally) talk to if they call in. Regardless of whether they had an actual technical issue, or they were simply looking for advice or assistance on how best to utilize the solutions to secure their numerous systems, I was told that the support they had received had always been first class.

I started thinking about how quality technical support can make an enormous difference in a customer relationship. It doesn’t matter how good a solutions is, if at the end of the day the solution is not well supported. I think everyone at one point has purchased a product or service, and found that they had a question about its use, or needed some assistance with it. The instant a phone call is made to the vendor’s support number, there is a “Y” in the road that says whether it will actually increase the customers’ level of satisfaction, or make them question their purchase. In fact, I remember hearing a tale of a cellular phone company that deliberately provided a number of their customers with phones that were not working. This was done as an experiment to see if the way that the support calls were handled would have an impact on a customer’s perception of the company. Interestingly, the level of satisfaction after the issue was handled promptly and courteously was recorded as higher than even those customers who had received a working phone from the start! That is a powerful statement of the impact that good support can have.

Of course, PowerTech does not provide solutions that will deliberately cause issues to customers, but we do have the type of support response that gets praised frequently. That is good for the customer and good for our business. From my perspective, I wish to send my thanks to the members of the PowerTech support team, and also the professional services team that—based on the satisfaction surveys that pass my desk—do an equally superb job at making PowerTech look good. It takes a lot of patience and skill to help customers in a way that makes them thankful for calling.

I am going to be in Buffalo, NY, in February (for some reason, everyone laughs when I say that) to speak at a local user group, and to host a half-day IBM i security class. During that trip, I have arranged to stop by and visit with this particular customer. I want to thank them for their business, and also to have some discussion about how they use the PowerTech products. It is invaluable to us to hear customer insight about what security and compliance issues are important to them in their business, as well as features they would like to see us include in an upcoming release of one of our products. I think it makes us more of a security company than a software company.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I was able to resolve the question that the customer had called in about. My single call may pale in comparison with the volume of questions that the professionals in Seattle typically handle, but at least I can hold my head up high in the break room!

Watch for an upcoming blog and PowerNews newsletter interview with a member of our (real) support team.