A few weeks ago I was presenting at IT industry event at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

My presentation was just before lunch, and arriving early in the day I dropped my laptop bag (containing my laptop and my presentation) alongside many of my colleagues near the event registration desk.

About an hour before my presentation, I went to retrieve my laptop and in horror discovered that it was no longer where I had left it. I scouted around nearby tables, looked in every conceivable location, recruited help in the form of my friends crawling under tables but alas, the laptop had gone. My heart sank – not only had a £1,000+ worth of laptop gone, but all my valuable mobile accessories and more importantly, my presentation due in 30 minutes had gone with it!

Lesson Number One – Keep your belongings with you at all times!

Ironically (given I was about to give a presentation on Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery) I had stored a backup copy of my presentation in the Cloud. Borrowing a laptop, and using a fellow presenter’s wireless internet, I logged on to recover the presentation. Or at least I would have if I could find how on earth you actually logged on to the particular cloud service from a web browser. When I needed to access my backup in a hurry, the stress of trying to find out how to do so is most unwelcome.

Lesson Number Two – Know how to quickly access your Data Backups

Thankfully I finally found the correct login website, and thanks to having my KeePass information stored on my iPad (which was safely in my possession) I could logon, grab a copy of the presentation and copy it to a USB stick ready to go on stage with.

I’m glad to say the presentation went well, despite my thoughts admittedly being on to how I could find my laptop after I got off stage.

Over lunch, my friends and I scouted around again and with no luck in finding my laptop, I finally resigned myself to the fact that it had gone and contacted venue security. I reported my laptop stolen with the local Police Station who asked for specifics of the laptop. Luckily, I’d recorded the Serial Numbers and other specifics of not only the
laptop, but also my Flip HD camcorder which was also in the laptop bag, on www.immobilise.com – the website of the UK National Property Register.

Having this information easily to hand via my iPad meant I was able to describe the laptop and give all pertinent information quickly, as well as tag the laptop and camcorder as stolen. In the event that the stolen laptop turned up at a Police Station, it could be identified as mine.

Lesson Number Three – Maintain an accurate record of your high value goods

My thoughts then turned to the data ON my missing laptop. The laptop was password protected, and all data backed up to the Cloud, but it is not that difficult for someone determined to crack a Windows 7 password to gain full access to a system. Chances are that any thief would be stealing the laptop for the hardware, not the data contained on it, but that sinking feeling that you get when you realise the data on the machine is confidential is definitely not a nice one. I really wish I’d have gotten round to encrypting it as I kept
promising myself I would …

Lesson Number Four – Your Data is more valuable than your hardware. Protect it accordingly!

Then, thanks to a conversation which jogged my memory, I recalled I’d installed the free fracking software from Prey Project on my laptop. If the laptop was connected to the internet at all I’d be able to track where it was and even take a screenshot of whomever was using the laptop via its webcam, but more importantly, I could remotely lock the laptop to hinder any attempt to access the data upon it.

Lesson Number Five – Install free Tracking Software on your Mobile Devices before you lose them!

I reported the laptop lost on Prey Project, and waited for it to report back. The likelihood that it ever would was admittedly slim, but at least I wasn’t kicking myself that I’d not bothered to install that free tracking software that you know, takes all of 30 seconds to install!

When I got back home I dug out my insurance paperwork and prepared to make a claim. Thankfully I’d retained all details of my purchases, and in many instances, the original purchase receipts – so I’d be able to make a full claim for the items. I’d also set a diary reminder at the time of my insurance renewal earlier in the year to make sure the contents schedule was up to date – useful if you’re always updating your technology, as I am.

Lesson Number Six – Insure your Technology, and make sure your Contents Schedule is current

Now for most people, the story would end here with an insurance claim and the purchase of a new laptop and the inevitable hope (and prayer) that the confidential data contained on the lost laptop would never fall into the wrong hands.

But a few days later, I received an email from a lovely lady named Jo Flood entitled “Are you missing a laptop?” The email went on to explain how Jo worked for a company that had run an event at the Grand Connaught Rooms on the same day, and whilst sorting out equipment brought back from the venue, she had spotted that they’d acquired an additional laptop!

Powering the laptop up, Jo had spotted my name on the login screen and then Googled it. My blog post about my speaking at the event had come up as the first search engine hit, and Jo put two-and-two together and got in touch via the contact details on my blog to see if it was indeed my laptop.

Lesson Number Seven – Social Media helps connect the world in the most unexpected ways!

Thanking Jo profusely for taking the time and effort to track me down, another friend in London heard about my predicament and offered to retrieve the laptop from Jo nearby – going out of his way to organise all the details with Jo directly. A week later, I was re-united with my laptop!

Lesson Number Eight – There are some genuinely helpful and wonderful people in the world

Thankfully I got away without losing any possessions or more importantly, confidential data. But I learned a number of really valuable lessons about what it feels like to lose mobile devices and data.

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Richard Tubb is an IT Business Consultant and the elected chair of the CompTIA UK Channel Community

Visit his website at www.tubblog.co.uk or connect with him via Twitter and LinkedIn

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]]> http://www.pensar.co.uk/lessons-learned-from-losing-laptop/400952/feed 0 http://www.pensar.co.uk/thinkgrid-partner-case-study/400443 http://www.pensar.co.uk/thinkgrid-partner-case-study/400443#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 17:58:50 +0000 admin http://www.pensar.co.uk/?p=443 …read more »]]> A growth area for Pensar is the provision of Hosted Services.

We needed a strong business partner to help deliver such Hosted Services to our client base. The services need to be reliable, secure yet reasonably priced and well supported.

Why did we choose to partner with ThinkGrid for this requirement? Read the Case Study here:

http://www.pensar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ThinkGrid-Partner-Case-Study-Pensar.pdf

Should you have any queries about ThinkGrid services available through Pensar, please email @pensar.co.uk">thinkgrid@pensar.co.uk.

Zen’s broadband, domain and hosting services are all widely deployed by Pensar on behalf of its clients.

Why did we choose to partner with Zen? Read the Case Study here:

http://www.pensar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Zen-Partner-Case-Study-Pensar.pdf

Should you have any queries about Zen services available through Pensar, please email @pensar.co.uk">zen@pensar.co.uk.

There is no doubting that cloud computing is an impassioned topic within the channel. While resellers that have embraced the model are absolutely convinced it is the way the business of IT will be done, others are naturally concerned that the cloud could destroy the long-term prosperity of the channel … [read more]

This article by Mark Williams appeared in Microscope on 24th May 2010.

Online version:

http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/supplier-relationships/considerations-for-building-a-successful-cloud-offering/

PDF version:

http://www.pensar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Microscope-Article-Considerations-for-building-a-successful-cloud-offering-May-2010.pdf

It will cost between $499 and $829 in the US, but UK pricing has yet to be set.

We will be assessing it as soon as we can get our hands on one, but in the meantime please see these links for more info:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8483654.stm
http://www.apple.com/ipad

Slate PCs:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced a new touch sensitive pc called a Slate PC. Think IPhone, but on a larger screen and running Windows 7. These devices will be ideal for internet browsing, picture viewing and document editing. Microsoft are partnering with several other known computer manufacturers such as Dell and HP to bring these products to market. You can expect to see a significant increase of these devices in the market during the coming year.
For the Mac fans out there, Apple are also rumoured to be announcing their entry into the Slate market at the end of this month.
For more information on what these devices look like and what they can do, see: http://technologizer.com/2010/01/11/what-exactly-is-a-slate-pc/

E-Readers:
In keeping with the theme of mobility, E-Readers will also see a surge in popularity during the coming year. An E-Reader is a device which is earmarked to replace the good old paper book. It is a device which is usually A5 size (but can be bigger), very light and thin in order to be carried around anywhere (just like a book). Users of E-Readers can buy E-Books from companies like Amazon and download the book directly to the E-Reader. From here the device fulfils exactly the same function as a book. For more information see: http://www.pcworld.com/article/186567/what_defines_an_ereader.html

Pensar will be testing many of these devices internally in the coming months so if you need any advice on which one to purchase or you would like to find out more about these, or any other products, please contact  @pensar.co.uk" target="_blank">mark.williams@pensar.co.uk or call on 0845 402 6797.