Syrinx Technologies is turning TWO.

Syrinx Technologies is turning TWO on August 31. To say thanks to everyone who made it possible Syrinx Technologies is drawing 3 names from all past and present clients. Syrinx Technologies will make a donation of $200 to the charity of choice by the first name selected, $100 to the second name and $50 to the third name.

The drawing will take place on 8/29 and winners will be notified on 8/31.

"Don't Be a Box Checker" article is released

I felt compelled to write an article describing my views on the current state of compliance. Let me remind you that the views are solely mine and represent MY view of compliance in the area in which I live and work. I'm not trying to make any grand statements, just to express my opinion and frustration.

Check it out: http://www.syrinxtech.com/files/Don't_Be_a_Box_Checker.pdf

Your comments are always welcome.

New Podcast Episodes Now Available

Since my last blog I have recorded several new podcast episodes and released them for your listening pleasure. The following new podcasts are available:

Randy Barnett - "The Hybrid IT Model"
Paula Gulak - "Taking Advantage of Social Media"
Randy Marchany - "Building a CSOC on the Cheap".

Next week will feature Cathie Brown discussing "What is ITIL?".

Check out the entire podcast schedule at: http://www.syrinxtech.com/podcasts/schedule.html

Exciting New Podcasts Are Announced

Syrinx Technologies is excited about the upcoming podcasts that have been scheduled for release. Interesting and timely topics such as "SaaS", "Web 2.0", "Personal Branding" and "Virtualization and VDI" are on the newly updated schedule. For more information and specific dates refer to the official schedule at:

http://www.syrinxtech.com/podcasts/schedule.html


As always, Syrinx Technologies is always looking for interesting topics for upcoming episodes. If you have something interesting to say, get in touch with Syrinx Technologies at mailto:bryan@syrinxtech.com. The topic doesn't have to be IT-related as long as it discusses some business topic. For remote users we can record the podcast over Skype.

Old Dogs and New Tricks

I come before you humbly to admit that I was possibly wrong on my stance of the use of Twitter for business. I say possibly because I haven't fully decided yet if it will be useful or not. But, I think the key point here is that I was able to overlook my obvious bias and give it a shot. I must admit I have always been a strong advocate for LinkedIn for hardcore business use. I've been using it for almost 2 years and can definitely see the many benefits.

On the other hand, I have never seen the benefits of some of the other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook for business use. I've heard that some businesses naturally lend themselves to such applications but I never believed mine was one of them. After nearly 2 years of fighting, I gave in and registered on Twitter. My account is @SyrinxTech and I already have some followers, most of them I don't know. How is that, I wonder. Perhaps that's the beauty of Twitter, but that will remain to be seen.

Time will tell whether or not this experiment will reap any benefits for either my followers or for my business. Actually, I already consider myself a winner since I was able to overcome a long-standing bias and will see for myself what all the excitement is about. Stay tuned.

Personal Branding and Social Networking

Unless you've been living under a rock lately you're probably well aware of the whole "social networking" craze. Whether you're a fan of Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter doesn't matter to me. Everyone has to make their own choices as to where, when and how much they spend their time on each of these diversions. For me the choice is clear, I'm a LinkedIn fan because of my business. I don't have friends or children in remote lands and I'm a little old for the dating scene. I use LinkedIn strictly for business to connect with my current and future clients.

In Richmond there have been several articles in the past couple of days regarding the whole phenomenon. As you might expect there are lots of people ready to line up on both sides. Decide for yourself...there is no right or wrong answer. If you're interested in reading the local chatter check out these two links:

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2009/06/17/richmond-20-tweeting-for-business/

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2009/06/18/hello-will-you-be-my-friend/

Syrinx Technologies also recently interviewed Paula Gulak on the topics of "Personal Branding" and "Taking Advantage of Social Media". The first episode is now available at:

http://www.syrinxtech.com/podcasts/rss.html

The second episode will be available sometime in the near future. Paula has over 25 years of experience and in both episodes she discusses her thoughts on the social networking issue.

Read about Voice over IP (VoIP) Security

This week's Syrinx Technologies podcast involves a discussion on VoIP security. The guest is Sandro Gauci of EnableSecurity. Check out this episode at:

http://www.syrinxtech.com/podcasts/090609SYR.mp3

Look for the schedule of all available podcasts at:

http://www.syrinxtech.com/podcasts/schedule.html