At our office we backup our data, probably not as much as we should, but we do.  I know i should backup but I don’t have the time or I just forget.  Lots of excuses for not doing what we all know we should.  And generally, we do not realize how important it is until, well it is too late.  This past week taught me that lesson.

After having a tree fall behind the office and a leaky roof, I assumed the worse was over.  Until that is, I tried to pull some backed up data off one of my backups.  I use a Media Server as the backup with four bays for the system.  That system sits on a single battery and brown out controlled power unit that is plugged into a single connection in the wall that run independently to the junction box.  That being said, one would assume that power wise it was well insulated and protected.  When I could not get access to my data I looked and saw where one of the drives had gone bad.  Not a problem they were copying each other, only that drive that was bad was where the server OS was.  Okay not a problem, data is damaged but not lost and besides that, I have another backup.

Plugged the second backup in to realize that the circuit board was completely fried.  No power to the unit at all.  The drive was not spinning - okay not a problem change it out to another circuit board.  This task being accomplished I was qick to realize that the problem with the board was also with the hard drive.  So strike number 2.

Now at this point you would assume that everything is lost, but you would be wrong.  For there is a third backup of the data.  That being said, it was an unfortunate series of events that made me realize that most of the time, 3 backups would be overkill.  The events that transpired being what they were, I realized that 3 was just right. 

Do you backup your data?  If so, do you take it offsite?  And do you back it up one more time for good measure, just in case?  If not, consider it.  And implement a process for getting your systems back up in a timely manner.  If it takes 4 weeks to restore your data, then the backup is pretty useless.  But if not, you should be able to get back up within 8 to 12 hours.  Let that be the benchmark.  Try a restoration one day or offsite restore.  Make sure that what you are backing up is data and not programs. 

Online solutions such as Carbonite and some of the less well-known solutions can provide online backup but they do tend to take a while.  To backup a 13 gig system took 5 days with Carbonite.  From that point on it does get faster as it is only looking for changes but that means that it would take 5 days to restore the data or more.  The pro is that the system is cheap, takes the fuss and effort out of your backup and as long as you are online ensures that you will be backedup.

Tapes and drives are another popular item for backups.  The pros are you have good control and faster recovery in the event of a problem.  Incrimental backups are easier.  Cons include the cost of the unit and the tapes.  There is also the problem of who will take the tape off-site.  Leaving it next to the server or in the drawer can end up being a real problem if you have a major damage situation such as a fire or breakin.

Regardless of the method, check the backup periodically.  Never assume it is working.  Try a restore - both for time and effort.  Have an offsite plan in the event of a catastrophe.  Be prepared for the worse and whatever happens you will be fine.  If you would like to have some help with the right solution for your backup, of course we would love to help.

By now you have seen the ton of marketing and advertising on how much Windows Vista has failed to meet he needs of business.  Since 2004, Apple has doubled it’s market share - mostly boosted by the lackluster performance of Vista.  So what should you do if you are still running Windows XP?  You should do nothing, for the moment.

New software, regardless of who makes it, usually has problems immediately after launch.  What will 7 look like in regards to being better then Vista?  Some say it will be far better then vista while others say - same song new verse.  As with any software the best thing to do it wait.  Listen to how the early adopters are doing with the software.  And, if you just cannot wait to get your hands on it, buy a very low end computer to use as a test computer or add it to a very old unit.  That way you can see without damaging your operations.

But, if you are like most people, the best bet is to wait.  If you hear a lot of backlash then you can assume that this is strike three (One being Windows Me, yes Microsoft we have proof that Me was your doing, strike two being Vista).  What would that mean for Microsoft?  Probably just more updates.  So hang on tight and see what comes of it.  Then consult your IT people.  If you dont have IT folks, email us and we will tell you.  Because even though I use a Mac, I will be buying the new system to take a look for myself.

This week Microsoft announced that another vulnerability exists in their Internet Explorer operating browser.  Now for those that hate Microsoft, this is justification that they should be on another browser system.  Given that as of July 2009, almost 80% of online users use IE (versions 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0) in some form or fashion, there are a lot of users.  So what should you do?  What is available?  And which works best?

Safari - the standard browser for Macintosh operating system.  It is available for Windows from Apple at no cost.  Safari is rarely mentioned regarding vulnerabilities. but as its usage grows, it will, like all operating browsers become more likely to be attacked. 

Firefox - the essential competitor to IE.  Been around the longest behind IE.  Good program that is well developed.  Small group of users, mostly those that are more technically advanced because of the lack of vulnerability seen in other systems. 

Chrome from Google - One of the newest systems available.  Developed by the number one search engine company.  One of the newest and relatively small number of people using it.

Other - browsers that operate primarily within remote access tools such as Blackberries and iPhones.  Usually are safe, but should be checked and updated reguarly through software updates for the product. 

Knowing which one you would use is really an issue of your needs.  If you need security and don’t mind a few extra steps from time to time, Firefox is considered the best.  Safari is second and IE is a distant third.  If you need compatibility - the ability to use a lot of different types of sites with different types of websites, then IE is the best with Firefox and Safari being third. 

Regardless of the browser you use, you should always have anti-virus software and spyware removal software.  Download.com offers AVG free which is a stable system for anti-virus software along with Adaware for removal of spyware.  No cost is associated with either program.  Updates are available with additional features at a cost.  Take a look and find the right solution for yourself.

Technology is rarely the top priority of any organization.  Even technology organizations aren’t always at the top of their game when it comes to being on the cutting edge of technology.  So it is little wonder that we often give the most important job, knowing all the information about our customers/membership to some of the least qualified people.  And why?  Because we just don’t know any better.

Simply put too many organizations depend on too few people to make good technology decisions.  So it ends up being a volunteer or an added duty to one of the staff because he or she shows a particular interest in a certain area of technology; therefore, he or she must be the technology person for the organization.  So what do you do if funding is short and the need is, well unknown.

Bite the bullet.  Remember if your computers aren’t working you aren’t working.  No office, no matter what they do can operate without technology of some kind.  Spending a little on the front end will always save you money over the life of the technology you purchase provided you hire reputable people.  So then the question is how do I find people like that?  Ask around.  Find out what kind of clients they service.  Ask questions of perspective consultants.  Imagine it as an interview.  What do you need to know to know what you need?  And anyone who doesn’t have the right answers, just let them go.  And do not put yourself into the situation to hire or work with someone’s relative or person they know that can do it.  That is always a danger. It may seem rude and crude, but let someone learn on another client’s dime, not yours.

When do you know if it is time to upgrade?  Operating systems, office applications, Shelby and/or ACS all have needs to be upgraded  from time to time.  Changes to software or related programs can cause you to have to make a move that might not seem like something you want to do.  To help eliminate that hassle, you need to decide when it is appropriate to upgrade and when it is best to hold onto the software you have.  Here are a few tips to help you along the way:

1. Review the functionality changes with the software.  Find out what new features it brings and whether or not you will need them, like them or have to have them to function.  If you need the new features, consider moving up, but if you don’t use those functions, it may be better to hold off.

2. Review when support will be discontinued on the software you are currently using.  Don’t let time slip away and be forced to upgrade because you allowed the support for the product to lapse.  Remember, support for your software may not seem like a big deal until the time you really need it.  And when you need it, you will certainly wish you had it. 

3. Review the hardware needs, i.e., do you need a new server or computers to use the new software?  If so, do you have the financial support to make the change AND do you have the time to allocate to training on new hardware?  If not, you may want to put off until you can allocate the time and financial need. 

4. Make sure your software will be compatible with all the programs you are using.  Case in point, when Microsoft Vista was launched, it didn’t work with several older software programs.  As a result, many people were left with a brand new computer and operating system and the need to purchase even more software.  Don’t get caught in that trap.  Study and ask for help ahead of purchases.

5. Plan to move your computers BEFORE you have to.  We recommend a rotation of computers yearly to keep each person who needs the most functionality with the best computer.  That usually means that you are moving computers that operate properly, but the function should be to the highest need, not the highest level person.  In other words, don’t give the owner the best computer for email and word processing when the publications secretary works on the worse systems.

If you need additional information, please email us to find out more information about how to know when to upgrade and when you hold.

Many churches that we talk to speak constantly about not being able to grow.  Most have more people heading out the backdoor then coming in the front.  In almost ever situation we have a unique position, being able to deal with the backside of the church shows what will come out the frontside.  Amazingly enough, there is always a desire to get things for free or be “cut a deal.”  What you soon realize is that you are taking on a cause which can bankrupt a company.  To make matters worse you have to figure out how to provide high quality without being paid all the while those that do pay wait.  The pragmatic approach says to do the paying ones and abandon the ones that don’t, a suggestion forwarded by more then one accountant and lawyer.  A survival of the fittest approach.  Which is fine for your company but probably not good for the church or ministry or non-profit you are working with.  So you do the work, don’t get paid or paid very poorly for the market and then something interesting happens: they complain. 

Oh i do not mean say something isnt right, not to you, but to others - the people that do pay.  This being the way most churches operate.  Instead of finding the solution with the people involved it is to simply eliminate the relationship because the good or service wasnt up the level they perceived.  They want what everyone else has without the work.  How often this is the approach taken to the people inside the church and when that is the case, what message does that send to those outside?  Mostly that while Jesus forgives you and cleanes you, we don’t. 

Maybe this is why people are visiting but never staying.  Why people join only to be disillusioned that the positions to serve are limited.  But maybe the worse part is that as the representatives of Christ on earth, are we really portraying the Biblical approach Jesus tells us?  Or are we more worried about what our image is?  Churches that grow put the emphasis on Jesus - that means the glory always goes to Him and those churches have something else in common they care for the people in the church and they give them the same approach that Christ gives all of us.

When I graduated from college I asked a friend of mine that I went to church with for help in finding a job.  He was an older fellow who was very high in an organization.  We talked often but he told me quite plainly that I should work to get my own job.  He refused to help me.  So I continued to look and eventually found a job and managed a career without his help.  Didn’t think much of it until one day I received a call from him.  He was asking me for help.  It seemed that cutbacks had forced his department to close and he was now asking me to help him.  The issue wasn’t that a friend was in need, it was that he had completely ignored my request and was not asking for something in return.

Is that how your church works?  Over the glory days of past years we didn’t need people as much as we do now.  In this county alone church attendance has fallen 30% while the age of the church has increased by 40 years.  So now, we need those people that in the past we would have thrown to the side and assumed that they would need us before we needed them.  Now only 10% of the county’s population attends on an average Sunday, of those now the largest group is over 55 years of age.  And now we need help, to which no one is responding. 

If you missed the Alabama Baptist Convention, please check out the Alabama Baptist website www.alabamabaptist.com and read the presentation by Rick Burgess.  It wasn’t just about his son, it was about the fact that many of us (including myself there as well) will get to heaven after a long life only to find out that God could have accomplished what we did for the Kingdom in much less time.  How does your life and the life of your church look when you look at the past?  Are there people you are now wishing you had cared for?  It isn’t too late, but it is getting there.

Ever gone to a church, gotten a super welcome at the door - people were happy to see you come to you during the opening and welcome.  You think everything about this place screams warmth.  Then you go to the small group (cell group or sunday school - take your pick) and suddenly you go from warmth to something else.  You move from the warmth of a friend’s living room to the sterility of an operating room.  Why? 

Perhaps yours is the church where the worship service is packed, maybe two or even three services are loaded with people - visitors and guests are everywhere.  But only a fraction of those people mingle into sunday school (small group or cell group - take your pick).  Why?

Or maybe your church struggles to get workers and you find yourself constantly calling on a select few only to realize one day that your few is getting small and smaller by the week.  Why?

In each case there is a simple problem, you don’t know your own people.  Because of the lack of knowledge of people, sunday school is condensed into a short lesson and a quick hit on those in need of prayer.  In some cases even the prayer requests are sterile.  Once I heard a lady asking for prayer for her brother-in-law’s friend’s sister.  Someone that she obviously didn’t know but the disconnect was so great that even our crys to God are distant.  When people do not feel cared for they will find their uplifting in the worship time but never connect with the church because they are not a fan of the sterile class setting.  Eventually some event in their life comes and they lose touch because all they really knew were people in the worship setting - they go missing and no one recognizes they are gone.  Or take the workers who feel as though all they are good for is one particular job.  Never allowed to learn or experience more because they do that job or jobs so well, eventually frustration creeps in and they creep out the door.  So how do you fix it?

Meet your people.  Get involved in their lives.  Find out about them personally.  Change praying for the people who are given in the class to praying for the person that give the request to have an impact in that person’s life.   This also helps because it makes the prayers more personal “God please help Lisa to have an impact on her brother-in-law’s sister’s friend.”  More personal.  Break classes up.  Train up mentors in classes (someone who teaches from time to time to take a group and move on into another class).  Find out what people like and dislike about the church, track information on each person and get to know your people better.  After all deacons were first table waiters before they were leaders.

The Bible calls us the body of Christ.  Unfortunately, we tend to treat each other like the machine of Christ - interchangeable parts.  I have heard the term, “blessed loses” referring to people who are a little difficult to deal with.  Now, far be it from me to want the bad group of people but it does occur to me that any loss that isnt seen as a bad thing is probably a bad sign.  Everybody has a colon, nobody wants to talk about it but if it doesn’t work you will die.  Not everyone in your church can be the blue eyes and blonde hair - someone has to take out the trash.

If we are the machine of Christ, it is easy to replace the lost parts with new parts and maybe better parts.  But, if we are the body of Christ, new parts are never as good as the old ones.  Ask someone who has lost a leg, arm or hand; someone with a new heart is certainly greatful, but they will tell you they wish that they didn’t have to go through what they did to get it.  So the real question is, do we consider the people in our churches to be part of us (the body) or interchangeable parts to be replaced by the latest and greatest model?  

Don’t let the people in your care think less of themselves.  Find ways to use their skills.  If they are rude and abrasive - don’t have them in the welcome center.  If they are talkative, probably shouldn’t be in the library.  Help people find their place - connect them to small groups as well as areas of ministry that they can care about and for. 

And by the way, the people already know what you think of them, all you have to do is listen and they will tell you.

In many churches there is a security with doing things the way they have always been done.  That trick of using 20% of the people to accomplish 80% of the work.  Teachers always are good for VBS, people that are in business should be on finance and so on.  This tends to create an interesting event: burn up.  Not burn out, burn out is when you need a break and aftewards come back strong.  Burn up is like a rocket that has only so much fuel - you cannot refuel a rocket during flight.  It will only go so far before all the fuel is gone and it crashes to earth.  When we do this with people, we find that  people who have track records of commitment just fade away.  Because if we burn them up, what more can we expect. 

So what do you do?  You find out more about your congregation.  One of the biggest things we find when we research congregations is that the ministry staff will say something to the effect of ”we didn’t know we had people that could do that.”  Why? Because most of the time we do not take the time to get to know the people involved in our church or ministry.  We have a tendency to assume that the people that we are using will always be there, but statistics are showing they are not.  So get to know your church, OUTSIDE of the typical group you are most likely to be in.  Mentor your senior adults to your youth and when someone asks to help, let them!  You might be surprised at what they can accomplish.