Are you really keeping crucial data on a laptop?

NO CODE ON LAPTOPS!

'No Code on Laptops' is a policy at Google. Employees are not allowed to store code on their laptops. These employees are issued small laptops designed for e-mail and web use. The reason for this is obvious. At best, the laptop's hard drive could die and all the hard work would be lost. At worst, the laptop could be stolen and with it Google's extremely valuable Intellectual Property. Few would argue that in either scenario there is NOT a liability to Google.

Now Google has the resources to provide high speed broadband (WiFi) to all its employees everywhere they go: Their Google branded apartments, their Google branded public transportation, etc. Whatever the cost, though, it is justified. How can Google afford not to in this competitive environment? It's an arms race after all and whoever delivers the best product at the right time wins.

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED...

If you own a small to medium sized business you too should be asking yourself the same question. I realize the convenience of using a laptop for mission critical work seems justified. The reality of the situation is that there is no convenience to be found when your confidential information is lost. If you think it won't eventually happen to you, you are kidding yourself.

An even scarier scenario are the many SMB in regulated industries. In this age of competitiveness, is it worth the risk? One cannot simply ignore the facts because the implications are overwhelming.

If you own or operate a SMB that provides highly confidential or sensitive services to your clients, please ask yourself, "How do I feel about explaining to my client that all their financial data is the hands of whoever stole my laptop?".

The cost of providing a Server Based Computing (SBC) model to your employees is not as high as you might think. That is not to say it is a cost saving model (although it can be), rather SBC can save you in efficiencies and reduce the risk your business is exposed to.

Laptops, workstations and many other computing devices can easily connect to the primary work environment (desktop) in a server room through SBC. The many technologies that power SBC should not concern you. All that matters is how quickly and easily you can access your safeguarded primary work environment.

Here's an example of a user connected to his Windows work environment on his laptop, then switching to his iPad. Notice how seamlessly the user can switch between the two computing endpoints and not skip a beat in his work. Not only is the work now safeguarded but efficiencies and real convenience are gained.