Article Number : 4197 |
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| Date | 2/16/2009 8:37:16 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=4197 |
| Abstract | By Louis Iannaco Wholesaler-distributors are becoming more and more dependent on technology and equipment to boost productivity and cut expenses. Increased use of the Internet and heavy reliance on automated equipment to move merchandise efficiently has created additional causes of loss for these companies... |
| Article | By Louis Iannaco Wholesaler-distributors are becoming more and more dependent on technology and equipment to boost productivity and cut expenses. Increased use of the Internet and heavy reliance on automated equipment to move merchandise efficiently has created additional causes of loss for these companies. Where would you be if a virus caused your computer network to crash or, if an artificially generated electric current damaged your material-handling equipment? Would you be out of pocket if one of your salespeople had a laptop stolen? With these questions being so prevalent in today’s business environment, protecting e-commerce transactions with multiple safeguards, back-up systems and comprehensive insurance coverage are becoming musts for distributors across the country. Computers and equipment are costly. What are some of the ways the flooring industry’s elite distributors are protecting themselves? Scott Rozmus, president of FlorStar Sales, believes strongly that the company can never have enough protection. “FlorStar carries a basket of property-casualty insurance coverage, including coverage for our EDP equipment and business interruption insurance. We also work to ensure adequate back-up exists for our data files. We maintain surge protection on our internal equipment and, again, back-up systems. “With regard to laptop computers,” he explained, “our employees purchase their own. Obviously, no amount of insurance, redundancies or back-up systems can prevent a true catastrophe; rather, all of these protections exist and are in place in hopes of mitigating the risks associated with such a potential catastrophe.” Jeff Hamar, president/CEO of Galleher Corp., said because the company’s data network is critical for its operations, “we have built multiple redundancies into all of our networks and servers. Our data is backed up on a daily basis and stored in a highly secure area. We use sophisticated antivirus software, which is costly, updated and managed both by our internal IT department and outside resources. Given the unlikely event that a virus would affect our network, we would be able to restore data quickly after the problems were corrected with little impact to our business.” How would Galleher be affected if an artificially generated electric current damaged its handling equipment? “We operate a fleet of material-handling equipment that is both battery and propane operated,” he said. “We have multiple backup batteries for all of our lift trucks so if a battery that was being charged was damaged, it would not impact our operations at all.” According to Terry Gray, senior vice president of marketing for NRF Distributors, a virus causing the company’s computer network to crash is highly unlikely due to the fact that “we employ multiple levels of antivirus, antispam and anti-phishing software, hardware and third-party services. “In the unlikely event something like this were to occur,” she explained, “there would be minimal impact to our business as we also employ and adhere to strict back-up and recovery methods. Furthermore, our business critical applications run on a Unix platform which is not as susceptible to viruses.” As all NRF laptops used by its sales force are personally owned by the individual and not the company, noted Gray, the distributor would not be “out of pocket” if any of them were lost or stolen. As Hamar concluded, while “we don’t specifically insure laptop computers, at today’s relatively low prices, a loss would not materially have any affect on our business. Most sensitive data is stored on our network or third-party servers, not on individual computers, meaning the loss of proprietary information would be limited. And we do have insurance coverage for our electronic infrastructure.” |