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How to Backup Your Smart Phone
Lucas123 writes "According to a Computerworld story there will be 8 million cell phones/smart phones lost this year. The site describes how to easily back up data on handhelds. The piece also addresses the future of these technologies: 'In Dulaney's opinion, traditional USB syncing "will die." Gartner is telling its corporate customers they should hasten this process by not permitting their employees to sync to their PCs. He explains this by saying that individual end users can create distributed computing and security problems because they are poor data administrators. Moreover, he adds, PCs are not necessarily more reliable than cell phones. Drake gives a qualified endorsement of wireless e-mail as the master application for backing up and syncing data, saying the technology is fine for dedicated e-mail environments but insufficient for corporate environments that require a vast array of wireless applications.'"
all my contacts and sensitive data in the hands of my cell service provider.
"Oh you want to leave, I'm sorry but our backups failed and your data is gone..."
"Oh you decided to stay, guess what, we've found that backup...."
If a company wants to protect data that it has on company-provided smartphones, "trust everyone to back it up to their PC, and back up their PC on a regular basis as well", is not going to work because most people don't back up their PC's. Pointing that out isn't "blame the user", it's "point out how user behavior constrains how IT can solve the problem". Solutions could include backing it up by other means, or it could include automatically backing up work PC's somehow, but if trusting the employees to voluntarily back up their work PC's, ipso facto, does not work, then it's not a reliable system and we shouldn't avoid saying so just to avoid hurting people's feelings.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Yes, but the biggest reason that corporate IT departments don't respect users is because users ask them to do things that are impossible.
User: "I want a way to buck up my data onto an unsecured machine securely."
IT: "There's no product on the market to do that, or if there is, you wont pay for it."
User: "It's all your fault!"
So you want to sync a 1 or 2-gig phone card? 2 gigabytes = 16 gigabits. That's a LOT of $$$.
I'll stick to my USB cable - fast, easy to use under linux - no special drivers needed.
Kevin Smith on Prince
What you say is true.
Unfortunately, it's also true that past a certain point it's impossible for software or administrators to completely correct the failings of stupid, lazy, or irresponsible users.
Encouraging users (or anyone) to shoulder a little responsibility isn't always a bad thing.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
cell phone companies would love to kill USB and force you to use there Network for syncing / backups and bill you for the data.
Frankly, I think the bigger concern of most companies is data not being lost, but escaping. Most companies seem to want to find a way to protect documents from getting off the phone and onto a computer that is able to send the data anywhere... at least that's what I've read.
While I agree with you, there are certainly exceptions.. I work in a place that is regulated by privacy laws. If someone wants to take work home, we have to tell them HELL NO! Because the bottom line of it all is that my Dept. is in charge of many IT things, but along with that comes the responsibility of safeguarding our data. We work very hard to ensure that our data and systems are protected. We do not have the time, inclination, or resources to also guarantee that your home computer that your kids use to play on myspace is also protected. Yes, it is a hassle that we don't allow certain things on our network.. (good luck trying to access our main network from the wireless, which is physically separate from the other networks..) Yes, its an inconvenience for some, but in order to do the greater good (protect the company) we have to...
Just look at the VA stolen laptop last year.. One employee was careless and took things home he shouldn't have, the laptop got stolen, and how much time and money did the VA have to spend fixing that little goof, along with the PR issues.. While many will argue that the laptop should have been secured, and encrypted, and had a big red button that will cause it to self destruct, the simpler, much more cost effective solution for many companies is to say "no."
I think that many of these problems would be solved if the users had better communication with IT.. One of my Pet Peeves is users coming in with a solution, instead of a problem.. IE, "We need X", instead of saying "We would like to something that will enable use to do Y because of Z". Then we can point them to several different ways to accomplish Y that will work within our requirements..
What are we going to do tonight Brain?