Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Move over .com - .eu is on the way

Category: Business Law and Planning

From CSC Flash: ".EU is a new domain extension that has been designed to provide a European identity for European Internet users in the domain name system. It was created to for use by European Trademark Holders, companies, public bodies, and individuals and is expected to bring many new opportunities for companies doing business throughout Europe. The demand for .EU is likely to exceed that of all previous new domain extension releases and is anticipated to become the second largest domain extension behind .com."

The article goes on to explain the pre-registration and registration process.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Ideas for Health Insurance Reform in New Jersey

Category: Business Law and Planning

Any employer or employee in New Jersey knows that health insurance costs are on the rise.

From the New Jersey Business & Industry Association:

NJBIA - Capitol Memo: "According to the Kaiser Foundation's annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, average health insurance premiums increased by 9.2 percent in 2005. The survey also found that the percentage of all firms offering health benefits to their employees had dropped to 60 percent from 69 percent in the last five years. Here in New Jersey, employers responding to NJBIA's Health Benefits Survey (released April 2005) reported an 11 percent increase in the cost of providing health insurance to their employees in 2004. "

The NJBIA Capitol Memo goes on to describe some reform measures currently under consideration in the NJ Legislature.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Disaster Strikes - Do you have a Plan? Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning

Category: Business Law and Planning

Category: Business Law and Planning

With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up and the mess of Katrina in our minds and hearts, business owners need to ask themselves the question of how their business might survive a disaster. What immediate contingencies are in place? How soon could you be up and running? Where would that be? Has the plan ever been tested?

A disaster does not need to be of the scale of a terrorist attack attack or hurricane to damage your business. It could be a fire, structural issues with the building, a highway accident that closes a major roadway, electrical outages, flooding, or a myriad of items that you see on the news every night happening to "other people"

Preparing a disaster recovery plan does not have to be expensive and complicated. It is mostly of process of gathering and organizing information. The costly aspect of the planning is how you are backing up and protecting your data.

A Disaster Recovery Plan will consist of:

1 - Emergency contact information for all employees and key vendors, with a plan of how to contact people (phone tree, call in number, web-site) and what information will be needed to given to or received from vendors.

2 - A hierarchy of who will do what in the event of an emergency to make sure all functions are covered.

3 - Equipment lists, so you can replace what you need to function.

4 - Data backup that is frequently tested for integrity.

5 - Copies of the plan distributed to key employees and stored off-site.

6 - An annual reivew and updating.

One resource is The Disaster Recovery Guide: "This guide to Disaster Recovery Planning is intended to be a launch pad for those seeking help with the business continuity planning process. It offers information, guidance, tips, and links to a range of resources. "