Launched to protect credit card information taken by merchants and ecommerce sites, PCI compliance is now showing up as a requirement in RFPs from corporations outsourcing data to SaaS/Cloud Computing companies.

For large transaction volumes or large data sets, an on-site audit by a certified Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) is usually required (learn more). Others can complete a Self Assessment Questionnaire, but may need the assistance of a QSA to accurately assess their situation and close any compliance gaps (learn more).

The costs of getting it wrong can be huge if your company suffers a data breach. Costs for PR, legal, IT forensics and damage to customer relationships can dwarf the costs of creating a secure data environment and processes.

We recommend getting help from a certified QSA even if you are not required to do so. They know the detailed requirements and alternate solutions to your gaps. While many security companies focus on large clients with large security budgets, boutique security firms such as Moyo Group can be of great value to midsize companies with modest budgets. Working with a QSA who also has IT architecture and operations experience will provide much more bang for your buck.

For further information or to arrange a free assessment, contact Marc Manuel at 408-550-8066, mmanuel@moyogroup.com.

We checked email logs and discovered that a number of email messages with large attachments were sent by this employee just prior to giving notice. However, the employee had deleted the email messages just after sending them. By the time the system was backed up in the evening there was no record of the email details. The company was left without proof that IP was stolen, but it sure looked suspicious. It also became clear that employees knew how to cover their tracks and send information out of the company without getting caught.

It occurred to me that this must be happening all the time, especially now that employee turnover is rising with the recovering economy. What can companies do to protect themselves from this mis-use of IP?

We made the company aware of cost-effective solutions they could put in place quickly to address these concerns.

• Email archiving – copies of all messages are kept off site for an extended period – these are streamed to an archive, rather than just having a daily snapshot taken with the backup system.
• Data Leakage Protection – This is a low cost way to encrypt specified directories and prevent IP from being sent out via email, FTP, or memory sticks without explicit permission. An audit trail of all activity on these files is kept.
• Directory permissions – employees are given access to information on a need-to-know basis. Group directory policies are clear and automatically enforced by role.
• Security Policies
  • Password policies – no security policy will work if passwords are shared between people freely or if they are easy to guess.
  • Confidential information policies – employees need to know what is confidential and what the company expects. Lawyers often say that courts will not protect your rights if you have not taken reasonable efforts to do it yourself.
  • IP tracking policies – All new and existing sensitive content is marked as such and subject to encryption and special tracking rules by the security system.
• Employee Communication – Employees are made aware of company policies and that measures have been put in place to prevent unauthorized copying or sending of IP. They also know that all activities related to these files are tracked, keeping honest people honest.

Management now knows that reasonable efforts have been put in place to safeguard their IP. They have peace of mind knowing that disgruntled employees are restricted from misusing company information and that employees cannot accidentally violate these policies.

If you’ve found interesting solutions to security concerns we’d love to hear from you. We are always looking for cost-effective solutions for our clients.

EcoFactor – National Prize Winner
SaaS application for managing residential energy consumption over the web. www.ecofactor.com

Micromidas – Air, Water and Waste Category
Conversion of biomass into biodegradable plastics. www.micromidas.com

Alphabet Energy – Energy Efficiency Category
Commercializing a disruptive, low-cost thermoelectric technology that captures wasted industrial energy and converts it into electricity.
www.alphabetenergy.com

tru2earth – Greeen Building Category
Manufacturing roofing materials made from recycled PET (water/soda bottle) plastic that are energy-efficient and cradle-to-cradle recyclable. www.tru2earth.com

Armageddon Energy – Renewables Category
Manufacturing a packaged retail residential rooftop solar energy system that is attractive, affordable, and easy to install.
www.armageddonenergy.com

FuelSaver Technologues – Transportation Category
Shape-changing technology that increases fuel efficiency in long-haul vehicles such as tractor-trailer trucks and buses.
www.fuelsavertechnologies.com

Functionality – Finally! For years choosing a SaaS application meant making serious compromises on functionality.  They simply weren’t complete yet compared to traditional client-server pacakges.  This is now changing as new vendors are rapidly adding complete functionality that rivals the old stand-bys.

Modern Architecture Means Ease of Modification – Even some “SaaS” packages remain hard to modify, discouraging changes that make the application fit a specific business.  Packages built on modern toolsets are now archtected in layers that allow you to customize the screens, reports and workflow easily (without a programmer) without paying a large penality in support costs downstream (think SF.com).

Deployment Options – Companies longed for SaaS to avoid the burden of upgrading and supporting applications and their IT infrastructure.  Now they can be surprised at how difficult it is to get their data from some SaaS vendors when they want to leave.  How about some flexibility?  Some vendors are responding with the option to transition from one model to the other with no penalty. More

Performance – SaaS can mean slow performance that may work for an executive checking a dashboard, but doesn’t cut it for an accountant entering data.  Modern toolsets allow vendors to build web based applications that respond quickly as a locally run program.

So, check out your new options if you are in the market for a new ERP system.   You may have more favorable choices than you expect.

Date:

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Check-in / Breakfast: 7:30AM-8:00AM

Event: 8:00-10:00 AM

Event Location:

SVB Financial

Kellogg Auditorium
3005 Tasman Drive

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Surviving the Downturn

Practical Tips for Operating in the Recession

You are invited to an exclusive educational event covering the pressing issues affecting venture-funded companies in 2009. CEOs and CFOs are invited to hear experts on managing through the downturn.

•  Managing your investor and banking relationships
• Types of companies and deals getting funded
•  Debt financing terms & availability
• Saving cash on your contractual obligations
• How to focus your limited financial resources
•  Avoid being penny wise and pound foolish
•  Staying out of legal trouble in turbulent times
•  Managing employees to save money and morale
•  Saving on IT while increasing capabilities

Please bring your questions for our Q&A session.

Featuring a Panel of Industry Experts

Eric O’Brien
Managing Director U.S., Lightspeed Venture Partners

Peter Kidder
Division Risk Manager,  SVB Silicon Valley Bank

Dan Saccani
President and Co-Founder, Ravix Group

James Fulton, Jr.  

Partner, Cooley Godward Kronish

Mark Richards
President & CEO, Moyo Group

Moderator

Heather Gates-Massoudi
Director VC Relationships, Deloitte Services LP

Panelist Bios

Eric O’Brien – Managing Director U.S., Lightspeed Venture Partners

Eric invests in digital media, datacenter infrastructure and semiconductors. Additionally, he helps oversee Lightspeed’s investment efforts in China. He has ten years of venture capital experience and two years of industry experience.

Previously, he worked in product management at Ciena (formerly Lightera Networks). Prior to Ciena, Eric served as an Associate at InterWest Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, where he focused on communications and software investments, and as an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the telecom mergers and acquisitions group.

Eric holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of DT Capital, a Shanghai-based venture capital firm of which Lightspeed is a limited partner. He is also Vice Chairman of Partners in School Innovation, an educational nonprofit working to improve student learning in low-income Bay Area public schools.

Heather Gates-Massoudi – Director VC Relationships, Deloitte Services LP

Heather’s primary focus is building venture capital relationships, working with venture capital funds and their portfolio companies to provide innovative service offerings and quality professional services.

Before joining Deloitte Services, Heather was a Chief Financial Officer at a telecommunications software company.  She wrote the business plan, led financing discussions, led operations and participated and all aspects of management of the company.  Prior to that, she was Vice President of Business Development at a venture-backed software and services company.  While there, she successfully closed and managed relationships with large consulting firms including IBM Global Services.  She was an investment banker at Hambrecht & Quist (now part of JP Morgan) in the software and internet industry group executing on initial public offerings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity investment opportunities. She previously spent nine years as an audit professional at another Big 4 firm serving the technology sector.  Heather has worked on numerous IPOs and other security offerings and has also served an as the key audit relationship for companies in the venture capital and technology, media and telecommunications industries. 

Peter Kidder -Division Risk Manager,  SVB Silicon Valley Bank

Peter serves as Division Risk Manager for Silicon Valley Bank.  He is responsible for leading the bank’s credit activities in California, including the underwriting and management of a $1.6 billion commercial loan portfolio.  SVB serves over 4,600 technology, life science, and private equity companies in California.

Peter has held several leadership positions at SVB in the Silicon Valley area, including Senior Credit Officer and Manager of several regional and industry divisions, including the Semiconductor practice, the Communications practice, and the Bank’s Palo Alto office.  He was also a Senior Relationship Manager with responsibility for a portfolio of private and public companies in the communications, hardware, semiconductor, and Internet areas. Peter joined SVB in 1995.

Prior to SVB, Peter was Chief Financial Officer of W.P. Dickey & Co., a privately-held investment and advisory services company based in San Diego, CA.  He was also an Account Officer in the Corporate Banking Division of State Street Bank in Boston, MA.   He holds an AB degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Darden School, University of Virginia.

Dan Saccani – President and Co-Founder, Ravix Group

Dan has worked with startup and early stage technology companies for over 25 years and spent the last 15 years consulting with a variety of startups in life sciences, software, semiconductor, hardware and internet.

Dan formed Ravix Group to offer the full range of financial and administrative outsource services and leverage the collective knowledge of professional early-stage company consultants. He focuses primarily on building and strengthening key client, investor and vendor relationships. During his career, he has been responsible for a wide range of financial functions, including inventory control, MRP and accounting system implementations for manufacturing entities as well as financial planning which has led to the successful cash management of his companies. During his consulting career, Dan has managed consulting firms of up to 75 professionals. Further, his clients have raised over $500 million of venture capital funding and he has managed debt and lease financing of over $250 million. Many of these companies went on to a public offering or acquisition/merger.

Prior to co-founding Ravix Group, Dan spent ten years with David Powell, Inc., a financial consulting firm, the last five of those as Vice President. Prior to that, he served as Director of Finance and Treasury Operations & Assistant Secretary of VMX, Inc., a public company. Prior to VMX, he was Cost Accounting Manager at Calma Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric, and Product Line Controller at National Semiconductor Corporation. Dan graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S.C. in Accounting.

James F. Fulton, Jr. – Partner, Cooley Godward Kronish

Mr. Fulton heads of the firm’s emerging companies practice.  He joined the firm in 1995 and is resident in the Palo Alto office.

Mr. Fulton’s practice focuses on the representation of emerging technology and life sciences companies and the venture capital firms that invest in those companies.  As a specialist in corporate and securities law, he has counseled company clients and investors in a wide variety of projects, including company formations, spin outs, private and public financings, mergers and acquisitions, employee equity incentives, executive hiring and SEC reporting and compliance

Prior to joining Cooley, Mr. Fulton was a senior budget analyst with the U.S. Government’s Office of Personnel Management for six years.  He was named as a 2007 Northern California Super Lawyer in the category of securities and corporate finance, and recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 list in the category of corporate law and venture capital law.

Mr. Fulton received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995, graduating cum laude. He received a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1989, graduating cum laude

Mr. Fulton is a member of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association

Mark Richards – President & CEO, Moyo Group

Moyo Group is an IT services firm helping venture-funded companies with outsourced IT and implementation of finance and manufacturing software systems.  Mark has spent 29 years developing and deploying IT strategies and solutions for Silicon Valley companies. Over the last 17 years he served as CIO and IT Director for several fast-growing companies.

Mark was a member of the founding management team at Corio (acquired by IBM). As VP of IT Consulting for Corio, he created and managed the CIO Services practice, the Program Office, and led pioneering projects to deliver enterprise applications through the ASP/SaaS model. Prior to Corio, he was Director of IT Outsourcing for DSCI.

Location:
San Jose City Hall Rotunda
200 East Santa Clara Street
San Jose, California

Directions:
Directions and Map
Public Transportation Options
* Light rail: service is available to Santa Clara and First/Second Streets
* Bus: Lines 22, 63, 64, 65, 72, 73, 81, 522, Highway 17, and the DASH shuttle

Program:
8:45 AM Registration Opens
9:00 AM to 10:00 AM Light Breakfast and Alumni Showcase
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Welcome, Introductions and Speakers
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Reception, Networking and Showcase

Presenters:

• Mayor Chuck Reed, City of San Jose
• Marc Gottschalk and Michael Santullo, Clean Tech Open Co-Chairs
• Jeff Byron, Commissioner, California Energy Commission
• Clean Tech Open Guest Alumni
• Venture Capitalist Keynote: Scott Sandell, NEA

Who Should Attend and Why:

• Paid contestants and potential contestants of the 2009 Competition
• Professionals looking to join a team or find team members to enter the competition
• Members of the public interested in clean tech start-ups, specifically the CTO Alumni
• Potential investors, sponsors, and customers of clean tech companies
• All those interested to hear the expansion plans for Clean Tech Open, as well as the full details of the National Winning Prize package

Additional Details:
NOTE: Registration will close at 12 noon on Wednesday, March 18. A limited number of walk-in guests will be admitted.

What is the competition?

The Clean Tech Open Competition seeks out early stage clean technology companies, and provides unique resources to empower these start-ups to become viable businesses.

Are you an inventor, entrepreneur, technologist, or student with a great idea?
Are you a professional seeking to change the clean tech industry?

We want you to enter the 2009 California Clean Tech Open!

Here’s how:

1. Enter your business idea into one of our six categories:

•  
  • Air, Water & Waste
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Green Building
  • Renewables
  • Smart Power
  • Transportation

2. Submit a three-page Executive Summary and pay the entrance fee.

After you enter:
The Executive Summaries are vetted and a group of Semi-Finalists are announced.
Semi-Finalists participate in an “entrepreneur boot camp” and receive mentoring throughout the summer. All Semi-Finalists submit a 20-page Business Plan and give a 15-minute pitch to a panel of area experts. The winners will receive a “Start Up in a Box” prize package of cash and valuable services.

Instant IT gives your company a base configuration with all the required hardware and software, and allows you to add new servers and optional functionality whenever you choose. Your Infrastructure is instantly available to you and requires no extended service commitments.

Moyo Group can easily setup on-site systems and transfer your data and configurations when you elect to begin hosting your own IT Infrastructure.

Moyo Group has the knowledge and expertise

While most IT departments and service providers have little experience with virtualization, Moyo Group has been an early adopter of both VMWare and Microsoft Virtual Server. We have the knowledge and experience to deploy virtual server technologies to fit any emerging company at a cost that will not break your budget.

Eliminate Downtime with Always On Applications

With VirtualIT Always On, applications are easier to manage than ever before. Moyo Group will keep your applications up and running without the need of expensive hardware or personnel. With the use of Microsoft Virtual Server or VMware, Moyo Group’s VirtualIT has the suite of tools your company needs to instantly migrate or restore applications, eliminating downtime completely.

Optimize and Manage Your Data Center

VirtualIT can also help you consolidate your data center, saving money on space, hardware and power. In fact, enterprises have reported saving up to 70% of data center costs by implementing virtual servers, while also making them more flexible and easier to manage.

Software Development Environments Made Easy

Software organizations need the flexibility to create development and test environments easily and quickly. Until now, the only solution has been to purchase and configure new servers for each environment, resulting in schedule delays, extensive time spent by IT staff to configure each new server and loss of productivity. VirtualIT enables you to create and move virtual environments in minutes rather than hours or days while reducing the number of physical servers needed. Speed and flexibility are achieved with a minimal investment.

One-stop IT shop

Email. Network. Disaster recovery. Servers. Risk assessment. Operating systems. Security. VOIP. Remote access and VPN. Data center design. Operational policies and procedures.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or upgrading systems you’ve outgrown, building a technology foundation requires time and expertise most mid-sized companies don’t have in-house.

Our experts work with you to design and implement IT solutions tailored to your specific business requirements. We start with a detailed analysis of existing systems, develop our recommendations and create a project plan and a budget to support a deployment with little disruption to business operations.

Emerging companies face the same threats as large corporations, but often lack in-house security expertise. Our approach to assessing vulnerabilities, implementing solutions and providing ongoing support delivers a secure infrastructure that is both risk-appropriate and affordable.

Full range of security services

Our CISSP/CISA-certified experts apply best practices to all of our security services.

• Rapid security assessment
• Security technology projects
• Security policy projects
• Security support services
• Recurring security assessments