Endpoint Management Challenges 
and Eliminating Risks from Ex-Employee Hard Drives 

Posted by:  Tony
Date:  March 28, 2023

The Great Shift to Remote Work:  The Impact of the COVID Pandemic

The COVID pandemic significantly impacted businesses worldwide, forcing them to adapt quickly to a new operational dynamic that supports remote work.  This shift towards hybrid or fully remote work has removed geographic restrictions for hiring and provided employees with unprecedented freedoms.  However, the transition has also presented several unexpected challenges for large enterprises, particularly in the realm of IT support.

As the pandemic forced companies to transition to remote work, the percentage of employees working remotely increased dramatically.  According to a survey by Global Workplace Analytics, remote work in the United States increased by 173% between 2005 and 2018, but the onset of the pandemic further accelerated this trend.  By April 2020, nearly 70% of full-time employees were working remotely due to COVID-19.  Remote work is projected to continue even after the pandemic.  According to a Gartner survey, 82% of company leaders plan to allow their employees to work remotely at least part-time, and 47% plan to support full-time remote work.  By 2025, it is estimated that 70% of the workforce will work remotely at least five days per month.

The Problem:  Challenges in Supporting Remote Work

The rapid shift to remote work has created several challenges for IT departments that were once accustomed to provisioning and supporting computing assets from a centralized location.  As new employees are onboarded, IT teams now must package and ship a “kit” of hardware to ensure remote workers can be effective.

In addition to the time spent supporting the initial setup, IT help desks now face more complex challenges.  Downtime mitigation requests may result from external network issues, malfunctioning corporate assets, or accidental damage caused by employees.  The pandemic has also exacerbated high turnover work environments, leading to more frequent offboarding of employees leaving the company.

The Strain on IT Help Desks and Financial Impact

These factors have led to IT department help desks being overwhelmed trying to support the needs of remote workers.  Companies are losing millions of dollars annually in un-retrieved computing assets due to the increased costs and strains on IT departments.

The Solution:  Lifetime EndPoint Resources Unified Endpoint Management

Lifetime Service, PremCloud Resources, and c1 Secure have joined forces to create Lifetime Endpoint Resources, a startup set to enter the growing market of Unified Endpoint Management [UEM].  With Lifetime Sevice’s legacy expertise in providing last-mile services, Lifetime Endpoint Resources aims to assist organizations with advanced asset management while addressing the security risks associated with unrecognized data on ex-employee devices.

For local, regional, national, and global customers, Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ Unified Endpoint Management will centralize the control and management of various device types, including computers, smartphones, and IoT devices, to improve network safety and efficiency.  As the number of connected devices and network complexity grows, Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ Unified Endpoint Management [UEM] solutions are becoming increasingly crucial for organizations of all sizes.

Unified Endpoint Management [UEM] Explained

The need for comprehensive endpoint management led to the development of Unified Endpoint Management, which evolved from earlier solutions like mobile device management [MDM] and enterprise mobility management [EMM].  However, in today’s expanding remote work environment, the current UEM solutions available in the market fall well short of providing the security and compliance resources necessary for today’s more demanding controls and data governance.  Lifetime EndPoint Resources now offers a unified endpoint platform for managing mobile devices, desktops, printers, IoT devices, and wearables – along with unrivaled data management and security solutions.

The Importance of Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ UEM in Modern Enterprises

The proliferation of personal devices in the workplace, driven by trends like bring-your-own-device [BYOD] policies, necessitates robust security and consistent access across all devices.  Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ UEM provides enterprises with a centralized platform for management, ensuring a uniform experience for users across various devices and operating systems.

Addressing Security Risks with Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ UEM Solutions

Lifetime Endpoint Resources’ UEM solution helps organizations manage endpoints effectively, provide insights into potential risks and malware, and maintain compliance with relevant regulations.  This includes addressing the security risks associated with unrecognized data on ex-employee hard drives, a growing concern in the modern workplace.

Benefits of Adopting Lifetime EndPoint Resources’ UEM

Organizations that adopt Lifetime Endpoint Resources’ UEM solutions will enjoy improved security, increased visibility into network devices and apps, and a more streamlined management process.  By consolidating endpoint management into a single server, IT teams will be able to focus on other important projects without relying on multiple tools for different devices.

Click here for the full profile: https://simplebooklet.com/premcloudmarketplaceifirs

Click here for the full Advantage Co 2023 Annual Report
https://simplebooklet.com/advantagecoiportfolio#page=1

Click here for the full Advantage Co 2023 Annual Report
https://simplebooklet.com/advantagecoiportfolio#page=1

Frank’s Favorite Tie

A couple of weeks ago, my nephew Frank was in town for Juliana’s wedding party, and he brought along some pure gold … a collection of [his dad] Frank’s old ties. Ties to Frank were his statement that he was ready to work. To this day, I always wear a tie when I go to work [which for the past 10 years has been at my home office]. When you are Zooming with me, you know I’m working – and it’s the tie that gives it away.

Frank Gaglione has been gone for ten years now, and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of him. Frank and I were more than friends, we were brothers, but most importantly, we shared a full exposure to everything we were. There were no secrets. We were privy to each other’s hopes, ambitions, fears, and, candidly, our numerous flaws and transgressions.

“Way to go, Tony.” How many times did I hear that as I messed up in one way or another over the 50 years that he watched over me? The most memorable was as I was spinning out on the Thruway on a bed of ice, and as we were getting ready to crash into the side rail, all I heard was, “Way to go, Tony.”

There have been countless people who have been instrumental in all that I have done and been. I’d like to say that they all get to now confidently share in knowing it was a job well done, but I don’t think I would get universal agreement on that point. Nevertheless, I am beholden to everyone, especially Frank.

But back to the ties …

Every Christmas, Frank and I would gift each other two ties. It was a great tradition that started when I was 13 as a Freshman at Canisius High School [where we had to wear a tie every day]. To say that I looked forward to ‘Frank’s Christmas ties’ would not do it justice. Every year, without fail, Frank delivered my favorite ties [that I would repeatedly wear for the rest of the school year]. And shopping for the two ties that I would gift him became a treasure hunt every December.

In the early eighties, as Frank and my sister were breaking up, Christmas rolled around, and with the usual anticipation, I unwrapped Frank’s slim Christmas-wrapped package only to find two of the most depressing ties I’ve ever seen. To which he said, “A little too dark?” And that was life with Frank … there was never a moment, no matter how dark, that we couldn’t still find some humor.

Today, we live in a world with the usual chaos. Trust me, it’s no worse or better than what nearly every generation has had to experience. My grandparents went through a world war, followed by the Great Depression, and then another world war that featured a little nuclear bombardment to finish things off. But what that generation had was perseverance buttressed by a joy for life. There was less complaining and more doing. And this morning, I have put on Frank’s favorite tie, and I am doing more [just as the Jesuits demanded of me]. It may not be the answer for everyone or to everything, but it’s a start.

And, hopefully, somewhere along the way today, I will have a good laugh. And sometimes, the best laugh is when you get to laugh at yourself.

The past ten years have been absolutely transformative. Thank you to everyone who made it possible. The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Vintage Nike Waffle Racers

I was born with an extra appendage on my left foot [i.e. polydactyly]. It was removed when I was young, and fortunately, other than inhibiting skating on my left edge, it hasn’t been a problem – but it does make me quite particular about the shoes I wear.

Over the years, I have tried on hundreds of pairs of shoes, sneakers, boots, and slides, looking for the perfect fit.

The most comfortable shoes for me were always from Ecco, or the Onitsuka Tiger, Adidas Dragon, and the driving shoes from Johnston & Murphy, but a few years ago I happened across a pair of vintage Nike Waffle Racers – and my lifelong quest for the perfect fit had come to an end.

The Nike Waffle Racer US 10, UK 9, EU 44 is the perfect fit.

Nike made a special edition Waffle Racer for J Crew several years ago, and it was the first Waffle Racer I ever tried. From the moment I laced them up, it was perfect. And from there, I slowly began my collection of vintage Nike Waffle Racers. And now my feet reject any other shoe, boot, sneaker, or slide. Other than the occasional dress shoe, my feet reside solely in Nike Waffle Racers.

Unfortunately, the vintage Nike Waffle Racer is no longer in production. However, this has made my still-growing collection of way too many Nike Waffle Racers pretty valuable.

The pickings are slim these days – unless you want to pay over $400 [which I refuse to do]. But searching through eBay, Poshmark, StockX, FarFetch, etc. remains an occasional ritual that still gives me the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes a vintage pair will show up for under a hundred dollars, and you know some guy is going to be really pissed when he finds out they are missing from his closet. Occasionally I get burned, but I have purchased vintage Nike Waffle Racers from all over the world, including Japan, Russia, Mexico, and Poland.

While my collection has become a source of entertainment for my family and friends, it has served a higher purpose – my feet feel great.

In other sneaker news, NikeCraft is launching its new General Purpose Shoe on June 10th. Even though the Waffle Racer is perfect, the quest for an even more perfect fit continues, so I’ll be hunting down a US 10, UK 9, EU 44 NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe as soon as I can. We’ll see if it measures up.

https://www.nikecraft.com/

Nike Waffle Racer – the only thing missing is the icing sugar

August 5, 2021 4:00 PM

In the early 1970s, Hayward Field in Oregon was converted from a cinder track to an artificial surface. This meant a new standard for the shoes of the ‘Blue Ribbon’ brand, founded by Bill Bowerman and better known to us today as Nike.

Bowerman actually experimented with a waffle iron for a new shoe. His wife Barbara later told The Oregonian newspaper:

“When one of the waffles came out, he said, ‘You know, if you turn it upside down – where the waffle part is in contact with the track – that might work.’ So he got up from the table, went to his lab and got two cans of whatever you pour together to make the urethane and poured them into the waffle iron. “The end product was a running shoe without heavy spikes.

Barbara Bowerman

Bill was constantly working to change and redefine the status quo of his running equipment. His eureka moment was the Waffle Sneaker, which was successfully launched in 1973. The shoe is responsive and adapts to uneven running surfaces. It also helped spread the idea that not only the midsole but also the outsole can absorb shock.

Previously, many track and field soles were flat and low to the ground, but the waffle-inspired sole had small ridges that provided extra support and rebound. This was the first major innovation from a company that later revolutionized the sneaker industry with inventions such as Visible Air, Flyknit, Lunarlon, and others.

The first Nike Waffle Racer

Priced between $21.95 and $24.95, the running shoe, originally made in Japan, had a nylon upper and was first released in a red and white color scheme. However, the version that quickly became popular with local athletes bore the distinctive yellow and green design of the University of Oregon, while later models also bore the colors of other Californian colleges, such as UCLA.

The first campaigns for the Waffle Sneaker were launched with slogans like “Made Famous by Word of Foot Advertising” (Made famous by advertising with the foot) touted: “You’ve seen them on training tracks and fields all over the country. You know them for their quality, their lightweight, and long life.”

Later, canvas versions were launched, as well as a women’s version and a slightly revised and more expensive version called the Waffle Racer, which was launched around 1977 and cost around $30. The Racer kept the design DNA of the shoe alive and well, with the added benefit of a lightweight EVA midsole and a wider, slightly more stable design.

Over the course of time, the original waffle sole has been used in a variety of Nike products, for example, in tailwinds and even in shoes for American football.

No one really paid attention to the famous waffle iron itself until an old device was unearthed near a house in Coburg, Oregon. That’s where former Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman lived. The wife of Bill’s son Jon Bowerman discovered it by chance, along with shoe treads that Bill himself had still made.

So Nike’s Holy Grail had been rediscovered and is now on display at the company’s headquarters in Beaverton. Nike historian Scott Reames said of the discovery: “It truly is the headwaters of our innovation. From a historian’s standpoint, it’s like finding the Titanic.”

https://www.sneakerjagers.com/en/n/nike-waffle-racer-the-only-thing-missing-is-the-icing-sugar/23682