Helion Automotive Technologies

Don’t miss our FREE Webinar on Computer Software Compliance!

heladminhemi — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:59:32 +0000

Save the Date: June 14th @11:30am
Want to avoid a potential million dollar lawsuit? Join Erik Nachbahr, President of Helion Technologies, and discover how he can help your dealership maintain full and legal compliance with computer software licensing. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) aggressively pursues companies that neglect to acquire or retain proper licensing for the software they use. Your dealership could be next.

For more information, click here.
Register for the webinar now!
Watch our short video on the topic.

Erik Nachbahr to Speak on Technology Issues Facing Dealers at AICPA

heladminhemi — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:49:47 +0000

Don’t miss Erik Nachbahr, president of Helion Technologies, addressing technology issues for auto dealers at the AICPA Auto Dealership Conference.

October 25-26, 2012 Las Vegas, NV
Click here for more details on the event.

From the AICPA website…

Leading experts at the AICPA Auto Dealership Conference will deliver answers to important questions, plus provide authoritative updates and best practices to guide you through this critical time in the auto industry. This conference is the only event geared to CPAs and financial professionals in the auto industry. You’ll find more technical information sessions – with specific tracks focusing on accounting & auditing, tax planning, and business management solutions – all designed to give you the knowledge base to help clients manage and grow their business.

Helion recognized as #66 Worldwide by MSPmentor

heladminhemi — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:29:15 +0000

Helion Automotive Technologies has been recognized as a world leading Information Technology Managed Services Provider by the MSPmentor 100 Global Edition 2012. The MSPmentor 100 Global Edition ranks managed services providers worldwide based on growth, customer base and revenue. The 2012 edition ranks Helion #66 relative to other MSP companies across the globe. “We are thrilled that MSP Mentor has once again recognized Helion as a Worldwide Top 100 MSP”, said Erik Nachbahr, President and Founder of Helion. “Our continued commitment to being a best of breed provider and exceeding our Automotive client’s expectations continues to fuel our growth and industry recognition”.

www.mspmentor.net/mspmentor-100-global-edition-2012-companies-80-to-61

Erik Nachbahr to Discuss Key Dealership Challenges at the 12th Digital Dealer Conference and Expo

heladminhemi — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:20:54 +0000

Join Erik Nachbahr, Founder of Helion Automotive Technologies, for a frank discussion on key challenges and risks of dealership technology systems. Helion is an Information Technology Strategies Consulting Company headquartered in Timonium, Maryland. Nachbahr’s presentation covers critical aspects of information technology, security, and networks at the dealership level that shouldn’t be missed.

The 12th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition will take place in Orlando, Florida on April 3-5th, 2012
Contact us for more information on Helion or the 12th Digital Dealer Conference.

TECH TIP: Anti-Virus and SPAM Filters Can’t Do it All

@Helion — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:09:01 +0000

Please pay attention to suspicious looking emails and web links to avoid being scammed.
Here are some items to watch for.

How They Attack
Phishing is essentially an online con game and phishers are nothing more than tech-savvy con artists and identity thieves. They use SPAM, malicious Web sites, email messages and instant messages to trick people into divulging sensitive information, such as bank and credit card accounts.

How Do You Know:

Phishers, pretending to be legitimate companies, may use email to request personal information and direct recipients to respond through malicious web sites
Phishers tend to use emotional language using scare tactics or urgent requests to entice recipients to respond
The phish sites can look remarkably like legitimate sites because they tend to use the copyrighted images from legitimate sites
Requests for confidential information via email or Instant Message tend to not be legitimate
Fraudulent messages are often not personalized and may share similar properties like details in the header and footer

Catch us at the NADA 2012 Convention in Las Vegas

@Helion — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:55:36 +0000

February 3rd – February 6th, 2012

Helion will represent the IT interests of over 450 dealerships nationally at NADA. This year Erik Nachbahr, Scot McConnor and Amie Herr will attend the 2012 NADA conference in Las Vegas to evaluate new technologies and connect with vendors. Experience has shown that cultivating relationships with our clients’ technology vendors helps keep their systems running smoothly.

So, if you are thinking about investing in a new system to boost sales or service, then let us know. We would be delighted to speak with the prospective provider.

We look forward to seeing you in Vegas!

Helion Client Tech Tip #2: How to Squeeze More Juice Out Of Your Smart Phone’s Battery

@Helion — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:03:39 +0000

Tired of heading home from a long day at work with only seconds of battery left? Or anxiously waiting until your co-worker heads to the water cooler so you can swipe his charger?

So were we! So we compiled a list of things you can do to extend the life of the your smart phone battery.

To extend the life of your battery, try:

Dimming your screen
Turning off vibrate – it uses more power than a ring-tone
Turning off your Bluetooth when you get to work
Turning off your Wi-Fi when your not using it
Taking it easy on the GPS by getting directions before lunch on your PC
Ditching apps you don’t use – they drain a lot of power
Turning off nonessential notifications.
There are also battery-extending apps on most smart phones.

These tips will extend your phone’s battery life by reducing power requirements and leave you a little battery juice for the drive home.

Is Your Customer List Safe from Employee Theft?

@Helion — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:52:30 +0000

The notion of a dealership’s employees having ownership of the organizations customer lists or communications is a frightening one. The question of ownership of work product, email and even actual customer lists is being called into question by BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies being adopted by many businesses, including auto dealerships.

A 2010 US Supreme Court 9-0 ruling declared that employees are not entitled to privacy if they use an employer’s issued device. The ruling did not, however, establish ownership or privacy rights of employee owned devices accessing corporate data or systems. The implication of this rulingcould mean that employers do not have rights or ownership to company data if it was accessed and stored locally on employee computers with the company’s permission.

“Data ownership and access to sensitive customer files should be a key concern for dealerships”, said Erik Nachbahr, President and Founder of the Baltimore-based Helion Technologies, a managed information technology provider for auto dealerships.

“Many auto dealers encourage employees to access their corporate computer systems with employee owned laptops to help control costs. While expense control is always important, this practice leaves dealerships vulnerable to unauthorized access or theft of customer lists or even financial data,” said Nachbahr.

Given the murky nature of data ownership issues, dealerships should evaluate and clarify their BOYD device policies, recommends Nachbahr.

Community Focus: The Family Tree

@Helion — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:13:35 +0000

Community Focus

The Family Tree is Maryland’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to improving the community by providing families with proven solutions to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Helion heard that the foundation’s technology was barely functioning. Servers crashed, computer problems were the norm and the finance/technology staff member spent most of her time putting Band-Aids on computer problems.

With some grants and Helion volunteer time the foundation replaced its IT system. Last year, the Family Tree provided parenting education and outreach services to more than 15,000 parents and children in Maryland. Helion thanks the Family Tree for their support to the community, families and Maryland’s children.

For information on how to get involved with the Family Tree please visit their website at www.familytreemd.org

Helion Client Tech Tip #1: Save all Your Work to the Server

@Helion — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:39:00 +0000

Helion provides back-up solutions for dealerships. To ensure that all data is being backed-up we remind our clients to save all their documents to their “U” drive/server that we monitor and protect. Documents saved to a desktop, my documents or any other place other than the server are at risk for being permanently lost. For more information about how you can become a Helion customer, please contact Scot McConnor by Clicking here or by calling him at
443-541-1500.