Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Simplify Installing a Server Center While Growing Your Business

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Secure data storage is essential for most businesses – whether the data is related to sales figures, customer information, client records, or something else altogether. While many business owners look for data storage from dedicated server centers, many recognize that there are benefits to maintaining a small – or large – server room of their own.

Setting up a dedicated data center can be challenging. It’s important to think about the racks that will house the server units. Ensuring that every unit has adequate power is crucial – and being certain that the equipment will not overheat is critical as well. Factor in the need for scalability, the importance of having software that’s easy to use that will help you monitor the data center, the amount of system security required, and the need to maximize up-time, and installing servers can seem daunting.

It doesn’t have to be.

Whether you are installing servers, storage devices, and networking equipment for the first time or are expanding your current setup, there is one tool available that can simplify the process. APC’s InfraStruxure will allow you to meet all of the requirements that your IT team has established. You’ll be able to reduce costs, increase efficiency and availability, and reduce the amount of power necessary to keep your equipment running. More than that you will be able to ensure that you have a system that’s scalable – whether you’re just creating a server environment or you’re expanding the storage and availability of an existing data center.

No matter what field your business is in, efficiency and reliability are top priorities when creating a data center. Similarly, regardless of your industry, it seems safe to assume that you’re looking to keep costs low. Knowing that you’re able to scale your data center to meet your needs and easily manage your servers, storage devices, and networking equipment lets you get the most out the system you establish – allowing you to focus on what’s more important: keeping your business running smoothly.

Posted in Application Delivery & Optimization, Uncategorized | 212 Comments »

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Can the Cloud Help You Drive Down Business Costs?

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

There are two ways to increase your company’s revenue and boost the bottom line. You can excel at winning new clients and make additional sales to increase revenues. Or you can cut costs. Ideally, most businesses will look for a combination of the two. Cloud computing can help to accomplish this.

Cloud computing allows you to take advantage of hardware and software as a service. Rather than buying the equipment and making space for a server room – and, of course, hiring an IT staff dedicated to maintaining that equipment – your company can backup data offsite without sacrificing its availability. With a secure infrastructure, password-protected access, and optimized resources in a managed cloud solution, you can be sure that the data you need is available when you need it.

Similarly, with software as a service, cloud computing makes it easy for your staff to access email, documents, data, and reports on the go – all via a secure, web-based login. Whether traveling for a client meeting, working with a team in another location, or telecommuting, the cloud can ensure that your staff are working as effectively as if they were in the office.

Additionally, this sort of mobile access allows company executives and staff to handle everything from inventory tracking to project management to customer relationship management from the office and on the road. Security can be managed easily, and maintaining the equipment doesn’t require additional space or additional staff.

In other words, when you take your business to the cloud – whether for hardware or software as a service (or a combination of the two) – you will find that you are able to increase the access that your staff have to information that they need – allowing them to excel and drive sales. You’ll also discover that your staffing and equipment needs decrease. As a result, you will find that you are able to:

* Maximize the return on your IT investments
* Increase utilization of your current IT technology
* Enhance the lifespan of existing server equipment
* Integrate data storage and access from a variety of platforms

Increasing your company’s capabilities will allow you to keep pace with your competitors. Decreasing costs will allow you to budget effectively; turning to the cloud allows you to devote resources to product development rather than to maintaining your company’s IT.

By turning to the cloud with the help of a solution provider like IBM, you will be able to ensure that your resources are as efficient as possible, reduce the risks of turning to the cloud by relying on a secure infrastructure, and – ultimately – reduce the costs associated with IT at your organization.

Posted in Uncategorized, virtualization | 60 Comments »

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Unified Threat Management – A Turnkey Solution for Complete Network Security

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Protecting your company’s network does not need to be challenging. Having the security that you need doesn’t even require a team of dedicated IT staff who monitor your systems around the clock. In fact, there are even turnkey solutions available – provided you know where to look.

Many Fortune 100 companies (a list that includes companies like Walmart and Exxon Mobil) know the importance of a secure network and ensure that their servers are maintained with security protections that are regularly updated to block the latest threats. They use tools that are easy to manage and that offer a hardware warranty. More importantly, they ensure that their system provides confidentiality by keeping all of their records secure. They accomplish all of this with tools such as Checkpoint’s Unified Threat Management solution.

Unified threat management solutions are scalable for any business because of its use of a blade architecture. Business professionals and IT departments can create a customized solution that meets their specific needs. Need a firewall to prevent attacks, email security, and anti-virus and anti-malware protection only? Choose only the elements of a threat management solution that address these needs and can easily be installed, managed from a single point, and upgraded to protect the network from the latest threats as they develop. Encouraging more staff to telework? Add a VPN software component that can add new users to the system with a single click. Productivity can be enhanced even more with components that allow specific URLs – such as those for social media networks, gossip sites, and online gaming – to be blocked.

Maintaining the integrity of the network is critical to business success regardless of the industry-focus and size of the organization. Unified threat management and security solutions can make a business more efficient. The tools you select should be customizable and scalable – and should also reduce costs. In addition to being financially feasible, threat management tools should not require a huge time investment for installation or updating the network protection.

Posted in Uncategorized | 118 Comments »

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Data Loss Prevention: Keep Your Company out of the Headlines!

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Wikileaks has been in the news a lot lately. That, in itself, isn’t really a problem. But, it has led to a lot of company names hitting the headlines, too. That, of course, is a big problem – especially for their employees, shareholders, clients and other stakeholders. When sensitive data slips from your company’s grasp, the potential for costly and embarrassing outcomes skyrockets. If you can maintain control of your data, however, the risks recede significantly.

So, the challenge before your company doesn’t involve the malicious activity of a website operator in a foreign country. Instead, it’s completely within your control: you need to do a better job of protecting your information.

Data loss prevention has always been important for companies in highly regulated industries or that store a considerable amount of personal customer data. The priority assigned to DLP, however, is poised to surge, as the consequences of doing it poorly become increasingly severe – especially in the age of Wikileaks.

In addition to keeping your company off the front page of the Wall Street Journal (or, for that matter, Business Insider), your DLP solution should be able to handle a wide range of requirements, from litigation prevention through regulatory compliance. Rather than compartmentalize your DLP needs, look for a solution – e.g. the Check Point DLP Software Blade – that provides a comprehensive approach to automated leak prevention, data security and monitoring.

Through real-time remediation, rapid suspected breach alerts and sensitive data identification features, DLP solutions can provide an extra measure of tangible data security to keep your company from falling into a Wikileaks-style public scandal … not to mention lower compliance and operating costs through improved security and data management.

You don’t have to find yourself at the mercy of a sensationalist, e-vandal or other malicious internet user. Keep your company’s private information private, and you can gain a greater degree of control over risk and operating costs – not to mention your company’s reputation. Use a DLP solution to prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands.

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Unified Communications: How to Choose the Right Platform

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

There are plenty of unified communications vendors on the market, and sometimes their solutions seem quite similar. When you look through the capabilities, features and capacity associated with them, it can be difficult to tell them apart. After all, the technology manufacturers in this space tend to know what businesses are looking for in a unified communications platform. So, they know what to include. This can make it pretty tough to identify the best one for your business.

Rather than look at the technology side-by-side, it makes more sense to look elsewhere … specifically at yourself.

Start with the requirements your company has for connecting employees and partners in different offices and around the world. Build a requirements list that fully reflects your unified communications needs, and use this as a way to determine not only which manufacturer to use but whether it makes sense to use a purpose-built solution (such as that offered by Shoretel). When you make the decision to implement a particular platform, you’ll know that it is the best available for your company – not the “best” according to some abstract measure.

When you take this approach, make sure you use it from end to end, for both hardware and software. Your unified communications solution should completely address the collaboration needs specific to your organization. If a solution does not provide the functionality that your organization needs out of the box, purpose-built may be a more effective alternative.

Ultimately, your unified communications solution selection should reflect what your company plans to accomplish through employee collaboration and communication. The decision to be discriminating now can lead to greater ROI down the road: making sacrifices doesn’t always pay off! Start with your needs to meet your objectives; don’t limit yourself to off-the-shelf solutions.

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Empathy Is the Key to the Solution Provider Partnership

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Most of being a value-added reseller (VAR) is having the kinds of products your customer needs, the sales expertise to choose the best among them and the technical capabilities to deploy them effectively. However, to make sure you’ve chosen the right VAR with which to parner, there are a few more pieces to the VAR puzzle to consider. Frankly, a nice line card and vendor certified staff will only get you so far.

What’s often overlooked, in fact, is another piece of the puzzle: empathy.

We’ve all had that sales meeting where someone calls you up, asks about your [insert appropriate buzzword] projects or pain points and then immediately begins to pitch the widget on hand that will (supposedly) get you where you need to go. I’ve been there, and you’ve been there. And, we all know how it ends.

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