Posts Tagged ‘TCO’

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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 You Easily Guide the Forensic Process?

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

There are a wide range of IT professionals who need to access data for investigative purposes. Maybe you‘ve been seeing an increase in computer viruses, and need to identify the source of the problem or you’ve seen productivity lost because too much time was spent on social networking sites. Maybe you’ve been seeing an increase in computer viruses, and need to identify the source of the problem or you’ve seen productivity lost to too much time spent on social networking sites. Worse, maybe you’ve noticed that some files have gone missing and need to identify which employee – or employees – are responsible for the theft of your company’s intellectual property.

Investigating any of these – and many other – situations has often required contacting forensic investigators, security professionals, or setting up incident response teams. Lawyers are often involved as well as teams comb through records, collect and analyze data, and then preserve their findings so that action can be taken. As you might guess, the costs of these investigations can add up quickly – even before you begin looking at the cost of lost time and work if your systems must be taken offline.

Fortunately, there are options available that can reduce your costs, enable you to monitor all computers and workstations on your network, and allow day-to-day operations to continue seamlessly. Guidance Software is respected as a leader in digital investigations, and their EnCase Enterprise bundle will provide you with all of the tools you need to:

1. Perform computer-based forensic investigations
2. Identify misuse of company software and systems
3. Ensure staff compliance with IT policies
4. Effectively manage information and prevent theft of intellectual property
5. Keep your company’s IT network running smoothly

When you set an IT policy meant to prevent fraud and protect your network, it’s because you want to reduce the risk of system downtime. Similarly, when you want to limit the time your staff spend on activities that aren’t work-related, it’s important to be sure that you know your staff are viagra established guidelines. If a more serious breach occurs, limiting the potential damage is critical.

By taking advantage of the right tools, you can conduct your own investigations, meet the demands of your business, and save time and money in the process. Regardless of the situation you find yourself in, having the right tools available will let you deal with it quickly and appropriately – minimizing the impact on your business.

Listen to our latest webinar with Guidance Software: Best Practices for Investigating Incidences Across the Network

Posted in security | 69 Comments »

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Simplifying Business with Unified Communications: What the Right Solution Can Provide

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Choosing to turn to a unified communications system is, ultimately, a solid business option. The challenge is that it can be difficult to identify the right system. When all of the options that you consider start to look the same, it’s important to work with a partner who can help to identify your needs and provide a solution that meets them.

For example, let’s say that one of the challenges that your company faces is the inability to adequately staff the phones. Whether it’s a matter of not having around-the-clock switchboard coverage or your customers have commented that the message that greets them is too impersonal, consider looking into a unified communications system like the ShoreTel UC platform that includes an auto-attendant. You’ll quickly find that you are able to automate call answering and routing, and that the messages can be customized by department. This ensures that clients and customers, who call, if they’re unable to speak with a member of your team, will feel confident that their message reaches the right person.

You’ll find that you can improve on the customer experience simply by having those calls returned in a timely fashion, and other components of a unified communications system can help to make sure that it’s done. Your staff will be able to access their messages from their desk phones, mobile phones, or even their computers. The system’s functionality can also allow managers and directors to monitor call logs, wait times, and even staff activity. Not only can working with a partner who can help you to set up a call accounting system and call detail reports help you to provide a better experience to customers, but also it can help you cut costs and better associate calls with projects that your team is working on.

Cutting costs is often a key motivator for organizations who look into a unified communications platform. Rather than simply looking for a system that reduces your day-to-day costs, why not look for a platform that does more? Focus on all of your communications needs. Look for a system that’s easy to use and manage. Focus on choosing a communications platform that you can count on – one that offers the reliability that you look for from all of your vendors and one that your customers and clients expect from you. Be sure that support will be there when you need it, and look for tools that will pay for themselves in a short amount of time.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed when you begin looking for a way to upgrade your company’s communications environment. By recognizing your needs and talking them over, you’ll find that you’re not only able to find a solution that meets those needs but also that you’re able to identify a system that exceeds your expectations.

Posted in Unified Communications | 102 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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Is Your IT Architecture Prepared for Growth?

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Growth is something that most businesses strive for. In order to accomplish it, however, you’ll need to have the right systems in place. Having a scalable IT solution like the one NetApp provides is one part of this equation.

Your company’s IT architecture should allow you to:

1. Simplify backups so that you know that your records are up to date, your staff is on board, and downtime is minimized.

2. Support testing and development efforts. Some tools are available for one operating system and not another. Web design work needs to be tested across numerous browsers and on a variety of platforms. Virtualization allows you to create all of the scenarios that need to be addressed on a single machine.

3. Improve storage efficiency with server virtualization so that you are able to use the tools you have rather than adding another server to the rack each time that you need more space or access to additional software.

4. Simplify recovery by ensuring that your data is stored securely and is available when you need it – whether you are in the office, on the production line, or in an airport on your way to a client meeting.

Opportunities present themselves in various ways. Being able to quickly pull up data, run comparisons related to two different approaches, and test products on a range of platforms will ensure that you’re ready to take action – and that you’re making the choices that best support your business goals.

As needs and the demands on your business change, will you be prepared to act? The right IT architecture – and support – will ensure that you’re ready and positioned to grow your organization.

Posted in Archiving & Compliance, virtualization | 59 Comments »

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Security in 3 Dimensions

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Data security is a key element of business success. However, the more that you look into your options, the more that you’ll realize that three components must come together to ensure your company’s IT security.

First, your company must have policies in place related to data. Your staff must be made aware of these policies that pertain to password use, data flow, network security, firewalls and virus prevention, email requirements, and the use of third-party viagra and tools. Award winning software from Check Point is one example of a product that lets you specifically target network security solutions to your business security needs. Keeping your security operations simple and affordable at the same time.

Then, your company must involve your staff. On one hand, this means making sure that they are aware of the policies that you’ve put in place. On the other, it means giving them the opportunity to contribute to policies, to provide insight into areas where security could be tighter, and ensuring that the entire team is working together to protect company information.

Finally, it’s important to have an enforcement policy in place. Be sure that you know how violations of your company’s security policy will be addressed, and ensure that the policy will be enforced consistently – whether the person violating it is a new hire or a manager with 15 years or more of experience.

Data encryption, password protected databases, user roles: all of these elements play a role in creating and ensuring IT security. However, when you have the right policies in place, your staff are on board to follow those policies and suggest additional measures that can be taken, and a strong enforcement policy is in place, your company can count on security in three dimensions.

Posted in Endpoint Security & Management | 1 Comment »

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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.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

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Four Signs It’s Time for Application Virtualization

Monday, October 25th, 2010

There’s always room to streamline your application management processes. Traditional approaches tend to be cumbersome and time-consuming, and they leave openings for risks such as non-standard software installation and suboptimal access control. Application virtualization solutions such as Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp can be used to remedy many of these problems, and the TCO and ROI cases are well established.

But, when it’s time to present your plan to move to a virtualized application environment to the executive team, you need specifics – it has to be clear that there are direct and tangible benefits to application virtualization that can be realized fairly quickly. Start by looking at your existing operation for indicators that it’s time to virtualize. Here are four to get you started.

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Posted in Application Delivery & Optimization | No Comments »

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What Your Executives Need to Know about Unified Communications

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Company leaders, especially CFOs, are right to be skeptical about any proposed IT investment. Unless you have roots in the datacenter, it can be tough to understand – and quantify – the benefit of a particular IT solution to the company. The gap in knowledge unfortunately means that CIOs and IT directors hear “no” too often, even if most of the rejections are prudent. Excellent opportunities are missed, and the problem is neither financial nor technical. Rather, it’s an issue of communication: IT leaders need to make their proposals easier to follow, especially when the overall business benefit is substantial.

This is especially true of unified communications solutions.

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Posted in Unified Communications | No Comments »

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Cope with a Leaner IT Budget through Corporate Social Responsibility

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

We all know what’s going to happen when the CFO’s office calls … it’s time to trim some “fat” from your budget, even if you don’t have any left to cut. If you’re faced with this challenge for your IT organization, you need to find a way to reduce operating expenses without impairing capabilities, which translates directly to improving operational efficiency.

There are plenty of solutions you can consider, but if you really want to extend the value of your IT investment, look into the streamlining effects of a greener datacenter. Beyond cutting costs without losing capabilities, you’ll contribute to the strength of your company’s brand through corporate social responsibility.

“Going green” and “saving green” go hand-in-hand. By reducing energy consumption, for example, you also can lower your energy costs. The preservation of the environment comes with an attendant preservation of capital. Having fewer servers in your datacenter leads to less waste disposal … and lower waste disposal expenses. Having less means spending less, and it also lowers your carbon footprint.

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Posted in Green IT | No Comments »

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