Volume III, Issue 7 - July 2010
Lynnwood, WA

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Just Become a Fan of IntegrIT Network Solutions on Facebook!

It's that simple. We will conduct prize drawings at the end of each month.

Our next drawing will be held July 30.

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Good Luck!

Considering migrating to Office 2010? "We can Help! Contact Us Now."

The Lighter Side...

A Cold Lesson

A family owned a parrot that had picked up some naughty words and squawked them at the top of its voice. Nothing seemed to shut it up.

One day the minister was due to visit the home. The mother, in a panic, stuck the parrot in the freezer (after making sure to adjust the temperature so it wouldn’t freeze). After the minister left, she went to let it out.

When she opened the door, the parrot hopped out. “Learned my lesson,” it squawked. “No more cursing.”

“Thank goodness,” said the mother.

The parrot cocked its head. “One question?”

Puzzled, the woman said, “Go ahead.”

The parrot leaned its head forward, gestured toward the freezer, and whispered, “What did the chicken do”

"Who Wants To Win Two Brown Bear Car Wash Tickets?"

The Grand Prize Winner of June's Quiz is... drum roll please: Nobody! I guess we stumped everyone with this question...

Who was the first female LPGA golfer to amass $1 million in her career?

a. Kathy Whitworth

b. Juli Inkster

c. Jan Stephenson

d. Amy Alcott

The answer is “a” –
Kathy Whitworth

Now…let’s move to this month's question for two Brown Bear Car Wash tickets!

According To The National Weather Center at Paine Field, how many times has it rained on the 4th of July since 2001?

a. 5 times

b. 2 times

c. 6 times

d. 3 times

Contact us right now with your answer!

Send us an email now or
call us at (866) 578-6220

Insider Tips To Make Your Business Run Faster, Easier, And More Profitably

Welcome to the IntegrIT Network Solutions "Bits-N-Bytes" newsletter with tips to help you keep your computers and network running. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, manage and opt-out links are provided at the bottom of the newsletter. This will not impact your email alerts. 

We're here, ready to help you fully control and manage your IT systems so that you can focus on growing your business, increasing sales, and meeting your goals. It's easy to reach us!

1. Call us at (866) 578-6220

2. Send us an email

We will contact you within 24 hours. Happy Computing! 

IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc., Bringing Integrity and IT Together™

Debunking the “If It Ain’t Broke, Why Fix It?” Myth

Of course we’ve all heard of the saying “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” And really, to some degree, that saying holds true.

When it comes to technology, though, reality favors the opposite. You might have hardware right now that’s a bit old by industry standards but is still working, so there seems to be no need to upgrade or replace it. Sooner or later though, it’s going to cause you a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

For instance, what if you are in a middle of a major project and your hardware breaks down? Hardware manufacturers constantly upgrade their technology, leaving past models behind. This means that the older your hardware is, the harder it will be for you to find support or spare parts when things go wrong. Unless you have a backup plan, this scenario can turn into a big nightmare. And IF (that’s a big “if”) you can find the replacement parts you need, you’ll probably wait for weeks for them to arrive and for the repairs to get done, making you lose precious time and profit.

The advantage of upgrading your equipment is that the more advanced it is, the higher the quality of your output. Your workflow can be made much easier and more efficient with better performing hardware specs and added features that come in newer models. And with the right support from manufacturers, any glitch or problem can be fixed within a reasonable period of time since parts and other replacement components are in stock and readily available.

Of course, you don’t need to upgrade each time a new model is released. The key is to know when to give your hardware a boost. If your upgrades are properly planned, you can change systems and replace equipment without compromising your productivity or output.

So if you want to assess your current hardware, we’d be happy to sit down with you to create a roadmap for your future upgrades.

We're here to help!  Give us a call at 425-787-0193 or click HERE to send us an email.

If you are already an existing IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. customer, you can rest assured we are already keeping on top of your hardware components as part of your managed service plan!

Happy Computing from IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc.!

CLOUD COMPUTER SERIES - PART 2

This is the second in our series of articles about Cloud Computing. In this article, we will take a look at the “On-Premise” vs. “Cloud-Based” solutions.

On-Premise vs. Cloud-Based Software Solutions

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard of cloud computing – hosted software in the cloud – and have wondered, “Is this something I should consider?” Since cloud computing is coming at the small and mid-size business (SMB) market like a Tsunami, I am writing a series of articles for our monthly newsletter.

Cloud computing – an umbrella term for a wide range of online services – is an attractive proposition for SMBs seeking to make the most of the technology available today at lower costs and lower risk. The “Cloud” gives users access to remote services over a data network. The upfront investment is low, they do not need to invest in software / hardware, licensing and renewal costs are kept to a minimum, total cost of ownership is reduced, and they only pay for what they use.

Furthermore, it guards against obsolescence and transfers typical ownership risks and responsibilities — such as maintenance, management, and upgrades — from the buyer to the seller. While many companies remain concerned about security, systems’ redundancy, functionality, and who has access to their data in the Cloud, the cost benefits very often outweigh these considerations.

The Software as a Service (SaaS) market is expected to grow to 18% by 2013, up from 6% of software sales in 2007, Gartner estimates show. The market for SaaS and Cloud services is showing strong and consistent growth, however this estimate also shows that at 82%, the on-premise delivery model is still the leader and it will take something special for Cloud services to balance the numbers.

Yet, judging by the hype surrounding the Cloud and SaaS, it is not surprising that the market is experiencing this level of growth. More and more SMBs are ‘aware’ of the benefits of moving into the Cloud and they can see tangible benefits.

As the price of storage and bandwidth continues to drop fast, Cloud-based services are becoming more and more attractive to SMBs seeking to reduce costs, avoid recruiting IT staff, and focus fully on their core responsibility – growing their business. Although the Cloud provides SMBs with a cost-effective alternative, companies need to be wary and not fall into the ‘all Cloud’ solution trap. There is no one-model-fits-all.

Rather than diving headfirst into the Cloud, SMBs would do well to see how they could maximize the benefits of their existing set-up as well as those that a Cloud-based service can give them. With a hybrid delivery model, SMBs can have the best of both worlds without long-term commitments, unnecessary expenses, and the inefficiencies of hosted and on-premise models.

The solution: A hybrid model

Today, SMBs tend to do one or the other, focusing their efforts in one direction or another thus limiting the possibilities that a multiple-solution, single-vendor strategy can offer.

The hybrid approach, however, sees SMB customers getting the best of both worlds by allowing them to maximize the benefits of both a hosted delivery model and those of the on-premise model.

The benefits of the hybrid model vary from one customer to another, but can be summed up as follows:

• Run applications where they are most needed and fit best into the business infrastructure

• The hybrid delivery model makes sense for all companies whatever their size or infrastructure

• The benefits of the hybrid approach can be maximized by a 10-employee company or a 500-employee company

• All that changes is the environment in which the solutions are used

• Enables them to choose what suits them best depending on their existing and future infrastructure requirements

• Enables them to maximize the strengths of both hosted and on-premise models

To find out more about the benefits of cloud computing and how the hybrid approach might make sense for your company, contact IntegrIT Network Solutions at 425-787-0193 or click HERE to send us an email now to request a no obligation Problem Prevention Audit.

About the Author: Larry Owens is President and Chief Technologist at IntegrIT Network Solutions, Inc. For more information go to www.integrit-network.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Client Spotlight: OASIS, Inc.

Meet our Featured Partner of the Month ~ Microsoft Corporation.

Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) Case Study

Law Firm Cuts IT Costs by 90 Percent, Dismisses Server Worries with Online Services

Situation

James C. Nolan Law Office provides immigration-related legal services for professional firms spanning the high-tech, financial services, manufacturing, and entertainment industries. It helps companies efficiently and quickly hire workers who are not U.S. citizens and keep existing non-U.S. employees on the job. It also helps non-U.S. professional workers obtain the visas and green cards that are needed to work in the United States.

Nolan uses technology to achieve fast processing speeds and deliver top-notch customer service. The firm uses an immigration-law database program to prepare forms and share them with clients online. Several years ago, Nolan also deployed Windows® Small Business Server 2003, which packages the Windows Server® 2003 operating system, Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 messaging software, Windows SharePoint® Services intranet technology, and Windows Server Update Services in one integrated suite that runs on a single server. Nolan also added a second server, running Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services, to give full-time and part-time employees remote access to company systems.

Although the firm’s technology infrastructure enabled it to achieve paperless efficiencies and process immigration paperwork quickly, those efficiencies came at a cost. The  server hardware was both bulky and noisy, consuming a sizeable footprint in the office. Underlying costs to pay for additional office space and server hardware air conditioning quickly added up at expensive New York City prices. Support costs for the servers were U.S.$1,500 a month.

Though the firm had not experienced any catastrophic server failures, Nolan was concerned about this risk. “If our [Windows] Small Business Server went down, it could take us a week to restore it,” he says. “If that were to happen during our busiest time of the year, I would lose an additional $60,000 in income and be out of business in a week.”

Challenge

In late 2008, the hardware running Windows Small Business Server 2003 needed to be replaced, which forced the firm to make a decision about its technology direction. “It would have cost at least $2,000 to buy new hardware, $1,500 for software licensing, and the IT consultant fees to set it up; all this cost $7,500 the first time around,” Nolan says. “Worse, we would experience downtime during the setup period, which originally was about 10 days. Our business simply could not withstand the downtime.”

After evaluating all the alternatives, Nolan opted to go with Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, which includes Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft Office Communications Online. These powerful enterprise communication and collaboration applications are hosted by Microsoft and can be purchased with assistance from partners who can help with configuration.

“We found out that we could eliminate our physical servers by going with Microsoft Online Services,” Nolan says. “It would also give us a way to add new [employees] quickly and easily during our busy periods, alleviate concerns about server downtime, and dramatically reduce our IT costs.”

Migrating to Online Applications

In just a few days, a Microsoft partner connected the James C. Nolan Law Office to Microsoft Online Services, migrated employee mailboxes to Exchange Online, and began transferring the firm’s documents to SharePoint Online.

At the same time that it subscribed to Microsoft Online Services, the James C. Nolan Law Office deployed Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007. With the newest version of Microsoft Office desktop productivity programs, Nolan employees can access documents on the SharePoint Online site and take advantage of the latest capabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, which is available through Exchange Online. The freedom to combine hosted and on-premises software to cost-effectively suit the needs of the business made Microsoft software especially compelling.

The company is migrating all business documents (100 gigabytes of data) to SharePoint Online, where they are instantly indexed and searchable. Nolan had not used the Windows SharePoint Services capability in Windows Small Business Server 2003 because he was concerned that it would be time consuming to deploy. Having the collaboration software online simplified setup and promoted usability.

Employees now access the firm’s database from SharePoint Online and use the SharePoint Online search capability to locate documents in the database. “Being able to search for information is a big timesaver,” Nolan says. “Having all our case documents on a SharePoint site also enables outside workers to access them easily. This frees us to add seasonal employees more readily. Information is also more secure; we no longer have to worry about backing up files, because they’re in the Microsoft data center.”

The law firm plans to use Office Communications Online to speed communications among full-time and part-time staff. They can see presence indicators in any Microsoft Office program, indicating the availability of colleagues, and can initiate instant-messaging conversations to get quick answers. Presence and instant messaging eliminate the need to leave phone or e-mail messages and wait for responses. Nolan expects that Office Live Meeting will help his employees communicate with clients and with remote contract workers more easily, personally, and productively.

Benefits

By eliminating physical server hardware and using Microsoft Online Services, the James C. Nolan Law Office has been able to slash its technology costs by 90 percent and downsize its offices, reducing rent and electrical costs. With Microsoft hosting its messaging and collaboration applications, Nolan never again has to worry about servers failing. Employees save up to an hour a day searching for information, and the scalability of “cloud”-based services accommodates business growth cost-effectively.

Monthly IT Costs Reduced 90 Percent

By subscribing to Microsoft Online Services, the James C. Nolan Law Office was able to dispose of its big, noisy servers and save a lot of money. “We pay a total of $125 a month for our Microsoft Online Services subscriptions and storage, versus $1,500 a month for a consultant to manage our on-site servers,” Nolan says. “We also avoided having to buy another server and associated software and setup, which could have been a $5,000 to $7,500 expense.” The firm also can scale its usage down or up at a very low incremental cost.

When the firm recently downsized its office space, it reduced its rent and electrical bills. “Partially because we did not have to move those servers with us, we were able to downsize our office and spend less in rent and electrical bills,” Nolan says.

The savings continue. Relieved of server management responsibilities, Nolan has recaptured three to four hours a week. “At my billing rate, that time is worth $60,000 annually, but the revenue potential is much higher because I’m capturing new business rather than baby-sitting servers,” Nolan says.

Always-On Reliability Delivers Peace of Mind

With Microsoft Online Services, Nolan has attained peace of mind, which he never had with on-site servers. “With our key business systems and documents in the cloud, I don’t worry about server downtime,” Nolan says. “We can store all our documents in a secure environment, access them from anywhere, and know that they are always available. Most law firms don’t have that assurance; it’s a tremendous capability.”

When the firm finishes migrating its documents to SharePoint Online, it will have all of its intellectual property stored in a Microsoft data center, where it’s safer than it was on the firm’s server and fully accessible to staff and clients.

Easier Data Access Leads to Higher Productivity

With Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, employees can easily access e-mail or client information anytime, from any Internet connection; no VPN is needed. “Employees are easily achieving an hour a day in productivity gains because it’s so much easier to find and access information,” Nolan says. “As we get more data on SharePoint Online and explore other capabilities like Web conferencing and instant messaging, we will see even more time-savings.”

Ultimately, Nolan wants to share more data with clients online. “Online document sharing with clients will be a big competitive advantage for us and a big timesaver for our staff and clients,” Nolan says. “It enables us to provide even better customer service. Plus, we get more credibility and respect from corporate clients by hosting our data in Microsoft data centers. Clients know that their data is safe.”

Scalability Accommodates Business Growth

With Microsoft Online Services, the James C. Nolan Law Office has instant business scalability. It can add new full-time staff or remote part-time staff without deploying software or paying an outside consultant to establish secure connections to business systems. It takes about 15 minutes to get a new employee running on Microsoft Online Services, versus the two to three days it took to connect to the firm’s servers.

Plus, the company always has access to the latest Microsoft communication and collaboration programs, without the need to upgrade on-premises software and hardware. “We are free to grow without technology worries and exorbitant expenses,” Nolan says. “Microsoft Online Services makes good business sense.”

About Microsoft Online Services: Microsoft Online Services is a business-class communications and collaboration software offering delivered as a subscription service, hosted by Microsoft, and sold with partners. These services help make it easier for customers to rapidly and cost-effectively access the most up-to-date technologies, and are designed for rapid deployment to provide customers with streamlined communications, simplified management, and business-class reliability and security. The suite of products include Microsoft Online Services, Business Productivity Online Suite, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online, and Live Meeting. To learn more, please visit www.microsoft.com/online.

On the road, in the airport, at a client’s site, or simply at home on the couch. These are places you can’t – or don’t want to – plug your laptop in. Want to keep your laptop running as long as possible without searching for an outlet?

Here are 5 tips to help:

1. Keep your screen dim. A laptop’s backlight requires a lot of power. Reducing the brightness conserves battery life.

2. Turn off unused hardware. Your Bluetooth and your Wi-Fi receiver can both be turned off if not in use. Unplug your external mouse or other device. And mute the PC's sound system. Not only will it save power, it avoids annoying everyone else around you.

3. Don’t multitask. Run as few programs as you can get away with. Stick to one application (word processor, browser, or whatever) if possible. (If online keep your antivirus and firewall on in the background.)

4. Avoid multimedia. Save your photo editing and video watching for when have AC power. These tasks suck up immense battery life. To listen to music, use your iPod (or similar device).

5. Sleep, standby or hibernate. Sleep mode (a.k.a. “standby” in XP) keeps your PC on. It still uses power, just less than normal. Hibernate uses no power initially, but a lot of battery life to start back up.

Want to get more great tips like this daily?  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

IntegrIT Network Solutions on Social Networking Sites We’ve been getting acquainted with Social Networking for the last several months, and we’re ready to start keeping in touch with our clients and meet new prospects using these exciting new technologies. You can find us on these social networks: Blog: http://integritnetworksolutions.blogspot.com/ Twitter: twitter.com/IntegrITNetwork Facebook: www.facebook.com/IntegrIT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/companies/integrit-network-solutions Summer Contest - Do You Feel Lucky? Speaking of Social Networking sites... we are currently holding a Facebook Fan Page Contest.  All you have to do is become a fan of IntegrIT Network Solutions at www.facebook.com/IntegrIT and you will automatically be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous prize.  We are conducting random drawings throughout the summer months.  Congratulations to our June contest winner, Kurin Beeston from Northwest Organization for Animal Help (Noah). Our next drawing will be on July 30.