Archive for the ‘Exchange 2010’ Category

Disasters Happen. Is Your Business Ready?

February 14th, 2013
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By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President

Preparing for an emergency is a key factor to business continuity after a disaster. Wherever the threat comes from – whether it’s physical, virtual, network failure or cybercrime-related – it’s important that your business is equipped to deal with the problem.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that over 40 percent of businesses never reopen following a disaster.  And, when we consider these potential consequences, it’s important that you have a disaster preparedness plan ready.

We consulted Cindy Bates, Microsoft US SMB Vice President, for some tips.  As you create your business continuity plan, she recommends that you keep in mind the following:

Communication strategy.  Make a plan about how you will communicate any disaster and its impact on your internal and external audiences.  Remember that 40 percent of businesses will never reopen following a disaster.

Financial management. Ensure that you can still access your company accounts, pay bills on time and make the payroll.

Data backup.  Keep your company information safe by backing up assets and storing a copy offsite on a regular basis.

Cloud-based software. Move software to cloud-based versions of the programs that you use today.  This acts as a great alternative to data backup and enables your employees to have access to email, important documents, contacts and calendars – anytime and from virtually anywhere.

Technology updates.  Maintain vigilance when it comes to keeping your technology updated with security patches to safeguard your network against the latest threats.

Your digital assets are extremely important to business continuity in the aftermath of a disaster.  Do you need help protecting them?  Contact us for a free assessment.

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Why Email Archiving?

August 3rd, 2012
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By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President

Why email archiving?  Well, from the knowledge management perspective, valuable information is contained within our everyday email conversations, and yet that vast knowledge repository is typically not documented or stored using any formal means or framework.  Email archiving solves this problem, especially if it is designed with simple yet robust search capabilities.

email archiving

Email archiving addresses legal readiness and regulatory compliance needs, among other business requirements.

However, information archiving also addresses several key business requirements, particularly for enterprises.  To start, consider:

  • legal discovery readiness
  • regulatory compliance
  • email storage optimization

Being prepared for legal discovery and regulatory events means knowing where data is stored and being able to collect, search, and retrieve that data in a short period of time.

Organizations must also be able to establish and enforce policies, which reflect specific regulatory and geographic market requirements that align with internal information governance strategies. When managed improperly, exposure to legal and compliance risks can be significant and challenge an organization’s ability to defend its processes. This can lead to costly fines, guilty verdicts and damaged reputations.

Also, keep in mind that because regulations mandate that data must remain in its original state (native format), robust search capabilities are needed.  An archive provides a centralized, searchable repository that provides end users with access to historical information.  We believe that this access should be simple and intuitive, with a familiar user experience that fits existing work habits and enables greater productivity.

Finally, an information archive should address all of these requirements while also supporting the dual IT objectives of centralizing email storage and reducing the cost and management complexities of exploding data volumes — both within managed systems as well as in the wild.

AISN has recently introduced a new cloud-based offering for enterprise email archiving — one that has a variety of attractive features, especially if you need to meet high compliance standards.  AISN’s next generation email archiving, Proofpoint Enterprise Archive™, offers a proven email archiving solution architected explicitly for the cloud.  It features ultra-rapid parallel email search capabilities for discovery, DoubleBlind Encryption™ as the industry’s only email archiving solution to secure against hacking or legal challenges, and unlimited storage with straightforward flat-fee pricing.

Read more about our new email archiving solution on our site’s email archiving page; it’s also briefly highlighted in our disaster recovery section.  Because we price email archiving on a case-by-case basis, you won’t find a pricing guide, so please be sure to contact us for a free quote.

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Choosing a Hosting Provider: 20 Questions to Ask Yourself

May 26th, 2012
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By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President

Choose a provider based on its ability to provide a cost-effective architecture and high-quality customer experience for your envisioned use case.

—Gartner, Inc., “Magic Quadrant for Web Hosting and Hosted Cloud System Infrastructure Services”

So, you’ve decided to outsource your hosting.  How do you choose a provider?  It’s a bit tricky, so think carefully.

Your IT is mission-critical and that’s why selecting the right hosting provider is crucial to your business’ success.  There are a number of key considerations to keep in mind when you are evaluating a hosting provider as a potential IT partner for your organization.

Peace of Mind

Okay, this photo may be a little over the top, but you get the point. Price isn't everything. Confidence and peace of mind is. Choose the right hosting provider, and you'll rest easy.

Keep in mind that the relationship you have with the IT provider you invest in and work with will be an intimate one, so it’s important that you’re comfortable will their ability to deliver “mission-critical confidence” on multiple levels.

Ask yourself:

  1. How long has the company been in business?  Will it be around in five years?
  2. Is the company profitable and financially sound?
  3. What is the company’s reputation for customer service and which experts will be on your business account team?
  4. Are they actively listening to you and working with you to understand your specific requirements?
  5. Do they provide unlimited 24x7x365 support or is it fee-based?
  6. Have they gone through the SSAE 16 audit and are they certified?
  7. What is the quality of the company’s data center? Its infrastructure? Its networking?
  8. What type of security will they provide and are they capable of installing patches quickly when faced with a security threat?
  9. What type of hardware will be used to host your business?
  10. Do they actually deliver everything that they guarantee (uptime, reliability, etc.)?
  11. Do they offer a range of hosting services that will meet all your needs?
  12. What are their capabilities for developing a disaster recovery program?
  13. Do they support the compliance standards that are important to your business?
  14. Are they actively investing in upgrading and growing their infrastructure?
  15. Are they actively investing in new product offerings and services?
  16. What monitoring portal do they offer their customers?
  17. What are their backup and reporting policies?
  18. Are they helping you to understand fully the costs, including any “fine print” items?
  19. Are they committed to helping you grow your business and your brand?
  20. Will you be able to sleep at night with 100% confidence that your IT infrastructure is in good hands?

If you are not asking the right questions, you will not get the specific information you need to make an informed decision about your hosting solution. Once you’re confident that you have greater knowledge about the hosting provider, you can move to the next phase, which includes getting a quote that you understand and checking the company’s references.

In the end, is “price” what counts?  No, your hosting provider selection should be not solely based upon the pricing quote but rather based upon a unique combination of features and services offered at a price that’s right for your business.

Remember, this is a mission-critical decision that you need to feel good about, and the hosting provider you choose should make you feel 100% confident.

Need help defining your technical criteria for hosting?  Having a tough time writing an RFP?  Let us know.  We’ll be glad to lend a hand.

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What Is Lync 2010?

November 23rd, 2010
Posted by: admin

Lync 2010

This infographic illustrates some of the benefits of Lync 2010.

By Laurie Head
AIS Network Vice President, Marketing Communications

Last week, Microsoft announced the availability of Lync 2010, the latest release of its “converged communications platform” – essentially, the next generation of Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS 2007).

What does Lync 2010 do? It leverages the power of software to make communications easier, more open, and more cost-effective for businesses of all sizes.

Today’s new generation of workers, in particular, will find Lync 2010’s “click-to-communicate” capability more accommodating to their unique communication and collaboration habits, which are somewhat different from those of us old timers (say, over the age of 35), who gravitate toward email. Undoubtedly, all workers will find great value in rapid access to experts, peers and decision makers – one of the key features of Lync 2010.

By offering users a single communications platform that integrates instant messaging, presence, audio, video and Web conferencing, Lync 2010 streamlines worker productivity in so many ways, promoting significant business value. For corporate environments, Lync offers a complete enterprise voice communications solution with an unparalleled out-of-the-box experience when used in conjunction with other Microsoft products such as SharePoint, Exchange and Office. I really like how it works with SharePoint 2010 and Exchange Server 2010. Watch a short demonstration here. Lync 2010 Video: People Working Together for a Shared Purpose.

Microsoft has high hopes for Lync 2010, expecting it to benefit not only employees but also the corporate bottom line and the corporate carbon footprint. Forrester Consulting recently published a Total Economic Impact report, which looked at 12 current Microsoft customers and how they are using Lync Server 2010. Drawing upon data from the 12 companies, Forrester developed a composite case study company and then ran the numbers on a costs/benefits analysis for that company. It found that Lync 2010 offers customers a three-year, risk-adjusted return on investment (ROI) of 332 percent; the payback period is only 12.4 months. Not bad.

After reading the Forrester report, it’s clear to me just how Lync 2010 can save customers big bucks by reducing travel costs, long distance charges, help desk labor costs and teleconferencing/Web conferencing fees — all while generating increased worker productivity and flexibility, which is quantifiable on multiple levels and potentially worth millions to an organization.

What are your thoughts on Lync? I’d love to hear them.

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