by Chas Arnold, Partner and Executive Vice President

The promise of simple, reliable, and feature-rich unified communications phone systems has been made for what seems like decades. The fact is, big companies with big IT departments and big budgets have seen some of these promises fulfilled. But, for the vast majority of businesses, advanced business communications have always been out of reach. Until now.

Every business needs an affordable communications solution that provides a competitive edge. Now, the solution is in reach for small and midsize businesses, and even better, can help your business save on costs and increase productivity.

Affordable
The latest VoIP systems start at only $300 for unlimited users and extensions, and allow you to use existing phones and headsets in combination with advanced features in a software based solution. Some platforms even provide a hosted solution, so no servers are needed on site, meaning no new hardware purchases.

Easy to Use
The lastest unified communications systems are working with the small business in mind keeping the system easy to deploy, use, and manage. You can easily administer your system without the need for expensive IT specialists and third-party consultants. Plus, with integrated desktop interfaces for users, calls are easily transferred or sent to voicemail, while advanced features like chat or click to email allow employees to connect the first time.

Reliable
Advanced communications companies understand that the SMB cannot experience downtime. For this reason, the systems now include around the clock monitoring so you can enjoy worry-free reliability 24/7. When you can count on your phone system, your customers can count on you.

Work from Anywhere
With unified communication, employees can take home a desk phone, use a softphone on their laptop, or forward calls to a mobile phone. What’s more, branch offices can be linked so that satellite offices are treated a one. And, with personal desktop interfaces, employees will be able to interact as if they’re just a cubical away.

Unified communications system lets employees get access to the right people, forward calls to cell phones, provide savings for telecommuters, increase revenues, and respond quickly to calls from customers that are likely to call someone else. It improves productivity and is able to give employees a better work-life balance, all at an affordable price.

by David Moorman, President

So as an IT pro, you might be asking, “What does my job look like as the technology industry and my company move toward managed services?" “Why would we use a managed IT company if the internal IT pro can handle it?” In the same way you may hire a maid to clean your home, or a gardener to landscape your lawn, you may hire an IT expert to handle basic chores for your business. The maid and the gardner afford you more time to dedicate to activities that are of higher value to you. Just like tasks around the home, technology tasks can also be broken down into those that offer you value and those that don’t. Those technologies that offer you value are said to have competitive advantage.

A technology that offers a competitive advantage is one that offers a higher value to the company, and helps outperform the competition. Technologies such as capacity planning and forecasting, customer relationship management, data mining, and enterprise resource planning are some of those technologies that can give a company an edge over what the other guy down the street is doing. They provide additional intelligence that allows the business to operate smarter and more efficient.

Those technologies that do not offer a competitive advantage include email, network monitoring, spam and virus protection. These technologies have become par for the course in today’s business climate. Today, all companies are expected to have a website, with an easy to use contact form and email. Their systems are expected to be up and working around the clock with no downtime. Using internal resources to maintain these technologies takes away from time that could be spent developing advanced technologies and processes that can further the company in the long run.

So to answer the questions above, IT pros should focus their time and skills on developing advanced technologies that offer the company additional benefits over the competition. A managed services company can then be leveraged to perform routine maintenance and basic services for the company, the “housekeeping” if you will, while the internal IT pro is free to further develop advanced skills. Their value to the company will be equal to the competitive advantages they can bring to the table, and in turn IT pros can secure their jobs. So instead of fearing the possibility of a managed services company, IT pros have the opportunity to further secure their place in the company by offering value that will far outweigh the cost of a managed IT provider.

by Andrew Dunlop, VP of Web Services

Over the past few years, email has become an integral part of the business
workflow. As you well know email inboxes can easily get out of control. Space on the mail server is at a premium and saving emails only to a local machine risks lost data, and deleting historic messages isn’t an option. Email archiving is an easy solution to store all your historic emails.
A ‘true’ email archiving system automatically extracts message contents and attachments from incoming/outgoing emails and after indexing, it stores them in read-only format. This ensures that archived records are maintained in their original state.

Important items to include in any email archive shopping list should include:

Scalability: storage should be easy to increase as the business grows

Relieving storage demands: An archiving solution should relieve the storage demands on the main mail server, leaving it free to process incoming and outgoing mail.

Powerful search & retrieval: Basic and advanced searching of the archive, reducing the time to locate emails.

Disaster recovery features: Mirroring and auto-replication of emails providing disaster recovery for email data.

Ease of Use: An email archiving solution should be easy for all users to use.

Installation and support: The solution you choose should be relatively simple to install and should provide support when you need it.

With costs for email recovery from traditional backups rising considerably, email archiving products can assist with reducing administration costs associated with managing email storage. Using the above “must have” list will help you pick a solution that is right for your company.

The DynaSis Cryoserver product has been developed with many years of email archive knowledge and experience to offer a proven, reliable quality email archiving product that is designed to be installed in minutes and reliably protect your email forever. Contact DynaSis to learn more about email archiving. 770.882.2432

by Chas Arnold, VP Sales and Marketing

What business risks do you have? Reducing a significant amount of business risk can be as simple as implementing the right IT practices. Security, downtime, and data loss are among the biggest concerns for companies when considering their liabilities, but a well built infrastructure with solid procedures in place can help mitigate those concerns. Security A hole in your network security is cause for huge concern considering the many mutations of spam, viruses, spyware, and even internal attacks from disgruntled employees. Your IT network should be protected on both the server and client side of your network, meaning you need enterprise level firewalls, anti-spam packages, and anti-virus software both on servers and employee computers to make sure your network is protected. Physical access to server room equipment should also be guarded, and a detailed security policy should be published for all employees to follow. Downtime Downtime in a company is not often calculated as a hard risk, but the impact of losing productivity can cost your company thousands if not hundreds of thousands in lost revenue. Avoiding downtime means having constant monitoring in place to know when a server is being overloaded or other resources are over capacity. Processes must be in place to make sure the IT network is stable, and levels of redundancy should be implemented so failover is automatic. Proactivity and planning is the key to minimizing downtime and decreasing lost productivity and revenue. Data Loss Companies that lose all their business data have a very small chance of surviving without a reliable means of restoring data. Avoiding data loss starts with a reliable backup system. Data should be backed up regularly and stored at a secure offsite location. Instead of relying on an employee to change tape drives, backups should be disc based and happen automatically to minimize human error. The same goes for email archiving, as it is the most common form of communication and is often used as evidence in legal proceedings. If reducing risk is important to your business, examining your IT liabilities should be your top priority. DynaSis provides managed security, guaranteed uptime, proactive monitoring, and reliable backup systems. Contact DynaSis today to learn more at 770.882.2432

by David Moorman, President DynaSis

Just as a company as a whole grows to maturity, so does its IT capability. The more mature an IT department is, the more integral IT becomes as a business advantage. IT maturity is measured in different stages according to the Gartner Model of IT Maturity. Let's take a look at the different levels which the Gartner model of IT maturity breaks down to create a better understanding of where a company's IT departments are at.

Chaotic (Level 0)

This is the lowest category that IT function can fall under. Under this category, IT is basically non-existent, and is used on an as-needed basis. The company itself is more concerned about their turnaround time for their products and the resources that go into their overall product.
IT functioning is not valued, nor is it given the resources that the department needs to carry on everyday activities that keep the company solvent. If the IT department is called upon, it usually is due to something that is end-user related. If one of the users calls and has a problem, then (and only then) is IT called upon to remedy the situation. Otherwise, the business would probably not have any IT personnel on staff because they are viewed as too big of a business expenditure. Usually at level 0, the company is not functioning at maximum capacity and therefore, they are not recognizing as much profit as they possibly could be.

Reactive (Level 1)

At the "reactive" level, IT is only slightly more valued than they were at Level 0. The IT infrastructure is monitored but problems are not addresses in a timely fashion. A basic ticketing systes is in place but most of IT’s time is taken up end-user issues. Problems are mainly addressed on-site instead of using remote management tools that save on costs. This level still puts the IT department at a relatively low level within the company, as their main objective is to "react" to situations occurring within the company.

Proactive (Level 2)

Unlike Level 1, Level 2 has IT much more involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. Monitoring the network is a primary focus and issues can be addressed remotely through advanced management software. Processes are defined and staff work on incorporating quality control principles into the company's technological presence. They are also working closely to set up programs to assess the amount of risk the company's assets are currently under. By weaving these ideas into the technology of the business, the IT department is allowing the company to become more efficient through the use of a checks-and-balances system within their company's technological intranet.

Managed (Level 3)

Level 3 is finally where a company's Return on Investment (ROI) really begins to recognize the benefits of having a competent IT department who is involved with every aspect of the company from the lowest department all the way to corporate officers of the company. IT is allowed to function freely, which affords them the opportunity to setup programs, databases, etc. that are necessary for the company to run smoothly.
Unlike the lower levels, company's that are incorporating their IT functioning at this level are certainly reaping the financial benefits that a well-oiled IT department can help to recognize.

Utility (Level 4)

This is the level where you probably find most highly profitable companies who have enjoyed long-term success with great products, phenomenal customer service, and the best turnaround times in their industry. Something all three of these business aspects have in common is that they are centrally controlled by a competent IT department who has instituted the correct monitoring systems, databases, and security measures to allow the company to operate at its full capacity. Advanced technologies such as virtualization are implemented and processes are automated. This level will also find the IT department incorporated at every level of the business, and the residual income that results from their involvement puts these companies amongst the top firms in their trade.

A quick ROI analysis will give you a good idea of just how healthy your IT functioning is within your company. By estimating just how much your IT department means to the well-being of your company, you can begin to recognize room for improvement. Doing a short exercise in company evaluation, like ROI analysis, is certain to improve not only your IT functioning but also your business as a whole. Contact DynaSis at 770.882.2432 for more information on an ROI analysis of your business.

by Chas Arnold, VP Sales and Marketing

With recession still upon us, it may be tempting to cut back on technologies that don’t produce an easy to define ROI or a low ROI. Ironically, investing in the right technologies can actually help your business save money. New technologies like virtualization are changing the way data is stored and optimizing physical machines, while technologies like Software as a Service and thin client computing are realizing their full potential in the SMB space.

Virtualization
Virtualization lets you run multiple virtual servers or desktops on a single physical machine (host), sharing the resources of that single computer across multiple environments. Virtualization works by inserting a thin layer of software directly on the computer hardware or host and then loading multiple versions of the operating systems on top of it. Multiple operating systems run concurrently on a single physical computer and share hardware resources with each other. You can safely run several operating systems and applications at the same time on a single computer, with each having access to the resources it needs when it needs them. With virtualization, less space is need for physical machines, energy costs are reduced, and management is simplified.

Software as a Service
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a method in which software is no longer installed locally, but offered as a monthly subscription through an online web portal. For the set monthly fee, users receive all-inclusive access including automatic updates of software versions and patches with no maintenance to perform. In addition, SaaS allows easy tracking of employee licenses. No longer will you have to worry about which machine your software is installed on, SaaS delivers software in a web-based form available anywhere there is an Internet connection and often on any device—increasing employee productivity with its anytime anywhere access. Additionally, SaaS offers incredible scalability. When a new license is needed, it is no longer necessary to take time installing pieces of software locally. Instead, a new user account is created on the providers server and access is almost immediate. Similarly, if licenses are no longer needed, your monthly fee is reduced to reflect the actual number of employees using the software.

Thin Clients
A thin client provides exactly what employees need without the bells and whistles. While fat client PC’s offer extras like photo management and video editing, the typical office worker only needs a few applications, Internet access, and email to operate productively throughout the day, making a thin client a good choice. What is a thin client? It a stripped down version of a personal computer, sometimes called a smart terminal. Thin clients access the server for computing power where it is consolidated in one place for easy control, stricter security and less maintenance. An added benefit-- thin clients can often process faster than a PC that stores information and applications locally, decreasing the time employees wait for a machine to start in the morning or open a new application. The typical thin client can save a company hundreds to thousands of dollars when compared to a traditional PC. Another plus, thin clients vary in degree with some offering more features than others, so businesses can match their needs accordingly.

Technology will not be a drain on your business if you invest in the correct tools that are right for your business. A skilled advisor can be the key to planning your business success in more difficult times. Contact DynaSis today for IT Strategy consulting and managed IT service plans that can help your business maximize the value of its IT.

by David Moorman, President

This isn't another lecture about minding your e-mail manners. This is a story about a new subset of e-mail etiquette. Call it wireless politeness.

An increasing number of e-mail messages are being received on small, wireless devices with limited screen space — devices such as Windows Mobile-based Smartphones. Being polite is still important. But so are a number of other considerations, including brevity, diction and consideration for bandwidth.

Don't you hate checking your e-mail and having the subject line be so long that it scrolls forever until I can figure out what the topic is, or whether it's important? Worse is the one-word subject line that says nothing and you have to open it to find out what it is and discover it's 30 lines of nothing.

So what is the etiquette for sending e-mail messages to and from wireless devices? Here are seven tips.

1. First, determine if you're sending to a wireless device.
How do you do that? Easy. Look for telltale signs, such as abbreviated words, emoticons, or the ever-helpful "Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld." When you see that, you can be relatively sure that when you reply, you're shooting a message through the air to a device that doesn't have a lot of room, both in terms of the display screen space and in terms of bandwidth. That's when you have to watch your wireless manners.

2. Don't overabrvt.
Getting to the point quickly is good, but don't over-abbreviate your words and sentences until your recipient doesn't understand what you're saying. I mean, what's the harm in writing, "I sent the files you requested yesterday," rather than, "Sent fls u rqd ystrdy." Think I'm exaggerating? I have dozens of e-mails sent to me from wireless devices that were almost incomprehensible. Why return the favor? Be brief, but also be clear. It sure beats having to resend the message in order to clarify.

3. The subject line isn't everything, but it should often be the only thing.
Want to make a wireless e-mail recipient really happy? Then keep your message so short and to the point that opening the actual message is unnecessary. For example, instead of a message header "call me, please," you should say "problem: pls call (your number)." This makes it far easier to process the information, and far less taxing on valuable air time. If your message is longer, be sure to give and appropriate header that's concise and can't be confused for spam. Otherwise, it could be ignored.

4. Put yourself in the receiver's shoes.
If you violate any of these rules, be prepared to have your message ignored.  And then, of course, there are spam guards that can be set so that e-mail that is legitimate but too wordy or containing too much HTML code can be summarily discarded. Do you really want that happening to your important messages?

5. Ask before you tell your life story.
Graduates of the e-mail etiquette school already know this one. Before you send a big attachment, find out if the receiver can handle the file. With wireless e-mail, take that a step further. If you're thinking of sending more than a paragraph, check first to make sure the recipient can deal with the information. I once got chewed out by a client for sending a brief e-mail to an account that was being checked wirelessly through a satellite phone (he was at sea). I won't make that mistake again.

6. Cut the funny stuff.
E-mails that contain animation, graphics, or anything else that might challenge the bandwidth-starved should be avoided at all costs.

7. Skip your John Hancock.
Signatures tend to get so big and lofty that they clog up the pipeline. It isn't just the name, phone number, address and several e-mail addresses. Now it seems as if every signature is also followed by lengthy legal disclaimers "This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information." Puh-leeze. No one needs to see that disclaimer when space is at a premium. And there's no easier way to strain a business relationship than to bog a wireless message down with that kind of gobbledygook.

Bottom line: keep it short and sweet — and remember that if you don't, you'll get ignored or worse, incur the wrath of a customer.

But relax. There's a way to at least heighten your awareness of the fact that you're dealing with wireless recipients. In Outlook 2003, scroll over to the Navigation Pane, click Mail. Then on the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts. You can create a rule to move messages from a user who you know is on a wireless account, or based on keywords such as "Blackberry," to a designated folder.

That way, at least you know when you have to be on your best behavior.

Reprinted from Microsoft Small Business Center (link no longer available)

by David Moorman, President

Dear Business Professionals,

Economic reality has undergone a fundamental shift over the course of the past 12 months. After years of economic expansion fueled by unrealistic rates of consumption and unsustainable levels of private debt, the global economy has reset at a lower baseline level of activity. Today, people borrow less, save more, and spend with much greater caution.

This is the “new normal” and it will be with us for some time to come. The issue now is how to respond. I believe the new normal requires a new kind of efficiency built on technology innovations that enable businesses and organizations to simultaneously drive cost savings, improve productivity, and speed innovation.

The New Efficiency: With Less, Do More
In the new normal, one thing is clear: cutting costs is extremely important. But cost cutting by itself is not a long-term winning strategy. To build a sustainable competitive advantage, companies must ultimately do two things- increase productivity and find ways to deliver new value to customers. The issue, then, is how can businesses take costs out of their operations, increase productivity, and expand their capacity for innovation all at the same time?

At DynaSis, we react to the new normal with a solution called “ITility by DynaSis”. ITility by DynaSis is Software as a Service (SaaS), and delivers all your IT over the Internet, providing your email, applications, and files from one central location to your employee desktops. ITility by DynaSis achieves new efficiency with less by:

• Cutting Expenses: Instead of investing in hardware, software and regular maintenance for your computer network, ITility by DynaSis delivers everything to you for one monthly price for predictable spending and decreased total cost of ownership.
• Increasing Productivity: ITility by DynaSis is built on the state-of-the-art equipment that adheres to best practice standards to minimize unplanned outages and downtime. With ITility by DynaSis workers simply use any device to connect to the Internet to retrieve files and work just as they do at the office, increasing productivity.
• Expanding Innovation: With daily IT maintenance tasks covered on your ITility by DynaSis plan, you are free to focus on your businesses core strengths and explore advanced technologies that deliver new value to your clients.

Ideal Conditions for an Era of Innovation and Growth

Despite the challenges posed by the global economic reset, I’m optimistic about the long-term opportunities that lie ahead. Achieving the benefits of the New Efficiency is possible with ITility by DynaSis TODAY. This powerful combination of greater productivity and improved capacity for innovation is how IT enables businesses to do more.

I believe we are entering a period of technology-driven transformation that will see a surge in productivity and a flowering of innovation. The result will be a wave of innovative products and services that will jumpstart economic growth as companies deliver breakthroughs that solve old problems and serve as the catalyst for new businesses and even new industries. Information technology will play an important role. I look forward to seeing the progress that results.

By Brad Bromelow, VP Operations

Use of fake anti-virus, anti-spyware software is a fast-growing scam, especially as more people become aware of the dangers of spyware, adware and malware. Fake antivirus programs, or scareware, are very common and provide a way for scammers to make easy money. The scammers prey on the fears of Web surfers who are misled into believing their systems are infected and then pay, typically, $50 for a program that not only doesn't protect their computers, but often turns out to be malicious. By following the tips below, however, users will be better protected from becoming the victim of scammers, identity thieves and hackers.

Some general security practices to avoid malware attacks include not opening attachments from unknown senders, changing passwords regularly, and using additional measures such as firewalls or anti-spam software. The complete list of prevention tips for fake antivirus attacks along with a common list of fake software can be found below.

1. Never open an email attachment unless you are POSITIVE about the source.  Don't trust unsolicited files or embedded links, even from friends. It's easy to spoof email addresses, for instance, or to disguise a harmful link so that it looks like something quite different, whether it's in email, chat or whatever.
2. Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises anti-virus or anti-spyware software, especially a program promising to provide every feature known to mankind. (Also remember: the fakes often mimic well-known brands such as Grisoft AVG, Norton and McAfee.)
3. If a virus alert appears on your screen, do NOT touch it. Don't use your mouse to eliminate or scan for viruses, and DON'T use your mouse to close the window. Instead, use alt+F4 to close the window.  Call your computer maker's phone or online tech support service to learn if you can safely use your computer.
4. Do not download freeware or shareware unless you know it's from a reputable source. Unfortunately, freeware and shareware programs often come bundled with spyware, adware or fake anti-virus programs.
5. Avoid questionable websites. Some sites may automatically download malicious software onto your computer.
6. Although fake software may closely resemble the real thing, it's rarely an exact match. Look for suspicious discrepancies, or contact support for verification.
7. Don't disclose sensitive information on public websites like FaceBook or LinkedIn. Even information that in itself is innocuous can be combined with other harmless information and used in social engineering attacks.
8. If sensitive information is stored on your hard drive, protect it with encryption and by regularly backing up your data to a separate disk and, where possible, a remote site or facility.
9. Don't use cracked/pirated software! These are easy avenues for introducing malware into, or exploiting weaknesses in, a system. This also includes the illegal P2P (peer-to-peer) distribution of copyrighted audio and video files: some of these are counterfeited or modified so that they can be used directly in the malware distribution process.
10. Don't connect to just any "free Wi-Fi" access point: it might alter your DNS queries or be the "evil twin" of a legitimate access point, set up to intercept your logins and online transactions.
11. Check out this list of rogue/fake anti-virus and anti-spyware products.

by David Moorman, President

Virtualization is a proven software technology that is rapidly transforming the IT landscape and fundamentally changing the way that people compute. Virtualization lets you run multiple virtual servers or desktops on a single physical machine (host), sharing the resources of that single computer across multiple environments. Virtualization works by inserting a thin layer of software directly on the computer hardware or host and then loading multiple versions of the operating systems on top of it. Multiple operating systems run concurrently on a single physical computer and share hardware resources with each other. You can safely run several operating systems and applications at the same time on a single computer, with each having access to the resources it needs when it needs them. So what are some other benefits of virtualization?

Increase Infrastructure Utilization
Typical server deployments achieve an average utilization of only 10% to 15% of total capacity, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research firm. Organizations typically run one application per server to avoid the risk of vulnerabilities in one application affecting the availability of another application on the same server. With virtualization, physical machines can run many separate virtual machines, maximizing capacity of existing resources while still maintaining high availability.

Decrease Physical Infrastructure Costs
The operational costs to support growing physical infrastructure have steadily increased. Most computing infrastructure must remain operational at all times, resulting in power consumption, cooling and facilities costs that do not vary with utilization levels. Virtualization allows a business to make the most of the physical equipment they do have and put off purchases.

Decrease IT Management Costs
As computing environments become more complex, the level of specialized education and experience required for infrastructure management personnel and the associated costs of such personnel have increased. Organizations spend disproportionate time and resources on manual tasks associated with server and desktop maintenance, and thus require more personnel to complete these tasks. Controlling a distributed desktop environment and enforcing management, access and security policies without impairing users' ability to work effectively is complex and expensive. Virtualization minimizes the time spent on everyday maintenance of desktops and servers by centrally controlling security settings, updates, and patches.

Failover and Disaster Protection
Organizations are increasingly affected by the downtime of critical server applications and inaccessibility of critical end user desktops. The threat of security attacks, natural disasters, health pandemics and terrorism has elevated the importance of business continuity planning for both desktops and servers. Virtualization allows for redundancy, meaning if a server fails, the data and applications on that machine are easily offloaded to a functioning server.