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Are you going Cloud this year?

Cloud Marketing
on February 20th, 2012 by - No Comments

I have read a few times already that 2012 will be the year of the Cloud and it seems quite right. Cloud Computing is an effective and affordable option for Businesses of all sizes, with special advantage for Small Medium Business.

With focus on security, integration and collaboration Google Apps for Business offers a cost-effective path to the Cloud: enjoying Enterprise class services at Small Business prices.

What is Google Apps for Business (GAPPS)? (in a nutshell description and video below)
- your business information: data, applications and procedures on the Cloud
- with focus on security, integration and collaboration
- for $50 per user per year you get email, contacts, calendars, office documents, sites, groups, chat, talk, videos and rooms in a secure and collaborative space, all in your Internet browser
- additional and custom Apps are readily available from productivity suites to specific document scripts, all of them using a single sign on feature

 

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Showcase at Glen Abbey

Marketing
on February 13th, 2012 by - No Comments

Here with AJ from SOLSNET at the BNI Showcase 2012

Last week business showcase with BNI at Glen Abbey Golf Club was a great success, not just because the new relations that were born there and the business exposure, but also because I managed to finish our 1-page portfolio (actually for a business presentation the day before, but that’s another story)

A 2-sides 1-page portfolio featuring our main 3-lines: Infrastructure, Applications and the Cloud – is showing in a simple way what we can do for your business, with focus on security, integration and collaboration.

See below a quick view of how it looks, later we’ll publish the whole document

 

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Back to school, after all these years

Marketing News
on February 6th, 2012 by - No Comments

The 70/30 rule applied to marketing suggests that 70% is about marketing and the rest is for actual work.
Considering that approach I have decided to improve my marketing skills going back to school to study English.

I am taking “Professionally Speaking” course focused on business scenarios with goals on increasing confidence and communications skills, but also effectiveness and persuasion while doing sales and marketing.

I have been lucky enough to get an Instructor who is also a Business Consultant.

I hope to end up this 10-weeks course with the ability to transmit a few great business ideas effectively and make them useful to my Clients and Prospects.

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from the DESK to the CLOUD transition

Cloud
on January 30th, 2012 by - No Comments

IT infrastructure have evolved from standalone desktop, peer-to-peer network sharing, client-server application, on the server data and application, virtualization, SaaS, etc, and recently, to the Cloud.
Most Small Business are still working in a mix desktop-network-sharing environment but it’s time for a change, for the better.
I see two alternatives (other than doing no-thing, of course)

  1. a safe move to on premises, on the server data and application environment, OR
  2. a big jump to the Cloud, where *every-thing* is *up-there some-where* and we only have an internet connexion

2012 is a good year to improve your current IT infrastructure or at least talk about the choices.
We can help: call or email for a free Consultation on your IT infrastructure and procedures.

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Integrated IT solution for Small Business, on premises

Infrastructure Products
on January 23rd, 2012 by - No Comments

Integration is vital for Small Business: having a remote managed server appliance on premises, running most important network services in a secure way could represent a huge improvement in productivity and collaboration.

How to know if you can benefit from this solution? Well, this is a simple test – if you find yourself represented in more than one of below statements, then you might consider it as a good choice for your business:

IF YOU DO HAVE:

  • your email on the user’s PC without a central backup
  • your important files and data fragmented among your employees
  • a reactive to problems instead of a proactive to solutions IT policy

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE:

  • an automatic scheduled backup of your files, emails and data
  • a proven and tested recovery plan
  • remote but secure access to your local network services

Not sure yet? we can help: call or email for a free Consultation on your IT infrastructure and procedures

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Cloud adoption: objections becoming advantages

Cloud
on January 19th, 2012 by - No Comments

After finishing a presentation with some of my clients about Cloud Computing, their main objections were security and privacy and this is usually the major concern among business owners.

But I have two recent references that show how these objections are becoming advantages:

  1. As you can see on this publication (eWeek) the US military (NSA) counts on the Cloud to Boost Cyber-Security as a key part of the intelligence community’s IT strategy.
  2. And just a few days ago a major bank from Spain (BBVA) signed with Google Apps for his 110K staff with goals in innovation, decisions making and productivity.

Cloud Computing is effective and affordable for Small Business and seeing how the Enterprise is embracing this technology, I would strongly recommend to SMB owners considering the adoption of some form of Cloud Computing early this year 2012 with goals in data security, integration and collaboration.

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How good is your backup and disaster recovery plan?

Marketing
on January 16th, 2012 by - No Comments

At the time of recovery is when we know if we had a good backup plan, but we should not wait that long to figure it out, because it might be too late then if it weren’t that good.

Let’s try a simple questionnaire: IF you answer NO to any of these four questions, you should consider a review of your current backup and disaster recovery plan, as soon as possible:

  1. IF you delete an important file or email, can you get it back?
  2. IF you change a document by mistake, can you recover a previous version?
  3. IF your computer or laptop is lost or broken, can you restore all your data?
  4. IF your office is in a disaster situation (thief, fire, flood), can you recover all your information?

We can help on the evaluation of your current plan, just Call for Free Consultation.

Remember, DATA is the lifeblood of your business.

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2012, new year resolutions

Marketing
on January 9th, 2012 by - No Comments

Well, party is over and we are slowly coming into this January blue mood, so it’s the right time to write my new year’s resolutions… briefly, without sorting priority:
1. write something of value every week, here and there (blog, linkedin, twitter, newsletter…)
2. finish a working demo for our three main product lines (infrastructure, business applications and the Cloud)
3. improve my oral communication skills – specially the speech part, so I can get my message out there as I got it in my mind.
4. I won’t diet but I’ll do more exercise – gym, pool or a simple stairway
I might be tempted as usually to do some adjustments during the year, but I promise I won’t change the essence of my resolutions, what I call “learn-help-live”.

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Have you backed up your files and emails lately?

Infrastructure
on November 28th, 2011 by - No Comments

The most common answers are among these below
#1. Oops, I don’t even remember (well, very common but almost suicidal)
#2. A few days or weeks ago, I do that from time to time (risky but better)
#3. Just yesterday, I do a backup everyday (unusual, but not even the right answer, because the “I do” involved )

The right answer would be two-fold
1. I don’t personally do Data Backups
2. My server does it for me, automatically – local and remote.

Most Small Business don’t have a file and email Server, neither a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution.
But also, most of them won’t recover from a major IT disaster.

If you want to talk about Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) and get more details of the diagram below…
Please, just call me or email me, I would be happy to help.

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edgeBOX, a unique business proposal (Office Network in a Box)

eNewsletter Sales
on November 4th, 2011 by - No Comments

First time I heard about UBP (also known as USP – unique selling proposition) was reading on how a small business can differentiate from the rest, in a way that competition is not a problem to consider — that’s where the term Unique comes to a first plane.
Note, that’s not about differentiate from the competition, it’s about stays ahead or aside of the rest, just offering value on something different, something unique.

What is Unique about our offer ?

  • the product edgeBOX is an Office-in-a-Box Server Appliance, a Unified Communications Solution that Provides All the Phone and Internet Communication / Data Services, a Small and Medium Size Business needs – your IT infrastructure in OneBox.
  • the service and support comes with the Box remotely managed, it’s like “an over-your-shoulder” inside IT professional – the IT person comes within the BOX.
  • the pricing is affordable and using a leasing model for two years under the warranty terms – your IT on a budget.

From all these combined came our marketing message: forget IT, we’ll do IT for you

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