Windows Server Integration

BlackBerry phones are becoming less and less prevalent in the small business market. Historically, Blackberry phones offered the benefit of securely accesing enterprise class Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers. The cost of adding the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) application t your Microsoft Exchange server is typically cost prohibitive for the small business market.  Rival phone products like Windows Mobile 7, Apple Iphone, and Android phones have greatly improved thier capabilities in accessing business resources such as Microsoft Exchange based e-mail. The most major difference is that most of the rivals offer similar functionality as Blackberry, but for free.  The BlackBerry Enterprise Server features that aid in phone integration and security are unmatched by any competitor, but at the entry cost of over a thousand dollars and a per user license fee of one hundred dollars.  Many small business users are tranistioning to rival products once contracts expire due mainly to the total cost of ownership of the Blackberry Enterprise Server solution.

BlackBerry now offers the free option called the BlackBerry Enterprise Express Server which fills this market segment. The BlackBerry Enterprise Express Server still retains most of the important features (listed below) for up to two thousand users at no additional charge. BES Express works with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2007 and 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 and 2003. With this new software connected to your servers, your employees' BlackBerry smartphones will be able to do the following:

·    Wirelessly synchronize their email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks.
·    Manage email folders and search email on the mail server remotely.
·    Book meetings and appointments, check availability and forward calendar attachments
·    Set an out-of-office reply.
·    Edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using Documents To Go.
·    Access files stored on the company network.
·    Use mobile applications to access business systems behind the firewall.

For IT administrators, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express also offers:

·    Runs on the same physical or virtual server as the Microsoft mail server or on its own server.
·    BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express is also certified for use with VMware ESX
·    Over 35 IT controls and policies, including the ability to remotely wipe a smartphone and enforce and reset passwords.
·    A Web-based interface that allows remote administration and makes it easy to install the software, connect BlackBerry smartphones and apply usage policies.

For more information on our Blackberry server configuration service in Indiana and business phone support please call us at 317-831-0704. We also provide BlackBerry server troubleshooting services for our Indiana clients.

Thanks to new products from Oracle, small business now have powerful corporate class products  to help run their business.  We are excited to offer these new products to help our Indianapolis IT Support client's grow their business.

Oracle Database 11G Standard is an affordable, full-featured database product for small business to run enterprise class systems. Database 11G is easy to manage and can grow to fit anyone’s need for now and into the future.

• Share Accurate Information—Enables customers, employees, partners, and suppliers to share accurate and up-to-date information
• Share Business Processes—Shares business processes with key stakeholders, resulting in competitive advantages
• Add and Configure Content—Allows both programmers and end users to create, configure, and add content to portal pages

Oracle Document Capture is a software system to help users capture printed or received content (ie. documents and faxes) into electronic content with searchable/inkless tags imposed on top of the document for searching and indexing reasons.  It has a user-friendly web interface. This product also integrates easy with other Oracle products such as Database 11G to store, retrieve and archive the content.  Other features include. 

• One Capture System for all Content Types—Identify, capture, and convert paper and electronic documents (Word, Excel, PDFs, etc.) into viable image formats
• Automated Indexing Options—Streamline document indexing via database linking, database linked pick lists, optical character recognition (OCR), and bar code recognition
• Increased Document Processing Efficiency—Ensure a fast and efficient capture process with production-level document scanning and indexing

Oracle Application Express(APEX) is a software development environment. You can easily make web based programs with little training or setup. Application Express also comes with pre made templates such as Timesheets, Asset Manager, Loan Calculator and Online Stores.

Our goal is not to try to persuade Indianapolis IT Support clients to run out and convert all of their Microsoft SQL Server database to Oracle, event that would make our Oracle representative very happy.  We are also a Microsoft shop, so are very able to help our client weight the pros/cons between one vendor or the other.  If your company does not currently use a database, but due to growth and efficiency reasons needs to implement a database solution then check out Oracle's One Click suite of products.  The Interconnect Group has the expertise to offer and implement turn-key solutions to meet the demands of today's IT Support for Small Business customers.  Contact us today if you are interested in learning more about how these and other Oracle products can help your business grow.

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5. 5 More Features of Windows 7
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We frequently field calls from new clients who are calling us because they just lost all of their data due to a hard drive crash, laptop theft, or even the occasional natural disaster (ie. Flood, Tornado, or Fire).  Being that data loss is very preventable, I constantly try to educate everyone on ways to avoid it.  If you do not have a backup strategy in place today, please implement one immediately upon reading this because it is only a matter of time before it will happen to you, if it hasn't already.  I've listed key components that everyone should consider or include in a backup strategy.

Major Components of any Backup Strategy

"To Error Is Human" - The first line of defense against what I refer to as the "Oopps Factor".  In my experience, a major portion of data loss is due to someone deleting the wrong thing accidentally.  There are tools built into Windows 7 to help with this, but the best recovery strategy is having a backup to restore files from.  This can be as simple as a single file, spreadsheet or email being accidentally deleted to a whole directory of important files.  There have been countless times that our computer support Indianapolis clients have called us to rescue key files.

"Planning for Business Continuity is Smart" - The buzz phrase of the last few years has been "Business Continuity".  If you've had anyone sell you on a hosted application or cloud computing, you've undoubtedly heard this buzz phrase.  It is referring to the ability for your business to continue operating without requiring a specific physical structure (your current store front or office location) or physical hardware/software.  We are big components of a Hosted PBX system that we integrate for some of our Indiana Telecommunications Provider Partners.  It helps with Business Continuity because calls can be rerouted in real time to any phone number in the world with a few simple clicks within the portal.  A good backup strategy should allow for business continuity in the same way.  A remote backup strategy fits the bill.  This is why we recommend a Remote Offsite Backup strategy to all of our computer support Indianapolis clients.

"Know the Limitations of Your Key Applications" -  A thorough knowledge of key business software applications should be factored into any backup strategy.  Certain applications, especially database driven ones, may require special steps to be properly be backed up.  In other words, just backing up the physical files might not be enough.

"Servers Require Special Care" - If your company is running on a server, then additional steps many need to be taken to properly backup everything.  This can range from a system state file to the Exchange store and log files.  Typically, special plug-ins or software are required.  The backup solution we use for most of our Indianapolis IT Support clients is Exchange aware as well as being able to handle most major databases.  These are key requirements in my opinion.

In Review

I will admit that more and more people are growing aware of data loss and the fact that it is a very real threat to business and personal lives.  All data loss can't be avoided, but at the very least its impact should be minimized with a good backup strategy.  If you do not have a good backup strategy in place, then please make one today.  If you own or operate a business, then ask an Indianapolis IT Support firm such as The Interconnect Group to help you create/implement one.  If you are in need of a backup strategy for your personal data at home, then please read a blog I wrote last year regarding 10 Handy and Free Software Programs in which I listed a free backup service for consumers.  At the very least backup key documents and files to an external hard drive or USB drive while you're implementing a proper backup strategy.

If you liked this Blog Post, then check out other IT Related Posts:

1. 5 Reasons To Deploy a Small Business Server
2. Doesn't The Phone Company Extend The Demarc
3. 10 Handy and Free Software Programs
4. Don't Over Pay For Your Router and Network Hardware
5. 5 More Features of Windows 7
6. Free Microsoft Antivirus Software
    

It has been my experience that most smaller businesses have a hard time making the move from a simple Windows Workgrouped architecture to a Windows Server Domained architecture.  Often the move is dictated by a business application that requires a server-client environment to run.  In our small business server Indiana practice, we are able to show business owners many other benefits to further justify the expense.  It is always an educational process.  For some business environments, that learning curve is steep but not a task that our small business server Indiana implementation crew shies away from.

Microsoft started to aid the small business community when it released its Small Business Server (SBS) product.  Originally released as Microsoft Small Business Server 2000, the product has undergone drastic improvements over the past few releases with its newest release being Small Business Server (SBS) 2008.  The product included easy to use wizards that aided small business owners in basic server administration.  The product also provided in a single package all the major items that a small business would require in a server.

The following are five (5) reasons a business owner should deploy a Microsoft Small Business Server in their business today.

1.  Centralized Security and Administration

The SBS platform comes equipped with easy to use wizards that allow less technical staff members to easily administrate network resources and user accounts.  The system sends out daily, weekly, and/or monthly update reports to administrators detailing potential security risk and resource utilization.  Creation of security policies to limit access to business sensitive data such as accounting and finance files where as general access can be give to group drives.

2.  Remote Web Workplace

This feature allows users to login into their computers remotely via a web browser without installing additional programs.  It allows for secured access to company resources and email.  It also allows for secured remote administration of the server.

3.  Windows SharePoint Services

This is Microsoft's Integrated Internet solution to access company resources via web browser.  There are many premade templates available to allow for Intranet style sites to be created for the SMB market.  There are even Help Desk and Document center templates available.  This allows access to once Enterprise only level functionality at the SMB market segment at little to no additional price.  It also provides out of the box solutions for workflow automation and approval needs.  If you are tired of emailing around a word document for multiple people to edit and approve, the you would really enjoy the additional control offered in version tracking by a SharePoint site.

4.  Exchange Server

This is an Enterprise level email service that allows for the SMB market to host their own email, share contacts and calenders across the company network and integrates with Office Outlook.  The Exchange Server can also be used in a PoP Extension configuration to minimize outside security threats.

5.  Centralized Shared Files, Printers and Backup

Storing data on a single hard drive workstation as typically found in a workgrouped environment can be disastrous and confusing.  A centralized shared file system as provided by in a Small Business Server allows for individual private folders and public folders that can be easily accessed from any computer/users with the proper credentials.  This simplifies administration, backup and disaster recovery.

Working with clients in our Small Business Server Indiana practice allows us help business elevate their game.  Efficient use and implementation of technology such as the Small Business Server Indiana helps our SMB clients be more productive and better secured towards the challenges and threats of tomorrow.

If you would like to learn more about how our Small Business Server Indiana solutions could help your business, then please contact me at bizsupport@tincg.com.  I look forward to working with you.

If you liked this Blog Post, then check out other IT Related Posts:

1. Doesn't The Phone Company Extend The Demarc
2. 10 Handy and Free Software Programs
3. Don't Over Pay For Your Router and Network Hardware
4. 5 More Features of Windows 7
5. Free Microsoft Antvirus Software