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News Newsletters 2007 Newsletter for November 2007
Filled with relevant information about the rapidly evolving IT landscape, the Simpler-Webb newsletter is a must-read.
Newsletter for November 2007
Release date: 11/1/2007
WELCOME LETTER
Hello Partners in Technology
Thanksgiving beckons right around the corner – what happened to 2007?? My father's admonishment to enjoy every day of life seems more poignant as each day passes. We often get wrapped up in keeping pace with our business lives and sometimes forget to pause – breathe – and remember why we're "here". I have many wonderful things going my way, but it bears mentioning what I'm thankful for:
- My loving nuclear family, including an over-achieving self-employed wife, a son thankfully smarter than me, and another little boy intent on outwitting his older brother at every turn
- My "second" family, the talented and hard-working Simpler-Webb team that I probably spend more time with than anyone
- My "third" family – our awesome customers – without whom we'd still just be mice in a giant maze
- That I made it past my 40th birthday unscathed. Kudos to everyone (are you listening Andy?) who spent an entire day decorating my office in black. Sorry if your service request was slightly delayed...
- That I still enjoy coming to work every day, or going on the road to visit with each of you to learn about your challenges and achievements, and how we fit in to help improve your lives
If you have a list of things you're thankful for, send them to Jenna at jenna.stephenson@swinc.com. We'll publish them in our next newsletter!
As we move beyond Thanksgiving and into the holiday season, it's a good time to assess your IT posture for 2008 and think about your first few IT projects of the new year. If you have leftover budget for 2007, or if you'd just like to get a jump start on next year, check out the Five Quick Hit projects in the service offering section below.
Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! Talk to you next year….
Warm Regards,
Jeff Simpler, CEO
Simpler-Webb, Inc.
SWINC NEWS & EVENTS ::
Data Availability, Compliance, Security Achieved with EVault - Now available online!
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Security, Communication, & Efficiency: Realizing the Benefits of Exchange 2007
Nov. 15, 2007
1:00 PM CST
To register: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/422679656
Cisco Recognizes Simpler-Webb as Top 5 Financial Services Partner
Simpler-Webb has been admitted into Cisco’s financial services channel program as a managed services and professional consulting provider to financial institutions nationwide. As one of Cisco’s recognized top 5 financial services partners, Simpler-Webb is able to offer Cisco customers superior service with their vast knowledge of the challenges specific to the banking and credit union industry. Simpler-Webb's participation in the Cisco financial services channel program enables them to access additional resources including marketing support, training and access to industry consultants.
“We are pleased to be recognized for our ongoing customer service and superior technical expertise in delivering technology solutions to the financial vertical. Being selected as a top five financial services partner for Cisco is an honor. We look forward to continuing our credit union and bank market success through our commitment to Cisco’s financial services channel program,” said CEO and Co-Founder, Jeff Simpler.
Simpler-Webb Lights up Habitat for Humanity
A team of Simpler-Webbers volunteered for the local Habitat for Humanity in October. Amongst other projects, the team ran wires for electricity, cable, and telephone.
Case Number 10,000 on the Horizon
We’re nearing a milestone in our service history. The first service case (#1000) was entered 12/10/2003. We recently created case #9400, meaning case number 10,000 is on the horizon. It took 363 days to get the first 500 cases, about 1.3 cases entered per day. In September 2007, we averaged 12 cases per day, with the last 500 taking only 42 days. The pace of our business is much faster today than it was 4 years ago!
Simpler-Webb Celebrates Quarterly Company Meeting with Caritas of Austin
Simpler-Webb's fourth quarter company meeting was spent giving back to the Austin community. The team will be prepped and served food at the Caritas Soup Kitchen.
Simpler-Webb's New Partnerships with HP, EMC, VMware and IBM
Simpler-Webb recently partnered with four industry top-dogs, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, VMware, and EMC. These new alliances allow us to continue rounding-out our service offerings and providing these advanced technologies to our customers at a competitive rate.
TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT ::
Microsoft's Exchange 2007 Could Set the Future for E-Mail
26 September 2006
Source: Research
Note Number: G00143200
The release of Exchange 2007, Microsoft's new e-mail system, will have broad implications for the overall e-mail market and may offer Microsoft the potential to usher in a new era of converged communication technologies.
Overview
Microsoft Exchange has about half of the market for corporate e-mail seats, with share expected to grow steadily through the end of the decade. For that reason alone, a new version of Exchange has the potential to set the direction for the e-mail market. While, as expected, this new release (due 1Q07 and called Exchange 2007) improves management, bumps scalability and adds security elements, the real news is that Microsoft is changing the core notion of what services an e-mail system provides.
Key Findings
- Unified communications. With the inclusion of voice mail and fax capabilities, as well as integration with the voice components of Office Communications Server (OCS), Exchange 2007 moves from e-mail-only services to support for a broad spectrum of communication technologies.
- Expansion of access mechanisms. Exchange 2007's Direct Push mobile e-mail services, improved browser access, and voice interfaces to e-mail and calendar services will broadly expand the availability of rich e-mail services.
- Message control. Driven by an increase in regulations, and concerns over e-mail abuse and more aggressive record management programs, Exchange 2007 will add facilities for greater control of e-mail by allowing all messages (outbound or inbound) to be interrogated prior to delivery.
- Hosted messaging services. Some license options for Exchange 2007 include use of Microsoft-hosted, Internet-based spam and virus filtering services. Other Microsoft e-mail hosting services such as continuity, archiving and encryption are also available.
Predictions
- Volume adoption of Exchange 2007 will begin in earnest in 2008, with the installed base reaching 40% in 2010 (0.7 probability).
Recommendations
- Via Exchange and Hotmail/MSN, Microsoft has more influence on the e-mail market and, consequently, the unified communications market, than any other vendor. Organizations must coordinate relevant Exchange plans with overall investments in collaboration and communication technologies, including voice. Organizations should also coordinate communication investments — such as e-mail and voice — with overall infrastructure plans, including databases, directories, portals, management services and development methodologies.
For a copy of the full findings, email info@simpler-webb.com.
SERVICE OFFERING ::
There are only 7 weeks left in the year! Do you have left over 2007 budget dollars? Use it or lose it! Here are 5 quick hits for getting good value (without taking too much on during the holidays) before your budget expires:
- Best Practices Assessment: Have you taken the time to access the posture of your IT environment as you head into 2008? Contact us for a BPA quote and be the first to know your IT strengths and weaknesses.
- Backup Review: Sure, you do nightly backups, but are you storing all the application information you need? Are you sure it can be restored? Contact us today for a backup review quote and gain insight into the state of your backed up information.
- Hardware Replacements: Still using a PIX firewall? Have equipment that’s too old to be covered by a maintenance agreement? Contact us today and replace old hardware before it brings your network down.
- Service Contracts: Are you sure all of your maintenance agreements are up to date? Wouldn’t it be nice if they all renewed on the same date each year? Why not contact us to renew, consolidate, and co-terminate your service contracts? Not only will you make your life a little easier, but you’ll be confident of your return to service should hardware fail.
- Off-load tasks: As the holidays approach and employees take leave, why not utilize Simpler-Webb’s team of professionals to off-load tasks you normally do internally? Give yourself some breathing room during the busiest time of the year and still get everything done! Contact us today for a professional services quote.
Don't let unused budget dollars go to waste. Contact us today (800.808.3083 or sales@simplerwebb.com) to schedule a quick hit project before the end of the year and get a jump on 2008 without taking on too much before the new year.
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT & NEWS ::
Employee Spotlight on Paige Halbert, Office Manager
Paige Halbert is the engine that keeps Simpler-Webb running. As our beloved Office Manager, Paige takes care of a variety of tasks from routing customer calls to tracking shipments. Before starting at Simpler-Webb a little over a year ago, Paige was a full-time free lance Ballet and Jazz instructor. In her limited spare time, Paige enjoys spending time at home with her fiancé and their dogs, watching South Park and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and listening to James Brown. Lately, Paige has also been dreaming about a Mediterranean dream vacation to Italy and Spain. Her self-proclaimed biggest success at work to date is, “getting rid of the mean, blue fish in the aquarium.” Next time you see Paige, buy her a margarita and say “Cheers! Prost! (her favorite toast)”.
Simpler Webb Grows!
Help us welcome Simpler-Webb’s latest additions:
Seth Heckert, Desktop Consultant
Tim Murschell, Networking Consultant
Matthew Johnson, Managed Server Technician
USEFUL LINKS ::
Simpler-Webb: www.simplerwebb.com
Webinar Series: www.simplerwebb.com/webinar
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