March
2013
In this issue: |
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New Business Features |
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Right Approach to the Cloud |
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Aging IT Networks |
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Maximize Your Virtualization |
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Services/Quick Links |
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Monthly Trivia |
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Quote and Cartoon |
Maximize Your Virtualization
ROI
reprinted with permission from HP
Virtualization
technology is a great way to increase business agility while
reducing infrastructure costs. But it can also add another
layer of management complexity, resulting in higher
management costs and lower ROI. You need the right software
tools to realize the full benefits of virtualization.
Managing
virtualization becomes even more critical as virtualization
projects move out of the development/test environments and
into production. That's why it needs to be incorporated into
your operation management framework. Rather than manage
virtualization as its own silo, a better approach is to
integrate virtual and physical management - based on proven
best practices. Then you can administer resources uniformly
to monitor, manage and automate key management functions
seamlessly across physical and virtual environments.
The results:
dramatically reduced IT costs, improved business agility and
the ability to increase IT efficiency. Here are the five key
areas to accelerate and simplify the adoption of
virtualization in your data center.
Key One:
Automate manual process
Virtualization adds complexity to existing processes such as
configuration and change management. This complexity can
make it more difficult and costly to manage.
Read more
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Top 10 New Business Features
in
Windows 8
With Windows 8 now available, what are the best features for business use? Here are ten new or enhanced features!
1. Trusted boot/secure boot (UEFI)
This implements a secure boot process and allows the machine to verify the integrity of the network environment, thus preventing malicious code from executing before the computer boots into the operating system. This means that your machine is protected before the Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software is able to load when booting up, protecting you against attacks such as root-kits.
2. Windows-to-go (Enterprise Edition)
This is a fully manageable corporate Windows 8 desktop on a bootable USB drive. As an example, this allows employees to take the USB drive home and use Windows-to-go at home instead of connecting via a VPN connection, creating a more secure BYOD option for employees.
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Are You Taking the Right Approach to
the Cloud?
used with permission from
Symantec
Interest in cloud
computing is more intense than ever before. That's pretty
understandable. Cloud computing promises tremendous advantages in
terms of flexibility, agility, and on-demand resources that can give
organizations a real competitive edge.
Despite these advantages, some enterprises continue to drag their
feet. They point to a number of high-profile outages earlier this
year as evidence of the precarious nature of cloud-based services.
They say that companies relying on those services lost a lot of
money and a significant amount of customer trust.
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3 Hidden Costs of Aging IT
Networks
Network refresh. . .I’ll give you a moment to stop cringing.
Better? Ok.
It’s something that most business leaders don’t want to think about, but needs to be considered when your network reaches the three year mark. A network refresh is an investment, there’s no doubt about that, but the cost of doing nothing and continuing to work on an aging network most likely has greater costs that you may not even realize.
Consider the fact that network components begin to deteriorate after 3 years. That means they require more maintenance than new equipment. Add in that the demands on today’s networks are much higher than ever (stop and think about how much more work do you do using technology than you did a few years ago!) and will only continue to go up, and that you’re asking equipment designed for a previous age to deliver on these increased demands, and you have a recipe for a network break down.
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First
person to submit the correct
answers by email to
anorton@osgusa.com
will receive a $25 Starbucks
gift card!
Entries are judged by
date/time received and
correctness. Include your
name and phone number, the
question number and the
answer.
1) What did Lizzie Borden,
Napoleon, and Titian have in
common?
2) What trade was Greek
philosopher Socrates trained
for?
3) What was the first living
creature ever ejected from a
supersonic aircraft?
4) How old was Charles
Lindbergh when he first flew
solo across the Atlantic?
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Quote
of the Month |
"Never lose sight of the fact that the
most important yardstick of your success
will be how you treat other people - your
family, friends, and coworkers, and even
strangers you meet along the way."
- Barbara Bush
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