Virtualization is becoming an increasingly popular move for businesses wanting to improve their IT system. It represents an innovative approach to managing IT servers, and if implemented properly can save your business both time and money.

Many businesses will, however, remain confused as to why virtualization is so beneficial. Moreover, how can you replace your old server with a newer model? An excellent starting point to is to invest in training: as long as your IT specialist is equipped with a qualification such as a VMware certification, your IT server can begin its transformation.

What is virtualization?

Virtualization is when you create a virtual version of something, rather than an actual version. In terms of information technology, this may be with anything such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.

Before virtualization, it was commonplace to have just one operating system per physical machine. Not only did this leave many machines unable to realise their full potential, but it also meant that companies were forced to spend more time, energy and money on additional servers.

However, when you use virtualization software – otherwise known as a ‘hypervisor – you can partition one physical machine into multiple virtual servers, which can then be used across multiple environments. Each virtual server shares the same resources as the single ‘host’ computer, but remains independent of the other virtual machines. It is isolated as if it were a separate operating system; this means that if one computer crashes, it will not affect the other virtual machines.

How can virtualization benefit your business?

Virtualization has a number of benefits that could help improve your organisation’s IT system. First and foremost, updating your system to the world of virtualization will save your business money. Without it, you will need to run various different servers, meaning money must be continuously spent on hardware. But by consolidating your resources and running multiple operating systems from a single machine, VMware suggest you could save as much as 50-70% on IT costs.

You will also save in terms of energy. Virtualization is undoubtedly a green technology, as decreasing the number of servers will, in turn, reduce the amount of energy your business expends.

Moving to virtualization will also free your systems administrators from supporting numerous machines. Cutting administration work will save you time, while performing tasks such as archiving also become much easier. It will also improve the overall performance of you hardware. In the absence of virtualization, many computers are unable to work to their full capacity. However, setting up your server to support different virtual machines will dramatically increase your utilization rates from anything between 15% and 80%.

Virtualization solutions

If you believe virtualization is the way forward for your business, you need to ensure your IT specialist has the knowledge and experience to install, operate and manage virtualization software.

Qualifications such as a VMware certification validate the expertise of an IT professional that is proficient in virtualization solutions. It is worth investing in virtualization training for your key members of staff, as VMware certification provides the latest training across desktop and data centre virtualization. This will guarantee your business has the necessary skills and capabilities to optimise your new and improved IT system.

A guest post by Lucy. photo credit: osde8info

The original post is published here: What are the benefits of virtualization?

Most organizations will invest on buying health insurance for their staffs as a way to protect them from any accidents or critical illnesses that might just occur at any point of their lives.

But when it comes to protecting work related documents, are organizations doing enough to ensure that all important data belonging to employees and the company are well protected from the following incidents:

• Vandalism
• Stolen laptops
• Crashed hard disk
• Servers hacked into

Some organizations will remind their staffs to frequently perform their own backup into an external or cloud storage server such as MyPCBackup to avoid the problems that can be caused by a hard drive or network failure..

To me, this is like not buying health insurance for staffs and telling them to take good care of themselves by having a better diet and having more regular exercise.

If your organizations prefers to not rely on staffs to do their own backups, then maybe it’s time to look into implementing an enterprise backup strategy for all to benefit from.

When searching for the right backup software or vendor, the following are 5 points I would consider when implementing an enterprise data backup strategy:

Is the backup process resource hungry

One reason why I don’t like to backup my machine is because it can sometimes disrupt my PC usage experience. Because of this, I would leave the backup process to run at the end of the day but hey! it’s time to go home after a long work day. So why not leave it till tomorrow and the days after. Soon I realized that I don’t really have an effective and reliable backup in place because the data is only as good as the last time when it was safely stored.

A good backup process should only be resource hungry / cpu intensive when it is executed for the very first time. Subsequent backups should be in an incremental or progressive mode which backs up only new or modified data thus should run effortlessly in the background without the user even noticing that data has been backed up.

How long can data be retained

Some backup solutions together with its procedures allow backups to be kept for a maximum of 1 month before the data gets overwritten. But what if you need some project information that was completed about 6 months ago and now that your hard disk is corrupted, the only data that can be recovered is those from a month ago of work.

A reliable enterprise data backup strategy should ensure that data can be retained, restored and recovered up till the day when the first backup was done, even if it was done a few years ago.

Can data be stored offsite

I’ve seen some organization performing backups for their servers into a tape drive and leaving the tapes right next to the physical server. If a disaster occurs, both the server and the tapes will be destroyed together.

It is important that your enterprise backup strategy ensures that all backed up data are stored in another location. Since the Internet speed is getting much faster at lower costs these days, backing up and storing data over the cloud is a good way to ensure that data can be stored in a remote location through cloud backup technology.

Can backup process be automated

If a backup solution is one that needs to be manually invoked then there’s a high chance that the backups won’t be done so frequently thus reducing it’s effectiveness.

A good enterprise backup solution should allow administrators to set the necessary configurations and allow the backup process to run automatically on a periodic basis. When a backup has been completed successfully, it should be logged and reports can be generated to view the status of the backups.

How fast can a backup be restored in case of a disaster

When your laptop gets stolen and an important client presentation is just a few days away, how fast can you get another machine and restore everything back to the last time it was backed up? After a machine goes missing or become inaccessible, our first thoughts are usually whether or not we have a backup of things and if the backup file can be restored altogether.

In your enterprise data backup strategy, it important to ensure that backups can be restored easily and fast enough to ensure that downtime is cut down to the minimum.

Check out the video below about grandfather, father, son (GFS) vs. progressive backup paradigm. photo credit: USACE Europe District

I hope the 5 points mentioned above together with the information provided in the video will give you a good idea on what to look out for when trying to implement an enterprise data backup strategy for your organization.

The original post is published here: Enterprise data backup strategy – 5 points to consider

When it comes to providing technical assistance using remote support software, nothing is more difficult than having to verbally walk the remote client through the connection process. Furthermore, as is often the case, the remote user requiring technical support is not very computer savvy in the first place, and therefore this task can quickly turn into a nightmare.  Just imagine having to explain the process of configuring a firewall or router to someone with limited IT knowledge! photo credit: jaaron

Based on these factors, it is absolutely essential to locate the most straightforward and simple remote support tool for establishing a connection requiring as little input at the remote end as possible. Personal experience along with general user feedback suggests that browser-based remote support applications are quite effective in this regard, as they do not involve any setup wizards, prolonged installations, or network configurations upon building a connection with the remote party.

A good example of an effective browser-based remote support tool is Techinline Remote Desktop.

With Techinline, the connection is established entirely via the web with no installation required on either end. All that the remote client is asked to do is launch a webpage, obtain a randomly generated 6-digit session number, and once the technician enters the obtained number into their Techinline account, a remote session is established. At this point, the technician is able to perform any necessary tasks on the remote computer as if it is their local machine.

Another advantage of browser-based applications such as Techinline is the fact that they can be entirely integrated and branded into the design of one’s own website, thereby further simplifying the connection process for the user requiring assistance. All that the client has to do is go to the technician’s company website and click a “Live Support” link to generate the Session ID.  This approach further reinforces the client’s confidence as they are asked to launch a trusted website instead of a 3^rd party product page. Additionally, the technician has the freedom to entirely brand the application with their own company logo, fonts, company name, and any other attributes which may help build or contribute to overall brand awareness.

In today’s highly competitive business environment, being able to provide reliable and on-time technical support is essential to the success of any IT business, no matter how large or small. Therefore, using dependable and effective tools for such tasks is an absolute necessity.  When it comes to remote support applications, personal experience in supporting clients with limited IT knowledge suggests that nothing is easier than establishing a browser-based connection. This process does not require any input at the client’s end, as the connection is automatically established using standard internet means.

Out of the various tools available on the market, I am able to recommend Techinline Remote Desktop due to its simplicity, functionality, and reasonable pricing.

More information about Techinline Remote Desktop is available at www.techinline.com

The original post is published here: Techinline review – an effective browser based application for remote support

A single online team collaboration tool which is capable of handling most business related processes is what your organization needs if it is currently relying on multiple software to manage collaboration among all office employees.photo credit: homesbythomas

In the past there weren’t that many software that’s capable of providing multiple features in within one single platform.

Users need to maintain multiple user logins and server administrators having to maintain several software / servers can really be a hassle and not as cost effective.

Users had to remember usernames and passwords for their Email account, HR system, Document Management system and a few other software which were deployed by the IT team.

This is a problem of the past as software vendors have taken this challenge into consideration and built systems which provides a single sign on access to most office related functions within a platform.

One such online team collaboration tool which includes HR and Accounting functionalities is TeamWox.

TeamWox is a groupware developed by the folks at MetaQuotes Software.

Initially the software was developed for in house use and wasn’t available for sale but over time, they realized that other organizations could also benefit from using the system, thus the commercial version – TeamWox was developed.

TeamWox can be deployed and implemented in several ways namely:

• Free version (Up to 10 users)
• Trial version (Fully functional for 2 months)
• Standard version (License for 25 users or more)
• SaaS version (Installed and hosted by TeamWox)
• Academic version (Free full featured version with unlimited subscription to updates)

All delivery method besides the SaaS version allow for the software to be downloaded and installed on a Windows based PC / server with the following minimum requirements:

• Windows XP2 or higher
• Pentium 4 or higher processor
• RAM of at least 1GB
• HDD of at least 100 MB free

The key features of TeamWox includes:

• Email
• HR Module
• Service Desk
• Task Management
• Accounting Module
• Online Assistant / Chat
• Document Management
• and more…

When I first used TeamWox, I realized that the available functionalities is quite similar to Outlook where we use it commonly for emailing, setting appointment schedules via the calendar,  adding tasks via the task management function as well as adding contacts into Outlook.

When everyone in the office uses Outlook as an individual, it can be a challenge to share information with co-workers, unless Windows Sharepoint Services is deployed.

TeamWox by default addresses this need for more collaboration among team members within an office environment.

For example, the email module within TeamWox isn’t just an ordinary email client. It includes integration with the task management module to ensure that an email is closely followed through via a task which is assigned to a responsible worker. Attachments for an email can also be integrated with the document management module to ensure that the latest document which resides in the central document repository is attached.

Besides the email module, I also like the online assistant feature which acts as an internal chat server to ensure that all communications within the organization stays secure in house. This feature is a great alternative for those who have disabled / banned instant messengers like Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger or ICQ within their office network.

If TeamWox also includes a project management module in it, that would definitely make the tool even more complete.

Overall I find TeamWox to be able to fulfill most business requirements needed by organizations for an online team collaboration tool.

For more details on how an organization can leverage on TeamWox to further enhance team collaboration, do check out TeamWox today!

The original post is published here: TeamWox – an online team collaboration tool with HR Accounting and Service Desk modules

In today’s economy, everyone is trying to save money. That applies to businesses as well as to individuals. Cutting the fat from the budget is important for more than the government. It’s just as important for businesses who want to profit in the coming months.

One often overlooked way to cut overhead and operating expenses is to upgrade existing technology. Many people fail to see the correlation between the two, but there are a number of ways that improved technology can save your business money.

Outdated equipment is often much slower than newer models. Computers with outdated operating systems and accounting or word processing software, for instance, can take much longer to load or process data. That means employees spend more time waiting on the computer to “catch up” than is necessary.

Wasted time can dramatically increase labor costs. Cutting only 15 minutes of waiting time per day by upgrading existing computers offers an added 65 hours of employee time every year. That will cover a one week vacation and more for every employee who regains that time into the work day.

In addition to new software, computer hardware and related technology should be upgraded as well. Wireless routers, for example, are innovative new components that could potentially help a company eliminate the number of Internet accounts needed by allowing employees to share a connection. This can add up to substantial savings over the course of a year.

Outdated equipment and technology also present compatibility issues. When employees must interact with vendors, clients or customers whose technology surpasses their own, it can create headaches for both parties concerned, often costing a considerable amount of time (which equates to money), not to mention frustration, to create a workaround option.

If your company publishes a customer newsletter, for example, and your technology is outdated, your employees could be spending hours longer than needed to make the files compatible with an outside printer’s equipment. Updated technology can alleviate many hours of labor and aggravation in a variety of circumstances.

Updated technology also requires less maintenance. The parts on printers, computers, copiers, audio systems and everything else will wear over time and with use. As equipment ages, maintenance calls become more frequent, and more costly.

Maintaining valid warranties will help cover the costs of needed repairs, but in order to function under a warranty, equipment must be upgraded when needed. Again, this will ultimately create savings in your overhead costs.

While your first instinct when cutting costs may be to eliminate upgrades to existing technology, you might want to reconsider that decision. While it may be a slight expense up front, updating your technology is really an investment in your company. One that can save you a large amount of money over time,

Companies can also use systems like Dell Virtualisation that not only share files across a network but allow access to a remote desktop environment, greatly cutting costs for IT and removing the need for constant hardware upgrades.

The original post is published here: Update Your Business Technology to Save Overhead Expenses