Another fat sales guy that’s going to loose weight, damn it!

I’ve wanted to loose weight for some time now, especially around the middle portions of my body.  I’ve been a pretty skinny guy for most of my life, but my wife is a great cook and I tend to love my Friday night martinis.  Therefore I look to be about 7 months pregnant, and huff and puff quite a bit when climbing a stairs.  So here is my pledge, that I’m starting now, not tomorrow, and that I announce to all, so others can help to keep me on track.

 

“I will be a size 34 waist pant by summer!”

 

My plan;

• Cut out bread – no morning toast with jam or “hot buns” at dinner.
• Walk up the 5 floors to my office, at least once per day.  I’ve been doing this for about a week now and generally walk up to the 5^th floor at least twice per day.  Plus I hate going to a gym.
• Eat slower and eat less
• Cut out mid-day snacking.  I tend to graze during the day, often reaching into a bag of cookies.  To be honest I stopped this about a month ago, and replaced the cookies with carrots.
• Friday night Salsa lessons with my wife Rianna.  I’ve been doing this for about 3 months now.
• NO booze on Saturdays!  This is a tough one, not that I’m a big drinker but as I said earlier I love my martinis and also love my wine.  I choose Saturday because Rianna and I generally go out on a date after our Salsa lessons on Friday.  Plus I thought stopping just on Saturdays will be easier than stopping altogether.  I mean, one’s got to have some fun.

So there it is my plan to loose weight and go back to a stealth size 34 waist pant.  Wish me luck and please, no bags of cookies on my desk.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

 

Chris Miles is an Account Executive (or Sales Guy) for Primus Business Services, in beautiful Vancouver BC.  I have a background in both Voice and Data, so when evaluating a customers needs I like to look at the whole picture.  A customer’s Telephone and Computer Network, their Internet Connectivity, Applications, Backup and Disaster Recovery.  I partner with a number of Value-Added Resellers, giving small and medium sized business customers ideas and options and to use technology to increase sales and lower costs.

 

To find out more about Primus’ suite of business services, visit http://www.primustel.ca/en/business/index.php.

 

Chris can be reached at 604-630-2628 or by e-mail at cmiles@primustel.ca.    

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Another power outage in downtown Vancouver

I noticed there was tweet the other day of another power outage in downtown Vancouver.  Now just a heads up here, I’m a sales guy marketing high availability Servers, so a power outage is just another opportunity to ask potential customers… “What do you do when your Servers are not available?  How do access your Email, CRM, Account program, telephone system, etc.?”  You get the picture. 

 

If your answer is “we’re hooped”, then I propose that you consider moving all or maybe just some of your apps into a secure co-location facility.  Now you could consider moving your own equipment into a Server Park, and if this works for you then I’m hoping you’ll give me a call.  But another option is to install your important applications onto a Primus Virtual Managed Machine. 

 

I’ll stop my sales pitch now, but check out this video, to get a sense of how the service works. 

And if you are on holidays at this time of year, think of me at my desk, taking self-directed training on Primus’ suite of voice and data services. 

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:  cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primus.ca  

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Practicing how to demo a phone system, that we deliver as a service

I spending the day practicing how to demo our Hosted PBX service, a hosted IP business telephone system that Primus delivers as a service.

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628  |   Toll Free: 877.752.6385  |  Fax: 877.329.4958

Email: cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primustel.ca

 

For a virtual tour of our Data Centres:  www.primustel.ca/IDCVideo

 

333 Seymour St., Suite 540, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5A6

---

  This electronic message contains information from Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. ("PRIMUS") , which may be legally privileged and confidential. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify us by telephone or e-mail (to the number or address above) immediately. Any views, opinions or advice expressed in this electronic message are not necessarily the views, opinions or advice of PRIMUS. It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that any attachments are virus free and PRIMUS bears no responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from the use thereof.The term "PRIMUS" includes its affiliates.

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Computer Network "Server as a Service"

Walk into the back room of any small or medium sized business and you’ll likely find a small, multi-purpose room that often also serves as the Server Room.  This room is generally also called the photocopier room, lunch room or even the Janitor’s closest.  I think you get the picture. 

Generally these rooms have very poor or NO security, they’re accessible by everyone and power is atrocious. In many cases the Server or Servers are in the same area as the photocopier, telephone system and demarcation point.  Therefore heat is also an issue, so your equipment will be more prone to failure. 

Any business that has branch offices or have users working outside the office, Internet access is also an issue.  Broadband services like ADSL and Cable may not be enough bandwidth, and upgrading to a T1 or Fibre may be too expensive.  And then there is power.  Any business person in Vancouver’s downtown core can tell you what it is like to be without power for close to a week.  NO phone, email, Internet or access to important applications.

 

Now compare this to a Server that instead of being down the hall is out “in the cloud”.  A Server in a secure facility specifically designed for multiple servers, with quadruple power back up and a 100 Mbps connection to the Internet.  And a Server you do not purchase, but instead only pay for the CPU, memory and storage you need.  A Server that can easily be upgraded “on the fly”, without disrupting important applications.  A Server has a Service.

 

For information on Primus’ answer to a high availability Server, click here for information on our Virtual Managed Machine.  Or check out this video on how Primus’ Virtual Managed Machine works.

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:  cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primustel.ca

 

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

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Virtualize your business

A few weeks ago, before I started with Primus, I met with Ed Lee at ECL Computing.  ECL Computing is a local Vancouver Systems Integrator, and Ed explained why he recommends to all of his customers that they virtualize their business.  And I mean virtualize everything about their business, so that his customers are available for their employees, suppliers and customers anywhere, anytime, no matter what hiccup or disaster may occur.

 

Let’s take, for example, what happened a year or so ago in Vancouver, when there was a power outage that effected many buildings in the downtown core.  Imagine that your business has NO power for about 4 days.  Think of your phone lines, email, customer invoices, accounts receivable, inventory and sales records.  How will customers contact you?   Now I’m sure that many reading this have their Servers and Phone Systems connected to backup power, but unless you’ve made a huge investment, you’ll generally have only enough power for an hour at best.  For many, you will only have enough power to safely power down your equipment.

 

The above real life scenario would occur only if all of your equipment is located in your office.  Now consider if your Phone System, Servers, Email and important applications where located outside your own facility.  Hosted in a secure facility that has multiple levels of power, that is not affected by the city’s grid.  You’d simply head home or to the nearest web café, fire-up any web browser and simple log into your system. 

Now I understand for most IT technicians, the fact that your Servers are not down the hall is a little un-nerving.  But there is a business case for locating your equipment in a secure co-location facility that includes features that would be far too expensive for most small and medium sized businesses to install in their own Server room. 

Now here comes the sales pitch;

 

Or you can install your important applications on a Primus Managed Server.  With a 100 Mbps connection Internet connection, you have more than enough bandwidth for all your users, whether they’re at their desk, on the road or working from a branch or home office.

 

For a tour of Primus’ co-location facility, click here to view the video.

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:     cmiles@primustel.ca

http://www.primustel.ca/en/business/index.php

 

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Started this week at Primus Business Services

I started my new career this week at Primus Canada, marketing their Voice, Access, Hosting, IP connectivity, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity solutions.   This will be an adjustment, as the last 9 years (with one 6-month exception) I’ve been working from my home office.  But I love working downtown Vancouver, and my commute to Primus’ office is a quick ride on the West Coast Express from my home in Maple Ridge.

For those not familiar with Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, Maple Ridge is wayyyyyyyy out in the “burbs”.  Think horses, country music, Ford F150’s, beer and mullets.  I’m exaggerating, and in reality being “out there a bit” means we can afford a larger home on a big lot, with a pool in the backyard.  Maple Ridge also has a number of beautiful (and flat) trails over a series of dykes, with mountain views that I can often be found discovering on my mountain bike. 

I like to tell people that what I lack in good looks I make up for in experience.  With a varied sales background marketing Voice, Data and Internet services, Primus has a suite of products that fits with my desire to deliver a complete solution to a business customer.  But instead of long-winded ramblings of how wonderful we are, I’m hoping to blog about products and services that are available to Vancouver based organizations.  And to introduce readers to products and services that help to keep businesses up and running anywhere, at anytime.

Stay tuned for more.

Chris Miles
Primus Business Services
Account Executive

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958
Email:     cmiles@primustel.ca
http://www.primus.ca/

For a virtual tour of our Data Centres: www.primustel.ca/IDCVideo

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

New Mitel phones make life easy for admin

The new 5320 and 5360 IP Phones from Mitel make administration easier through remote programming instead of having to manually attach paper labels to each phone. This reduces set-up time and ongoing operational costs, allowing your IT/telecom team to focus on other business priorities.

The digital display on each phone is automatically updated, ensuring that your users always have instant access to colleagues, IP-based applications and services.

Give your users easy access to the information, applications, and features they need without struggling with paper labels ... Call us anytime to learn more.

Chris Miles Follow me on Twitter

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

http://www.digitel.ca/

Ask us about our computer network Monitoring, Alerts and Reporting Service

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Computer Network Monitoring, Alerts and Reporting and what's in it for the business owner?

So, you're a business owner somewhere in the Vancouver BC area.  (Well, you can be anywhere but I'm hoping to get the words "business" and "Vancouver" in this blog in the hopes of Google picking this up.)  Anyway, you have a trusted I.T. consultant (or maybe it's an employee) that looks after the support of your computer network.  You like him (or her), your trust them, they're reliable and they know your network.  You even invite them over for the family barbeque.  They're hourly rate is a bit high, but less than your lawyer and they do a great job.  So, what's the problem?

For one, they're only one person!  What happens if they're not available - away on holidays, out with the flu, taking care of another client or at an industry event in Vegas?  And they can't possibly know everything about everything, can they?  I mean, to keep up with all the Certifications would have to be a full-time job in itself.

So here's an idea.  How about a remote Monitoring, Alerts and Reporting Service, that we can call Mars for short!  We can monitor your Network 24/7 - looking for issues - and alerting your I.T. guy BEFORE something becomes a serious problem.  And if your IT guy isn't available, our team can jump in.

And starting for as little as $149 per month, our service includes:

• 24 x 7 Monitoring, Alerting and Reporting
• Hardware and Software Asset Management
• Security Assurance - This alone could be of real value!
• Preventative Maintenance

We can monitor Workstations and Servers, using any Operating System.  We can also monitor Edge Devices such as Routers and Switches, Virtual machines, IP phones, Faxes, Printers, or anything with an IP address.  We can even monitor Internal and External web sites, perfect if you use hosted applications like Exchange, SharePoint or CRM. 

Some Other Advantages:

• Your technician can have access to our NOC, allowing them to remotely take over any of your machines, on or off your network (like your home PC or Mac).
• And they can use "scripts", to automate many of the day-to-day tasks that eat up their time and your I.T. budget. 

Who We Are:

 

For the past 25 years Digitel Systems has been supporting business telephone systems, and for the past five years we've also been working on hundred's of Local and Wide Area Networks across North America.

 

To learn more, or to discuss your actual technology costs and the ROI when you switch to our service, contact us anytime.

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Computer Network Security Assurance for Vancouver BC business

For the past 25 years Vancouver BC based Digitel Systems has been supporting business telephone systems.  But with the advent of IP telephony, we've been also working on hundred's of Local and Wide Area Networks across North America.

And now we are delivering a Monitoring, Alerts and Reporting Service that delivers Proactive managed services.   We'll monitor your entire Wide Area Network 24/7 - looking for issues - and alerting you BEFORE something becomes a serious problem.  All at an affordable price.

Security Assurance included:

To reduce your risk, Security Assurance is also INCLUDED with our service.

• Baseline security scanning to detect security holes.
• Continuous monitoring for viruses, worms, spam ware, and other malware.
• Automated verification of data backup completion and identification of any failed backups.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Report:

To learn more, or to discuss your actual technology costs and the ROI when you switch to our service, contact us anytime.

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Network Monitoring tool for Vancouver IT managers

In my last few posts I'm been talking about our Remote Monitoring and Management Service, providing 24 X 7 Network Monitoring, Alerts and Reporting.  However I've been hearing from a number of IT managers who already have a Monitoring tool, asking how our service is different.

For one, we can Monitor more than simply PC's and Servers on your network.  Edge Devices, including routers and switches, IP phones, faxes, printers, or anything with an IP address can be Monitored.  We can even Monitor internal and external web sites, perfect if you use hosted applications like Exchange, SharePoint or CRM.  And as well as Monitoring, we can Alert you to any issues before they become a serious problem.

If this is of interest we’d love to come in and provide a FREE Network Assessment.  We won’t interrupt anything on your system and you’ll receive a detailed analysis of your actual technology costs and the ROI when you switch to our service.  We also want to be very clear that there are no expectations on our part for you to do or buy anything when you take us up on our offer. 

 

To learn more, or to schedule a free network assessment, please contact us anytime.

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Remote Monitor, Alert and Response for Vancouver IT managers

With our Remote Monitoring and Management service, you get 24/7 monitoring and alerting.  We’ll know immediately when something has gone wrong and can guarantee a rapid response, delivered remotely if possible, or on site if required. Problems are often resolved before you’re even aware of them.

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Esnatech Launches SIP-based WeLINK Meet-Me Conference Server

Esnatech launches a new SIP-based meet-me conference server for SMBs, called WeLINK, which eliminates the expense of hosted conferencing services from an outside vendor (no monthly fees or fee per use). As an in-house audio conference solution, WeLINK supports up to 48 simultaneous SIP sessions (24 participants per conference) on a single system with unlimited conferences or ‘rooms’. The audio conferences can also be recorded for later review. If WeLINK is used in conjunction with Esnatech’s OfficeLinX unified communications platform, there are additional features such as viewing the presence status of other users, contact integration, e-mail reports and voice-to-text transcription for archiving recorded conferences (requires the Esnatech speech-to-text module).

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Network Monitoring and Alerts for Vancouver area business

On average, small and medium sized companies in Vancouver lose thousands of dollars a year to network downtime—in the incremental minutes and hours of lost productivity and lost opportunities as you wait for problems to be resolved. Furthermore, on average, 70% of IT management budgets are spent on systems maintenance, leaving only 30% to invest in new technologies.

Imagine if you had IT support that significantly reduced your downtime by identifying and solving issues before they became problems—and that took minutes instead of hours to resolve the remaining issues that could not be anticipated.

Imagine if you could shift funding from administrative tasks to more strategic infrastructure investments that would keep your network more secure and save you money.

Digitel Systems can achieve all this and more, by optimizing your system with our new Network Partner Program:

• Remote support for rapid problem resolution
• Detailed site inventories
• 24 x 7 x 365 proactive network and security monitoring
• Scheduled maintenance
• Helping you achieve regulation compliance

To learn more, or to schedule a free network assessment, please contact us.

Chris Miles Follow me on Twitter

604-231-0143

cmiles@digitel.ca

Contact us for Your Complimentary Network Assessment:

• A detailed analysis of your actual technology costs and the ROI when you switch to [Program Name].
• Ilustrations of the potential cost reductions that can be achieved through preventative maintenance.

Digitel Network Assessments are standardized using our Network Partner approach to managing networks.

On average, our customers are able to lower IT management costs by 30%!

The assessment takes only a few hours and does not interrupt anything on your system. When complete, you receive a detailed report indicating the current effectiveness of your network configuration and areas of opportunity for enhanced efficiency with managed services.

Who are we?

Digitel Systems is a Vancouver based Interconnect that for the past 25 years have been supporting business telephone systems. And with the advent of IP telephony, for the past 5 years have been working on hundred's of Local and Wide Area Networks across North America.

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

It's not just Network Monitoring

I've been calling I.T. Managers throughout the Vancouver Lower Mainland, introducing our Managed Computer Support service.  When asked to give an explanation of the service, I start by explaining one of its features as a 24/7 Network Monitoring tool.  With a "we already have that" and the click of their phone hanging up, I make a mental note to pull out my book on the "Joys of Selling".  And for those potential new customers who have had their morning coffee and give me 2 minutes of their time, I have the opportunity to explain the other benefits we can deliver to a busy I.T. department.

• Alert them to problems on their network
• Automate a number of important day-to-day tasks
• Automatically keep an up-to-date inventory of all hardware and software
• Allow easy access to remote machines 24/7

A busy I.T. manager can also have the option of allowing our team of technicians remediate any problems, before waiting for something to break.  Patch Management is another service that we can also deliver, freeing up a busy I.T. administrator for more important projects that may have more of an impact on their organization's bottom line.

 

Digitel Systems is a Vancouver based Interconnect that for the past 25 years have been supporting business telephone systems. And with the advent of IP telephony, for the past 5 years have been working on hundred's of Local and Wide Area Networks across North America.

 

If you have questions about your Voice or Data network, contact us anytime.

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

24/7 Computer Network Monitoring for Vancouver area business

Digitel Systems is a Vancouver based Interconnect that for the past 25 years have been supporting business telephone systems. And with the advent of IP telephony, for the past 5 years have been working on hundred's of Local and Wide Area Networks across North America.  To deliver additional services to our customer base, Digitel has partnered with Level Platforms.

 

Level Platforms is a Canadian company and a world leader in remote monitoring and management software.  Their Managed Workplace® will help us deliver managed services to our small and midsize business customers.

 

Busy IT Managers will see an advantage to this service if there is a need to add another technician to their staff, but don't have the budget.  Or if they want to get away from the important day-to-day tasks that eat up their time, and move to high-value Projects that can benefit their organization's bottom line.

 

Business owners will also see a benefit, especially those who have a trusted outsourced IT consultant.  Although many smaller computer support firms do well fixing problems as they arise, some busy technicians are not always available when they are needed the most. We believe that by adding a more “Proactive” computer network support service, we can LOWER a firm's overall IT costs.

 

If you have questions about your Voice or Data network, contact us anytime.

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Managed IT services for busy IT managers

Digitel Systems has been supporting telephone systems, throughout the Vancouver BC area for over 25 years.  But with the advent of IP telephony, the voice and data network is becoming one, and many of our customers see the value with our technical team taking over many of the more mundane day-to-day computer network tasks.  This works perfectly if a busy IT department needs more technicians but doesn't have the budget, or if the IT manager can be elevated to more high-level projects that add value to the bottom line of the organization.

 

Our team can:

• Alert the IT department to problems on the network.
• Automate a number of the important day-to-day tasks
• Automatically keep an up-to-date inventory of all Hardware and Software
• Allow easy (and fast) access to remote machines

For more information feel free to contact me at any time.

 

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

Managed IT Services

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Threat Manager adds additional security for Vancouver business

Even though most organizations use perimeter defenses (firewalls) and employ endpoint defenses (anti-virus software), many still experience ongoing security breaches. This means that a number of internal networks remain at risk, despite their seemingly proactive defenses. In response, organizations are looking to improve their network security while ensuring compliance with policies and regulatory mandates.

 

Digitel's Threat Manager provides security and compliance solutions by delivering intrusion protection, vulnerability assessment and log management at a fraction of the cost of traditional products. Unlike appliance or software products, our software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform features rapid deployment, zero maintenance and no hardware or software costs.

 

Active Watch

• With Threat Manager, customers can greatly improve their security posture by adding Active Watch. This service provides professional security expertise, resulting in more accurate threat detection and faster, more effective incident response.
• Active Watch allows IT Managers to receive alert updates by phone or e-mail from security professionals working in the Security Operations Center (SOC). The SOC monitors the network 24/7 and follows customized escalation responses based on compliance requirements and end-user preferences. Defense, remediation and forensics support is also included.

Advanced Threat Scenario Model

• With an expanded threat-management approach that exceeds typical intrusion-detection-and-prevention products, Threat Manager allows you to maximize your technical resources by eliminating false-positive incidents and reducing associated IT costs.

Key Benefits

Threat Manager provides affordable protection for networks with no upfront investment required:

• Improve network security by identifying threats and vulnerabilities that evade perimeter and endpoint defenses.
• Achieve regulatory compliance by identifying incidents and vulnerabilities that could impact compliance-relevant network assets.
• Eliminate false alarms typically associated with intrusion-detection technology

Key Features

Intrusion Protection

• Protects against more than 12,000 identified threats
• Optional 24/7 security monitoring via SOC
• Passively monitors network traffic
• Actively blocks attack traffic based on parameters set by customer
• Correlates network events, vulnerabilities and global-threat data
• Multilayered architecture provides superior protection Vulnerability Management
• Continuous asset discovery, vulnerability assessment and resolution workflow
• Automated network topology and host discovery
• On-demand scheduling flexibility for internal and external scanning
• Comprehensive prioritization and resolution work-flow management
• Agentless architecture
• Compliance Automation
•  Integrated PCI certification scanning by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV)
• Comprehensive compliance reporting and dashboards in PCI, GLBA, SOX and HIPAA
• Identification of incidents and vulnerabilities impacting compliance posture

As well as supporting Mitel and Toshiba telephone systems, Digitel delivers Managed Computer Support services to business customers throughout the Vancouver Lower Mainland.

 

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Reasons Why Google Chrome OS Is (and Isn't) a Big Deal

Here is a link to an on-line article, giving reasons why Google Chrome OS is (and isn't) a Big Deal.  I couldn't fit the link in Twitter, hence this link to another link.

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=48997639&gid=743977&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eeweek%2Ecom%2Fc%2Fa%2FIT-Infrastructure%2FReasons-Why-Google-Chrome-OS-Is-and-Isnt-a-Big-Deal-610813%2F%3Fkc%3Drss&urlhash=BIzv&trk=news_discuss 

 

As well as supporting Mitel and Toshiba telephone systems, Digitel is delivering Managed Computer Support services to business customers throughout the Vancouver Lower Mainland.

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

New backup and data recovery system for business

Here is a link regarding a new backup and recovery system for business than combines data deduplication, enhanced support for virtual environments and centralized management features.  I couldn't fit the link in Twitter, hence this link to another link.

http://www.dynamicbusiness.com/articles/articles-news/acronis-debuts-new-backup-and-data-recovery-system-for-business3925.html 

 

As well as supporting Mitel and Toshiba telephone systems throughout the Vancouver area, Digitel is delivering Managed Computer Support services to their business customers.

 

Chris Miles                  

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Affordable IT Support for Vancouver Area Business

Digitel Systems Inc. is a Vancouver BC based telephone equipment supplier and for the past 25 years we've been installing and supporting business telephone systems, including Toshiba and Mitel.  With the advent of IP Telephony, the Voice and Data network are becoming one, and we see an opportunity to deliver I.T. services and be one point of contact for our customers.

 

We know that you rely on your I.T. assets to operate your business, but maintaining and managing these investments can be costly, complicated and time-consuming — distracting you from your core business activities and using up resources.

 

With this in mind Digitel is now offering a Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) service that will result in an overall lower cost of owning and supporting I.T., more predictable costs, and will help you avoid the large, unplanned expenses that are typically associated with unscheduled downtime.

Remote Monitor, Alert and Response

With 24/7 monitoring and alerting, we’ll know immediately when something has gone wrong and can guarantee a rapid response, delivered remotely if possible, or on site if required. Problems are often resolved before you’re even aware of them.

Asset Management

Our RMM services make it possible to deliver detailed, up-to-date hardware and software inventories to protect assets for insurance purposes or regulatory compliance.

We’ll track warranty expirations to ensure you never pay for maintenance twice.

We’ll also automatically detect new software installations and discover the presence of unauthorized and illegal software, such as peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that rob you of bandwidth.

Preventive Maintenance

With detailed, accurate information about your IT assets, we minimize costly disruptions to your daily operations by proactively resolving problems before they become critical. We’ll also be able to quickly identify where maintenance activities can optimize performance and lower costs.

How It Works

Our software-based RMM solution automatically performs secure, comprehensive scans of your IT environment to gather up-to-date information about the health and performance of your assets.

This information allows us to be alerted about problems as they are evolving, deliver rapid remote remediation when issues arise, and perform maintenance tasks with unparalleled efficiency — all of which save you money.

We can proactively monitor and manage anything with an IP address, including:

• Desktops

• Laptops

• Servers

• Managed switches

• Routers

• Firewalls

• Gateways

• VoIP switches and phones

• Printers

• Faxes

• Scanners

• Off-the-shelf and custom applications

• Specialized equipment

• Environmental control devices

• Internal and external web sites

• Virtual machines

 

We see our Remote Monitoring and Management service as a perfect fit for any organization who employs their own technician or who already outsources their computer network support to a small 1 or 2 man firm.  For more information contact us anytime, or call me directly for any of your telephone or data needs.

 

Chris Miles                               Follow me on Twitter     

Business Development

604-231-0143 direct

cmiles@digitel.ca

 

Digitel Systems Inc.  

604-231-0110 help desk

604-231-0100 fax

www.digitel.ca

"Managing your Voice and Data Network"

 

 

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Server Recovered in only 40 Minutes

Insight Information Technology (or Insight IT for short) recently introduced a Backup and Disaster Recovery Service, specifically designed for business customers in the Vancouver Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.  Instead of simply Backing up data, we "mirror" the Operating System, Applications and Data.  The advantage is we can restore a Server very quickly, often times (depending on the amount of data) within minutes!  In fact during a regular scheduled test of the service with a customer in Richmond BC, our technician restored a production SQL server within 40 minutes. 

Most businesses already have a Data Backup system in place, however many firms find out too late just how long it takes to restore a Computer Network once a Server is suddenly unavailable.  Companies that have implemented ONLY a backup of data need to understand the amount of time it takes to replace a Server.

• Purchase the Hardware
• Install the Operations System
• Install the Applications
• Upload the Backed up data
• Reconfigure the Server

This can often take several days.  Now compare that to 40 minutes!

For an explanation on our Backup and Disaster Recovery Service, how it works and the cost, click here.

You can also contact me directly.  I can answer your questions and go over all the options available to you, to ensure your Business Continuity Plan is in place.

Chris Miles                                          

Insight Information Technology

cmiles@insightit.ca

604-484-4218 Direct

                                                       Follow me on Twitter                           

604-484-5141 Lower Mainland

604-864-0465 Abbotsford

604-357-1471 Fax

 

"Let Us Manage IT"

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Legal Precedent creation software

I recently spoke with Dave Humphreys from CompuWork Pacific Inc. regarding software they developed for a Vancouver BC Law Firm.  One of his client's realized what a pain it was for his staff to manually create and fill out new legal precedent documents for every file he was working on. So he created a set of precedent templates akin to merge documents. He then commissioned CompuWork to create a Database Management System to store his data and populate any of these documents on demand. He currently has a library of close to 1000 precedents.

"It is not an off-the-shelf product" Dave explained. "This system was custom-made to spec, but all of the functionality and methods could be adapted into a new custom package, should any legal office be interested. It's primary purpose is to populate legal precedent documents with valid data, although it's abilities have been extended quite a bit over time."

 

 The benefits that give his customer a competitive advantage include:

• fewer errors as all data resides in one system and is validated when input or modified
• staff are restricted to lists of values in many cases, eliminating the typos etc that come with entering data as free-form text
• huge savings in time and staff costs as data can be entered once, extracted many times
• easy to use, intuitive system requires little training - most paralegals are up and running within a day

Major features include (and more added every year)

• ability to sort and filter file data in tabular format
• statistical reports
• bring-forward tasks and diary for all staff
• generation of custom reports to clients in Word or Excel
• email creation and logging, with comments
• ability to print formatted file labels, envelopes, pdf documents
• data is used by the firm to provide reports to their clients on the Web
• ability to search and replace data in all precedents at once
• ability to "clone" similar precedents, eliminating the need to create documents from scratch
• ability to create document packages containing multiple precedents
• auto lookup of postal code info, based on street address and city, via web service

The caveat Dave's client offers is that the lawyer or firm must be willing to create the precedents. CompuWork can provide a how-to guide, but it does take some time to set up. Dave suggested that the best strategy is to start with that 10% of your documents that you use 75% of the time, then add or copy more precedents as time allows.

 

For any Law Firm with an interest, Dave has offered to demo the system.

 

Dave Humphreys

CompuWork Pacific Inc.

Phone (604) 684-8211  Fax (604) 684-8210

http://www.CompuWork.net

 

And if you are looking for an easy way to lower your I.T. support costs while practically eliminating computer problems, glitches, and downtime, then give us a call.  Or visit us at www.ComputerSupportForLawFirms.com.

 

Chris Miles

Insight Information Technology (or Insight I.T. for short)

 

P.S.  The last bulleted point, the postal code lookup, is another service CompuWork provides - near instantaneous population of postal codes via a web service. They use the current Canada Post database. This is a subscription service that can be used stand-alone or it can be integrated into existing software systems. www.postalcodeservices.net

 

 

 

 

Chris Miles
Insight Information Technology
cmiles@insightit.ca
604-484-4218 Direct

604-484-5141 Lower Mainland
604-864-0465 Abbotsford
604-357-1471 Fax

"Let Us Manage IT"
  www.InsightIT.ca

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

New Canadian Tax Break on Computer Hardware

Budget 2009 proposes a temporary 100-per-cent CCA rate for computer hardware and systems software acquired after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2011. In addition, the rule that restricts CCA deductions to one-half of the CCA write-off otherwise available in the first year will not apply to these computers.

This temporary measure will allow taxpayers to fully expense their investment in computers in one year. The measure will provide stimulus by assisting businesses to increase or accelerate investment in computers. It will also contribute to boosting Canada's productivity through the faster adoption of newer technology. Businesses in all sectors of the economy, including the service sector, will benefit from this incentive.

It is estimated that this measure will cost $340 million in 2009-10 and $355 million in 2010-11.

Click here for more information.

Chris Miles
cmiles@insightit.ca
604-484-4218 Direct
                                                      Follow me on Twitter
Insight Information Technology
604-484-5141 Lower Mainland
604-864-0465 Abbotsford
604-357-1471 Fax

Let Us Manage IT
www.InsightIT.ca

Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous