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Welcome
to the December edition of QTS QuikNews, our monthly
e-mail newsletter. In this monthly e-mail, you will
receive an update of what's new at QTS - new products we
support, new patches and upgrades, solution ideas and
promotions to save you money, and information about our
company and our clients.
In
this issue:
QTS NEWS
QTS
IS HIRING!
QTS is recruiting for senior level technical personnel,
as well as entry and senior level sales
staff/telemarketers. If you know anyone who might
be a good fit, please have them submit their resume to
Liz Meechan, our Office Manager. Liz can be reached at lmeechan@QTSnet.com,
or (973)984-7600 x223.
QTS
HOLIDAY CLOSING: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26TH
As a
thank you to our staff for their hard work in 2003, we
are closing our offices on Friday, December 26th
in addition to our normal holiday closing for Christmas
and New Years Day. QuikAssist customers will still
receive emergency service if needed, by following our
procedure for off-hours technical support. We wish
our customers, partners and friends a happy and healthy
holiday season!
REMINDER:
CHANGE YOUR TAPES!
QTS
again reminds you that your backup tapes, particularly
DDS DAT and 8mm, have a typical lifespan of about a year
of sustained use. Our recommended practice is to
change tape sets every year, and retire the old tapes so
they are available for restores before they wear out.
Now is a good time to order a new set of 20 tapes and
plan to create a new tape library on January 1st.
Also, that�s a good time to do a test restore from
tape, and mark an entry on your calendar to do a monthly
restore test and drive cleaning each month of the new
year.
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER
It
is hard to believe, in some ways, that we�ve been
releasing QuikNews on a monthly basis for three years
now. I started writing the newsletter in January
2001 and we�ve consistently met our monthly schedule
to provide you with useful information to help you run
your networks and plan IT strategy. In the past
few months, I�ve spoken to many people who have told
me of the value they feel they�ve received from our
newsletter, and this reinforces my commitment to
continuing this service.
Since
we�ve been doing this for a while, one would expect
traditions to start developing, and one of my traditions
is to step back in the December column and look at what
is going on in the business world. Strategically,
where is the industry taking our customers, and what can
we do to help as we plan for 2004 and beyond?
Overall,
the economic climate is improving. Many of our
customers and the businesses we�ve met with have told
us that their IT spending has been �locked down� for
2003, based on the economic circumstances we�ve all
been facing. 2003 was a challenging year for many
of us � the B2B chain has been slower to recover
during 2003 than the consumer chain. However,
we�re seeing signs of a return to relative normalcy in
2004.
Unfortunately,
many businesses are reticent to hire additional staff,
after having gone through painful �rightsizing� over
the past few years in an attempt to reduce or control
costs. This makes productivity of the staff that
is retained absolutely critical. We�re seeing a
strong interest in technologies and solutions that can
enhance productivity. Additionally, the two year
drought on purchase of new PCs seems to be thawing as
businesses seek a balance between freezing purchases and
�forklift upgrades.� Positively, our
customers� experience with Windows XP and Office XP
and 2003 has been that this platform does improve
reliability and security, as well as improve staff
productivity. We anticipate continued progress as
customers upgrade the desktop platform to realize
productivity benefits and improve security.
Security
has been a strong point of interest over the past two
years, and now that the economy is returning to
normalcy, we are expecting a strong year for our
security practice. Our QuikSecure offerings
provide a comprehensive suite of services to help
businesses develop policy, test and remediate security
vulnerabilities, manage security, and implement
necessary solutions. Security has been the number
one point of concern for most IT Directors and CIOs
I�ve met with over the past year, but relatively few
have had discretionary budget to allocate here.
We�re seeing that change now, and expect security to
be a top priority for action in 2004.
In
2003, we helped many businesses with Security
Assessments and Vulnerability Assessments, and
implemented patch management solutions (Microsoft�s
SUS) at many sites. We also installed and upgraded
a ton of firewalls and antivirus solutions, built secure
remote access solutions, implemented web and email
content filtering, and helped businesses develop their
security policies and manage their security. In
2004, we�re expecting more of the same, along with new
projects around IDS/IPS at the network-host-client
levels, Single Sign-On and Identity Management, and more
PAT engagements as we help customers further tune and
manage their network security.
Disaster
Recovery is another area where we expect growth and
focus from our customers in 2004. We�re working
hard to get all the pieces of our QuikRecover offerings
together for a January launch and customer availability
(some have been in play and available for some time),
and anticipate strong customer interest and focus here
in 2004 (this is the other major priority that seems
common across IT Directors I meet with). Our
offerings will span developing the plan (a consultative
engagement), documenting failover and failback
procedures (what we�ve been calling System Recovery
Plans), and hot/warm/cold site capabilities (which we
will deliver through partnerships we currently offer and
will be adding to). We�ve also added some
products and partner relationships to our line card in
this space, to round out our capabilities to service our
customers here.
Server
platform upgrades will be a big issue for some, and a
smaller issue for others who have already put current
technology in place. Many businesses have
�toughed out� the challenging economic times by
keeping old systems running as is, and avoiding
upgrades. Since 2004 is the end-of-life year for
Windows NT (and NetWare 4.2 � 5.0 passed end of life
last year), we anticipate the majority of businesses
running this platform will jump directly to Windows 2003
and Exchange 2003 in 2004. Our experiences with
both products have been very positive, with the improved
security, reliability and performance of Windows 2003
Server being a major benefit to customers.
Other
new technologies hold much promise for improving
productivity, creating new capabilities for competitive
advantage or cost reduction. The Tablet PC, CRM,
new wireless capabilities, Clientless SSL VPNs, Web
Services, .Net development tools, collaborative portal
solutions for Intranet and Extranet capabilities, new
document imaging tools and IP Telephony are all areas
where customers are realizing tangible business
benefits. QTS is positioned, both directly and
through our Solutions Alliance partnerships, to be able
to help our customers deploy and integrate these tools
cost-effectively.
If
you are a QTS customer, your Account Manager will be
setting up a meeting in December/January to discuss your
business and technology goals and how we can help you
achieve them in 2004. And for those of you who are
not currently working with us, we�d enjoy the
opportunity to meet with you and discuss how we can be
of service as a technology partner for your business.
As
always, feel free to email me your comments or thoughts
at nrosenberg@QTSnet.com.
Thank
you for your reading time during an obviously busy time
of year, and for your support throughout 2003. May
you and your family have a happy, and safe, holiday
season.
Neil
Rosenberg
President & CEO
Quality Technology Solutions
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PARTNER
SPOTLIGHT: IMA
Often
companies are unaware of opportunities provided by the
Internet and their web sites, that can help
differentiate them from their competition. In
today�s world, a web site is often the first image
your customers see of your organization, and sets the
tone for how your company is viewed and treated.
This is one area where QTS' partner for Web site
development, Interactive Media Associates (IMA), can
help. Consider inviting IMA to perform a
cost-effective audit of your existing Web site and your
Intranet/Extranet services to learn how savvy companies
are using the Web to improve their marketing, as well as
to drive efficiencies internally and externally.
IMA
is a full-service digital agency headquartered in
Parsippany, NJ. Clients include New York City
Ballet, Hackensack University Medical Center,
Metropolitan Opera, Mason Gross School of the Arts,
CalTech, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and
IATSE International, among others. IMA works
closely with another QTS partner, Lenskold Group, to
develop web content that integrates tightly with the
organization's marketing strategy. They also specialize
in interactive "Weblet" sites that extend the
Internet experience through smaller, more targeted
interactive sites, which promote a specific product,
event, or company function.
Len
Muscarella, IMA�s President, founded the company in
1985. Len spent years working for traditional media
companies, including three plus years as one of the
pioneers of the "online" industry in his work
with CBS and Prodigy. Anticipating the business
potential of interactive media, he founded IMA and began
to help clients use the new technologies to change the
way they marketed their products and services.
Soon, IMA was providing consulting services in market
research, competitive analysis, and business strategy
for companies developing products related to proprietary
online services, interactive television, CD-ROM
technology, and, eventually, the Internet.
Many
of IMA's client sites are hosted in the company's
ReliaServe hosting environment, based on multiple web
servers, set up in a high availability and reliability
configuration.
QTS,
Lenskold Group
and IMA work
together for our customers to develop web sites that
integrate the technology, design and marketing
strategies to best meet our customers' goals and
objectives.
For
more information on IMA please view their web site at
www.imediainc.com, email them at lmuscarella@imediainc.com,
or call 973-539-5255. Or, contact your QTS Account
Manager.
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