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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 and Partner News
-
Events
-
President's Corner
-
QuikSecure Tip of the Month
-
Patches and Upgrades
-
Product Support Lifecycle Watch
-
Solution Spotlight
-
Special Offers
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Partner Spotlight
QTS AND PARTNER NEWS
WELCOME TO NEW CUSTOMERS
QTS offers a �welcome aboard� to the following new
customers:
�
Chatsworth Group, LLC
�
Metropolitan Sales Company
�
Mitsui Sumitomo Marine
Management, Inc.
NEW EMPLOYEE WELCOME
Please join us in welcoming Kim Ware to the QTS team, as our
Sales Coordinator. Kim will be working with me to help
current and prospective QTS customers as a point of contact
within QTS for follow-ups, orders, service and other
activities. She will also be helping with marketing, and
with other initiatives. Kim has a wide range of technical,
project management and customer service experiences, and
will be a valuable asset on the QTS team.
MICROSOFT VISTA/OFFICE 2007 LAUNCH EVENTS
Join QTS and Microsoft at the official worldwide product
launch event in New York City on January 16th 2007, or at
follow-up launch events in New Jersey on January 25th and
New York on February 20th. To register, follow the links
below:
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 at the New York
Sheraton - Click
To Register
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at the Secaucus NJ
Crown Plaza - Click
To Register
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at the Waldorf
Astoria NYC - Click
To Register
MICROSOFT PUBLISHES CASE STUDIES
Microsoft has published two new case studies involving QTS�
efforts with Windows Vista and Office 2007 under the
Microsoft Technology Adoption Program. QTS helped the
American Bible Society build a forms-based application
using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to help with
creation and shutdown of new user accounts, and helped
HealthSTAR Communications build a SharePoint 2007-based
document assembly system for RFP responses, while helping
both organizations deploy and test Windows Vista.
QTS PUBLISHES "10 STEPS TO IMPLEMENT A DISASTER RECOVERY
PLAN" WHITE PAPER
� QTS has released the second in a series of White Papers,
focused on its Disaster Recovery seminars. Click
Here to view the White Paper.
QTS HOLIDAY CLOSING: MONDAY, DECEMBER 25th &
JANUARY 1st
As a reminder, QTS will be closed for the Christmas and a
week later for New Year�s 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.
QTS IS HIRING!
QTS is recruiting for senior and mid-level technical
personnel, sales personnel and 1099 contract technical
resources. If you know anyone who might be a good fit,
please have them visit our recruitment page at
http://www.qtsnet.com/jobs/Default.htm, or submit their
resume to Liz Meechan, our Office Manager. Liz can be
reached at
lmeechan@QTSnet.com, or (973)984-7600 x223.
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QTS SUCCESS STORIES
WILENTZ GOLDMAN & SPITZER
QTS implemented Microsoft Operations Manager at this leading
New Jersey law firm to help improve proactive monitoring and
management of the Firm�s servers.
http://www.qtsnet.com/about/success stories/wilentz_MOM
success story.pdf
PRODUCT NOTICES AND ADVISORIES
TERMINAL SERVICES CAL TRADE-UP EXTENDED!
Due to a change in the way Microsoft licenses Terminal
Services as of April 2003, customers may be eligible for
free Terminal Services Client Access Licenses (CALs). With
the release of Windows Server 2003, the �built-in� CALs
under Windows 2000 were eliminated. However, customers
owning Windows XP Pro receive a free Terminal Services CAL
for each XP license. This offer has been extended,
but we strongly recommend processing this promptly.
For more information, visit
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/
howtobuy/licensing/tscaltransfaq.mspx.
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Although it would have been more timely to discuss
Symantec�s �Security 2.0� initiative last month in QuikNews,
I felt that last month�s column on security trends would
provide a good lead-in to this month�s column. On October
10th, Symantec kicked off its Security 2.0
initiative at a New York media launch event, and met with
QTS and other partners afterward to outline and explain
their vision and direction around the ever-changing security
landscape.
Up until now, the focus of the security industry (including
Symantec) has been on protecting end systems � coming out
with newer and better defensive technologies. Servers and
PCs are the most common end-points to be protected, but as
our devices and form factors continue to change, the need to
protect these new platforms becomes more important.
PDA/phones are a prime example of a device type which often
has little to no protection, but contains sensitive data.
Defense mechanisms for these platforms are still in their
relative infancy, while adoption curves for these
technologies are shooting up fast.
End-point defense technologies have become increasingly
commoditized � firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention
devices, antivirus and malicious code software, multi-factor
authentication, VPN platforms (IPSec and SSL) and content
filtering technologies are becoming increasingly mass
market, and the pricing for these technologies is often
dropping as volumes increase. Adoption of these
technologies continues to grow (though broad adoption does
not always equate to proper configuration or optimal use).
This will no doubt continue as Microsoft moves further into
the antivirus market with its ForeFront Client Security
offering in the first half of 2007, and continues to drive
adoption of ISA Server, ForeFront Server Security and its
other security tools. Driving technologies into mass-market
adoption is something Microsoft has always done well (from
Windows to Office to products like Great Plains and CRM
today), and no doubt will be successful in this space even
against incumbent competitors like Symantec, McAfee, Trend
Micro, Cisco and others.
As the game continues to shift, new technologies are
introduced to deal with changing threats, but generally have
a focus on the end-point itself. Microsoft�s BitLocker
technology that is included in some versions of Windows
Vista joins the third party products available to encrypt
hard drives and their data. Network Access Control (or
Network Access Protection, as Microsoft likes to call it)
technologies help prevent end-points with a questionable
security state from obtaining access to network resources,
providing a tool for enforcement of security policies. The
solution that �breaks the mold� here, to me, is Microsoft�s
Rights Management Services technology, which allows you to
set security and access control rights on your documents
themselves, independent of the underlying file system (so
the rights stay with a document when it is emailed, for
example). Generally, though, the industry�s focus is on
defensive technologies that protect end-point systems.
Symantec has not abandoned the field here � far from it.
One of the things I�ve always liked about Symantec is its
focus on providing integrated security management
technologies � regardless of the vendors� technologies being
managed. While most vendors focus only on managing their
own stuff, with an implied or direct message of �get rid of
stuff that�s not ours,� Symantec has provided management
tools for mixed networks for some time. Their Event Manager
platform for example, which was replaced/folded up into the
Symantec Security Information Manager appliance, allowed
event information to be collected from Trend and McAfee
antivirus, Checkpoint, Cisco and other firewalls, and
multiple intrusion detection/prevention platforms � not just
Symantec�s products. The upcoming �Project Hamlet� product
will build on existing technologies from Symantec Antivirus
and the Sygate NAC products, providing a unified management
console for most network end-point platforms.
Symantec�s Security 2.0 initiative is about protecting the
data itself, not just the endpoint containing the data.
Protecting the end-point is always going to be a defensive
game, and there is only so much that one can do. Taking a
defense in depth strategy (which I always recommend), the
logical progression is to have additional layers that
intelligently protect the data itself. And that is what
Symantec is doing.
For example, Symantec Database Security is a new product
that monitors database transactions and maintains audit logs
of activities. More important, it can detect potential
threats based on identifying abnormal behavior patterns, and
can be configured to detect possible leakage of data from
your network (for example, downloads of customer lists,
credit card numbers, etc.).
Symantec Mail Security is also being enhanced to add
controls to keep confidential information in your network,
preventing messages or files from �leaking� outside the
network based on security policies you define. Combined
with a tool like Symantec Enterprise Vault to allow you to
manage the content within your email systems, and
policy-based management tools like the SSIM appliance and
the Bindview technologies Symantec has acquired, they can
add some real value here. And by leveraging these tools in
conjunction with Microsoft technologies like BitLocker and
Rights Management Services, mid-market and enterprise
customers can build some really solid security solutions to
protect their business assets.
Both of the above products are available today. �Project
Miyagi� is a future development that will replace Symantec
Web Security and provide similar protection to Symantec Mail
Security, at a web control level. Symantec hasn�t held
particularly strong market share in the perimeter security
space (in spite of its Raptor roots), and isn�t likely to
overtake the firewall market which is dominated largely by
Cisco and a smattering of other players at this point.
However, by shifting the nature of the game, and adding
complementary technologies that really help you protect your
data and information resources (which is really what
security is all about), Symantec may be able to leap-frog
the competition if they can bring to market some truly
compelling complementary technologies.
At a consumer level, Symantec has released Norton
Confidential, a technology to allow consumers to surf and
work on the web with greater confidence against identity
theft and the many threats facing home computers (which, as
I pointed out last month, are the target of 86% of
attacks). Symantec is also making an online version of the
technology available to banks and web retailers to provide
an alternate method of securing web transactions. This core
technology was one of Symantec�s many acquisitions last
year.
Only time will tell how this will play out, but I like the
strategy. Based on our positive experience with Symantec
Mail Security, they�re off to a good start with executing on
it.
Next month, we�ll reflect back on 2006 and look forward into
2007 and the many interesting developments the new year
promises. In the mean time, have a happy and healthy
holiday season.
As always, feel free to email me your comments or thoughts
at
nrosenberg@QTSnet.com. Thank you.
Neil Rosenberg
President & CEO
Quality Technology Solutions
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
This month QTS is spotlighting its network penetration
testing partner, Razorpoint Security Technologies, Inc.
Based in New York City, Razorpoint Security specializes in
researching and analyzing security vulnerabilities and
conducting comprehensive security testing. Razorpoint
Security�s testing goes well beyond the average �port scan�
or �vulnerability scan� exercises. They look at your
network through the eyes of those looking to do you harm.
As Razorpoint Security�s president Gary Morse says, �We know
what they know, we know what they see, and we know what they
do.�
Razorpoint Security�s assessments provide business leaders
and corporate clients the necessary security services and
solutions that help keep corporate networks secure. They
have exceptional expertise in network security,
attack/penetration testing and identifying security
vulnerabilities especially as they relate to Internet
solutions and web applications. They provide security
services that focus the view of your operating environment.
Razorpoint Security offers all sectors of business the
services to maintain a firm grasp on the evolving state of
network security.
Razorpoint Security�s attack/penetration tests identify
potentially disastrous security vulnerabilities and help
ensure the protection of network infrastructures and
e-business ventures. While many security firms provide
singular penetration tests with limited documentation,
Razorpoint Security offers a year-round assessment schedule,
customized documentation deliverables, and monthly security
advisories that help keep clients up to date.
As Razorpoint Security Technologies approaches the start of
its fourth year in business, they have clearly become a
leading force in the network security industry. In addition
to providing comprehensive security services to its clients,
Razorpoint Security has become a prime media source on
information security. News outlets such as The New York
Times Magazine, ABC/CourtTV, CBS News, Crain�s NY Business,
Entrepreneur Magazine, CSO (Chief Security Officer)
Magazine, CRN Magazine and Wired News are among those that
have tapped Razorpoint Security for their expertise.
As local leaders in the security field, QTS and Razorpoint
Security have worked together to develop a Penetration &
Attack Testing offering that fits into QTS� QuikSecure
methodology and is a logical progression for customers who
have completed QTS� QuikSecure Security and Vulnerability
Assessment offerings. This QuikSecure PAT offering is
offered through QTS and has been scaled and priced
appropriately for the Medium Business market space.
For more information on Razorpoint Security Technologies,
please view their web site at www.razorpointsecurity.com,
email them at sales@razorpointsecurity.com, or call
(212)744-6900. Or, contact your QTS Account Manager.
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