Volume 6 Issue 2

March 3, 2006

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Welcome to the February 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
• Partner Spotlight

QTS AND PARTNER NEWS

WELCOME TO NEW CUSTOMERS
QTS offers a “welcome aboard” to the following new customers:

·         Gilda’s Club Worldwide

·         LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae

QTS IS HIRING!
QTS is recruiting for senior level technical personnel, as well as an entry to mid-level sales/service support specialist.  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.

PRODUCT NOTICES AND ADVISORIES

OFFICE 2003 PROFESSIONAL PARTNER SERVICES REBATE
Microsoft is offering customers who purchase Office Professional a rebate per user license, which can be used toward Partner Services (such as for QTS service).  This promotion expires on March 31^st.  Contact your QTS Account Manager for more details, or see http://www.microsoftincentives.com.

CITRIX METAFRAME UPGRADE WINDOW ENDING
Citrix customers who have allowed their Subscription Advantage to lapse have until March 31^st to be able to purchase upgrades to either MetaFrame Presentation Server (under the Time2Go promotion) or MetaFrame Access Suite (under the Suite&Low promotion).  After March 31^st, customers will not have any upgrade value to licenses they do not upgrade under this promotion.  Contact your QTS Account Manager for more details.

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EVENTS

MICROSOFT SOLUTIONS BRIEFING

QTS and Microsoft are hosting an Executive Solutions Briefing for small and medium business customers (25-500 user environments).  Join us for this informative, 3 hour event to learn how your organization can benefit from new Microsoft technologies and solutions, and what tools and resources are available to you from Microsoft.  Microsoft and QTS will also review the benefits of Software Assurance, discuss available promotions that can save you money, and review the roadmap for upcoming product releases and features.  We will also present on key Microsoft initiatives such as Trustworthy Computing (Microsoft’s security efforts), the Dynamic Systems Initiative and the integration of Microsoft’s Business Solutions offerings.  This event will provide valuable information to any Microsoft customer! Join us on Wednesday morning, March 15^th at Microsoft’s New York City office (note the date change) or on Tuesday morning, May 11^th at Microsoft’s Iselin NJ office.  Contact your QTS Account Manager to register for these events, or follow the web links above.  Note that a signed Microsoft Non-Disclosure Agreement is required for attendance at these events. 

SECURE & WELL-MANAGED INFRASTRUCTURE

QTS, New Horizons and Microsoft are hosting a half day seminar on Tuesday, May 2^nd at New Horizons in Iselin, NJ on how to implement a Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure.  In this event, QTS will present on how Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003, combined with Microsoft’s management and security technologies, can help to provide a reliable and secure platform for employee productivity.  Microsoft and New Horizons will discuss how employee training can enhance productivity and effectiveness, and how to leverage Software Assurance benefits, including training vouchers.  For more information or to register, contact your QTS Account Manager, click here, or visit www.clicktoattend.com and enter event code 104167. 

CXO SEMINAR: DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTIONS

On Wednesday, March 1^st, join Microsoft, Citrix, NSI Software and QTS at the Microsoft NJ office for an informative seminar on how to develop a Disaster Recovery Plan and build a Hot Site Failover Solution for your business leveraging technologies from Microsoft, Citrix and NSI Software.  Businesses are challenged more and more each year with the need to maximize systems up-time and availability, amidst an ever-increasing range of threats.  IT management is often tasked with responsibility for developing and implementing Disaster Recovery Plans to protect the business and ensure continuous access to key business systems.  In this seminar, we’ll discuss how to build the plan and what the key elements are, and discuss the various options for Cold, Warm and Hot Site solutions.  We’ll then drill down into how to cost-effectively build a Hot Site leveraging technologies from Microsoft, NSI and Citrix to enable access to your applications and data, and conclude with tips and best practices.  For more information or to register, contact your QTS Account Manager, click here, or visit www.clicktoattend.com and enter event code 104270.  The event will also be hosted at the Microsoft NY office on Tuesday May 9^th, and you may register for that session by clicking here. 

CxO SEMINAR: PREPARING FOR WINDOWS VISTA

Join Microsoft and QTS for this informative seminar on how your organization can get ready for Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP Professional as the desktop operating system of choice for businesses.  In this seminar, we will discuss some of the features and capabilities planned for Windows Vista, and how your business can benefit from this next release of Windows, as well as the upcoming releases of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange Server.  We’ll explore how these new products can improve user productivity and collaborative capabilities, as well as how Windows Vista can improve systems’ reliability, security and performance.  We will also discuss how to deploy Windows Vista across your organization, leveraging tools such as Remote Installation Services, the Business Desktop Deployment Accelerator, and Systems Management Server.  We’ll also discuss best practices in desktop management and patch management. The next sessions are Tuesday, March 14^th at the Microsoft NYC office and Wednesday, April 19^th at the Microsoft NJ office.  For more information or to register, contact your QTS Account Manager, or visit www.clicktoattend.com and enter event code 104308 for NJ or 104304 for NYC.  Note that a signed Microsoft Non-Disclosure Agreement is required for attendance at these events. 

CxO LUNCH SEMINAR: SECURING YOUR MICROSOFT NETWORK – SECURITY POLICY & CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Join Microsoft, SurfControl, NetVision and QTS for this informative lunch seminar on how to successfully plan for and implement security policies within an organization, and how to implement content management controls that enforce those policies and enhance security.  Security Policies are critical to legally protecting your business and meeting regulatory requirements, as well as guiding employees and ensuring IT resources are used properly for business purposes.  Join us to learn how to successfully implement them.  The next sessions are Tuesday, April 4^th at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Parsippany, NJ and Thursday, April 6^th at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in New York (midtown).  For more information or to register, contact your QTS Account Manager, or visit www.clicktoattend.com and enter event code 105688 for NJ or 105687 for NYC. 

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PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Over the last few years it has been my habit to write my July President’s Corner to discuss new ideas, developments and strategies coming out of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, which QTS is a regular attendee at.  This month, having come back from the Citrix Partner Summit at the end of January, I would like to explore that company’s strategy and some of the more important observations from this event (within my non-disclosure requirements, of course!). 

Citrix has become an increasingly important partner to QTS over the last year, based on a steady shift in that company’s product mix and the alignment of those products with QTS’ strategy.  As Citrix CEO Mark Templeton said, Citrix is no longer a “one trick pony” and now has a very broad line card of solutions, all of which fit within a coherent strategy.  That message revolves around secure access to applications – or, as Citrix would call it, Secure Access, and will help Citrix reach its goal of exceeding $1B in annual software sales this year. 

Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server (what most of us think of when we think of Citrix) is still the cornerstone of the company’s line card, and the current version is much improved.  Presentation Server 4.0 (since MetaFrame is now used to brand multiple components in the Access Suite) includes several key features to enhance existing deployments that are upgraded to 4.0: 

• Improved performance for screen refreshes and client performance;
• Improved Universal Printer Driver eliminates need to sync client and server-side printer drivers and supports all printer types;
• Application Isolation Environments, to allow different versions of the same program to co-exist on the same server and to help with resolving compatibility problems and test for them;
• Web Interface improvements in performance, customizability and management;
• Web Interface for SharePoint Integration;
• Support for unique, virtual IP addresses in each session;
• TWAIN and USB device support (in the Advanced Edition);
• CPU Utilization and Memory Optimization (in the Enterprise Edition) allowing even more users per server for greater scalability.

These feature improvements and others make this a compelling upgrade for users of earlier versions of Citrix MetaFrame, and a strong value proposition for users of Windows Terminal Services not currently leveraging Presentation Server.  QTS has had considerable success with Presentation Server for secure remote access solutions, deploying applications over slow WAN links or VPN connections, and as a Disaster Recovery hot site solution for applications access. 

Citrix has bundled together MetaFrame Presentation Server, Password Manager and Advanced Access Control on its SSL VPN appliance into the MetaFrame Access Suite (and in fact is offering customers a cost-attractive upgrade path through March 31^st), to provide a comprehensive Access solution.  The Access Suite provides a full solution set for application deployment/publishing, SSL VPN remote access and end-point analysis, and password management. 

Citrix MetaFrame Password Manager has been on the market for some time, but the current 4.1 release has really hit a market sweet spot by providing very strong functionality for single sign-on, both within a MetaFrame Presentation Server but also generally across the network.  So, an organization can implement strong password policies on its Active Directory (or NetWare) login, and then manage all user passwords transparently in the background (including password changes), so users only need to remember and know one password to access network resources (including Windows applications, web sites and applications, and host systems).  We are seeing increased demand for this solution in the mid-market space as organizations are forced to tighten up their password management strategies both by regulatory requirements (SOX, HIPAA, GLB) and by business management.

Citrix has for some time had the ability to deliver “SSL VPN” functionality leveraging its Web Interface (formerly NFuse) and Citrix Secure Gateway modules, which are part of MetaFrame Presentation Server.  This functionality was limited to accessing Presentation Servers, and was therefore not a comprehensive remote access solution (or at best, a sometimes cumbersome one).  In 2005, Citrix acquired SSL VPN technology and integrated this 1U rackmount appliance with Web Interface and Presentation Server.  The new appliance, called the Citrix Access Gateway, replaces Citrix Secure Gateway (which will not be enhanced or further developed) and allows for SSL VPN functionality for Presentation Server as well as other web applications (such as Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server or Microsoft CRM), access to file shares and the ability to tunnel other traffic within HTTPS/SSL.  This provides a “clientless” SSL VPN solution, with the ability to add a low-footprint client (auto-installed) for advanced functionality.

The Access Suite leverages the CAG appliance by implementing End-Point Analysis (or what Cisco refers to as Network Access Control and Microsoft refers to as Network Access Protection – the ability to scan clients and apply security policies before allowing network access) in its Advanced Access Control module.  This allows businesses to control access policies at very granular level, as well as enforce rules for requiring current antivirus signatures, running antivirus software or personal firewalls, current patch levels and other policies before allowing connection to the network (or, enforcing a reduced access level for non-compliant systems).  This allows for a very fine-tuned approach to managing remote access security, but can also be used to apply these policies internally – for example, to users on a wireless LAN segment. 

As to where Citrix is going, there are some very interesting developments.  The CAG appliance represents a first step into the realm of appliance-based functionality, supplemented by Citrix acquisition of NetScaler and its product line late last year.  NetScaler powers most of the major web sites, providing a variety of features including application acceleration, load balancing, improved security (by acting as a shield before traffic hits a web server) and content switching.   Most people pass through NetScaler devices every day and don’t even know it.  This product gives Citrix another tool set to enhance the user experience of accessing applications in a fast, reliable and secure fashion, and Citrix recent acquisition of Teros (a web application firewall/security vendor) will add even more functionality to the Citrix NetScaler line.

Going forward, Citrix has some interesting plans around enhancements to its core products concurrent with Microsoft’s Windows “Longhorn” Server release in 2007, and with new products around application distribution.  Its announcement of “Project Tarpon,” a solution that essentially leverages the Application Isolation environment noted above to build and “stream” self-contained applications to the desktop is of particular note, in that it combines the benefits of MetaFrame (highly controlled, centrally managed application provisioning and deployment) with the benefits of SMS (local execution and the ability for applications to run offline), without the drawbacks of SMS (packages stepping on each other).  The ability to “stream” applications from a Tarpon server to a laptop, have the application run in a self-contained, virtualized “shell” while offline from the network, is very appealing.  This genre of technology, which Citrix refers to as Application Streaming, has some very interesting possibilities, and fits well with QTS’ current focus on helping organizations migrate to the latest Microsoft desktop platforms – another tool in the toolbox, so to speak.  Overall, Citrix has established its focus on helping businesses to deploy software applications (Windows or Web) in a flexible, secure, reliable and high-performance manner – its Access strategy.

So, the days of Citrix as a one program company are over, and interesting times are ahead both for Citrix and for QTS in its partnership with Citrix.

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 business solutions partner, AKA Enterprise Solutions (also known as Interdyn AKA).  AKA is a highly focused solution provider that provides services around Microsoft Business Solutions – currently, the Dynamics (formerly Great Plains) and Axapta accounting systems, and Microsoft CRM, as well as related eCommerce and application development services. These solutions are a great fit for most of QTS’ mid-market customers.

For more than a decade, AKA Enterprise Solutions has been a leading partner dedicated to the sales, consulting, service and support of Microsoft Business Solutions. AKA Enterprise Solutions provides solutions that address Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), e-Commerce and Business Process Consulting and Custom Application Development.

AKA’s dedication and focus on the Microsoft Great Plains, Axapta and Microsoft CRM products benefits their clients by providing increased access to knowledge and dedicated resources for all areas of customer care. As a certified Microsoft Business Solutions partner, AKA shares Microsoft's commitment to long lasting customer relationships exemplified by a 93% client customer retention rate and consistently high satisfaction ratings.

AKA Enterprise Solutions has been the recipient of numerous industry awards and national honors that serve to reflect the combined talents, innovation, and enthusiasm of the team members. AKA was the 2001 recipient of the Eagle Award, the highest award given to Microsoft Business Solutions partner organizations recognizing strong leadership, a commitment to excellence and extreme dedication to customers and partners. Of the 4,000 Microsoft Business Solutions partners worldwide, AKA is routinely ranked within the top fifteen companies in the world. As part of their dedication to Microsoft Business Solutions, AKA has maintained the only North East certified Microsoft Great Plains Education Center for the past three years.

As an InterDyn company, AKA Enterprise Solutions offers clients the advantage of specialized talents and industry expertise of each of its locations to maintain the highest quality of customer care services. With more than 500 certified professionals in locations around the world, InterDyn supports over 3,500 customers- making it the largest, most comprehensive, and most experienced Microsoft Business Solutions partner worldwide. For more information about AKA Enterprise Solutions visit http://www.akaes.com, or contact your QTS Account Manager.

QTS and AKA Enterprise Solutions work together for our customers to build new solutions that create competitive advantage, reduce costs or create opportunity - with QTS providing the infrastructure and AKA the software solutions, in a highly integrated fashion.

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