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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 NEWS
QTS
OFFERS FREE SYSTEMS STRATEGY CHECK-UPS
Having developed this unique engagement jointly with
Microsoft, QTS is now offering Systems Strategy Check-Up
engagements to qualified customers and prospects
throughout New Jersey and New York. This
high-value, half-day consulting engagement helps
businesses evaluate how they are using Microsoft
technologies and identifies best practices and
recommendations for how to best deploy Microsoft
technologies in a business. For more information
on this no-charge engagement, contact your QTS Account
Manager.
WELCOME
ABOARD, AND BEST WISHES
There has been a lot of activity at QTS over the last
month. Please join us in welcoming aboard:
�
Rohan
Robinson, who joins us as a Systems Specialist and will
work out of our Customer Support Center after a few
years at IBM.
�
Will
Kang, who joins us as a Senior Systems Engineer on the
project team, after working on the Active Directory/DNS
migration at Johnson & Johnson;
�
Rob
Grayson, who joins us as a Senior Systems Engineer on
the project team, after working as a Microsoft/Citrix
specialist for another New Jersey integrator.
Also,
two QTS �old-timers� are moving on to new positions
outside of QTS. Please join us in wishing Paul
Sawchuk and Ernie Forsyth the best of luck in their new
careers.
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.
SUCCESS
STORIES
WILENTZ,
GOLDMAN & SPITZER
QTS
helped one of New Jersey�s largest law firms move to
Windows 2000 Server, Exchange 2000 and Active Directory.
http://www.qtsnet.com/about/success
stories/wilentz success story.pdf
PRESS
RELEASES
QTS
AND MICROSOFT LAUNCH PHASE TWO OF SYSTEMS STRATEGY
CHECK-UP CAMPAIGN
2/23/2004:
QTS announced today that QTS and Microsoft have
concluded the �pilot� stage of their joint Systems
Strategy Check-Up initiative and are moving into a
broader second phase of the campaign based on initial
successes. Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr48.htm
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EVENTS
No
new events have been scheduled.
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PRESIDENT'S
CORNER
Every
so often, a paradigm shift occurs in the way companies
use technology, and in the technologies vendors deliver
to customers. One of the more significant recent
shifts is the �Clientless VPN.�
A
clientless VPN is just what the name implies � a VPN
where there is no client software on the PCs connecting
to the VPN. A VPN, after all, merely encrypts data
transmitted between systems, based on successful
authentication (login) to the VPN. Traditionally,
implementing a VPN requires a VPN endpoint (often the
firewall) and then VPN client software on each remote PC
being connected. This technology is based on an
industry standard, IPSec, for how systems authenticate
and encrypt data.
Security
is a major consideration when implementing VPNs,
particularly on the client side. Once a PC
connects to a VPN, that PC is an extension of the LAN.
This has some major issues. First, any viruses,
worms or hostile code on the PC can now travel onto the
LAN. Second, if the PC is hacked or hijacked, the
attacker can now ride a secure, encrypted tunnel through
the firewall and into your network. Lastly, patch
management becomes an issue in making the remote PC
vulnerable to attack, and thus your network vulnerable
as well. So all VPN clients need to have (1)
personal firewall software, (2) antivirus software with
current signatures and scan engines and (3) current
patches for operating systems and applications.
Managing these three elements for dozens, hundreds or
thousands of remote computers can be a real headache, or
worse. Another undesirable side-effect is the lack
of flexibility � only computers that are running VPN
client software, properly configured, can connect.
Like most security measures, this has its pros and cons.
However,
SSL encryption is an alternative approach that has been
in use for some time, mainly on web servers. With
SSL, client (typically a browser) is programmed to trust
servers with digital certificates from �Certificate
Authorities� they have been programmed to trust.
These �Trusted CAs� act like a passport office,
vouching for the electronic identity of the business and
its web server. For example, if your browser
trusts Verisign (which it undoubtedly does), and
Verisign trusts QTS (because we pay them a fee to verify
us and do so), then your browser trusts QTS. When
you connect to our site (in this example) the browser
recognizes the digital certificate, establishes an SSL
connection (on port 443 rather than 80, via redirection
most likely) and the connection becomes encrypted (which
you can tell from the little lock icon in the lower
right of your screen). This is how eCommerce sites
protect your identity.
An
operative point here, however, is that nothing special
is configured on the client PC. The PC merely has
a browser, which is by default an SSL client. So
virtually any PC, on any network, can leverage SSL for
encryption. However, because computing can still
be local, the same security issues exist around
antivirus, personal firewall and patch management.
It
is interesting how the SSL VPN market went from a niche
market to a gold rush in the past year. People had
been implementing traditional client to site VPNs for
the last few years, and this drive had achieved a level
of critical mass. However, the SSL VPN turned this
upside down by accomplishing fundamentally the same
result, with less work and more flexibility. Some
vendors built their own SSL VPN appliances � Netilla
and Neoteris were early leaders here. Others, like
Symantec, bought companies that had such appliances, and
integrated them into the product line. Cisco is
adding this capability to its VPN Concentrator product,
so the device can either be an IPSec or SSL VPN
endpoint.
SSL
VPNs are particularly powerful when combined with
�thin client� technologies such as Microsoft
Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame. With thin
client technologies, remote users are simply viewing a
screen of a remote host session, and sending keystrokes
and mouse clicks to that session. No computing is
actually occurring locally, and bandwidth needs are
minimal since screen images are easily compressed, and
keystrokes and mouse clicks are very small amounts of
data.
The
advantages of combining these approaches are
significant. The IT organization now no longer
needs to worry about the condition of the remote systems
connecting to the network, because nothing is actually
happening on those systems. They are just screens
and keyboards. So they don�t necessarily need to
be running personal firewalls, current antivirus
software, or current security patches (though of course
this doesn�t hurt). This significantly lowers
the work required of IT to facilitate remote
connectivity, while improving an organization�s
security posture (by removing the points of
vulnerability beyond the firewall � the firewall is
returned to being the true perimeter of the network).
Citrix
offers a nice end-to-end solution in this space, with
MetaFrame XP. Included in the software, at no
additional charge, are two components that build exactly
this solution. Citrix Web Interface (formerly
known as NFuse Classic) is a web front-end that allows a
browser to connect to a back-end MetaFrame server
through a web login page, and after authentication be
presented with a list of applications or desktops he/she
has rights to use. The ICA client, a single DLL,
is auto-downloaded, and the application or desktop opens
inside the browser. It is a totally clientless
solution, and can be integrated with strong
authentication solutions such as RSA�s ACE/Server and
SecurID tokens. Citrix Secure Gateway adds the SSL
encryption to the web server(s). Thus a company
can deploy secure remote access to dozens or hundreds or
thousands of users, without ever touching the remote
systems (and in fact, this provides complete flexibility
to use any Internet connected system). Server
placement and firewall rules are critical in
architecting this solution, to properly secure it.
As
a point of interest, this approach was particularly
appealing to one of our law firm clients, because many
of the attorneys had spouses who worked for other firms
and already had VPN clients on their home PCs.
Adding another, competing VPN client and personal
firewall to those systems would have created support
issues that make me shudder to think of. The
clientless VPN solution made that all into a moot point,
and wiped out the need to add staff to support the
solution.
I
am absolutely convinced that this combination is a
major, positive change our industry has taken, and
almost all major players in this space have recognized
it. I suggest you give some consideration to these
needs, and to how you currently provide remote access to
your systems. This approach is a winner.
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. AKA is a highly
focused solution provider that provides services around
Microsoft Business Solutions � currently, the Dynamics
(formerly Great Plains) accounting systems, and
Microsoft CRM. 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 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 our 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 us
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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