QuikNews January 2001 E-Mail Newsletter




Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. QTS QuikNews - January 2001 - Issue 2001.1 February 11, 2001 ************************************************************************ Welcome to the January 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. As a QTS client, a prospective client or a "friend of QTS," you have been automatically added to our newsletter distribution list. To unsubscribe from this mailing please see the instructions at the bottom of this page, or call your QTS Account Manager. Please do not respond to this e-mail, as this is an unmonitored account. ********************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE ********************************************************************** 1. QTS News 2. Events 3. Patches & Upgrades 4. LAN Administration Best Practices 5. Special Offers & Featured Solutions 6. Contacting and Working With QTS ********************************************************************** QTS NEWS ********************************************************************** QTS EXPANDS SALES STAFF In an effort to broaden focus beyond our core Legal market, QTS has hired Marco Rodriguez to join our team as a Solutions Consultant. Marco comes to QTS with over seven years' business development experience and a broad technology background. Marco's job is to develop new business in Northern New Jersey, outside the Legal market segment which Marty Tuohy will continue to handle. Marco reports directly to Neil Rosenberg, QTS' President, as will the other Solutions Consultant we are in the process of recruiting. If you know any other businesses or law firms that would benefit from a relationship with QTS, please put them in touch with us, or contact Marco or Marty so we can talk to them. QTS Fact: Most of our new business traditionally comes from client referrals! QTS EXPANDS TECHNICAL STAFF In January, QTS brought aboard Renato Amerena (CNE) as a Senior Applications Specialist and Mike Michitsch (CNE, MCSE, CCNA) as a Senior Network Engineer. Renato and Michael add significant and varied experience to QTS' technical project team. We are presently in the process of adding another Senior Engineer to the Customer Support Center, and two more project engineers (mid to upper level) to round out our staff and enhance service to our client base. QTS IS A CISCO AUTHORIZED RESELLER! With 3Com's departure from the enterprise router and switching market, QTS has expanded its line card and became a Cisco Authorized Reseller last year. We have also added staff with Cisco experience, and ultimately our router and high-end switch focus will shift to the Cisco product line (but don't worry, we'll keep supporting the 3Com routers and switches we have in place). Please keep us in mind for Cisco purchases and project work. +++ FROM THE WEB +++ QTS OFFERS LEGAL CASE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION TO ADDRESS NEW JERSEY "BEST PRACTICES" COURT RULES 11/20/2000: QTS announced a solution for law firms needing to address concerns over the stringent new deadlines under the Best Practices rules. The QTS solution is based on the industry leading case management product from DATA.TXT Corporation, Time Matters, and leverages QTS' consulting methodology and law firm experience and expertise. Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr7.htm QTS CONTINUES TO SCORE WELL IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS 10/9/2000: QTS announced a 4.78 score (95.56%) for its third quarter 2000 Customer Satisfaction Survey process, on a total of 57 returned surveys. Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr6.htm ********************************************************************** EVENTS ********************************************************************** QTS SEMINAR SERIES QTS is starting up its Spring Seminar Series on February 28th with a seminar on Time Matters case management, to be followed by Novell seminars on Upgrading to NetWare 5.1 and Managing your Network with ZENworks (for Desktops and for Servers). In April we will host sessions with Microsoft on Windows 2000 Professional and Server, and in May we will start an Internet Security series of sessions with Checkpoint Software Technologies (makers of Firewall-1), beginning with Network Firewall Security. Sign up Now! Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/seminars.html NOVELL BRAINSHARE Novell is hosting its Brainshare conference in Salt Lake City, UT from March 19-23. This show is always full of useful technical information, and QTS has been a regular participant for years - in fact, last year at Brainshare, QTS was awarded Novell's Service Excellence Award! For information on the conference, visit www.novell.com, or ask your QTS Account Manager. ********************************************************************** PATCHES & UPGRADES ************************************************************************ Call the Customer Support Center to have us apply QTS-standard patches and keep your systems current. The following patches have been recently released (within the last few months) and are recommended by QTS: * Time Matters 3.0 Service Pack 3 * ZENworks for Desktops 3 Service Pack 1 * IntranetWare 4.11 Support Pack 9 * Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 InoculateIT signature files are currently at version 20.40 and VirusScan/NetShield is at version 4120. Please keep your antivirus signatures current! Notes: - Remember, always check compatibility with key applications (DOCS Open, Goldmine, etc.) before applying Microsoft SQL Server Service Packs; - We have seen problems with NetWare 5 and ARCserveIT for NetWare service packs depending on client configurations. Please keep these patch levels "as is" unless we recommend otherwise; - Check with the CSC for compatibility issues before applying patches yourself (or have us do so). A 5 minute call can save hours of problems! Some patches can cause problems, especially in combination with other software programs or patch levels. Please talk to us to verify whether we see any possible problems in your environment before patching your systems independently. We make best efforts to test patch combinations but cannot guarantee compatibility between software and hardware manufacturers' products. ************************************************************************ LAN ADMINISTRATION BEST PRACTICES ********************************************************************** This month, our focus is on Tape Backup. Here are five things you can do to improve your backup solution and the likelihood of being able to use it when you need it! 1. New Tape Library Set Annually Backups are only as good as the tapes they are written on. Since DDS DAT tapes typically only last for a year or so of sustained use, it is important that you set aside your tapes each year and stop writing to them. This is done by setting up a new "library," so your backup software asks for new tapes and stops writing to the old ones. The old ones can then be set aside and used just for restores. Obviously this will cost 10-20 tapes per year, but that's a small price to pay compared to the value of the data you are restoring. 2. Restore a File Every Month or Two Sometimes, your backups run successfully but there are hidden problems with the tapes. The best time to find this is in advance, rather than when you need it in a crisis. To run your monthly test, copy a few test files to another directory, or rename them. Then try restoring those files from tape, and make sure you can access them. If the files are OK, you can delete them and put the originals back. But do this with non-critical files and do it proactively, before you need to do a critical restore. 3. Take Tapes Offsite Rotate some of your tapes offsite so in the event of a building-wide disaster, you can at least restore your data from a week ago or less. If all of your tapes are onsite and you suffer from a fire, flood or other disaster, you will need to be able to restore your data and return your business to operation. If you have a relationship with a business in another nearby building, then you could consider storing recent tapes there reciprocally with that business. Older tapes should be stored somewhere further away. 4. Use a Fireproof Safe for Onsite Tapes For your tapes onsite, we recommend storing them in a fireproof safe. You can purchase such a safe for between $100 and $500 - be careful as to the rating of the safe, as you want the safe to be able to withstand not just the fire but also the heat of the fire. Alternatively, if you have a bank in your building, you may be able to store tapes in a safe deposit box at the bank office. 5. Check Your Logs! Don't assume all of your files are being backed up. In some cases a system-wide backup will succeed, but individual files may not be protected (especially open files). Review the logs carefully and see what, if anything, is being missed. If you are not sure, call the Customer Support Center and have us help you, or schedule additional training with us so you can do this yourself. Hopefully these LAN Administration Best Practices will help you protect your data. ********************************************************************** SPECIAL OFFERS & FEATURED SOLUTIONS ************************************************************************ TIME MATTERS CASE MANAGEMENT Are you ready for New Jersey Best Practices? QTS has implemented case management solutions for dozens of law firms in New Jersey and New York. We can help you comply with the new New Jersey rules, and also save money and improve control over your practice. Case Management has the highest Return on Investment of any QTS solution! We are hosting a seminar on the benefits of case management, features of Time Matters, and issues involved in successfully implementing a case management system. Please join us on Wednesday, February 28th at this seminar and learn how your law firm can benefit from case management! ZENWORKS 3 FOR DESKTOPS QTS is offering customers ZENworks for Desktops 3.0 licenses at upgrade pricing for a significant savings, through April 30, 2001. Normally, you must have purchased the full ZENworks package to qualify for an upgrade, but for now we can offer you upgrade pricing, and we recommend it highly. Key features include: * Windows 2000 Support (Group Policies, other advanced features) * Disk Mirroring Technology (similar to Ghost, but NDS-integrated) * Enhanced Notebook Support (ability to work offline and cache NDS application information) * Improved Remote Control for User Support ZENworks for Desktops 3.0 requires NDS, but will run in a Windows NT/2000-only environment. Call your QTS Account Manager for more details. ************************************************************************ CONTACTING AND WORKING WITH QTS: ********************************************************************** If you are a current QTS Customer, you will want to work through our Customer Service Coordinator, Tyce Knox. Tyce handles customer account management once the "salesperson" (we hate calling ourselves that!) has brought the customer aboard and seen to it that all initial projects are completed. Tyce can be reached at extension 232, or via email as tknox@QTSnet.com. For technical support, please call the Customer Support Center at (973)761-5256 (QuikAssist customers have a special 800 number for support, as well as access to our off-hours pager system). Paul Sawchuk manages the CSC and can be reached at extension 228 if you need escalation or status on a support issue (also via email as psawchuk@QTSnet.com). Please do not leave voice mails or emails for project technicians on support issues - all support calls should go through the CSC so we can log them in our help desk system and properly track them through to resolution without our responsiveness goals. Note that QuikAssist customers can email us support issues - send the email to support@QTSnet.com, but use this only for non-critical support. For projects, John Houston oversees all QTS projects and manages them against schedule and budget. John will typically be your point of contact for all aspects of projects we are implementing. John can be reached at extension 229, or via email as jhouston@QTSnet.com. If you are new to QTS, you are working with a Solutions Consultant (or, if you're a law firm, with Marty Tuohy). If you don't have an active account manager, please call our main number (973)761-5400 and explain your situation, and we'll get you to the Solutions Consultant or Account Manager responsible for your business and relationship management. You can also email sales@QTSnet.com or visit www.QTSnet.com for more information. To Comment on this newsletter, send an email to QuikNews@QTSnet.com. ********************************************************************** To Remove yourself from this mailing list please send a reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field. Or call your QTS Account Manager. ********************************************************************** To Subscribe to this Newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to go to http://www.QTSnet.com and click on the link for our newsletter. ********************************************************************** To View an archive of all QTS QuikNews editions, please visit www.QTSnet.com/QuikNews.html. ************************************************************************ Copyright 2001 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. This site last updated 12/16/06 � 1999 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. 76 South Orange Avenue Suite 302, South Orange, New Jersey 07079 telephone: 973.761.5400 fax: 973.761.1881 email: info@qtsnet.com