You already lost control… now what?

Who knew that BYOD(Bring Your Own Device) was the new IT religious war? BYOD is inevitable but it’s not the end of the world. Too much FUD and too little history surrounds this exciting new era of enterprise computing.

Points to Ponder:

Do you know the dangers of employee-owned devices?

TechRepublic did an excellent job of reviewing challenges associated with supporting mobile devices in the corporate IT environment that are employee-owned.

Points to Ponder:

Conclusion: Before your [...]]]>

Do you know the dangers of employee-owned devices?

TechRepublic did an excellent job of reviewing challenges associated with supporting mobile devices in the corporate IT environment that are employee-owned.

Points to Ponder:

• Potential Lack of Ongoing Support
• Security
• No Centralized Management or Tracking
• Uncertain Costs
• Loss of control of data

Conclusion: Before your company agrees to support employee-owned devices in your IT environment, you should consider all of the ramifications and make sure you get ahead of your users so there are no surprises.  Lanlogic has helped clients understand their options, uncover real needs, and justify investing in solutions, training and support.

Need Help Deciding How to Address BYOD issues within your IT environment?

2011 was the year everyone seemed to want to really “access everything from anywhere.” Apple sold over 37 million iPhones and 15 million iPads… in the last 3 months. Android smartphones and tablets now number 250 million devices globally.

Most of these [...]]]>

Need Help Deciding How to Address BYOD issues within your IT environment?

2011 was the year everyone seemed to want to really “access everything from anywhere.”  Apple sold over 37 million iPhones and 15 million iPads… in the last 3 months.  Android smartphones and tablets now number 250 million devices globally.

Most of these personal devices are NOT being purchased by companies for their employees to use.  But yet, company data and usernames and passwords are saved on these little marvels.  Whose data is at risk?

If an employee asks us to let him or her use their new iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, or other favorite mobile device of their choice to do work… why worry?

Our clients didn’t think it was anything to worry about in the beginning either.  But then, they realized it might be something to plan for and manage better.

We have learned a lot on the topic and will be providing some some points to ponder and suggestions for taking the initiative.

Contact us today to lean more about how we can help.

Business Development/Sales Rep position available

In business since 1995 with a solid management team and a reference client list others drool for, Lanlogic is growing again. If you’re looking for the next step in your sales career, we’re ready to give you the freedom to generate as many new clients as you want [...]]]>

Business Development/Sales Rep position available

In business since 1995 with a solid management team and a reference client list others drool for, Lanlogic is growing again.  If you’re looking for the next step in your sales career, we’re ready to give you the freedom to generate as many new clients as you want to.  No account management to worry about, no marketing to moonlight with, and no worries about depending on others to ensure your commission checks have no chargebacks.

Lanlogic receives some of the highest-rated service satisfaction scores in the industry, our clients love us and refer us to their peers, and our whole team works together to ensure every new client you attract gets the very best IT service and support.

Your job is simple – find and close new business with organizations that really want the very best IT service and support in the bay area:

• Find qualified prospects that are serious about investing in IT stability and support
• Show them how our approach to IT service management is completely different and infinitely more valuable than how they might be doing things today
• Persuade them to trust us more than they have trusted any other IT service provider, in return for complete ownership and responsibility for their current IT environment

If you’re the type of person that excels at delivering only the very best, for yourself and your clients, then Lanlogic is the place for you.

Our expectations are high:

• Excellent communication and presentation skills (verbal/written, private/public)
• 2 years new business development experience in a contacting C-level decision-makers in the Small and Midsize Business Market in the bay area
• Successful 4-year university/college experience, including graduating with a degree
• Professional Appearance – you need to “fit in” on the golf course or in the boardroom
• Self-motivated – “If it is to be, it is up to me”
• Aptitude for technology sales – You want to stand in line for the new iPhone every year

Activities you need to perform successfully every day:

• Calling decision-makers and gatekeepers that need to be educated about our value
• Persuading them to meet with you
• Convincing them to trust you and trust us to deliver a better experience

Rewards:

• Excellent compensation plan – salary + commission
• Excellent benefits – medical/dental/long-term care, 401K, expense account
• Excellent tools – laptop, smartphone, conference room, data center to show off
• Excellent support – Senior Level Technical Account Managers assigned to every new client
• Excellent solutions to sell – You will not be left without an option for your customers

Please send resume and compensation history to jobs at lanlogic dot com

In your cover letter, tell us your experience around best methods to find new business.

1. Establish a relationship with [...]]]> American small business spend billions of dollars each year on IT support, yet most of them don’t have a thoughtful IT support strategy to ensure they are getting the most bang for their buck. The following seven tips will help you get the most from you provider of technical support.

1. Establish a relationship with a provider.

Dig your well before you are thirsty. Don’t just call an IT support provider when you have a technical support emergency. Get to know one while sailing is smooth and build a stable relationship with them. This will help them get to know you, your needs, and your systems during a time of relative calm, which is easier on everyone. That way when you really do need them, they’ll be prepared and able to help you as efficiently as possible.

2. Treat your IT support provider like a part of your team.

As a continuation of tip No. 1, treat your IT support provider as a part of your team, not just a vendor. The more you are open with them about your goals, priorities, and concerns, the more they will be able to help you. Show them the trust and respect of a professional, and they will bend over backward for you.

3. Be clear about your expectations.

Every business has different needs and expectations. Some can’t afford any downtime and are willing to pay to be up 24/7, while others are just fine if their computers don’t work for a few hours and don’t want to pay higher rates to ensure uptime. Be clear about your expectations, so your service provider can align their service and costs with your expectations.

4. Let them monitor your systems.

IT support professionals have access to amazing remote monitoring and management tools that let them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. These tools can monitor the health of your systems and alert your IT support team of a possible problem before it becomes a disaster. This decreases costs and the likelihood of computer downtime.

5. Find someone with experience in the hardware and software you use.

You don’t want your IT support specialist to learn on the job while you are picking up the tab. Find someone who has experience in the majority of the hardware and software you use. At the same time, be realistic and understand that your technical support team may not have experience in everything you use; tell them that you’d like them to make the investment in learning the technology at their cost as a sign of commitment to a long term relationship with you.

6. Find a provider that does remote support.

Ninety percent of IT support issues can be resolved over the phone or internet. Find a service provider that is staffed to provide effective remote support so you can minimize the costs and wasted time associated with waiting for a service provider to drive to your office.

7. Find a provider that offers managed services

“Managed Services” is a term used by IT support providers to describe an ongoing IT management relationship with a client that generally includes the proactive management of the client’s technology (versus just reactively responding when something is wrong) for a flat monthly fee. This combination of proactive services on a flat monthly budget can really benefit small businesses by removing some of the costly surprises that come with working with a service provider on an hourly basis.

Ask Lanlogic about our new TotalCare Managed IT Services coming in 2012.

Sign up for Office 365 Exchange Server Online Migration and Support in December and receive one of these great offers:

1. 15% rebate on your subscription costs, applied as a rebate check

2. FREE Postini Message Security anti-spam and anti-malware protection for the first year

3. FREE Custom Email Migration Plan for your organization of 50+ users

4. Or a Partridge in a Pear Tree … wait … How about a Completely FREE Migration Project for your and your users, when you sign up for our Rapid Response Center Help Desk Service for one year?

Contact us today.

We’re looking for a few good entrepreneurs – to fill our positions for marketing interns. Do you have a [...]]]> Per Monster.com, “Employers overwhelmingly point to internship experience as the most important factor they consider in hiring new college graduates for full-time positions.” So help get your foot in the door with an internship at Lanlogic.

We’re looking for a few good entrepreneurs – to fill our positions for marketing interns. Do you have a self-starter personality, great thought leadership skills, and the drive to learn and work in a team environment? Is good customer service one of your top work priorities? Then we want to hear from you!

Marketing interns will shadow the Director of Sales & Marketing on the development and management of the marketing department. Job responsibilities include:

1. Social media management (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blog, etc.)
2. Database management
3. Help create and host webinars
4. Help design a marketing plan and budget for the department
5. Work on internal marketing: polishing the company’s image and branding

In addition to these opportunities, interns will attend regular meetings within the company to gain valuable insight into how marketing drives many aspects of the overall business. We are seeking candidates who can devote at least 10 hours a weeks to the internship, and we are willing to work around class schedules.

Contact Us Today

But for many small businesses the whole idea of “the cloud” [...]]]> Cloud computing has leveled the playing field, enabling small businesses to have computer hardware and software systems that rival those of major corporations. The entrance of Microsoft and Apple into the cloud market has only served to raise awareness for these types of services.

But for many small businesses the whole idea of “the cloud” is still confusing.  Sure they understand the basics behind it, but many don’t realize the benefits, nor do they know how to go about moving to the cloud.

“The cloud is increasingly popular with small businesses because it allows access to more powerful applications, more quickly and at lower cost than ever before,” says Josh Waldo, director of SMB marketing at Microsoft. What’s more, moving to the cloud can save a small business money by helping to reduce overhead and costs associated with physical hardware and software.

What is the Cloud?

In essence cloud computing is the ability to access computer hardware and software from the Internet. Instead of a small business housing a server for email or security or a storage system on-site, the small business would pay a monthly fee to access a data center’s hardware via the Internet. Same goes with software whether it’s email, a customer relationship management program or a Web hosting application. Small businesses can also access their documents and presentations via the cloud enabling employees in different locations to collaborate as if they were sitting next to each other.

“The three tenants of the cloud are economic benefits, flexibility and responsiveness,” says Joe Foos from Lanlogic, an information technology services company focused on the small business market. For a small business the benefits will either be one or a combination of the three, he says.

Take flexibility. Some small businesses, particularly ones that have peaks and troughs in business demand, need the flexibility to increase their computer systems when demand is high and to reduce it when business is slow. Being on the cloud means the company can order up more processing power and storage space on a need to use basis. If a small business had its own hardware in house it would take weeks to order and install an additional server. Same goes for responsiveness. Small businesses launching a new product would want to quickly increase their computer systems to handle the demand but may not necessarily have the time to order a new server and wait a couple of weeks for it to come in.

On the economic front, small businesses can save a significant amount of money. In addition to not having to pay for computer hardware, moving to the cloud means a small business doesn’t need to worry about hiring an IT professional to manage the systems. Not to mention a small business will save on the electricity required to run the systems.

“Some of our clients save 60 percent to 70 percent on the cloud versus building an on premise email system,” says Foos. According to Foos, for small businesses just getting their toes wet with cloud computing, the easiest thing to do is to move their email system to the cloud. “It makes the most sense because it’s a mission critical application for many organizations which don’t have the IT resources to babysit a server inside the office 24 hours a day,” he says.

While small businesses may express concerns that moving their critical systems and applications to the cloud will make their data more vulnerable to a potential breach, experts says that moving to the cloud often times will make the data and applications more secure.

“People choose on premise servers because they think they can secure it better than a hosting provider,” says Foos. “Most organizations are lucky if they have a single firewall in place where a hosted place has multiple layers of security.”

Choosing a Cloud service provider

Moving to the cloud affords small businesses a lot of benefits but it’s not without negatives. For one thing, when a company moves to the cloud it gives up control of their systems which could come as a shock to some business owners. According to Foos at Lanlogic, to reduce that potential shock, he says a small business should go with a provider that will meet all the needs of the business and one in which the company feels secure with. Since there are a slew of cloud providers popping up just about every day, Foos says the small business has to do its homework on the providers before choosing one.

“It’s not just a transaction,” says Foos. “You have to trust that provider has your interest top of mind,” which means making sure the provider understands what your business is trying to do and what the provider can and can’t do.

A small business shouldn’t move to the cloud for the sake of moving to the cloud either, adds Foos. He says a move to the cloud should be prompted by a need for a new email system, because the company has aging hardware or wants to collaborate better with far flung employees. “Once you establish the need, then look at your options in the cloud,” he says.

Understanding your needs and making a decision about cloud computing for your small business is best done through a cloud readiness assessment, a process that generates a comprehensive report showing the status of current IT infrastructure and best practice recommendations to consider.

Contact Lanlogic today to schedule your Cloud Readiness Assessment.