Ixis IT Blog

Drupalcon pool challenge

Michael — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:04:15 +0000

Since getting a pool table last year we've probably spent more time than we should have done brushing up on our pool skills. If you fancy a ~~whipping~~ game of pool at Drupalcon give us a shout and if we (somehow) manage to lose we'll get the beers in! (** offer limited to 3 beers per person, just incase ;)

JOB: IT Support Person Required

Rob — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:19:06 +0000

Ixis IT are seeking a systems support technician to join their team.

The role will be based at our office in Daresbury near Warrington. You will be working in a busy and diverse IT environment working in a small team of three supporting clients based across the UK. Your main roles will be providing 1st line support to end users and the associated server infrastructure for a range of businesses. You must have the ability to handle user phone calls & email politely and efficiently and be a team player.

Key skills and technical experience required:
-Windows XP/Vista/7
-Windows 2003/2008 Server/SBS
-Previous Helpdesk Experience
-MS Office 2003 / 2007 / 2010
-Active Directory
-Punctual, professional, organised and friendly

The following would be highly beneficial:

Drupalcon Copenhagen Here We Come!

Mike — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:41:35 +0000

That's right - the Ixis team will be descending on Copenhagen for a week of all things Drupal. The twice a year international conference for all things Drupal is being held in Copenhagen between 23rd and 27th of August.

We'll be in Copenhagen from the 20th August until the 27th and would love to meet anybody who we've worked with or spoken to over our six years of Drupal goodness - so please track us down or send a message to arrange a meet-up.

Extending The Ixis Team Life Expectancy With a Brew

Mike — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:47:51 +0000

Good news for us all at the Ixis office this week with the results of a 13 year-long study on drinking hot beverages.

Scientists in the Netherlands have been tracking 40,000 people who enjoy a fair few coffees and teas during the day, and the results are handy to know.

"Those who drank more than six cups of tea a day cut their risk of heart disease by a third" ... Consuming between two to four coffees a day was also linked to a reduced risk.

So our healthiest team member is hosting expert Chris, who can drink huge mugs of tea constantly all day. However, we're probably ruining the health benefits with the beer tasting we do on a Friday!

Ixis awarded "Partner of the Month" by Rackspace

Chris — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:56:01 +0000

This week Rackspace Europe announced Ixis IT as their Partner of the Month for June 2010 to promote our dedicated Drupal managed hosting service and our accompanying monthly Drupal support package.

Ixis have used Rackspace for over 5 years due to their strong reputation in the hosting industry backed by fanatical support and an enterprise service level agreement.

Securing Your Mobile Workforce

Rob — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:14:10 +0000

There has been various news stories over the past year about employees leaving laptops and CD's on trains, back of taxis etc and the data which has been available for Joe public to access on these devices very sensitive! How can you overcome employee neglect of your company property and data?

Whilst it is inconvenient and obviously money draining, a lost laptop can easily be replaced. However, losing a laptop doesn't just mean that the person who ends up with it has a free laptop, it also means that they have access to all your business data stored on it. Imagine all your finance and competitor information getting into the wrong hands and what exploits could be done with it.

Using Twitter to Connect with Clients

Mike — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:46:07 +0000

If you have Twitter account for business but lack the time to try and find all your clients on there, here's a simple process that works well to give your account a kick.

Most of us should have a contact list in our mail or CRM (customer relationship manager) software that can export all client contacts to a file, or a newsletter subscriber list in which you can export the email addresses.

Twitter has a number of ways to find people and connect. The useful feature we'll use allows you to check your contacts on Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL email services using the Find Friends tool. But you're not using any of these web based email services? Doesn't matter.

Views 2 - Intelligent Taxonomy Filtering

Mike — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:17:51 +0000

A recent request from a client was to improve the Views 2 exposed taxonomy filter so that it intelligently hides taxonomy terms which aren't related to any of the content returned by the View query. As anybody who has spent time poking about in Views vast configuration panel will know, this isn't possible through the existing Taxonomy handler.

Stackoverflow.com had a few posts from users requesting the same functionality, and replies from others saying it wasn't possible with Views 2. Well the good news is: it is possible, right now, without hacking Views.

The Manchester Haçienda Club

Mike — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:11:48 +0000

Ixis worked with Manchester based agency Worship Digital to produce a great multi-media based community site for the legendary Haçienda club brand in Manchester (UK).

The project included the usual News section for promoting upcoming activities and history of the nightclub, and alongside this an events area which allowed pinning an event on the world map using a custom Drupal CCK field.

RedHat Certified Staff

Chris — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:16:18 +0000

Ixis would like to proudly announce that we new have a Red Hat Certified Technician among our staff who support our Drupal Hosting infrastructure.

Rob completed the course with a 100% pass mark and now adds more formal knowledge to the solid skills that Ixis already have.

Congratulations to Rob for putting in the hard work over the past few months!