VMware is the industry standard virtualisation software currently being used by over 250,000 customers.

Microsoft’s Hyper-V is VMware’s biggest rival in the virtualisation market, offering comparable virtualisation features.

Whilst Veeam is the number 1 backup and replication software for both VMware and Hyper-V, if you currently use these software packages, are you getting the most out of them? If you aren’t using them, why not find out what everyone’s talking about?

We will be holding another Virtualisation demo day on Tuesday 14 August 2012 at our offices in Paddock Wood.

To book your place at this event, please call your Account Manager today.

There are many downsides to using unmanaged wireless access points for business. For example; introducing extra devices to extend coverage can be both time consuming and cumbersome and the desired goal of seamless coverage just isn’t always possible. In addition, the lack of centralised management software can make IT support challenging and because managed wireless solutions have been prohibitively expensive it’s always been a solution for larger business with big IT budgets…until now anyway…

A Unifi managed wireless network solution costs substantially less than similar offerings from other manufacturers and even come bundled with greater levels of functionality and performance. The enterprise level controller software is supplied FREE OF CHARGE with Unifi Access Points and with the cost of each Access Points well under £100 per unit, the Ubiquiti Unifi Wireless Solution offers outstanding value for money. These are some of the features:

• Attractive and discreet design
• Built-in guest access solutions with PayPal integration
• Access control for all wireless devices
• Reporting and Statistics for wireless usage
• VLAN capable
• Easily deployable
• Centralised management
• Visual coverage map

We now offer a FREE IT Support health check to all local businesses. As part of the checks, business critical systems including server operating systems, backups and general system health are carefully reviewed by our technical specialists ensuring any concerns are quickly identified. Our observations are then recorded and presented in a full report which outlines our findings for you to consider. Just call 01892 830111 or email sales@select-technology.co.uk to book your appointment today.

We had a very successful day exhibiting at the Kent 20 20 show last week. It was great to meet so many local businesses and discuss their use of technology and how it can help them reach their business goals. In addition to discussing our proactive approach to IT Support, we were also able to demonstrate our state of the art Cloud desktop solution, using cost effective and power conserving thin client devices. In case you missed us at the show, we will be holding an open day at our offices shortly, look out for an announcement in our May newsletter.

People still doubting the impact of cloud computing should think again; after making significant investments in Cloud, Microsoft have predicted that the global cloud services market will generate 14 million jobs by 2015 .‘IT innovation created by cloud computing’ could produce $1.1 trillion in new annual revenue by 2015. With a dominant IT forces such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft fully committed to cloud computing, the IT landscape could be a very different place in the short years to come. If you could like to discuss cloud computing in more detail, please give us a call today.

Unlike many in-house IT departments, most IT support companies need to keep up to date with Microsoft accreditations, in order to maintain important business accreditations, such as the Microsoft Gold status (Select Technology have retained the Gold accreditation for many years). Continued commitment to accreditations can only benefits our customers as they have the assurance of expert advice, whether it’s a sales enquiry or perhaps an urgent technical IT support issue.

A top Microsoft employee recently told MP’s that ‘even the mighty Microsoft was feeling the impact of the UK’s IT skills gap’. Here at Select Technology we value industry qualifications highly, which is why we heavily invest in staff training, and with this combined with a broad exposure to diverse technologies, we can certainly provide the IT support and project resources should you be finding it difficult to source skilled staff to fulfil roles within your company.

HP have recently released a Micro Server designed to run with Microsoft Small Business Essentials. This is a great ‘first’ server for businesses and a method of providing central data access to network users, while ensuring continued availability (using a mirrored disk setup). SBS Essentials does not come with any provision for email or backup, so the best way to facilitate this is to use some products from our Cloud Computing range, such as hosted email and backup to compliment the essentials installation.

For small companies that have a server requirement but lack the IT budget; a NAS (Network Attached Storage) combined with Cloud could be the answer. After some internal testing with a mid-range NAS product, to providing access to shared data on highly available disks, with the cloud computing element serving enterprise level emails accounts and online backups, we found that this to be a great solution for many smaller businesses. This solution will mitigate many of the risks of running a server-less network while bringing on-board many corporate features at a fraction of the cost of a traditional server infrastructure.

Cloud computing isn’t just limited to desktops and servers, telephones can also be integrated into a hosted solution, either as part of other hosted products such as desktops, servers, exchange or on their own.  Unlike many on-premise solutions with expensive proprietary handsets being compulsory; hosted VOIP can be setup quickly with any SIP compatible handset.  Configuration is handled through a rich hosted control panel and features include caller groups, on-hold with music, call transfers, day/night profiles, voicemail and menu systems (press 1 for sales, 2 for support etc.).  Our hosted VOIP system is a cost effective way of obtaining corporate telephone features at a fraction of the on-premise cost.  Call us today for more information.