February 2010
In this issue:

	Virtual Server Management Technologies
	Better Together
	Are You Prepared?
	It's Your Choice
	Gain Business Insight
	Information Overload
	The Power of Presence
	Cartoon & Quote

Experts estimate that as of 1999, there was a total of 9 exabytes of electronically created data in the world. To put that in perspective, 1 exabyte is 1000 petabytes; a petabyte is 1000 terabytes; a terabyte is 1000 gigabytes – you get the idea. In practical terms, if you were to digitize the 17 million books in the Library of Congress, with full formatting, it would be approximately 136 terabytes. 9 exabytes would be roughly equivalent in size to the information contained in approximately 70,000 libraries the size of the Library of Congress!

That’s sounds like an incredible amount of data, but frankly that’s nothing. Since 1999, it is estimated that 12 NEW exabytes of digital data has been created. More than double all that existed prior to 2000.

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Practical Productivity –
The Power of “Presence”

Where is he?
Is he at his desk?
Is he on the phone?
Is he even at the office today?
Can he answer one quick question?

Have you ever asked any of the above about a fellow employee? These kinds of questions can become real productivity blockers in today’s fast-paced work environment. I’ve stopped asking those questions since we installed Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and Microsoft Communicator clients at our office. Our company is now “presence-enabled” with OCS. When I open Communicator, I can see at a glance who is working at their desk by a green button next to their name.

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Do you have different operating systems in your data center? Choosing the right virtual server management solution for your business is too important to leave to chance!

Join J4 Systems and Microsoft to learn how Microsoft’s virtual server management solutions help maximize the value of your physical servers, streamline processes and save money.

Check-in at noon, lunch provided.

View the Invite

Lost in all the hype about the recent Windows 7 is the excitement around the simultaneous launch of Windows Server 2008 R2. There are probably a few reasons this launch has been so overlooked. First, as I mentioned, it came hand-in-hand with the desktop launch. Clearly, Microsoft's marketing team doesn't plan any "I'm a Windows Server" commercials to go along with their current "I'm a PC" campaign, so the masses will often not know about the server. Second is the naming convention. This is the second time Microsoft has chosen to stick the R2 moniker at the end of a server product name (Windows Server 2003 R2 started the trend) for some unknown reason. I realize they probably don't want to go through a rebranding campaign every 18 months, but R2 does add much excitement to a product launch. Make no mistake however; Server 2008 R2 is a substantial new product release with a wealth of outstanding new features, and something to certainly get excited about.

There is good reason why the new network operating systems was shipped the same time as the desktop. There are a ton of features that are designed to work specifically with clients running Windows 7.

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If your business is like most, data is its lifeblood. In fact, disasters such as corrupted databases, malicious viruses and tornadoes can trigger prolonged system downtime or catastrophic data loss — and even force your business to close permanently.

You can prevent these unfortunate consequences by protecting your data with an effective disaster recovery plan and proper backup processes. Since disasters don’t usually strike with advance warning, take time to prepare for them now -- call J4Systems for assistance. We’ll help you develop a backup and recovery plan using the following steps:

STEP ONE

Risk Assessment
Together, we’ll identify the different kinds of information in your business and the impact of losing each type. From there, you can decide which data your business can temporarily do without and which is critical.

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Hear that sound? Feel the rumble? There is a geologic shift taking place under the feet of small and medium-sized companies and chances are you don't know it, yet. The ruckus is managed services. Their promise is to liberate you from the awful side of computer ownership.

"Awful? Define that, please." Fair enough.

aw•ful [aw-fuhl] – adjective If you don't have an IT Department chances are a smooth running, trouble-free network will be a temporary condition. 2) When something breaks someone has to fix it. 3) And, pay for it. 4) And, if that something gets in the way of running your business, you sleep less and the bottom line gets trashed. 5) If you do have an IT Department, you waste an expensive and valuable asset chasing around mundane tasks.

Managed services are provided by outside tech companies, such as J4Systems. These firms offer many kinds of services, including remotely monitoring maintaining and managing your network and computers. How many of you own insurance of some flavor? Managed services too are designed to mitigate risk.

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The world of a typical employee has changed dramatically in recent years. We often hear terms like "empowered" to describe employees, and while that term may be overused and cliché, it is a fact that modern companies expect more from every individual employee. Long gone are the days of mindless drones sitting around responding to orders that come down from above. Today, everyone is responsible for business performance management. In essence, we have all become CEO of our own little part of the company. The only way to do this is through gaining real Business Intelligence. We need to turn the mountains of data we now access into more than just information – we need to turn it into true insight.

No vendor in our industry is more keenly aware of this than Microsoft. While it may sound like a slick marketing campaign, Microsoft truly does build tools for the People Ready Business. These tools enable information workers to understand the data they are bombarded with, analyze and optimize that data, and use it to drive the business forward. The very foundation upon which these tools are built is the Microsoft Office System, and the release of Office 2007 advances these efforts light years forward.

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