IVDesk Disaster Recovery Service – Using Cloud Computing for REAL Disaster Recovery

Ok, the worst case scenario for mid-sized companies: You’ve got two or three critical systems that run your daily operations and if they’re down, you’re out of the water.  You can take an outage for maybe 4 hours without too much impact, but after that, production stops, customers don’t get served, and you’re just racking up expenses.

But…  You’re not big enough to have a Hot or Cold site, you don’t want to duplicate the infrastructure for a second site, you don’t want to have the capital expense of a fully replicated hosted system, so what do you do?

The outage happens and everyone scrambles.  Very tough situation.

How about a very cost-effective alternative?  IVDesk’s Disaster Recovery Services leverages the 8 year history in Cloud Computing and Hosted Applications that IVDesk has been involved in.  Here’s how it works:

1. We install your core applications on our equipment utilizing Virtual Servers.
2. We take a copy of your production data, and test the applications using our IVDesk Virtual Desktops, fully hosted at our Tier 3 data center.
3. We validate all the processes, data, and setup any number of users, so that those accounts are ready to go should there be a disaster.
4. We schedule remote backup of the associated production data and apply that data as it come into IVDesk each night.  This way, the IVDesk Disaster Recovery Service has up-to-date data every day.
5. We schedule tests when you’d like to bring up the IVDesk version of the application and data.
6. We wait for your call, in case of an emergency.

Currently, IVDesk hosts hundreds of applications for companies across all industries and provides 24 x 7 Helpdesk support all based on a monthly fee per user.  Leveraging this infrastructure allows IVDesk to offer the same Fortune 500 backend environment for Disaster Recovery Services for your company.  We provide straight-forward setup, daily backup and application of data, and testing when you need it.

So what happens if you call an emergency?  IVDesk staff will activate the users and provide a secure remote desktop session running your application.  You can then connect from any Internet connection anywhere and immediately get access to the application.  You’re live NOW!, not hours or days from now.  All your users need is an Internet connection and they’re in.  Once the disaster is over and your environment is available again, we fail back by moving a copy of the application data to your equipment, test, and cut back over to your site.  You can run indefinitely on IVDesk, so there isn’t a time-frame that you’re under to recover back locally.

Easy setup, low setup and monthly fees, and available when you need it for testing or a disaster situation.  The cost-effective Disaster Recovery Service from IVDesk.  Move your DR needs to Cloud Computing today!  To find out more, contact Randy Olson at 612-605-5461.

What Cloud Computing Provides that Small Companies Can’t Get Otherwise…

What does the Cloud environment provide that small companies (SMB) can’t normally get?  What can be included in a total cloud based solution and why do we at IVDesk provide the complete turnkey solution?

Small companies really get no respect from the technology world.  Support companies may mean well but the environment that small companies have is difficult to support and tougher to provide great up times.  Not enough capital to spend on computer servers and software, low levels of preventative maintenance, difficult systems to deal with for backups, email, redundancy, virus protection, etc.  It’s just tough and most small companies got into their businesses to sell their products or provide their services, not to run a small IT company.

The cloud can provide:
1. Dramatic Redundancy – small company systems can be up dramatically more than running locally.
2. Scalability – get access to new capabilities when you need them and pay for what you use.
3. Expertise – companies like IVDesk provide dramatic expertise on demand.
4. Telework – telecommuting is a real advantage when all your systems are available from anywhere .
5. Variable Costs –  variable cost structures allow small companies to pay for what they use.
6. A Complete Solution – IVDesk offers small companies a complete solution that’s high touch, all inclusive, and lets businesses get back to the reason they’re in business to begin with.

Check out what our customers say on YouTube by searching for IVDesk.  Get started today and get back to your business.

Thanks,
Bill Sorenson
CEO
bsorenson@ivdesk.com
www.IVDesk.com

Don’t Ever Buy a New Server Again!

It’s time to get out of the IT business and get back to the business you’re involved with.  Too many smaller companies spend too much time and money trying to keep their IT infrastructure up and running.  Too much capital is spent on IT that should go into growing your product lines or supporting your services.  Too much staff time is spent helping other staff with computer issues or as down time when there are IT issues.  Email shouldn’t go down, your applications should run, your staff should keep working on your business without IT issues.  That’s how it SHOULD work!

With IVDesk, it DOES!  For a small monthly fee per user we run everything.  All your applications on our equipment in a Tier 3 data center.  All your data, no matter how much you have.  Your email is always up and running, your desktops always work, and you can work from any Internet connection anywhere.  Have an issue, call our Helpdesk.  No matter what size that issue is, we correct it, give advice, help with Microsoft Office questions, everything.  Our staff doesn’t do the “Tech Speak” thing, we talk to you in English that you understand.

Just think: All you applications, all your data, work from anywhere, Helpdesk that really likes to talk to you, all for a small monthly fee per user.  No more worrying about IT, ever again.  Just focus on what you do best, your business!

Give us a call or take a peek at what our customers say about us on YouTube.  We’d love to help and get IT out of your hair completely.

Thanks
Bill Sorenson
CEO
www.IVDesk.com

Small Business IT – How the Issues are Handled with Hosted Desktops

Let’s say you’re a smaller company of 50 employees and you’re running you own servers, applications, support.  Maybe you’re using an IT company to “support” your servers, maybe it’s Jon down the hall or Sue, the owner’s niece.  Either way, you’ve got someone who periodically does Windows Updates for your servers, maybe checks to see if backups are being done, maybe…

Everyday you have problems.  Some days E-mail stops working.  You call and someone “fixes” it. It may take a few hours, but it comes back up.   Sometimes you need a file from a few days ago that got overwritten.  You call and someone “fixes” it.  It takes a few hours, but it gets fixed.  Some times things don’t work right so you ask the Accountant down the hall.  They’re smart and kinda like an IT guy.  It takes them an hour or so to “fix” it and you’re back working.  Computer use isn’t smooth, they’re daily problems, it takes time to figure it out, and the Accountant should be doing his job…

So, how does it look if all your Desktops and Applications are Hosted with IVDesk? IVDesk users have a 24 x 7 Helpdesk that is always available for every user.  They call and someone fixes it now! Questions on formating a Word document, answers now!  Email doesn’t go down, things always work, your applications are always available, now!  In looking at research around helpdesk calls and comparing them to the Managed Service local server approach, the IVDesk Helpdesk actually takes about 20% of the calls that the others do for the same amount of users.  IVDesk’s user experience is very consistent and the environment is always up.  Users don’t have the issues they do with local equipment and they don’t get bothered by questions related to IT, just call the Helpdesk, we’ll take care of them!  Always!

Get started looking at getting back to your business and out of the IT business.  IVDesk’s hosted desktops make sure that your IT experience is smooth, always.

Thanks,
Bill Sorenson
CEO
www.IVDesk.com

Can Small Companies Really Take Advantage of Cloud Computing?

It’s been obvious how larger organization can take advantage of moving applications, servers, infrastructure to the cloud for a long time.  Virtualization has dramatically improved utilization of hardware and provided flexibility for larger companies.  Moving apps, storage, and services to an Internet hosted environment becomes a process of “doing the math” to identify the best location and pricing.  But what about smaller companies, is there help there?

The answer is a huge YES!  By utilizing a service provider like IVDesk, small companies can get all the benefits of moving things to the cloud without the need for expertise in the area or the costs associated with support staff to help with the ongoing service.  At IVDesk, we host all of a customer’s applications in a Tier 3 data center in the cloud and provide full Virtual Desktops to every user.  We take responsibility for the tough stuff and provide a fantastic customer friendly support service so when people have questions, concerns, or issues, they call the IVDesk helpdesk and real people help them without the tech speak that usually happens.

So why would someone move to IVDesk?  We see the main reasons being:
1. No capital costs for new servers, ever.
2. Complete variable IT costs.
3. The ability to work from everywhere and have your staff take advantage of telecommuting, teleworking, supporting their needs outside the office.
4. Extremely high personal service for every employee as often as they need it.
5. A real turn-key solution that gets business out of the IT business and back focused on their own business.

We’re seeing dramatic increases in companies moving to cloud computing and IVDesk.  With IVDesk’s focus on companies from 20 – 150 employees,  we enable these smaller organizations the ability to take advantage of all the benefits of cloud computing without the dramatic technical needs normally associated with moving to the cloud.

Get your company back on track and give us a call or take a peek at what our customer’s are saying about us on YouTube.  We’ve got great customer stories about moving to IVDesk, let’s get your company started today.

Thanks,
Bill Sorenson
bsorenson@ivdesk.com
www.IVDesk.com

IVDesk Supporting eWorkPlace Initiative in Minnesota

Minnesota has created a state-sponsored program that supports Telework and Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) called eWorkPlace (http://www.eworkplace-mn.com).  A large portion of this initiative and struggles that small companies have, relate to technology to facilitate telecommuting and remote working.

IVDesk’s completely hosted computer solutions allow companies to move all their applications, data, and their complete PC desktops to virtual desktops and Cloud Computing.  With a monthly fee per user, companies get all their IT needs taken care of and completely flexible work locations.  When people work from the office, home, hotels, any where, they see the same full Windows desktop.  Login from any Internet connection and get your virtual desktop.  Full support, MS Office licensing, all your applications running, everything’s there for you and your workforce to be successful from any location.

As Minnesota continues to help companies with eWorkPlace, IVDesk is there to handle the technology needs of Telework.  Give us a call or take a look at our site at www.IVDesk.com to see how we can help you.  See some of our customer testimonials on YouTube by searching for IVDesk.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnH7k8OXkY is one of them).

Thanks
Bill Sorenson
CEO

Never Buy a Server Again! – Cloud Computing for Small Business

Wouldn’t it be nice to get out of the server hardware game?  You know, every 3 or 4 years you need to replace each one.  Every year or so your IT guy says “We need a new server for…”.  Not sure if you do but, he’s “your guy”.  Oh yeah, and backups, we need a new tape drive and server for that too.  And that SQL server’s getting old…

Not only that but server software costs continue to grow and grow and grow.  New operating systems, backup software, virus protection, on and on and on.  More and more money in large chunks that doesn’t move your forward in your business goals.  Wouldn’t it be nice to see IT as a utility where you pay for what you use when you use it?  Wouldn’t it be great to have experts running your IT solution and have them provide a high level of service as well?  Is that possible, anywhere???

YES IT IS!  Never buy a server again.  Never pay for server or MS Office licensing again.  Always be current.  Get great 24 x 7 support for all your staff.  Pay a monthly fee per user, month by month.  Grow, pay more, shrink, pay less.  With IVDesk, that’s exactly what we provide.

We run all your applications in a Cloud Computing environment.  We provide a virtual hosted Windows XP desktop with your applications, MS Office, Outlook with Exchange, and a fully outsourced network.  Private and Shared files and folders with no limit on data.  24 x 7 helpdesk serviced by our staff in the US that will never talk down to you.  Just there to help.  All for a monthly fee per user.  Quick, easy, and with dramatic redundancy.  Much more than you could ever justify buying if you bought your own equipment.

Get out the business of running your own IT shop and treat it as a utility that you use.  High service, custom fit for your needs allowing you to work from any Internet connection, anywhere.  Complete variable cost IT.  We’ve got dramatic success stories and continue to add new customer constantly.  It’s time to get back to working your business and out of the IT business.

Give us a call, take a look at www.IVDesk.com, and see our customer testimonial videos by searching YouTube for IVDesk.  Get started now!

Bill Sorenson
CEO
www.IVDesk.com

Top Reasons to NOT run Servers Locally – Move it to the Cloud

There are a number of different reasons to not have things run locally.  We’ve categorized them as:

Financial
1. Capital can be saved for specific things that the business needs in relation to the services or products it provides.  Instead of constantly upgrading computer systems, organizations can focus their limited capital on product enhancements, addressing customer issues, and growing the businesses.
2. Variable costs associated with IT infrastructure.  With IVDesk, organizations end up with an expense structure that mirrors their current needs.  In a downturn, the expenses go down instead of staying fixed and high.  In an upturn, expenses grow in relation to the expansion of the organization directly.  No high fixed expense related to IT.
3. No surprise large expenses.  With the IVDesk model, you no longer have to be hit with unexpected expenses around unforeseen issues.  No surprise upgrades to backup systems, no large conversion expenses moving from operating system upgrades, no large MS Office upgrade expenses, no large expense associated with virtualization software and virtualization expertise.

Service Levels
1. With IVDesk organizations get 24 x 7 support for all their users.  Internal IT departments usually can’t spend the money to provide this and users suffer in relation to waiting to get things worked on or corrected.
2. Remote connectivity for all users is provided with IVDesk where internal IT groups usually have to spend dramatic amounts of money to provide limited access.r the
3. With local IT infrastructure and limited resources, organizations struggle getting the expertise they need either during normal operations or when there’s emergencies.  With IVDesk, the expertise is always available and working.

Disaster Recovery
1. Local IT organizations have limited Disaster Recovery abilities without large initial and monthly expenses.  To create a “Real” DR solution, local IT infrastructure expenses are huge and complex.  With IVDesk that redundancy is built in and hosted in a Tier 3 data center.  We’ve built redundancy into each area possible as well as provide access from everywhere.  In an emergency situation, users can login securely from any Internet connection.
2. Costs of downtime to an organization are dramatic and with local IT infrastructure, it happens frequently.  Whether it’s email, specific servers, or applications, there’s constantly less confidence in systems and the IT management to keep the business running.

We continually see the industry move this way to reduce and manage risks and financial consequences associated with running your own IT infrastructure.  As IT organizations continue to focus on the business’ goals, resources are better spent outside of the IT infrastructure and local IT needs and placed on providing better application service, enhancements, and needs.

Give us a call or swing by our site at www.IVDesk.com to get started!

Thanks,

Bill Sorenson
CEO
www.IVDesk.com

Hosted Cloud Computing Solutions for Small Business VS Managed Services

Small companies have issues that larger organizations don’t have anymore.

1. A small number of servers with little or no redundancy.
2. Backups that are rarely monitored or managed.
3. Little access from remote locations.
4. Low level of expertise on-hand to help with issues.
5. Little or no Disaster Recovery capabilities.
6. Higher Risks associated with business interruptions.

Larger organizations have solutions for all the issues above but for smaller companies, these risks are an everyday issue.  So how do Managed Services Providers (MSP) try and handle them and how does that compare to a hosted cloud computing solution?

MSPs monitor and manage the existing servers and applications. They provide some level of helpdesk, usually to one individual at the customer’s site.  Should a problem occur, they are notified by their monitoring package and respond remotely.  Should an issue need a local hand on the equipment, they’ll dispatch a tech to fix.  Pricing is usually on a per server and per PC basis with some time and materials for break fix.

From the customer’s stand point this really is the lowest level of support anyone can have.  Equipment is usually not kept current due to the capital costs, support is remote to the equipment so when there are issues, the customer may be down for extended periods of time.  Customers do not get much for their money.  There may be a remote backup solution that is considered “Disaster Recovery” but the fact is that if the customer lost that server and needed to restore it, it would be a few days of time before they’d be up and running.  Not a good solution for a customer…

Let’s look at a cloud computing hosted solution like IVDesk.  All the applications, data, files and folders are hosted in a Tier 3 data center so only a redundant CISCO router is on site at the customers.  The virtual desktop looks and feels exactly like a Windows XP desktop.  Connections are secure and the environment has dramatic redundancy.  Users can work from any Internet connection anywhere.  Expertise is available on demand and everyone can call the helpdesk 24 hours a day.  Costs are per user per month and completely variable.  Add users, it goes up, remove users, it goes down.

So what’s the customer’s experience with this solution?  Dramatic up time and speed of systems since the application servers are all current, fast, data center quality.  All systems are backed up and redundant.  Highest level of security for customer’s data and applications.  Completely variable cost IT solution so no need to spend capital ever again.  All users can contact the helpdesk about anything from how to do a mail-merge in Word to getting connected from home.  Disaster Recovery is covered since users have the exact same experience from everywhere.  No local equipment.  Existing PCs last a dramatically longer time and there are low-cost replacement alternatives with refurbished PCs, Windows Terminals, and other devices.  Complete integration to mobile devices.  Everything’s included…

Now, comparing each side by side it becomes dramatically apparent that the existing MSP model will get replaced quickly with hosted cloud computing solutions.  We’ve been offering IVDesk for over 8 years and providing this hosted solution running all of a customer’s applications with dramatic success.  We win every day against MSPs and will continue to do so since a local server environment will never be able to be as redundant, cost effective, or flexible as our solution.

It’s a great time to call IVDesk.  See what other customers are saying about us on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnH7k8OXkY

Bill Sorenson

CEO

IVDesk and Property Management Companies

IVDesk crosses almost all vertical markets as far as customers.  We’ve got legal, accounting, distribution, medical, real estate, etc. customers who’ve outsourced their complete IT needs to our cloud computing solution, IVDesk.  I’d like to just profile the benefits we’ve seen for our customers in the Property Management area.

We currently run a number of different applications in this business segment and have customers with properties across the country.  By utilizing a central service like IVDesk for all your needs, your staff can access exactly what they need from any Internet connection, any where.  No more having to get back to the office, faxing in copies of documents, writing out information to later enter, it’s all available at all times.  Also, we see that some Property Management software providers are offering hosted application options.  These may be an option for you but we see many companies continuing to use their existing installed software instead of increasing their costs.

With IVDesk, we install that purchased application and run it centrally for you.  Everyone can access it from anywhere just as if they were in the office.  And you get the full functionality of the existing product, not a watered down hosted version.  Also, Email, Word, Excel, and all your files and folders are available within IVDesk.  Everything’s there.

Lastly, every IVDesk users gets full access to the Helpdesk to assist with anything.  We’re there, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help with complex or simple things.  Sending out a mail-merge and can’t remember how to do it, give us a call.  We’re there for everyone on your staff.

It’s time to take a look at changing they way you’re working and letting IVDesk provide the solution for you.  Contact us at www.IVDesk.com and we can help get started today.

Bill Sorenson
CEO
bsorenson@ivdesk.com