Archive for December, 2010

2010 Year In Review

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

What a difference a year makes! I know it seems a bit trite to post about the year in review, but I think it’s an important exercise for everyone to run through. In addition to remembering what we did, it also helps put the year into perspective and get a nice picture of the goals that were accomplished. For me, this means a great deal since I started a new role at CNS exactly one year ago.

Being responsible for Product Development at CNS is no easy task. Not only does it encompass taking ideas and developing them into new products, it also involves working with our existing products and making them better. It involves working closely with our customers to get feedback so we know where and how to enhance our products and which new ideas will succeed. I many cases, it is working with internal teams to develop new processes for their jobs. In short, there are a lot of hats to be worn on any given day.

So, what have I done this year? As it turns out, quite a lot and hopefully you’ve seen some of the benefits of my hard work!

1. The PROSuite Dispatch position was a huge change to our process that has allow us to better prioritize and respond to tickets so emergencies can get to the top of the list and your hold times are minimized. We still have some work to do in this area, but looking at how things were before this position, we are all in a much better place today.

2. Ticket Process / User Training – Along with the new dispatcher position, we made some pretty significant changes to our internal ticket handling processes and introduced service level objectives. Tickets are now better organized and there are metrics in place to help avoid tickets aging without a resolution. We also developed a training program for end users to help them understand how the system works so they can be empower to take full advantage of the program.

3. Windows 7/Office 2010 – I spent time working with Microsoft on a few different marketing programs for these two new technologies. In addition to working with our customer base, Microsoft has commended us on our knowledge and expertise and one of our customers is currently in a video showcase on microsoft.com!

4. Server Virtualization – We jumped into virtual servers in a big was in 2010. While not a new technology to us, we adapted our standard server deployment to utilize this technology whenever possible as it brings huge benefits to productivity and disaster recovery scenarios.

5. Project Management – The whole company has a renewed focus on project management and utilizes these principles to ensure that our development and deployment projects are on-time and on-budget.

6. The Cloud – I’d me remiss if I didn’t mention the Cloud. I travelled a LOT this year and learned a lot as well. CNS is currently in the early stages of redeveloping the traditional office and I am very excited to roll out this new product next year. Besides preparing our customers through the use of server virtualization, we have also just started an upgrade to our offsite storage backup solution. We will now be able to restore a copy of your server in the Cloud and allow you to continue operating without having to wait for failover equipment to arrive. We can also use this as a test lab to see how an application upgrade will interact with the system or demo a new piece of software.

There are a lot of things I didn’t mention here, like this blog, a revamped invoice process or new remote management tools that also augment your experience, as I tried to focus on key points and not individual areas. I hope that everyone is enjoying the benefits of these new aspects to our products. Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

Thanks for taking the time to read about CNS this year. I hope that you can take some time to review your year as well! Happy New Year!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted by in Business Strategy, Customer Service, Hot Topics, Technology | No Comments »

CNS Helps New Jersey Non-Profit Move to DC

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

The Corporate Network Services tenet, “Our only product is our customers’ success” is exemplified in the story of a New Jersey non-profit. The organization was moving its headquarters to Washington, DC and had hired one of our satisfied customers to head their new office. The non-profit continued to work with its managed services company in New Jersey and initially contacted CNS to provide only the office cabling, network, and phone system. They thought they would economize by continuing to use the New Jersey managed services provider.

After two months working with that provider, the office manager recognized that this bargain was no bargain. They were wasting money due to significant downtimes and outages and the service they were receiving paled in comparison to that offered by a Corporate Network Services’ managed services solution, PROSuite.

In addition to the new PROSuite Executive Agreement with co-location, the non-profit also contracted with CNS to travel to New Jersey, power down the network, disconnect, pack and transport the servers to the CNS COLO location and bring the servers and network back online. Including the out-of -state travel time, the organization was only offline for seven hours. CNS has worked to stabilize the network, establish secure connections for the remote users and assure that the infrastructure supports the organization’s goals.

Knowing that Corporate Network Services was the trusted IT Partner to bring to the new organization has helped the office manager exceed expectations in the new position. Let us help you exceed expectations!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by in Business Strategy, Hot Topics, Our Philosophy, Technology | No Comments »

If You Are Lucky Enough To Receive an iPad This Holiday, Read This First

Friday, December 17th, 2010

One of this year’s hottest gifts is the Apple iPad. With its first major software update and the introduction of AirPlay, AirPrint, and multi-tasking, the iPad is better than ever.

REGISTER YOUR iPAD
Before you can do anything with the iPad, you’ll need to connect it to a computer and register the device with iTunes. If you haven’t used iTunes before, this means that you’ll need to create an account. Start by going to www.apple.com/itunes and click the download link to download the program iTunes to your computer. Once it is installed, you can then plug your iPad into a USB port on the computer. iTunes will then recognize the iPad and walk you through the registration process. You need to create an iTunes account, but don’t worry, you’ll be taken through the process when you plug the iPad into your computer. Apple takes its security very seriously so you don’t have to worry about entering your personal information. It makes the registration process go much faster.

ACCESSING THE INTERNET
There are two kinds of iPads: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi with 3G. In order to use the 3G network you have to activate the account. You do this by clicking on the setting icon on the main page and then clicking on Cellular Data menu item. Click on the View Account button and create a data account with AT&T. You’ll need a credit card handy. One great thing about accessing the 3G network is that you can discontinue the plan whenever you want. After the registration and account activation is complete you are ready to enter the world of truly portable computing.

PROGRAMS THAT WE RECOMMEND
Finally, download more Apps by clicking on the Apps Store icon and browsing for apps, games, music, movies and tv shows directly from your iPad. There are thousands of apps available, but here’s a snapshot of our favorites:

1. Flipbook – This takes social media to a whole new level. It’s a great app to play with.
2. Epicurious – tons of great recipies and perfect for the kitchen.
3. Evernote – a free note-taking app that syncs your notes from your iPad to you PC or Mac and into the cloud
4. Zappos – Shoe shopping was never so easy! Plus now they sell so many more things.
5. Washington Post – Their new iPad app is really easy to use and nicely featured.
6. Google – Get all the features of Google right from your iPad.
7. Pages – One of the few paid apps that we use, this is a great word processor for your iPad.
8. Pandora – Deck those halls with this free music service.
9. Scrabble– You can play by yourself against the computer and it doesn’t always win

The iPad battery lasts about 10 hours–enough to get you through the day! Just don’t let your family get mad at you because you won’t do anything else.

Tags: , ,
Posted by in Hot Topics, Technology, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »