"Whatever I.T. Takes"

Just a few benefits of Virtualization

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:28:00 +0000

There are many benefits to consolidating the number of Windows servers in your environment by taking advantage of the many different server virtualization products such as VMWare.
1. Lower number of physical servers
You can reduce hardware maintenance costs because of a lower number of physical servers. (also good for brownie points with the boss for helping the budget)
2. By implementing a server consolidation strategy
You can increase the space utilization efficiency in your data center.
3. by having each application within its own "virtual server" you can prevent one application from impacting another application when upgrades or changes are made.
4. You can develop a standard virtual server build that can be easily duplicated which will speed up server deployment, and make your time more efficient.
5. You can deploy multiple operating system technologies on a single hardware platform
By taking advantage of server virtualization you can easily improve the efficiency of your Data Center, as well as cut costs! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch Wasatch Software is happy to help any way we can.

Microsoft pulls the plug on Office 2000 support in July

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Microsoft yesterday reminded Office 2000 users that it will discontinue security updates for the aged suite in less than two months as it drops all support for the software.
At the same time, the company also reminded users that it's dumping the Office Update site at the end of July, part of an effort to streamline update options.
Office 2000 falls off the support list on July 14 -- which is also Microsoft's "Patch Tuesday" for that month as it leaves what the company calls "extended" support. From that point on, Microsoft will no issue fixes, not even ones for critical vulnerabilities; instead, it expects users to move on to a newer suite.
For those of you who are currently using Office 2000 and need to make a move to the latest version before support runs out now is a good time. Microsoft currently has a promotion running on Office Small business, you can pick up this suite for much less than Office Standard. Additionally Microsoft will kick in some additional back end funds thru the Microsoft Big Easy program.

Will Windows 7 be here in Time for the Holidays?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Microsoft has revealed, Windows 7 will be here by the holidays! The company officially announced the operating system would become available "in time for the holiday shopping season" on Monday, making reports of an October Windows 7 release appear all the more reliable.
The date may only be months away, but for Microsoft engineers; the work is far from finished. The next step is transitioning into release-to-manufacturing mode. That's the final phase before the software will become generally available for customer purchase. Basically, the Microsoft team will now spend its time looking for serious flaws or compatibility issues. Then start to take a look and feel of the software itself. So for all of you out there anxiously awaiting Vista predecessor the wait is nearly over.

Microsoft no longer offering free support for XP, and Office 03

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:36:00 +0000

Haven't made the jump to Vista or Office 07 yet? As of April 14th, you will no longer receive free Windows incident support, design changes, and warranty support for XP Home and Professional and all Office 2003 products. Microsoft is also ending free bug fixes that are not directly related to security issues. Now may be a good time to look at the upgrade to Office 07, or Vista. Additionally, Microsoft has some great incentives for financing to help your project along during these times of budget cuts.

Is Windows losing market share?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:54:00 +0000

For years, analysis have written about how Windows is starting to lose a bit of market share and the rise of Linux on the desktop. For years, Windows has avoided losing market share to the open source movement. Although Windows has lost a little market share in recent years, it is still the software giant, and I would be willing to say that that trend will continue to dominate for many years. For all of your questions regarding Microsoft’s complex licensing structure Wasatch Software is here to help

Microsoft Enterprise Search Road Map

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Microsoft is also planning to release Fast Search for Internet Business in beta form during the second half of this year. The offering is aimed at customers who want to build search-driven e-commerce Web sites and drive more business via the Web. Microsoft's licensing structure for the new offerings appears to offer significant cost cuts for existing SharePoint Enterprise users. Customers who buy Fast Search for SharePoint will only pay per server; client access is included in their SharePoint Enterprise client access license. Microsoft also has two other enterprise search products, Search Server 2008 and the free Search Server 2008 Express. The company bought Fast Search & Transfer in order to gain high-end search technology that could compete with the likes of Autonomy, which recently stepped into SharePoint's territory by announcing plans to buy content-management vendor Interwoven for $775 million.

Is Microsoft going to allow XP downgrades from Windows 7?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Is that smart of Microsoft to allow the same downgrade option for Windows 7 as they did for Vista? XP remains the favorite operating system for many, but is that because people hate change, or because of all the bad press that surrounds Vista from the beginning. I know everyone has their personal preference, myself personally, I like vista compared to a dull XP OS (only my opinion) I have had a few people ask me if Microsoft will make an exception and allow ‘downgrade rights’ to XP from Windows 7 upon its release. What are your thoughts on this? Personally I like to keep in mind that XP was released back in 2001, with that said I will ask you; How many PC’s do you still currently use that were purchased back in 2001? How many upgrades have you made in software and hardware over the last 8 years? The reviews around Window’s 7 have been positive, (I am sure that Microsoft works very hard to keep it that way) but my questions is with all the bad press of Vista, and people a bit scared to try Windows 7 because of the bomb Vista dropped, are all the XP users going to stay on XP forever? Please comment with your thoughts. What will it take for you to make the switch from XP? Happy computing!

Simple Stay Green Tips. Happy Easter!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:41:00 +0000

The first piece of advice is simple: Don't leave your computer and other office equipment on when not in use, especially when you are taking a elongated weekend for a holiday. Shutting your PC and other office equipment down can cut power consumption significantly, and reduce the overall footprint. In addition, your computer should be set to go to sleep after periods of inactivity. Different parts of your system can be set to sleep at different times, if you are at lunch let your PC sleep. Secondly: Ditch your screensaver! Screensavers use your hard drive to power up and show graphics, screensavers require the extra use of a graphics card, which means you'll have the hard drive, graphics card and monitor all in use. Again if you are away for a significant amount of time put your pc to sleep. And finally; if you do decide to purchase a new computer, make sure that you choose both a computer and monitor that are Energy Star compliant. These are a few of the simplest ways to help green your IT without spending a dime. Stay tuned for more helpful hints from all of us over here at Wasatch Software.

SQL 08 SP1 now released!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Microsoft released its first service pack for SQL Server 2008 yesterday; this service pack comes with a few changes and no new features to tinker with. Microsoft is introducing 80 per cent fewer changes to customer configurations compared to previous SQL Server Service Pack releases, this remarkable decrease is a revised product development process and updated servicing strategy. Microsoft’s focus is on ease of deployment, and keeping customer environments stable
SP1 comes loaded with Slipstream to help sys admins install the product with the latest service pack in what Microsoft described as a “single instance”, even though reboots are still required during the process, this is the simplest service pack to deploy in SQL history.
There’s also a Service Pack Uninstall tool in SP1 as well as version 2.0 of Report Builder. For all of your Microsoft questions, please feel free to get in touch.

Looking for a good AV?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:38:00 +0000

Everyone has their favorites, and as a reseller of most AV products you can imagine how much opportunity we get to try all the latest and greatest. Everyone has their reasons as to why their AV is better than the competition, and will everyone out there telling you they are the best, how can you determine what is the best for you. Do your research! Most if not all AV’s out there will allow you to ‘try before you buy’. One of the better sites that I have found that put’s all these AV’s on a level playing field and allows you to compare them side-by-side is http://www.av-comparatives.org/ Check it out! Let us over here at Wasatch Software know what AV you are considering, and we will get you all squared away with a trial and pricing.

HP ProLIant G6 Released!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:37:00 +0000

Yesterday HP introduced the new HP ProLiant G6 server line; this powerful new server line delivers double the performance of previous generations, enabling you to get more value out of your IT dollars. The HP ProLiant G6 is much more energy efficiency, virtualization and automation, make it ideal for all situations. These innovations are combined with comprehensive financing programs and service offerings to redefine server economics in today’s economy. The new HP ProLiant G6 servers are available in 11 standards-based tower, rack and blade platforms. This represents the largest HP ProLiant rollout in company history. Here are a few points you can use to help get approval with the C-Level execs, when asking for a budget for a server refresh:
The HP Sea of Sensors – automatically track thermal activity across the server through a collection of 32 smart sensors. The sensors dynamically adjust system components such as fans, memory and input/output processing to optimize system cooling and increase efficiency.
The Common Power Slot design – helps minimize power waste by allowing customers to choose from four power supplies to match their specific workload. Customers can achieve more than 92 percent energy efficiency in the majority of real-world configurations.
HP Dynamic Power Capping- reallocates power and cooling resources in the data center by dynamically setting or “capping” the power drawn by servers. By precisely identifying power requirements for each server and setting a limit based on that usage, customers can reclaim energy to improve data center capacity.
Additionally, HP has many financing options available to insure that you can customize a new roll-out, or a refresh for any budget. Please let us know if you would like to look into any of these powerful options for your situation.

Conficker Worm!!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:19:00 +0000

The Downadup worm also called Conficker has now infected approximately 10 million PCs worldwide, and security experts say they expect to see a dangerous second stage that may come into play April 1st. Beware; this is no April fools joke!
This Malicious attack "disables Windows security features and makes the computer part of a "botnet" of other infected computers that take orders from a varying series of servers on the internet. It may additionally gather personal information, install malicious programs on the computer, and attack or infect other computers." It also can prevent the computer from being able to access some security websites to help prevent attacks. The Conficker worm spreads across networks. If it finds a vulnerable computer, it turns off the automatic backup service, deletes previous restore points, disables some security services, blocks access to a number of security web sites and opens infected machines to receive additional programs from the malware’s creator. The worm then tries to spread itself to other computers on the same network. Make sure your AV is up to date to help prevent this worm from attacking!

Are you eligible for Microsoft rebates?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Microsoft’s Big Easy program is back! Our goal at Wasatch Software is to make sure you are in the know of any promotion or discounts that can save you and your company big $$. Microsoft Big Easy is an incentive program that allows you the opportunity to receive back end rebate checks for purchasing selected Microsoft products. The best thing about the rebate checks is you can use them for any purchases thru your reseller, not just Microsoft products. For example; If you needed to purchase 20 Microsoft Office Pro for the office, you would receive an additional $800.00 in back end rebates. Not bad for free Microsoft money for you to use how you wish. Maybe you need to refresh your servers and upgrade to a new HP DL380g5, your Microsoft check can be used for that too. Estimate your subsidy here.
http://www.microsoftincentives.com/BigEasy3/estimate.aspx

Thank you Symantec!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Have you ever waked up one morning, get ready, and head to the driveway to find that your vehicle was broken into and everything of value has been taken? First of I don’t wish that upon anyone! Last week I had the unfortunate experience of finding my vehicle broken into and everything of value taken. Not to mention the most important thing in my life when it comes to work, My Notebook! After getting over the frustration, and trying to figure out why someone would even do such a thing, it was off to work. With no pc! Fortunately we use Symantec’s Backup Exec with the desktop, Laptop Option.
The Desktop and Laptop Option delivers continuous data protection of desktops and laptops whether in the office or on the road. Not only improving data protection and efficiency, this option enables users to restore their own files (how many countless hours have you invested into your files stored on your primary pc), not only will it restore your files, it maintains synchronization between multiple desktops and laptops so the most up-to-date file versions are available on all of a user’s computers. Because the Desktop and Laptop Option does not require a dedicated stand-alone server as competing products do, it easily integrates into existing IT infrastructure and policies, helping lower the total cost of ownership. And most importantly it insures that you have all your files backed up. After the initial set up of the new notebook, it only took 10 minutes to get all my files just the way I left them back on my new machine. Symantec, my hat is off to you with this amazing product.

Green on a budget!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:04:00 +0000

With all the hype to “go green”, IT directors and staff, may find they are given aggressive targets with no clear objectives, to accomplish “going green” and in today’s economy you are more than likely having a hard time getting a budget approved to achieve them. Because of its central role to all businesses, IT is often given the role of facilitator to bring together all departments with a plan for communication. Management may ask IT to launch innovative technologies to facilitate change in organizations, cut down operating costs, and still insure that the organization still runs smoothly. Fortunately there are many cost effective ways to start going green without breaking the bank. All of us over here at Wasatch Sofware are more than happy to get a better understanding of what you have going on, and offer a few cost effective solutions for you to check out, and make sure they are right for you.

Software, Hardware, Systems, and Services

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:37:00 +0000

Wasatch Software…. Sounds like a software company to me. Do we just offer software? NO! We actually offer full lines of hardware, systems, and even IT services.

Our name can be a bit deceiving, especially around the reseller world. When Wasatch Software was founded back in 2002, we were founded by some of the elite members of Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy team; initially we were software resellers with our primary line being of course Microsoft. As the company continued to grow, we have created some great partnerships, and now offer over 500,000 products from over 500 different manufactures. We are now the number 1 Microsoft reseller in the state of Utah, and we continue to make waves with big names like; Symantec, HP, Cisco, VMWare, ect.. We pride ourselves in great customer service, and with the partnerships we have created and the long list of manufactures we do not have to try to push a technology on you that you are not interested in. We carry them all! If you ever find yourself in a position where you need some more information, or have a few questions on certain technologies, give us a ring. We can go straight to the source with you, and get you all the information you need to make a educated decision. Most of the products we offer will even let you try before you buy, to insure that the solution will do exactly what you need it to do. Wasatch Software is not just software after all.. Happy computing!!

Are You a Road Warrior?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:59:00 +0000

Are you looking for a light weight, extremely portable, notebook? If so, you have found it. Just when you thought you'd never find the perfect small form factor notebook for a reasonable price, HP comes to the table with the Mini-Note. This ultra mobile notebook features an impressive 8.9-inch screen, a full size keyboard, a full-sized notebook hard drive, and plenty of impressive specs. Is this the perfect road warrior machine? To top it all off, it comes with the reliability you have grown to expect with HP. And the icing on the cake is the price tag! Depending on the specs you would like to have in this little machine they are priced just right, you can find these little guys for under $500.00

Internet Explorer 8 Now Released!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:54:00 +0000

As most of you know, Internet Explorer 8 was released earlier today. IE8 brings to the table a number of new user-friendly features, increased standards support, and improved security. The browser has been downloaded millions of times since it was offered to the public, making it Microsoft's largest beta test ever. Improved security is one of IE8's most significant features. An independent study showed IE8 hands down beating Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and others in catching and blocking malware. With its new feature SmartScreen, it caught 69% of malware, while its primary competitor Firefox caught only 30%. That is more than double, without sacrificing performance.

IE8 also contains a number of other security features, including an InPrivate Browsing mode that keeps no trail of browsing history and new features that prevents certain cross-site scripting attacks, click-jacking, and the installation of malicious ActiveX controls.

Throughout the testing process, Microsoft has focused on two new usability features, Web Slices and Accelerators. Accelerators let users perform actions like translation, mapping, and search from the right-click context menu, which brings up a window inside the current page to show translated text, a map, or search results.

Web Slices, let users create a link on their favorite’s bar, which brings up only a small portion of a Web site such as a condensed local weather forecast.

To sum it all up in a nutshell, the new IE8 has improved security, and is very user-friendly. We prefer to user Internet Explorer for our browsing needs, it is designed by the technology giants Microsoft to work well with the OS we all run. Weather you use XP, Vista, or are awaiting the release of Windows 7, it is designed specifically with Microsoft products in mind. Follow the link for your Free download.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

Happy browsing!!

Would you like to Save 35% on Exchange Server 07?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:23:00 +0000

For all businesses today, e-mail is the mission critical communications tool that allows their people to produce the best results quickly. This greater reliance on email has increased the number of messages sent and received on a daily basis, the variety of work getting done, and even the speed of business itself. Employee expectations have also changed. Today, employees look for the most efficient access to email, calendars, attachments, contacts, and more!
For you the IT professionals, delivering a messaging system that addresses these needs must be balanced against other requirements such as security, and most importantly in today’s economy cost.
After a few days off, with some well deserved R&R, we are back in action over here at Wasatch Software bringing you any tips, tricks, and promos that can save you some serious $$ when dealing with your IT budget. Today I want to bring to your attention Microsoft’s newest promotion with Microsoft Exchange Server 07.
Offer:
Up to 20 percent savings on 1–10 Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition server licenses
Up to 20 percent savings on 10–500 Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition CALs
Up to 35 percent savings on 1–10 Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition server licenses when acquired with Software Assurance
Up to 35 percent savings on 10–500 Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition CALs when acquired with Software Assurance
As always Wasatch Software is commited to keeping you in the know with the latest and greatest, when it come to technology, and ways to save $$ with your IT budgets. If you have any questions, or there is ever anything we could assist you with, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Microsoft Office promo ended!

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Hello to all! Unfortunately the Microsoft Promotion with Office Pro, and Office Small Business has ended as of today. For those of you who were able to take advantage of the promotion, Congratulations! It is likely saved thousands on the upgrade. For those of you who missed out on the promotion, no need to worry. Here at Wasatch Software we pride ourselves in taking exceptional care of all of our customers, stay tuned to our blogs and we will update you on all promotions and specials from all of our 500 different manufactures we represent. For all your computer needs; software, hardware, systems, and even services, Wasatch Software can take great care of you. Let us know what it takes to be your go-to guy and we will bend over backwards to earn your business.

Symantec Enterprise Vault.

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Here are some questions to ponder;
If you had to classify/categorize every piece of email in your environment could you assign the right value to each thing you looked at?
I would rather be keeping more data on disk but tape is cheaper in most respects?

Why are my backup windows shrinking?
How many restores from tape did you do last month?
How many were successful?
How long has the staff doing restores been with you? Are they working weekends?

If you have ever find your self thinking along those lines, I have a question for you.

What if I could show you in $$ terms how much money you can save you year over year and in what categories you would save $$? Would that interest you?

If you can answer ‘YES’ to that question, I have a product that I would like to introduce to you. Symantec’s Enterprise Vault. Here are a few of the differentiators that really set this product apart from the rest.

• Envelope journaling (index MORE metadata)
• Unicode support (archive Asian languages)
• Open/Client push psts
• html rendering for “Future Proofing”,
• safety copies(back up before archiving or deletion),
• quota based archiving that uses Exchange site settings,
• NO impact on Exchange when user "retrieves" (not restores) messages from the Vault,
• Customizable Indexing rates,
• Ability to archive over 390 different file types, etc
• Stability/Maturity -10 years, 10,000 customers, 37% of the market – the only Gartner “Magic Quadrant” archiving vendor for 5 years in a row
• Archiving Sources. More than email. A true platform- Email, Files, Sharepoint, IM
• Award winning eDiscovery tool including analytics and preservation capability
• Classification capability – archiving with regards to content
• Unified management – ONE pane of glass to manage all policies, retention, targets, storage etc.

Can 25 - 50% of the software in use be pirated?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:43:00 +0000

Yes! Current illegal software in the US accounts for 25 - 50% of the software in use. Both the US government and software companies are actively involved in efforts to eliminate piracy. There are a few major groups of software manufacturers involved in this effort, These organizations regularly bring suit against companies involved in piracy, provide a hotline for reporting software piracy and provide web pages for online reporting of software piracy. The US government's FBI has a Computer Crime Squad who has raided numerous homes and offices, confiscated computers and shutdown numerous nationwide software piracy rings over the last several years. The reason that I bring this to your attention, is that we receive calls and emails on a regular basis stating that they can find the software online from a 3rd party vendor for half of our cost. We are all for competitive pricing, and making sure that you get what you need at great prices! However if you can find SQL processor license for $1,500.00 chances are that the software is pirated. So how can you insure that the software you purchase is legit when you purchase it from an online vendor, at a cost that is too good to be true? There are a couple things that you can do to protect yourself from being out thousands of $$, and having your systems and software taken away from your business; You can call a anti-piracy team to check on the software you are about to purchase. Microsoft’s anti-piracy hotline is 1-800-RULEGIT, you can get a hold of Symantec’s Anti-piracy team here piracy@symantec.com. If you are looking at another manufacturer you can google their anti-piracy team and protect yourself against fraud. Hope these tips were helpful. Happy computing!

Does the upfront cost of Exchange, and SharePoint, have you in Sticker Shock?

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Has the cost of migrating to Exchange, or SharePoint, been holding you back from making the move? If so Microsoft has released a new hosted suite, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, aka BPOS.

The Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of Microsoft hosted messaging and collaboration solutions including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft Office Communications Online. These online services are designed to give your business streamlined communication with high availability, comprehensive security, and simplified IT management. The best part about it is it is at a fixed cost! You pay monthly for the number of users accessing BPOS. This solution is catching on like wild fire, we all are aware that the future of computing is moving to the cloud. If you have been thinking of making a move to Exchange, or Sharepoint, but the upfront costs have you in ‘sticker shock’ this may be the answer to your prayers. Get in touch if you would like to discuss if BPOS is a good solution for your current problem.

Symantec making waves with Norton Internet Security 2009.

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:50:00 +0000

Norton Internet Security 2009 hits all the right security sweet spots, and its superior protection technologies might even win back some bitter anti-Symantec folks. Symantec has been listening to its users, and this year the company delivers a slimmed-down and faster Norton Internet Security than ever before. Norton in the recent past has included some sophisticated technology from its enterprise products, which is a good thing because it's cutting-edge! Whitelisting, the buzzword of security products, is included within the new suite, and by including it with other technologies, it is more suited for the end user in mind. With this technology, files on a whitelist are deemed trusted, and do not need to be scanned as often, and return you will have much faster scan times without sacrificing the most important part. Security! When testing anti viruses, Norton products have always scored in the upper ranks. If you ever feel the need to check out the latest and greatest security products, and would like to know how they match up against each other through 3rd party testing, check this site out. http://www.av-comparatives.org/index.html?http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/home.html

As always if there is anything we can ever assist you with, please do not hesitate to get in touch www.wasatchsoftware.com

Microsoft Has $$ To Lend……

trevor@wasatchsoftware.com (Trevor) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I know that a lot of you out there are in need of some software/ hardware upgrades, and with budget cuts it can be difficult to get the boss to sign off on a PO. Microsoft has $$ to lend!! I have worked with quite a few of companies that want to roll out new projects and could not find financing. Microsoft is approving 70% of its finance deals! Here is the great news; it doesn’t even need to be all Microsoft products. If you need help with financing, Wasatch Software can help you with a number of options that could help you get the ball rolling on the latest project sooner rather than later.