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News Newsletters 2006 December 2006
Filled with relevant information about the rapidly evolving IT landscape, the Simpler-Webb newsletter is a must-read.
December 2006
Release date: 12/1/2006
Simpler-Webb Q4 Newsletter
Hello!
I hope this newsletter finds you well as you prepare for the holiday season. I can hardly believe how fast it passed, but I’m looking forward to wrapping up what has been a fun year of continuing to grow our company in service to each of you.
This quarter, I’d like to introduce you to the Simpler-Webb Monthly Webinar Series. We’ve put together a great line-up of educational webinars highlighting topics we hope are valuable to you. This is an excellent opportunity for you to experience new and emerging technologies, learn more about Simpler-Webb services, and interact with some of our specialists and partners.
We kicked off the series on November 2nd with our first topic: The Simpler-Webb Managed Services Client Portal. Sean Martin, Director of Security, and Tom Meunier, Managed Server Product Manager, reviewed the features of the Client Portal, including a look at the Simpler-Webb instance of the portal. If you were unable to make it, we hope you’ll take a moment to view the webinar recording on our website.
A tentative list of our upcoming webinars is shown below. Please join us for Deploying Secure Wireless Solutions, on December 7th, 2006. There is a growing trend to go wireless, but many of you are concerned about security. We’ll discuss the solution benefits, deployment steps, and technologies to keep your WLAN secure. To gain a sense of the value a secure wireless deployment can bring, please see the Case Study of Amplify Credit Union’s wireless technology implementation in their branches.
Click here to sign up for Deploying Secure Wireless Solutions:
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/641895411
Planned Webinar Series
Deploying Secure Wireless Solutions December 7, 2006
New Microsoft Software Releases – What you need to know January 18, 2007
IT Operations: The Value of Server Virtualization February 6, 2007
A Framework for Infrastructure Optimization March 6, 2007
Network Redundancy & Resiliency April 10, 2007
Managed Network Security 101 May 8, 2007
Best,
Jeff Simpler
SWINC News ::
Andrew Webb, Chief Technology Officer, Achieves a Decade of Microsoft MVP Awards
Andrew (Andy) Webb, co-founder of Simpler-Webb, Inc., received a 2007 Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for extraordinary efforts in Windows Server Systems-Exchange Server. The 2007 designation marks his tenth consecutive MVP award since 1997. The MVP award recognizes the accomplishments of an elite group of world-wide technical community leaders who actively share their expertise with Microsoft customers and drive product excellence.
Simpler-Webb Selected for Cisco Vertical Select Program – Financial Services Market
Simpler-Webb was among the first partners to be selected for Cisco’s Vertical Select Program (VSP) for the financial services market. This program differentiates Cisco partners providing dedicated services to financial, healthcare, education, or state and local government markets. Simpler-Webb currently serves over 100 credit unions and local / regional banks across the United States.
Simpler-Webb Recognized for Customer Satisfaction Excellence
Simpler-Webb received the highest honor within the Cisco Channel Partner Program, Customer Satisfaction Excellence. Rankings are determined through a worldwide assessment based upon customer satisfaction results captured in the Cisco Partner Access Online tool. This appraisal substantiates team member commitment to Simpler-Webb’s core value to provide unmatched customer service and support.
Simpler-Webb Accepted into Microsoft Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Competency
Simpler-Webb achieved the Microsoft Partner Program’s Advanced Infrastructure Competency. This distinction is given to partners with proven focus on developing high-availability infrastructure solutions that include Active Directory and Identity Management, Exchange Migration and Deployment, Storage Solutions, and/or Systems Management. Simpler-Webb previously earned the ISV/Software, Information Worker, and Networking Infrastructure Solutions Competencies. Considerations for acceptance include the number of Microsoft Certified Professionals within an organization and customer references.
Service Offering ::
Wireless networks continue to gain in popularity for their convenience and flexibility in providing connectivity to your business. But are you concerned about the security of the wireless solution? Simpler-Webb solves the wireless security problem! We deploy a certificate-based solution delivering security stronger than most organizations’ wired networks. Give us a call today for a free estimate!
Employee News ::
Louis Mayor joins us as an Inside Sales Executive. He supports sales to identify and nurture client relationships, primarily within our Financial Industry market group. One of Louis’ first responsibilities included coordinating the new Simpler-Webb Webinar Series.
Kris Shuman provides expert desktop, application, and Exchange Resource Manager support to customers. He brings extensive knowledge of PC builds, installation and configuration, software administration and deployment, patch management, active directory and group policy management to our organization with his 10 years experience in the field.
Chris Lehr provides customer support for server based issues with over 13 years of IT experience ranging from Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory and Exchange design and implementation, desktop environment management, and antivirus/anti-spam administration to networking and security. Chris has the ability to assess issues, troubleshoot, and recommend solutions that meet customer needs. He has written for trade publications such as Windows 2000 Magazine and Certification Magazine.
Susan Lajda joins us with extensive experience in the areas of computer system integration and administration. Susan contributes a strong knowledge of Microsoft technologies as well as 5 years of Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification. She brings with her a Department of Defense Top Secret clearance and a previous deployment with government and military organizations including support for the US Navy Sixth Fleet Command. The majority of Susan’s focus has been on Windows 2003 Active Directory based applications and utilizing various other technologies such as virtualization and application sharing software.
Carrie McDonald joins us as Logistics Coordinator. Carrie brings a wealth of experience in office and project management, sales operations and marketing. Carrie handles equipment ordering and client invoicing. We hope you will be talking with Carrie soon!
CASE STUDY: Amplify Credit Union Goes Wireless
After 40 years, IBM Texas Employees Credit Union made the decision to evolve its products, services, and overall appearance into the next generation of banking. It began with a new name and slogan, Amplify Credit Union – Go Beyond Banking, shortly followed by the introduction of two new branches, renovations in their existing branches, bistro style seating areas, and PC tablets.
"We wanted to remove as many barriers as possible between our staff and banking. You won’t see a wall of tellers that everyone’s chained to, and you won’t see any velvet ropes," says Kent White, Vice President of Marketing.1
In accordance with breaking barriers, the credit union needed to deliver secure wireless connectivity to the tablet PCs used by their tellers. Amplify also committed to providing their customers wireless guest network access. Prior to this change, there was no organization-wide wireless connectivity and no form of guest user access. Simpler-Webb was contracted to provide hardware, installation, and services needed to deploy the secure wireless solution.
"We deployed a Cisco Airespace 4402 wireless LAN controller and a combination of lightweight Cisco Aironet 1010 Access Points and Cisco Aironet 1131AG Access Points configured for Hybrid Remote Edge Access Point (H-REAP)," says Danny Snyder, Security Engineer for Simpler-Webb. "By doing so, we deliver secure, 802.1x authenticated with dynamic Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), wireless network access at each of their branches for employees’ use with their tablets and PCs, and a freely accessible guest wireless network for customers' use to access the internet. All established with a single point of management for ease of use."
The authentication and encryption infrastructure are provided by Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Group Policy, Windows 2003 Certificate Authorities, and Windows 2003 Internet Authentication Services (RADIUS), coupled with Virtual Server 2003 R2 technology to minimize the hardware costs.
Several key solution differentiators drive increased value for Amplify:
- Integration with Active Directory via RADIUS to authenticate both users and computers via certificates and control access via Active Directory security groups
- Implementation using Virtual Server to minimize the hardware costs of the PKI and management infrastructure
- Provisioning of dynamic WEP for improved security over static WEP or WPA keys, and soon to be converted to WPA2/AES/TLS for even greater strength and security.
- Configuration through a single management interface for up to 50 Access Points
- Configuration of local network traffic delivery at remote sites for more efficient bandwidth usage (rather than network traffic tunneled back to the central AP controller)
"The secure wireless solution we implemented at Amplify is a reflection of the direction of banking in a marketplace where consumers demand fast service and customized options," says Simpler-Webb CEO, Jeff Simpler. "Secure wireless enables guest access to real-time information, workforce mobility, and collaboration, all of which provide value-added services and a competitive advantage."
"We've been working with Simpler-Webb for a number of years, so they were the natural choice when we made the decision to go wireless. That choice was driven by the business objectives of the organization and a desire to get ahead of the curve in the technology arena. Together, we set out to design a wireless environment that was more secure than our wired network, reliable enough to carry day-to-day production traffic and that allowed for customer Internet access separate from the employee environment. With Simpler-Webb's help, we did it," says Tim Ray, TS Manager of Amplify. "Now, employees can serve customers anywhere inside our walls. They are not tied to a desk or teller line, so long as they have their laptop. We also found, to our delight, that the wireless network can be easily extended via VPN to trade shows, on-site events and so forth. We've got several more ideas on how we can move forward from here, but this was a great big first step."
1 Giselle Greenwood, "Credit Union Raises Noise With Name Change," Austin Business Journal, 6 Oct. 2006