Posts Tagged ‘virtual’

Here Comes the Snow

Posted by Anna on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Well, the temperatures have dropped and the week has seen snow, sleet, hail, gales and even thunderstorms. So I think we can safely say that winter is here. And if the previous two years are anything to go by, business is going to suffer.

So what precautions can you put in place to ensure that productivity remains high when the snow falls, the roads gridlock and staff are stuck at home.

Well this is where remote working really comes into its own. By using a cloud-based solution you can put a remote workforce in place that lets your employees work from anywhere with an internet connection.

You can use personal cloud by taking out a virtual solution with your IT provider, such as the ones we offer through our datacentre, or you can opt to join the Microsoft cloud using Office 365.

From just £6.50 per user per month, Office 365 gives users access to all their regular Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) along with SharePoint Online – that let employees share documents, files, calendars and contacts; and Lync Online which offers real time communication through instant messaging, audio and video calling, live web conferencing and online meetings.

So if your staff are unable to get into the office because they are snowed in at home, stuck at an airport, or even just staying at home with the kids, so long as they have an internet connection and a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone then they can keep up to date with work.

It means it’s business as usual for them, and peace of mind for you.

If you have any questions on how cloud can work for your business, get in touch and we’ll be pleased to offer our advice.

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axon IT wins the Business of Lucas Credit Services

Posted by Anna on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

IT solutions provider axon IT is celebrating after securing a new account win with Lucas Credit Services – an innovative new debt collection company based in Bradford.

axon has provided Lucas Credit Services with an on-premise virtual solution through the provision of two new physical servers – one of which runs a virtualised version of Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) which is accessed remotely by staff working on thin-client terminals.

Graham Fern, Technical Director at axon IT explained; “Thin clients, contain no physical storage space. Employees access their company data virtually via a secure remote network connection, and all the company’s sensitive information, applications, databases and emails are now stored safely on the virtual server. This increases security by maintaining network integrity and makes the information employees are handling more secure as data is no longer stored locally.”

Nick Ramsden, Director for Lucas Credit Services added; “As a new business in the financial services sector, we need to be able to demonstrate to our clients that our security provisions for dealing with their sensitive customer data are completely robust. We needed a solution that provided us with the best network integrity together with the latest technology to enable us to deliver a first-class service to our clients.

“Our core business system – CollectR™ – is a completely new collections platform developed in-house integrating compliance and best collections practice into the latest technology. Developed exclusively from Microsoft products, it is written in .NET framework 4 with the industry standard SQL Server as its database and CollectR™ integrates with the outside world through web-services. So, as a Microsoft Gold Partner with expertise in Microsoft technologies axon IT was a natural choice to support our needs. The solution recommended and provided by axon IT is based on Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2011 and protected by their Forefront Threat Management Gateway which completely meets all of our requirements to secure our client’s data and be PCI compliant.”

Press Information:-
For more information, photography or an interview with the senior management team please call Anna Nicholls at axon IT on 0845 313 0025 or email alnicholls@axon-it.com.

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Go Green with Could Computing

Posted by Anna on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

With the ever increasing burden on the environment, we all ought to do our bit to help save the planet…… And by going virtual and opting for the cloud approach to IT, you are doing just that…..

Cloud computing can be hard technology to grasp if IT isn’t your thing, but basically you purchase one or more physical servers and run a number of virtual servers within them.

By removing the need to purchase and maintain expensive on-site servers you are not only reducing your upfront costs, but your running costs too….. by replacing multiple pieces of hardware with just one, your energy consumption drops dramatically – and with it your impact on the environment.

Let’s also not forget that your maintenance costs have just dropped as you now have just one server to maintain.

According to IBM, only 30% of the total power used in a server is consumed by the processor, the rest is consumed by all the other electronics.

With cloud computing, the server power increases by about 20% but you are also retiring a number of physical servers, making this increase insignificant when you compare it to the energy that is being saved.

Finally, all the calculations highlight that you could be looking at a massive 70% cost saving when switching to cloud computing. So, the final word is that if you run a small business, you should first establish exactly what amount of power you might save by going virtual. With just a little thought and a few changes, you could save power, money and ultimately the planet.

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Microsoft Welcomes Milo – but can he really be any good for us?

Posted by Andy on Friday, July 16th, 2010

On the back of Microsoft’s Kinect showcase at E3 in LA last month, games developer Peter Molyneux has this week introduced us to his friend Milo – a virtual human boy who reacts to a person’s emotions, body movements and voice.

The “Milo and Kate” game – upcoming for Xbox 360 Kinect – tells the story of young Milo and his dog Kate who’ve moved to London from New England.

Like something out of a sci-fi movie, Milo will recognise his “owner” after just 45 minutes, detect emotion, show signs of stress under pressure and will even blush when embarrassed.

The game, which is currently still in development with no confirmed release planned, takes players with Milo through a series of adventures where seemingly inconsequential events can have an impact on Milo’s later life – meaning no two Milo’s can be the same.

So can this be real? Can an animated gaming character really understand and interact with us like a scene out of Back to the Future?

You bet!

While Molyneux himself states that most of it is just a trick – it works. And boy is he right!

The Xbox Kinect camera tracks the player’s hand and body movements while voice-recognition software interprets intonation and meaning. The game also very cleverly exploits psychological techniques to make players feel that Milo is real. When obviously, he is not.

Whether the game will actually work in practice when it’s not under the confines of a Microsoft demonstrator remains to be seen, but you might not have to wait as long as you’d expect to try this futuristic technology for yourself. Media speculation cites Christmas 2011 for Milo’s big arrival.

Where technology such as this can lead is anybody’s guess…. and it could take the likes of Second Life to a whole new level. But while some argue that Milo is taking things a step too far as people swap the real world for a virtual one, I for one will be definitely be pre-ordering my copy and welcoming Milo into my home.

State of the art virtual reality technology in my own living room? – Amazing! Something only Doc Brown and Marty McFly will have experienced before me!

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axon IT Makes Virtual a Reality for Bridge Insurance

Posted by Anna on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

axon IT  has signed a contract to supply two virtual servers to Manchester’s Bridge Insurance Brokers in a deal which has successfully cut costs for the insurance brokers by significantly reducing their server footprint.

Bridge – one of the NW’s largest independent corporate insurance brokers and risk advisers – will now reduce its eight  physical on-site servers down to two, and take on two virtual servers in axon IT’s Manchester data centre.

The move will assist Bridge in cutting costs, improving flexibility and safeguarding all business information against power failures, fire, theft and other such concerns which can have major operational and financial impacts upon a business.

Scott Fosberry, Chief Information Officer for Bridge Insurance Brokers – located in Central Manchester – commented on the deal; “Going virtual can be a daunting task, but axon have taken all the stress out of the process by deploying a complete virtualization solution which has been fully tailored to our needs. Not only has the process helped to cut costs, but we now have all our vital company data stored securely off-site providing crucial business protection in the event of an emergency.”

Graham Fern, axon IT Director said, “More and more companies are realising the benefits of virtualization. By replacing multiple pieces of costly hardware with virtual servers in our data centre, Bridge will see huge cost savings – not to mention the reduction in running costs associated with running and cooling physical machines.

“In addition, Bridge’s business critical information will now be fully protected in the event of data loss through fire, flood, theft or equipment failure, providing Bridge with the contingency planning they need to keep the business running in the event of an emergency.”

Press Information:-
For more information, photography or an interview with the senior management team please call Anthea Fosti at Zeus Public Relations Limited on 01260 271429 / 07971437042 or email anthea@zeuspr.co.uk.

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