Data Storage Decisions

Data storage and management is critical to a company’s success. Data is a valuable business asset and should be treated as such. Not only does it need to be stored, it also needs to be protected, backed-up, and reliably accessible in order to keep your business productive. The options range from simple backup solutions to full-on virtualized networks.

The right data storage solution will:
Provide flexibility and make it simple to access data
Improve storage performance
Increase storage efficiency
Enhance storage resources
Evolve and scale as your business evolves

When it comes to data storage, no two businesses are the same. How do you decide which data storage system to use?

The critical first step is to get a handle on the amount of data you are dealing with. Assess your storage needs associated with applications, data, and how and where that data will be accessed. You also need to decide how quickly you need to access the data and from which locations. Is the storage to be used as a data recovery solution? Also keep in mind that your data storage needs will grow — a lot.

Questions to consider:
How much data do you currently need to store?
What are your projected data-storage needs?
How many users or applications need to simultaneously access the data?
How important is data-access time?
How important is data-transfer speed?
What are your backup and recovery requirements?
What is your budget?

Bottom line: Consult with an experienced IT professional to help you decide which type of data storage is best. An expert will save you time and money by ensuring you have the best solution to meet your current and future needs.

For businesses looking for a cost-effective audio conferencing solution, Microsoft has introduced Lync — designed to make it easy for users to create, moderate, and join online meetings with both internal and external users.

Microsoft Lync lets you leverage your existing infrastructure to schedule, join, and manage audio conferences all from an intuitive interface that incorporates PC, Web, phone, and mobile devices. The unified interface makes it easy for people to collaborate effectively regardless of time or distance. With the new thin client, users on any operating system can participate in online meetings, and anonymous users can attend and participate without downloading a rich client.

To easily schedule and join conferences, simply set up online meetings right from Microsoft Outlook with an easy-to-use scheduling plug-in. Participants can join with one click from the PC as well as from mobile and desktop phones.  Scheduled conferencing is enabled through Microsoft Outlook and provides ways to restrict participants using a lobby model where people cannot gain access without approval. Conference organizers can also mute participants after the conference has begun in order to control unwanted background noise.

Lync enables ad hoc conferencing, such that a user can start with an IM and upgrade to a video call. After a video call is established additional individuals can be added by simply dragging the available individual into the conference window. Users can also share programs including web pages, and white boards, once the other party has accepted to share the program.

Bottom Line: Lync is proven to reduce operational costs with its ease-of-use and implementation of voice-over-IP (VOIP), and increase business productivity by making it quick-and-easy for employees to collaborate.