soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

You're already using cloud computing without even knowing it...

2011-10-01T20:46:00.003+01:00

If you use online banking, access to an email service like Hotmail or Gmail or SaaS "software as a service" applications like Salesforce, etc. Then you are already using Cloud services.

Many businesses are moving to the Cloud computing because it frees them from having to install, maintain and upgrade expensive, overblown PCs that cost a LOT to maintain. It also makes added and removing users (or employees) quick and easy since you simply pay for what you use each month and nothing more.

Other advantages include unlimited storage, automatic backups, higher-level of security and the ability to access your business systems from any device anywhere. Plus, cloud-based networks don’t require the on-going maintenance that traditional server-workstation networks require.

However not every application or situation is suited for the Cloud. While many LOB (line-of-business) applications still can’t be hosted in the cloud and require a commercial grade Internet connection with a backup such as a DSL or cable, there’s no doubt that cloud computing is here to stay.

Advances are being made rapidly to make it the better solution for most businesses. Of course were here to help you understand your options and the pros and cons.

A Free "Cloud Readiness" Consultation Will Give You The Facts

If you want to know if cloud computing is right for you, call us for a free, no-pressure, no-obligation cloud readiness assessment. We’ll evaluate your current situation and provide insights and options for moving to the cloud.

We’ll also answer any questions you have and tell you the unvarnished pros and cons of choosing this option.

Call us at 0845 450 3669 (option 2) or Click here>> Cloud Computing Bristol Bath & UK to have one of our friendly experts contact you to discuss further.

Happy Cloud Computing!

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the UK responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

What exactly is the Cloud?

2011-09-23T21:13:00.002+01:00

That is the infamous question these days.

Well thanks to our friends at StartupTV Magazine we are able to explain this in more details for you.

Watch the video below to get answers to these common queries:

1) What exactly is the Cloud

2) How Can the Cloud Help SMEs

3) How as an SME do I migrate to the Cloud

4) Why SMEs should be moving to the Cloud

To find out more on the Cloud Computing or if your business could take advantage of the many benefits please contact soVision the Bristol Based Cloud Services experts for your Cloud Readiness assessment.

Or just call to speak with one of our friendly experts at 0845 450 3669

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the South West responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

soVision at the FSB Best of Bristol Exhinition, September 27th, Ashton Gate

2011-09-22T11:01:00.003+01:00

Are YOU excited about the "Best of Bristol" exhibition at Ashton Gate on September 27th ?

soVision most definitely are ! Come see us on stands 108 & 109, and also don't miss our "Cloud Computing" seminar, which will take place from 11.00 - 12.00 on the day !

See you there !

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the UK responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud confusion clears over Southwest

2011-09-05T09:39:00.002+01:00

Firms and business within the Southwest region of the UK, are actively embracing Cloud Computing. According to a survey carried out by hosted IT service provider Rise, almost 70 per cent of IT decision-makers within the region have moved or will be moving their IT infrastructure from onsite to a Cloud based infrastructure within the next two years.

The survey was conducted at a recent event held in partnership with Rise and Bristol based, IT services specialists, soVision. The event was focused on dispelling the myths and lifting the confusion, which often surrounds Cloud Computing.

The results indicated that despite Southwest businesses showing a willingness to move to a hosted service, there still remains an element of confusion as to all the benefits, which can be seen by migrating to the Cloud. Almost 70 per cent of participants felt they didn’t understand all the benefits that hosted services had to offer and over 90 per cent felt that more education around Cloud Computing was needed.

According to Chris Thompson, IT services director at soVision, the Southwest of the UK is becoming a key champion for Cloud services, with more and more businesses looking to migrate their IT infrastructure: “Cloud Computing is becoming more and more understood and in the Southwest this is no different. Increasingly businesses are waking up to the benefits that Cloud has to offer.

The results from our recent event indicate firms are open to Cloud and are actively seeking information to help lift any confusion they might have. Although some doubts still persist, we are working with the likes of Rise to help eradicate concerns and provide a source of knowledge to local IT decision makers when it comes to hosted services.”

The survey also identified key concerns surrounding Cloud uptake, with over 70 per cent of participants pinpointing lack of confidence, cost and security as reasons why firms may be reluctant to invest in hosted services. Over 85 per cent of participants then went on to highlight that if these misconceptions surrounding Cloud were addressed, more firms would likely invest in a Cloud platform.

The figures indicate that despite some concerns still persisting, a lot of businesses particularly from the Southwest are starting to embrace hosted services. “The results of the survey made for very interesting reading”, said Steve Holford, director at Rise. “Last year was very much opening up businesses to what Cloud is, now we are starting to see firms embracing it. We applaud the work of soVision, they are working with local IT decisions makers to answer the questions they have around hosted services as well as lifting the lid on any confusion they might have. The results from the survey indicate that people are listening to what is being said and it’s great to see the Southwest region embracing new technologies that can help improve their business.”

Cloud Computing & Streaming Video

2011-08-30T11:26:00.018+01:00

Find out how you can still achieve high quality video streaming using a highly integrated Cloud Computing solution for your business and prevent large exspenditure on over priced solutions such as Citrix.
Cloud Computing & Streaming Video

A very informative website called www.gotothecloud.co is another fantastic information based resource on learning the non-sugar coated version of how the cloud could work for your organisation.

If you have any further questions please feel free to drop us an email at info@sovision.com
or click here to have one of our friendly technology experts get in touch with you to help you with your query in more detail.

Happy Cloud Computing!

360Cloud Platform - Hosted Desktop

2011-08-23T09:22:00.018+01:00

Find out how a highly integrated Cloud solution works by watching this video. With our Cloud solutions our technology partners can access their business systems from anywhere on any device.

A very informative website called www.gotothecloud.co is another fantastic resource on learning the non-sugar coated version of how the cloud could work for your organisation.

Enjoy the video!

If you have any further questions please feel free to drop us an email at info@sovision.com
or click here to have one of our friendly technology experts get in touch with you to help you with your query in more detail.

Happy Cloud Computing!

soVision - Tech Tips - Internet Explorer 9

2011-08-15T09:26:00.040+01:00

What's so great about IE9 and why should you upgrade?

Please enjoy our weekly tech tip to find out....

If you have any further questions please feel free to drop us an email at info@sovision.com
or click here to have one of our friendly technology experts get in touch with you to help you with your query in more detail.

Happy Computing!

Your Business Mirrored In The Cloud

2011-07-31T10:55:00.006+01:00

soVision the 1st Cloud Provider in the South West has developed a unique set of tools that help end user organisations understand the scale of a migration journey to the Cloud. These tools assist in migrating legacy applications, and typically those old software applications that are still needed to operate your business to cloud platforms.

In a typical scenario we will closely mirror the way your existing applications work and run a proof of concept simulation with a smaller part of your data in the cloud before initiating the big switch.

soVision removes that typical barrier a lot of companies often run into by providing the tools to discover what applications your organisation has and what can be migrated over.

Using our traffic light system end users can identify which apps they want before the migration takes place. Contrary to a lot of providers that will try steering you away from using your legacy application and into buying something new.

While sometimes this may be the right choice we will not try and tell you how to best run your business. We won’t ask you to buy any software and only give you a clear solution map as to how to navigate to the cloud which very often will include your existing software.

Research conducted by Brocade has indicated that 60% of organisations expect to have started the planning and migration to a distributed – or Cloud – computing model within the next two years.

With over 15 years of experience implementing and delivering applications and business systems from the Internet we have this down to a fine tuned art.

While no one cloud migration is ever the same with our unique and consistently dependable transition process, we promise your move to the cloud will be completely smooth and painless while we lead you down the path step by step to YOUR expected outcome.

Free “Cloud Readiness” Private Consultation Will Give You The Facts

If you want to know if cloud computing is right for you, call us for a free, no-pressure, no-obligation cloud readiness consultation. We’ll evaluate your current situation and provide insights and options for moving to the cloud.

We’ll also answer any questions you have and tell you the non sugar coated pros and cons of choosing this option. Or Click here to send us a request from online.

Your computer hassles can vanish magically with the Cloud…or can they?

2011-07-30T20:46:00.004+01:00

Are you keen to move to the cloud? Have you been tempted by the thought of reducing your IT overheads? Are you wanting the cloud to deliver the earth?

It is true that cloud computing can offer tremendous benefits to small and medium sized businesses, delivering enterprise-style IT for a fraction of the cost.

You can reduce your energy consumption and carbon footprint, you can ensure everything you do is accessible from everywhere you go, and you can improve your data security and disaster recovery. You can even do all these things and save money at the same time.

But you need to be sure of what you’re doing to ensure that the move to cloud computing delivers the benefits you want rather than the problems that you don’t.

One of the things you will learn on the day is that there are really two types of cloud computing providers out there, and they will sell you two entirely different types of cloud computing solution.

The first kind will sell you “pointed” solutions: separate deals for easy things like email, Microsoft Office, file storage or online backup. These products are great technologies, and they are common to every business, which makes them easy to provision in the cloud.

What these vendors won’t do is ensure that these products are integrated with your existing systems or that they are structured to fulfil the real needs of your business going forwards.

The second kind of cloud provider is know is as a cloud integrator, and it’s their job to ensure that your migration to the cloud is fully integrated with all your IT systems and business processes.

They take a holistic approach to ensure that nothing is missed or left behind when you move to the cloud and it is this attention to detail that ensures the cost savings you need are delivered along with other benefits such as increased systems availability, improved IT performance and full accessibility anytime, anywhere.

To deliver the best possible business outcomes from cloud computing its important to avoid cherry picking only the easy items and look at the whole of your IT as one organic system serving all your business needs. Otherwise you could be left with somewhat irreversible and very costly mistakes down the road.

A cloud integrator has the experience to see your business as a whole, to listen to and interpret your requirements effectively and to take a hands-on approach to end-to-end implementation that leaves you with the IT systems you need.

soVision are an experienced cloud integrator based out of Bristol offering to share with you their knowledge and expertise on “Going to the Cloud”.

To learn more come to soVision’s free “Going to the Cloud” seminar on the 5^th of August to discover how you can avoid the pitfalls and harvest the advantages of the move to cloud computing.

Or call 0845 4503669 and a friendly member of the soVision team can get you sorted.

“Monkeys” AND “Business” – They can actually go together and in this case they do

2011-07-08T16:07:00.007+01:00

Maybe you have seen them, and this has inspired you to visit the zoo to see their real live Gorillas?

Well, now you can, FREE, by combining business with pleasure, and attending our cloud computing seminar at the zoo on Friday 5^th August. After our seminar, you are welcome to enjoy all of the sights, sounds and attractions that the zoo offers, free of charge !

Now small to medium business owners can truly declare freedom from expensive software, hardware and network upgrades by “going to the cloud” . . .

Unless you been hiding under a rock, cloud computing is the latest buzz from the IT industry.

An industry where the rate of change is so fast it can be hard for non-experts to keep up. If you are a small- or medium-sized business owner you have to find the shortest route to being an expert in everything.

That is why soVision has developed its “going to the cloud” seminar. This half-day programme will fill you in on the mysteries of cloud computing, and put you in the driving seat for taking your organisation to the next natural step in its IT journey.

The seminar, on Friday August 5^th, is free, with lots of giveaways, and is targeted at business owners and chief executives who need to gain traction on the IT decisions happening in their organisation right now. “Going to the cloud” can put you back in control of your IT, reduce your carbon footprint and save you money. To reserve your place, go to www.sovision.com

There are things you need to consider before “going to the cloud”. You still need the pcs, laptops, blackberries and iPads you will use to access your data. You need great IT support for these devices and for the migration to the cloud. You need to consider the impact on every application your business uses. And you have to make sure that your internet connection is up to the job.

The “going to the cloud” seminar will provide you with all the information you need to plan this transition for your business at the rate that’s right for you. We’re all “going to the cloud” at some point but, rather than floating up in a daze, if we take control we can make it the driver for business expansion at a whole new level. The company’s web site at http://www.sovision.com/ contains additional information.

Declare Freedom from Expensive Software, Hardware and Network Upgrades by Going to the Cloud

2011-06-23T15:26:00.026+01:00

Just recently, Microsoft announced the official release of Office 365, which is the cloud computing alternative to purchasing, installing and maintaining Office on your own in-house server. Now, instead of paying up to £422 per license, you can get access to all the applications via the Internet for £4 to £16 per month (like paying for a utility) through this new cloud computing service.

What Is “Cloud Computing”

Cloud computing or “going to the cloud” is very similar to the concept of paying for electricity as a utility rather than purchasing and running your own generator to power your home or office.

Public utilities shoulder the burden of generating and delivering electricity and can provide a cheap, reliable, “pay as you go” service to anyone wanting water or power. Similarly, with cloud computing, the cost of hosting, securing and delivering network services (like Office) are owned by the utility company (in this case, Microsoft).

Is This A Smart Move?

The cost savings with Office 365 are hard to ignore; however, there are a number of things to consider before you jump ship to cloud computing. You need to consider the reliability of your Internet connection, what type of help desk support you want, security, what other applications (accounting, CRM, line of business applications, etc.) you need and which devices (scanners, printers, iPads) you need to use.

Free “Cloud Readiness” Consultation Will Give You The Facts

If you want to know if cloud computing is right for you, call us or click on soVision Bristol Cloud Computing for a free, no-pressure, no-obligation cloud readiness assessment. We’ll evaluate your current situation and provide insights and options for moving to the cloud. We’ll also answer any questions you have and tell you the unvarnished pros and cons of choosing this option.

Plus, if you call us during the month of July to schedule this assessment, we’ll send you a FREE copy of the best-selling book, “The Big Switch” by Nicholas Carr. This book talks about the massive technological revolution that is happening right now and what it means to businesses like yours.

Please call us now for more details – 0845 450 3669

or click on soVision Bristol Cloud Computing

What Every Business Must Know About The Effect Of Social Media On Security And Staff Productivity

2011-06-20T09:50:00.010+01:00

If you are a business owner or director that is concerned about your staff surfing online using web sites like Twitter and Facebook– OR WORSE, using company resources to access pornography, gambling sites, blogs and more – then read on.

You Need to Be Concerned

It’s not unusual for workers to waste a bit of work time on relatively un-related activities, such as shopping or visiting a favorite sports site, times have changed; companies are learning the hard way that members of staff that use or abuse of a company’s Internet system can lead to substantial liability and time wasted if not monitored.

For example, one business owner (who will remain nameless) shared that they received a shocking phone call from the office while away on leave. The police had shown up and arrested one of their employees for soliciting a minor online. Since he was doing this during work hours from the office, that’s where the authorities arrived to arrest him – clearly a company reputation nightmare. Stories like this are occurring EVERYWHERE.

Then there’s the misused time. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are addictive. If your employees are continuously “plugged in” to those sites, they won’t be nearly as productive at the workplace as they should be.

The Solution To This Problem

Step 1) have a written company policy that details what employees can and can’t do with company resources or during company hours.

Step 2) have a content filtering system in place that will enforce your policy by automatically “managing” your company e-mail and Internet usage, blocking sites and content you don’t want your employees to access without hampering their ability to work online.

Free Productivity And Security Assessment

Mark Twain once said, “Supposing is good, but knowing is better.” If you want to know for sure how much time your employees are spending on non-work related surfing and what web sites they are accessing, call us for a free trial of our content filtering solution.

Call 0845 450 3669 or click here for more information: IT Support Bristol and Bath

At no cost, we will install our monitoring solution for a week and then provide you with an accurate report of what your employees are doing online while at work.

How To Instantly Get Your Employees
To Stop Wasting Time Online

Our FREE Productivity and Security assessment will reveal:

What web sites employees visit and how much time they spend there
If your firewall, anti-virus and other security settings are set up properly to protect you from a hacker or malware attacks
How you can put simple, automated tools in place to “watch” over your company’s e-mail and Internet connection

To learn more about us, go online: soVision Business IT Support

Is E-Commerce for me?

2011-05-31T17:05:00.005+01:00

If you have asked this question and are considering selling your products online then read on...

Key E-Commerce Business Questions

When considering an E-commerce solution there are a number of questions that your supplier should be asking you:

· How are your offline sales processed at present and how would this process translate to an online purchasing solution?

· What sales challenges are you facing and what area of your business would you like to improve?

· What are your aspirations, vision and the goals for the business?

· What problems does your current sales process cost you in terms of time, resource, money and lost opportunities?

· What would it mean to you if we could solve these problems?

We ask these questions to gain an understanding of your requirements and to find out what you are looking to achieve from an E-commerce solution.

If your supplier is not asking these crucial questions, you should have a question for yourself:

Is this the right E-commerce supplier for me?

Speak with one of our E-commerce experts on 0845 450 3669 for an informal chat or to arrange a meeting to discuss your requirements further.

The Average Failure Rate Of Disk and Tape Drives is 100%!

2011-05-01T07:26:00.001+01:00

You've been Warned:

Most people don’t realise that ALL disk and tape drives fail at some point and the reality is that most businesses don’t do anything about it until it is too late!

That’s why thousands of businesses lose millions of pounds worth of data to disasters such as equipment failure, fires, power outages, theft, and disgruntle employees. Often just from simple human error. In almost every case, these UK businesses were horrified to find out their back-ups weren’t working when needed most rendering their critical data completely worthless!

You’ve already experienced some of the following issues with your tape drive...

Someone forgets to change the tapes, maybe goes on vacation, or the person responsible leaves the company, and the tape rotation plan falls through... Are the tapes being constantly monitored to make sure they are working?

Have you ever tried to recover data from your tape drive, only to discover how difficult it was, or that the data you thought was being backed up, in fact, wasn’t? If so, you are not the only one to experience this.

Fortunately there is a way to eliminate the risk and hassle of tape drive backups with our proven flexible “360DR Backup” solutions. The risk and hassles of tape backups can be eliminated finally and forever!

Don't wait until it too late like others have!

To find out more from our soVision website just click here>> IT Backup & Disaster Recovery or just give us a call for some friendly advice at 0845 450 3669

A brand new website with no upfront cost

2011-03-31T17:50:00.009+01:00

It sounds too good to be true, but soVision’s new soCMS website offering gives you a brand new website with no upfront cost. Our monthly payment model includes everything you need to get your new website up and running and includes a whole host of additional extras and benefits.

So what is included?

• No contract.

• No upfront cost.

• A bespoke website built and managed within our Microsoft Certified soCMS content management system.

• Your current site migrated to our soCMS platform or a brand new bespoke design created – the choice is

yours.

• The first 5 pages of content populated by soVision, including provision of an online contact form.

• The ability to create as many pages as you wish within our soCMS solution, all managed through a secure online control panel.

• A search engine friendly content management system producing optimised page URLs and pages linked to Google through a Google sitemap which automatically recognises changes to content and improves search engine rankings.

• Our exclusive Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) guide to enable you to optimise your website content.

• An initial SEO report and recommendations from an SEO professional to help you optimise your site’s contents and keywords to improve search engine rankings.

• Web Hosting included.

• Google Analytics Included.

• One domain name included. e.g. http://www.mysite.com/

• 5 Email accounts with multiple Email addresses. e.g. me@mysite.com

• Unlimited Telephone and Email website support during website testing and 1st month after launch.

• Unlimited Email website support for the life of the website.

In addition to this fully featured solution we have additional ‘bolt-on’ solutions which will enhance your website's functionality:

E-commerce bolt on

soVision’s E-commerce solution is a fantastic way to sell your products and services online. As an integrated addition to your soCMS control panel, the E-commerce solution is simple for you to manage and designed to match the distinct look and feel of your website. Integration with the PayPal, Secure Trading and Cardsave is included and our solution supports multiple VAT and carriage rates.

Online booking bolt on

soVision’s online booking solution is a powerful yet flexible booking engine which soVision has developed and implemented for clients in many different fields who have an online booking requirement. Integration into the soCMS control panel means this solution is easy to manage and use on a day to day basis.

With no contract terms and no upfront costs a soCMS website from soVision is risk free way to get the online presence you want at a price you can afford.

To find out more simply call us on 0845 450 3669 or Email info@sovision.com now.

Build sales with email but make sure to avoid heavy penalties

2011-03-27T13:38:00.003+01:00

Email marketing is an effective way to build business sales but you must follow the rules

Faced with on-going postal rate increases nearly every year, we’re all looking for cost effective ways to reach new customers or keep in touch with current ones. In the 80’s and 90’s fax blasts were the alternative to costly snail mail.

Unfortunately, many firms abused customers’ fax machines and now the Fax Preference Service (FPS) has enacted severe restrictions and stiff fines virtually shutting down the fax as a marketing tool overnight.

Failure to observe these regulations will mean investigation by Data Commissioner at the Fax Preference Service. Although fines on first and second offences are rare, fines from the third illegal fax advert can go to £5,000 per fax.

Today the alternative to snail mail is email. True to form, spammers sending out those unwanted “Male Enhancement”, “Lose 20 Pounds in 5 Days”, or “How to Make Millions at Home Stuffing Envelopes” junk ads caused Congress to jump back into action. In 2003, the UK amended The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive)

Although the legislation specifies rules for message presentation opt out guidelines, labelling for sexually explicit materials, and penalties of up to £5,000 in a magistrate's court, or an unlimited fine if the trial is before a jury per violation, the law was clearly not intended to exclude legitimate marketers from using email.

In fact, a solid, well-targeted marketing campaign with a strong message can yield extremely high returns while remaining well within the EC guidelines. The difference between running a marketing program and generating spam ads is the difference between being an “invited guest versus an unwanted pest.” Too many businesses fall into the latter category.

To avoid the limitations and ensure compliance with the law, businesses are turning to inexpensive bulk emailing services like MarketU.

These services provide:

• Email addressed to the recipient from you – A good percentage of these messages are opened and read.

• Opt out services – Avoid contacting people that don’t appreciate your offering.

• Return services - Escape “dead” addresses clogging your email box.

• Database updates – Send messages to current and prospective “Live” clients.

• Up-to-date email procedures – Limit your legal risk. Whether you strike out on your own with email or use a bulk mailing service, it would be wise to check out the law on the web, craft a solid marketing plan with an attractive offer, and always include a link back to your web site or electronic marketing materials to maximize your ROI.

To find out more about email marketing contact us at soVision or call 0845 450 3669

soVision - Complete IT Services Provider

Professional and friendly IT Support Services to businesses across Bristol, Bath and throughout the UK responding quickly to fix all your IT problems.

IT SERVICES | BUSINESS IT SUPPORT | BESPOKE WEBSITE DESIGN | CLOUD COMPUTING

You just found out one of your employees had their laptop stolen…

2011-03-24T07:12:00.014Z

Quick, What Do You Do?

The bottom line is no matter how careful you are with your laptop, mistakes occur and losing a laptop (or having one stolen) is likely to happen to you or your employees at some point in time.

Recent figures from UK police forces show that over 34,000 laptops are reported stolen each year. This is almost 100 per day and only deals with those that are actually reported to the police.
Source: creativematch.co.uk

In the hands of a relatively unsophisticated hacker, all of your laptop information can be transferred off, often exposing an open back door into your network. This is no different in giving a thief the key to your office and the code to deactivate the alarm.

Imagine the embarrassment of having to contact all of your customers to let them know THEIR confidential information may be compromised because one of YOUR unsecured laptops is in the hands of a criminal!

Asking employees to be more careful about where they keep their laptop IS a good step in the right direction, but accidents happen and it would be naive to think that thieves aren’t always on the prowl.

For this reason measures should be taken to lock down and secure any mobile devices you and your staff use to access your company’s network.

Here are just a few things that should be looked at:

Encrypt All Information – Drive encryption software such as BitLocker (which is included in some versions of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7) can secure all the data on your hard drive. Also, check your computer to see if it has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip which is generally more secure than those without TPM.

Multi-Level Access Security – Don’t rely only on passwords to keep your laptop safe. Hackers can usually break most passwords in a few hours. We recommend adding a second way for people to prove that they are who they say they are BEFORE they are able to log in.

Some people use smart cards to do this, but fingerprint pads are gaining in Log / Back-Up Information – It’s critical to log and back-up all information on business laptops to ensure smooth operations in the event of loss or destruction. We can automate the backups so they are done ON SCHEDULE and in a way that won’t interfere with the useof the laptop.

The Right Response - What happens when an employee loses a laptop? Do you have a next step action plan in place? If not, we suggest calling us immediately to report the loss (Note: clients on our 360 Managed Services plans will get after hours support for situations like this).

The sooner we know, the sooner we can take preventative actions to lock that laptop out of the network and set active monitors for any internet activity on the stolen laptop. If we pickup on any we can usually detect an IP address which we can then send to the local police authority for tracking. A blame culture where people are afraid to report losses is actually much worse for security.

77% of organisations say protecting their data is important, but only 11% prevent it from leaving the building. (Source: toshiba.co.uk/informationassurance)

Take the time NOW to secure your laptop and limit the damage to your business if it happens. soVision specializes in IT security and in securing business data like yours, and making sure it is available whenever you need it, so give us a call at 0845 450 3669 to discuss encryption options and how to make your business network more secure.

The business behind bespoke software development

2011-02-12T15:47:00.001Z

Bespoke software development - whether it is for the web or for an application - is all about you: your vision, your ideas or your needs.

The first thing to do is ask yourself the question – What do you want to be able to do?

Once you've answered this by listing your needs and requirements then you need to find a suitable software developer.

Coming up with bespoke solutions to your problems is just as much about understanding your business requirements as well as your technological needs.

The best application and web development companies will help you with both the technological and business sides of your ideas.

You need this dual input because there's no point someone creating a wonderful piece of technology which automates your workflow or back-end systems unless it's actually going to improve the way you operate.

Too many companies will approach your specific problem from a purely technical point of view.

What you really need is someone who looks at your business first and then moulds the technology to meet your needs second rather than the other way around.

You also need to make sure that the application you end up with is easy to use as too many systems don't take the user into account.

What's the point of having a brand new system if it takes a doorstep-sized instruction manual to work out how to use it.

Good bespoke development should produce a system which not only solves an existing problem - or set or problems - but it should also do it in an intuitive way which you and your business can understand.

To find out more about our Bespoke Software Development, Web Design or other IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Hardware and software can easily be replaced but a your data cannot

2011-02-04T10:08:00.001Z

One of the most valuable assets in your company is your data and you should always do everything you can to make sure you don't lose any of it.

Here are 4 simple things you can and should do to make sure your company - and your data - is protected against and ready for any disaster:

Back up your data remotely - Everyone knows data should be backed up on a daily basis but many people still use in-house tape drives which can get damaged in a natural disaster or fire and can easily be stolen. We recommend backing up all your data to an off-site location away from such dangers and harm.
Use a surge protector and uninterruptible power supply battery - A high-quality surge protector combined with an uninterruptible power supply battery backup will go a long way towards protecting your sensitive electronic equipment from power surges and other electronic irregularities which can destroy your computer’s circuitry.
Make sure your servers are off the floor - If your office gets flooded, ensuring your equipment is off the floor will prevent it from being completely destroyed. Server racks which server this purpose are easy to find and are very inexpensive to install.
Have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan - Every business should have some type of plan in place for continued operation after a disaster. Hopefully you’ll never need to use one but having a simple plan will make you sleep a lot easier at night knowing you have a way to continue your operatations if and when disaster strikes. It can be as simple as making sure people know where to go and who to call in a disaster situation and ensuring they know how to log in and access our data remotely.

If you need help or any advice in any of these areas please get in touch as we can not only help get you prepared but get you back up and running fast in the event of a disaster.

To find out more about our Backup and Disaster Recovery services or any of our IT Support or other IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

6 ways to liberate your inbox by choosing a good spam blocker service

2011-01-22T16:31:00.002Z

Spam is a problem that nearly everyone who regularly uses email has to contend with on a daily basis.

However, you can liberate your inbox - but first you need to separate the good spam removal services from the bad.

To do this make sure your Spam filtering includes the following 6 critical areas before even considering it as an option:

SMTP protocol and blacklist checks - Senders email is checked against multiple real-time blacklists maintained by Internet organisations such as Spamcop, SpamHaus and CBL.
Gray listing - A variance of automated delaying and re-checking tactics are employed to ascertain whether the email is spam.
Email content filtering - There should be a level of intelligent heuristic checking which analyses the email for words, phrases and links that would indicate the email is spam.
Image scanning - Images within the email are scanned for words, phrases and other factors that would indicate the email is spam.
Local accessible support - Are you able to speak with someone in the UK if there is a query or issue with you Spam IT service? Is this extra or included with your IT service?
Evidence of continual updates - The Spam service should be constantly evolving to combat the new methods spammers are employing to sidestep other spam removal tools, ensuring you receive the most up to date protection available today.

We offer MailSort™ to combat Spam and once you begin using it you can expect to see your spam problem virtually disappear.

For a FREE trial or to simply find out more visit our on MailSort SPAM Blocker System page on our soVision website, email us at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Top 5 tips for creating a great website – Part 3: Website Content

2011-01-21T11:06:00.010Z

We’ve had a little break from blogging over Christmas and the New Year but we’re back now with more tips to help you create a winning website.

This instalment will help you get your website content up to scratch as writing your website content requires a different approach from writing content for printed literature.

People tend to read more slowly on the web as reading from a screen can tire your eyes. Therefore your website content needs to be short and to the point.

Purpose: Think about the purpose of your website content. Is it to sell? What is your product or service?

Why should someone use your product or serve rather than anyone else? What is your USP (Unique Selling Point)?

Readers on the web scan - or skim - text rather than read every word. So answering these questions and getting your message across quickly can be done by highlighting text.

Using bold text to add emphasis, making keywords hyperlinks to further information and using bulleted lists are all good methods.

However, try not to rely on colour as a surprisingly large percentage of males (8% to 12%) are colour blind and many web users are visually impaired so the wrong mix of colours will mean any emphasis is lost on them.

Human Interactivity: You don’t have long to engage with a reader.

Research suggests you have just 10 seconds to capture the attention of your reader and if successful you’ll have just under a minute to provide the reader with a clear understanding of your company or product.

And don’t forget what your ultimate goal is? Direct your reader with a clear call to action.

Information Process: In writing it is common to build anticipation and lead up to a big reveal.

When writing for the web use the ‘inverted pyramid’ theory, where the most important point or conclusion comes first.

This could be a fantastic price upfront, then your web page can cascade down to reveal exactly what it is you get for this price in descending order of importance.

Verbal Expression: Identify your audience and write in an appropriate tone. Building credibility is major factor in retaining a reader’s interest. Use objective language with meaningful headlines and sub-headings. Avoid marketing jargon or exaggerated claims.

Attention to detail: Spelling, grammar and other errors are a real turn-off. Check and double-check your content.

Get someone else to review it before you publish as they may notice errors you’ve overlooked.

You may have prepared your text in Word® or a similar word processing package and then copied and pasted the content into your web-editor.

During this process errors can be introduced so it’s always good practice to review your final web page exactly as it will appear for your readers.

So once you’ve published your content live online - read it once again for good measure.

FREE Website Rating

Most of these elements are customizable to a degree and ensuring they look like an integral part of your website and making them look as though they are supposed to be there to add value to and not detract from your website is important in providing a complete user experience.

Look out for our next instalment focusing on website oringality but if you can’t wait and would like to submit your website for a FREE website rating then visit our Web Design section on our website and enter your details in the form on the left-hand side of the page.

soVision enters groundbreaking managed services partnership with Eduquest Ltd

2011-01-19T14:39:00.004Z

We are pleased to announce that we have entered into a long-term service delivery partnership with Eduquest Ltd a Milton Keynes education provider.

We will be providing the Virtual Technology Support Center (VTSC) from our South West Service Center, located in Keynsham, to between 40 and 80 schools in Milton Keynes and the surrounding area.

From the VTSC we will provision and proactively monitor all devices - from servers and switches down to individual workstations and printers - provide service desk access form 8am until 6pm, deploy fixes and remotely health check and improve the performance of the entire system using our agentless managed service technology.

Speaking about the partnership our Technical Director, Joe Marsden, said: "The partnership with Eduquest is very exciting for us.

"Not only does it see us taking further steps to becoming a national provider, but what we are doing here is fairly unique.

"A lot of schools across the UK have outsourced IT but rarely is it running via a proactive managed service and certainly not to the extent we have taken it to here.

"Effectively, we have re-designed our private sector system to fit into education and offer new levels of service and support that schools just haven't experienced before."

The support system has been sucsesfully trialled at Olney Infant School in Milton Keynes, which has already gained significant attention within the area.

To find out more information about the partnership or any of our IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Never lose your Internet connection again

2011-01-11T21:11:00.002Z

Today we rely upon broadband more than ever before so how would losing broadband affect your business?

Businesses completely depend on the Internet and individuals are leading their digital lives online 24/7.

What happens when your business broadband connection goes down?

We meet companies all the time who have suffered days of down-time because of poor-quality broadband service and worse still - significant loss in revenue as a result.

Now with innovative and affordable technology this can be totally prevented

with our multiple-broadband solution.

We are in the unique position of being able to offer a broadband solution which utilises two separate connections from two separate suppliers so if one supplier goes down you stay online through the other.

The other benefits of multiple-broadband include:

Cheap - It's significantly cheaper than alternative SDSL and leased line solutions.
Scalable - You start with two broadband services and only add more if you need too.
Managed - It's remotely supported and managed by our in-house technical team.
Remote locations - It's an ideal solution for increasing available bandwidth to remote locations.

To find out more information about multiple-broadband and making sure you're never without broadband again please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Break-Fix IT support vs. Managed services IT support

2011-01-06T23:34:00.011Z

Managed services IT support can save you up to 90% on your IT costs compared to the traditional break-fix model.

Look at the following 2 scenarios and you can see why putting IT managed services in place is a no brainer.

The Break-Fix Scenario

An IT problem occurs.
You discover the problem.
You place a phone call for support.
You describe the problem to the best of your ability.
A technician spends time travelling to your site or uses remote access tools to start digging around for the cause of the problem.
The problem is diagnosed.
The problem is resolved.

The Managed Services Scenario

An IT problem occurs - or is about to occur.
Your IT managed services supplier is alerted before or as the problem occurs because your IT systems have 24/7 monitoring and alerts in place.
Your IT managed services supplier instantly and accurately diagnoses your IT problem.
Your IT managed services supplier conducts remotely resolves your IT problem in less time than it would take for a traditional IT technician to find their coat and keys.
Your IT managed services supplier provides you with regular comprehensive reports showing you the work they have performed, issues they have identified and your optimised IT support budget.

IT managed services make your IT costs more predictable and reliable, reduces risk to your data and IT assets and frees up your resources so you can focus entirely on your core business activities.

To find out more information about IT managed services and saving up money on your IT costs and support please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

5 things you must look for when choosing business broadband

2010-12-23T14:38:00.003Z

There are many broadband solutions on the market - some are great but some cause huge amounts of downtime and loss in productivity.

Your business will usually have to subscribe to a broadband service for a minimum of 12 months so you'd better make sure you do your homework before you take the plunge.

Here are 5 things to consider about your supplier and their services before making your decision about any broadband or Internet service they offer:

Business Class SLAs – Are their business broadband services backed with SLAs to ensure you receive only the best broadband service and support?
Quality Support – Are their support technicians fully trained and accredited to provide the highest level of technical and customer support covering all aspects of their business broadband service?
Dedicated Account Manager – Will you have a dedicated account manager who has a complete understanding of your broadband service and is there to ensure any queries or issues you may have are resolved?
In-House Engineers – Can they supply their own engineers to resolve any issues or do they outsource your support?
Reputation – How long have they been supplying quality broadband services to customers?

If you'd like advice on selecting the right broadband service for your business please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

soVision gets the contract to host soLearn!

2010-12-23T14:35:00.004Z

We have been awarded the hosting contract for soLearn, providing a robust and resilient hosting environment bespoke solution tailored specifically to meet our latest client's requirements.

Our ability to provide a supported and managed email and hosting service by our in-house technical experts was a key factor in soLearn selecting us as their hosting platform of choice.

soLearn offers the management tool to enable you to obtain a positive return on one of your most expensive investments - your human resources.

Their software provides corporate knowledge retention and industry-standard testing and proof of learning with customisable reports and statistical analysis data to meet your requirements for compliance reporting.

The company's services enable your organisation to test employee awareness and knowledge of company policy and procedures, health and safety, sales force behaviours and policies or any business process which requires training and testing to protect your employee welfare or business reputation.

They can also provide you with up-to-date trend validation of knowledge awareness for your essential processes over extended periods, snapshot campaigns for testing the knowledge of your workforce for immediate feedback, for social media purposes or workforce opinion.

Simple, effective, performance improvement - soLearn provides the new industry-standard for workforce training and testing.

For further information about soLearn and the services they provide call 0117 968 2194 or visit their website at www.solearn.com.

Our top 5 tips for creating a great website – Part 2: Design

2010-12-17T11:27:00.007Z

In the fast moving competitive world of the web an attractive website design is a major factor in winning customers.

Unless your website is charitably giving away free information out of the goodness of your heart, then there’s a very strong chance your website is selling in one way or another.

Whether you're selling products and taking payments online or just promoting your expertise and knowledge - you're selling something all the same.

Your website design will help people decide very quickly if what you’re selling is of interest to them.

Graphic Design: Over the web the majority of companies are anonymous to the user as a quick search gives people multiple results for the same thing.

Our websites are our shop windows and window shopping is alive and well on the web.

Just like in high street retail - your shop window needs to entice people through the door.

A strong brand and a professional website design will help build trust with your users.

User Friendliness: If you’ve ever been trying to find something without luck in a shop you have the chance of asking someone on the shop floor.

The politeness and helpfulness of that person can really make a difference to your shopping experience.

Unless you have 24-hour online chat your website is like an unmanned shop floor, so you need to direct people to find what they're looking for by themselves.

A logical website structure with an intuitive navigation and interface will guide your users in the right direction.

If they can’t find what they’re after they’ll be off looking through the next window before you know it.

Aesthetics: As an extension of design, aesthetics have an element of philosophy and science which takes into account the placement of elements within your web pages.

The success of a good design can be measured by how much the design is not noticed.

A well-designed website will help the user flow through the website and find what they are looking for without even thinking about it.

Alignment and Layout: Neat and tidy, tidy and neat. You don’t want the elements of your website jumping around the place from page to page.

A consistent, logical layout with a place for everything and everything in its place will enhance your user's experience and add to the overall aesthetics of your website design.

Integration: Your website has the ability to interact with many elements around it - perhaps loading a YouTube video onto your web page or embedding a Google Map.

Or the contemporart trend of linking your site to Facebook, Twitter or to weather or stock market widgets within your website's design.

Most of these elements are customizable to a degree and ensuring they look like an integral part of your website and making them look as though they are supposed to be there to add value to and not detract from your website is important in providing a complete user experience.

FREE Website Rating

Look out for our next instalment focusing on website content but if you can’t wait and would like to submit your website for a FREE website rating then visit our Web Design section on our website and enter your details in the form on the left-hand side of the page.

Our content management system - soCMS - coupled with our website design and development skills will give you a fully functional website, increasing your visitors and improving your conversion rates.

soVision forms strategic alliance with Novus Group - Leading Virtualisation Provider

2010-12-16T15:30:00.001Z

We have cemented our partnership with Novus Group after working with them on several successful virtualisation projects.

This will enhance our abilities to deliver leading edge end-to-end server virtualisation, desktop VDI and mobile computing solutions.

Novus Networks - part of The Novus Group - are the Number 1 provider of virtualisation and VDI solutions in the UK.

The company was formed in 1999 and specialises in the delivery of innovative and market leading application delivery technologies - including a wide range of thin-client and virtualised solutions.

Their focus on desktop and application virtualisation means they have built up an unparalleled knowledge of specialist software packages enabling the widest possible adoption of virtualised solutions.

These skills are backed up by a wealth of experience in the underlying server and storage infrastructure technologies and they have a number of respected industry accreditations proving their qualifications in providing high-quality virtualisation solutions

To find out more information about our partnership with Novus or our virtualisation or any other IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Our top 5 tips for creating a great website - Part 1: Functionality

2010-12-11T10:16:00.005Z

People access the web in many ways not just on a PC or Mac.

Whether it’s a lifestyle choice or through necessity you may find visitors to your website using any of the following devises:

A screen reader because of visual impairment
A smartphone,
An iphone, ipod or ipad simply because of a busy lifestyle
A games console

Therefore, it’s important your website functions as well as possible on as many different platforms as you can reasonably account for.

If you hosting company supplies web stats you might be surprised to find out exactly how many different ways people have already tried to browse your site.

Accessibility: The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has developed a series of accessibility standards and guidelines to make the web accessibly to people with disabilities.

Following these standards will ensure your website content is visible to all.

Speed and Bandwidth: In today’s age of super-fast broadband you might think this isn’t an issue anymore.

Well it’s not such a big deal as it used to be but that doesn’t mean speed should be taken for granted.

You never know what set up your website visitor is going to have, how many people might be sharing a connection, how far a rural community might be from an exchange or even the technology limitations of far-off countries?

With rich media, video, audio, animations and high-quality graphics all playing a part in making your website look the business it’s all going to go to be wasted effort if a potential customer is put off waiting for your page to load.

Quality: How your website looks and behaves is all down to the programming language telling the browser how and what to display.

With WYSIWYG tools and online website templates making website creation easy you don’t have to be a website developer to make a website anymore.

But how do you know that the website that gets spat out the other end is any good?

Errors in the code could prevent the information being displayed properly or hinder a search engine form indexing your site.

Navigation and Links: This is one of the most important parts of a website.

If your website is packed full of great content but it’s difficult to access due to a complex navigation system or if your website is riddled with broken links your visitors will be off looking at your competitors before you know it.

Legality: Are you aware that as a limited company it is a legal requirement to display certain company registration information on your website?

If you collect user data through your website, if you take payments through your website, there are various rules of conduct that you must adhere to.

FREE Website Rating

Look out for our next instalment focusing on website design but if you can’t wait and would like to submit your website for a FREE website rating then visit our Website Design Services section on our website and enter your details in the form on the left-hand side of the page.

Our content management system - soCMS - coupled with our website design and development skills will give you a fully functional website, increasing your visitors and improving your conversion rates.

We also offer a brand new soCMS pay monthly website design package giving you a brand new website with no upfront cost.

We are conveniently located right between Bristol and Bath providing services for local businesses. Click the following link to find out more about our Website Design Services for Bristol and Bath

soVision Partner with Lorensbergs to deliver Library Wi-Fi Services....

2010-12-08T09:09:00.002Z

We have entered a strategic partnership with Lorensbergs UK to deliver onsite installation and web filtering services for their public sector wi-fi customers.

Lorensbergs' wi-fi module is designed to enable public sector locations - such as libraries, learning centres and schools - to extend their existing authentication systems and Internet feeds to wi-fi users.

We're extremely pleased to be working with Lorensbergs to deliver these services.

We have a strong background in delivering, designing and architecting wireless networks from small customers with a single access point to large multi-site deployments in both the public and private sectors.

To find out more information about our wireless network or any of our IT Services please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

Get a Free laptop for the holidays

2010-12-03T16:49:00.003Z

We'd like to offer you a Free laptop for the holidays.

For a limited time during the month of December* soVision is pleased to offer you a free laptop valued at £550 if you can provide us with a successful business referral for us to provide our 360 Managed IT Services.

If you know someone that would benefit from our proactive services, reduced costs and a more reliable network, then please let us know as one of our friendly and knowledgeable experts would be happy to help them.

To refer someone to us simply contact us to confirm their details.

Many thanks and Happy Holidays!

Your committed technology partner, soVision

* Your referral must subscribe to our services within the month of December. Some exceptions would apply.

Save money with Windows 2008 RDS

2010-11-26T16:50:00.003Z

Did you know you can save your company money by deploying Windows 2008 RDS as opposed to Citrix Xen App.

The often overlooked RDS has almost identical features to Xen App - and let's not forget Citrix uses RDS to run many of its Remote Desktop Tasks.

If you're using Windows 2003 Terminal Services you'll be amazed at the difference.

In summary Windows 2008 RDS requires less capital cost, no software maintenance, supports clustering, is a full Microsoft Solution, has VDI facilities, has web access portal and fully integrates with the new Windows 7 Remote Desktop Client.

To find out more please contact us via email at info@sovision.com or call us on 0845 450 3669.

New soVision website launches today at 3pm GMT

2010-11-26T11:52:00.003Z

We're excited to announce that after 3pm today you can access our new fully-featured and more functional website.

With plenty of new produts and services and a renewed promise to all of our highly-valued existing and new technology partners - it's our mission to provide you with the HIGHEST level of proactive service and the most competitve pricing!

Visit our website later this afternoon at www.sovision.com.

MP Web Awards Success ... nearly!

2010-11-16T13:41:00.002Z

On Monday 15th November 2010 the BCS The Chartered Institute for IT held the MP Web Awards at the House of Commons.

The website for Derek Twigg, MP for Halton, designed and developed by soVision, and powered by our very own content management system (soCMS) was shortlisted for an award in the accessibility category.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to repeat our 2007 success with Paul Flynn MP where we scooped the Design Award for the best MP website.