Evolve IT Australia would like to officially congratulate Mick and Brendan from Point Project Management on their recent wins at the Telstra ACT business awards. The night at the end of July in Canberra started off with a bang by Point winning the 1300Australia People’s Choice Award and Commonwealth Bank Medium Business Award with night being concluded with the announcement of Point Project Management being named Telstra ACT Business of the Year, scooping the pool in an incredibly strong field of 16 finalists at the 2012 Telstra Business Awards. This is an amazing achievement for a company that has grown significantly since its inception back in 2006 with current staff nearing 100 based out of offices in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and PNG.

Joint Managing Directors, Brendan Bilston and Michael Snare paid tribute to the efforts of staff and their families for the contributions they have made to the business and also acknowledged the support of clients and service providers.

“This is the second time that Point has been awarded the Telstra ACT Business of the Year.”   Michael said “We are proud of the fact that we operate a national and international business, headquartered in the ACT and are thrilled to be representing the ACT in the national finals”.

Brendan in his acceptance speech also made mention of Evolve IT Australia as their IT supplier. Evolve IT provides Point Project with all its IT infrastructure and ongoing support nationally with a hosted Citrix XenApp based solution delivering all business critical applications and data to all Point staff wherever their job may take them. This solution meets the always on / always accessible business requirements however also provides a great scalable platform for a hypergrowth company such as Point Project.

The national finals take place in Sydney on Wednesday 29 August 2012 and everyone at Evolve IT Australia would like to wish them the best of luck.

Acceptance Speech Video - 2012 ACT Commonwealth Bank Medium Business Award

“Is my printer meeting my needs?” A question few, if any, small business owners will ask themselves when thinking about ways to change their company’s infrastructure to meet their needs. While, at first glance, it may not seem like printers demand attention, they do make up a large part of your infrastructure and could be one thing holding you back from a more efficient organization. Managed print services can help you enhance your company’s output.

Managed print services is a service that’s designed to help businesses streamline their printing operations; reduce operating costs and waste, and increase productivity. It works much the same way as Managed IT services, you have a company work with you to develop a printing solution tailored to meet your needs. This could include consolidating print, scan, copy and fax into one machine, or, upgrading systems to connect to the network to allow for virtual printing.

The benefits of doing this can be far reaching and could include:

• Decreased IT costs. Many office printers and copiers are closed systems that require a qualified technician to fix, or at the very least takes up the time of current IT staff. If you have a managed service, you don’t have to pay for a technician to come fix the machine, and your IT staff can focus on priority tasks, thus reducing costs.
• Decreased material costs. Many managed print services use new technology, that while an investment in the short term, can quickly pay for themselves through increased output, decreased material cost and lower maintenance costs.
• Helps the environment. As managed print service companies use current technology, which itself uses less energy, you’ll find electrical bills to be lower. The technology also uses less ink and can reuse paper, thus reducing harmful waste and helping the environment.
• Increased productivity. By making printing systems more efficient, a company will see an increase in physical output, because they’re not constantly waiting for the printer.

If your company is looking for a new printing solution, you should ask yourself these three questions:

1. Will we see ROI? Many companies will see upwards of a 30% savings in printing costs with an optimized printing solution. It’s important to work with managed printing providers to ensure that you will actually save money with their systems, or at least see a return on your initial investment.
2. Can our technology support growth? Many small businesses are constantly changing and their current solutions may not meet needs in the future. You should analyze your current technology and see if it will be able to support you in the future.
3. How much does printer downtime cost you? If you’re using older technology that’s constantly breaking down, the cost of downtime can be quite high. This is a good indication of the need for managed print services.
4. Do you want to focus on printers? If your business is in need of a printing solution to help operations, and doesn’t focus on printing, or you want to spend less time thinking about printers and more time focusing on tasks, then going with a managed print service is a good choice for you.

If you’re looking to replace your printers, or would like another way to make your business more efficient please contact us, we may have a solution for you.

Long-term cost-effectiveness. Simple, but comprehensive and updated solutions. Dependable and stable. These are just some of the advantages of using Managed Services to deliver efficient and custom designed IT solutions that meet your specific needs.

Many large businesses prefer the use of Managed Services to meet their IT needs, but many smaller organizations continue to be skeptical of this solution. Here are five reasons that will make you think twice about dismissing Managed Services:

Managed Services help control costs. In any kind of business, it's important to be as cost-effective as possible. Especially in IT, where unbridled or poorly managed systems cost way more that they're worth, it's essential to have a system that works with your budget but doesn't compromise on quality. Managed Services is the most feasible and practical way to accomplish that, especially in the long term.

Managed Services help you deal with increasingly complex IT solutions. With both hardware and software components of IT systems constantly evolving, businesses with limited resources may very well find themselves left behind after a while. But with Managed Services, you are able to enjoy the advantages of the latest IT solutions at a fraction of the cost – enabling you to provide the best possible service to your clients.

Managed Services give you a better, more dependable IT infrastructure. Especially for smaller businesses, it can be tedious to maintain an in-house IT arm; and you run the risk of stretching resources too thinly, which can compromise the quality and output of your IT department. Managed Services allow you to have a stable and dependable IT arm that's dedicated to meeting your specific needs in a cost-effective manner.

Managed Services offer more comprehensive and complete IT solutions. More often than not, small and undermanned IT departments are more of a burden to the organization they belong to – errors are more likely to occur, response and problem solving is a slow process, and staff members are probably overworked and underpaid, making them both unhappy and less productive. Managed Services, on the other hand, are completely the opposite, allowing you to utilize efficient and comprehensive solutions that are tailor-made to fit your specific requirements.

Managed Services help you maintain compliance. With the marketplace becoming more and more competitive, meeting different regulatory compliances has become a fundamental need. From Sarbanes-Oxley to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), smaller companies can often find themselves lost. It’s Managed Services that helps these companies not only fully understand the requirements of these regulations, but also comply with them.

If you want to know more about how Managed Services can directly benefit your day to day operations, please do not hesitate to give us a call – we'd be happy to sit down and discuss a custom solution that works for you.

Gone are the days when advanced IT solutions are meant for only large companies. With Managed Services, even small businesses can now afford to utilize the most innovative IT — and experience the same functionality and security that big corporations enjoy.

Like a lot of small to medium-sized businesses these days, you perhaps have become greatly reliant on Information Technology (IT). You certainly want your own IT department to offer the functionality and security that huge organizations benefit from. But cost is most likely holding you back—the large amount of money needed to design, install and maintain such a setting is usually too expensive for smaller organizations.

Fortunately, today you can have both the best IT and the most cost-efficient solution—because in Managed Services, they are one and the same.

Managed Services is an IT model that provides IT management and security remotely. Utilizing the latest and most sophisticated technology, we can readily monitor and manage your network, determine possible issues, and solve them before they harm your business.

These are the 2 major advantages:

Superior IT – With Managed Services, you can accomplish the functionality and security that previously was only available to large companies.

Inexpensive Price – Enjoy better IT without costing a fortune. Because of economies of scale, Managed Services enables you to create an infrastructure that delivers essential IT services to staff and clients without having to build or maintain these services internally.

Contact us now to learn how our Managed Services can help improve your IT and save you money.

So, you have opted to purchase Managed Services annually for the past few years, and you have been enjoying the benefits that Managed Services offers to your business. But as your company and market evolves, your Managed Services subscription may require an upgrade as well.

Having only one IT consultant may no longer be enough, if your business has grown considerably, and your company’s network may now extend beyond the limitations of a single IT consultant. New problems may also plague your now larger and possibly more complex network.

If so, you should probably start to consider upgrading your Managed Services contract. Here are a few ways optimized Managed Services may help you:

No unplanned expenses – Fixing IT problems will cost you, and more often than not, that cost can be prohibitive. You’ll be forced to shell out money unexpectedly so that you can address the problem as soon as possible, so the effect on your work is minimal. With the appropriate Managed services, you can allocate your budget accordingly.

Lower staffing costs – Filling-in IT staff positions is often much more expensive, not to mention more tedious, when put side by side with Managed Services. You have to train them as well. Managed Services provide you with trained personnel who specialize in managing your network for a much lower cost. With the right number of experienced IT personnel, network disruptions would be largely minimized.

Increased operations efficiency – When network problems are eliminated, the efficiency of your operations would noticeably increase. You could do more and serve more. Your customers would be happier and your employees would be free from frustration. All of this of course leads to higher revenues.

IT professionals will help you discover specific business needs that you may not even be aware of. If these needs are not addressed, they can affect your company’s overall productivity and hurt your bottom line.

Today’s businesses rely heavily on computers. That’s why most entrepreneurs invest in the best computer hardware and software that their money can buy. Because of this, they expect everything to run smoothly and all their IT needs to be met with the use of these wonderful computers.

In reality, however, you wind up experiencing a weak internet signal, your web browser won’t load, or you can’t get your email running. All these occurrences cost you valuable time – time you can’t afford to lose.

You can avoid these incidents by using Managed IT Services. Our professionals will conduct a comprehensive analysis of all your existing IT processes and functions. We will gather facts from what you have experienced with your systems, and assess which have been proven to run efficiently and produce the most favorable results for your company. This will all be clearly documented as part of your overall business practices.

As the documentation progresses, you may find out that your IT environment is not as efficient as you thought it was. You may also discover specific needs that you were unaware of. If these needs aren’t addressed, they could negatively affect productivity and result in a decline in revenue. In fact, they could even lead to expensive IT network emergencies if you don’t have the right technology and proper maintenance on hand.

We understand these risks and challenges, and we’re here to assist you in assessing your needs through this documentation process. We can help you identify the right IT solutions that are best for your business, as well as provide solutions, including outsourcing certain network functions such as email, backup and recovery, and security. We’ll also help you maintain your IT network while making sure that all your systems are updated and running smoothly so that you can avoid system failure or downtime.

Give us a call today to learn how we can help you get the most out of your IT investments.

Maximizing profit involves more than just high sales volume, it’s also making sure that your IT network is functioning perfectly. If you’re an entrepreneur self-managing your IT, think about how you can maximize profit if you no longer had to worry about your IT infrastructure.

These days businesses are increasingly dependent on IT, making it essential to have experts to handle the regular maintenance of your IT infrastructure. However, most small and medium businesses cannot afford to hire a qualified, full-time IT administrator. Managed Services is the best solution, since it allows you to concentrate on what you do best - managing the core competencies of your business.

When you choose Managed Services, all of your IT operations are handled by a highly qualified and knowledgeable provider who assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, troubleshooting, and managing selected IT systems and functions on your behalf. The Managed Services Provider is in charge of network equipment and applications located on your premises, as specified in the terms of a service-level agreement (SLA) established to meet your company’s specific business needs.

Why is Managed Services important for your business?

1. Managed Services is cost effective.
If you’re not an IT expert, you’ll need to hire consultants for basic IT maintenance - and this is usually too costly for small and medium-sized businesses. The downtime during breakdowns of computers or outages will cost your business more money in the long run than outsourcing costs.

2. It’s easier to predict how much you need to spend.
Managed Services offer a choice of service levels which may be priced on a per-month or per-device basis. This subscription model gives you more predictability in expenses as opposed to the as-needed time and billing models used by consultants.

3. Managed Services Providers take full responsibility, but business owners have full control.
Although Managed Services are outsourced, you do not surrender complete control of your IT infrastructure. You decide which aspects of your network the service provider will take care of and what you want to handle. You are also informed of everything that happens in the process and management of your systems.

4. Managed Services involves 24/7 IT support.
With Managed Services, you get support whenever you need it. You don’t have to wait in line for whatever system problems you need resolved.

5. Knowing your IT is in good hands gives you peace of mind.
Knowing that your IT system is in the hands of experts, you are assured that somebody is there to do proper maintenance of all your computer hardware and software. You can also be confident that if you encounter any problems with your IT, there are experts who will help you fix them immediately.

With the constant developments in IT, it’s difficult for small to medium-sized business owners to keep up with the latest technology. By using Managed Services, not only are you up to date, you also are free to focus on the aspects of your business that bring in more income.

The term Managed Services is defined as “the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managed_services) While large corporations regularly choose this technology solution, many owners of small and medium-sized businesses are still hesitant to go this route. Here are some reasons Managed Services can benefit all sizes and types of business:

1. IT is an integral part of most businesses.
Especially in recent years, the business world has become increasingly dependent on IT. Almost all businesses rely on some sort of technology. With this increased use of IT comes an increase in problems and outages – and even loss of data – all of which result in loss of productivity.

2. Faulty or under-supported IT causes costly downtime.
Small, in-house IT departments of one or two people are usually not able or equipped to handle occasional IT breakdowns, and employees must call on somebody else for help, sometimes resulting in hours or even days of lost productivity. This downtime greatly affects the bottom line of your business.

3. Technology is constantly improving.
Improvements in technology are continuing at a rapid pace. Equipment is upgraded and new specialties in IT are emerging. Small to medium-sized businesses are not equipped to keep up with these constant changes.

4. IT Managed Services provide state-of-the-art solutions.
Managed Services providers are experts in the field of technology, and bring knowledge and experience in the latest solutions to your business. And taking advantage of scale of economies, the Managed Services model gives you access to affordable state-of-the-art technologies previously only available to large enterprises.

5. Many businesses involve special compliance requirements.
Even small to medium-sized businesses can have complicated compliance requirements, but most owners do not fully understand how to comply with these regulations. Many Managed Services providers stay current on these regulations and requirements, and can help you translate them to your technology needs in order to stay compliant and avoid fees – and possibly worse.

6. IT Managed Services cost less in the long run.
With today’s economic downturn, IT budgets have been slashed in most companies. But bear in mind that businesses still depend heavily on IT, and work increases as resources diminish. This can bring about low morale for employees and lost productivity – and ultimately customer satisfaction suffers. While IT Managed Services may cost more in the beginning, lost productivity and lost customers cost a lot more.

The question is, are you an expert in IT? Most entrepreneurs aren’t. If you want to concentrate on your company’s core competencies without having to worry about your IT infrastructure, outsource your IT services to a reputable Managed Services provider.

Client-server networks can help employees perform 20 percent more revenue-producing tasks. For small to medium businesses that may not be able to afford a dedicated IT staff, outsourcing may be the most cost-effective means of installing and maintaining such a network.

You’re probably aware of the benefits of a client-server network—but are you prepared to handle the maintenance? If not, you may want to consider Managed Services.

According to a Forbes study, client-server networks help small businesses extend their geographic reach, find new customers, and increase revenues while maintaining or decreasing costs—and as a result, employees at small businesses using client-server networks perform 20 percent more revenue-producing tasks.

However, installing and maintaining such a network isn’t easy. It requires you to stay on top of the latest technology, monitor backups, and troubleshoot problems.

The traditional method of installing and maintaining a client-server network is to hire a staff of IT professionals to do the work, but this may not be realistic for small or even mid-sized businesses not be able to afford a dedicated IT staff.

Outsourcing may be a cost-effective way to solve this problem. If you want to outsource, you could hire an IT company to set up your client-server network, then wait for the network to break down before calling the IT company to perform the repair.

Or, you could consider Managed Services. With Managed Services, an IT company monitors your network to ensure performance and troubleshoot problems before they get out of hand. And in the unlikely event that something goes wrong, you’ll have qualified professionals on call to come to the rescue. Moreover, your support costs should be approximately the same as if you were paying for reactive support—but your network’s performance and reliability will be significantly higher.

So why spend time and money running a network when both can be better spent running your business? Consider Managed Services for you client-server network maintenance.

Industry analyst IDC predicts that the global economic recession will have a dramatic impact on small and mid-sized companies. But that doesn’t means these companies will stop spending on information technology (IT).

“Small and mid-sized businesses…will be increasingly interested in the productivity gains made possible by advanced technology,” said Raymond Boggs, vice president of SMB research at IDC. “New mobile communications solutions, videoconferencing, and online resources will be especially attractive, as will alternative approaches to technology acquisition and deployment.”

The reason, says IDC, is that these advanced technologies can help reduce costs and provide growing businesses with an important competitive edge.

One way to gain access to these advanced IT technologies is through Managed Services, which offers smaller companies access to and quick deployment of affordable best-of-breed technologies. Managed Services is cost-effective because it offers companies a way to make use of precious capital by fulfilling their IT needs on a pay-per-use basis.

Who can benefit from Managed Services?

• Smaller companies that don’t employ dedicated IT staff but want to take advantage of the latest developments in security, backups, messaging, and business communications.

• Mid-size companies with some in-house IT staff that want to see productivity gains among by eliminating problems and downtime.

Contact us for more information about how our Managed Services can increase your productivity while saving your money.