Cloud Computing using Office 365

Don’t worry about being snowed under this January. With Office 365 the cloud is the limit, giving you the ability to make your office as portable as you are. Welcome to your new office. The browser.

Are you worried about your work becoming too much over the Christmas and New Year break? Are deadlines looming and you don’t seem to be moving toward them? Office 365 could be your saviour. With the ability to work from anywhere with internet connection gives you boundless productivity with the ability to work when you want, where you want and on what you want straight from the cloud. 

What is the cloud you ask? Imagine having all of your files floating just above your head, you can reach up and grab any of these whenever you need it. Pull the files down, do what you will, then throw them back up to the cloud. That proposal for next week? You've got it! The holiday dates? You've got them! Christmas shopping list? Whenever, wherever. It has never been so easy to access, modify and publish your files. 

No longer do you have to be tied to one machine with Office on it, depending on your Office 365 subscription you can have it on up to 5 devices! Your work computer, laptop, home computer, windows phone and Surface are now your Office. Stuck on a train? Working from home? Away on a business trip? All your files on your devices when you need them. 

The ability to save yourself from the stress that is January. The ability to access from anywhere. The ability to access from a range of devices. The ability to keep on top. The ability to succeed! Do you use the cloud?

Tweet us your favourite things or questions about the cloud at @eitexuk!

IT Support for Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa

The Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa is a luxury hotel and spa located in North Yorkshire. As a growing business the demand on IT has increased over the years and the time had come to review their IT strategy.



Feversham Arms Hotel & Verbena Spa

Ad-Hoc IT Support:

Up until now the hotel had subscribed to ad-hoc IT support calling on engineers as and when needed. Although the approach seemed to be cost effective, at times the hotel felt they weren’t getting enough from their systems and indeed value for money.

- The hotel wasn't informed of new products and technologies when they became available.

- The systems were running ok, but they weren't being managed and optimised around the business’s needs.

- Sometimes an engineer was available, sometimes they had to wait. System downtime was therefore very stressful and costly.

Moving Forward with Pro-Active IT Support:

The Feversham Arms Hotel went to the market in the search of an IT company who could work with them to stabilise their system, and help them keep an eye on the future.

Eitex was recommended by Yorkshire Telecom who provides the hotel with telephony and are also a trusted partner of Eitex.

Business Manager Janet said 'As part of a managed service Eitex now monitor our systems around the clock and are working closely with us to ensure our IT fits our business needs. Also someone is available at the end of the phone should we need to speak to someone. Their partnership with Yorkshire Telecom means our IT and telephony work together effectively and without fuss.'

To make a reservation at the hotel visit The Feversham Arms Hotel & Verbena Spa website

To discuss your IT Support requirements visit Eitex IT Support

Why does my WIFI keep dropping out?

WIFI is notoriously flaky, especially when using it in a business environment with multiple users.

But what are the reasons?

When explaining this issue to customers we always relate it to an analogue radio. This helps users understand what is happening to their WIFI more easily.

When tuning into a radio station with a dial you will find that getting the dial a few percentage points to the left or right of the desired frequency will result in interference and ‘white noise’. This is because other transitions are being received simultaneously which cause the interference. Also when a strong signal is finally being received this can be affected when the radio or aerial is moved.

This is the same for WIFI. Companies often setup their WIFI Access Points (AP) with default settings. This can result in your WIFI and neighbouring WIFI access points transmitting on the same frequency. This as with the radio causes interference and a poor quality signal. Likewise completely random and seemingly unrelated devices can cause interference too, these devices are such things as microwave ovens, cordless phones, Bluetooth, baby monitors, remote controls, infrared devices, lifts, mobiles phones, radio transmissions etc.

The issue is becoming more common as radio or WIFI frequencies become more crowded with traffic or ‘noise’.

How can I improve my WIFI Signal?

Devices which are 2.4ghz are the most commonly affected by other traffic, devices and interference. If buying a new WIFI Access Point I would strongly suggest buying a 5ghz device which is a range outside of most commonly used devices. This will ultimately give you a cleaner signal.

Also when installing and setting up a device you can use various software or tools to monitor existing traffic to ensure your device is configured on an unused, uncluttered WIFI channel. Such tools include WIFI Analysers or Wi-SPY devices which are new onto the market. The Wi-SPY device will detect WIFI signals are transmissions which do not conform to PC standards. This will allow them to pick up interference generated by Microwave ovens for example!

From our experience a wired connection is always best!


What are your thoughts? Do you use WIFI in your office? Please leave your comments below!

IT Support and Disaster Recovery Yorkshire

Recover your systems FAST with Eitex.

IT is fast becoming the lifeblood of business. When systems and servers fail, businesses are at risk of failure too! In fact server failure is one of the most expensive incidents a business can endure.

Here at Eitex we realise this which is why we have invested significant time and money developing managed backup and disaster recovery solutions.

Whether you are backing up to tape, USB hard drive, network device or remotely via the cloud, we have tried and tested solutions to get you up and running in hours.

With the ability to spin-up failed servers in a virtual environment means that we could get you back up and running quicker than ever before, and often before your server is repaired.

All backups are monitored on a daily basis too by trained engineers on our IT Support helpdesk.

If you’re concerned over your Disaster Recovery strategy, or even if you have a Disaster Recovery plan at all, get in touch now!

What are your thoughts on Disaster Recovery? Have you ever had one? What would you do to get by?

Sage 50 Accounts 2013

Sage 50 Accounts 2013 is available in August, our advice is not to buy direct from Sage.

Why? You can save up to 10% on upgrade costs by upgrading with Eitex.

How? As a Certified Sage Partner we are able to pass on our partner savings to you!

When? Sage prices are going up; we suggest buying now to save prices increases.

All we need is your Sage Serial number to start the ball rolling…


What are your thoughts on Sage? Please feel free to leave your comments below...

More than Cloud Computing

Eitex has teamed up with Simply Unified to offer some amazing deals on telephony, internet connectivity and communication solutions.

We have saved some clients up to 40% of their telephone bills, plus supplied faster and better quality internet connections, leased lines, and even mobile phone contracts!

What's more is that you can get IT Support, and Telephony support all from the same place!

Don’t miss out, and don’t overpay – get in touch now for more info.

Microsoft CRM Yorkshire

Eitex has teamed up with FusionCRM to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer relationship management software.

The partnership allows customers to receive IT Support, IT Solutions and Microsoft CRM support all from the same place.

• Manage Opportunities and the Sales Pipeline
• Organise Marketing and Lead Generation
• Enhance Customer Service

For a free 30 day trial, or a demo please get in touch!

What is cloud computing?

One of the most common questions we get asked is ‘What is Cloud Computing? and 'What is Microsoft Office 365'.

The easiest way of explaining this is with a few simple diagrams:

‘Traditional’ On-Premise Network:

 On the above image you can see 3 file servers at the top of the page:

• The blue server located at the top left manages the network or domain
• The second manages email / Outlook mailboxes
• The third manages file and print sharing

On some networks these three services could actually be managed by one server which does all three jobs, i.e. Small Business Server.

The bottom half of the page shows PCs which are on the network. The 2 PC’s at the bottom right are connected to the network via the internet which is depicted as a cloud.

 
Cloud Computing Network:

On the above image you can see 1 file server, and 2 clouds at the top of the page. This is known as hybrid as it is a combination of on-premise and cloud computing:

• The server to the top left manages the network or domain and potentially print sharing
• The cloud in the middle ‘Exchange Online’ replaces a server and is a Cloud Computing Service which manages email / Outlook mailboxes
• The cloud to the right ‘SharePoint Online’ replaces a server and is a Cloud Computing Service which manages file sharing plus much more besides

The bottom half of the page shows PCs which are on the network. The 2 PC’s at the bottom right are connected to the network via the internet which is depicted as a cloud. If the network is unavailable this doesn't matter as users are still able to access files and email via cloud computing services.

The result of the above hybrid approach is that the network users will not have changes in functionality and not need to learn anything new. Quiet often users do not know anything has changed!

Do you think it is the right time to move to the cloud? Leave your thoughts and comments below.

IT Support for Charity AfPP

Having taken an overview of the charity’s computer systems, network and IT requirements Yorkshire based charity AfPP - (The Association for Perioperative Practice) made the decision to outsource their IT support.

CEO Dawn Stott said “we have such a diverse requirement with regards to IT support, Web, CRM and Cloud Computing that when an opportunity arose we decided that the challenges which come from many different directions on a daily basis, would be best managed externally.”

Having reviewed the market AfPP found Eitex who were able to offer Outsourced IT support services, Cloud Computing with Office 365, and also offer Microsoft CRM Support if required.

Furthermore AfPP have saved around 50% on their annual IT Expenditure which for any business or charity is fantastic news!

What are your thoughts, could IT Outsourcing save your business or charity money? Please feel free to post your comments below.

Microsoft Office 365 for Yorkshire Charity RB Mind

Rotherham and Barnsley Mind approached Eitex as they wanted to simplify and consolidate their IT with the aid of Cloud Computing.
Mind work from 3 geographic locations in Yorkshire and originally operated as 2 separate charities. They had a File Server and Exchange Servers at each site, all on different domains.

As the charities were merging into one charity they wanted a solution to allow everyone to have the same email address, and work from the same platform.

Microsoft Office 365 was the answer!

The Cloud Computing technology allowed each site to work together on one single system, and without the need for re-investment in servers and IT. What’s more the charity receives a healthy discount from Microsoft which reduces costs further.

IT Manager Angela said that cloud computing was the way forward for Mind and they are looking forward to getting started with Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Lync.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Microsoft Office 365 could save your charity money? Please feel free to leave your comments below.

How to add a domain to Office 365

When setting up a Microsoft Office 365 subscription you may wish to add your company domain name to the system instead of using the default *@onmicrosoft.com domain.

We have produced a short video detailing how to do this:

A basic knowledge of DNS is required, alternatively you may ask your ISP, domain host, web developer or IT Support provider to make these changes for you.

We will carry out this work for you free of charge for your first domain if you set Eitex as your Microsoft Office 365 Partner of Record. Instructions on how to do this are here provided here:

How to set Partner of Record in Office 365

If you need help administering your Office 365 account please just get in touch.

We are also publishing more How-To video's on the Eitex YouTube Channel

How to set the Partner Record in Office 365

How to set the Partner of Record in Office 365.

Here at Eitex we often get asked how to set the Partner of Record (POR) in Microsoft Office 365. To answer your question we produced a short video, and PDF document.

YouTube Video:

How-To PDF File:

How to Set Partner of Record in Office 365


So why would you want to set a Partner Record in Office 365?

- Setting a Partner Record will allow your Office 365 Cloud Accelerate or Partner to administer your Office 365 account on your behalf. The reason you may want this to happen it that your Cloud Partner can liaise with Microsoft, and make technical administrative changes to your account.

- Setting a Partner Record will stop sales and marketing calls from Microsoft, instead this process will be handled by your Cloud Partner.

If you need help administering your Office 365 account please just get in touch.

We are publishing more How-To video's on the Eitex YouTube Channel

Office 365 for national charity Carplus

Eitex love to find ways of reducing the carbon footprint for its customers, so when the opportunity came up to work with Carplus, we jumped at the chance!

Carplus is a national environmental transport charity promoting responsible car use. Their end objective is to reduce the negative impact of cars in the UK by promoting car clubs,  ride sharing, and other low carbon options, as well, of course, as anywhere working.

Whilst promoting their good endeavours Carplus wanted to do the responsible thing, and reduce their own carbon footprint as well. To do this Carplus implemented cloud computing with the use of Office 365.

With the introduction of Microsoft Office 365 Carplus have been able to:
- Decommission 2 servers saving energy
- Allow staff to work from anywhere, reducing journeys to and from work
- Reduce IT Support costs and system management

Eitex confirmed their charity status with Microsoft, and charity discounts were applied to the Office 365 subscription. The result is a very cost effective way of working, and the carbon footprint is reduced!

Now that Carplus are using Office 365 Eitex are able to offer Cloud IT Support which means all IT Support can be carried out remotely (via the cloud), thus reducing road traffic even further.

If you would like to speak about Office 365 for your business / charity, please get in touch.

We reached the top!

We reached the top! Cloud in the Clouds.

It was a difficult climb but today (5th May 2012) we reached the top of Mount Snowdon. Our goal to setup an office at 3560ft above sea level.

Just look at the views, would you like to setup office here?

This is Keith in his office at 3560ft above sea level!

At the top we demonstrated the power of Remote Working by setting up a laptop, and using email, files folders, tweeting etc. Just like you would back at the office, except here we're on a mountain :-)

It was a long way to work! I'm glad we don't have to make this journay every day!

The experience was very exciting and nerve-racking! Would the technology work? would we be able to get an internet connection? Would the video ever call happen?

Here is the video call placed from the top:

The scenery was beautiful, it would truly be a breath-taking place to work! And now we know the technology will allow us!

It was a stirling effort from Chris Mallinson of Eitex (@EitexUK) and Keith Cockerham from FusionCRM (@KeithCockerham @FusionCRM).

Thank you to AnywhereWorking and Microsoft for their Support!

Cloud in the Clouds

When we found out that one of our colleagues was going to be climbing Wales’ Mount Snowdon this weekend, an idea came to life.

Why not set an office up on top of the mountain: cloud in the clouds.

For a long time, we’ve been exhibiting Office 365 and pushing the flexibility and possibilities of cloud computing, but we thought that on top of a mountain would really be pushing that flexibility to its limits.

We'll be heading 3,560 ft up with four colleagues this Saturday 5th May to set up office on the top of Mount Snowdon.

During the climb we’ll live tweet on the way up and share pictures of the atmospheric conditions straight to the cloud. Then, when we’re at the peak, we’ll set up a Microsoft Lync video conference by an Ultrabook and Nokia Lumia 800, connecting back to HQ.

If you want to follow us on our challenge (and send us tweets of encouragement!) you can follow updates here @eitexuk, @Anywhere_Work and follow the hashtag #SnowdonOffice

To get updates from each of us on the Eitex team  follow us here: @eitexuk and @keithcockerham. You can also visit the AnywhereWorking blog for more information!

Check back with us over the weekend on Twitter at from 9am onwards to see how we’re getting on!
See you on Saturday.

Office 365 Event - thank you for attending

Office 365 Event

Thank you to all those who attended our Office 365 Cloud Computing Event today, we hope you found the event worthwhile.

To recap we covered to following:
- What is the cloud
- Introduction to Office 365
- Outlook – the single common user Interface
- Using SharePoint via Outlook
- Using Microsoft Lync via Outlook
- Using Microsoft CRM via Outlook

We then demonstrated:
- Microsoft SharePoint as a standalone solution
- Microsoft Lync including enterprise telephony
- Microsoft CRM as a standalone solution
- Microsoft Office Online

Please post your comments of the day below, your feedback would be very much appreciated.
The event was hosted by:

 
Dean Spencer - Eitex Please follow us and like us at
Twitter: @eitexuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EitexUK

Keith Cockerham - FusionCRM
Please follow us and like us at
Twitter: @fusioncrm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fusioncrm

Chris Thompson - Simply Unified
Please follow us and like us at
Twitter: @simply_unified
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/simplyunified

And the Xbox winner was Kevin Lincoln from Hevertech Ltd:

If you would like to discuss Office 365 in more detail, or arrange a free consultation please get in touch!

Win this Xbox

Originally uploaded by Eitex IT Support

Attend our Office 365 Event and win this Xbox!

GG Glass and Glazing - Cloud Promotes Nationwide Success

GG Glass and Glazing fit large scale shop windows and fronts for likes of Next, Marks and Spencer and many more high street names. They also offer a rapid break-fix response available. 24 hours a day.

**Register for one of our Office 365 Events**

Being a national company with a centralised call centre meant considerable investment in terms of leased lines, remote connectivity and server farms.

Eitex were recruited as GG wanted more from their system and also wanted to find ways to reduce their annual £100k plus IT support bill. At this stage GG had several leased lines, and a Citrix Farm at head office. Low end computers and / or thin clients were installed at each branch across the UK.

The new system which was designed by Eitex was based purely around Cloud technologies including:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

CRM Online is used to manage the entire sales process. The system is available to everyone throughout the company and provides excellent reporting to allow instant bench-marking between regional offices.

• Microsoft SharePoint Online via Office 365

SharePoint was developed to allow sharing of company data, and allows the management team to collaborate on Projects seamlessly from different parts of the UK. Company knowledge and information has become more freely available which enhances performance and reduces lead times.

• Microsoft Exchange via Office 365

Exchange Online has allowed the company to store email for longer periods with hugh 25gb mailboxes. Strict size limits were enforced previously which the company found too restrictive. SPAM is no longer an issue thanks to Forefront Protection.

All machines were replaced at each branch office with standard desktop computers. This was the single largest expense for the company. The solution however has allowed GG to retire their Citrix Farm and leased lines and represents a saving of around 70% on their IT annual expenditure.

MD Mr. Grant commented "the new system is far more flexible and allows us to invest more freely in other areas of the business. Office 365 and CRM Online allows us to simply switch on new users which means new branches and offices are far easier to plan. The savings made have far exceeded our expectations as well."

The Cloud has removed the need for server farms and leased lines. If you would like to look at the possibilities Office 365 can offer your businesses please get in touch.

**Register for one of our Office 365 Events**

Free Microsoft Sponsored Cloud Seminar

The Cloud - Your Questions Answered

Eitex are hosting a number of free cloud seminars this year, the first event is to be in March (dates to be confirmed). Industry leaders Microsoft, FusionCRM and Simply Unified will also be presenting.

 

The seminars will cover:

• The cloud - what is it?
• Cloud products including Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and CRM Online
• Your questions answered - Q&A Session
• Business Benefits
• Xbox giveaway

Register your Interest:

To register your interest in the events please go to http://www.eitex.co.uk/office365events.asp

Office365 - bridging the gap between on-premise and the cloud

Switching on Office 365 is easy, you simply choose the service or package you want, enter your payment details and away you go! It's certainly much easier than installing as server to do the same job.

But where does this leave my dusty old servers? Are they still needed? I better not switch them off just in case.

What about my email, how do you get it from the server to the cloud? Also I have read that I can access my documents from home and on the go, how do I do that?

The office365.com website is great, but I can never just find the answer I need for 'my' business.

Welcome Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Partner!
Luckily Microsoft recommended a Cloud Partner that could work with me and my business. They recommended Eitex in this instance who took the time to understand my business, and the steps I needed to take to get my business into the cloud.

We didn't move everything in one go, in fact we started with email. Eitex performed an 'email migration' to get my email to the cloud. I was then able to switch off my Exchange email server.

Then with a little SharePoint development I was able to move company files and folders to the cloud which were accessible to everyone. We didn't switch off the File Server as Eitex suggested a blended approach. We dont need old data in the cloud, so it made sense to leave old data on the server!

There are some exciting new communication tools also called Lync which gives functionality I never had before. This includes working on documents together with colleagues in other offices, video conferencing and private instant messaging.

We are now looking to move our CRM system to the cloud, another exciting journay there I'm sure.

I finally saw the real value of Office 365, but importantly the Microsoft Cloud Partner who helped me get there!

Is it time to move your IT to the CLOUD?

Get your free Cloud Assessment today.

Lots of people are becoming aware of the cloud due to mass marketing from Microsoft, Google, Apple and such like. But how do you know whether it is the right time to move your IT, if you don’t really know what the cloud is?

Many people are asking the question – what is the cloud?

Free Cloud assessment:

Eitex are currently offering a free Cloud assessment to check the viability of moving your IT into the cloud. During the visit we will explain in simple terms what the cloud is, and how it can benefit your business.

Get in touch to arrange your free Cloud Assessment.

So what are the benefits of moving to the Cloud?

Here are just a few of the benefits your business could be exploiting right now:

• Increase the life of your existing equipment by moving services such as email, file and folders to the cloud
• Reduce IT support costs
• Always have the latest software including Microsoft Office for a low monthly cost
• Have your data available via any device, PC, Tablet, phone

If you are interested in what the Cloud can offer for your business, please get in touch to arrange one of our free Cloud Assessments.

Want a trial right now? Go to http://www.eitex.co.uk/office365

Kinect support for Windows 8?

Windows 8 is rumoured to have support for its ever popular Kinect.

Does this mean that people will be waving their arms around in the air instead of using a mouse? Minority Report springs to mind:

I'm sure I can see a Kinect there somewhere?

One exciting feature is face recognition where users will be able to logon by looking into the Kinect. Voice recognition will also become more mainstream reducing the need to a keyboard as well!

Exciting times.