Welcome to the latest edition of the Nitec Newsletter. In this edition, we introduce a new addition to our team, highlight some recent recognition of Nitec's corporate responsibility. Paula provides some practical advice on backups, Ian gives us his thoughts on Citrix ShareFile, Laura summarises our recent successful business productivity event, and we share news of a new all-Ireland mobile tariff
Introducing...Dean Lewis [Return to top]
We are delighted to welcome Dean Lewis to Nitec. Dean joins our software development team, underlining our commitment to this expanding part of the business. Having previously worked for a software house in Belfast, Dean is returning to his 'Antrim roots' where he grew up and was educated. A graduate of the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, in Computer Science, Dean brings a wealth of experience in a diverse range of leading edge development technologies.
At the risk of embarrassing him from the get-go, here are Dean's responses to the Nitec bio quiz:
Favourite Food - Love Indian food would have a nice chicken madras on tap if I could
Favourite Drink - Definately milkshakes from Jenz on the Lisburn Road
Favourite Movie - I have to say "Stargate The Ark of Truth"
Favourite Book - They still make them??? "The Atlantis Dialog".
Would like to visit - Romania-been there before-really nice country
Couldn't live without - Internet
Morning or Night owl - Morning, I'm like an Energizer battery
Guilty pleasure - Eating too much chocolate.
Dean can be reached at deanl@nitec.com
Nitec nominated for Business in the Community award.[Return to Intro]
Nitec has always considered corporate citizenship a key component of our success. Through clear examples of responsible business practice and commitment to pro-active social, economic and environmental sustainability, Nitec has been shortlisted for the Business in the Community 2012 Most Responsible Small Business Award.
Of particular note have been Nitec's carbon reduction investments, such as replacing 320 fluorescent tubes with their LED equivalents; and our on-going commitment to the voluntary sector. Nitec adopted the NI Cancer Fund for Children as our charity partner in 2010 and that strengthened relationship will see NICFC through a significant period of its organisational development in the coming years.
In Nitec's core IT solutions business we have always sought to demonstrate that being small doesn't mean you have to settle for less than the larger corporations. Now it is particularly flattering to be recognised for demonstrating exactly the same philosophy in the area of corporate and social responsibility.
If you would like any further information on the benefits of energy efficient lighting give Peter McMahon a call on 028 9442 7000. For advice on how to establish and run an in-house charity committee, contact Michael Hutchinson at michael@nitec.com
Did we mention that backups are really important? [Return to Intro]
Nitec's Customer Service Manager, Paula Kirkwood, gives her top tips for maintaining a healthy backup regime.
Nitec is paranoid about backups. Really? Yes, really! They are that important. If you have never had to recover a wayward file from a backup, count yourself extremely fortunate. Some day you will. Nitec has invested a huge amount of time and effort into our backup monitoring service in order to give you the maximum amount of protection in the face of potentially messy and disastrous situations. But as with so many areas within IT, we need you to play your part.
If backing up to tape, the tape should eject every night/morning ready for you to swap in the next tape.
If you fail to recieve an email notification from Nitec stating whether the backup was successful, incomplete or failed you need to notify us.
If there are lights flashing on the backup drive this could indicate a drive or tape issue and we need to know.
Don't take it for granted that Nitec see ALL of the issues that may arise if a backup starts to fail.
Ensure that you have suitable cover if the person responsible for changing tapes is sick or on leave.
Ensure that you have ample tapes to allow you to restore to the level of timescales you require.
Ensure that your backup tapes are within their use-by date. Out of date tapes may allow you to go through a backup routine but any saved data may be volatile at best and at worst corrupted.
So, if you are in any doubt, and want reassurance that your backup is working effectively, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling 028 9442 7000 or email support@nitec.com
ShareFile - it does exactly what it says on the tin [Return to Intro]
Ian Watt, one of Nitec's Technical Sales Consultants, has been investigating cloud storage and collaboration products and has been rather taken by the simplicity and power of ShareFile by Citrix.
ShareFile by Citrix is one of the most elegant uses of 'cloud' that we have yet seen at Nitec. It is professional, secure and just plain simple; a combination that makes it the business solution for file sharing and collaboration.
From the moment you start your trial, you can get straight to work on making your ShareFile portal seamlessly match your companys logo and website. Once completed your ShareFile portal becomes an extension of your professional online presence, allowing both colleagues and customers to access shared files.
Data Integrity is crucial no matter which business sector we operate in. ShareFile ensures that your company's data is transmitted via SSL (Secure Socket Layer)encryption. With folder level permissions, colleagues only get access to the resources that they need. A further level of comfort is also provided by automatic version control.
The real power with ShareFile comes with the simplicity of the solution - it just works! The simplicity comes from a bag of tools that ShareFile provide called, 'Power Tools'. The most notable being the Outlook plugin. This provides seamless integration with your Outlook client by adding such features as: automatically sending large attachments via ShareFile, requesting files from your recipient and notifications of uploads/download.
However, it's not all about Microsoft's Outlook. ShareFile ensures that your latest smart phone is not feeling left out. Blackberry, Windows Phone, Android and Apple all have a ShareFile app available from their respective app stores. These enable you to access your files and view recently uploaded files, all with the convenience of your mobile device.
Training is also provided at ShareFile's website via short instructive video training demos (sometimes a rarity in our industry). Targeted at all users they will quickly bring you through how to upload files, send files and request files. For those of us who are interested at the administrative end - you have not been left out, with similar video training provided.
Finally, if you just want to dismiss that frustrating Outlook message 'The attachment size exceeds the allowable limit', this is a great way to provide your customers with a professional public facing portal, to access larger files. If you are intrigued by the possibilities of ShareFile, then I would encourage you to contact sales@nitec.com for an online demo and quotation.
