ExchangeDefender SQL Balancer Maintenance Window
This Friday, July 19th, 2013 we will be conducting an upgrade, stress testing and DDoS simulation against ExchangeDefender SQL backend, load balancer backend and the overall infrastructure fault tolerance starting at 3PM and ending at 6PM EST.
During the maintenance window mail flow will not be interrupted and mail delivery will not be delayed. Access to email, LiveArchive, mobile services and so on will not be interrupted either. Access to https://admin.exchangedefender.com site, including the ability to make configuration changes or release SPAM, will be interrupted periodically. Again, no email will be lost or delayed.
Following the upgrade our capacity across the core ExchangeDefender network will be increased which will enable us to launch additional services that will be discussed in the upcoming webinar. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes your clients as they may be presented with the message “We are currently conducting routine maintenance, please try your request again in a few minutes”
Scope of the effort
Isn’t this something you could do outside of the peak hours?
Yes, and we routinely make changes and upgrades during the standard weekend maintenance intervals.
For the purposes of this upgrade and an assessment of the new failover systems brought to the new version of ExchangeDefender, we wanted to run a maintenance interval during the peak usage and ascertain both our ability to handle traffic with the brains of the system offline (ExchangeDefender SQL) as well as test geographic redundancy during peak hours.
We felt it was better to have this done at the same time on a scheduled and controlled circumstances than under the unplanned service outage or DDoS.
As I will discuss next week, we have spent a fair amount of money and time upgrading the network not just to be able to sustain excessive outages but also distributed attacks, hacks and so on. We expect to be able to operate the network in a distributed and autonomous environment should we experience massive changes in Internet routing and availability of global networks. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, international government response to NSA espionage, rise in sophisticated hacking and network exploit activity, the reasons and the manner in which we are executing this maintenance window should be self explanatory.
As always, our staff will be available in higher than usual counts so please count on us.
We will also be providing a play-by-play updates as usual via NOC and our @xdnoc twitter.
Sincerely,
Vlad Mazek
CEO, ExchangeDefender
877-546-0316 x500
ExchangeDefender – Outlook/Desktop Add-Ins
This past week we published updates to our ExchangeDefender Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010 and Desktop application. We collected information that was submitted throughout bug/feature section inside of our support portal. We’ve cleaned it up and implemented the features you’ve been asking for:
Below is a list of bugs/features that we have addressed.
· Upon attempting to shut down the computer, the application would hang and prevent the system from shutting down.
o This issue has been resolved. The application will now terminate correctly upon system shutdown or application exit.
· Spam/SureSpam
o These were not being displayed correctly under the appropriate section.
o There was also an issue preventing some subjects/senders from being shown.
· Releasing Messages
o All issues regarding the release of messages have been fixed.
· Some users complained about the 2007 version now loading.
o This issue has been resolved.
· Application icons / installation banner.
o The icons and installation banners have been updated to our standard ExchangeDefender images.
Remember, the download center for all ExchangeDefender software is available on our web site by clicking on Documentation > Downloads.
Hank Newman
VP, Development
hank@ownwebnow.com
The Price Is Right–Maybe
Before joining ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey full time in September 2012, I was a business owner of two I.T. VAR/MSP businesses spanning over a decade. That said, I am fully empathetic of the decisions that have to be made by all who hold that position. Being one of two Partner Communication Managers working for OwnWebNow Corp. (Anastasia Wiggins being my colleague), I speak with our partners on a daily basis. Inevitably, one of the subjects that come up doing a partner conversation is how much they are charging for services rendered–whether we are discussing our services or labor costs in general. Ultimately the conversation starts by the partner asking me what the going rate is for other partners reselling our services. My answer is always the same: It depends…
The reason for such a vague answer is because the answer primarily involves taking into account two major considerations:
1. The location the service is being rendered, i.e. city/State, and/or region; and
2. The time/complexity it takes to render said service, e.g. setup time, monitoring time, complexity of the technology, etc.
Let’s delve further into these two considerations and come to a more defined answer for your particular business.
The Location of Render Services.
As Partner Communication Manager, one of my jobs responsibilities is to attend I.T. events that ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey sponsor. These events are held all over North America. The summer months have definitely tested my love of travel. However, by visiting these different cities and regions of the United States; I have come to understand that Midtown New York can charge $3.50 for a 20 ounce Coke Zero that costs me $1.50 in Schaumburg, IL. The same is true with virtually every product or service between the two aforementioned locations. Similar to the real estate market, the location (location, location) will greatly dictate your pricing. Densely, fast moving cities tend to price higher than more rural, spread out towns. The reasoning is maddening to understand because most times it simply boils down to the fact that people are willing to pay more for services rendered in cities that never sleep. Even stranger, this can be totally independent concerning the amount of competition available to the customer. By that, I mean even if there are numerous competitors in the area, people will still pay an inflated price in bigger cities. This is due to something called involuntary competitive pricing. This is where a price for a particular service was set by a business and the competition set their pricing +/- 10% to show an added value or discounted price while maintaining close proximity to similar business offering like services.
The Time/Complexity to Render Services.
The old adage still applies: Time is money. And when the complexity of the service rendered increases, ultimately the time it takes to implement and/or monitor said service increases as well. As a result, you could be looking at a nice pay day. However, the inverse is also true. If your service can be seen as less a specialty and more a commodity, you may have to supplement your income to make ends meet. How can your services be seen as commodities? Increased competition, for one. The lack of complexity is another. If end-users are willing to take on the additional pain of implementation and monitoring services to reduce their operating budget, there isn’t much you can do to win that business except provide additional value added services they may not get by taking on the responsibility themselves. Be careful of this, however. If you give away too much, you will end up working twice as hard for less money. Never, ever, ever work for free. Assuming you are a for profit business, never forget that one of the primary reasons you started a business was to make a profit!
The Sales Pitch (You can skip this part if we ever spoke on the phone about ExchangeDefender services.)
ExchangeDefender is a partner-driven company–meaning without our partners, we might as well close shop and sell empanadas. We price our services to you with the idea that you can make as little or as much as these two considerations allow. I have seen markets where partner can make as much as a 33% profit margin on our products and services. Other partners literally give our products away as value added services in order to balance out their labor costs. The latter is normally performed to illustrate good form in giving something to the customer at no charge to you. In other words, they simply pass on the cost of the product to the customer or carry the cost themselves in order to sign an annuity contract. Point being, if you need assistance in reselling any of our products, pick up the phone and give me a call. You have 99 problems as a business owner, but making money off our services shouldn’t be one of them.
Michael D. Alligood,
Partner Communications Manager
ExchangeDefender | Shockey Monkey
877-546-0316 x707
How do I get more referrals?
You’ve all seen the commercials; it starts something like, “refer a friend and get $50 off your next bill” or something of that nature. In traditional consumer-based businesses, this type of targeted marketing may have its place, but in SMB and B2B businesses it just comes off as desperate. Of course, this is not to say that it may not have worked for your IT business, but hoping to bribe a customer to give up a referral is not good practice.
Another common but bad business practice is asking for referrals upon closing a sale. Whether a salesman hands you a paper and asks you to write down some friends who might also be interested in their product, or one that simply asks for a referral at the signing, this practice is not only useless, but makes for a bad first impression. The problem is that the salesperson, and more so the company has not yet proven their service, so asking for a referral at this point in the game is bad practice.
There are a few ways of getting referrals without the used car approach:
1. Refer Business to Your Customers – Referrals are a two-way street, start by sending business to your customers. Set up meetings and soft introductions to introduce people to your loyal customers. Not only is this a good business practice, but also your customers will reciprocate.
2. Ask When Receiving Good Survey Results – Surveys are a great way to gauge how you are performing for your customers. When receiving good reviews simply ask customers if they know anyone that might also be interested in getting excellent service as well.
3. Face-to-Face QBR’s – A good time to ask for referrals are at face-to-face QBR’s, or quarterly business reviews. Make it a part of your QBR to ask for referrals at the end of every QBR. It may seem like much to do it every time, but getting a hot referral can be all about timing.
The majority of MSP’s would tell you they get the majority of their business from referrals. This makes practicing good referral gathering techniques an important aspect of your business. Be sure to only ask for referrals once you have established a relationship with a customer, and create a documented process for your salespeople to follow.
Compliance Promotion Is Ending Soon
It’s summer time and we are promoting two products for the month of July! Right now we are offering fifty percent off Corporate Encryption and Compliance Archiving. Not sure if these services are right for your customers? Here’s a brief overview of each.
Compliance Archiving
Two things to consider when wondering if this is something your clients need or should consider:
1) The name of the product speaks for itself, compliance. ExchangeDefender’s Compliance Archiving service is compliant in accordance with HIPAA, FINRA, SOX, and SEC as well as many other standards that are published by nearly every industry. Compliance works through the Exchange journaling technology; once the service is set up all messages sent and received will be delivered to the compliance service. In addition to meeting requirements of archiving all inbound and outbound mail, Compliance Archiving also covers interoffice email which can help your clients in HR disputes and lawsuits.
2) Don’t worry about storage costs. There are other products on the market similar to ExchangeDefender’s Compliance Archiving, but those products require contracts and additional storage fees forcing you to compromise on the length of storage or which data gets archived. ExchangeDefender provides unlimited storage and stores ten years worth of email beginning on the date the service is set up (p.s. We can also import your old mail as well). Compliance Archiving allows you to offer your clients a long term storage solution in addition to giving them access to years’ worth of emails at the click of a button without a compromise of excessive storage fees or selective archiving of only the “important stuff” because when people get in legal trouble everything becomes important and relevant.
Compliance Encryption
Corporate Encryption is especially important for those clients in the health care, financial and legal field or anyone who is in charge of sensitive information. ExchangeDefender’s Corporate Encryption is able to encrypt based on message patterns (lexicons, dictionaries) as well as preset patterns like social security, credit card and sender/recipient email addresses. If you need to block data leakage on a more sophisticated level, such as custom account numbers, we can help you there as well. Encryption is a product we take extremely seriously and it takes about a week to get all the paperwork, testing and implementation completed so please call us ahead of time to get it all set.
Don’t let this slip by you, you have until July 31st. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at: Anastasia@ownwebonw.com, or 877-546-0316 x 739.
Shockey Monkey Mobile
Over the course of this year we have been working on a slimmed down version of ShockeyMonkey that we’ve been porting to native applications instead of HTML5 or web kit hacks. Native applications offer the benefits of speed and integration with the device that is not possible with web apps running in a web shell. We took advantage of our current open and free API, to integrate these features into the mobile applications and can be extended to leverage the API functionality fully for those of you that want to build custom applications that tie into Shockey Monkey. These slimmed down versions offer a few core features on a much smaller scale, while still allowing you to perform with basic functionality.
Important
Our design and mobile strategy for iPhone, iPad and Android devices is to empower clients with quick access to core functions of Shockey Monkey that are likely to be accessed on the go – client data, company data, tickets, ability to track time and create/complete tasks. Due to the low screen resolution and real estate it is not possible to create very feature rich application that will also be quick to access (imagine the frustration of having to keep on clicking and waiting for menus to show up for some obscure information) and constantly connected to the portal.
We understand some power users may have different needs and want full access to all that Shockey Monkey has to offer – we agree and we hear you! Shockey Monkey can be accessed in it’s full glory from an HTML5 device giving you the exact same experience you have on your desktop on the go. You’ll have to scroll around a bit but that’s the compromise between power and performance.
You can perform tasks such as:
· Viewing companies
· Viewing contacts
· Viewing & Updating Tickets
· Viewing & Updating Tasks
We wanted to keep it simple at first and master the core functionality. After these applications have been in circulation for a while and more people use them, we will gather feedback. We will then work towards eliminate any bugs that are present in the current release. Then expand with additional feature requests, in the future.
Device Support
· iPad
We released the iPad version on 03/01/2013 and it currently available in the ITunes Store (Free).
· iPhone
This was our next release and is in the iTunes store waiting for approval. This version is an updated/enhanced version of the original iPad application.
· Android
We are currently working on this release, it’s very close to being finished and should be published to the Android market place by the end of the month.
· Everything else
HTML5 app is at https://yourportal.shockeymonkey.com/mobile and supports virtually the same feature set as the rest of our native applications.
Hank Newman
VP, Development
hank@ownwebnow.com
Exchange 2007 Migrations Underway
Exchange 2007 is the last of our legacy platforms to get migrated up to 2010 and 2013.
Last week we finalized the last of migrations from Europe (2007) to Della (2010) infrastructure and we kept the support staffing available for our partners and clients in case any issues came up. With thousands of these migrations under our belt the issues are very few and far in between and generally minor but any time maintenance inconveniences the user we want to be available to help.
As far as the end user changes the only desktop changes should be handled via Autodiscover if it is deployed. Aside from the the mailbox “repair”, you will need to update all of their mobile devices to the new server and authentication scheme.
We would still like to work with you on the most convenient time windows for you and your clients, so please by all means reach out to me directly at carlos@ownwebnow.com and I’ll put you in touch with the personnel that will handle the migration on a schedule that is the most convenient for you.
This week we will start reaching out to our clients that have users on Exchange 2007 platform in United States and migrations to 2010. In United States we have planned to keep one legacy cluster as 2007 for legacy purposes for users whose line of business applications may not be compatible with 2010 or 2013 yet. While we do not recommend remaining on 2007 as we can no longer assure the service levels we deem appropriate, we understand that certain users have no choice in the matter so we will be here to help.
Who is going to compensate me for the work I have to do?
I have received this question from a few concerned partners and while the obvious answer is that you might want to bill your users at your discretion, our more successful partners have told us that they have used this as an opportunity to get in front of the decision makers and evaluate the solutions that are currently in place. Sending a message with a subject “We’re upgrading you to the new stuff and it won’t cost you more” is a good way to get in front of clients that may not always be available for a visit to talk about their IT needs. Likewise, some partners have used this opportunity to raise their prices and offer other services like Compliance Archiving and Encryption which are a part of the new ExchangeDefender suite.
Carlos Lascano
VP Support Services, ExchangeDefender
carlos@ownwebnow.com
(877) 546-0316 x737
ExchangeDefender Unified Webinar
With the summer heat in full swing, our infrastructure upgrades and platform changes that started around Thanksgiving of last year are nearly done. The demand for ExchangeDefender, Shockey Monkey and other services has been way ahead of our projections which has slowed things down a bit but gives us a platform to address the growth we believe will be driven by the next wave of upgrades.
In the past few months we have launched Exchange 2013 and retired Exchange 2007, upgraded ExchangeDefender Compliance Archiving, Encryption, Reporting, Outlook and Destkop Agents, Unicorn/Business Monitoring and retired/upgraded several tons of hardware across our data centers worldwide. Now we’d like to tell you why:
ExchangeDefender Unified Webinar
Thursday, Jul 25th, noon – 1pm
Please take the time to register for the webinar; even if you cannot make it, the recordings will be posted online shortly.
To answer the burning question: No, ExchangeDefender is not migrating with Shockey Monkey or anything of the sort. However, in the past our services (which stretch from business services to development to software services to actual development platform) may have been harder to consume and sell than they should be. I believe we’ve fixed that over the past few months. The big topic now is the unification of everything we do under the same development and integration track so you can easily rely on us for as little or as much service as you need.
I may also mention a few new things we’re up to during the presentation 
Sincerely,
Vlad Mazek
CEO, ExchangeDefender
877-546-0316 x500
To-Do, or To-Don’t: That is the Question
Over the years, I’ve read hundreds of organizational and business books. The problem with the majority of these books is that they regurgitate the same information or have eight updated “new common sense” editions; “How to Organize Your Business! — 8th edition, now including Working off Lists!” (facepalm)
For the most part, the organizational books all have very similar methods for classifying and arranging everything in your personal and business lives. Normally, this process begins by creating and working off a To-Do list–prioritizing and checking off items as they are completed. This process has two man-made, deep-rooted problems:
- There are too many items to complete on the list; and
- There is not enough time to complete the items on the list.
Notice I said man-made problems. I say this because your list should first be filtered, then prioritized. So, let’s look a little deeper into these two excuses…
There are too many items to complete on my list.
When we create lists, we tend to be under dramatic (not stressing the importance of the task enough) or overdramatic (the opposite of what I just said.) Do all the items on your list need to be accomplished today? Are their items on your list that have low priority? If so, remove them. Place those items on the reverse side or on a completely separate list. The goal here is to accomplish the items that need completion by a certain time or day. If you find an item that is neither important or time-sensitive, remove it.
Another good rule of thumb is to create the list with enough detail so others could follow it. If you need to replace a light bulb in your bathroom and know that the only place close enough that sells that particular lightbulb is Home Depot; then on your To-Do list write:
- Go to Home Depot;
- Purchase replacement lightbulb for master bathroom vanity;
- Go home;
- Replace burned out master bathroom vanity bulb with the newly purchased replacement bulb.
Some would call these directions anal-retentive. However, remember what I said earlier: Create the list with enough detail so others could follow it. Some could argue that step 3 could be eliminated. Fair enough. But leave it on the list because I’ll show you how it’s relevant in a few moments. Moving on…
There is not enough time to complete the items on the list.
Bluntly speaking, there are 24 hours in a day. If you can’t accomplish a daily To-Do list in 1,440 minutes, you have bigger time management issues than you think. I understand that life intervenes and things don’t always work out as planned, but you’re probably wasting more time than you think on items that you shouldn’t be.
Prudently, we all should plan for the upcoming day the night before. This allows us time to collect all our thoughts on the subject at hand without wasting precious time the day of trying to create and prioritize lists. If I need to leave the office and run errands, I try to include drive time, completion time, etc. So if I have to run to the post office to pick up an item, I would calculate 15 minutes (including traffic), 5-8 minutes in line, accepting the package, then another 15 minutes driving back to the office. Now underneath that item is where I start creating another list: My To-Don’t List. In this instance, my To-Don’t list would include: Don’t stop at Starbucks! Similarly, if I have to do Internet research on a specific subject: Don’t log into Facebook!
Now, do you remember my light bulb example and how one could argue that step 3. (Go home) could be removed. What if you didn’t go straight home and stopped off at a friends house or went to the driving range. In doing so, you were late getting home, and didn’t think about replacing the burned out bulb in the bathroom–even though you purchased a new bulb that very day. Would you consider this item as completed on your list? No.
We take small deviations during the day that add up to time we should have spent completing our tasks. In reading organizational book after organizational book, I found they do a good job in explaining how to identify and protect your time against “time suckers” such as email and walk-in coworkers. However, these books fail to explain the biggest time sucker is actually yourself. This is where having a To-Don’t list comes into play. After creating your prioritized To-Do list, create a separate list of things you will not do so you can maintain your commitments and complete your To-Do list. It may seems silly to write down items you don’t plan to do. However, it’s been my experience that the items we don’t plan to do take up the most time.
Michael D. Alligood,
Partner Communications Manager
ExchangeDefender | Shockey Monkey
877-546-0316 x707
michael@ownwebnow.com
On the Road Again…
June has turned out to be a busy month for ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey! Thank you all who stopped by our booth during the Autotask Live conference this week. It is always a pleasure to talk to our partners face to face. With that said, ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey will be represented at the following events in the month of June:
12th International Cloud Expo
June 10th – June 13th
Javits Center, New York City
ASCII Baltimore
June 12th – June 13th
BWI Airport Marriott
Level Platforms MSP Community Summit
June 17th – June 19th
The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
If you are attending any of these events, drop by our booth and let’s talk about your business and how a partnership with ExchangeDefender can assist your company in increasing its service revenues.
If you are unable to attend any of these events, shoot me an email at michael@ownwebnow.com or phone call at 877-546-0316 x707. I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have about ExchangeDefender services and our Shockey Monkey platform.
Michael D. Alligood,
Partner Communications Manager
ExchangeDefender | Shockey Monkey
877-546-0316 x707