Small Business IT Service and Computer Service Grand Rapids & Managed Services, Online Backup

SCS Achieved Select Certification from Cisco

Chris Pelon — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:24:30 +0000

I am excited to announce today that SCS has achieved Select Certification from Cisco. The Select Certification recognizes Cisco® resale channel partners that focus on meeting the technology and service needs of small businesses.

Cisco’s portfolio of both Small Business and Small Business Professional Series products directly complement and enhance SCS’s Sales, Installation and Support of end-to-end communications and physical network solutions for small businesses.

Enterprise WLAN: Meraki vs. Cisco Solution Comparison

Matt Venema — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:47:48 +0000

As a Meraki Authorized Reseller, based in West Michigan, Specialized Computer Solutions can provide turnkey solutions for clients with Enterprise Wireless needs. While West Michigan is our home base, we work with clients in other areas of Michigan as well.

If you are considering an Enterprise WLAN solution, Meraki is highly recommended and compares favorably to competitors such as HP, Cisco, Aerohive, Meru, and Ruckus. Meraki’s cloud-based centralized management reduces cost and complexity, when compared to competing systems that utilize hardware controllers.

To learn more about how Meraki compares with Cisco, please see the following comparison pdf: http://merakipartners.com/sites/default/files/Solution%20Comparison-%20Meraki%20vs%20Cisco.pdf

For information on upcoming Meraki webinars, please visit: http://meraki.com/company/webinars?ref=zNLzBZ

Avid Takes on Apple’s iMovie with Avid Studio for iPad

Steve Roberts — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:47:45 +0000

While companies such as Avid and Adobe have attempted to capitalize on Apple’s Final Cut Pro X missteps by wooing users in need of professional video editing and production software, AllThingsD notes that Avid is pushing forward on the mobile “prosumer” front with its just-launched Avid Studio [App Store] app for iPad.

The iPad obviously imposes some limitations on what can be done with the software compared with the full Avid Studiofor Windows, but Avid suggests that it is full-featured enough to be used for editing on the go and is ideally suited as a companion to the desktop app.

The idea is that the iPad app and the desktop software are complementary, [Avid vice president Tanguy] Leborgne said, so that users who want to create and edit projects on the go can do so, but ultimately preserve them by taking them to the PC.
The Avid iPad app does have some nice features, including an interface that includes a storyboard area and an editing timeline. And while some video editors rely heavily on customized keyboards or a mouse, others might appreciate the ability to pinch and squeeze videos and images to scale them on the touchscreen of the iPad, or the ability to move text and titles around with their fingers.

Avid Studio for iPad is launching with an introductory price tag of $4.99, which will increase to $7.99 after the first month.

Free Meraki Enterprise Wireless Access Point

Matt Venema — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:06:59 +0000

Specialized Computer Solutions is a Meraki partner and authorized reseller. We recommend Meraki for your Enterprise level wireless needs. Specialized has been providing Meraki based wireless solutions to businesses (office and warehouse applications), schools, medical offices and facilities, and recreational establishments since 2009. Meraki’s focus is on providing seamless cloud managed Enterprise wireless solutions, whether corporate, retail, educational, or recreational in nature.

To learn more about Meraki products and how you may become eligible for a Free wireless access point, please visit http://meraki.com/company/webinars?ref=zNLzBZ

About Meraki:

Meraki’s networking systems bring enterprise-class networking to organizations of all sizes. Meraki’s unique cloud-hosted controller architecture provides centralized management and security through an intuitive web interface, eliminating the high costs and complexity associated with traditional networking systems. Every day, over 18,000 organizations in 140+ countries around the world rely on Meraki for their networks.

source: www.meraki.com

OpenDNS as small business malware and phasing security

Chris Pelon — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:17:57 +0000

OpenDNS provides small and medium businesses with a powerful set of Web filtering tools at a fraction of the complexity and costs of traditional on-premises solutions. OpenDNS’s Web filtering service allows you to ensure a productive work environment and easily enforce your organization’s acceptable use policy by selectively blocking access to undesirable domains.

This solutions is very cost effective and can be easily setup by our staff. Contact us today! (616) 988-1600

IPad, Pages, WebDAV and Small Business Server 2011 Setup

Chris Pelon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:04:29 +0000

Small Business Server 2011, IIS7, WebDAV, IPad, Pages

http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/10/28/enable-webdav-support-windows-home-server-2011/

‘iPad 4′ Headed for October Launch with iPad 3 as Interim Upgrade?

Steve Roberts — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:44:52 +0000

In an effort to continue throwing ideas at the wall to see what might stick, the only occasionally reliable Digitimes today reported that not only will Apple be releasing the iPad 3 with high-resolution “Retina” display in March as is widely expected, but that the company will follow that up with the release of the iPad 4 in October.

On the topic of the iPad 3, Digitimessuggests that the Retina display will be the main attraction of the new device, with better battery life also serving to entice customers. But other hardware upgrades for the iPad 3 are said to be rather minimal, as Apple is reportedly rolling out the iPad 3 alongside an iPad 2 price cut to $399 as an interim effort to set the stage for a bigger battle with the competition later in the year.

Apple will ship the so-called “iPad 3″ with a full HD display in March and then “iPad 4″ – named so by its component suppliers – with killer applications in October, according to industry sources in Taiwan. [...]

But a true battle for market share will arrive in the second half of the year when Apple ships its iPad 4 in October, about the time when Microsoft releases its Window 8 and Intel unveils its Clover Trail-W platform, the sources commented.

The 9.7-inch iPad 4 is expected to come with much upgraded hardware specifications and integrated applications so as to compete with an array of Android-, Wintel- or WoA (Windows on ARM)-based tablet PCs to be released in the fourth quarter, said the sources.

The rumor is somewhat reminiscent of last year’s round of claims, which suggested that the iPad 2′s successor would appear in late 2011 as an interim upgrade carrying a Retina display. Claims of a late 2011 iPad came from several different sources in July and early August of last year before other sources including The Wall Street Journal put the claim to rest.

Digitimes has a proliferative record of Apple-related rumors and has occasionally offered accurate information. But its information is generally considered unreliable given a significant number of claims that have failed to materialize. Claims of two separate iPad launches this year are sure to pique interest though, and we’ll be waiting to hear if other sources offer similar information going forward.

Verizon Drops $2 ‘Convenience Fee’ Due to Complaints

Steve Roberts — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:51:48 +0000

Friday December 30, 2011 12:36 pm PST by Arnold Kim

As noted by The Verge, Verizon has announced that they are not going to charge the $2 ‘convenience fee’ that was originally plannedto go into effect on January 15th.Verizon Wireless has decided it will not institute the fee for online or telephone single payments that was announced earlier this week.

The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions. The company continues to encourage customers to take advantage of the numerous simple and convenient payment methods it provides.

“At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless.

The company had planned to charge customers $2 for one-time payments made online or over the phone.

Reality TV Producer Bunim/Murray Drops Final Cut For Avid

Steve Roberts — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:47:54 +0000

Wednesday January 4, 2012 1:35 pm PST by Jordan Golson

Television production company Bunim/Murray, the company which pioneered reality television with MTV’s the Real World, has dropped Final Cut Pro in favor of an editing system from Avid, according to a press release from Avid.

Avid today announced that renowned television production company, Bunim/Murray Productions, has selected Avid Media Composer® 6 and Avid Symphony® 6 editing software for all of its programs beginning in early 2012. Bunim/Murray joins a growing number of professional users who have returned to using Avid solutions from Final Cut Pro to meet their production workflow requirements. Additionally, as part of this implementation, Bunim/Murray also plans to deploy an Avid ISIS® 5000 shared storage system to effectively store and share media across its organization.

[...]

“Due to the large volume of media generated by our reality shows, we needed to re-evaluate our editing and storage solutions. At the same time, we were looking for a partner who would understand our long-term needs,” said Mark Raudonis, senior vice president of Post Production at Bunim/Murray. “As we talked with Avid, it was clear that the company has really forged ahead since we worked with them years ago. Their commitment to the needs of their professional customers, like us, is clear. And, with the introduction of Media Composer 6, they really raised the bar and have a vision for the future that makes them the right choice for our business.”

Apple introduced a completely rewritten version of its Final Cut Pro video editing suite earlier this year to mixed reviews, especially amongst professional editors. The reception was so poor that Apple put its legacy version of Final Cut Studio back on sale in September.

Microsoft SQL Database too big? Check the recovery model.

Chris Pelon — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:42:29 +0000

Today I ran across a Microsoft SQL 2008 database on a client server that was taking up over 45GB! Normally this database should be around 1GB. After some investigation I found that the recovery model was set to full so the transaction log was 44GB and the database was 1GB.

The fix for this was fairly simple.

See http://database.blogs.webucator.com/2010/06/25/using-full-recovery-model-to-backup-sql-server-2008/