BITS Blog – IT Services information.

So how can you care for your battery to get the maximum life out of it?

1.) Always use your laptop on a hard surface.

Laptops are portable and it’s easy to set your laptop on your bed and use it at your leisure. That’s one of the benefits of having a portable computer. Flexibility… however if you want to extend your battery life you have to watch out for overheating your laptop. Heat is one of the biggest obstacles to battery life longevity. Your laptop computer fan cannot circulate the air properly when your laptop is sitting on soft surface.

2.) Do not keep your battery installed when you use your laptop on a direct power supply for an extended period of time.

While your laptop is undoubtedly using a smart charger to charge your battery even a constant trickle charge over months can reduce your battery life. For best results, only charge your battery when you need to charge it; don’t leave the laptop battery plugged in all the time.

More importantly than the trickle charger affect is the ’storage’ of a Li-Ion battery at elevated temperatures. The optimum storage temperature for a Li-Ion battery is at 0 deg. C. The optimum storage charge level is about 40%. Unfortunately we tend to store fully charged and at the temperatures found in a running laptop you’ll find a significant reduction in battery for your laptop performance after only 12-18 months.

3.) Use a full charge cycle before recharging
Li-Ion and NiMH battery (which most laptop battery are), do not have a memory which you might find in NiCad batteries. However, each chemistry has a limited number of charge cycles, so use a full charge cycle before re-charging to maximize your battery usage.

Because this may be very difficult to manage, you’ll need to consider the cost-benefit ratio for keeping track of how far discharged the battery is before you charge it again.

4.) Be careful where you store your laptop

This goes back to the heat issue. Don’t leave your laptop in the car where it can get very hot. Batteries hate heat and your battery will go on strike permanently if you expose it to too much heat.
Remember that all laptops are not created equal. You may have gotten 4 hours from your last laptop while on laptop battery, but your new laptop might pull more juice to run that gaming quality processor, or the power hogging programs you’re running now. Read your owner’s manual to find out what you should expect from your laptop battery and be sure to compare apples to apples when purchasing a replacement battery. Not all laptop batteries are made to the same specs. We recommend buying a battery that has at least as much capacity as your original battery (that’s the mAh rating), and preferably the same chemistry as well.

BITS Employee, JP O’Neill, has won a Bronze medal in the Badminton Men Singles competition at the European Transplant Games that are taking place in Dublin at present. JP also went on to win silver in the Badminton Men Doubles competition – so that’s 2 medals so far! This follows his medal win in last years World Transplant Games which took place in Australia.

John Paul, who hails from Clogh, Co. Kilkenny will be competing in more competitions during the games and we all have our fingers crossed for more medals! Everyone at BITS wish to congratulate JP on his great achievement, he has done us all proud.

BITS are delighted to be associated with the Kilkenny Arts Festival this year as their “Official IT Provider”.

The Kilkenny Arts Festival takes place from the 6th – 15th August 2010 and this is the 37th year of the Festival and we’re sure that this year will be every bit as good (if not better) than previous years.

Why not check out the fantastic line up on their website: http://www.kilkennyarts.ie/

Right now you can take some simple steps to make sure that your computers and/or laptops are kept up to date that will help protect you (and your business) from cyber crime. Most of the suggestions in here won’t even cost a thing! 

Follow these steps and you won’t go far wrong:

1. Make sure your computer’s operating system (Windows for most people) is up-to-date. Make sure that you’ve installed all of the “service packs” and “security updates” for your computer’s operating system. These updates (also known as patches) are available free for Windows Website. 

2. Update your Internet/Website browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). If you’re running an older web browser, such as Internet Explorer 7, you’re potentially leaving yourself open to problems such as inadvertently downloading unwanted programs when surfing the Web. You should upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Google Chrome.  In all of these cases, you’ll be alerted when new versions are available.

3. Check for security updates for your other software. Adobe Acrobat and Flash and Microsoft Office are some more examples of software that also has regular updates for security reasons. Keep an eye out for notices when opening and/or closing such programs for notices of updates. Most of this software will also have a “check for updates” option on the toolbar – so its worth checking this every month or so. 

4. The most important thing that I can recommend in this post is to install antivirus software onto your computer and to make sure that it updates regularly (daily is best). Most Anti Virus software will also check your e-mail, so make sure the one your using does this too. It should also monitor what is being downloaded when surfing online. Viruses and Malware can infect your computer through email and internet use. Make sure you set the software to delete malicious files when they’re picked up by the software. 

5. Install and run anti-spyware software. When you surf the web, you will notice that certain sites will try to install additional software that may record where you go as well as other information. Software like “Spyware Doctor” or “Malwarebytes” can help to protect your privacy and prevent hackers from planting any unwanted hidden software. 

If you follow these 5 steps you will be doing a lot to help increase the security of your PC/Laptop.

If you want help in doing any of the above (such as performing an initial scan and service on your PC and/or Laptop, as well as installing the software that I’ve mentioned in this post), then please don’t hesitate to contact BITS to book in your PC/Laptop for a service.

BITS Office Carlow – 059 9186728     and      BITS Office Kilkenny – 056 7786882

BITS is delighted to continue to provide IT Support and Solutions to the Carlsberg Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, and to be the Official IT Provider to the festival.

We’ve been working with the Festival over the last few years and are officially one of their “Siamese Sidekicks” for this years festival. We have recently helped to get their new Box Office (on Patrick Street in Kilkenny) up and running with new IT Equipment and will contiune to provide support to their offices before, during and after the festival.

We’re happy to provide a reliable and local service to the Festival and hope to continue to do so for many years to come.

Twitter Bird

Many of you should have at least heard of Twitter. It’s a “mico-blogging” platform that basically allows the user to put in a post that must be 140 characters or less in lenght. This means that you really have to get to the point if putting up a post. But how can such a platform be any use to a business?

I’ve had a Twitter account for BITS for the last few months and I use it to post up information from the IT world that I think others might find interesting. I find that it helps to keep me on my toes too because I can “follow” other IT Professionals and make sure that I’m keeping up to date with the latest news and developments in the IT World. But what else does twitter do for businesses?

• Puts a human face to the business
• Allows you to promote your products and services
• Helps to increase traffic to your company website by linking people there from Twitter
• Allows you to get feed back from those that follow you – polls & surveys

The reality is that if you think you’d like to try Twitter for your business – be prepared to put the time into it. When you setup an account, start by following those that you know and that you do business with as well as those who you can get information from. You’ll quickly build up a list that you’re following and then start putting up posts that people will find interesting. Soon you’ll see that you’ll have your own followers.

Check out http://twitter.com/BITSComputers to see our own Twitter site.

Over the last year or more there has been an increase in the number of companies offering Online Backups (including BITS) and the costs for this service is on the decrease – therefore making this service a real option for businesses. But what are the pros and cons of the online backup versus the onsite (more traditional) backups?

Onsite/In house Backups:

Onsite Backups are the more traditional type of backup that Businesses are used to. Tape backups would be the most common form on onsite backups where software on the Source Device (PC or Server) copies the data on the tapes and the user (you) swaps the tapes on a rotation (usually daily).

In the last few years there has been a sharp increase in the use of External Hard Drives – which simply connects into the source (PC or Server) and the installed software copies the data to the drive – again there’s a need for user interaction to swap the drives on a daily/weekly basis.

So why is Onsite Backup good?

• Cost – it’s a relatively cheaper option when it comes to backups
• Access – you have instant access to the data when required (although the user has to run a “restore” within the software)
• Speed – backing up onsite is much faster than backing up over the internet
• Size – you can backup a very large amount of data as the media (tapes/external drives) can allow for large file storage

What’s not good about Onsite Backups?

• User Interaction required – the fact is any in-house backup does require human action to load the backup media, check that the backup ran and know the software to run restores – inevitability this means that mistakes happen
• Restore can be difficult – in the event of small data restore these media types are usually OK, however in the event of full failure the business could have to wait for days to return to full functionality
• Disaster scenarios not really accounted for – when we provide an onsite solution, we always recommend and insist that there’s a need for the media to be removed off-site so that in the event of a disaster (fire/flood) that there’s a safe backup for us to work from. However the reality is that this doesn’t always happen.
• Poor data retention period without additional costs – if you want to keep your data for a long period of time you need to have a lot of the media to allow you to do so.

What about Online Backups – what’s good?

• No capital outlay – online backups are provided as a service so you know in advance what the annual costs for running this service are.
• No human interaction required – when the software is installed, online backups are completely automated and managed by the Service providers
• Full Reporting – you receive an email daily outlining the activity of the backups and keeping you informed that the backups ran successfully
• Remote Storage – your data is encrypted before it leaves your office and is then copied to a security monitored Data Centre Server – so your data is off-site in the event of a disaster scenario.
• Good Data Retention period – most online backup solutions offer a decent period of time for data retention (30 days would be standard).
• Speed of recovery – when required to restore from an online backup the process only takes a few minutes.

What’s not good about Online Backups?

• Cost – because you pay for the size of data that you want to backup this can be a costly solution if you have a lot of data to backup
• Viable internet connection required – obviously with the data being transferred online, you need to have a decent internet connection to get your data online. Unfortunately Ireland has it’s fair share of “issues” when it comes to internet connectivity – so if you don’t have Broadband then you can’t really get a reliable Online Backup Service.

Traditionally Microsoft have only really been associated with selling you software that sits on your PC or laptop and you use their software for the likes of Word processing (Word), Spreadsheets (Excel), Email (Outlook), etc.

With the recent move to “the cloud” Microsoft are now eagerly promoting their BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) solution.

As a Microsoft Partner, we’re glad to offer their online services too – starting with the Email online. You can read more here where pricing is outlined too.

If you wish to discuss in more detail – please contact BITS – www.bits.ie.

We’ve had a number of clients contact us to say that their PC or laptop has the Blue Screen of Death – basically this means that it’s completely crashed. You can’t even get into the machine using the “safe mode” option – which is where we’d normally go to fix such issues.

The one common thing that we started to hear was that Windows security updates had just been installed on those machines before the issue occurred. We’ve done some research and it looks like Microsoft have caused this problem within one of their updates.

We have found information that indicates that the fault has been caused by one particular update and we’ll be investigating a fix on this soon. We’ll keep you up-to-date.

The offending update seems to be “ KB977165” – so our advice is to make sure your computer isn’t set to automatically install updates and to not install this particular update until further notice.

Plenty of businesses have been affected by picking up a “dirty” internet IP address from their Internet Service Provider and in most cases their provider is Eircom. Good news may finally be on the way with Eircom finally taking the decision to do something about it.

Eircom and several other Irish internet service providers, including UPC, BT Ireland, Vodafone, O2, and Clearwire were recently blacklisted by the German anti-Spam organisation UCE-Protect Network.

The problem usually occurs with poorly secured home or business computers which become infected with viruses that can end up sending out large volumes of junk e-mail.

Eircom is to introduce new measures that they hope (as well as us) will stop such Spam e-mail from being sent on its network and to therefore avoid being blacklisted by anti-Spam groups.

Eircom are hoping to role out their network improvement in March.

If you have any network security questions, just contact BITS – info@bits.ie

BITS are delighted to have been selected and featured in this weekends Sunday Business Post in their “People in Business” section.

Gavin Dixon, Managing Director of BITS - Business IT Solutions

To check out the full article – see  http://tinyurl.com/yclchhh

Should you be using Internet Explorer? 

The German Government have released a statement that recommends the use of an alternative to IE following more security issues with Microsoft’s browser. You can read more from the BBC website here: http://tinyurl.com/yhal52m

BITS recommends Firefox as an alternative to Internet Explorer, you can download from here: http://tinyurl.com/cboa3q

There’s always a lot of interest at the start of a new year to see what is in store for users and businesses from an IT point of view and this year is no different. Below are just some of the things to expect in 2010 including some of our own predictions:

1. One thing for sure to make even more head way in 2010 is the whole area of “Cloud Computing“. We discussed this in a previous post, but basically it’s all about the movement of computer applications onto the web. Google are driving this at the moment by offering multiple applications online (to rival the likes of Microsoft Word, Excel, etc). for a subscription fee. You then can have access to your files online at any time without the need to install any applications onto your PC/Laptop.

2. I’m sure that we’ll also see a decrease in costs for “Online Backups” – where you can securely store your company information onto a server that is based in a completely different & secure location to your business. The information is backed up to this secure server on a nightly basis over an internet connection.

3. Microsoft Office 2010 – expect the release of the latest Office software from Microsoft this year. In the US Microsoft have confirmed that they’ll be offering preferential pricing for those customers who purchase the software as a “media-less” package, i.e. no CD. All new PC’s & Laptops will come with a pre-installed trial of MS Office and all you need to do in input a code (from the media-less purchase) and the software will be licensed.

4. Increased Convergence – with the increase in Smart phones onto the Market & therefore a decrease in price, I’m sure we’ll see even more IT applications (email, web browsing, remote access, etc) sitting on phones and hand held devices. I believe that this will mean a significant move in Business Computing from the standard PC/Laptop to the more hand held mobile devices as business owners and managers find themselves untied to their desks as much as they have in the past.

Windows 7
I remember when Windows Vista was set for launch and we had a number of clients ready to immediately jump on board with it and I’m not just talking about buying it for one or two PC’s but in most cases the decision makers where ready to roll it out onto a whole network. We proceeded with caution but gladly obliged, safe in the knowledge that we had full support from our Micrsoft Partners. We could never have forcast the problems that we eventually faced.

Multiple peripheral devices (printers, scanners, cameras, etc.) just wouldn’t work with Vista & the manufacturers of those devices struggled to get compatible software out to fix the problems. We had huge problems just getting the Vista network to work right. It was to be the start of a terrible time for Vista users and their Technical Support personnel alike. Microsoft never really admitted that they got it so wrong, they simply moved on and what they moved onto was/is Windows 7.

It’s fair to say that a combination of the current economic climate and the troublesome history of Vista suggested that Windows 7 launch would be a tough one (to say the least!). However, sales figures of Windows 7 are reported to be 3 times higher than the sales of Vista for the same period of time. From a performance point of view we’re glad to report that there aren’t the same compatibility issues that were experienced with Vista. Overall it seems that Microsft have sucessfully combined the best of XP and Vista into the new Windows 7.

We’re proud to be Microsoft Partners & Authorised Resellers and we’ll gladly help you to make the jump to Windows 7 if you are ready to. We’re confident you won’t have the negative experience that Vista brought to clients. For more information on Windows 7 please contact us here, and we’ll be glad to help.

So far this year, we have encountered a number of PC and Laptop users being affected by computer security issues, such as “malware” and “spyware”. The major shift in the last couple of years is that most of these “infections” come via websites that may look fairly harmless, but that are compromised and infected with a threat that gets downloaded onto your computer/laptop.

What is Malware?
It is short for “malicious software” and is software designed to infiltrate a computer without the owner’s informed consent. The most common types of malware are viruses and worms.

What is Spyware?
Spyware is a type of software that is installed on computers that can collect information about the user without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user and is secretly installed on the user’s personal computer. This software can gather information such as credit card numbers, usernames and passwords, etc.

What BITS recommend:
In general, if you can follow these steps your computer will be heading in the right direction!

Ensure that you have up to date Anti Virus software installed.
Enable Automatic Updates on newer PC’s and scan older PC’s for updates on the Microsoft website (click here to go to this site).
Implement SPAM blocking on your email addresses – ask BITS for more information on this.
If using a wireless broadband connection -ensure that it is a secured connection – contact BITS if you’re unsure about this.
Have your laptop/computer serviced every 6 or 8 months. BITS offer this service forjust €95 (incl. VAT) that includes full scanning of your computer/laptop for these threats.

If you want more information on this please contact us on 056 7786882.

Gavin Dixon (BITS) & Andrew Tobin (t2)

At a time when businesses are being starved of finance from Irish banks, here at BITS we are bucking the trend by expanding its business via an alliance with another leading IT consultancy.

BITS have formed a new partnership with IT provider t2 who are based in Carlow. This strategic partnership will produce synergies to see both companies achieve significant growth throughout the southeast.

The new business alliance will result in BITS managing all aspects of IT Support, consultancy and hardware/software sales while t2 will continue to deal with website development, internet marketing projects and in-house development of proprietary software. BITS’ expertise in the areas of IT sales, support and consultancy will be brought to bear on the management of PC and server networking, data recovery and IT maintenance for t2’s client base.

The agreement enables both BITS and t2 to play to key strengths and remain focused on their respective areas of service delivery. Gavin Dixon, MD of BITS said “We see this alliance with t2 as enhancing earnings and adding value to the BITS brand as well as bringing opportunities to extend our reach in Leinster”.

t2 was founded by Andrew and Jane Tobin & was named one of Ireland’s top three SMEs at the National Enterprise Awards in 2008 and was the only non-Dublin based business to be shortlisted for Web Development Company of the Year at 2009’s ICT Awards. The company services a range of local and national clients and has undertaken research and development projects leading to the creation of a unique proprietary software package now available in both the Irish and UK markets.

Established by Gavin Dixon in 2001, BITS provides IT sales, services, support and consultancy to a broad range of business sectors throughout the southeast. Located in Kilkenny, the company currently employs five and anticipates that the new strategic partnership with t2 will see the company double its workforce over the next three years. T2 anticipates its headcount will increase to 12 over the same period. BITS will take office space at t2’s base in Carlow from this month while maintaining its Kilkenny HQ, thus increasing its presence in the southeast.

Bits – www.bits.ie

t2 – http://www.t2.ie

If you want to join an exciting company who is growing and fast becoming one of the biggest IT companies in the South East, then have a look at our current vacancy: Help desk Engineer – Starting in Jan 2010.

Your Duties would include:

# Log, prioritize and process support queries for our clients

# Analyse, solve and respond to issues raised in a timely and efficient manner by the use of telephone support and/or remote access support

# Distribute queries that cannot be solved at the help desk to relevant team members and effectively interact with them to provide a solution

# Provide a professional and courteous service to customers

# Build and develop customer relationships

# Study trends in incoming cases in search of hot issues and report these issues to management

If you are interested, the please email your CV to careers@bits.ie.

Everyone at BITS would like to congratulate all the Irish athletes who travelled to the recent World Transplant Games in Australia for their fantastic achievement of  winning 22 medals.

John Paul O’Neill, who hails from Clogh, Co. Kilkenny and is a member of the BITS team as a Help Desk Support Technician, competed in a number of competitions during the games, winning a silver medal in badminton. Everyone at BITS wish to congratulate JP on his great achievement, he done us all proud. 

To find out more about the Irish team’s fabulous achievements Down Under please visit the following website – www.transplantteamireland.com .

The World Transplant Games are designed to raise the awareness and importance that organ donation can and does save lives. For an organ donor card FREETEXT the word ‘DONOR’ to 50050 or visit the Irish Kidney Association website – here.

 John Paul O’Neill, who hails from Clogh, Co. Kilkenny and is a member of the BITS team as a Help Desk Support Technician, is on his way to Australia to the World Transplant Games later this month. Everyone at BITS wish JP the best of luck as he competes in badminton, squash, and a number of the sprint races.

A special website has been built – www.transplantteamireland.com – where you can follow the teams (& especially John Paul’s) progress and even send on messages of support.

For an organ donor card FREETEXT the word ‘DONOR’ to 50050 or the Irish Kidney Association website – here.

On Monday 13TH July, new legislation was published obliging internet service providers to store data of email and website activity for a year. These service providers are the ones who provide you with your internet connection – for most of BITS clients these will be Eircom, BT or Imagine.

The Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern says it will be used by the Gardaí, the army and the Revenue Commissioners so that they can access the information as part of investigations into serious crime. However, the actual content of emails will not be retained. So, there are little worries for businesses in relation to this legislation, however all owners/mangers within businesses should know that they have certain obligations when it comes to providing internet services.

What should businesses do in relation to the internet and Email services provided to staff?

1. Ensure you have an Internet and Email acceptable usage policy.
Businesses provide staff with the use of e-mail and internet facilities for the purpose of conducting and supporting business objectives. Business owners need to ensure that all staff are aware that the internet facilities provided by businesses are for business purposes and should not be misused. BITS recommend that an internet and email acceptable usage policy be a integral part of your employees contracts. If you haven’t got such a policy, it can be added onto existing contacts – however we’re not the experts on that, but can recommend Insight HR for such services.

2. Internet and Email monitoring
Some businesses use software installed on their network to monitor and lock-down internet and email access. This software prevents network users from logging into inappropriate websites. Whenever internet and/or email access is being monitored, all users of those services must be made aware that monitoring is taking place. For more information about such monitoring software or anything else mentioned here – please email me at: gavin@bits.ie

Gavin Dixon
Managing Director

Kilkenny IT provider BITS – Business IT Solutions – has been awarded the contract of Official IT Provider to the forthcoming Carlsberg Cat Laughs Comedy Festival. 

As organisers of one of the most prestigious and popular comedy festivals in the world,  the Carlsberg Cat Laughs team requires a reliable and on-going IT service to stay in contact with some 62 comedians, 40 agents and thousands of online enquiries in the lead-up to, during and following the five-day international festival.

To this end, BITS installed a new server at the comedy festival’s head office and are providing complete IT support to the Cat Laugh’s team, including the provision of a remote link to allow increased mobility for staff when offsite. 

“We’re gearing up for this year’s festival, so it’s vital we have an innovative, reliable and local IT company on hand to respond and deal with issues.  BITS have certainly come through for us time and time again, and their expertise has been invaluable to everyone on the team”, commented Jane Russell, CEO, Carlsberg Comedy Festival. 

Established by Gavin Dixon in 2001, BITS provides IT sales, services, support and consultancy to a broad range of business sectors throughout the southeast. Located in Hebron Industrial Estate, the company employs five.   

At Buisness IT Solutions, we have recently made significant changes & improvements to our website, click here to view the new site.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Post a comment or fill out our online form here.

Part 1 – Hardware Costs
Within any office you will find an assortment of IT hardware such as computers, monitors, servers, printers, etc.

At Business IT Solutions we can provide an audit review of your current hardware to assess where savings can be made. Areas we focus on would be -

1)     Productivity – pinpointing hardware that is helping or decreasing productivity.  

2)     Life cycle – the cost of maintaining a PC increases over its life cycle thus many businesses would have a policy in place specifying how often a PC is replaced.  However, in the current climate extending this life cycle might yield some short term savings.    

3)     Upgrade options – to get the most from your current hardware some minor upgrades may be needed.     

For more information in the meantime, please feel free to contact our offices, by phone on 056 77 86882 or email info@bits.ie

In a previous post, managing director of BITS, Gavin Dixon, spoke of how SMEs have the flexibility to adapt & to utilize IT\technology to take advantage of opportunities and reduce costs.

In the current climate, many SMEs are looking for ways to reduce costs while at the same time looking to increase productivity. At BITS, we can help you make full use of your IT resources, to identify solutions to increase efficiency, while improving productivity.

Now is a good time to assess your IT strategy, to refocus objectives and implement positive changes that allow your business to withstand the current economic uncertainty and be in a stronger position when the upturn comes.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be exploring some of the ways IT can be utilised to help reduce costs and discuss in more detail some of the solutions available to help improve productivity.

For more information in the meantime, please feel free to contact our offices, by phone on 056 77 86882 or submit a query through our online form.

Technology can be a vital tool for all businesses in times of economic downturn. However SME’s have a head start on some of the bigger corporations because introducing change within the SME can happen very quickly.

By putting the right practices in place, SME’s can grab market share by taking advantage of opportunities and being better and more cost efficient than their competitors. And that’s where technology can help.

With something as simple as a spreadsheet an owner/manager can track the costs of running their business on a monthly basis – tracking costs such as Electricity, Fuel, Telephones, etc into an easy to use spreadsheet can show you very quickly what your running costs are and allow you to focus on areas that are costing your business too much and help you to reduce overheads.

Moving up the technology ladder and we can see that introducing a Microsoft Small Business Server into a business can increase efficiencies, reliability and decrease costs in the long term.

• System Reliability.
Microsoft Small Business Server is the most reliable computer network operating system for small to medium sized businesses. With Microsoft Small Business Server you can relax, knowing that you have a dependable business computer system in place to support your company operations day in, day out.

• Easy & Controlled Access to Information.
Microsoft Small Business Server stores data centrally, which will enable your employees to quickly and easily find and share data from their PC’s. Multiple security levels and password protection ensures data security.

• Efficient Communication.
Microsoft Small Business Server improves communication and organisation, by making it quick and easy to share information. You will be able to view and amend other peoples’ calendars, share data and fax from your PC desk top.

• Cost Effective.
Expensive hardware, such as printers and scanners can be shared by your business PC’s across a Microsoft Small Business Server network. Microsoft Small Business Server is also compatible with most business software applications, giving your computer system flexibility. 

• A Foundation for Future Business Growth.
By investing in a quality business computer network you are wisely establishing a platform to support your future expansion. Additional Servers and software components can easily be added to a Microsoft Small Business Server based computer solution.

Contact BITS today to find out more ways Technology can help your business be more efficient.

With the release of Windows Vista last year, Microsoft were due to withdraw support for Windows XP in 2011, in line with their normal practice of only supporting their operating systems for 10 years.

However, due to the difficult time Windows Vista has had since its launch in 2007, many businesses have been unwillingly to upgrade from Windows XP. This has led Microsoft to extend support for Windows XP until 2014; three years more than normal.

XP users will continue to recieve security upgrades and fixes such as the recently released Service Pack 3 up till 2014.

Also, companies such as HP & Fujitsu Siemens are providing XP as a downgrade option on a range of computers until January 2009.

Business I.T Solutions www.bits.ie/ComputerSalesService.html

The BITS team have recently published the seventh issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as Benefits of On line Back Up, How to access your Office Email Remotely & the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/newsletter.html

We currently have an opportunity for a talented Senior Field Services Engineer. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing high-quality technical support and installation services to our customer base in the South East. Ideally, you will have a third level qualification in Computing or IT, MCP Certification and 4+ years’ experience in a client-facing role. In addition, you will have an excellent working knowledge of Windows 2000/2003, Active Directory and Small Business Server. CCNA Certification an advantage.

On offer is an attractive package, excellent working conditions and all the support necessary to grow and develop within this highly progressive and dynamic company. If you feel that you could strengthen and enhance our professional team please forward your C.V. with your salary expectation to:

Gavin Dixon, Managing Director, Business IT Solutions, 17 Hebron Business Park Hebron Road, Kilkenny, or email: careers@bits.ie

BITS South East Ltd – accreditation with Cisco as a product and solutions reseller. 

17th Jan 2008 – Today I’m in the Cisco offices in East Point Business Park for the 1st of a 2 day intensive training course to get Cisco Accreditation for reselling of their products and solutions. I’m attending the sales side today with 2 exams before we finish up this evening at some stage and Stephen Dwyer will be here tomorrow to get more of the technical training and again some more exams. It’s an opportunity to get a snap shot glance into one of the biggest businesses in the world (with $35 billion annual revenue as of 2007).

Cisco are very much seen to dominate the high end router/networking market and are focusing on the SMB market in 2008, therefore we are here to see what their products can do.

Traditionally BITS have sold Linksys network hardware and in 2007 Cisco bought out Linksys as they took a significant step into supplying the SMB sector. So that’s a very positive endorsement of Linksys by the biggest Networking & Communications company in the world and given that we’ve been selling Linksys for the last number of years we’re here now to move to the next level and supply Cisco solutions and products to our clients.

What is very exciting about this course is the area of IP Telephony, which is becoming more and more popular for businesses (including the small business market). Cisco are offering some great IP telephony solutions that are cost effective and very simple to install and configure onto a client network, specifically targeting the SMB market.

So as I go back to the course after lunch, expect that BITS will be selling Cisco in 2008 and offering IP Telephony on your computer network. In one word: convergence.

Gavin Dixon, Managing Director of BITS.

The BITS team would like to wish all our clients a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Our office will close from Friday, 21th of December and will re open on Wednesday, 2nd of January 2008.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie

The BITS team have recently published the sixth issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as Benefits of On line Back Up, Phishing Attacks & Methods to reduce Spam.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/newsletter.html

The BITS team have recently published the fifth issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as Spyware, Identity Theft, Irish Broadband Providers & Domain Names.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/newsletter.html

Broadband is an always on Internet connection that gives high speed access and downloads for a flat monthly fee. There are many different ways of accessing the Internet via Broadband such as DSL, Cable, Wireless & Satellite. While approx. 43% of Irish businesses still use dial up and ISDN Internet connections due to a lack of broad band support in their area, for those who can get Broadband there are a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to choose from such as BT Ireland, Eircom, Chorus, Vodafone, etc.

When choosing an ISP it is worth considering Price & Billing, Connection Speed, Contention Ratio (the number of users sharing your line), Download Limits, Technical Support and Availability in your area.

We have complied a list of the main ISP’s in the Irish Market with a breakdown of the service they provide, if you would like a copy of this list free to email support@bits.ie quoting Irish Broadband as the subject.

Business I.T. Solutions Broadband Access

Another feature of the growth in Internet usage is the ability to reach potential new customers through the use of the World Wide Web. Having a web site gives users immediate access to who you are, the services you provide and most importantly how to contact you.

Before you can put your website on the Internet you will need to registering a domain name such as, www.mywebsite.ie. This gives you your identity on the Internet and is the address which users will use to access your website.

You will also need to purchase a hosting package, this is essentially storage space for your web files. There are various different packages available depending on your needs, how many email accounts you need, how big your website is, etc.

If you would like more information feel free to call us on 056 77 86882 or email support@bits.ie.

Business I.T. Solutions http://www.bits.ie/DomainHosting.html

Recently Eircom announced that a possible vulnerability had been identified with their Wireless Netopia modems and it was possible for a person to illegally gain access to an Eircom customer’s Internet connection. See the related announcement on Eircom’s website : http://home.eircom.net/html/announcement.html.

If you are unsure if this affects you please feel free to contact our support team on 056 7786882 or by email support@bits.ie and we can clarify if you are affected by this issue.

Business I.T. Solutions http://www.bits.ie/NetworkSecurity.html

The BITS team have recently published the fourth issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as out sourcing your I.T. needs, end of the line for Windows 95-2000 and the difference between Office 2007 vs 2003.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/newsletter.html

Wireless networking has become increasingly popular in the last few years as the price of hardware dropped while the speed and reliability of the technology rose. Today there is currently three types of wireless networking but the most popular used is 802.11G. This standard operates in the 2.4Ghz radio spectrum and offers speeds of up to 54 Mega Bytes Per Second (54mbps). 

To set up a wireless network you will need two items. First, a wireless router. This device is responsible for broadcasting the wireless signal and controls how your computers communicate with each other. Second, a wireless adapter is needed for your pc or laptop. The most important aspect to consider when using Wi Fi is security. An unsecured wireless network leaves your entire company data at risk or, at the very least gives free access to the Internet for anybody within range. All good routers will have the option to secure your network and BITS cannot stress how important it is to enable this feature. Continue reading ‘Wireless (Wi Fi) Explained’ »

File Sharing is the practice of making files available to other users to download over a network or the Internet. This is one of the most popular activities on the Internet. Every day thousands of people download files such as software, TV shows, videos and music files. The problem is that such downloads will in most cases breach the copyright protection on such files. 

File sharing has become a hot topic and was especially highlighted when Napster, a music file sharing website, which had an enormous catalogue of music available for free was forced to close down in 2001 by the music industry.

Aside from the legal issues in downloading files from file sharing sites there are other dangers. Some are notorious for containing viruses, spy ware & ad aware. Others crash your pc while some Internet providers can detect what users are using file sharing and can block your Internet connection at peak usage times. Because of these risks BITS recommend extreme caution if you are using such software. If you would like more information feel free to call us on 056 77 86882 or email info@bits.ie.

Business I.T. Solutions http://www.bits.ie

The BITS team have recently published the third issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as wireless networks, file sharing and solutions to some common PC problems.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/itconsultancy.html

BITS have been providing a high quality I.T service to local businesses since 2001.

In keeping with that tradition and due to are continued expansion we are delighted to confirm that BITS have been choosen as the Official I.T Provider for the 2007 Cats Laughs Comedy Festival.

Business I.T Solutions : http://www.bits.ie.

Business IT Solutions is very aware of the need to have an appropriate policy in place for Internet and Email use within an office. Therefore this month we’ve asked Mary Cullen from Insight HR to give us more information on this.
 
“One of the challenges we all face in modern business is to find a way to successfully navigate our way through what is acceptable office-based behaviour and what is not. The non-business use of the internet and email is an issue that occupies the minds of network administrators and senior managers in virtually every organization in the country.  However, a clearly formulated internet and e-mail usage policy can ensure that some accommodation is reached between personal and business internet and e-mail usage. Continue reading ‘Internet and E-mail Usage Policy for the Real World’ »

Due to our continuing growth and success we are now seeking a Help Desk Technician to join our team. This is a newly created position for a hardworking self-starter who is capable of providing high-quality technical support to our customers.

For more details click here.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie.

Voice Over Internet Protocol, also called VOIP or Internet Telephony is basically a catch all phrase for the technology that makes it possible to make phone calls across the Internet. What’s the big deal with this you might ask?  Using this technology anybody with a broadband connection can make free phone calls to anybody, anywhere in the world. To begin using this technology simply download any of the free software applications such as Skype or Google Talk. 

is probably the most well known. This great piece of software allows anybody to make excellent quality free calls anywhere in the world. The latest version of Skype incorporates the use of web cams so you can have a face to face phone call with somebody in Australia. Skype offers a range of services such as free calls to other Skype users, cheap SMS, cheap calls to phones worldwide, free video calls and instant messaging.     

To begin just download Skype from here. When you run the program you will be asked to set up your username & password. For your convenience we have created a simple guide on how to set up and use this great program. If you are interested in a copy just send an email to us at info@bits.ie with Skype Guide as the subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie

The BITS team have recently published the second issue of their newsletter. In it, we look at issues such as the importance of backing up your data, VOIP and a brief look at what 2007 has to offer.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter just send an email to info@bits.ie with Newsletter as your subject.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/

The Vodafone 3G Broadband modem is the new way to get broadband in Ireland. Plug the Vodafone 3G Broadband modem into your PC, laptop or Mac and get instant access to Internet and email. At home, at work, and on the move.  Check the Map to see if there is coverage in your area :  Vodafone Coverage Map

Contact the BITS team for more information. 

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/

One of the first big questions that people buying a new computer or laptop will be asking is – “what’s this I hear about Windows XP being replaced?” Well the answer is “yes” – here are the new versions (5 of them!) of Windows Vista:

Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium Vista Business Vista Ultimate Vista Enterprise

If you currently own a PC or laptop it is possible you can install an upgrade edition of Vista. To check if your PC or laptop is compatible with Vista simply download and install the following Microsofts Upgrade Advisor Tool.

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/

On behalf of all the staff at BITS, we would like to welcome you to the brand new BITS Blog.

What is a blog?
A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”

The BITS Blog will aim to educate people about certain areas of IT and the ongoing changes within the Business IT sector. The aim of a Blog is to provide news, commentary and feedback about certain topics. We will be focusing on Information Technology, the benefits it can provide to you and also we will be publishing new developments and technologies that may be of interest to you. We will also keep you up to date with details of any new viruses and how to prevent spam .

As an IT Support and Hardware Sales company, we’re always trying to remove the technical babble and make IT more accessible to people. If you’d like information on something please contact us: info@bits.ie.

We look forward to your feedback, feel free to leave a comment or question, and we will do our best to help you out, after all, that’s why we’re here!

Business I.T Solutions http://www.bits.ie/