HP support will try to tell you that this is “normal”, but it isn’t.  The simple fix that I found for this annoyance, is to update the BIOS to the latest version.  Here is the link.  Good luck!

It comes down to a one vendor relationship.  We become your single-point-of-contact, with anything that deals with technology.  Managing existing systems.  Planning for the future.  Working and helping your end-users.  Dealing with your 3rd party vendors.  We are it.  One number for you to remember…

IT Vizion, just like any other business, is always looking for ways to do more, with less. We are always on the lookout for the ‘next opportunity’ to deliver more value to our customers. That’s why we provide what is known as a “virtual IT department”. Utilizing a virtual IT department model, our customers benefit from having access to talented, responsive, and dedicated personnel in multiple disciplines from a single-vendor, without the expensive overhead.

Imagine a single point of accountability. One number to remember in times of need. A one-vendor relationship - for all your technology needs.

Our existing customers understand that by utilizing a virtual IT department model for their business, they can easily save anywhere between 30% and 60% per year in IT support costs. Whether they outsource just some functions of IT, or allow us to comanage their technology (with an internal IT staff), they realize the bottom line value and the long term benefits.

Expect get ‘more for less’, from your local IT firm… IT Vizion.

• more readily available expertise
• more resources focused on supporting your firm
• more responsiveness from IT
• more availability from IT
• and, a higher degree of ‘more’ accountability

Get to know us. My personal goal is to position IT Vizion as…

1. Someone that cares very much about our customers
2. A company that hires only talented, dedicated, and customer oriented employees
3. As someone that continuously strives to increase the value of our clients’ IT investment
4. A firm that’s not afraid to invest in technology that delivers results!

So as we go through this recession, keep in mind that we are here to assist in anyway possible.

Technology is an integral part for almost every small to mid-sized business. Just like their Fortune 500 counterparts, they rely on systems that are efficient with minimal resources, and uptime without sophisticated system management installations. They do not have the budget to deploy and manage these themselves. Nevertheless, they expect the same up-time and Service Level Agreement similar to any Fortune 500 enterprise. Nothing wrong with that.

Our Systems Monitoring capabilities in essence monitors and alerts on various IT assets - servers, applications, websites, etc. - for slow or failing systems, and it notifies your internal IT staff (if any) and IT Vizion’s IT Specialists via email, text, or other methods.

The idea is to be proactive, instead of reactive. Without monitoring, small issues can lead to larger problems, poor performance, and outages. Monitoring catches these problems at an early stage, before they either multiply or causes business interruptions. Of course your customers, internal and external, will be happy too. Monitoring identifies problems at an early stage, therefore our IT Specialist’s can take immediate remedial action to restore functionality, which enhances business productivity.

Besides being proactive, you also benefit from having access to real-time information regarding your current and past IT performance. This historical data allows you to plan ahead, and justify costs.

Feel free to find out more about our managed IT services plans.

Too many times we are called upon in desperate times when companies are faced with the fact that they are left with no in-house expertise to support and maintain critical, home-grown software applications. It seems that we can’t get past the idea that people move on. Technical support professionals, programmers, database administrators, software engineers, and other technical folks - will eventually find greener pastures. Are you prepared for that scenario?

Not matter what you heard, and where you heard it, the bottom line on outsourcing or co-sourcing some of your IT functions, such as application maintenance, is that it’s just plain smart. Some companies do it to save costs, some do it because no in-house expertise, some because they want to protect their assets, and some because they want to protect their jobs. Yes. Their jobs. C-level executives don’t typically care for the “why” are we short staffed, but more for the “how” you will overcome the shortage, while still providing a high level of customer satisfaction.

May I suggest you do it for all of the above reasons? Allowing a firm such as IT Vizion, whose focus is on IT, isn’t just cost effective, but a smart approach to protecting your firm’s investments.

We are not an ‘individual’ that will eventually pack up and go. Our customers can count on us to be there for as long as there is a need, and the synergy still exists. We bring top talent to the table, with extensive expertise in all types of Web and Client/Server applications. Our focus is to deliver cost effective solutions that will boost your bottom line. Whether you need someone to maintain existing applications, or are looking to start with a new software that will allow you to automate your business functions, we are capable and ready to take you to that next level.

If all is well now, then this is the time to plan ahead. Don’t wait until you’re left in the dark. Becoming acquainted with software applications doesn’t happen overnight. The company you choose for this task, will need time to learn and understand your systems and your business, before they can be a real asset to you. Spend the time needed to find a long term IT partner that fits your culture, while bringing the complimentary skills needed to support your organization.

IT Vizion is located in Corona (Riverside County, California). We specialize in Java and .NET applications, Oracle and SQL Server databases, while adhering to the highest software development standards. We are proud to promote ourselves as a one-stop IT shop.

In this blog, I briefly want to answer a question that seems to always come up which is “How does IT Vizion do IT?”. Our approach is Agent based. Basically a small client install has to happen on every desktop, laptop or server that we will help manage. These installs do not require reboots. Once installed, the Agent communicates via TCP/IP to our remote Datacenter server. The server sends down command primitives to the Agent to perform rudimentary tasks such as writing a file, getting a file, executing a file, auditing the hardware and software on the PC, prompting a user with question and waiting for a response, rebooting, monitoring resources, and more. These rudimentary commands are combined to perform management tasks, such as remote controlling the PC, deploying patches, monitoring the resource utilization of the PC, installing programs, enforcing policies, and more.

That’s a high level overview of how our process works. Because of the secure communication that happens between your systems and datacenter our server, we are able to have an up-to-date inventory of your IT assets (hardware, software). We eliminate the need to have 3rd party tools deployed and managed within your environment. Some typical systems that we can replace as part of our integrated system include:

1. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
2. System Center Configuration Manager (SMS Server replacement)
3. 3rd party Ticketing systems
4. 3rd party Monitoring systems (such as System Center Operations Manager)

The concept of managed services does appeal to most IT Managers. Because it effectively enables them to offload a portion of their IT operations without relinquishing full control as they would in traditional outsourcing arrangements that lead to the transfer of the assets to an outside vendor. It boils down to the fact that the Executive Management is no longer satisfied with their current IT suppliers reacting to problems. They “expect” a proactive approach.

By partnering with IT Vizion, the overworked and overstretched IT Manager gains an upper hand in managing their heterogeneous environment, while increasing both customer satisfaction and greater visibility of their IT department. After all, shouldn’t your role as IT Manager be enjoyable and satisfying? I mean most IT Executives become IT Managers because they do what they love. Work with technology and see the superior results when applied to their organization’s business processes. Allow us to make it more enjoyable…

If you’re an IT Manager or Director, what concerns do you have about managed services? I’d be happy to respond.

I’ve experienced the good and bad in our facility and with some of our current and potential customers. The strangest thing I’ve encountered so far is that the staff at IT Vizion has a different level of confidence in the service provided to current and potential customers. I was working on bringing on a new account with a non-profit organization in Ontario, CA. and provided this prospect with useful, helpful, and one of the best information they can possibly get if they were a customer. Most people would call something like this “being hustled or taken advantage of.” Our staff provides those insights to current customers and prospects.

Does companies have a business code of ethics when it comes to certain information that one company has that another does not? Of course, but IT Vizion has a totally different approach. IT Vizion encourages prospects to have the latest information regarding their IT investment (computers/servers/network) and even if we do not gain a client, we gained the reputation for a company with many resources. The non-profit agency received some technical help and information relating to programs available for their type of business and criteria. IT Vizion provided this prospect with tools and information that saved them $1000’s of dollars, without asking for anything in return. How can a company do this and operate? A company’s reputation speaks for itself. We did not acquire this non-profit as a client; however, this company may refer us to some of their clients and so on. This approach is slow, but certain.

Another encounter experienced was from customers that felt they needed to become a part of every function IT Vizion provides. If this were the case their wasting money with our services. Customers need to understand and trust that we are the professionals when it comes to IT. If customers have a feeling that they can perform better at our business then its simple, don’t utilize us. I’ve experienced unnecessary problems from customers. Leave the IT work to us, we are not here to deceive. Customers who don’t have confidence in our work to change things within a process cause more work and series of frustration. I feel for IT Vizion’s staff and CEO. I don’t mind someone yelling at me for their own mistakes, particularly if it involves a voluntary mistake.

If this next part is true about you or someone you know you WILL agree: (A parent tells their child not to touch the hot iron and the child touches anyways), this is me, I’m one of those guys who does not listen to the warnings and… gets in trouble or hurt.

I wouldn’t tell my parents that they should have told me to touch the hot iron, it does not make sense!

There is nothing wrong with a company that chooses to educate for the right cause, this is how we do business and retain relationships. Our services are not free or cheap; however, we provide the best and more cost-effective solutions for prospects and our clients. Many of our clients including those we had meetings with will confirm the above statement. Our position in this market is to provide support. We have staff members that change their shifts to meet our customers needs and then stay later to meet the needs of others.

While I continue on my path for greatness, I wish the best for the company that acquired me, all staff members, and the CEO for helping me really understand the environment that was given. Throughout the experience and challenges this company may bring, I hope I leave a true legacy with the company as I grow within.

Our focus in 2007 was to grow our Managed IT Services business and create awareness. And that we did. By acquiring key accounts in two other verticals, Health-care and Construction, we are now positioned to expand and build on these in 2008. We are also hopeful that yet another large and eventually a key Airline customer agrees to fully outsource (co-source) their Help Desk and Network Management operations to IT Vizion by the end of the year.

IT Vizion has grown in bodies as well. Besides some growth in software development staff, Pat Nhou joined our Executive staff as a Sales Director. Pat will focus on continuing our growth momentum in Managed IT Services. At the same time, Pat will be responsible for bringing our product ONE2ONE Manager to market, in the second quarter of 2008. I wish Pat much success in his new and challenging position.

This past year IT Vizion has become a strategic software development partner for a few large, international organizations. By partnering with IT Vizion, these firms are benefiting from our dedication to our customers’ success and reliable, skilled resources. Congratulations to our development team for keeping up the quality of the software products they deliver, while being on time and within budget.

2008 for IT Vizion will be a very important year. As a team, our intention is to grow the company business by yet another 50%. Challenging? Yes. Doable? Absolutely (we’ve done it over the past three years!!!). What’s the strategy? Simple. By continuing to focus on our customer’ needs and their ultimate success, our company will achieve its own good fortune.

2008 will see IT Vizion entering the non-profit / Donor Management / Direct Mail / CRM software arena with our powerful yet affordable, ONE2ONE Manager software product. Read more about it here. I strongly believe in our product to deliver on it’s promise of ‘breaking complex processes into simple tasks’. The product is currently in use for about half-a-dozen customers. The idea is to make them more successful in raising funds, using a personalized response system and also tracking partner history. It’s an integrated piece of software that combines Direct Mail functionality, CRM, and fundraising management. Full speed ahead team!

That summarizes my personal vision for 2008 and a high level review of 2007. Thanks once again to our dedicated employees, and I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Successful 2008!