Breitner Transcription Services

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“Horizon’s implementation service was key to our success. We could not have given more than 100 at-home workers a new email service without the planning, training, and migration expertise that Horizon provided, all at a per-user price we could afford”

Owen Breitner, President

The Challenge

How do you provide a reliable email service to a staff of over 100 at-home workers located throughout North America? In-house solutions would demand resources and a secure, costly infrastructure for remote access.  Most hosted services provide support to your IT staff, but not to individual end users. Finding the right solution requires an easy-to-use, secure, hosted system combined with proven, affordable implementation and support services.

The Solution

Google Apps Premier Edition combined with Horizon’s Unlimited Service Package combined the power of Gmail and Google Calendar with individual user attention. Working with each user via web meetings, Horizon’s Operations Team ensured every user was able to log into Google Apps and perform basic email and calendaring functions. Horizon also managed the migration of active emails into each users’ Gmail account.

With Horizon’s help, Breitner was able to provide over 100 remote users with secure, robust email services without increasing IT resources.

Zero Point Zero Production

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Google Apps protects an award-winning brand while providing flawless communications around the globe.

Background

Zero Point Zero Production (ZPZ) is an Emmy winning television production company based in New York City.  Producing shows such as Anthony Bordain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, ZPZ has staff and freelancers working 7×24 around the globe.

The Challenges

With a string of successful productions, ZPZ was growing and their current email solution was failing to keep up.  Beyond a difficult administration tool and weak user interface, their hosted email service lacked calendaring and shared documents.  It also failed to integrate with other applications.

ZPZ also needed a solution that would help them protect their intellectual property and their brand.  They wanted all communications, even from freelancers, to be sent from and to the corporate domain and to have all emails archived.  Employees and freelancers were regularly using personal email accounts to ‘get around’ their current system.

With the speed of their business, they would also need to be able to deploy new user accounts in less than 12 hours and easily manage active/inactive status.

The Decision

ZPZ did their research and found that:

  • They could deploy a cloud computing email solution for much less than an in-house system
  • Cloud-based email supports global users more easily and at a lower cost
  • Active user accounts can scale up and down as freelancers start and finish projects
  • More than 75% of their employees and freelancers already used Gmail personally and were familiar with its use
  • Google Apps Premier Edition integrated with Postini to provide full email archiving services, even for inactive and deleted accounts

ZPZ turned to Horizon Info Services for help with the setup and migration.

The Results

Following a jointly developed project plan based on Horizon’s best-practices, Horizon created and migrated all existing user accounts, behind the scenes, over a single weekend.  ZPZ email users began work on a Monday morning with the new service, with no complaints about the migration or Gmail service.  Horizon assisted the 25% of users wishing to keep their application-based email client and ensured all mobile devices were fully connected.

Staff and freelancers quickly began using broader functionality, including Google Docs, instant messaging, and calendar scheduling/sharing.  With easy setup, new freelancers have accounts and instructions waiting for them nearly immediately after the contract is signed.  Use of personal email accounts dropped to zero.

Since deployment, the number of users has nearly doubled.  Google Apps has scaled linearly, without any financial bumps for hardware and software.  Up-time has been perfect and ZPZ has integrated Google Apps with other cloud-based solutions.

With Horizon’s deployment expertise and support services, Google Apps has given ZPZ more than a global email service, Google Apps lets ZPZ communicate and collaborate in ways that let them focus on delivering award winning productions instead of IT.

Horizon CEO discusses Google’s Channel with CRN

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Allen Falcon, CEO of Horizon Info Services, is featured in an CRN feature discussing Google’s VAR/Reseller channel strategy.

See the full article here.

Google Apps Cant’ Walk Your Dog, But Maybe …

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More than once, prospective customers have sarcastically asked of Google Apps could also walk the dog.  With all the features, we sometimes feel the same way.

And while Google Apps cannot walk your dog (yet), Google may soon be able to drive your car.

Check out this NY Times article from the Science section.

Google Docs Gets Several New Features

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Google Docs recently received a round of updates and features.

  • Tables in documents can now be resized
  • Custom entries can now be added to the spell check dictionary for documents
  • The document ruler can now be set to ‘on’ or ‘off’ across sessions
  • Entire drawings can be copied to the web clipboard

These features are part of the on-going enhancement of Google Docs as an integrated office productivity suite.

Click here to learn more.

Last Chance to Register for Google Apps … Live! in NYC on Oct 7th

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Registration for Google Apps — Live! in New York City on October 7, 2010 closes on September 30th.  The event, at in Google’s Chelsea Market offices, gives businesses a unique opportunity to discuss and see demos of Google Apps while networking with other business leaders moving to cloud computing solutions.

“The event is unique,” notes Allen Falcon, CEO of Horizon Info Services, “because it is not just a bunch of talking heads at the front of the room.”  In addition to case studies from IT experts and an Emmy-winning production firm, attendees will have one-to-one access to Google Apps experts.  According to Falcon, “Businesses will get an assessment of their unique needs and get answers to their specific questions.”

Beyond features and capabilities, presentations will discuss deployment issues and other factors businesses should consider before starting their move to cloud-based solutions.  “We want attendees to leave with an understanding of if, when, and how they should move to Google Apps and other cloud computing services,” notes Falcon.

Google Apps … Live! is scheduled for October 7, 2010 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Google’s offices in Chelsea Market, NYC.  As seating is limited, advanced registration is required before September 30th.  Full event details and the registration form are available at http://events.horizoninfoservices.com.

Horizon’s CEO to Speak at Small Business Technology Tour in Boston

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Allen Falcon, CEO of Horizon Info Services (www.horizoninfoservices.com) has been selected to speak at the Small Business Technology Tour in Boston on October 25th (hashtag #smallbiztechtour). Sharing the stage with Laurie McCabe from the SMG Group, Raju Vegesna of Zoho, and Shahab Kaviani from HyperOffice, the panel will focus on Online Collaboration and Communication: How to LISTEN Inside Your Company.

“We’re excited that small businesses and entrepreneurs can hear from experts who can help them use technology to grow their businesses,” says Ramon Ray, Executive Producer of the Tour and Editor and Technology Evangelist for Smallbiztechnology.com. “Our events have grown each year and the loyal following of attendees and sponsors reinforces that we are resonating with businesses. Attendees should expect to learn, laugh, network and win tech goodies.”

The all day event features America’s leading experts on small business and technology, who will share their insight, lead discussions and show attendees how they can harness technology to save time, save money, boost productivity, increase revenue and better serve customers.

“The conference has a unique focus on emerging technologies that can help small and mid-size businesses grow,” noted Falcon. “The event is a unique opportunity for business owners to learn and network.”

Other sessions include: Six Rules for Strategically Using Technology to GROW Your Business; Your Mobile Business: How to Manage Your Business and Boost Customer Service through Mobile Technology; From CDs and Hard Disks To Browsers: Migrating To A Cloud Computing World; New Media. Old Rules. Why The Rules Of Old School Marketing Still Apply; Why Email Marketing, Blogs and Web Sites are NOT Dead; and Technology Watch: Top New Technology Solution Trends and How They Can Help Your Small Business.

The event is scheduled for October 25th at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development (NERD) center in Cambridge, MA. Early Bird (before October 18th) registrants will pay $49 for the all-day event. For more information visit http://www.smallbiztechtour.com.

Horizon Info Services hosts Google Apps … Live! in NYC

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As part of its on-going event series, Horizon Info Services has opened registration for Google Apps — Live! in New York City on October 7, 2010.  The event, at in Google’s Chelsea Market offices, gives businesses a unique opportunity to discuss and see demos of Google Apps while networking with other business leaders moving to cloud computing solutions.

“The event is unique,” notes Allen Falcon, CEO of Horizon Info Services, “because it is not just a bunch of talking heads at the front of the room.”  In addition to case studies from IT experts and an Emmy-winning production firm, attendees will have 1:1 access to Google Apps experts.  According to Falcon, “Businesses will get an assessment of their unique needs and get answers to their specific questions.”

Beyond features and capabilities, presentations will discuss deployment issues and other factors businesses should consider before starting their move to cloud-based solutions.  “We want attendees to leave with an understanding of if, when, and how they should move to Google Apps and other cloud computing services,” notes Falcon.

Google Apps … Live! is scheduled for October 7, 2010 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Google’s offices in Chelsea Market, NYC.  As seating is limited, advanced registration is required before September 30th.  Full event details and the registration form are available at http://events.horizoninfoservices.com.

How Secure is YOUR Cloud?

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The Microsoft Marketing Machine is in overdrive touting the security of Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), Exchange Online, and their other online services.  Much of the hype is in response to Google’s recent announcement that Google Apps Premier Edition has received FISMA Certification along with both SAS 70 Type I and II certifications.

As of August 26, 2010, Microsoft’s own FAQs for their online services acknowledges the lack of security certifications.

“The Standard version of the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite will be seeking a SAS 70 Type II audit attesting to the effectiveness of Microsoft’s internal controls. While our U.S. datacenters maintain a SAS 70 Type II for the physical controls of each facility, the Services (Live Meeting, EHS, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Office Communications Online) themselves do not. Live Meeting maintains both the CyberTrust Service Provider Certification and the CyberTrust Application Certification, which surpasses the control requirements for SOX. The Business Productivity Online Standard Suite Standard implementation is scheduled to undergo the CyberTrust certification within the next couple of months.“

All Cloud Computing SLAs are Not Equal

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SLA’s, or Service Level Agreements, establish provider commitments for service performance, availability, and reliability.  When considering online services, understanding the SLA can make a world of difference.

For Google Apps Premier and Education Editions, Google offers a 99.9% availability SLA for the core services.  This is based on an expectation of no downtime at all, not even for scheduled maintenance.

For Microsoft’s Exchange Online service, the 99.9% availability SLA seems comparable, but it only covers downtime outside of scheduled maintenance windows.

The difference is important since scheduled maintenance can still impact your business.

So far in August 2010, there have been two (2) scheduled maintenance windows on Saturdays, running from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT.   These maintenance windows easily impact businesses that operate on Saturday, as the windows extend through the morning until mid-afternoon.  And yet, they do not count against the SLAs as they were “scheduled”.

A quick check of  Microsoft’s Online Service Notification feed indicates at least six (6) unscheduled outages Exchange Online over the first 23 days in August.  While outages do count towards the SLAs and may result in credits, having a more reliable service is preferred.