TelePacific Insight: TeleCommunications Blog

7 Technology Trends for 2012

Early this year, as in the previous year, cloud solutions and enterprise mobility are dominating the discussion among industry analysts. To kick off the year, we have compiled some of the more interesting trends and predictions that could impact and influence businesses in 2012. 

    1. Capital spending on server hardware and virtualization software will slow as spending on cloud computing rises, according to recent research published by CIO magazine. The study also suggests that a significant chunk of enterprise spending will shift to mobile devices, applications and development tools.
    2. Tablets will become real business tools. Some tell-tale signs: Forrester Research predicts more than 77 percent of organizations will support Google Android and iOS devices next year. Also, a recent survey by the NPD Group reveals that 73 percent of small to medium-sized businesses will buy tablets such as Apple’s iPad.  
    3. With “IT consumerization,” (employees increasingly bringing tablets, smartphones and other devices to work), investments in IT security will surge – so much so that Canalys expects the enterprise security market to grow about 9 percent in 2012.
    4. Current Analysis reports that enterprise applications and storage were the most used cloud services among businesses in 2011, and predicts the trend will continue this year. Approximately 50 percent of IT decision makers surveyed by the firm either utilize or plan on utilizing online storage and backup.
    5. Maravedis predicts that telecom network operators will emerge as leaders in providing secure and guaranteed business cloud services, and also expects that carrier-class cloud architectures and platforms will emerge and disrupt the cloud services value chain as the cloud market moves from the early adopter phase to mainstream adoption.
    6. Managed services growth among businesses should increase considerably, according to a recent survey by CompTIA. Among current users of managed services, 46 percent have trimmed their annual IT expenditures by 25 percent or more as a result of shifting to managed services, and 13 percent have slashed annual IT expenditures by 50 percent on the functions they are outsourcing.
    7. TeleGeography reports that demand for retail colocation space is growing relentlessly and that operators are scrambling to expand current sites and build new ones to keep up with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 to 14 percent.

As technologies, services, applications and business practices evolve, we will continue to develop creative and cost-effective solutions that deliver real value to our customers. Our colocation products, OneSecure managed security offerings, RemoteStor data recovery services and wireless broadband solutions, for example, are quite literally related to the trends above.

In the coming months and years, a variety of enterprise and small-business software products, not to mention new mobile services of many types, will be coming to market. Know that we’re preparing for them and that our products and resources will be in lock-step with market developments impacting our customers.

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Posted: January 12th, 2012 by Pamela Reinero
Categories: TelePacific
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Managed Services Offer Savings, Peace of Mind

Business organizations increasingly are adopting managed services as an alternative to internally managing network, telephony and security services. Inherent flexibility and scalability appear to be important motivators for most IT executives surveyed on the subject, but shifting IT spending from a capex to a more predictable opex model and saving money are the key drivers.

In fact, managed services growth among businesses is expected to increase considerably over the next two years, according to a recent study by CompTIA, an IT industry association. Among current users of managed services, CompTIA reports, 46 percent have trimmed their annual IT expenditures by 25 percent or more as a result of shifting to managed services, and 13 percent have slashed annual IT expenditures by 50 percent on the functions they are outsourcing.

With those kinds of savings, it’s no wonder that Insight Research predicts the market for managed services to double from $140 billion to $266 billion by 2016. TelePacific recognized this trajectory several years ago and planned accordingly, making significant investments in our datacenter, managed security and data recovery solutions.

We have colocation facilities in San Jose, Sacramento, Santa Ana, San Diego and Las Vegas. We also operate two SAS 70 (transitioning to SSAE 16) Type 2 certified datacenters in both Sacramento and Santa Ana. Our two datacenters, one in Northern and one in Southern California, provide excellent geographic diversity and offer customers full and partial cabinets; complete ping, power and space including UPS; N+1 power and cooling; high-security infrastructure and procedures; customer amenities; “remote hands” services; and 24×7x365 support and access.  

In addition, our OneSecure managed security services offer Internet security on demand to protect customers from online dangers. OneSecure provides six layers of network security:

  • Firewall to lock or unlock ports to allow or prevent traffic into a customer’s network;
  • IPS, which uses deep packet inspection to analyze network traffic and block packets known to match thousands of malicious code signatures;  
  • Gateway Antivirus to thwart attacks by checking all HTTP, HTTPs, SMTP and FTP traffic for malicious code embedded within the traffic and block access to infected sites;
  • Web Content Filtering to help companies prevent unauthorized web browsing;
  • SPAM Filtering, which passes all incoming email through a multi-layered SPAM filtering system that blocks or identifies/categorizes inbound SPAM; and
  • Virtual Private Network, allowing individual employees, remote office location and/or suppliers to securely connect to the LAN.

We also offer RemoteStor data recovery services to protect customers from unexpected events such as disk crashes, server corruption, viruses and national and human disasters. Every night, RemoteStor automatically and securely backs up critical information over a customer’s existing Internet connection to our advanced storage infrastructure located in our datacenter facilities.

For more information about our datacenter, managed security and data recovery services, please contact your TelePacific representative.

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Posted: December 27th, 2011 by Pamela Reinero
Categories: TelePacific
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More Businesses “Investing” in Mobility

Approximately 60 percent of the IT leaders surveyed in a recent study by the Cohen Research Group report that at least one quarter of their workforce is mobile, and 82 percent say at least some of their employees are using mobile applications for communication and collaboration. Five years ago, less than 25 percent of U.S. businesses issued most or all mobile phones for employees. Today that figure tops 61 percent, according to the Cohen study.

Industry analysts assert that employers are increasingly acquiring mobile devices for employees because it allows them to integrate said devices and related applications into their corporate strategy, communications network and services. In fact, the ability to better control and manage mobile devices will become more imperative as businesses continue to shift applications to the cloud and as more of their employees access these applications using mobile devices.

For example, IT respondents in the Cohen study intend to support video conferencing (46%), instant messaging (44%), single voicemail (41%), video calling (40%), web/group collaboration (35%), extension dialing (31%), corporate directory (27%) and presence management (24%) on mobile devices within the next three years.

Interestingly, despite the introduction of numerous smart phones over the past few years and their growing appeal, BlackBerry is still widely supported among IT business leaders, especially larger enterprises (67%), according to the Cohen study, which shows the following support for mobile devices among small, medium and large businesses:

  • BlackBerry (51%)
  • iPhone (40%)
  • Android (31%)
  • Basic mobile phones (30%)
  • Tablets (30%)
  • Other smartphones (21%)

 

The Cohen study and other recent surveys illustrate how mobility and cloud trends are changing the buying habits of businesses. We’re witnessing it first hand with strong customer interest in wireless laptop connectivity and Wifi hotspot devices, as well as group purchases of wireless bundles that make it easy to quickly equip organizations with mobile workforces.

If you would like to learn more about our mobile solutions and bundles, please reach out to your TelePacific representative or contact us.

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Posted: December 14th, 2011 by Pamela Reinero
Categories: TelePacific
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The Great Restructuring

In Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy, authors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee assert that Murphy’s Law and the application of computer technology to core economic activities are changing operational models of business so dramatically that we are undergoing a  disruptive and transforming economic shift.   

The authors are convinced that we are not in a “Great Recession, or a Great Stagnation, rather that we are in the early throes of a Great Restructuring,” and they make a convincing case by showing how computer and information technologies have accelerated productivity gains at such a rate that the economy cannot absorb the excess labor. In other words, technology has raced past human capacity to keep up. It’s made our businesses so innovative and productive that persistent unemployment at levels we’re not used to will continue until we can adapt and catch up to the Great Restructuring, which could be awhile. 

If high unemployment in the U.S. persists – and most economists predict it will – chances are good that customers in many business verticals will consume less in 2012, putting more revenue pressure on companies and forcing them to increase productivity while meticulously managing costs.

One way to stay ahead of the curve is to review your telecommunications infrastructure and services to make sure they are maximizing resources, workforce productivity and efficiency. At TelePacific, we have the expertise to help you assess your current technologies, circuits, applications and usage metrics and identify solutions that enhance communications value for your company.  In fact, on a daily basis we conduct telecom audits that better align business and technology goals while reducing costs. To cite just one example, many of our customers with increasingly mobile workforces are surprised to learn that we can save them money by bundling mobile smartphones and wireless broadband solutions with their other telecom services and bill all of them on a single invoice, too.

As with the steam engine, railroads and electricity before it, computer technology is accelerating and upsetting the normal march of economic progress, but broad-based economic growth will eventually come, according to Brynjolfsson and McAfee. In the meantime, it’s probably wise to make a telecom audit a priority. If you’re interested, simply give your TelePacific representative a call to schedule one.

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Posted: November 29th, 2011 by Pamela Reinero
Categories: TelePacific
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EoC is Becoming the Blu-Ray of Access Technologies

What Blu-ray technology did for the DVD movie experience, Ethernet over Copper is doing for Internet access. In fact, EoC is becoming so popular that it’s starting to dominate T-1 circuits as the preferred access technology among small and medium sized businesses.

EoC beats TDM access prices by 15 percent or more, simplifies CPE and features a universal hand-off. It’s also faster to deploy, easier and more flexible to upgrade and it’s just as reliable as TDM access but more resilient because it’s delivered over multiple copper pairs.  

That last point is important, especially in markets affected by stormy weather. For example, in Southern California, storms frequently disrupt T-1 access. However, when tremendous rains poured down on Los Angeles last winter, not a single one of our EoC customers experienced an outage. With TDM, if any part of the copper loop fails, then the TDM circuit fails. That’s not the case with EoC because our equipment can retrain the other available loop(s) and maintain bandwidth.

Given EoC’s reliability, lower costs and performance enhancements, in the third quarter alone, hundreds of our small and medium-sized business customers upgraded from T1 and bonded T-1 access to an EoC solution at speeds up to 20 Mbps. With eight copper pair at 2,600 feet from one of our wire centers, we can achieve speeds of 35 Mbps to 40 Mbps, if needed. And our EoC footprint is growing fast. By year’s end we will have EoC in 220 wire centers throughout California and Nevada.

In addition, we’re increasingly providing multi-location customers with what we call EoX, or Ethernet over any (copper, TDM, fixed wireless and fiber), essentially mixing and matching local access technologies that provide the most cost-effective bandwidth based on each location’s needs. We’re also bundling EoC with 1Net MPLS and SmartVoice, which gives customers the ability to dynamically allocate bandwidth to data traffic when employees aren’t using their phones.

Recently, our President and CEO Dick Jalkut was singled out by industry publication FierceTelecom as one of “10 competitive telecom executives to watch.” Senior Editor Sean Buckley asserted that TelePacific, already named one of Inc. magazine’s fastest growing private companies for five years running, “will continue on a growth path with new products and enhancements designed to satisfy the multi-site business customer.”

He adds that our expanding suite of Ethernet products will play a significant role in that growth, and we couldn’t agree more. We invite you to contact us to learn more about EoC options and bundles that fit your business. And ask about our fall promotion. We’re currently giving away additional bandwidth with EoC orders.

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Posted: November 17th, 2011 by Pamela Reinero
Categories: TelePacific
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Perks for Our Non-Profit Customers

Did you know that TelePacific helps non-profits affordably upgrade their telecom infrastructure? By thoughtfully leveraging state-funded programs such as the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) and E-Rate, we create customized packages for our non-profit customers that can reduce costs by up to 80%…sometimes more.

What is the CTF?

The CTF is a California state program that provides discounts on selected telecom services to qualifying schools, libraries, government-owned and operated hospitals and health clinics, and community based organizations. If you are interested in applying for the program, please visit the CTF website.

What is E-Rate?

E-Rate is a federally-funded program in which the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund makes discounts available to eligible schools and libraries for telecom services and Internet access. Again, if you are interested in applying for the program, please visit E–Rate’s website.

…And Most Importantly, What’s New & Exciting for Our Non-Profit Customers?

TelePacific’s California Teleconnect Fund customers are in for a real treat: With our Fall BlackBerry CurveTM 8530 Bundle, they get a free BlackBerry Curve 8530 smart phone, an unlimited voice, text and data plan, and a choice of a USB mobile connector for a laptop or a 5-device connection Wi-Fi Hotspot. All this – for as low as $102.50 per month. That’s up to 50% off the data plan! (Note: This CTF offer requires pre-approval and not all non-profit customers qualify. Contact your account manager for details). Hurry, this is a Fall 2011 promotion only, so contact your account manager or get your bundle here.

This is a great time to empower your staff with mobile email, web access, calendaring and more on their BlackBerry and laptop. You’ll love the ease and efficiency of having one reliable company delivering your phone, Internet and mobile service – that adds up to one provider, one statement, one account manager.

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Posted: October 10th, 2011 by Rebecca
Categories: TelePacific

PCI Compliance Means Peace of Mind

The swipe of a credit card takes mere seconds, and often a consumer doesn’t give his or her purchase a second thought.

But the companies who process that credit card transaction do have think about it – seriously. Why? Because in order to have the privilege of processing credit cards, these companies must adhere to a lengthy set of requirements mandated by The Payment Card Industry (PCI). These requirements have been put in place to ensure that consumers’ account data is protected, every single time they swipe that card.

According to the PCI, companies that process, store or transmit credit card information must maintain a secure environment for their customers. This is a big responsibility, and adhering to the PCI requirements can be onerous. For example, these companies must build and maintain a secure network and a vulnerability management program; must protect cardholder data, and must regularly monitor and test their networks.

Fortunately for our TelePacific Communications customers who process, store or transmit credit card information, we have you covered. Our OneSecure network security service helps you manage and comply with all 12 primary PCI requirements. And as part of our acquisition of Telekenex, TelePacific will also have a nationwide PCI-compliant network that ensures complete safety of credit card information and a new cloud-based security service called “Total Security,” which aggressively stops the latest, most sophisticated and scary threats facing your network today. This means that if you are using TelePacific’s new nationwide private MPLS network to service your offices outside of California and Nevada, those locations are still covered by a PCI-compliant network.

Furthermore, total Control Security delivers expert threat routing intelligence that enables businesses to communicate in a highly secure network environment. It includes an enterprise-class firewall; intrusion prevention; and advanced signature and heuristic detection engines to provide multilayered, real-time protection against both new and evolving viruses and spyware – in addition to other services that are critical to PCI compliance.

It is critical to ensure that your customers’ data is protected; and TelePacific is here to help you make sure you meet these stringent PCI restrictions.

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Posted: September 20th, 2011 by Rebecca
Categories: TelePacific
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10 Easy Steps to Protect Your Business from Cyber-Attacks

It seems like every day now we read stories in the news about companies being hacked and having their data compromised. Cyber-attacks can be very expensive to your business, in terms of correcting the system breach, recovering compromised data, protecting those whose data was accessed and rebuilding public trust.

At TelePacific, we offer managed network security, protecting your company from vicious network intrusions and viruses. Our OneSecure service layers multiple network security solutions to provide comprehensive protection for your company’s data.

With OneSecure, you’re well on your way to protecting your business from costly cyber-attacks. But there are additional easy steps you can take to further protect your business. Below are ten cybersecurity tops for small business provided by the Federal Communications Commission:

 

1. Train employees in security principles

Establish basic security practices to protect sensitive business information and communicate them to all employees on a regular basis. Establish rules of behavior describing how to handle and protect customer information and other vital data. Clearly detail the penalties for violating business cybersecurity policies.

 

2. Protect information, computers and networks from viruses, spyware and other malicious code

Install, use and regularly update antivirus and antispyware software on every computer used in your business. Such software is readily available online from a variety of vendors. Most software packages now offer subscriptions to “security service” applications, which provide additional layers of protection. Set the antivirus software to automatically check for updates at a scheduled time of low computer usage, such as at night (midnight, for example), and then set the software to do a scan after the software update.

 

3. Provide firewall security for your Internet connection

A firewall is set of related programs that prevent outsiders from accessing data on a private network. Install and maintain firewalls between your internal network and the Internet. If employees work from home, ensure that their home systems are protected by firewalls. Install firewalls on all computers – including laptops – used in conducting your business.

4. Download and install software updates for your operating systems and applications as they become available

All operating system vendors regularly provide patches and updates to their products to correct security problems and improve functionality. Configure all software to install such updates automatically.

 

5. Make backup copies of important business data and information.

Regularly backup the data on every computer used in your business. Critical data includes word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, databases, financial files, human resources files and accounts receivable/payable files. Back up data automatically if possible, or at least weekly.

 

6. Control physical access to your computers and network components

Prevent access or use of business computers by unauthorized individuals. Laptops can be particularly easy targets for theft, so make sure they are stored and locked up when unattended.

 

7. Secure your Wi-Fi networks

If you have a Wi-Fi network for your workplace make sure it is secure and hidden. To hide your Wi-Fi network, set-up your wireless access point or router so it does not broadcast the network name, known as the Service Set Identifier (SSID). In addition, make sure to turn on the encryption so that passwords are required for access. Lastly, it is critical to change the administrative password that was on the device when it was first purchased.

 

8. Require individual user accounts for each employee

Setup a separate account for each individual and require that strong passwords be used for each account. Administrative privileges should only be given to trusted IT staff and key personnel.

 

9. Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority to install software

Do not provide any one employee with access to all data systems. Employees should only be given access to the specific data systems that they need for their jobs, and should not be able to install any software without permission.

 

10. Regularly change passwords

Passwords that stay the same will, over time, be shared and become common knowledge to coworkers and can be easily hacked. Passwords should be changed at least every three months.

To learn more, visit the FCC’s Cybersecurity Hub at www.fcc.gov/cyberforsmallbiz and contact your TelePacific representative to learn more about OneSecure.

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Posted: August 29th, 2011 by Rebecca
Categories: TelePacific
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TelePacific Datacenters Transitioning to SSAE 16

Since April 1992, SAS 70, the U.S. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, has been the widely recognized auditing standard for guidance regarding assurance reports for service organizations. These important reports have helped customers and their customers’ auditors to understand and feel confident that their service organizations’ internal controls and processes regarding financial reporting are functioning appropriately.

However, change is afoot: In January 2010, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) decided to replace SAS 70 with SSAE 16, making it the new authoritative guidance for reporting on service organizations. Effective June 15, 2011, SSAE 16 introduces new, more stringent reporting requirements.  It also adopts and converges accounting standards between the U.S.-based framework and the globally accepted principle (ISAE 3402) for reporting on controls at service organizations. 

Why the change?

● Today’s complex, ever-changing regulatory landscape requires additional information regarding internal control over financial reporting

● IT and business process outsourcing have become more globalized, bringing about the need for an international standard of reporting

TelePacific embraces the new auditing standards, and we are currently transitioning our Sacramento and Orange County datacenters from SAS 70 to SSAE 16 – upgrading to a higher and more rigorous level of reporting excellence. Undergoing this meticulous certification process ensures that we can help our customers meet their own stringent regulatory requirements.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on SSAE 16, check out AICPA’s new web page at http://www.aicpa.org/.

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Posted: August 11th, 2011 by Rebecca
Categories: TelePacific
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TelePacific Expands its Geographic Footprint: Texas, Here We Come

We’re on a roll. Some might call it a tear.

Fresh on the heels of some recent, exciting and transformative acquisitions, TelePacific Communications has happily announced another one—on June 28, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire Tel West Network Services Corporation, launching TelePacific’s growth in Texas.

After providing deep, dynamic telecommunication services in California and Nevada for the past 13 years, we are thrilled to expand our geographic service coverage area. This new acquisition provides us with the technology and infrastructure to ensure a solid foundation for growth in Texas, the nation’s fastest growing (and second largest) economy.

Tel West is a facilities-based high speed Internet, data and voice communications provider headquartered in Austin, Texas. Recently recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in Central Texas by the Austin Business Journal, Tel West specializes in cost-effective telecommunications services for small, medium and enterprise businesses.

Our goal? Simple and compelling: Leverage TelePacific’s expanded services and create the leading communications network service provider in Texas.

Our new Tel West customers (about 3,400 small- and medium-sized businesses, enterprise customers and government accounts across the state of Texas) will benefit considerably from TelePacific’s enhanced network and service offerings. TelePacific customers with offices in Texas will also benefit from being able to have one telecommunications provider for their various facilities. And with the planned acquisition of Telekenex and its nationwide PCI compliant MPLS backbone, TelePacific is ready to better serve customers outside of its traditional service boundaries.

Tel West will continue to operate under its own name and the current management and employees will remain with the company. Welcome to the family, Tel West.

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Posted: July 14th, 2011 by Rebecca
Categories: TelePacific
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