Mobility

Mobility in the workplace has matured from being a nice perk to being instrumental in your ability to meet the needs of your clients and vendors. No matter where you are or what time of day having access to email, corporate documents and resources while away from your desk is key to keeping ahead of the competition.

The trick is figuring out what options will bring the most value to your company, while maintaining security requirements and keeping costs to a minimum. We can help you evaluate your options and implement the solutions that best fit your company and staff.

 

Remote Access to Corporate Resources

There are a wide variety of resources available to make you and your employees able to work remotely. It can be very confusing figuring out what you need especially when talking with sales reps that just want to sell you their product or searching on the internet. Here is some general information without the technobabble. If you’d like to get more information call us at 206-923-2100 or use the contact form here.

 

Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Storage / Services

Cloud Storage

By saving your data in the cloud you can have access to it from virtually anywhere on a wide range of devices. Most of the more popular services have apps for phones and tablets and you can also access the data from a web browser if needed.

Cloud Services for Personal Use:

For personal use there is quite a few companies that offer limited storage for free. They typically will have a paid option for if you want additional storage.

This is just a small sample of personal cloud storage services.

  • Amazon Cloud Drive
  • Box.com
  • DropBox
  • iCloud
  • OneDrive

Services for Business:

For business use there are a few more things you need to consider.

  • Administration of corporate accounts
  • Sharing of data between employees and departments
  • Data recovery and versioning  from deletion or modification
  • Speed and reliability of the cloud server
  • Security: Encryption of your company data. Remote wipe in case of devices lost or stolen
  • Privacy: Guarantee that your data is not accessed by third parties

Corporate Intranets / SharePoint

An Intranet Site is similar to an Internet Website but is designed for your employees not the general public. Microsoft options for intranet sites are typically made in SharePoint (also called Companyweb in Small Business Server products) and there many other options from third party vendors.

Features:

  • Unlike a normal website Intranet sites are password protected and not visible to people outside of your organization
  • Share documents and information with your employees from anywhere with an internet connection
  • Provide different access to documentation for each department or user

Secure Document Transfer

Secure document transfer gives your clients and vendors a way to send and receive documents securely with your organization instead of sending via email or snail mail.

Outlook Anywhere (also known as Outlook Web Access or OWA)

If your company is running its own Exchange Server you can connect to it from Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer or your mobile phone or tablet.

 

Local Server Services

If your organization is running Server 2012 Essentials or Server 2012 with the Essentials Experience installed there are integrated services allowing your employees to access their computers or data and devices from outside your physical location. If you are a Microsoft Enterprise customer there are some additional services that make mobility even easier.

Small Business Server (which has been discontinued) also a has remote web access features. Support for SBS 2003 ends July 15th, 2015.

Remote Web Access (RWA)

Remote Web Access is a feature of Small Business Server and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. It gives you a web portal to your local server where you can access company data as well as remote access to your own pc in the office.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A Virtual Private Network creates a secure connection between your pc or laptop and your corporate servers. This gives you access to shared folders on your servers and devices such as printers in the office.

DirectAccess (Enterprise Customers Only)

Securely connect to your corporate network from anywhere without the need for a VPN.

Windows to Go (Enterprise Customers Only)

Windows to Go allows you to create an image of your enterprise Windows 8.1 machine and install it on a USB drive that you can take with you. For more information click here.