Is Your Network Safe?

Cyber criminals are coming up with more and more sophisticated ways to threaten your security. Your network is only as strong as its weakest link and that is why training your employees in security awareness is crucial. 

Train Your Employees. Protect Your Network.

We have your data protected, but not from "human error”. It’s imperative to ensure all employees are educated and up to speed on how to spot ransomware attacks BEFORE they click on a dangerous link.

UCG now provides the following base value-added service at no additional cost to current and new UCG Enterprise Cloud Backup & DR (formerly VAULT400) subscribers.

1. Phishing test for all active email users.
2. List of users whose email addresses are exposed.
3. Twenty-five users will receive online cyber security training. (Additional training may be purchased for $10 per user plus $2 every six months for maintenance, updates and support. This is a complete managed service.
4. UCG will schedule ongoing phishing tests and training on your behalf.
5. Quarterly reports will be emailed to bring your attention to violators who can then be scheduled for additional online training.

Bottom Line: Your organization is 20 to 40%+ risk of being hit with ransomware. With this training, it will reduce to negligible single digits or eliminate it completely.

Get started with a free phishing test or security awareness training quote! 

800.211.8798 | info@ucgtechnologies.com

UCG And Expedient Partner For Expanded IBM i Hosted Services

By Dan Burger, IT Jungle

United Computer Group built a trustworthy reputation alongside its growing IBM midrange customer base by offering online backup services. It also offered disaster recovery services to organizations that have figured out the limitations of their downtime survival endurance. UCG has made the investments in equipment and staff to deliver service that meets high expectations, and now it's taking the next step.

Expedient, a company with 11 data centers in seven markets from Chicago eastward, including the northeast regions of the United States, and UCG decided they could use one another's help, so they formed a partnership.

Expedient provides colocation services--rack, power, and pipe--along with utility processing, backup as a service (BaaS), and disaster recovery primarily for X86 servers. The company has some IBM i on Power in their data center, business that has come along with some X86 customers, but the IBM i servers remain managed by the customers. When more companies wanted the option of having their IBM i servers managed as a service, Expedient brought in UCG to handle that business.

"Expedient's foot-print in the Midwest and on the East Coast is 'significant,'" says Jim Kandrac, president of UCG. "We have worked on getting to know one another over the past several years and things just progressed naturally."

Kandrac explained that IBM i customers with servers in Expedient's data centers are doing tape backups, but UCG's BaaS will be a cost effective alternative that is expected to have a high adoption rate. Expedient expects to expand it backup and recovery business for X86 servers and that will bring some additional IBM i business with it. With UCG onboard, Expedient can provide service for both platforms when its customers are looking for an all-in-one service provider.

Kandrac points out that UCG also does backup and recovery for X86, but it doesn't seek that business. UCG does it for IBM i shops that want to bring X86 along with the i-centric services UCG provides. Colocation services has not been part of the UCG offerings, but now when IBM i shops mention it, UCG has an answer.

UCG has its operations in Cleveland in a data center owned by BlueBridge Networks, a company that, like Expedient, does most of its business in the X86 arena, according to Kandrac. UCG also makes use of a second data center in Marietta, Georgia.

Expedient also has data centers in Cleveland. UCG will have servers in data centers owned by both Expedient and BlueBridge.

The two data centers Expedient operates in Cleveland are connected to the other nine data centers the company owns. One of the Cleveland data centers will provide redundancy for the IBM i and storage area networks (SANs) UCG has at BlueBridge Networks.

UCG is also expanding its services beyond the backup and recovery expertise that has resulted in an IBM i customer base totaling 150 organizations. The new capabilities include services surrounding development, test, and production environments.

Kandrac says his company has slowly grown into hosting those environments. It has developed as the client-vendor relationship has developed dependability and trust. In the managed services business, it's nearly impossible to overestimate the value of trust.

"Customer demand is pushing this," Kandrac says. The journey began with BaaS. Then the DR element became important and the recovery time decreased to 24 hours and 12-hours and we also became a managed high availability service provider.

"Over the past three years, UCG has invested significantly in staffing and systems and we are poised to continue to have a 'controlled growth' of 25 percent to 35 percent per year in the managed services arena."

RELATED STORIES

Vaulting Service Replaces Mirroring For IBM i Shop
IBM i Shops Climb Into the VAULT
IBM i Shops Turn to Vault400 for Protection
UCG Grows BaaS Biz with VAULT400
Mountains Of Data Bring Recovery Issues
UCG Champions Technology Upgrade
Two More Customer Wins for Vault400

How to have it all with Mobility: Security, Productivity, and Privacy

Everyone is talking about what mobility can do for their business, yet it can seem so challenging. See what the industry leaders have to say. 

Roger Bjork, Dell, Inc., Director of Global Product Marketing, Mobile/BYOD Solutions

Additional Insight on mobility trends by Pervasive Path Consulting, Shoretel, Verizon and more!

Date:        Thursday, January 15, 2015

Time:        7:30 AM - sign in

Location:  Kehoe Center Shelby, Ohio (perfectly situated between Cleveland and Columbus and a short drive West from Wooster)

Attendee admission fees are covered by NCORITA and include light breakfast, lunch, parking.

A vendor fair will be featured during lunch. Prizes and raffles throughout the day. United Computer Group will be exhibiting, so be sure to stop by our table!

Click Register or go to www.NCORITA.org and click on Events.

Presented by NCORITA. NCORITA was formed in 2011 to create a venue for IT professionals to gather and exchange ideas in the heart of Ohio.

Dell Keynote Speaker Bio: Roger Bjork

Roger Bjork has been with Dell, Inc. for 15 years. He holds a BSCS in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and has been in the mobile industry for over three decades in various capacities, including R&D, product planning, business development, and marketing.

How to have it all with Mobility: security, productivity and privacy