Spreading a Wider IT Net At UCG Technologies - IT Jungle

By Alex Woodie

Selling boxes in the midrange isn't easy. A shrinking customer base, falling margins on hardware sales, and tight IT budgets combine to put the squeeze on even the best-run reseller outfits. For longtime business partner Jim Kandrac, the shift was palpable enough to lead him to rename his Cleveland, Ohio-based company from United Computer Group to UCG Technologies.

It's notable that "computer" is no longer in the name of Kandrac's company. Are computers no longer important to the business? "The word computer is becoming more passé," he says. "They're still important, but they're less important."

In the heyday of the AS/400 and the iSeries, Kandrac's company would make 80 to 90 percent of its revenue from hardware sales. IBM's midrange server was the Golden Goose that kept United Computer Group humming, and put Kandrac's kids through college. But today, hardware sales account for less than half of UCG's revenues. The company still counts on a loyal group of customers in the Great Lakes region, but it's also been forced to broaden its horizons, and today UCG has customers spread across 31 states and Canada.

Serving such a geographically dispersed client base isn't easy. "It's challenging," Kandrac says. "In the old days, when you'd sell, you'd call somebody, make an appointment, and see them face to face. That's fine if they're local, but on a nationwide basis, it's more challenging."

To be sure, the midrange reseller channel has been evolving since the dot-com and Y2K bubbles popped in 2000. UCG has managed to hold its own and maintain share in a stable-to-shrinking market. But competition on hardware deals is fierce, and Kandrac is under no illusion that Power Systems sales will ever be as lucrative as AS/400 and iSeries sales once were, or that UCG will come to dominate the channel.

"We're a boutique firm," he says. "We're not going to be a $200-million business partner. It's not really our market. We're definitely in the midmarket. We've done business with 1,500 companies, and have a core base of 250 or so. We're looking to reach out from that and look at different segments."

As Kandrac looks to the future, he sees new opportunities rising in certain areas. The biggest is cloud-based backup, disaster recovery (DR), and high availability (HA), which today accounts for 35 percent of UCG Technologies' revenues.

Over the past 10 years, UCG Technologies has carved a niche for itself in this market through VAULT400, a backup and DR environment. While the VAULT400 name is going away, the service itself isn't changing. And without the "400" attached to it, perhaps more customers will tap UCG Technologies to protect Windows, Linux, and UNIX servers as well. (The company has supported these platforms with VAULT400 for many years.)

Ten years ago, when you tried to sell a cloud-based solution, people would look at you funny, Kandrac says. But today, people just seem to get it. With that said, the cloud discussion around the IBM i has its particulars.

"The reason for going to the cloud with i is more administrative, and getting it off your plate," he says. "You don't have 10 people in IT anymore. You have four or five, and you want to spend more time on running and supporting your internal applications. If you look at the cost dollar for dollar, it's one thing. But when you start looking at the people and the resources--that's really where the money is saved."

Kandrac is also keen to sell business software--in particular the IBM i-based ERP software from his partner, VAI. The combination of industry-specific software for apparel, durable goods, retail, food, and pharmaceutical companies and cloud-based backup, DR, and HA and VAI's applications gives UCG Technologies an edge, Kandrac says.

Jim Kandrac, President
UCG Technologies

Security training is a new thing for UCG Technologies. Last fall, the company announced that all subscribers to its cloud backup solutions would automatically receive ransomware awareness training from its partner, KnowBe4.

The ransomware epidemic is rampant at the moment, and several of UCG Technologies customers have fallen victim to cyber criminals who trick unsuspecting employees into clicking on links that then encrypt the contents of hard drives. 

"Do we make a lot of money? Not really," Kandrac says. "But I feel it's so critical to protect the data, so we include it. It's a cost. I get it. But there's no magic dust out here we can sprinkle to take care of data."

Kandrac ran into IBM CEO Ginny Rometty at the recent PartnerWorld conference, and came away believing that things like Watson and analytics could have a real future. Whether or not it plays with the IBM i platform has yet to be seen, but the pervasiveness of data is certainly getting to a point where it might.

"I think people have to be creative and ultimately come up with new ideas," Kandrac says. "When big data and analytics and Watson first came out, I wondered if this was new term for business intelligence and whether you run it on spreadsheets or Cognos. I'm starting to sink my teeth more into Watson and the cognitive era, and my eyes are starting to open. I'm a conservative person so I don't jump on the bandwagon, but I see how it can potentially help."

There's nothing on the drawing board at this point, but Kandrac recognizes the importance of being nimble. The stress and toil of the rebranding exercise ("It's like December 8, 1987--the day I started the business--all over again") was a potent reminder that creation and recreation is a never-ending process.

"I need to sink my teeth into something, and sink my teeth into things that are valuable for my client base, and how I can do more with less," Kandrac says. "Our eyes and ears are open."

Reprinted with permission from Guild Companies. Copyright 1996-2016 Guild Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Announcing UCG Technologies!

April 2016

Dear Valued Clients and Partners,

One lesson I’ve learned in the 29 years since I founded UCG is that your brand says a lot about not only who you are but also what you want to be. That’s why I’m pleased to announce that:

United Computer Group, Inc. is now

UCG Technologies! 

No new owners or a sale or merger, just the same top quality personnel and engineers our clients have worked with since 1987.

Why the change? And why now?

Well, we’re not just a computer company any more. In the early years, 80% of our sales were hardware related. While we’re still one of the largest independent IBM hardware business partners, our business has grown and diversified.

Today, computers account for less than 40% of our revenues. Most of our business is derived from UCG i Cloud, VAI’s S2K ERP solutions, UCG enterprise cloud backup, disaster recovery, and high availability offerings. And now enterprise security training, but more about that in a moment.

Our rebranding prepares us for the future.

The cloud presents dramatic new opportunities for us to solve customers’ problems in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

For example, I recently had a chance to hear IBM CEO Ginni Rometty describe a vision that IBM calls “cognitive computing.” The presentation energized me because it outlined a new vision of computing powered by the intelligence of technologies like Watson to discover insights and relationships that are too complex for human beings to see.

IBM expects half of all software applications developed three years from now to have cognitive capabilities, up from just 10% today. The possibilities for us to apply cognitive reasoning to make our customers’ enterprise applications more efficient is exciting. Its potential to open up whole new areas of analytical insight is astonishing.

Our new name reflects our bigger goal of being a provider of integrated services that help our customers and manage their IT operations and their businesses more effectively. One example of how we’re making this transition is our new Enterprise Security Awareness Training.

Why Enterprise Security Awareness Training is integral to an organizations success.

Over the past 18 months, several of our clients have been hit with cyber-attacks. Phishing and Ransomware have become some of their most worrisome vulnerabilities. So UCG Technologies has partnered with KnowBe4 to offer free phishing and email exposure tests to our cloud clients. In addition, each Enterprise Cloud Backup & DR client will also receive a 25-user license for Kevin Mitnick’s superb nine course Cyber Security Training program. 

One client that recently took the phishing exposure test got an incredible 48% click rate on the malicious messages sent to employees. Thanks to the free training we’re providing, I believe they can reduce that vulnerability to negligible single digits. 

We want to be your full-service IT partner.

We’re expanding not only our product line but also our geographic scope. In fact, UCG Technologies now has corporate clients in 31 states, Canada, and in Europe. Our phones are ringing and our business is growing in excess of 20% annually, but that doesn’t change the principle that got us here: a firm commitment to complete customer satisfaction.

I’m proud of the team that has guided our growth, but most of all I’m grateful to our customers for showing their faith in us.

Thanks, and here’s to new opportunities ahead!   

Jim Kandrac, President

Hope to see you at the 2015 VAI Executive Summit!

September 29-30

Hyatt Regency Long Island
at Wind Watch Golf Club

UCG is pleased to attend the 2015 VAI Executive Summit. Be sure to stop by our exhibit to learn how UCG can help you work smarter, faster, and reclaim your time with VAULT400 BaaS. While you're there, play UCG's Scratch Off game; 50% of players win various UCG prizes. Grand prize winner will receive an Apple iPad! We look forward to seeing you. 

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"Effective use of technology lies at the heart of many successful business growth strategies. Having a technology savvy business culture, and the right technology partner, can truly help your company prepare for innovation opportunities. Efficient inventory management and order fulfillment operations have always been paramount in business, but recently the need for an updated ERP system, that is cloud ready, and provides analytics, e-business and mobile capabilities has become even more important with rising customer expectations.

Come join us for two days of fun, networking, and education. You will hear from VAI experts on how customers are using the latest S2K technologies to improve efficiencies, lowers costs, increase sales, and improve customer service." - VAI

The Executive Summit

An exclusive event filled with opportunities.

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compliments of VAI.

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United Computer Group Q3 2015 Newsletter

Photo: Dan Morgan, Straight Shooter Photography HAPPY SUMMER! Hello and welcome to the Q3 2015 UCG Newsletter! If the first half of 2015 is any indication, it will continue to be a great year for UCG and our clients. To meet the growing demand for UCG’s VAULT400 BaaS, we've made a significant investment at Expedient Data Centers' Ohio facility. IBM Power8 Servers and SANs will be arriving soon to support UCG client LPARS for IBM i PROD, TEST, DEV and DR. This 50TB+ expansion to support our continued growth is going live at UCG's / Expedient Data Center #152 in Garfield Heights, OH. Tim Prostor, UCG Senior Technical Engineer is pictured below at Expedient. Learn more about IBM POWER8™ Processor Technology. (Page 6 is most relevant to 90% of IBM Power i Users). We remain focused as we continue to evolve, innovate, and stay true to our nearly 30 year tradition of engaged client relationships. Thank you for your continued interest in United Computer Group. Please enjoy this issue of the UCG newsletter and forward to colleagues within and outside your organization. Thank you for your friendship, your confidence, and your business.   Hurricane season is upon us: Is your business prepared should disaster strike? Although Tropical Storm Bill thankfully did not bring significant damage to the Houston area, it did bring a stark reminder that hurricane season has once again arrived. With nearly 59 million Americans living in coastline counties and millions more in neighboring counties, the importance of preparedness for worst-case scenarios grows as well. Is your business prepared should disaster strike?  Putting together a business continuity plan should be a priority for all organizations. A company may rebuild brick and mortar, but protecting your data AND the reputation of your organization is another story.  UCG's VAULT400 BaaS backs up an entire organization’s business-critical data to secure data centers, ensuring financial, HIPAA, and legal compliance for their clients. Safe and off-site, the encrypted data is available online at all times for immediate, user-initiated recovery. VAULT400 works seamlessly within an organization’s existing infrastructure while supporting all platforms and databases. In addition, UCG offers remote hardware disaster recovery. Select the required time for recovery of operations and we will present a complete offering to meet your needs. Click here for a no-obligation risk assessment from United Computer Group. WATCH PODCAST - IBM Engine of the Week: Colocation Solution Keeps Insurer Online Amid Hurricane Sandy's Wrath Client Testimonial: H-P Products UCG is pleased to present our client testimonial ad featuring H-P Products. Allen Green, President, and Robert Arnold, MIS Director graciously welcomed us to their facility recently for a photo shoot. H-P Products has been a valued client for nearly 30 years when we initially provided them with Memorex/Telex 2051 twinax terminals to connect to their IBM AS/400. Since then we've provided five+ IBM Mid-Range systems and upgrades, as well as leasing, system sizing, HMC, LPAR, and VAULT400 BaaS. "Allen Green and Bob Arnold are quintessential clients to work with and for. As H-P's longtime IBM business partner, UCG and H-P enjoy an excellent relationship. UCG's number one goal has always been to put the client first, solve their IT problems, and provide and implement cost effective products, solutions and services. We've been fortunate to have developed long term business and personal relationships with Allen, Bob, and their staffs.” - Jim Kandrac, Founder & President, UCG. For 70 years, H-P Products, Inc. has established an internationally recognized operation developed on the genuine principles of producing high-quality products, while servicing the needs of a wide customer base. For nearly three decades, United Computer Group has ensured that our IT operations run smoothly by providing state-of-the-art IBM i Series equipment that scales with the needs of our organization. And, we have peace of mind knowing our business critical data is securely backed up with UCG’s VAULT400 BaaS. The level of innovation, knowledge, and creative technology solutions provided by UCG is exceeded only by their exceptional customer service. Talking SMAC and Cyber Security (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) At some point, your organization will suffer a cyber-security breach. You may even have a breach at this current moment. Predictions in 2015 indicate that at least 60% of enterprises will discover a breach of sensitive data. Most breaches are not even discovered by the breached party. Inadequate incident response leads to financial, operational, and reputational losses. * What do you do to protect your organization and/or recover from a data loss or security breach? Properly encrypted data protection in two remote data centers Phishing test(s) to determine your % of being susceptible Ongoing education and training for staff to reduce or eliminate cyber attacks Develop and test an incident response plan Disaster recovery test to gauge RTO and RPO Repeat steps 1 through 5 on a semi-annual basis To discuss how UCG can help protect your organization, call 800.211.8798 Ext. 155 or email info@ucgrp.com.     * Sources – BlueBridge Networks, Benesch, Jurrinov and BAE Systems UCG’s Top 10 ways to work smarter, faster, and reclaim your time with VAULT400 BaaS United Computer Group, Inc.’s VAULT400 hybrid (local and cloud-based) backup and disaster recovery solutions have a number of ways to save you time and boost backup operations.  But, for iSeries environments, we’re focusing specifically on our own ‘Top 10’ ways use of VAULT400 can help iSeries users work smarter, work faster, and reclaim their time. A few things to ponder while you wait for your next backup window to finish...  1.  Fast, ‘over the wire’ backup/restore that leaves tape in the dust. (Hint: Our online backups even beat the backup speeds of many TSM environments.) Compare us to traditional backup, whether full tape backup or disk-based backup solutions like VTLs. Even TSM. You’ll find it hard to beat VAULT400’s fast performance. Our secret? It’s all in VAULT400’s efficient use of very small data blocks.  2.  Affordable, complete cloud-based disaster recovery. What good is fast backup if you can’t recover fast? There’s a better way than struggling with tape to meet your organization’s RTOs. VAULT400’s Cloud Disaster Recovery (CDR) service lets you back up securely online to VAULT400’s iron-clad cloud environment. Then, if disaster strikes, we’ll fail over your iSeries environment from the cloud within just 24-48 hours. That includes restoring your connections, systems, associated servers, and more. 3. End-to-end encryption without the overhead. No need to buy costly encryption software. With VAULT400, you get built-in encryption whether your data is at rest or in-flight. In fact, you get VAULT400’s complete backup/recovery system with built-in encryption for less than most encryption solutions. 4. Uses less bandwidth and less storage for backup. VAULT400 architecture is designed to use as little bandwidth and storage as possible. That means faster backup/restore times. It also means less money spent to store your backup data. VAULT400 algorithms evaluate your data, offering unbelievable compression with very small footprints for sizable data sets. For IFS systems, that means 2:1 compression. For non-IFS systems? It’s common to see 10:1 compression—or significantly greater. Curious? Ask us to walk you through a concrete example based on an average 100GB database. 5. Extreme DB2 compression. DB2 environments are a perfect example of IFS backup savings. For DB2, we routinely see 10:1 compression with iSeries customers. We’ve also seen as high as 25:1 compression ratios! How much could that save you on bandwidth or storage? It could easily mean the difference of hundreds of gigabytes per database backup, per week. 6. Forget tape multiplexing. Shorten backup windows with concurrent LPAR backups. Many iSeries environments now manage multiple LPAR environments from the same system. VAULT400 helps you shrink backup windows further by streaming multiple LPAR backups at the same time. 7. Easy command interface, easy management. Anyone who’s ever waded through the intricacies of tape or VTL operations will appreciate how easy VAULT400 makes it to automate data protection. 8. Multiple platforms beyond iSeries? We’ve got you covered. You’ll find VAULT400 is one of the few solutions to offer robust, similar backup/restore operation across virtually any operating system.  9. DR testing that works like a charm. VAULT400 automation makes it easy to run routine tests of your iSeries DR procedures. We help companies perform over 400 successful DR tests each year. 10. Help that’s there when you need it most. Every vendor talks about how great their support is, but United Computer Group’s VAULT400 customers speak for themselves with a 98% customer satisfaction rating. Ever need answers? We’ve got ‘em and are happy to help! UCG is dedicated to the swift, sure handling of your backup and restore data. With VAULT400 BaaS, you also know one thing: You always get your data back. If you truly want to reclaim your time, contact us today at 800.211.8798 or email info@ucgrp.com. We’ll show you more ways VAULT400 BaaS can collapse your backup windows and streamline your DR.  Download this article as a PDF.  View Backup Options Download White Paper: Five Key Questions for Assessing Backup & Recovery Solutions Download Data Sheet: VAULT400 BaaS Visit Our Resource Libraries Be sure to take advantage of the valuable information available for download in our VAULT400 and Enterprise Management Software Resource Libraries.

United Computer Group, Inc. July 2015 Q3 Newsletter Click here for latest news Quarterly Meeting of the Ohio Rural Water Association (ORWA) Thursday, July 16 8:00 am - 1:00 pm Put-In-Bay Yacht Club 536 Bayview Ave., Put-in-Bay, OH UCG's Mike Powall will be presenting. Please join us! Since 1976, ORWA has provided free on-site technical assistance to rural communities with water and waste water systems throughout Ohio. This is a free meeting sponsored by Rural Lorain County Water Authority. Lunch will be provided. Registration is required. Join United Computer Group at the 2015 VAI Executive Summit! at the Hyatt Regency Long Island at Wind Watch Golf Club. UCG are proud sponsors of the VAI Summit, golf outing, and putting contest! Come join us for two days of fun, networking, and education. You will hear from VAI experts on how customers are using the latest S2K technologies to improve efficiencies, lowers costs, increase sales, and improve customer service. REGISTER TODAY! The Executive Summit An exclusive event filled with opportunities. MORE INFO The Golf Outing Grab your clubs and hit the links, compliments of UCG. MORE INFO The Winery Tour Food, fun, and spirits compliments of VAI. MORE INFO The Tally 4347 Printer: Don't just take OUR word for it - Listen to this! Recently we've given you LOTS of reasons why we think the Tally 4347-i Series from DASCOM is the perfect printer in a lot of IBM/InfoPrint AS400 applications. There are the connectivity options, the durability, the support, fast print speed, end user rebates, and sales spiffs for those selling our products. But...we also think it's great for you to hear from our end-user customers about how we solved their problems or what they think of our printers. Here's just one example from a happy customer, and for UCG it just doesn't get any better than that! Read testimonial For additional details, contact Gina Creager, Printer Specialist, at 216.520.1333 #170, or by email at gmc@ucgrp.com. Download Tally 4347 spec sheet. Thank you for making the Tally 4347-i Series a great choice for you and your customers! United Computer Group, Inc. is an authorized DASCOM printer reseller. Refer a Friend...Then Go Shopping! We often hear how pleased UCG clients are with our VAULT400 cloud backup and DR solutions. It's gratifying to know we are providing businesses with the technology tools they need for their success and growth, and the support excellence they deserve. Our clients often come to us by way of referral from satisfied clients like yourself! To show our gratitude, UCG will send you a $100 VISA, iTunes, or Amazon gift card for every new client who subscribes to VAULT400 BaaS as a result of your referral! Here's how it works: Click on vault400.com/giftcard Each referral will receive an introductory email mentioning your success with UCG's VAULT400. You will be rewarded with a $100 gift card of your choice.  That's it! It's easy to do and there's no limit on how many people you may refer or how many $100 gift cards you can earn.  Send us an email or call with questions. Thank you!

The Future of Enterprise Management Software Has Arrived.

UCG’s technology roadmap, our shared vision with VAI and IBM, provides companies with a business model based on best industry processes that leverages technology to create and improve performance.

Enterprise Management Software (EMS) products include solutions for Distribution, Manufacturing, and Multi-Channel Retail with industry specific features for Apparel, Durable Goods, Food and Pharmaceutical. In addition, web based software provides mobile access enabling every user in the organization immediate anytime, anywhere computing.

These feature-rich supply chain and business management software solutions can improve your company's internal efficiencies and external responsiveness while delivering bottom-line results.

With the introduction of the S2K Smart Center, our customers can compete at a very high level, and by leveraging the flexibility and mobility that the web provides they have unlimited growth potential.

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