United Computer Group, Inc. Q2 2014 Newsletter

Spring at Last! Hello and welcome to the UCG Q2 Newsletter! We sincerely hope the Polar vortex of 2014 is now behind us and everything will be in full bloom before we know it. It was a very busy first quarter as we welcomed new clients and business partners to the UCG family. Thank you for your past and future business and for the friendships we've made along the way. Our focus remains solidly in place to solve your business issues and pain points; help your business grow through our advanced technologies; and deliver an excellent client experience each and every time. Please enjoy this edition of the UCG newsletter featuring highlights from Q1 2014 and upcoming events. Friday, May 16, 2014 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Click here for agenda and details REGISTER TODAY! ucgrp.com/SpringFever2014 You must register to be a part of this exciting event. SPACE IS LIMITED Sponsored by United Computer Group, IBM, and Arrow Event Location Acacia Reservation (fka Acacia Country Club) Driving Directions  Note: If you are located 90 minutes or more from event, UCG will provide a complimentary hotel room for Thursday, May 15 if desired. Check box on registration form to reserve your room. Darice Inc., a premier wholesale distributor in the craft industry, recently selected UCG to implement a system-wide technology refresh. Darice’s new IBM i Power System features the latest IBM processors, representing a true leap forward to more intelligent systems that reduce complexity, decrease energy consumption, minimize downtime and drive down operational costs. "UCG's 27+ years of knowledge, experience, and proven ability to execute in the IBM arena was the winning combination Darice required. UCG provided sizing, consulting, and a turnkey IBM Power System running i OS coupled VAULT400 cloud backup and disaster recovery. We could not be more pleased with our decision." - Jim Petkunas, Darice CIO  IBM Power8: Awaiting mid-2014 Release Although we haven't yet seen an official release date, indications are that IBM is still planning to release Power8 sometime in the next several months. Following is a brief excerpt from an article recently published in IT Jungle by Timothy Prickett Morgan.    IBM Pushes Performance Up, Energy Down With Power8 "The IEEE hosted its International Solid-State Circuits Conference recently in San Francisco, which is generally loaded with coming out parties for all kinds of server processors. IBM's top techies from the Power Systems division were on hand to show off some more of the feeds and speeds of the forthcoming Power8 chips, expected sometime around the middle of this year. The bottom line, Tim says, is the new Power8 systems give IBM a chance to rethink how it packages and prices the Power Systems-IBM i stack and try to get its entire base to move forward rather than those who are pushed to the cutting edge by the demands of their applications. UCG Gearing Up for TUG TEC 2014   The Toronto Users Group (TUG) for Power Systems Expo will be held on April 24th and 25th at the York University Keele Street Campus in conjunction with Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. TEC, the annual Technical Education Conference, is in its 21st year.  This years' TUG TEC2014 agenda will highlight IBM i Performance Management; Web & Mobile Development on IBM i; RPG; IBM i System Management; and Optimizing Your i Data. See the full agenda here.  The keynote, "Overdue: A Time to Modernize" will be given by Tim Rowe, IBM Business Architect for Application Development and Systems Management.   Be sure to stop by Booth #8 for a visit with United Computer Group, a proud sponsor of TEC2014! We look forward to seeing you there.   Looking for young IBM i Talent? Gateway Technical College: ensuring a future for IBM i Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, WI is one of the few colleges in the United States to offer classes on the IBM i. Jim Buck, President of WMCPA and IBM i Programming Instructor, sees a future for the IBM i through the youth of today. He noted that they have a full program on multi-platforms, but many of the students like to focus on the IBM i. For the past 12 years they have been placing students in the marketplace in organizations looking for RPG, PHP, and MySQL programmers. End users looking for young IBM talent: contact Jim Buck, President, WMCPA, and IBM i Programming Instructor, Gateway Technical College. Jim can be reached at 262.564.3158. 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. Backup Selector United Computer Group, Inc. 7100 E. Pleasant Valley Road, Suite #250 Independence, OH 44131-5556 Toll Free: 800.211.8798 Main: 216.520.1333 Email:info@ucgrp.com ucgrp.com | vault400.com James A. Kandrac, President Michael D. Powall, Vice President

UCG in the News: Q1 2014 Highlights Vanguard Systems, Inc. partners with UCG to offer Backup as a Service (BAAS) to clients “We are excited and eager to move forward with UCG, a company that has had a noticeable impact on the IBM mid-market with its BAAS and remote hardware DR offerings.” - Bill Wilson, Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Vanguard Systems. Harbor Footwear, Ltd. Selects United Computer Group’s VAULT400 as Cloud Backup and DR Solution “VAULT400 is an affordable, reliable, stress-free offsite backup solution." - Robert Engler, Operations Manager, Harbor Footwear IBM's X86 Exit Strategy: IT Jungle Talks to UCG's Jim Kandrac "I do not believe that it will negatively affect the IBM Power i business. I view IBM selling off X as a proper strategic move." - Jim Kandrac  Jim Kandrac with "Watson" Grow Your Managed Service Business IBM Power Cloud Briefing for MSP’s sponsored by IBM and Arrow On behalf of United Computer Group, Inc., I was honored to be one of 25 IBM Business Partners invited to attend the IBM Q114 Power Cloud Briefing for MSP's. The event took place at the IBM Executive Briefing Center in Austin, TX on March 18-19. To meet future client demands, MSP's must be able to expand infrastructure and service delivery capabilities while minimizing cost and increasing client value. The event focused on helping MSP's capitalize on new market opportunities and enable us to provide the right mix of services, products, and programs to clients. Outstanding sessions and an honor to meet "Watson" and Ravi Arimilli, IBM Fellow, Analytics, Big Data and Cloud Platforms, who presented "Power: Journey and the Road Ahead." Many thanks to John Hardy, Senior Briefing Consultant, IBM Austin, TX; Jim Pinto, IBM Business Unit Executive, Power Systems Service Providers; and Dave Waddell, Brand Manager, IBM Power Systems, Arrow ECS for hosting this event, and to all who participated.                 - Jim Kandrac Become a UCG Partner United Computer Group partners enjoy collaborative, rewarding, and mutually beneficial arrangements to bring industry-leading technology solutions to the mid-market. Our core business philosophies ensure that our clients have an excellent experience. We are focused on delivering solutions to help them solve their most complex technology challenges. As an IBM Advanced Business Partner, UCG has been actively marketing Power Systems-based enterprise solutions since 1987. We place great value in finding the right partner to provide a high level of sales, marketing, and technological support to our clients. Interested? Click here to fill out a brief form and we will contact you within 24 hours. We look forward to working with you. Socially Connected You can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Facebook, and on our UCG Blog. We make an effort to connect on social media with our clients, vendors, and business partners, so please reach out and let us know where we can find you. Speaking of social media, where have you found the most success connecting with other technology companies/ technology-minded individuals? Let us know what you think at info@ucgrp.com

Vanguard Systems, Inc. partners with UCG to offer Backup as a Service (BAAS) to clients

Enhanced scan, store, retrieve, protect, and recover capabilities now available to clients worldwide

United Computer Group, Inc. and Vanguard Systems, Inc., a global supplier of Enterprise Document Management Systems, today announced a new partnership agreement. The new agreement enables Vanguard to offer UCG’s VAULT400 Backup as a Service (BAAS) and remote hardware disaster recovery to clients nationwide.

For over 25 years, Vanguard Systems, Inc. has supported a diverse client base across the globe including several fortune 100 companies. Vanguard provides a suite of document imaging, forms design, workflow, data extraction, and content management solutions. United Computer Group, Inc., in addition to VAULT400 BAAS, has delivered value-based technology solutions for the IBM midrange market for over 27 years, serving 1,500+ clients worldwide.

David Engberg, President of Vanguard Systems, Inc. said, “This agreement enables Vanguard to offer clients a turnkey solution—scan, store, retrieve, protect and recover. The UCG VAULT400 offering will be available in SAAS, appliances, and software licensing depending on raw data requirements of 10GB to >100TB.”  Vanguard clients’ data will be available 7/24/365 for immediate recovery of granular files or in totality.  Options are available for remote hardware RTO of 72/24/12 or < 1 hour.  

“We are excited and eager to move forward with UCG, a company that has had a noticeable impact on the IBM mid-market with its BAAS and remote hardware DR offerings,” stated Bill Wilson, Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Vanguard Systems. Vanguard’s selection of UCG’s solution was made after a comprehensive evaluation process from a variety of cloud backup and disaster recovery solutions.

“UCG is pleased to have been selected by Vanguard and look forward to being their clients’ provider for a wide range of remote data storage and disaster recovery solutions. Vanguard clients will benefit and can leverage our knowledge to obtain a solution that best suits their requirements”, said Jim Kandrac, UCG’s founder and president.  “With solutions that cover a broad spectrum, we are unbiased and can do what’s best for Vanguard clients.”

Vanguard Systems, Inc. is headquartered outside of Philadelphia, PA, with satellite offices in Ohio and California. Vanguard provides a suite of document imaging, forms design, workflow, data extraction, and content management solutions, making the power of information instantly available anywhere across the enterprise. Vanguard provides their clients with a seamless solution covering the entire document lifecycle.