Bring your own Device (BYOD)

May 17, 2012 Leave a comment

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. – May 16, 2012 – Cisco today announced findings from the Cisco IBSG Horizons Study of 600 U.S. IT and business leaders that shows IT is accepting, and in some cases embracing, “bring your own device” (BYOD) as a reality in the enterprise. The study shows some of the quantifiable benefits and complexities associated with allowing employees to use their own mobile devices on their employers‘ networks. Coinciding with the publication of the study, Cisco also highlighted “Smart Solutions” for the enterprise and opportunities for service providers to help customers, and end users, make the most of mobility experiences in the office, at home, or on-the-go.

The study found most organizations are now enabling BYOD in the enterprise, with a staggering 95% of respondents saying their organizations permit employee-owned devices in some way, shape or form in the workplace. This study also concluded that the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012. IT managers are balancing security and support concerns with the very real potential to reap significant cost and productivity benefits from the BYOD trend.

Read more: Cisco Study: IT Saying Yes To BYOD – FierceEnterpriseCommunications http://www.fierceenterprisecommunications.com/press-releases/cisco-study-it-saying-yes-byod?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz1v9HmdMfg

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LightEdge’s Lindsay Alderman is back from The Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Annual DC Trip

May 15, 2012 Leave a comment

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By Lindsay Alderman

Last week, in our nation’s capital; all eyes were on the Des Moines community and the collective voice we brought to Washington D.C. Through top notch leadership and execution, the Greater Des Moines Partnership delivered an extremely well-orchestrated event, bringing together our elected officials with individuals from nearly every possible background: civic and community leaders, schools and universities, business owners and large corporations, non-profits and entrepreneurs.

The trip and discussion points were framed around the current Capital Crossroads Vision and our goal was to advocate collectively on matters affecting all of us Central Iowans such as: Expanding Central Iowa’s economy through international trade options, The future of National Health Care, Immigration Reform, How to leverage Federal Resources for the Central Iowa Bio Science Corridor, Interconnecting Federal K-12 Education Policy with Iowa’s reform efforts, and many, many others.

We held discussions with panelists that were experts in their field, had breakfast at the Hart Senate office with Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, Congressman Braley, Congressman Loebsack, Congressman Boswell, Congressman Latham and Congressman King discussing the issues at hand, and how we could all work together to accomplish our common vision. We were addressed as a group by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday for Lunch, and Senator Marco Rubio on Thursday. Without steering this post too political, I can say that it was an extreme honor to hear Senator Rubio speak and the entire crowd listened intently as he displayed a certain sincerity and charisma that definitely points to why he is a rising star in the political realm.

I was honored to be attending as the 2013 incoming President for the Young Professionals Connection. Every time I introduced myself and our organization – people already knew who we were and all the amazing things we are doing. They wanted our opinion and input; they wanted to know how to further connect with the Young Professionals in our community. They want to hear out thoughts, ideas, and input. It was an honor to represent our organization, and while, YES, it felt great to be recognized as a whole for all of our efforts, I realized that with the issues at hand we were discussing– we still have a lot of work to be done, too and our city and community needs us YP’s now more than ever.

Not only did I take away from this trip some incredible new connections, but I got a first-hand experience of the issues affecting our neighbors and businesses in our community. This re-energized me and my mission of helping contribute to the overall success of our community through my actions and leadership and I’m so very grateful for the opportunity to have this experience. I would absolutely , without a doubt, completely advocate anyone taking this trip at least once in their careers, if not making it an annual trip and destination.

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Even small medical practices need to worry about HIPAA

May 10, 2012 Leave a comment

Interesting article about the need for practices of all sizes to review their patient information practices, whether it’s through e-mail, posted on patient portals or within the office.  LightEdge can help your practice with secure hosted infrastructure, e-mail encryption and IT consulting to ensure that your practice complies with HIPAA standards.

 

$100,000 HIPAA fine designed to send message to small physician practices

After avoiding levying fines to small groups for patient privacy and security violations, the government issues its first penalty against one.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, amednews staff. Posted May 2, 2012.

In announcing a resolution settlement with a cardiac surgery practice, the Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights issued a warning to doctors: No matter the size of your practice, you will be held accountable for HIPAA violations.

On April 17, Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, a five-physician practice with offices in Phoenix and Prescott, Ariz., became the first small practice to enter into a resolution agreement that included a civil money penalty over charges that it violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy and Security Rules (hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/enforcement/examples/
pcsurgery_agreement.pdf). The practice agreed to pay $100,000 and take corrective actions.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation after a complaint was filed alleging that the practice was posting surgery and appointment schedules on an Internet-based calendar that was publicly accessible. Susan McAndrew, the HHS office’s deputy director of health information privacy, said when the office started working with the practice to resolve the issue, it became clear that the practice, owned by two of the five practicing surgeons, had done little to comply with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules since the regulations were implemented in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Read the Full Article

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LightEdge owner, Phil Anschutz, prepares to expand his arena business

April 17, 2012 Leave a comment

Denver Business Journal

Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 6:23am MDT

Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz, whose arena empire includes the Staples Center and the L.A. Live complex, is poised to take over operations of the Oakland Coliseum, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

His Anschutz Entertainment Group is bidding to take over the contract for the Oakland Coliseum. The governing body will decide Friday on which of three companies will get the job, but several administrative members of the coliseum authority and a couple of members of the authority board plan to recommend Anschutz get the job.

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A rising role for IT: McKinsey Global Survey results

April 4, 2012 Leave a comment

In our sixth annual technology survey, executives say their companies are boosting IT spending and adopting new technology platforms to support innovation.

Source: Business Technology Office

Aspirations—and current expectations—for IT have never been higher. Executives continue to set exacting demands for IT support of business processes, and they see an even larger role for IT in a competitive environment increasingly shaken up by technology disruptions. These are among the results of our sixth annual business technology survey, where we asked executives across all functions, industries, and regions about their companies’ use of, expectations for, and spending on IT.1 Looking ahead, executives expect IT to create new platforms to support innovation and growth, help guide strategy with data and advanced analytics, and stay on top of possible new roles for mobile devices. For IT leaders, the good news is that along with these higher expectations, most respondents also see a greater willingness to spend more on IT.

Read the entire article

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LightEdge Recertifies its Microsoft Gold Hosting Competency

April 3, 2012 Leave a comment

LightEdge has been a committed Microsoft Gold Partner since 2004.

Des Moines, IA, April 3, 2012 – LightEdge today announced it has recertified their Gold Hosting competency, demonstrating a “best-in-class” ability and commitment to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment and distinguishing itself within the top 1 percent of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem.   LightEdge has been a Microsoft Gold Provider since 2004.

To earn a Microsoft gold competency, partners must successfully complete exams, resulting in Microsoft Certified Professionals, to prove their level of technology expertise, and then designate these certified professionals uniquely to one Microsoft competency, ensuring a certain level of staffing capacity. They also must submit customer references that demonstrate successful projects, implement an annual customer satisfaction study, meet a revenue commitment, and pass technology and/or sales assessments.

“As one of the premiere cloud hosting providers, LightEdge is committed to Microsoft and continues to utilize our Microsoft Gold Hosting competency to showcase our expertise and knowledge of Microsoft server operating systems, hosted products (such as Exchange) and licensing structure,” said Jeff Springborn, COO and president of LightEdge Solutions.  “We consider our Gold Partner status and relationship with Microsoft to be a key element of our Cloud Computing strategy.”

Attaining the Hosting competency is exclusively for partners that specialize in hosting solutions and maintain their own datacenters or act as a reseller or agency of services hosted by Microsoft, providing agreed-upon service levels and customized hosted offerings and consulting for common customer scenarios. Equipped with exclusive training, the latest software and support, partners help customers offset the cost of maintaining critical business applications with scalable hosting solutions.

“By achieving a gold competency, partners have demonstrated the highest, most consistent capability and commitment to the latest Microsoft technology,” said Jon Roskill, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “These partners have a deep expertise that puts them in the top 1 percent of our partner ecosystem, and their proficiency will help customers drive innovative solutions on the latest Microsoft technology.”

About LightEdge Solutions

LightEdge Solutions is a customer-centric cloud computing and consulting company devoted to solving the IT issues of businesses nationwide. By utilizing our economies of scale, connections with world-class vendors and our own internal passion for engineering, LightEdge allows its customers to “plug in” to enterprise-grade IT solutions that maximize uptime and performance, yet fit into their budget. For more information, visit www.lightedge.com.

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What innovations will Google Fiber in Kansas City bring (Video)

March 30, 2012 Leave a comment

Michael Gelphman, Founder of Kansas City IT Professionals, sits down with Enrique Salem, the CEO of Symantic, to discuss the ramifications of the Google Fiber build out in Kansas City.

Watch the video

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Data Centers: A look inside the factors companies consider for site selection

March 30, 2012 Leave a comment

Data centers for Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp. have already made their homes in Iowa’s low-cost market, and a recent study suggests the state could soon see more similar projects.

The Boyd Co. Inc., a corporate location consultant based in New Jersey, conducted a study to find highly secure, cost-effective sites on which to build data security centers to support the banking and finance industry — with several Midwestern cities landing in the top 10.

The Ames area was in the No. 3 spot, behind Sioux Falls, S.D., and Tulsa, Okla. Council Bluffs placed fourth, and Omaha took the No. 8 spot.

Based on operating costs alone, Des Moines ranked No. 9 out of 45 cities in the survey, while Ames ranked No. 6. (see chart below)

Read more:http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=52&SubSectionID=285&ArticleID=16980&TM=44312.2#ixzz1qbMwkPkk

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LightEdge Solutions Sponsors Cloud Intelligence Conference in Kansas City

March 21, 2012 Leave a comment

T. J. BangsKansas City, MO, March 21, 2012 – LightEdge Solutions is pleased to announce it will be a Gold Level Sponsor of the 2012 Kansas City Cloud Intelligence Conference to be held at the Overland Park Convention Center on April 12, 2012.  The conference will be hosted by Centriq Training, Kansas City’s premier I.T. training company, in conjunction with Microsoft.

This one-day conference will cover a variety of powerful network computing information management strategies for businesses of all levels. Some topics will include Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud Strategies, Cloud Security, Virtualization, Migration and Information Architecture.

LightEdge Vice President, T. J. Bangs, will be a featured speaker for the event.  Attendees will have the choice of four tracks, with 4 sessions each, in the 2012 Cloud Intelligence Conference including:

This event is ideal for IT professionals, business decision makers and executives from all types of technology backgrounds. Seating is limited. To learn more or register for this event, please visit www.centriq.com/CloudIntelligence .

Please contact Scott Riedel at sriedel@lightedge.com for more information or questions about the event!

About LightEdge Solutions

LightEdge Solutions is a customer-centric cloud computing and consulting company devoted to solving the IT issues of businesses nationwide. By utilizing our economies of scale, connections with world-class vendors and our own internal passion for engineering, LightEdge allows its customers to “plug in” to enterprise-grade IT solutions that maximize uptime and performance, yet fit into their budget. For more information, visit www.lightedge.com.

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Simple Explanation of Storage/Backup Best Practices

March 19, 2012 Leave a comment


EMC VNXe and Data Domain 160

Click here to watch video

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