Solution Spotlight & News - Virtunet Pty Ltd Australia

Green IT is everyone's responsibility

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -1000

Need more IT budget? Save up to $50,000 in energy cost per annum and discuss it with the finance people.

Situation

- Green IT has always been the responsibility of the IT manager / CIO
- Most people think servers and data centres consume most of the power in an office but...
- 40 - 60% of office energy consumption is used to power PCs that are idle.

Business Challenge

- Employees across all departments are not aware or involved in Green IT activities
- Auto-shutdown can annoy the users as it cause them to lose unsaved data
- There's no reporting of the potential emissions reduction or energy savings

The Virtunet Solution

1. We install a transparent agent on each desktop

- The user can see the impact of desktops being left on idle
- The user can see their personal energy waste and cost
- This solutions gives the user control but it monitors and gives the IT manager report on usage

2. Privately - Show each staff member the impact the have on both the organisation & the environment

- Show the time spent on different PCs per staff member
- Show their usage patterns. Off, Idle, Active
- Create an easy to understand Efficiency Score

3. Publicly - Use the Efficiency score to encourage better PC usage & competition

- Let staff compare their score to the company overall score
- Show staff where they are ranked within their department
- Show staff how other department's efficiency compare to their department

4. Run Campaigns and Competitions to encourage users to improve their efficiency

- Display real time energy efficiency score on LCD screens located at foyers or canteen
- Run Competitions that rewards the most efficient staff or team
- When you raise awareness, you can influence behavioural change

Benefits

- Reduce your carbon footprint and strengthen the corporate image
- Reduce energy cost. For an organisation with 1000 PCs, increasing the Energy Efficiency from 80% to 95% will result in an energy savings of approximately $50,000 per annum
- The solution will pay itself off in 6-8 months, and you continue to enjoy the savings after that.
- Change is not only limited to PC use, it flows onto other areas, changing the way we use printing, lighting & other facilities

Virtunet selected as an IBM Partner for LGP306

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -1000

Local Government News - Special Announcement

IBM utilises partners to enhance its distribution to NSW councils

CONTRACT: LGP306
PC'S, LAPTOPS, SERVERS AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Local Government Procurement advises NSW councils that IBM Australia Limited officially sought to add selected IBM partners and this has been approved as an amendment to its Standing Offer Deed to LGP306.

After due diligence Virtunet is now officially recognised as providers of IBM goods and services under LGP306.

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Better outcomes for Local Government through professionally managed procurement solutions for local councils.

Local Government Procurement (LGP) has been established to provide a fully integrated procurement service to councils and associated organisations in NSW. From October 2008 LGP also has the ability to assist Not for Profit Groups across Australia with their procurement needs. LGP was established by the Local Government and Shires Associations of New South Wales on behalf of its members to create a procurement operation dedicated to meeting the specific needs of Local Government.

The bulk supply arrangements established by LGP are developed with the valued input of the end users: councils. These arrangements are not a "one size fits all" approach, rather a coordinated effort to supply councils with the goods and services they need.

For Councils
Local Government Procurement represents the needs of councils with suppliers as well as providing extensive procurement, tendering and contract management support. There are no joining or annual fees to utlise the contracts established by LGP. Councils may also utilise LGP to conduct tenders on their behalf, on a fee for service basis, reducing their risk and ensuring that the process follows best practice principles.

For Suppliers
Local Government Procurement seeks to forge strong business relationships with suppliers who meet the varied needs of councils in NSW. We work with committed suppliers interested in providing quality goods and services to councils at the best possible pricing.

For Not for Profit Groups
Local Government Procurement can provide Not for Profit Groups an array of existing relevant contracts that will meet NFP's varying needs.

Virtualization for SMB Made Easy & Affordable

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -1000

Why should you Virtualize?

Reduce hardware and operating costs by as much as 50% and energy costs by 80%, saving more than $3,000 per year for every server workload virtualized
Reduce the time it takes to provision new servers by up to 70%
Decrease downtime and improve reliability with business continuity and built-in data disaster recovery
Deliver IT services on-demand now and in the future, independent of hardware, OS, application or infrastructure providers

Increase Server Utilization to as Much as 80% and Eliminate Over-Provisioning

Reduce Hardware Requirements by a 10:1 Ratio or Better

Cut Hardware & Operating Costs in Half

Virtualisation as easy as ABC

Virtualization in 3 simple steps
Step A: Capacity Planning	Step B: Implementation	Step C: Migration & Ongoing Maintenance

We measure your server utilization and give you advice on which servers you can virtualize	Based on the utilization report, we will quote you on the most suitable equipment and Virtualization platform	Migrating the current servers into a virtual environment is very simple using the tools provided, but if you need a hand we do have qualified engineers on stand-by. VMware is known to be the best Virtualization vendor

A Typical SMB Virtual Setup

2 x DL380 G6 Servers

2 x DL380 G6 Servers both with dual processors and 24GB RAM to maintain optimal system performance when running multiple Virtual machines. We have included 4 iSCSI and 4 Gigabit Network ports to avoid any network bottlenecks. Fully redundant power supplies and 3 years 4 hours 24/7 support has been included to maximize server uptime.

HP P4300 6TB Left Hand SAN

HP LeftHand P4000 enclosure with 8x 750GB 7.2K SATA HDD
All inclusive HP SAN/IQ software
3 Year 4hr 13X5 onsite support with software updates

Perfect for first time virtualization projects, the HP P4300 SATA Starter SAN delivers the performance and features required to simplify storage and grow non-disruptively with your environment.

All inclusive feature set enables enterprise functionality at an affordable price

Storage Clustering simplifies scalability: Storage Clustering allows a customer to consolidate multiple storage nodes into pools of storage. All available capacity and performance is aggregated and available to every volume in the cluster. As storage needs increase the HP P4000 can scale performance and capacity on-line.
Network RAID delivers new level of availability: Network RAID stripes and mirrors multiple copies of data across a cluster of storage nodes, eliminating any single point of failure in the HP P4000 SAN. Applications have continuous data availability in the event of a power, network, disk, controller, or entire storage node failure.
Thin Provisioning increases storage efficiency: Thin Provisioning allocates space only as data is actually written without requiring pre-allocation of storage. This raises the overall utilization and efficiency of the HP P4000 SAN, reduces costs and ultimately increases the ROI.
Snapshots simplify data protection: Snapshots create thinly provisioned, instant point-in-time copies of data on a per-volume basis. Administrators can access the snapshots to recover individual files or folders from the volume, or rollback an entire volume to a prior state.
Remote Copy reduces costs for disaster recovery: Remote Copy replicates snapshots between HP P4000 SANs at primary and remote locations. Copies are thinly provisioned with no space reservation required at the remote location. Remote Copy enables centralized backup and disaster recovery on a per-volume basis.

Superior availability and disaster recovery

Data remains available during site failures: HP P4000 SANs stripe and mirror multiple copies of data across a cluster of storage nodes, eliminating any single point of failure in the SAN. Applications have continuous data availability in the event of a power, network, disk, controller, or entire storage node failure.
Integrated replication for disaster recovery: HP P4000 SANs include integrated replication at no additional cost that simplifies management with simple failover and failback.
Change configurations without incurring downtime: Administrators can add capacity, increase performance, grow and migrate volumes between HP P4000 SAN clusters on the fly with no application downtime.

Scalable Performance

Purchase only what you need today: Avoid up-front cost and the potential performance constraints. Purchase only what’s needed today, then grow the performance, capacity, and redundancy of your HP P4000 SAN online as storage requirements evolve. Buying storage only when needed simplifies planning and relieves budget pressures.
Scale performance and capacity simultaneously: Each time a storage node is added to the HP P4000 SAN, the capacity, performance, and redundancy of the entire storage solution increases.
Avoid disruptive upgrades: Add resources to the HP P4000 SAN non-disruptively as capacity and performance requirements increase. Applications remain online during maintenance events for best in class availability.

Easy to manage SANs for virtualized environments

Centralized Management Console: Multiple data centers and sites can be managed from an all inclusive “single pane-of-glass.” All of the HP P4000 SAN features are managed from the Centralized Management Console (CMC) for simple, easy-to-manage storage.
Business continuance with integrated HA and DR: Every HP P4000 SAN includes integrated synchronous and asynchronous replication at no additional cost. This approach reduces costs and simplifies management of high availability/fault tolerant and disaster recovery storage solutions.

VMware vSphere Essentials

Solutions for companies with fewer than 20 servers / Exceed Expectations

Designed especially for small IT environments with fewer than 20 physical servers, the VMware vSphere Essentials Editions deliver enterprise-class capabilities in a cost-effective solution package for organizations that want optimize and protect their IT assets with minimal up-front investment.

VMware vSphere Essentials				VMware vSphere Essentials Plus
VMware vSphere Essentials provides an all-in-one solution for small offices to consolidate and manage many application workloads while reducing hardware and operating costs with a low up-front investment.				VMware vSphere Essentials Plus adds high application availability and data protection for a complete server consolidation and business continuity solution for the small office IT environment.

Both editions are all-inclusive packages that enable you to virtualize and consolidate many application workloads onto three physical servers running vSphere and centrally manage them with VMware vCenter Server for Essentials.

Netop - Secure Remote Management Solutions

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -1000

Introducing Netop Vision

The easiest and most effective way to teach with classroom computers

Download a 30-day trial version now and see why Vision Classroom Management software is the #1 choice for educators

Download a 30-day trial version and use Vision to:

1) Control Web browsing: Block Internet access during discussions and lecture time and allow only teacher-selected Web sites to keep students safe and on-task.

2) Keep students on-task: Blank screens and lock keyboards and mice. Launch applications on every student computer at once, saving valuable teaching time.

3) Improve student achievement: Netop's Vision6 was shown in an independent study to improve student achievement a full grade step. >Read the study here

Download now to see how Vision can help you keep
students on-task and improve student achievement.

StorageCraft - Disaster Recovery in MINUTES

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -1000

Server crashes = downtime and this can often have a major impact on business productivity.

We would like to introduce you to one of our strategic partners, StorageCraft, the world leader in Real-Time Recovery solutions, who provide the ability to rebuild a Windows server in literally minutes after a crash or corruption or problem.

Many of our customers have now implemented StorageCraft ShadowProtect as it is exceptionally affordable - only A$995 - $668 per server (ex GST & annual maintenance), and provides you with the ultimate insurance policy for protecting and recovering your data and databases in real time with minimal impact on your production systems.

FAST - server rebuilds in minutes help to reduce downtime and increase user & business productivity

EASY - ‘point & click' simple user interface makes complex rebuilds a trivial process with the included hardware independent restore (HIR) technology

RELIABLE - migrate to different hardware or a virtual environment in literally minutes after a crash

AFFORDABLE - pricing from just A$995 per server (ex GST and annual maintenance)

See for yourself by visiting the online INFO CENTRE how Virtunet and StorageCraft ShadowProtect will help take the cost & complexity out of Backup, Recovery and Disaster Recovery. At only A$995 - A$668 per server (excluding annual maintenance and GST) it is a compelling technology.

SMART QUEUE - QUEUE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -1000

SMARTQUEUE - Integrated Multimedia Queue Management System

In a world where customer service is imperative for all businesses to function, a poor congestion of queues is the last thing needed for effective business transactions. An unplanned influx of customers without adequate service not only creates customer frustration but create inefficiency within the work place. This unpredictability is often too late to handle.

Queue congestion can lead to low customer satisfaction, longer waiting periods, poor brand image and walk-off, effecting customer loyalty issues.

Yet, hiring additional employees can reduce productivity, staff boredom and reduce profitability.

SMARTQUEUE^TM is a major breakthrough in customer queue management. The queuing system is designed not only as a tool to solve queue congestion. SMARTQUEUE^TM allows for faster organisation of queuing and customer service by allowing customers to take a ticket. Customers no longer have to stand in a line waiting for their turn to be served, yet they can sit comfortably in a sitting area while viewing SMARTQUEUE^TM multimedia display, without having to worry if they miss their turn.

SMARTQUEUE^TM queuing solution is different to other ticketing systems. The SMARTQUEUE^TM not only allows for a more effective customer service, but it analyses daily customer service transactions for an improved company performance. This is achieved through the advance technology of reporting functions (KPI).

SMARTQUEUE^TM is the ultimate ticketing solution to manage customer flows. SMARTQUEUE^TM allows customers to be served by the appropriate staff in timely manner whilst minimising customer's perception of wait-time through advertising or entertainment media. The easy-to-use queuing system improves customer satisfaction and staff performance with a comprehensive reporting system allowing management to review Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for an improved service.

This queue management systems / ticketing system are currently installed in St. George Banks, Canberra Imaging Group (CIG), Nokia Care Centres and Australian Post Redfern.

How it Works

SMARTQUEUE^TM is a customer queuing solution that works by eliminating the need for customers to stand in a line. SMARTQUEUE^TM is motivated towards a better customer flow without disturbing basic retail or banking transactions whilst maximising customer satisfaction.

1. User Interaction

Upon entering the premise, the customer is greeted by the touch screen ticketing system, takes a ticket and automatically enlists the customer into the queuing list.

At this stage, customer needs can be pre-determined. When a customer selects a transaction, the service provider can send the appropriate staff (with the correct level of expertise) to attend the customer. This result in a more effective customer service, recognising customer needs before the actual transaction. The customer will then be directed to the waiting area.

Customers can also be asked to enter their transaction or personal details for a faster process of transaction. Entering this data will be useful as staff are equipped with their customer details for a more efficient customer service.

2. Waiting Area

After service selections, most often the customer will be asked to wait in a provided area, or to browse around the service provider's premises. The multimedia display makes waiting a more comfortable experience for customers as they can watch marketing, informational and entertainment materials through the display monitors.

Customers are more aware of services that are provided which can lead to greater sales for the service provider. This effect reduces customer's perception of waiting time, which leads to happier, more receptive customers.

3. Service

If customer details are entered during the service selection process, staffs at the service provider (both at the front, or back counters) can start any preparations before the customer arrives at the counter. This may include customer's previous transactions, enquiries and etc.

At this stage, counter staffs can monitor their performance through a threshold function installed at their counter computers. Customer waiting times and staff serving times is recorded in real-time format. This function encourages staff to work more efficiently for a faster customer service.

4. Manage Performance

All front counter activities are recorded in the system administration module installed at the back office. Reports can be generated for branch managers to analyse their branch performances. This includes customer behaviour, waiting times, serving times as well as peak times at the premise. Branch managers can now organise their human resources and staff rostering through analysing transaction reports. Branch managers can also recognise additional training and support required to prevent organisational inefficiencies.

A centralised branch report can be generated if SMARTQUEUE^TM is installed in all branches. All data can be generated based on trend analysis, to provide a branch to branch comparison. This is extremely handy for top managements to analyse their branch performances.

REDUCE YOUR IT EXPENSE BY UP TO 50%

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -1000

VMware allows you to minimize both capital and operating expenses by making better use of your technology assets. Drastically reduce your server hardware spend by increasing the utilization of the hardware you already own. Repurpose spare hardware for other uses and increase the effectiveness of your overall IT environment. You'll get additional bottom line savings by drastically lowering the cost of heating and cooling fewer servers and minimizing datacenter space requirements. As you grow, continue to optimize the utilization of new servers through VMware virtualization by breaking away from the one server/one application mindset.

Improve Staff Productivity
Consolidate and centrally provision, manage and monitor servers to reduce your IT costs while increasing the productivity of IT staff. Virtualization lets you spend less time managing the IT infrastructure while providing enhancements not available without VMware virtualization. Serve the needs of your business with instant provisioning to create test and development staging environments without additional hardware and dynamic allocation of IT resources in production to respond to changing business conditions.

Protect the Data and IT Environments that Run your Business
Simplify your server provisioning for testing and allow thorough testing without additional hardware expense to avoid issues in production. Then improve server availability and disaster recovery with VMware virtualization in your production environment. Through advanced technologies, VMware offers business continuity solutions for improved disaster recovery, higher levels of availability and simplified backup and recovery. Protect your business as you provide better levels of security, improve responsiveness, and increase the resilience of your IT environment.

LENOVO REWARDS PROGRAM

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -1000

Purchase selected Lenovo Think Products and redeem a Lenovo Cash Card valued at up to $250. Plus receive a bonus $50 when you purchase selected Lenovo accessories together with your Think Products.

Lenovo Cash Card

Lenovo, the official Computing Equipment Partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are excited to be "Showing you the Money". Buy any eligible Lenovo ThinkPad® notebook, ThinkServer®, ThinkStation® Workstation or ThinkCentre® Bundle and redeem your Lenovo Cash Card loaded with up to $250. Additionally buy one of the selected accessories and we will give you a bonus $50 on your cash card.

You can use your card at any store in the world that accepts electronic Visa payments.

With a Lenovo PC and Windows Vista® Business you can enjoy breakthrough enhancements at every level, from a simplified user interface and powerful search capabilities to automated backup of your data, better protection against spam and spyware and having customer and contact information in one place-whether you're in the office, at home or on the go.

www.lenovo.com.au/cashcard
Offer valid: 1 April - 30 June 2009
Terms & Condition Apply

IBM E-CATALOGUE

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -1000

Keep I.T. simple. That's our mantra. So let us help you streamline your IT with IBM Express Servers, Storage, Workstations and Printers. They're designed for small to mid-sized businesses that have a lot to do and few resources to do it. That's why they're easy to install and deploy, easy to manage and priced just right. And with IBM Express offerings, innovation comes standard -- and with a purpose. Keep costs down and productivity up. Nothing complicated about that.

Most small to mid-sized companies businesses are under a lot of pressure to reduce costs. Thats hard to do when your servers are underutilised. With features like dynamic logical partitioning, our servers are designed to allocate resources more efficiently, helping I.T. people get more done with fewer resources. Its enough to keep a server busy 24/7/365.

HP BLADE PC AND RCS SOLUTION

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -1000

HP Blade PCs

Secure your data, ensure continuity and reduce management costs.

HP Blade PCs are a Remote Client Solution that provides end users with fully functional and personalized desktops delivered via a connection to a PC blade in a centralized data center. Even though it is remotely located, each end user is given a dedicated PC blade to help ensure they each get the consistent performance they need. End users can access their personalized environments, applications, and data from almost anywhere they can connect to their network. HP Blade PCs are ideal for typical knowledge workers requiring cost effective access to many different kinds of applications. System administrators can manage this environment with the same proven, powerful tools used by the other Remote Client Solutions long used by the HP BladeSystem portfolio of products.

A recent addition to the PC Blade solution is HP's Remote Graphics Software. This enables enhanced video and graphics performance for the end user over other standard connection protocols like Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol.

In general PC Blades can provide significant benefits for your enterprise:

Greatly increased data security, compliance, and disaster tolerance
Ensure business continuity and compliance
Provide a robust end-user experience with minimal down time
Dramatically reduce total cost of ownership
Reduce risks associated with traditional desktop computing
Respond quickly to changing customer and market demands