A Motivational Message Moving Forward

With 2009 slipping into the past, it will be a year that many would wish to forget. Economically, our country almost went completely down the tubes and people began wearing masks out of a blind fear of the swine flu. We saw some athletes fall from grace, and watched New Jersey look as rotten as a year old strawberry. We stood by and watched the world become enamored with stories like 'Balloon Boy', or sat in front of our computers for hours on end watching YouTube videos that make us sad to be human. We discovered what it is to Tweet and how important it is, apparently, to tell the world what we’re doing at any given moment. We watched banks cling to the governments and, with open hands, ask for money because they didn’t know where all theirs went. The American auto industry became a relic of the 50’s and left car execs asking what happened and how?

Despite the many flaws 2009 delivered to our world, we must use it to motivate us toward a better 2010. We could easily sit here and sulk about what happened, or we could band together and raise our great country back to excellence. Companies like The TNS Group are locally owned and locally supported with clients and employees in the greater NYC area.

We should use companies like TNS as a beacon guiding us out of the treacherous squalls we find ourselves in. While it is easy to listen to the talking heads on television and not leave the house for the next five months, it would not be the American way. America has found itself at this crossroad before, and was able to pull itself up and move on to better times.

As the year turns we should keep our chins up and move forth with courage into the future. I am confident that TNS reflects a forming national trend, and will continue to grow and prosper as the earth turns one year older. Let us hope the attitudes of hard work, dedication, and sincerity present here at TNS become contagious.

Let’s go get it in 2010 TNS. I know we can do it!

Joe Carretta

TNS Welcomes Joe Carretta

Joe Carretta, a New Jersey native who has been interning with the TNS group since early May will be joining the team on a 4-day per week basis. Joe is currently a senior at Fairfield University, and is finishing up a BA in Communication with a minor in journalism.

Since coming on board, Joe has shown his value through hard work, punctuality, and a willingness to buy into the overall community of The TNS Group. Joe has revamped the companies online marketing efforts, as well as designed numerous print and direct mail campaigns since coming on as an intern. Joe also assists the sales force with administrative work essential to the closing of work for both new and existing clients.

Despite an IT economy that Accenture called “the worst in the past decade”, TNS has managed to turn out their most successful year since inception, and continues to buck the trend by expanding in the face of a recession.

Do you want a battle tested company, that shows no signs of slowing down during this rough economy. Choose TNS Group for all your IT needs. We are a streamlined company who gets the job done right the first time; no questions asked.

Contact me at jcarretta@thetnsgroup.com

Just When You Though it Was Safe to Leave Your Data..

According to an article on ITnews.com The U.S. government and private businesses need to overhaul the way they look at cyber-security, with the government offering businesses new incentives to fix security problems, the Internet Security Alliance said.

The alliance, in a report released Thursday, also called for permanent international cyber-security collaboration centers, new security standards for VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) communications and programs to educate corporate leaders about the benefits of enhanced cyber-security efforts.

The report, intended as a response to U.S. President Barack Obama's call in May for increased cyber-security efforts, proposes to create more educational programs on risk management for C-level executives. ISA has already begun an education effort aimed at chief financial officers and other executives. The report as a whole focuses largely on changing the economics of cyber-security with incentives and other programs. The warning should come at little to no surprise for both large and small businesses considering how much information is exchanged over the internet.

Consider a hypothetical company that has a VOIP system, a Gmail server, and a cloud computing network that holds all of their sensitive data. This company’s entire communication procedure runs over the internet. Because cyber attacks are relatively inexpensive for the attacker to initiate, and could destroy a company’s infrastructure with a few specific computer codes.

This makes server security even more prevalent to all business owners. Remember that the best defense is a good offense! So get [proactive on your data security before someone else gets proactive on YOUR client list.

Contact me, (jcarrretta@thetnsgroup.com) or see our website for more information on how to keep all of your sensitive data safe and sound.

To Tweet or not To Tweet

Think Twitter is something you don’t need to be concerned with? Think again…

An article on the New York Times website said that Tweets (the 140 characters blurbs that Twitter users can spew at any given moment) will be coming to LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals. This comes on the heels of announcements by Microsoft and Google that they would incorporate tweets into their search results.

The partnership with LinkedIn affirms Twitter’s role as a network for professional conversation. More than social sites like Facebook, people use Twitter to keep abreast of professional news and share links to articles about their industries.

While Facebook provides more of a social experience complete with pictures, relationships, and fun gaming applications, Twitter has become a news gathering medium that brings the news to users in a quick and concise format. Plus, Twitter is so easy to use that it appeals more to the older, slightly less social network savvy generation of business professionals.

In the article, Allen Blue, LinkedIn’s co-founder and vice president of product strategy said, “Twitter is not only a massively open platform, but also it’s a place where there’s a tremendous amount of professional information already being shared, and we wanted to be sure that was coming to our LinkedIn user base.”

The deal will bring LinkedIn’s 51 million members the ability to send status updates over the LinkedIn network. For example, job postings, partnership opportunities, or business related questions can be proclaimed from an individual’s profile.

People will also be able to add a section to their LinkedIn profile that contains their most recent tweets and view other people’s tweets when searching LinkedIn (similar to the feed on the TNS Group Website).

Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s chief executive, said that he wants LinkedIn to be the hub for all professional conversation. Integrating tweets into LinkedIn will help them find a home where they will become part of someone’s professional identity, and conversations will develop around them, he said.

This move marks only another step in Twitter’s quiet quest to take over the internet. Tweets are everywhere, and are showing no signs of slowing down. This migration onto LinkedIn only reemphasizes the professional need that has now ousted social connective in the world of these networking sites.

Tweet now or forever hold your peace…

The TNS Group

Formerly known as TigerNet Systems, Inc.

Office phone: 203.316.0112 x.105

Office fax: 203.316.0118

Email: jcarretta@thetnsgroup.com

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Fortinet Unveils a New Weapon

Fortinet -- a market-leading network security provider and worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions -- today announced a new FortiGate multi-threat security appliance with integrated internet protocol private branch exchange (IP-PBX) functionality, consolidating data and voice over IP (VoIP) security management into a single device.

Aimed at medium and large enterprises with remote and branch offices, the new FortiGate Voice-80C offers organizations easier management of UTM security and PBX functionality by consolidating the two traditionally separate devices into one platform. The FortiGate Voice-80C supports Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which lowers costs by enabling organizations to use VoIP inside and outside of the local area network (LAN). Additionally, as a complement to the new FortiGate Voice solution, Fortinet will be offering a SIP-compatible handset. The FortiGate Voice-80C is also compatible with most VoIP SIP handsets on the market.

VOIP has been a recent trend in the corporate world. Just as touch tone replaced rotary, slowly VOIP are replacing normal land lines. VOIP systems give offices the ability to seamlessly record calls, bind their office phone to mobile devices, and keep track of voicemails and call records via email. VOIP also allows for seamless text communication that keep employees off sites like Gmail and Facebook and keeps office communication to solely the issues relevant to the office. The only drawback of the VOIP systems is they become vulnerable to outside intrusion and provide a gateway into business servers.

Enter FortiGate:

With Fortinet's new FortiGate Voice-80C, remote and branch offices that are utilizing an analog PBX phone system can now tackle network and VoIP security management simultaneously without the additional investments required for individual hardware devices. For large enterprises that are supporting a growing mobile workforce with multiple voice and data clients, Fortinet's integrated UTM and SIP-compatible IP-PBX solution offers multiple points of protection, while also offering a reduction in the overall operating expenses (OPEX) and capital expenditures (CAPEX) associated with managing multiple devices and maintaining separate voice and data services. SIP permits businesses that have a PBX installed to use VoIP also outside the enterprise network by using the same connection as the Internet connection. It also enables remote offices to communicate with headquarters via VoIP, thus reducing costs by eliminating the need for separate voice and data lines.

In a PR newsletter, founder of Fortinet Michael Xie said the following regarding VOIP security. "Organizations of all sizes have been migrating to a Voice over IP architecture for years and while the benefits of both voice and data transmitting over IP have been proven in the reduction of cost as compared to legacy systems, the management of VoIP and security has historically been approached separately, leading to unnecessary expenses and unwanted security surprises.

Fortinet has been revolutionizing network security and privacy for years, and will continue to do so with the release of Fortigate.

To learn more about Fortinet, and how it can make your business more secure, contact me:

jcarretta@thetnsgroup.com

Your Defense is Offensive

Symantec, the largest maker of security software, and the seventh largest software company in the world has updated its Data-Loss Prevention Suite so that if the software finds a data issue that needs fixing, it can apply third-party encryption and digital-rights management controls to the problem.

According to an article on ITnews.com. the company announced today, Symantec DLP Suite v. 10 will feature a "Flex-Response" capability to find sensitive data that has been left unprotected in the enterprise and apply security controls through encryption and DRM products from vendors such as PGP, Oracle, GigaTrust, Liquid Machines and Microsoft.

Symantec is also publishing a set of open APIs and a software development kit (SDK) to facilitate support for security controls through additional products, says Rob Greer, senior director of product management at Symantec.

Symantec DLP v.10, expected to ship in December, will have a workflow process that can alert managers to data that's out of compliance with corporate DLP policies; let them choose to apply encryption and DRM; and confirm that security policies have been enforced.

In the current business world, company’s place their entire business on the waves on the internet. Tons of sensitive files are placed both on and off site, while millions of e-mails featuring confidential and business sensitive data are transmitted daily. This constant flow of easily accessible information has enabled corporations to achieve the profitability and efficiency. However, with his blessing of lightening fast exchange comes the curse of keeping all of this data safe and secure,.

Symantec’s new software is revolutionary in multiple ways, but its third party component is what really sets it apart from the competition. Anytime a problem can be not only addressed, but fixed before a sure knows about it is an amazing feat. Not only does this avert a possible major problem for a company, but it takes worry off the shoulder of already heavily burdened IT Directors and network managers.

In order for technology to continue to drive the growth of businesses, security software improvements such as this one must continue to keep pace with the ever growing IT aspect of business.

For more information on Security and Privacy solutions offered by The TNS Group, click a link or email me at jcarretta@thetnsgroup.com

Microsoft Bringing the A Game

This Thursday is a very big day in the world of Windows.

Windows 7, Microsoft’s response to the debacle known as Vista will hit shelves on Thursday and will be a tell tale sign for the struggling software maker who is currently getting bombed in the tech market by rival Apple.

Only days after Apple reported an overall profit of $1.67 billion, Windows will launch its ace in the hole in hopes of at least securing the top spot among all operating systems manufacturers.

Ever since the unsuccessful launch of Vista, Microsoft has gone through with a slew of advertisement campaigns that have brought them nothing but a greater comparison to the more brand relevant Apple, whose Mac’s, iPhones, and iPods have changed the landscape of the computer.

Windows 7 is intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible. Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements.

The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the task-bar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.

These changes were enacted with the intent of making the system more user friendly, and aesthetically pleasing. Windows goal is to make the system appealing to both new and previous Windows users. Despite new branding efforts, a new hire in the sales position to push the product, and a brand name that consumers recognize, the performance of Windows 7 on the market will come down to how users rate it. Especially with a technology product, word will spread quickly whether Windows 7 is the real deal, or another mistake by Microsoft.

By this time next week, the fate of Windows 7 will be decided.

Be sure to check out our Twitter account for constant updates on the product release.

Joe Carretta

jcarretta@thetnsgroup.com