We are a UK IT Services and Support Company, established in 1996, with a very strong IT and Risk management consultancy.

Contact us on : 0845 094 8924

1 Bourne Court
Southend Road
Woodford Green
Essex IG8 8HD

E3 from £15.75 to £13.25 (Exchange email, Office 2010 licenses, WebApps, Sharepoint etc+)
E2 from £10.50 to £9 (Exchange Email and web apps)
E1 from £6.50 to £5.25 (Exchange Email only)

Office 365′s reliability and pricing make it an excellent proposition, for businesess looking to reduce administrative IT costs as well as to leverage the flexibility benefits from outsourcing some of their IT infrastructure to a global provider.

INTERSYS NEWSLETTER – March 2012
Are we headed for an Olympics internet meltdown?

Strategies to keep your business running smoothly during the Olympics.

Remote Workers & Capacity Planning
Whilst the recent snow may have prevented some staff getting to work, or disrupted your supply chain, it’s a good wake up call for businesses which haven’t considered the impact of the Olympics (and potentially far greater disruption), on its daily running.
800,000 daily visitors are predicted to attend the Olympics Venues – and an additional 25% is estimated to be added to London’s daily 12 million tube journeys, so the Olympics may be the ideal time allow some staff to work from home.

However, the intense interest in the games will fuel massively increased internet usage over the period and there’s speculation (not least from the government) that the internet may not cope with the pressure. If they’re using standard ‘residential grade’ internet connections, your remote workers may stop functioning, unless your planning has allowed for drastically reduced data usage. Strategies include a communications audit, service level backed internet connections, backup connections using mobile data or multiple providers.

Business Continuity Planning
Apart from the obvious scenarios, involving public transport problems, blocked roads or security incidents prevent staff getting to work, there are many areas where the Olympics can have both a positive and negative affect on your business; planning ahead could help you stand out from your competition. If you haven’t already considered contingency plans, Intersys can help you ensure that your company stands the best chance of operating smoothly, regardless of what happens.

Now is also an excellent time to reciew your BCP and DR plans; tested, working plans are what can set one business apart from its competition.

Contact Intersys for some expert IT planning and BCP advice.

The document Preparing your Business for the Games provides some more information.

Remote Working
There are many types of remote access, each with their own benefits. Intersys understands the technologies to help you get the best from your remote workers, even keeping productivity high during times of disruption.

Traffic and transport delays
The Olympic games will inevitably cause transport problems to your staff, supplies and customers. Considering (and planning for) the areas where this could impact your business could be vital to ensuring full profitability during this period.

What is a BCP?
Business Continuity Planning: this is a ‘go to’ document, used at the point of any business impact scenario and helps determine who deals with what areas of business impact. The BCP will also contain contacts and contact details and try to make allowances for those ‘unknown unknowns’ which may impact your business.
It is a BCP in which the imapct to the business from many scenarios are considered – anything from reputational damage (negative press, product failure) to a serious, wide ranging events (flood, terrorism). a DR (Disaster Recovery) plan is written as a ‘subset’ of a BCP,

read this newsletter online, including tables and images

1 Bourne Court,
Southend Road,
Woodford Green,
Essex IG8 8HD.

• Unplanned IT and telecom outages
• Data breach (i.e. loss or theft of confidential information)
• Cyber attack (e.g. malware, denial of service)

For many businesses the nature of these threats can have far reaching consequences, for example data breach and cyber attacks may have negative impacts on reputation, as well as problems achieving compliance.

The survey also highlights the growing need to address a broader range of risk management tasks and scenarios affecting business continuity such as new laws and regulations, exchange rate volatility, and business ethics. All of this highlights the need for an all-encompassing approach to business continuity planning that can assess the modern threats alongside the more traditional risks such as supply chain disruption, utilities outages, adverse weather, and material shortages. In fact, good business continuity management provides all the necessary links between the objectives of a business, the accepted risks that it will take, and the methods and protocols needed to effectively manage these risks and vulnerabilities.

A common problem for many businesses in the current economic climate, is how to effectively address their growing vulnerabilities associated with IT systems, data security, and cyber attack, while budgets become tighter, yet this is a fundamental discipline as many organisations simply cannot recover from serious business continuity issues, IT outages, or loss of data, which in many cases leads to bankruptcy.

How we can help your business

InterSys^® can provide you with comprehensive and cost-effective Business Continuity Management services and consultancy, and have a range of specific tools and applications to help you develop robust plans and solutions to suit your business.

Whatever the size of your operation and sector you operate in, consider InterSys^® for your risk managements solutions.

More information:
www.supplychain-risk.com
InterSys Risk Management Software

Get in touch today

Still some of our clients ask us why they should pay any more than the absolute lowest registrar fees that they see advertised. Very rarely does the cheapest product or service equal the best value and domain names are no exception. These are some of the reasons why it costs just a little more for our quality service:

• Great Support – a known down-side with many companies, our support is by contrast very focused, quick and responsive, whether it’s administrative or DNS changes you need.
• Easy DNS Control – whether you need good admin-side tools and intuitive controls, or a quick resolution by telephone call, your vital DNS controls remain easily managed. This is a commonly seen lacking in other registrar services.
• Skilled Focused Staff – we often see mistakes made by companies who don’t care (or know) what they’re doing. Your DNS is critical – it needs to be looked after by an expert who understands it.
• Easy DNS transfers – often this is purposefully made difficult and obstructive.
• Careful Management – we take care to ensure that our clients domains, DNS and registrations are healthy. Not something automated systems in large registrars can do, but we charge a little more than the bargain basement registrars to cover the admin costs of this service. Companies have lost thousands of pounds when their domain renewal has failed (for example it was registered with an admin contact which doesn’t exist at their company any more).

So, the bottom line is, you don’t need to spend £60 per year per domain name, a price charged by some of our competitors, to get professional reliable domain services.

Get in touch with us

 
InterSys^® are Nominet members (UKINTERSYS)

More info about InterSys^® Hosting Solutions at www.intersys-networks.co.uk
 

The New Rangers

The new incarnation of the Rangers team was kicked off in May 2008 by two close friends (and a little help) with an enthusiam that will no doubt see them adding to the rich history of football in the area.

Their first goal as a new club came in the 1-1 draw against Thorley Park on the 29th August 2008 scored by Mark Barrow, and their first League game win on the 13th Sept 2008 when they beat Albury FC 3-2 (with Rick Jones scoring their first competitive goal).

Their first hat-trick was against Potter Street, and came on October 5th 2008 via the ever talented Matt Wright. The following month they devoured Lower Street in a 7-1 crushing victory, 4 goals coming from Mark Barrow alone. Rangers topped off their first season on a high with a 4-2 away victory over Avondale Rangers, finishing the season in 8th position.

Hertfordshire Rangers started the 2009/10 season with a new manager, Pat Dee, and continued to score impessively with consecutive hat-tricks from Matt Wright, and 4 goals in a match by Ian Bees to beat Lower Street 6-2, and notching up an 8-3 win against Potter Street to give them their best single match score to-date.

Their first Cup Final appearance came against Stortford FC on 27th March 2010 where they lost 3-0, though this was not to stop them from receiving promotion to the First division in May the same year!

Hertfordshire Rangers have been award winners for the the last 2 seasons, and continue to grow from strength to strength as the club develops.

Congratulations from all at InterSys^®, and wishing the club every success for the coming season.
 

A Little history of the Original Hertfordshire Rangers Club (now Watford FC)

The new Hertfordshire Rangers are not to be confused with the old team of the same name that gained Football Association recognition way back in 1866. This original Hertfordshire team have since become Watford FC. In their early incarnation they were a dominant force in Hertfordshire and featured in the FA Cup from 1875 through to 1881. The original team consisted of players mainly from the local Aldenham School, Elstree School, and Cambridge University, but the club folded in 1882 as key players left school and relocated to follow their University paths.

During their early peak, 2 notable players were selected to play for the England squad: Robert Barker (1872) playing in goal for England’s first ever international match against Scotland on 30 November 1872; and Francis Sparks whose first appearance as an England forward was against Scotland on 5 April 1879. The club were based at 3 different grounds during their history, always near to Watford and their social headquarters at the Malden hotel

External links:
Hertfordshire Rangers FC official club website
Hertfordshire Rangers on Wikipedia
 

In 2006 NASA researchers announced that the next cycle would be the most intense since the well-known solar maximum of 1958, when the Northern Lights could be seen as far south as Mexico. This next cycle is now due and is expected to peak 2011-2012.

While we’re used to sudden economic turndown events such as floods, earthquakes, terrorist attacks and the like, this cyclic behavior of the sun represents to many a less well understood and acknowledged threat to global supply chains.

The intense solar activity of 1958 happened when the world was still on the edge of a technical revolution. During that period the US experienced radio blackouts that effectively severed it’s connection to the rest of the world, furthermore electrical voltages in telegraphic circuits and equipment was recorded as exceeding 320 volts in Newfoundland.

On this basis, 50 years on and with ever more reliance upon technological advance, the potential global impact of the solar activity that is predicted for the 2012 peak is quite incomprehensible.

During the Solar Max, violent atomic explosions (solar flares) will blast out from the sun at extreme velocities. The emissions from the flares (the charged particles that form an ash cloud) produce massive bursts of radio noise that can disrupt global positioning systems (GPS) satellite navigation. This includes aircraft navigation systems which can be particularly affected. With the looming Solar Maximum having the potential to completely nullify GPS signal pick-up, the commercial aviation industry is understandably concerned. GPS and power outages can force air traffic controllers to increase the distance margins between aircraft, time between take-offs and landings, which in turn cause hugely expensive flight delays.

The effect on GPS disruption is not limited to aviation however as it is also used for emergency rescues, to synchronise our power grids, and for our mobile phone networks. Electrical disturbance and damage to power grids caused by such solar activity can also result in closures of businesses, schools, hospitals, government buildings, as well as disrupting countless domestic properties.

It may come as a surprise that so much disruption can be caused by solar max activity and the ash cloud by-products…

The Good News

The good news is that much of the threat of such intense solar activity can be effectively and confidently Risk Managed. For any Risk/DR Specialist worth their weight, the Solar Max presents the ultimate challenge in risk management, in fact an expert in risk management will thrive on advising and guiding business infrastructure managers on the best ’solar flare-proof’ strategy to adopt, this can include the implementation of steps such as:

• A back-up generator supply – to ensure critical systems can be powered
• Financial exposure/loss minimisation strategies – data system and software back-up plans to maintain uninterrupted customer-related operations (customer-facing operations, customer-service provision, etc.)
• Uninterrupted communication systems – for communication between management and staff, staff and customers…

These (and other safe guards) can essentially mean the difference between an organisation continuing their business operations as normal, and going out of business altogether.

Therefore for any organisation or business, having a tailored contingent business-interruption plan set out prior to the Solar Max event is prudent. A thorough understanding of how protected your global supply chains are to these potentially disasterous scenarios is absolutely paramount.

With the next Solar Maximum drawing closer day by day, it is absolutely essential for infrastructure managers to ACT NOW!
 

For more information on how InterSys^® can provide effective risk management strategies get in touch with us today

Information Sources:
www.universetoday.com/14645/2012-no-killer-solar-flare
www.newscientist.com/article/dn10189-solar-flares-will-disrupt-gps-in-2011
www.mekabay.com/infosecmgmt/solarmax.pdf
www.solarstorms.org/SRefStorms
 

Private Client

Cyberoam Unified Threat Management appliances offer a complete security solution to any business from large enterprise to small offices. Multiple security features integrated over a single, Layer 8 Identity-based platform make security easy to manage, and highly effective.

Cyberoam Gateway Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware solution give email and web security against malware such as viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, backdoors and keyloggers. Cyberoam also has the option of IPSec, LT2P, PPTP and SSL VPN over its UTM appliances, allowing remote access to organizations that is secure. The VPNC-certified Cyberoam communicates with most third party VPNs, making it compatible with existing networks and providing secure access for remote workers, suppliers and customers.
 

Cyberoam Wi-Fi security appliances protect home and remote offices and public Wi-Fi access providers from intrusions, identity theft through MAC spoofing, DoS attacks and malware entry. The CRwi Wi-Fi appliances have ‘Layer 8′ security that is identity-based, giving very high levels of security with great flexibility over LANs. The devices support 802.11n/b/g wireless standards and combine the features of a router and Cyberoam’s full complement of UTM features, with the benefit of reduced overhead to organizations.
 

Cyberoam’s patent pending, Layer 8 Human Identity-based firewall appliance offers stateful and deep packet inspection for network, application and user identity-based security, it protects organizations from DoS, DDoS and IP Spoofing attacks, and enables work-profile based policies and a single interface for policy creation across all the UTM features, providing ease of management and high security with flexibility.
 

NetGenie is a Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliance that offers a secure Internet experience to Small Offices, Home Offices. It allows the Internet connection to be shared with office users over desktops, laptops, handheld devices like iPad, iPhone and more –at the same time.

NetGenie has the following features:

• 3G Ready – NetGenie enables offices to plug in USB broadband or 3G modem and share the 3G Internet connection with multiple users in office at the same time, besides offering a back-up for uninterrupted business connectivity.
• Security – NetGenie keeps offices protected from hackers, viruses and malware with Stateful Inspection Firewall, NAT capabilities, Denial of Service protection, MAC binding, Intrusion Prevention System and a regularly updated in-built Anti-Virus.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) – NetGenie allows secure access to network resources located at remote offices like vendors’ offices or central office, enabling continuous collaboration and exchange of information, around the world, in real time and securely.
• Internet Controls – NetGenie blocks harmful Internet content, enabling offices to manage the websites and applications their employees can access over the Internet, also managing their office productivity. NetGenie’s pre-categorized list of websites and applications in NetGenie remove the inconvenience of manually entering them so as to block them for users.
• Pre-Set Wi-Fi Security – NetGenie ensures that no unauthorized device connects to office networks the moment it is turned on with its pre-set security settings that eliminate the need to manually configure complex security settings.
• Reports – NetGenie offers real-time reports on websites visited and applications used by employees along with security reports on virus and intrusion attacks.

InterSys^® are Certified Network & Security Experts for Cyberoam Systems. Give us a call today to find out how we can help you and your business.

 
Get in touch with us today.