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If you have a Blackberry Smartphone; you re likely to already have it internet-enabled with a service plan from your wireless service provider. BES Express adds control and security via the Alchemy cloud. It means you can have access to your work email, calendar, contacts and tasks.

Let’s explain some of the jargon that helps position why hosted BES Express is an ideal platform for your Blackberry …..

What is BIS?

BIS stands for BlackBerry Internet Service. It gives your BlackBerry access to the Internet. It’s like an internet service provider, but for your smart-phone instead of your home computer. Every time your BlackBerry gets an email, or accesses a webpage, it does so through BIS (unless you’re using BES Express)

What is BES Express ?

BES stands for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It gives your BlackBerry access to a corporate intranet. The intranet is the private, internal, network within a company. It’s kind of like a mini-internet that is cut off from the rest of the world. Many intranets allow you to communicate with the Internet as well, but with added layers of security.

The Differences

Both BES X and BIS allow your BlackBerry to get email, though BES X allows you to synchronise with other collaborative services that you have in Outlook; calendars, contacts and tasks for example . ALL data travelling between your BlackBerry and your office is encrypted.

The difference, ultimately, lies in where the server resides and the level of control and security you get.

In the case of BIS, your carrier operates the server. Everything from BIS to your handheld is encrypted, but that’s about the extent of the security features. The carrier can decide what applications run on your phone, and how applications communicate with the Internet.

For BES X, Alchemy’s Cloud operates the server, and it is hosted adjacent to the hosted Microsoft Exchange server. With BES X, most of your data remains in a private, closed network. Your BlackBerry has a secure link directly to the Company environment, because the BES server is located in the Alchemy Cloud. In addition, applications can be “pushed” to a number of devices, rather than each device having to be severely setup. In addition, BES X also lets you remotely wipe and lock a device. This is very useful for those cases where people forget their BlackBerrys in the back of a taxi, or have them stolen.

So think of it like this: In the BIS case, a guy with an envelope (your data / email) is running around London trying to deliver the package to you—hopefully you can trust him, and hopefully nobody steals the envelope. For BES X, the guy delivering the envelope is walking around inside a secure compound, among trusted people who have proper security clearance, and cameras are monitoring his every move as he travels the 50 feet from his desk to your desk.

So if you are considering a secure, reliable and connectivity to Exchange, then we are happy to discuss Alchemy’s Cloud BES Express offering. Please call the team on 01784 223100.

Download “BES vs BIS” PDF

There are many benefits that small businesses can gain from using cloud services such as lower infrastructure costs through to higher availablilty of services.

1. Save on Infrastructure – today the cost of buying servers, operating systems and applications can run into thousands if not tens of thousands when instead you can simply pay a monthly fee to a hosted provider.
2. Save on ongoing costs – if your IT people are unfamiliar with a new operating system or application then it can be a lengthy and painful process to implement new functionality. Hosted providers have experienced inhouse skills to do this for you as well as providing ongoing services such as monitoring, patch updates and setting up new accounts.
3. Save on utilities – hosted providers tend to use modern efficient data centres and by sharing these resources with other companies you are likely to experience cost savings relating to smaller running costs compared to running an equivalent service in your own infrastructure.
4. Get better performance and extra features – as hosted providers are looking after several companies they use larger high performance systems then the typical smaller business would be able to afford to deploy themselves. Additionally the hosted provider will be using the latest more capable software which their experienced administrators will optimise for the best possible performance.
5. Better company agility – a hosted service will mean that you can add more users, deploy more services and even share resources with external contractors far faster than before allowing you to focus on your core business and be more responsive to your customers.
6. Enjoy a better all round experience – with multiple lines into a data centre, continuous back ups, high performance high availability fault tolerant servers and back up power generators enjoy an infrastructure and level of service that was only perviously available to large enterprises.

As such a provider with years of experience Alchemy Systems can provide this for your business today.

If you would like to speak to Alchemy about how moving into the cloud could benefit your business then contact us on 01784 223100 or via our website and talk to one of the team.

Many companies today are failing to regularly ensure that their security and anti-virus policies are up to date and with attacks become more and more prevalent and sophisticated this is not an area where businesses should let their guard down. Today large numbers of IT infrastructures have a mixture of traditional PCs, MACs, tablets and smart phones all of which are accessing their companies networks and data from multiple locations outside of the LAN.

With the prediction that mobile device threats are set to double in the next 12 months how comfortable are you that your devices and your data are safe from attack or especially in the case of tablets and smartphones from loss or theft of the device?

Are you able to track the device and could you remotely wipe it clean should you need to?

Also with known issues reported in the press like McAfee’s ScriptScan causing instability and security issues if you are using Mozilla Firefox are you sure that you are still protected?

When was the last you reviewed your policies and ensured that they are being enforced?

Alchemy Systems can help you answer and address all of these questions and find the right solution for your business.

Contact us on 01784 223100 or via our website and talk to one of the team.

Just six months ago HP launched its Touchpad with the usual multi-million pound fanfare and now it has announced its total withdrawal from this market space. This is not the first time we have seen a major vendor like HP take such action but then what do businesses who have made investments in that vendors products do now ? Where do they go for support and help, especially once warranties have expired.

Along with the talk that the PC is dead all businesses should be looking closely at their infrastructure and how they support it, not just today but also further down the road. IT support and product maintenance may not be the glamorous side of IT but it’s an area where most businesses can make immediate and significant savings.

As an independent company with over a decade of experience supporting its customers Alchemy Systems is an ideal partner to talk about making such savings.

Contact one of the team on 01784 223100 or fill in the call back form on our homepage.

Whilst many of us look on in horror and disgust at the riots around the country small and large businesses are starting to count the cost of the damage. It’s a sad fact that many businesses will go out of business forever as a result of being unable to access their workplace or retrieve their data from destroyed PCs and Servers. It’s a widely held belief  that 90% of companies will go out of business regardless of their size if they can not recover their data within 30 days.

Some of Alchemy’ customers are based in the troubled areas and after we have checked on their personal safety, they have all gone on to express their relief that they used our hosted service or offsite backup services and that their data, email and virtual IT estate were available. Hardware can be replaced but data is a very different matter, even if premises are affected, Alchemy’s customers can log through any PC or smartphone and respond to emails, access their data and continue their business.

With Alchemy’s secure, resilient and comprehensive hosted services and online backup products, we can help your business  keep its valuable data safe along with other benefits such as cost savings and environment control.

To find out more about how Alchemy  could help you, please contact one of the team on 01784 223100 or fill in the contact me form on our homepage.

With the inclusion of the Microsoft RemoteFX protocol in the IGEL Universal Desktop range, IGEL is meeting the growing demand for efficient access to server-based multimedia content such as graphics, video and 3D applications. By adding this capability to its already supported technologies of Citrix HDX, VMware PCoIP and SPICE, IGEL has further underlined its determination to provide flexible and future-ready thin client devices to its customers. Read More >>

F-Secure have announced inclusive cover of the Mac operating system platform in PSB (Protection Service for Business … support is offered on; Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) & Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). For further information, please call us on 01784 223100

As organisations seek to simplify IT process and reduce cost, then solutions that remove obstacles of business activity are highly valued. IP Printing is a great example;
Benfits for this service include;
1. If there are printers in a location (remote or local) and there is no computer
2. If you want to print into the office from home (or any remote location with internet access and a RDP/Citrix client)
3. If you have a myriad of PCs and operating systems it can save time on implementation and printer compatibility issues (especially terminal services)
4. If you want to print from a local PC application when remote from the printer location (requires setup on the laptop/PC)
5. If you want to print from a mobile phone (subject to testing and application addition)

To discuss any or all of these benefts; please call the team on 01784 223100.

‘Cloud Computing’ has become a much used industry buzz term. There are good reasons for this and the first wave of companies are now beginning to reap the rewards of this new IT technology. Others, though, remain mystified by the Cloud and what the new technology is all about.

Download the Free White Paper –
“De-Mystifying Cloud Computing”
A short guide for SMEs

As an IT Solutions company, Alchemy are often asked “what is the best backup solution?” The answer has changed over the years and depends a lot on your situation. We recognize that every business has different IT requirements, whether in architecture or budget.

There are now a range of cost effective backup solutions that meets every budget, whether it is a new requirement or upgrading existing backup solutions.

For an interesting  article that highlights the choices available please click here.