aCOUPLEofGURUS offers services in six main categories:

1. User and Workstation Support
2. Server Management
3. IT Security
4. CIO Services
5. Hardware and Software Sales
6. ConstantCare™

User and Workstation Support

An ugly error message or a printer that won’t print can bring your productivity to a screeching halt. You want someone to fix the problem and you want them to do it quickly.

We understand that at the end of the day even the most advanced piece of equipment isn’t worth a lick if the end user can’t get it to work. With aCOUPLEofGURUS you and your employees can have direct access to a team of skilled Gurus 24 hours a day via web, email or telephone. We can coach you through a fix by phone or remotely connect to your desktop to fix the problem ourselves. We’ll also provide just-in-time training, if appropriate, to help you avoid the same problem in the future.

Server Management

Servers are the foundation of your infrastructure; they run your company. Be kind to them, maintain them, and they will serve you well. We can handle all server management and system administration tasks for you, ensuring that your servers are stable, secure, available, and reliable and, ultimately, that you are realizing the highest rate of return on your investment.

In some cases, new technology might be the right solution for you and we can help you make the best selection within your established budget. But whether the equipment is new or existing, we will provide a customized configuration to meet your specific business needs.

Do you have sales people that need to access files from client sites? Do you have employees in multiple locations that may be modifying a file at the same time? Do you want to allow clients to log-in and access their account information, but not your entire accounting system?

There are a lot of options to consider — LANs, WANs, VPNs, satellite links, remote file servers, print servers, application servers, domain controllers, database servers, web servers and more. The beauty of it is that while we need to understand your business inside and out, you don’t need to understand ours. You tell us what you need to do, and we can tell you how to get it done.

And, because we’ve done this a time or two, we are familiar with and able to implement the most streamlined and reliable solutions available.

IT Security

There are a lot of bad guys out there. While it used to be that computer hackers were a small, sophisticated group, now companies have to contend with more frequent attacks from “script kiddies” — amateur hackers, often teenagers, who download tools from the Internet and go looking for unsecured networks with the intent to delete or damage data.

In addition to protecting yourself against viruses, worms and hackers, you need to be concerned about simply keeping your information protected and confidential. Your clients trust you to keep their credit card numbers, social security numbers and personal information just that — personal. Regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley add to the pressure to maintain tight security.

Security is one area where small businesses find it nearly impossible to keep up. Just staying on top of the ever-increasing number of security patches and updates to security products can become the full-time focus for a one-person IT department.

We can provide a superior and more comprehensive level of protection, at a lower cost because of the economies of scale, than you can get by hiring your own IT talent on staff. Our services include installing and configuring anti-virus and anti-spam solutions, installing and managing firewalls and VPNs, monitoring the release of new security patches and implementing them, and more.

CIO Services

Strategy. That’s what it takes to win almost any game. In business, just like in chess or football, you need to be able to envision your next several moves to be effective and avoid costly mistakes. Through our CIO services we offer strategic guidance on issues such as architecture design, application and platform selection, IT staffing and training, and budgeting. We can help you make key decisions and create a forward-thinking technology strategy that supports your business model both six months and six years down the road.

Large companies know the value of having a broadly experienced CIO on staff. You can have the same benefits on a for-hire basis, without the expense of paying a CIO salary. Along with the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone is taking a long-range, big-picture view of your technology come two other key benefits: the cost savings of doing things right the first time and a real understanding of what your systems are doing for you.

By consulting with you on major decisions, we can help you do things right the first time, which is always less expensive than trying to make a correction down the road. Putting in a flexible system that allows for growth is cheaper than replacing it completely and starting over a few years later. Building in redundancy and backups is cheaper than trying to do a disaster recover. Keeping data secure is cheaper than fighting a lawsuit because you didn’t.

Another common complaint from business owners is that they feel like they are spending a lot of money on IT, but they don’t really know how the technology is being used or what true value it is bringing to the organization. Your systems produce a lot of data, and we can collect and walk you through the most pertinent details. No more wondering how many attacks your firewall stopped or which websites your employees are visiting. Now you’ll know.

Hardware and Software Sales

Everybody needs an operating system, but which one? You need remote access, but in what ways? We offer expert advice to help you select and procure the right technology products for your specific business needs and your specific budget.

Our guiding principle is to help you find the simplest solutions, never unnecessarily complicated, that will satisfy your requirements. We never recommend technology just because it’s cool — although we will introduce you to some pretty cool things.

We stay current with all the available products and solutions from a broad range of vendors. We’re not fanatically loyal to a single brand, so you can be sure you’ll get an unbiased recommendation based on what is most appropriate for you. When it comes to product selection, we like to keep our clients on the leading edge of the bell curve. We’ll offer you proven solutions that are current and innovative, but mature enough to have the kinks worked out.

Simple solutions, solid technology: It’s more than a tagline to us.

ConstantCare™

If you’re ready to step out of the day-to-day hassles of managing your company’s technology, or if you want to leverage your technology to get the most out of it without expanding your own IT department, our ConstantCare managed services offering may be for you. With ConstantCare we package a group of services together and offer them to you for a set monthly fee. The set fee stabilizes costs and gives you a predictable expense that you can budget for.

When we become your ConstantCare partner we assume responsibility for administering your IT and network operations. We pro-actively monitor your systems and identify problems before they occur. You’re freed up to get back to what you do best — run the business — and you can do it with the peace of mind that your systems are there to support you. Technology becomes your slave, not your master.

We offer customized ConstantCare solutions to meet your business needs. Services include:

1. Monitoring
2. Reporting
3. Patching
4. Software License Management
5. Research and Screening Services
6. Anti-virus Verification
7. Backup System Upgrades
8. Quarterly Business Reviews
9. Server Operating System Upgrades
10. Monthly Security Auditing
11. Annual IT Budget Consultation
12. Access to Remote Help Desk
13. Access to Technical Services Phone Support
14. Workstation Management
15. CIO Level Consulting