VISI is proud to sponsor the first ever CloudCamp Minneapolis.  CloudCamp is an unconference where early adapters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. You are encouraged you to share your thoughts in several open discussions. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.

Proposed agenda:
9:00 - 10:00 networking, unconference organization
10:00-10:15 Lightning Talks
10:15-11:15 Cloud SME panel
11:30-12:15 Sessions round 1 (4 sessions)
12:15-13:00 Lunch
13:15-14:00 Sessions round 2 (4 sessions)
14:15-15:00 Sessions round 3 (4 sessions)
15:30 After Conference Happy Hour

You can get the rest of the details on the conference and register online at CloudCamp Minneapolis.

Ever wonder about the typical day at VISI? Ever have a question but didn’t want to call? Are you on Twitter? Great! Chat with VISICares.

Within the walls of VISI there are many business processes to follow and technical configuration tasks performed each day as we service our customers. A close-knit team of application developers work behind the scenes to build and maintain internal applications used to support the fulfillment of customer orders and assist our 24×7 customer support staff as they support our customers. At the core of this team’s mission is something called the VISI Admin Center.

The Admin Center is an internal business system with an applications framework designed around several core functions. The functions include:
• Customer order processing
• Automated services provisioning
• Service and equipment documentation and tracking
• Work activity and support ticket tracking
• Customer support

The Admin Center is an evolving tool. The VISI application development team works with other departments to review requests for improvements that increase efficiency and customer services.

Here is an illustration of what the Admin Center can do. A customer may subscribe to a service such as web site hosting, database storage, email, virtual servers or others. The customer information and order are entered into the Admin Center. The Admin Center structures the service data and connects to the server on which the respective service is to be provisioned. Through inter-system communication, the customer’s requested service is provisioned on the target computer in VISI’s SAS 70 Type II compliant data center. Concurrently, the corresponding technical documentation is stored in the configuration database. At that point the appropriate customized technical information about the service can be sent via email to the customer. This customer data is available for our 24×7 support staff should a customer need to call for assistance.

MyVISI Customer Portal is the direct customer extension of the Admin Center and can be accessed at support.visi.com. MyVISI Customer Portal allows VISI customers to access information relevant to their services, request customer support, check account status and pay for services online.

So what’s next? In 2009, the VISI applications team will make more improvements to the Admin Center focusing on efficiency in operations and the management of service configurations. Also, watch for more functionality for customers on the MyVISI Portal.

If I were to create a list of the most popular buzzwords in the business community today, specifically those that revolve around technology, I would bet that disaster recovery, or “DR,” would be high on that list. Take away the technology focus and I’m guessing it’s still high up the list. Why? Today’s business information largely resides in the form of bits and bytes rather than in a paper file. Information is the lifeblood of most organizations and if it were lost, most organizations would be severely impacted while others might go under.

We’ve reached the point that backups alone are not enough. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong believer in backups and encourage all companies to have a backup plan that is tested regularly. I am, however, also a strong believer of knowing both the strengths and weaknesses of your backup plan.

Scenario: You own a small business and run a server in your office that powers an accounting application that stores all your financial information. This system also acts as a general-purpose file server providing a central repository for everyone to store and share business documents. Even though you’ve had no issues during the past 18 months of operation, something happens one morning and you’re suddenly running without access to this system.

How long can you operate without access to your data? Was your backup plan designed to help you recover within an acceptable timeframe for your organization? Has it been tested to prove that the design works?

Restoring a system from backups made to tape or disk may involve waiting for hours or days. Many times new hardware needs to be purchased and shipped, the operating system and applications need to be installed and configured, and lastly, you need to import your data.

For those who have a more stringent Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) than a basic backup-to-tape or backup-to-disk service offers, VISI provides Server Replication product. Server Replication provides continuous, real-time replication of your server’s operating system, applications and data to VISI’s secure St. Paul Data Center. In the event of a failure or disaster, VISI will assist in getting your server up and running in a VMware-hosted environment in 5 hours or less.

If you have any questions or are interested in our server replication product, feel free to give me a call at 612-395-8924.

I attended the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) CIO Panel for the first time a few weeks ago.  The event was an eye opener — very worthy and without disappointment.  It occurred on our first big snow storm of the year (remember, one of the first days it took two hours to commute to work).

The CIO panelists were fantastic.  The panelists were from the likes of Federated Insurance, Medtronic, Assurant and Honeywell.  They spoke to:

- the change of thinking occuring due to the economy

- the growth and mentoring of technology professionals

- the balance of local to globalized business and product offerings

I posted a copy of the presentations online.  You can find out more about MHTA at www.mhta.org.