I had never attended a webinar before July 15. I hadn’t even heard of webinars before a few months ago. And there I was, being trained in on how to organize everything behind the scenes of VISI’s “Cost Comparison of Hosted Exchange and In-House Deployment” webinar before ever attending one. My initial perception was that it would be similar to those “celebrity chats” put on by publicists – a frenzied slew of people typing questions to a designated typist who chooses a mere few to answer, before leaving those who tuned in feeling unfulfilled and desperate for more. As the day grew nearer for my first webinar, I began to pick up bits of information that eventually led me to the conclusion that webinars truly are seminars, just over the internet. I was very impressed with the way Ray Hagen, Product Manager at VISI, expertly prepared for the webinar with a reheasal and PowerPoint, before going on to conduct the webinar in a professional manner one week later. You can read about his presentation and download his PowerPoint here.

Why was I so keenly unaware as to the status of webinars? It’s simple. I had only just started working at VISI in the middle of June shortly after graduating with degrees in both Marketing and Philosophy from Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. Never before had I worked for a company or completed a class project that required webinar viewing. My title at VISI is “Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator”, something I have been striving to be for the past four years through my studies. And yes, I will be the one setting up future webinars. If something goes wrong, I am the one to blame. If you have a topic to suggest, I am the one to inform. And I am excited to be that person.

With that in mind, VISI is always looking for fresh, exciting topics to inform you on. We would love to know what you are looking for in future webinars. Are there any technology topics that you would like to learn more about? Think about what you want for your business and how you plan to achieve it. If VISI can help, we will. Post a response to this blog with your ideal webinar topic and we will do our best to fulfill your wish.

I want to thank all who attended our webinar, Microsoft Exchange: Comparing Hosted vs. In-house Deployments this past Wednesday. The questions that followed the presentation were excellent and I’d like to thank all those who contributed. Two topics really resonated in the questions that I wanted to reinforce with this blog post. One, how are mobile Blackberry devices are supported and two, what if variables in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) example were different.

Blackberry devices are an increasingly valuable tool for connecting a mobile workforce. A few things to keep in mind if you want full push-access between Exchange and a Blackberry device. Integration needs to take place between Exchange and a Blackberry server to experience the full push. A hosted Exchange provider includes this integration, without the purchase of Blackberry or Exchange server licenses, in the monthly device fees.

A TCO model is a good baseline to understand all the elements required to purchase, implement and operate a system. It is well applied in looking at Exchange, as it is more than just buying a server license and hardware. To make the right decision for your organization, you need to understand all the costs - direct, indirect and opportunity - associated with an in-house Exchange deployment. All costs structures are different and the TCO model used in the webinar (and available in the follow up whitepaper) provides you with the framework to plug-in your costs and make the right decision for you business.

You can download the entire presentation here. Download the Total Cost of Ownership White Paper here.

I wanted to make sure that everyone knew about the resources mentioned in Wednesday’s webinar, What to Look for in a Data Center.

You can download the slides, request the Buyer’s Guide to Colocation or contact us for the Colocation checklist at sales@visi.com or 612.395.9090.

Thanks to everyone that attended.

In a follow-up to publishing the Colocation Buyer’s Guide, Ray Hagen, product manager at VISI, is presenting a webinar tomorrow on “What to Look for in a Data Center.”  How do you decide whether to host your IT infrastructure yourself or use a colocation provider?  We will review the key features of a data center: power, cooling, security, facility, staffing and provide a cost comparison between using a data center provider or hosting yourself.

The webinar is tomorrow at noon. Reserve your seat here.

I enjoyed the discussion earlier today for all who attended our webinar on Server Replication, VISI’s new disaster recovery product.

If you missed the presentation or would like to go over the slides again, feel free to download the presentation below. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or our sales department at 612.395.9090.

Server Replication Webinar Download (PDF)