Essential Business Server

Top Ten Reasons To Use Windows Essential Business Server 2008

Keep in touch on the go

Share documents, coordinate your calendar and participate in discussions while you are on the road, by using Microsoft Sharepoint, a key component of Essential Business Server 2008.

Safe from external threats

Manage network security with premium anti-spam and industry leading anti-virus engines,  part of Windows Essential Business Server 2008.All events are logged to a separate database for reporting and monitoring, while software patching gives you control over desktop, server and application patch levels.

A single solution for midsize businesses

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 takes the guesswork out of selecting software. EBS 2008 brings together different product technologies into one integrated product, making it easy to install and manage.

Easy set up and management

Your network manager gets a centalised Administration Console, making it easier to manage your IT and network infrastructure. Use the console to monitor and manage PCs, services and other devices and to integrate third party software.

No growing pains

Essential Business Server 2008 provides a seamless upgrade from your existing SBS 2003 or SBS 2008 network, allowing you to grow from 75 to 300 users.

Simpler purchasing and licensing

There’s just one Client Access License (CAL) for all the EBS 2008 integrated products, while licenses are managed through the administration console including license ordering, assignment and reassignment, enforcement, monitoring
and activation.

A saving of up to 40%

EBS 2008 includes Windows 2008 Server and Exchange Server 2007, Windows Sharepoint Services and security features as a package that saves you up to 40% over the cost of the products purchased separately.

Automatic reporting

Microsoft Essential Business Server 2008 generates reports and alerts that can be directly to your internal or external support team via email in the event of a network issue.

Software that grows with you

EBS 2008 enables you to grow easily, adding users (up to a maximum of 300), servers and applications. It supports your vital applications and is designed to integrate with your existing Microsoft products.

Reduce planning deployment and configuration

It’s easy to move across to EBS 2008. Built-in migration and planning tools help reduce set-up times from days to hours, and a variety of planning worksheets and best practices configuration help you achieve predictable and professional results.

Microsoft Essential Business 2008 Standard Edition includes:

•  Microsoft Windows 2008 Standard Edition
• Microsoft System Centre Essentials 2007
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services
• Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server (one year
  subscription)
• Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium
  Business Edition (one year subscription)

Microsoft Essential Business 2008 Premium Edition includes:
(requires additional hardware)

• Microsoft Windows 2008 Standard Edition
• Microsoft System Centre Essentials 2007
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services
• Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server (one year
  subscription)
• Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium
  Business Edition (one year subscription)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition

Newsletter April 2009

Newsletter

Dear Customer,

At times like these we all need to make the most of our time and resources. Increasingly our clients have asked us to help them achieve efficiencies and productivity increases by enabling better business communications at home and on the road.

Better and cheaper broadband connections enable staff to work effectively from home using remote email with access to key business systems using Microsoft Terminal Services. Our Avaya PBX systems also support remote telephone extensions using IP phones or PC based soft phones putting your remote staff right in your virtual office network.

When you and your staff are out on the road, you can stay fully in touch using one of a wide range of mobile phones. Have email delivered straight to your phone, access company data using Microsoft SharePoint and mobile internet access, even use your mobile as an extension on your AVAYA IP Office phone system.

We have been able to reduce our own telephony costs by cutting back on exchange lines without cutting back access for our Customers. Using IP trunks we direct most of our outgoing calls through our high speed broadband link which also allows us to communicate between offices at zero cost without touching BT at all!

Ask us how you can achieve these same benefits.

Jim White
Boffins Computer Workshops

Boffins help Save Costs With Small Business Server 2008

The latest release of Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 can help your team make the most of flexible working opportunities.

This upgrade of the server software makes it easier for staff to access files and emails while out on the road or working from home via their laptop or mobile phone. It also ensures that the company’s data is stored, shared and backed up efficiently, making it easier to protect valuable information from external threats such as viruses.

Whether you are currently running a series of individual PCs, or already operate a server, the upgrade promises to dramatically improve efficiency, as well as saving on the cost of individual software licences. Contact us for more details.

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The perfect antivirus partner

Boffins are now offering the award-winning Kaspersky Lab range of antivirus software, with products specifically designed to protect small and larger businesses against ever-growing online threats that can disable IT systems.

Kaspersky, which began in 1997 in Moscow, is now an internationally recognised antivirus developer, with Microsoft certified status, and protects the communications and IT infrastructure of numerous major corporations, including Airbus and BBC Worldwide.

The company is particularly strong on Open Space security, covering laptops and smart phones against threats, when they are outside company premises.

As a Kaspersky partner, Boffins are equipped to advise you on the best protection for your system, as well as providing the software and full installation support.

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Email on the Move

While many people understand what a BlackBerry is, it’s not the only option for mobile computing and email.

Recent developments in Windows software now make it easier than ever to set up a wide range of handsets for mobile email, without going to the expense and complication of additional BlackBerry server software.

Boffins is now assisting a growing number of clients adding smart phones for staff, linked to a corporate network through Windows Business Server and Windows Exchange Servers. The system works with dozens of handset models, which we can supply if required, uses existing security and anti-virus settings, letting staff send and receive email while out on the road.

The Windows Mobile and inclusive Office Mobile experience allows you to view not only mailbox inboxes but almost every part of Exchange mailboxes. It presents a similar ‘Outlook’ style approach to your PC and includes calendar, contacts and tasks and the ability to read and create Word and Excel documents.

This functionality surpasses that of Blackberry, without the need for additional utilities and servers such as the Blackberry enterprise server. With a Microsoft Exchange mail server in your office all this functionality is already available to you out of the box; the only cost is your choice of handset and phone connection tariff.

At the latest count, there were 64 different Windows mobile based phones on the market, so if it choice that you want, why have a solution that limits you?

Save Cost With SBS 2008

PRESS RELEASE: Boffins Computer Workshops is helping local businesses save money and sharpen up their IT infrastructure, by implementing the newly released Microsoft Small Business Server 2008.

SBS 2008 provides a package of server software products including Windows 2008 Server and Exchange Server 2007 at a significantly reduced cost when compared to purchasing the licenses individually.

“For a smaller business, moving up from a series of individual PCs to a server-based system is a vital step towards increasing efficiency,” says Tony Dawes, Boffins’ technical director. “A server can help a company with flexible working, enabling its staff to access files and emails while out on the road or working from home via their laptop or mobile phone. It also ensures that the company’s data is stored, shared and backed up efficiently, making it easier to protect valuable information from external threats such as viruses.”

“A Small Business Server solution allows companies to start with a small network and grow very easily” Tony adds. “You can simply add users and applications as you grow and with SBS 2008 many of the limitations of earlier versions of the software suite, such as individual email storage space, have been removed. ”

Tony and the Boffins team has undergone full training and is now qualified to install, configure and manage the latest release of Small Business Server 2008 and its bigger brother Microsoft Essential Business Server 2008. As a Microsoft certified partner, Boffins guarantee to provide, for companies small and large, a highly professional level of support across the Business Server range, Boffins already looks after more than 150 clients across the south east, and consistent retraining is crucial to its commitment to deliver timely on-site and remote support to businesses in the area

The Boffins team includes engineers with more than 100 years of IT experience between them. A newly opened office in Knowl Hill, near Maidenhead, is Boffins’ second location, and it is looking to build on the company’s services offered from its base in Haddenham, near Thame.

Says Tony: “Boffins has grown by delivering great service to our loyal customer base in Buckinghamshire, and we are now looking forward to making a similar impact in the Thames Valley.”

Aerospace Fasteners

CASE STUDY: Established in 1993, Aerospace Fasteners is a stockist and distributor of quality fasteners, components and seals for the aerospace, defence and motorsport industries, supplying products from the world’s leading manufacturers of aerospace parts.

 

Experience counts

Aerospace Fasteners’ highly experienced sales staff are experts in their field, boasting the engineering skills required to offer first-class assistance and advice on product selection.

Long-term partner

As part of an overall supplier appraisal, Aerospace Fasteners recently reviewed its IT support and decided it was very happy to stick with Boffins, which has been supplying IT support to the group for a number of years. “Boffins has been doing a great job for us for a long time,” says the group’s sales manager, Dean Gendall. “For instance, when our company relocated – which always proves problematic – Boffins did a sterling job of ensuring that we were up-and-running again in no time. There was no way we were going to get in a new supplier”.

Getting on with business

Because Aerospace Fasteners’ business is so client-focused the company needs to be able to totally rely on its IT system, which is why it originally brought in the specialist support offered by Boffins. “These days we can just forget about our IT and get on with looking after the customer and running the business,” says Dean.

Forward-thinking

What the group has been particularly impressed with is Boffins’ proactive approach to trouble-shooting. “If we have any kind of problem then we call and they get it sorted immediately – usually via remote management – and they don’t blind us with science but instead speak to us in layman’s terms. They are very responsive and the whole thing is seamless. But what is really brilliant is that they are constantly checking to ensure that problems don’t occur in the first place. A lot of work is done behind the scenes on the network and desktops without our knowledge to prevent issues arising, plus there is a comprehensive monthly check. To be honest, we have had no issues or downtime for four-to-five years, which tells its own story.”

Staying up-to-date

Dean explains that Boffins also conducts an annual review to ensure that IT systems and equipment is always up-to-date and that the company continues to get the best price on its technology.

Final verdict

“I would recommend Boffins to any company,” says Dean. “They are both highly professional and excellent value for money. We never suffer from IT worries or hassles, leaving us to get on with our day jobs.”