Getting a Handle
on E-Mail Storage

E-mail has become so ingrained in the way your company does business that you probably can't imagine working without it.

However, for all its convenience, e-mail can also be a problem. As the daily barrage of messages passes back and forth, in-boxes get clogged, and before you know it, you're facing a storage problem. Luckily, there are many ways to solve that problem — and not all of them involve spending thousands of dollars on technology.

Here are some tips on finding the right solution for you.
 

Welcome to our Team

New Office Manager -
Lisa Lambert

As many of you know our Office Manager, Sarah Radspinner, will be leaving Progressive at the end of January in order to pursue her own business. We have hired Lisa Lambert, who is currently in training. Lisa and Sarah are working hard to ensure a smooth transition. We are very excited to have Lisa on our team! Please ensure that after January 30th all correspondence that usually goes to Sarah is directed to Lisa Lambert.

Also, if you would like to unsubscribe or add subscribers to this newsletter, please email Lisa at llambert@pc-net.com.
 

Upcoming Technology

Building on Windows Vista, Microsoft has released Windows 7 to partners for review. Keep an eye out for this new release that is coming soon.

On behalf of our team here at Progressive, Mark and I would like to welcome you to our inaugural newsletter called “The Progressive News”. Our goal with this newsletter is to deliver useful and insightful information about the current and upcoming trends in the IT industry. Our intent with this newsletter is to send it out every other month to ensure that we are providing valuable information and to keep the newsletter short and concise for a quick and easy review.

As you read through this edition of our newsletter, please feel free to provide us with feedback on the articles we have included and also include any additional information that you would like to see in future newsletters as well. Please send your comments or questions to llambert@pc-net.com.

In closing, we want to be sure that we take this opportunity to express our gratitude for having the chance to work with you. In addition, please don’t hesitate to let us know if there is anything more we can be doing to assist you. We are hopeful you will find this newsletter to be beneficial to your organization and we hope you enjoy “The Progressive News”.

Thank you,
Mark Michal and Lisa Mitchell
 

Introduction
As the volume of spam escalates and spammers continue to become more technologically savvy, keeping spam out of inboxes is a growing challenge. Small and mid-sized businesses are relying on email more than ever, but many are unequipped to deal with spam. IT administrators at many SMBs are dealing with these seemingly competing tasks:

• Safeguard business from email threats
• Preserve free flow of vital email from legitimate sources
• Do this with as little administration as possible

Options for SMBs
The changing threat landscape, coupled with the lack of IT staff and funds can make stopping spam seem out of reach for many SMBs. This is not the case, however, as there are three types of anti-spam options available to SMBs today.

Read on for more on how to control Spam.
 

Outsourcing your IT brings additional business value
by Stuart R. Crawford, V.P., IT Matters, Inc.

Businesses today wrestle and grapple with the thought of hiring their own technology support staff to support their daily need for IT support without fully understanding the risks and the costs associated with having their own team of technology professionals.

Business owners, C level execs and Managers are attracted to the idea of having a team or a consultant readily available within shouting distance down the hall, basically having an IT resource committed to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, many of today’s business owners across the country are not aware of the total risks their business is exposed to by electing to bring their technology support in-house.

More often than not it is purely a cost based decision, on the surface it may appear to be more cost effective to hire a consultant or employee who is committed as a full time employee. CFOs and Accounting Managers often look only at the cost of having their IT outsourced and or attracted to hiring someone for a few thousand dollars a month as part of their staff will save their company in the long run. This is not the case in reality and by having a full time employee will actually end up costing business today more in the long run.

So what are the advantages of having an IT Partner who focuses on delivering a complete managed technology solution? There are a number of immediate benefits over having a full time employee.