Newsletter


Download / Print Volume 2, Issue 4 of FusionWare Newsletter (PDF).

Newsletter Archives »


Letter from the President

PresidentWith 2008 coming to a close, I would like to take the time to look back over the year and review the highlights, achievements and changes within the organization.

I would like to call attention to the strong relationships we have developed with numerous new business partners to strengthen our product and services offerings. For example, earlier this year we signed a partnership agreement with DataCore Software, which enabled us to broaden the range of virtualization products that we can deliver as demand for virtualization solutions increases. We also partnered with companies such as GuardianEdge to augment our security and data protection offerings.

FusionWare/Pacific Software Associates was also pleased to announce a significant expansion of our professional services capability in 2008. This meant that our customers could now obtain hardware, software and services that meet their IT requirements from a single vendor partner who can take complete end-to-end responsibility for their project. The services we offer are extensive and designed to address areas where you need to maintain your level of service while containing or controlling your costs. In an ever tightening economy, our service offerings present an excellent value proposition for many of our clients.

Examples of our professional services offerings:

  • On Demand Technical Support
  • Service Desk Support
  • IBM Support
  • Remote Monitoring and Management
  • Microsoft Exchange Administration

Last quarter, we also announced that we expanded our hardware/software and professional services offerings to provide reliable and cost-effective hosting solutions that are completely scalable to any organization’s needs. Whether you need support with your email operations or your corporate Web site, we can provide hosting services for almost any scale and budget. We offer a wide range of hosting capabilities designed to support Microsoft Hosted Messaging and Collaboration solutions, as well as open source solutions that employ Linux, Unix, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP), such as Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise.

Over the past year, FusionWare/Pacific Software has significantly expanded our product and service offering to better serve the needs of our clients. Our team of professionals is looking forward to building upon our relationship with you and hope you share our enthusiasm about our future. We appreciate the confidence that you have placed in us and will continue to work hard to earn your trust. We wish a happy and successful New Year to all of our customers, vendors and partners.

Warmest regards,
Alan Davis
CEO
FusionWare Corporation
Pacific Software Associates



New Partners

New Technology Partners

Image
DigitalPersona, Inc., is the leading provider of fingerprint identity solutions for consumers, enterprises and custom application developers.

Image
GuardianEdge is the leading provider in endpoint data protection for the enterprise.


New Strategic Alliance Partners

Image
COMSYS IT Partners, Inc. is a leading information technology services company with 47 offices across the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) and offices in Canada and the U.K.


Image
Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis specializing in initiatives ranging from web development and systems integration to network security and technical support.


Image
TechFORCE, operating in Norcross, Georgia, is a Technology Service Provider that strategically aligns with partners to deliver optimal customer service and support.



Feature: Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Solutions

Image

Business and technology leaders in today’s troubled economic environment are increasingly looking for ways to save money, improve productivity and free cash flow. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, FusionWare is pleased to offer our customers Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions, which are business assets that pay off in the near term and over the long haul by helping your company drive productivity, maximize efficiency, and adapt and grow your business in today’s fast-changing market.

How do Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions save your company money?

By Increasing Operational Efficiencies:

Dynamics ERP:

  • Automates and brings all your business-critical operations together to produce maximum efficiency/productivity
  • Helps you respond rapidly to the changing demands of your business
  • Provides you with more complete insight across your organization (real-time data) so you and your people can make timely and informed decisions with increased confidence.

Dynamics CRM works to:

  • Eliminate contact data reentry due to integration with Outlook
  • Achieve rapid adoption across a decentralized enterprise
  • Track and manage customer opportunities and relationships
  • Give users visibility into the data needed to gain more accurate demand forecastingImprove performance and cost-effectiveness
  • Enable rapid response and closure to customer inquiries

By Increasing Employee Productivity

Dynamics ERP helps because:

  • It’s familiar to your people: it looks the same and works the same as other Microsoft products we already use (such as Microsoft Office) , so your people already know how to navigate it => reduces training time (quicker ROI) and ensures high user adoption => frees up time to focus on what matters most: your business
  • It utilizes a Role Tailored user experience enables your people to easily perform tasks and access information relevant to them
  • It offers supporting workflow processing to eliminate manual, inefficient processes

Dynamics CRM works to:

  • Centralize customer data for easy, reliable access
  • Offer workflows to eliminate manual, inefficient processes
  • Improve field productivity and reduced overhead

By Leveraging Existing IT Investment/Fits with Your Systems

Dynamics ERP is able to:

  • Work the way your current technology works so it fits easily into your systems, helping to maximize your current investments in Microsoft Technology => greater ROI
  • Provide tight integration with the broader suite of Microsoft products. Microsoft Dynamics ERP simplifies access to data with familiar Microsoft tools, including Microsoft Office Excel, Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

By Retaining Customers and Revenues

Dynamics CRM will:

  • Enable rapid analysis and response to customer inquiries
  • Streamline the management of customer relationships
  • Connect customer data to improve the client experience
  • Build sustained relationships and new opportunities
  • Drive customer satisfaction and retention


Take advantage of Microsoft’s 0% financing to new Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers

ImageIf your company is interested in purchasing Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions, now is the time to take advantage of Microsoft’s 0% financing promotion offer, which is available from now until March 20, 2009. No deposit or down payments are required. Subject to credit approval. The limited time offer is available to new Microsoft Dynamics customers who receive Microsoft Financing credit approval on all purchases of $20,000 (U.S.) up to $1 million (U.S.).

Contact our Microsoft sales team today at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics products and how you can take advantage of this limited time offer.



Spotlight: FusionWare Security Services

ImageNetwork and information security are strategic initiatives that must be managed effectively in corporate environments today. Who are you going to trust to help protect your organization’s network and data from unauthorized access? FusionWare offers a full line of security solutions, leveraging our many years of experience and working with industry leading products from some of the most trusted companies in the marketplace.

FusionWare’s team of senior, experienced and certified security experts are here to assist you in developing your security capabilities to provide a viable solution that will protect your systems from all forms of attack, and dramatically reduce your risk and exposure in today’s interconnected world. In addition to assisting you in developing your corporate security strategy from governance through day-to-day compliance, our team also has significant experience in the use of specific technologies, such as biometrics.

Rely on FusionWare’s expertise, methodologies, certification, tools and experience to assess the state of your data security, provide a remediation for problems, and implement an ongoing program that evolves with new threats. Whether your organization’s network infrastructure needs to comply with security regulations like HIPAA, GLBA, SOX or HSPD-12, or adhere to a security information standard like ISO 17799, we have the certified personnel and technology to meet your requirements.

In the critical area of information security, FusionWare’s services include:

  • Vulnerability Assessment
  • Application Assessment
  • Web Assessment
  • Security Risk Assessment
  • Regulation Compliance
  • Physical Security Assessment
  • Penetration Testing/Ethical Hacking
  • Policy Assessment/Design/Creation
  • Incident Response
  • Wireless Security Assessment
  • Security Training
  • Customized Security Engagement
  • Biometric Authentication
  • GuardianEdge Implementation

FusionWare’s security services are backed by a deep knowledge of industry and regulatory standards, and implemented with industry standard tools. For more information about FusionWare’s security services, please contact us today at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 503-597-5000.



GuardianEdge Contribution: Safeguard Intellectual Property

ImageThe proliferation of mobile endpoint computing devices has dramatically increased the availability and exposure of corporate information, creating new challenges for IT security. Each day, millions of laptops, portable hard drives and smart phones go into the field—outside established security perimeters where they are vulnerable to thieves, competitors, and adversaries. If lost or stolen, these endpoint devices could lead to the exposure of an organization’s intellectual property and other types of confidential business information. As a result, many organizations are increasingly focusing their information risk management strategies on protecting data stored on endpoints or portable media devices.

Laptop PCs, flash memory cards, portable hard drives and smartphones can store massive amounts of data, and are often capable of accessing network resources from outside the corporate firewall. While many large organizations are prepared to write off the loss of hardware assets in the field as a cost of doing business, the theft of the data stored on those hardware assets can have a devastating impact.

The potential harm may include loss of proprietary company information to competitors, the compromise of national secrets, or the loss of important personal employee information that can be used to facilitate attacks on corporate networks. In some cases the loss of data could have devastating secondary consequences: critical technology data or information relating to security measures, for example, could fall into the hands of terrorists or others who would intend harm.

Many organizations have internal policies that prohibit users from accessing or storing sensitive information outside the corporate firewall, but it is very difficult to enforce these policies in a uniform manner. Security policy enforcement is also a technical challenge, given the heterogeneous nature of endpoints and the sheer number of devices in use. And, as evidenced by the growing number of data security breach disclosures resulting from the loss or theft of laptops, employees and consultants are constantly taking sensitive data on the road or to their homes, despite corporate security policies that prohibit such activities.

To read more, visit the GuardianEdge site by clicking here.

ImageTo download our professional services overview data sheet, click here. (PDF - 606 KB)

FusionWare is a proud partner of GuardianEdge, the leading provider in endpoint data protection for the enterprise. More than two million users around the world depend on GuardianEdge solutions to safeguard sensitive and proprietary information, to ensure compliance with regulations for maintaining consumer privacy and to enable secure enterprise mobility. The company’s endpoint data protection solutions have been deployed by leading organizations including Lockheed Martin Corporation, Deutsche Bank AG and Humana Inc., as well as numerous agencies in the U.S. departments of Veteran Affairs, Defense, State and Education.



Announcement: Upgrade for IBM iSeries Customers

Image Attention to our valued IBM iSeries customers: As many of you know, IBM periodically discontinues support for older software releases. When a software release reaches the end of its support cycle, direct upgrades to subsequent releases are only available for a limited time.

IBM recently announced that support for its i5/OS release V5R3 will be discontinued effective April 30, 2009. This affects not only the operating system, but some older hardware models as well. Hardware that will not support the i5/OS and OS/400 release V5R4 (the follow-on to release V5R3) include models 170, 600, 620 and 720. Since the announcement by IBM, Pacific Software Associates / FusionWare has begun performing upgrades to i5/OS release V5R4 or V6R1 for some of our clients. Typically, version upgrades require approximately 20 hours of a systems expert in software support to execute the upgrade, depending on the size and capabilities of the system being upgraded. As part of the upgrade process, we also recommend loading the latest IBM Cumulative PTF package so that you are as up to date as possible at the end of the upgrade process.

If you would like to schedule an upgrade or talk to one of our certified, experienced iSeries technicians to answer questions about what is required to complete the upgrade process and how it may impact your particular i5 environment, call us at 503-597-5000.

Our certified i5/OS specialists are happy to answer any questions you may have.



Recap: FusionWare Exhibits and Presents at ITEC Portland 2008

Image
Earlier this month, FusionWare exhibited and hosted a presentation at ITEC Portland 2008. The two-day event was a great opportunity to connect with attendees and provide information on our latest professional services, hosted solutions, hardware and software offerings. The successful event brought in more than 750 attendees and more than 55 exhibitors from the Portland metro area and beyond.

Chad Prucha, Senior Solutions Architect at FusionWare, was our speaker for a presentation on Cloud Computing called “New Enterprise Strategies – Rethinking IT.” Attendees of the session came away with a greater understanding of the properties and ideals of cloud computing, components of cloud computing architecture, and how cloud computing serves as the bridge to new technologies. If you were unable to attend the session, please feel free to download Chad’s presentation on cloud computing here.

ITEC Portland was a successful event for FusionWare, enabling relationship building with our core audiences. We look forward to participating in more technology events in 2009.