First Quarter, 2009

Sirius Becomes First IBM Business Partner Certified for Dynamic Infrastructure Skills

In February of 2009, Sirius became the first IBM Business Partner to be certified in IBM’s new Dynamic Infrastructure Specialty Program. Through the program, Sirius will work with IBM to help clients build a new, more dynamic infrastructure that will bring more intelligence, automation, integration and efficiencies to the digital and physical worlds. The program is designed to enable clients to use powerful computing systems to manage and gain insight from the increasing number of components in their physical infrastructure that are being instrumented with intelligent sensors.

How Can System z Services from Sirius Help You Exploit IBM’s Dynamic Infrastructure?

By now, you have probably heard about IBM’s vision for a smarter planet with their four major initiatives: Dynamic Infrastructure, New Intelligence, Green and Beyond, and Smart Work. Dynamic Infrastructure is a way to help build a smarter infrastructure to reduce costs, manage risk and improve service. Here are some of the ways the Sirius System z Services team can help you achieve that smarter infrastructure:

Sirius IT Optimization Services and Solutions

In the current economic slowdown, most companies are facing drastic cuts in IT budgets, and IT departments are expected to do “more with less.” Under these constraints, how do you get more out of the infrastructure you already have in your data center?

Sirius Computer Solutions recommends a strategic investment in IT optimization solutions and services to help you achieve the following results:
• Reduced operational costs
• Improved IT productivity and performance
• Business services that are more agile and efficient
• Improved availability and recovery capability of IT services and applications

IBM Rolls Out New Enhancements to System Storage DS8000

IBM recently announced a broad set of solution introductions and enhancements to their System Storage family of offerings in conjunction with their Information Infrastructure initiative -- which is itself a key component of the IBM Dynamic Infrastructure (DI) campaign. These are the latest in a series of IBM Information Infrastructure announcements, which started with IBM's introduction of the initiative last Fall. The initiative is designed to orient all of IBM's System Storage development and marketing around four key, client-driven demands: Compliance, Availability, Retention and Security. IBM will aggregate future introductions and announcements such that each one includes a comprehensive set of enhancements touching each of these components.

Partnering with an Information Management Trusted Advisor

In today’s competitive environment, every business is struggling to get the most value for every dollar spent. In terms of managing the information within your enterprise, this can be a particularly daunting task requiring the organization to address questions like:
• What do we do with all these customer papers, letters, invoices, etc.?
• How do I relate customer information within my computer systems to the paper documents I get -- and more importantly, to the process of providing service to my customer?
• Can I REALLY trust the data I have in my computer systems, when I look at different reports and get different answers?
• How can my organization stay compliant with federal, state, local and regulatory authorities in a cost-effective manner?

Using VMware Site Recovery Manager to Simplify DR

Few things are scarier than the prospect of having to recover an entire site after a disaster, and the addition of virtual infrastructure to your environment may further complicate the situation. VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is designed to simplify and accelerate disaster recovery for VMware infrastructures, and it also includes nondisruptive testing so you can make sure your site recovery plan will work before you need to use it.

Virtualization May Be Magic...
But Is Your Virtualized Data Fully Resilient?

Virtualization technologies are now finding their way into mainstream use as the most transformative force in business since the introduction of the personal computer. As the PC did upon its debut, virtualization puts an exponential increase in computing power at the disposal of just about every organization, dramatically reducing costs while providing significant increases in deployment flexibility and speed. But while your strategic investment in virtualization is prudent, this investment also comes with increased exposure, as this new virtualized environment must always remain current, complete and available. Now more than ever, you need a solid business resiliency plan for protecting that virtualized data.

Ensure the Success of Your Next Major Technology Investment with a Complimentary IBM Executive Visioning Workshop

The ability to survive corporate budget cuts will depend largely on the sponsoring executive’s ability to align the proposed project with the organization’s current and future business strategy and a quantifiable ROI. Integrating technology spending with overall business goals has become a baseline expectation with corporate executives, and in today’s economy there is no room for error. IBM and Sirius can help you build an irrefutable plan to ensure that your next technology project is funded.

Do You Want to Save 55% On Your Security Costs?

Today’s security challenges are cost-intensive, require special skills and training, and demand up-to-the-minute security intelligence. To keep ahead of the constant, ongoing stream of security threats that face your organization, you need a dedicated security partner with a proven MSS track record, its own security intelligence and R&D capabilities. One that offers product-agnostic, end-to-end security solutions with guaranteed, performance-based SLAs. You need Managed Security Services from IBM ISS.

Trim the Fat by Leveraging Oracle Technology to Work Leaner

As your business needs evolve, so do your Oracle licensing requirements. Buying software is frequently laden with complex decisions about software components, licensing and terms. Even if you already own Oracle products, it can be challenging and potentially time-consuming to manage Oracle's software licensing agreements. You may have license distribution challenges, which can lead to license shortages. And if you own older license metrics, you may unknowingly be in breach of compliance. These types of licensing situations all have a direct impact on your Oracle support costs. To save money and ensure compliance, you need to optimize these arrangements.

New IBM Tivoli Storage Manager V6.1 Delivers Next-Generation Unified Recovery Management Capabilities

Since its inception, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager has been a highly scalable and available data protection solution. Now, with the release of Tivoli Storage Manager V6.1, IBM is taking data protection scalability to the next level with a new relational database based on IBM DB2 technology, which will allow you to store many more objects and manage more data. Greater availability is delivered through enhancements such as online, automated database reorganization. In addition, increased scalability and the ability to leverage the latest in server technology helps deliver increased performance for backup and recovery processes.

IBM Ends Support for V5R3

IBM has announced that it will stop supporting V5R3 for System i effective April 30, 2009. After this date, IBM will no longer take support calls from clients running this version of the System i OS, and clients will not be allowed to download further PTFs. Although IBM does offer a support extension for V5R3, it can be expensive. But Sirius can help, with our packaged upgrade service to V5R4.

System z Software Currency: Why It Is Important to You

It seems like everyone is trying to do more with less these days -- less money, less resources, less time, etc. This forces everyone to make decisions about what is the most important activity that needs to be accomplished. In light of all these challenges, why is migrating to newer versions of System z software one of your most important investments?

IBM Global Financing Introduces JumpStart Rates

While the federal government is passing legislation to jumpstart the economy, IBM Global Financing (IGF) is helping companies jumpstart their own businesses, with enhanced rates and flexible payment options that will let you create your own economic stimulus package!

With IBM JumpStart Rates, credit-qualified clients can take advantage of enhanced low-rate financing on terms of 24 to 60 months on fair market value (FMV) leases. Like all FMV lease offerings from IGF, you get the added advantages of affordable monthly payments, protection from technology obsolescence, and flexible end-of-lease options. IGF can also offer one-, two- or three-month deferrals -- ideal when you’re under budget constraints in the near term -- or step payments to better match your lease payments to anticipated cash flows.