Sbi has achieved the the Microsoft Unified Communications Solutions competency, and is certified by Microsoft to provide services to customers  in planning, deploying, and managing solutions for email and calendaring, presence and instant messaging (IM), unified messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call management, and audio-video-Web conferencing, all using Microsoft Unified Communications technologies, including Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Communications Server.

“As technologies behind Instant Messaging, Social Networks, and YouTube are finding their ways into Corporate networks, users demand the same realtime interactive experience they have at home, at work. With Unified Communications certifications from industry leaders Microsoft and Cisco, Sbi is uniquely positioned to deliver secure Corporate Unified Communications solutions.” stated Sbi General Manager Melanie Burns.

Systems Business Integration (Sbi) has been a trusted advisor to Bermuda's largest companies for over 10 years. Sbi is a Microsoft Gold Partner, Citrix Gold Partner, Cisco Premier Partner, IBM Business Partner, HP PartnerOne, Equallogic, Juniper, Teneros and a VMWare Enterprise partner, providing best of breed technology solutions to businesses and institutions based in Bermuda. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, Professional Services, Security, Networking, Unified Communications, and Managed Services.

The pervasive IT Trends for 2008 that will have a direct impact on customers in Bermuda are Unified Communications, High Availability solutions for email, Virtualization imbedded in the Microsoft Operating System, and stronger demands for inexpensive and reliable Storage and Backup.

Unified Communications and Collaboration: Cisco continues to release products that reduce cost and enhance productivity through convergence of voice, video and applications all running over the same network. With the release of Exchange 2007, Office Communication Server, and Roundtable, Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet.  Technologies behind Instant Messaging, Social Networks, and YouTube are finding their ways into Corporate networks, as users demand the same realtime interactive experience they have at home, at work.

Email Uptime: "My blackberry is not working" or "I can't get my email" are nails on a chalkboard to IT managers. Email is the preferred communication vehicle for most companies, and users demand 100% uptime. High Availability and Disaster Recovery appliances from companies like Teneros solve this problem and will be more in demand going forward.

Virtualization 2.0.  With the release of Windows Server 2008 Microsoft is going after VMWare and Citrix by imbedding Virtualization in the OS.  Microsoft does this by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine. You can also efficiently run multiple operating systems—Windows, Linux and others—in parallel on a single server.

Storage: With today's never-ending stream of asynchronous communications, including emails, vmails, photos, video, and large email attachments, businesses suffer from having too much "stuff" to store and are running out of closet space. In the words of Woody Allen, "the food was lousy and there was too much of it." The CAGR for storage is 68%, while admin costs run seven times the cost of hardware.  The emerging leaders for storage technologies are iSCSI through companies like Equallogic. iSCSI lets businesses create IP based SANs that deliver the performance of Fibre Channel, but at a fraction of the cost, enabling companies to establish low cost but elegant SANs and affordable solutions for Disaster Recovery

Backup:  With the rapid growth of storage, traditional backup mechanisms are proving ineffective.  As backup windows shrink and the volume of data to be backed up increases, backing up to tape as a recovery mechanism is becoming increasingly impractical.  Products that leverage disk-to-disk as the primary backup and restore mechanism, such as Microsoft Data Protection Manager and IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, allow a company to meet these demands.  There are also hardware solutions such as Data Domain that can provide additional compression.  Tape will likely continue in the short term as an archival medium.

Thomas Reisinger has recently joined the Sbi team. Thomas has been a System Engineer/Consultant for over 10 years, and has held the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification in Routing and Switching for the last 6 years. In 2007 Thomas undertook a very extensive and detailed Juniper Networks and Foundry Networks training in both Dubai and Cairo and achieved additional pre-sales, sales, post-sales vendor certifications.

Security and high availability are primary areas of focus for Thomas, strengthened by his experience with brand leaders Cisco, Juniper, Foundry, Nokia/Checkpoint, Microsoft, Linux, and RSA . As you would expect for someone with his qualifications and experience, Thomas incorporates other network areas, such as routing and switching, VoIP and Unified Communications within his area of professional expertise.

Sbi Achieves Cisco Premier Partner Certification
January 2008

Systems Business Integration (Sbi), the only Cisco Partner in Bermuda to have  achieved the Advanced Routing and Switching Specialization from Cisco, has now also achieved Cisco Premier Partner Certification . Cisco certifications and specializations prove that certified partners have the sales, technical, and lifecycle services expertise to plan, design, implement, and operate business solutions in customer environments. Specializations are earned by meeting requirements in two key areas: role requirements, and training and exam requirements.

Cisco Premier Certification helps Sbi deliver the following benefits to customers in Bermuda:

• Value: Cisco Premier Certified Partners have access to sales, technical, and lifecycle services training and resources, which help them more effectively sell, deliver, and support Cisco solutions to our joint customers. By combining this leading-edge Cisco expertise with a partner’s value-added services portfolio, Cisco Premier Certified Partners are able to strategically position their company as a customer’s trusted technology advisor.

• Proven technical expertise: Sbi holds the Advanced Routing and Switching, SMB Select, Express Unified Communications, and Express Foundation Specializations. These specializations enable Sbi to offer integrated solutions in  Unified Communications, Routing and Switching, WLAN, and security technologies that customers in Bermuda demand.

• Focus on customer satisfaction: Independently audited customer satisfaction surveys – the same ones Cisco uses to audit itself - help customers feel confident that Cisco Certified Partners have the capabilities and proven success to meet their needs.

Sbi has on staff Dr Jon Morris, a Cisco CCIE Voice certified engineer who also has a PhD in Networking, and has recently hired Thomas Reisinger, who is a Cisco CCIE. Sbi maintains a Cisco practice of 6 highly qualified Cisco engineers. Sbi is also the only Cisco Partner in Bermuda to have achieved the new Cisco Select certification, with specializations in SMB and Express Unified Communications.

Sbi has invested in Cisco products and services as a core competency and was the first Cisco Partner in Bermuda to achieve the IP Communications and Routing and Switching specializations in 2005. "The achievement of the Premier Certification, on top of the Advanced Routing and Switching Specialization will help us capitalize on a tremendous growth opportunity for our company,"  said Colin Searle, General Manager of Sbi. "We have invested strategically in training and certifying our staff on Cisco Routing and Switching, and Unified Communication products and services from Cisco and Microsoft. Our Customers are reliant on increasingly complex local and global networks, and our goal is to allow them to take advantage of the capabilities of Advanced Technology solutions. We believe that this new wave of communication products will nurture the growth and continued success of our customers. "

In a recent blog by Alan Cohen posted on the Cisco.com website, Cohen states " As companies become flatter, more global and more decentralized, unified communications can play a key role in re-establishing the urgency and "body English" of business. The reason why video and mobile communications technologies (such as TelePresence and Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator) are getting so much attention and demand is because they bridge us back to a more human time of business: when people worked with other people more than when they worked with machines."