Vicinity Limited Achieves a Microsoft Silver Volume Licensing Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network

Vicinity Limited Earns Distinction through Consistent Customer Commitment

Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria — 17 February, 2012 — Vicinity Limited, the Complete IT Support Company, today announced it has achieved a Silver Volume Licensing competency, demonstrating its ability to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. To earn a Microsoft silver competency, partners must successfully demonstrate expertise through rigorous exams, culminating in Microsoft certifications. And to ensure the highest quality of services, Microsoft requires customer references for successful implementation and customer satisfaction.

Vicinity is a leader in providing technology implementation and support services to small and medium sized enterprises. The company already has the Small Business Specialist certification as well as the Midmarket Solution Provider competency, both from Microsoft. This new competency assures clients of proficiency and expertise in proffering licensing solutions to small-to-medium businesses. Volume Licensing experts offer informed advice on all Microsoft products, including the right licenses to access Microsoft Software. Vicinity is able to handle clients’ software acquisitions over time, ensuring effective software management.

“This Microsoft Silver Volume Licensing competency showcases our expertise in today’s technology market and demonstrates our knowledge of Microsoft and its products,” said Sola Sorinmade, Sales engineer (and a Microsoft Certified Volume Licensing Specialist). “Our plan is to accelerate our customers’ success by serving as technology advisors for their business demands.”

“By achieving a silver competency, organizations have proven their expertise in specific technology areas, placing them among the top 5 percent of Microsoft partners worldwide,” said Jon Roskill, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “When customers look for an IT partner to meet their business challenges, choosing a company that has attained Microsoft competencies is a smart move. These are highly qualified professionals with access to Microsoft technical support and product teams.”

Attaining the Volume Licensing competency demonstrates partner expertise in acquiring and managing software licenses. Equipped with exclusive training, the latest software and support, partners help customers simplify licensing decisions.

The Microsoft Partner Network helps partners strengthen their capabilities to showcase leadership in the marketplace on the latest technology, to better serve customers and, with 640,000 Microsoft partners in their ecosystem, to easily connect with one of the most active, diverse networks in the world.

Vicinity Limited is a multi‐disciplinary IT Solutions firm that supplies, installs, integrates and maintains hardware and software systems for small and mid-sized business computing, information and communication solutions. Vicinity understands the challenges facing small and medium sized businesses and provides value-for-money services and solutions with prompt and courteous service through the ComCare managed IT support program for SMBs all over Lagos.

Vicinity specializes in helping companies gain control over their systems and their data by implementing structured networks, server management, planned backups and data recovery. We are experts in all the Microsoft Small Business solutions including Windows Small Business Server, Storage Server and Home Server.

For more information:

Sola Sorinmade, Vicinity Limited, 0709 500 8895, solas@vicinitylimited.com

Recently, I found myself in one of those awkward moments. You know the kind I mean… something has gone exactly the way you predicted and your first instinct is to crow “TOLD you so!” But, much as you’d love to, you can’t. The fulfilment of your ‘prophecy’ involved a lot of pain for the other party and now that it’s come true, gloating would be like rubbing salt in the wound.

A little background… a client we’ve had for a little over two years has consistently refused to be sold on the idea of a server. The client is a small branding and advertising firm, specializing in packaging design. They have  about 12 users in all made up of mostly graphic artists, which includes the boss, plus a couple of people in admin and a couple in sales.

I’d made what I thought was a convincing case for Windows Small Business Server 2008. The clincher for me was the ease with which User Folder Redirect and Windows Server Backup would automatically secure their data in case of disaster. As the icing on the cake I also offered to throw in the initial set-up of SharePoint so they could have an internal website and shared workspaces. For the SharePoint deployment the killer for me would be the simple approval workflows that I had planned. I thought the boss would love it as he personally signs off on just about everything that comes out of their place.

I put together a nice proposal talking up all the positives and sent it over to them (yes, I sent hard copy, trust me, they’re dinosaurs like that) but it just didn’t go anywhere… I followed up a few times but in the end I let it die. The boss couldn’t justify the expense and they continued to use external hard drives to do individual PC backups. Manually. Insert ‘astonished/horrified’ emoticon here.

Fast forward a year and the inevitable happened. Rather dramatically too. The client shares a floor with a micro-finance institution and one night burglars broke into the MFI. The burglars were working on a tip-off from an insider that there was a substantial amount of cash on the premises that night. Unknown to them the cash had been evacuated and they discovered there was nothing else in the MFI’s office that was both worth taking and portable.

So, the frustrated criminals broke into our clients’ office also just to see if they could salvage something out of their expedition. They took two laptops and two external hard drives, all belonging to the senior graphic artists. The hard drives contained the most recent backups of the stolen laptops. There were other no current backups (of course not), and the artists were both involved in very important work for clients. There were no copies of the files they were both working on anywhere else on the network. Disaster? Most definitely. Chances of recovery? Slim to none. The moral of the story? Implement an AUTOMATED backup for all systems that contain important business data.

And yes, put a documented Disaster Recovery plan in place and test it. No business is too small for one and they can be inexpensive to achieve. You don’t have to get a server and a full domain network; not even any of the specialized small business servers from Microsoft and other vendors. It can be as simple as a good NAS (Network Attached Storage) with bundled automatic backup software. QNAP and Iomega both have excellent offerings.

As for the client, well, we’ve resumed the server discussion and, strangely, they seem to be all ears now… I think they’ll make a perfect fit for Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.

]]> http://www.vicinitylimited.com/automated-backup-and-disaster-recovery-essential-for-all-businesses/feed/ 0 http://www.vicinitylimited.com/recommendation-from-quaddynamics/ http://www.vicinitylimited.com/recommendation-from-quaddynamics/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:28:34 +0000 Aide Ojigbede http://www.vicinitylimited.com/?p=586 “Vicin­ity Limit­ed deplo­yed Micro­soft Windo­ws Small Busin­ess Serve­r and Share­Point for us. Aide took perso­nal charg­e of the proje­ct and ensur­ed it was deliv­ered on time with a high commi­tment to quali­ty of work, repor­ting and docum­entat­ion. I can recom­mend [Vicinity] with no reser­vatio­ns.”

- Femi Odediran, Managing Director, QuadDynamics  (http://www.q4dynamics.com)

Click here to see the original recommendation on LinkedIn

 

Vicinity Limited Earns Distinction through Demonstrated Technology Success and Customer Commitment

Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria — 5 July, 2011 — Vicinity Limited, the Complete IT Support Company, today announced it has achieved a Silver Midmarket Solution Provider Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network, demonstrating its ability to meet Microsoft customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. To earn a Microsoft Silver Competency, partners must complete a set of tests to prove their level of technology expertise, submit customer references and employ or contract a required number of Microsoft Certified Professionals who are skilled on current technology relevant for the competency.

Vicinity Limited, a member of the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community, is committed to helping people and businesses use technology more efficiently, every day. Since 2001 the company has been providing IT services to businesses in Lagos.

“Once again, we have shown our commitment to providing small and midsize businesses with the technology advantages that larger organizations enjoy. The Silver Midmarket Solution Provider Competency showcases our expertise in today’s technology market and demonstrates our knowledge of Microsoft and their products,” said Aide Ojigbede, the Managing Director of Vicinity Limited. “We hope to accelerate our customers’ success by serving as technology advisors for their business demands.”

“By achieving a Silver Competency, partners have proven themselves as specialized technology experts with the skills needed to best serve customers,” said Jon Roskill, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “The Silver Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network is designed to help customers identify services and solution providers that have demonstrated proof of their capability to deliver quality outcomes and customer satisfaction.”

The Microsoft Silver Competency defines partners’ success as technology market leaders within a specific technology competency, with each competency having a unique set of requirements and benefits formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the industry.  Requirements for the Silver Competency are comparable to the formerly recognized Microsoft Certified Partner criteria. All 28 Microsoft technology competencies differentiate a partner’s specific technology capabilities, helping customers find qualified solution providers with expertise in discrete areas quickly and easily.

When you attain the Microsoft Midmarket Solution Provider competency, you showcase your expertise in providing solutions based on the most current technology and IT-solutions knowledge to help midmarket businesses with their unique challenges.

The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to equip organizations that deliver products and services through the Microsoft platform with the training, resources and support they need to provide their customers superior experience and outcomes. Vicinity Limited is a multi‐disciplinary IT Solutions firm that supplies, installs, integrates and maintains hardware and software systems for small and mid-sized business computing, information and communication solutions. Vicinity understands the challenges facing small and medium sized businesses and provides value-for-money services and solutions with prompt and courteous service through the ComCare managed IT support program for SMBs all over Lagos. Vicinity specialize in helping companies gain control over their systems and their data by implementing structured networks, server management, planned backups and data recovery. We are experts in all the Microsoft Small Business solutions including Windows Small Business Server, Storage Server and Home Server.

For more information, press only:

Sola Sorinmade, Vicinity Limited, 0709 500 8895 solas@vicinitylimited.com

Vicinity attains Microsoft Small Business Specialist Certification

Vicinity Limited has been awarded the Microsoft Small Business Specialist status. We achieved this by completing highly technical exams which enable us help start-up and small-to-medium businesses, with 5 or more PCs, tackle their business challenges through IT solutions. This new certification distinguishes Vicinity as an expert in Microsoft solutions and services for small businesses.

Vicinity Limited, an IT support company, has recently become a Microsoft Small Business Specialist.

All Small Business Specialists are required to a have a proven track record in planning and building Microsoft solutions for small businesses and are trained and supported by Microsoft.  Vicinity understands that customers like to be reassured that they are working with people who are professional at computer, server, network and printer repairs, maintenance and support. In Lagos, with a large number of computer repair companies, it is important that customers can choose an established and professional company to work with.
Microsoft states that “Small Business Specialist Partners are experts in the design, deployment and customisation of small business solutions. They’ve also worked tirelessly to provide the most advanced IT answers for small businesses, which we’ve recognised by allowing them to use our official logo.”

Vicinity offer an acceptable guarantee on all work performed, whilst maintaining client confidentiality at all times.  Vicinity will advise its customers where possible of any costs prior to performing repairs, as they understand that customers like to be regularly updated on the process.

*****

Vicinity Limited are Microsoft Small Business specialists who provide computer, server, network and printer repairs, maintenance and support in Lagos, Nigeria using professional support engineers who have many years’ experience and relevant industry certifications.

- Afeez Thani, Head IT, Addosser Microfinance Bank (http://www.addosser.com)

Click here to see the original recommendation on LinkedIn

The decision was made in December (see their blog post announcing it here) but all the end-of-year and New Year hustle meant we could only kick-off the project today. It’s an extensive re-design (really a re-development) so the cut-over is scheduled for the end of this month. There may be a few tweaks and tests before then though…

- Ayodele Ogunyemi, Finance and Admin. Manager, SPARC Nigeria

(http://www.sparc-nigeria.com)