With Ipswitch Hosted Email, businesses enjoy the financial predictability that comes with a hosted solution without losing peace of mind over security and reliability.  “We understand that businesses are looking for more than just a simple hosted email solution,” says Tripp Allen.  “Businesses want a trusted business partner with financial stability, industry expertise, and a proven track record of outstanding technical support.”

With Ipswitch Hosted Email businesses have their own Virtual Private Server (VPS) ensuring that valuable business data remains secure, isolated and backed up nightly.  Other security features include Commtouch Premium anti-spam, integrated anti-virus powered by BitDefender, encrypted instant messaging and DKIM/DomainKeys authentication.

Ipswitch Hosted Email provides a full featured mail server for businesses.  According to Allen, “This is not a basic hosted email service.  We are providing a complete business solution.”

With Ipswitch Hosted Email, businesses can:

• Continue to use Microsoft Outlook^®
• Utilize mobile synchronization with Exchange ActiveSync®
• Leverage Exchange-like collaboration
• Integrate Ipswitch Hosted Archiving for regulatory compliance and eDiscovery
• Eliminate the need for multiple providers and various licenses.

“This offering is ideal for businesses that need to do more with less.  We are providing the functionality you would expect from an on-premise server in a convenient hosted service,” adds Allen.

For more details on Ipswitch Hosted Email, visit us online at: http://www.orderimail.com/.

Take less than two minutes to find out…..



Highlights of the report include:

• Spam levels averaged 82% of all email traffic throughout the quarter, bottoming out at 71% at the start of May and peaking at nearly 92% near the end of June.

• Pharmacy spam retained the top stop with 64 percent of all spam.

• An average of 307,000 zombies were activated daily to inflict malicious activity, representing a slight increase over the prior quarter.

• India has surpassed Brazil for the title of the country with the most zombies (13 percent of the world’s total).

• TDSS.17 was the most widely distributed email-borne virus, but the Mal/Bredo malware had the most variants – over 1800 (more than double the variants of Q1).

• Pornography remains the Web site category most infected with malware.

To read the full report, click on the following link:

http://www.imailserver.com/resources/pdf/Commtouch-Trend-Report-Q2-2010.pdf

“They have a running joke that things only go wrong when I’m not here and therefore I’m forbidden from taking a vacation.”

“I’m a one-man band around here so it’s hard to truly get away.”

“I envy those that can take a day off without worrying if the network is down or if the boss can get to his emails.”

“Sure I can take a vacation…with my laptop and Blackberry.”

It’s sad that many working in IT don’t enjoy the benefit of true, uninterrupted time away from the office especially those that work for a small to mid-size business.  So is there any hope for the heroes that have the thankless job of keeping critical business systems and functions running smoothly?

Yes!  Granted, there is no simple catch-all solution.  Everyone’s situation is different based on company size, industry type, number of IT people on the team, availability and resources for back-up, etc.  But I have created a short list of helpful tips for finding a better work/life balance.

#1 – Create documentation.  Depending on your setup and the level of understanding that your co-workers have, this could take hours or it could take weeks.  But basically create a guide complete with vendor help desk numbers, how-to’s and be sure to cover the “what-if” scenarios.  This becomes much easier when you have servers and software programs that basically run themselves.  It’s something to keep in mind when it’s time to renew software or update equipment.  The easier, the better.

#2 – Establish one point of contact that you trust to filter emergency-only calls to you.  This will eliminate everyone and their brother from calling you for their idea of an “emergency.”  By only giving your contact info to one qualified individual, you should reduce the number of interruptions you get.

#3 – Set a short (and I mean short) amount of time aside each morning or evening to check emails and voicemails.  While it’s not truly disconnecting, some people find they can relax more knowing they are on top of what’s going on in the office.  It also means that you won’t be going back to several hundred emails and voicemails when you return to the office.  Bonus!

#4- Hire an outside consultant to back you up while you’re away.  This option isn’t for everyone.  Some think that this is a good way to get replaced.  Others have difficulty trusting their responsibilities to an outside source.  But this can be a viable option especially if you can create a relationship with someone in the industry that you trust.

#5 – Travel to a place with no internet connection or cell phone service (or at least say that you’re in such a place).  Yes, it’s somewhat drastic but sometimes it is the only way to find true peace and quiet away from the office.

And finally….

#6 – Create a cardboard cutout of yourself (must be realistic and complete with photo).  Test the theory that everything seems to go wrong when you’re not there.  If it appears that you’re still in the office…..who knows.  It’s worth a shot.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation!!!

So essentially what you’re saying Sheryl, is that the behaviors I exhibit as a teenager are the same behaviors I’ll exhibit as an adult.  While that may be true in some aspects, for example – I still eat Lucky Charms for breakfast and I still indulge in the occasional ‘Saved by the Bell’ re-run, there are circumstances in which my behaviors are not at all reflective of those during my teenage years.  For example, as an adult, I don’t communicate with my co-workers through the passing of paper notes folded up into triangles and the locker room is no longer my hub for information.   Over the years, as my environment changed from an algebra class to a software company, several of my behaviors have changed as well.

I think it’s important to keep in mind where email is most relevant.  Would I expect a teenager to be the primary user of email, in the midst of school, sports, dates, etc.?  NO!  Email has the most relevance in the workplace.  Why?  Because it’s the tool that best meets the needs of businesses.  It’s fast, secure, accommodates the attachment of documents, and has the ability to be archived.  It is, in fact, the primary communication system in most organizations.  Organizations that teenagers will someday be a part of.

With that being said, it makes sense that email fares better statistically when looking at a broader audience as opposed to just the teenage segment.  An article on Mashable titled “What Do You Check First: E-mail or Facebook” states that more than 50% of U.S. online consumers check their e-mail before visiting other websites when they start the day.  It goes on to say that Facebook is the first destination for only 11% of U.S. online consumers.

I think you get my point.  I strongly disagree with Sandberg’s comments and if I’m being very honest, I find her opinion to be somewhat short-sighted.  Maybe even slightly biased based on the company that she works for.  Yes, communication is evolving, yes short-form communications are on the rise but to say that email will become obsolete because teenagers aren’t using it is a pretty big stretch in my opinion.  Or maybe it’s wishful thinking for Facebook?  What are your thoughts?

While the graphic was meant to be entertaining (and it certainly was), it also brings up some valid points.  In fact, it reminded me of a blog post that my colleague, Brad, wrote back in January.  Brad took a look at the impact that your email address can have on your business, particularly from a marketing standpoint.  Your email address holds a unique branding opportunity among other things.

Whether it’s your business, your computer skills or [insert a number of other things here], your email address speaks volumes.  From your level of professionalism to your credibility as a company, it’s a reflection of your image.  It’s the first thing your potential clients, vendors, etc. see in their inbox.  It may even be a deciding factor in whether or not they open your email.  It’s your first impression and potentially your last.  Shouldn’t it be a good one?

The answer is yes.  Then why isn’t every business using their own domain name? For some it’s the perceived cost associated with setting up a dedicated mail server.  For others, it’s the time and effort it takes to switch from their current solution.  Yes, it will take some time.  But depending on the mail server you choose, the cost incurred can be minimal.  In some cases, even less than what you may be paying now.  And if you choose a vendor with pre-sales installation support and migration assistance, the effort on your part is minimal as well.

Isn’t it worth the time to find an email server that in addition to sending your mail enables you to communicate your brand and professional image to all of your contacts?  Heck, I’ll even save you some time and get you started.  IMail Server has low-cost mail server options that include pre-sales installation and migration support.  There are no more excuses to let go of that generic joe_schmo@aol.com email address!  (And of course, my apologies to the owner of that address)

Ipswitch, Inc. has been named one of Boston Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in 2010.  Ipswitch is one of 60 companies honored with this award.  Criteria for selection include a comfortable work environment, work-life balance, job satisfaction, and advancement opportunities among others.

Congratulations to Ipswitch for being recognized by BBJ as a Best Place to Work and to all my co-workers for their role in creating a remarkable work environment!

What’s New in v11.02…

>> 2GB maximum mailbox size limitation has been removed

>> Improved mailbox processing for faster performance

>> Added the ability to refresh licenses right in the Web and Console Admin.

>> Added the ability to maintain separate trailer messages at each domain level

>> Added the ability to customize language files for the IMail Web Administrator user interface

Just a few weeks ago, Ipswitch also released a free administrative utility pack to all existing IMail Server customers, again focused on making IMail Server administration as easy as possible.  Allen adds, “Many companies practice one-way communication with their customers.  We take a different stance.  We value our customers’ voice and incorporate it into everything that we do.”

For more details on the IMail Server v11.02 release, check out the full release notes at: http://docs.ipswitch.com/_Messaging/IMailServer/v11.02/ReleaseNotes/.

So how did we do it?  We do have a secret, but we keep it locked away in a vault at an offsite location.  We won’t reveal the secret, but anyone who watched us pull the plane in 6.499 seconds should be able to figure it out.  To get ready for the event we don’t do anything special.  For the week before the pull, we keep our donuts / coffee numbers per hour numbers low, and do keyboard curls for a couple minutes each day.  I noticed a few of the team members had a power lunch of hot dogs and sodas before we pulled the plane as well. My real answer when people ask me how we did it is we have a great team of people at Ipswitch.  We know how to work together to achieve a common goal, and we practice this every day by making sure we keep our customers happy. The Messaging team has the primary goal of customer satisfaction, and each person in the division is focused on that goal daily.

Last year around 20 teams pulled the plane, and this year 36 teams pulled.  I would love to see some more competition at the Augusta airport next year so we can brag even more about who we beat.  The pull is for a really great cause and we all have a great time out there every year.  I challenge all the other CSRA businesses to put together a team and try to beat us in 2011!

This past weekend, Ipswitch employees came together to participate in the 2^nd Annual FedEx Plane Pull at the Augusta Regional Airport in Georgia.  The fundraiser event was set up to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, specifically to build a new house in the Augusta area.

Ipswitch was one of 36 teams that competed to pull a 150,000 lb. FedEx Boeing 727 jet for a total of 12 ft. in the fastest time.  In addition to helping out a good cause, Ipswitch had a title to defend as the 2009 Plane Pull Champions.  And I’m proud to say, they didn’t disappoint.  The Ipswitch team pulled out a first place victory with a time of 6.499 seconds.  Who would’ve guessed that a team of computer guys would dominate over teams from the Army, the Navy, and Gold’s Gym.  Now that’s teamwork!

Check out the winning pull:

Great job everyone!  Not only for your victory but more importantly, for your important contribution to the Ronald McDonald House!