Welcome to
Vintek's June 2008
Newsletter

Aaron heads up Vintek's customer support team and oversights all the aspects of tech support

He is well known by clients for his attention to detail and thorough approach to customer service.

Completing a diploma in IT and Certificate IV in Tech Support, whilst holding down a part time job in IT support for Cambrai School, Aaron then joined the Vintek team in February 2004.

Aaron specialises in Windows and Cisco systems, his natural talents in IT and very likable personality quickly made him a favourite amongst the Vintek clientele. His leadership skills became evident in this role and these qualities put Aaron on the course towards management within the company."

Aaron is the perfect person to lead our support team", says Business Development Manger, Earle Webber. "the 'Right First Time' by-line that Vintek aspires to is more than a slogan to Aaron and the team. It's Aarons management philosophy, and in infiltrates to every aspect of customer service."

Aaron grew up in Truro but has now made a home in Gawler with his wife and their little baby boy.

In 2005 Marshall Lancaster and his IT team at Lagasse, monitored Katrina for three days before the cyclone destroyed their data centre in New Orleans. Due to meticulous planning and excellent back up systems, Lagasse (a national stationary company), were up and running from remote offices the day after Katrina flattened their operation centre. In fact, the day after Katrina hit, the company recorded its second-largest sales day, and it's third-largest the day after that. Read the story here..

You are not expecting a natural disaster to threaten your business operations. However most business disasters are not expected. Broken water pipes that flood server rooms, fire, or electronic data loss are rarely expected. When a disaster takes your business by surprise, it is important that you can still keep the income stream healthy while you rebuild.

Paul Vinton, The Managing Director of Vintek, has spent far too many years of his career helping companies rebuild profit critical systems, while company directors look for ways to finance their rebuilding. "Many times company directors realise the need for adequate disaster recovery systems after the event. They probably won't get caught the next time but the immediate question is; will they survive the current disaster?"

Five things that you should ask yourself about your IT disaster recovery plan.

Will our data be accessible the next day?

Having your essential data in good hands and being able to access it immediately, means that your staff are back on the job, and making money. After Katrina hit, how was Lagasse able to recover so quickly? Lancaster who is Vice President of IT, Enterprise Infrastructure Services, talks about Lagasse's post Katrina success; "Every user who had a laptop became a productivity worker the instant they could find a wire." You might have some back up systems in place, but can you get back to earning money fast enough?

Will your communication system be operational?

"A few specific technologies were also crucial to the Lagasse recovery effort: VoIP, VPNs and thin clients. VoIP enabled Lagasse to create call centres virtually anywhere, including in its shipping facilities and warehouses, by simply dropping phones in. Call agents could go to these facilities and appear to be in the same call queue as teams in the company's traditional call centres," Lancaster said. Many of your customers will be more than happy to wait a day or two once they learn about your disaster. But if they can't get through to you, they will almost always start looking else where.

Can you use your e-systems?

Customers look to emails and web sites to inform them. When disaster strikes, your web site becomes a valuable tool letting clients know about your status etc. Imagine a customer waiting on his new car to arrive. He finds out on the news at 6pm that there was a fire at the dealership. A quick note on your web page can fill him in on the details. "The fire in our premises did not damage vehicles being prepared for delivery. Although there may be some delays regarding finance and internal paperwork, deliveries should be delayed no more than twenty four hours". A message like this can relieve the already strained telephone system, and put panicky clients at ease.

Has your plan been tried and tested?

Lagasse's disaster plan was battle-hardened; they had endured four cyclones prior to Katrina. You may not get the chance to try and test your system, but you can look to experts with some experience in the area. Like companies that have learned from managing disaster recovery for many and a wide variety of businesses and environments

Will you have on hand the experience you need?

Often managers forget the time and amount of people that went into building their current technology infrastructure over time. Most systems are set up to run for months without any specialist involvement. But when it all goes pear shaped in an instant, will you be able to get the expertise you need in the time you need it? A contract with a maintenance company that has a recovery action component ensures that you will have the right expertise available if crunch time comes.

A disaster of this type may never happen to your business. However if you are woken by a phone call in the middle of the night with news of a disaster, won't it be good to know that you have put systems in place that will maximise your business recovery.

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Vintek is a South Australian based Technology Support Business that is focused on providing its clients with a plan for recovering from IT disasters. They are specialists in Data Backup, Disaster Recovery Communication Systems and Network Management., Paul Vinton and his team of IT professionals have a combined 60 years of experience in managing IT solutions for companies.

Vintek provide IT maintenance and recovery systems for businesses in finance, medical and legal practices, human resources and recruiting; virtually any business that relies on its IT infrastructure for survival.

Veterans of many disaster recovery operations, they have been at the fore-front of pulling businesses back on line after badly planed procedures have drastically failed. "Although rebuild operational systems from the ashes has been a big part of our business, it has been very heart-breaking watching businesses have to re-enter years of lost data and rebuilding systems whilst trying to find the income steam to survive," says Paul Vinton "It has made me and my team passionate about helping business put in place recovery systems that save the heartache and the profit margin.

For more information on tools and information about backing up your data and having in place recovery systems, give Vintek a call. They are happy to consult with businesses on recovery procedures. The Vintek teams wealth of knowledge and experience allows its clients to rest easy in the knowledge that if something goes wrong, Vintek has it covered."

"Get it Right First Time"
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