CIO Solutions
August 2010 - Issue 12
Find It Fast
Check with the Tech: Monitor Cleaning and Picture/Video Storage
CIO In the News: CIO Partners with The Bank of Santa Barbara
Palo Alto Networks: Next Generation Firewalls
Cesar Santos of EC Ryan: Winner of iPad
CIO Core Values Revealed
Employee Spotlight: Richard Clark
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CIO Birthdays

Allison - Aug 24
Brandon - Aug 31

Happy Birthday!
First Anniversary of The CIO Exchange
Greetings!,

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since the launch of our e-newsletter. We are very proud of it's positive reception and look forward to creating many more issues which are filled with entertaining and helpful content.

Speaking of exciting news, we are proud to announce that our team here at CIO has just expanded!

Check out the below link to see bios of the CIO Team including our newest additions:

CIO Bios

Check back regularly as the information is constantly being updated.

Cheers,
John Petote
CEO, CIO Solutions

Check with the Tech
Check with the Tech
Check with the TechSend your questions to [email protected]
Thanks and Enjoy!

 

Q:
What is the best thing to clean my monitor with?

A: CIO uses alcohol pads to clean their monitors. They have found that these are the best tool for the job.


Q: What is the best way to store my digital videos?

A: If you find that your computer is low on space and you are concerned about storing photos or video consider an alternative to purchasing an external hard drive. Consider installing an additional hard drive inside your desktop computer.

There are multiple benefits for this solution including decreased cost and increased lifespan. Internal hard drives tend to be cheaper than their external counterparts. Internal hard drives are more resilient than external hard drives due to the fact that they are handled less and experience lower levels of accidental damage.

The Tech Department at CIO can give you more information on this option. Feel free to contact them with questions.


CIO In the News
CIO - light green
The Bank of Santa Barbara  CIO Solutions and The Bank of Santa Barbara Announce Strategic Partnership


The Bank of Santa Barbara and CIO Solutions have formed a partnership which will integrate banking and technology.


Santa Barbara, CA, July 27, 2010 - CIO Solutions, a leading provider of Managed IT Services in the Tri-counties area, has announced that it will be providing Managed IT services to The Bank of Santa Barbara, a leading community bank in Santa Barbara County. Through this partnership CIO Solutions will be providing and managing an IT department for The Bank of Santa Barbara. This partnership emphasizes the two organizations' commitment to customer service.

Ralph Wiita, CFO for The Bank of Santa Barbara stated, "The Bank of Santa Barbara is excited to partner with CIO Solutions in managing our IT environment. CIO Solutions has been invaluable to us in building our new network and supporting The Bank's technology conversion to a new data processing platform.  We preferred to partner with a company with local resources and CIO Solutions' presence and reputation in the community was an important factor in our selection. Their ability and expertise to manage our IT resources in an ever increasingly sophisticated and complex, technology-driven industry is second to none."

The Bank of Santa Barbara is a locally owned and operated bank committed to providing Santa Barbara with state-of-the-art banking solutions and exceptional customer service. The Bank of Santa Barbara sees immense value in creating relationships through trust, honesty and communication. With these fundamental values in place, exceptional service follows naturally. The Bank of Santa Barbara combines old-fashioned service with new technology to provide Santa Barbara with the best banking solutions available.

CIO Solutions has been providing IT management and design services to the Tri-County Area since 1986. CIO specializes in helping businesses focus on their core business by designing and managing their IT department. In addition to managing IT networks, CIO also provides enterprise-class consulting services; working to design and implement VoIP phone systems, storage systems and most recently cloud-based solutions.

Read the full press release or Click Here for the PDF
Next Generation Firewalls - Andrew West, Sr. Solutions Architect

Andrew West, CTO
If you haven't heard yet, let me be the first to tell you . . . the days of traditional firewalls as we know them are numbered.  Don't worry though - all the stuff you're used to seeing in a firewall is still there, including policies with source and destination IP addresses and ports and such.  The good news is that all the features we've needed such as Internet traffic classification and shaping, IDP (Intrusion Detection and Prevention), Web filtering (including https), virus and spyware filtering, SSL VPN, user and application-based policies, high performance (250Mbps - 10Gbps), low latency, and extensive reporting are now included in one box where these tools belong.  

We recently partnered with Palo Alto Networks because we recognized the need for this revolutionary shift in firewall technology a long time ago.  I can't think of a single client who hasn't asked us, at one point or another, "Our Internet connection is slow - what do we do about it?" The traditional answer typically involved many different boxes and lots of engineering labor which equated to high costs and increased complexity, neither of which were palatable to us or our clients.  It's nice to know that we finally have an solid answer that costs substantially less than what we had before.  Demonstrations are easy to setup and don't require any downtime on your network, so contact us to schedule one today!

Palo Alto Networks
Winner of iPad Give-Away: Cesar Santos, EC Ryan Technologies
Cesar Santos
EC Ryan
cesar
Cesar attended the co-hosted webinar on July 22nd presented by CIO Solutions and Palo Alto Networks and won a brand-new 64GB, Wi-Fi enabled iPad. The webinar focused on new security solutions and security considerations.
EC Ryan
E.C. Ryan International is a China consultancy and marketing firm.

The company sources products and provides administrative and trade support services for clients in Hong Kong and China. Trade support services include marketing and after-sales service communication between these clients and the western manufacturers they represent, and also administrative support functions - accounting, banking, and freight forwarding services for those companies.

In addition to trade support services to foreign firms, the company also provides training and consulting for US corporations interested in finding distribution for their products in the China market.Visit their website to learn more.

EC Ryan has been a client of CIO's since 2007 when CIO installed a ShoreTel Phone System for their Santa Barbara office. Since then, EC Ryan has become one of CIO's managed service accounts, receiving unlimited support and proactive services for a fixed monthly fee.

"There are few words that I can use to try and describe the level and quality of service that CIO has provided us throughout these past years. Excellence, dedication, and professionalism is what comes to mind when I think about our experience with CIO. Every single person working at CIO has treated us with respect and truly shown that they really care about our issues and concerns with our workstations, the servers, and the network. CIO is a right-hand-man type of resource to our company." - Cesar Santos, EC Ryan Technologies

CIO Core Values Revealed - Hannah Rich, Professional Services Coordinator


Hannah
CIO's Core Values were something of a secret until now. They were closely guarded from competitors' prying eyes. Then we thought about it and decided to turn the tables and become completely transparent. We want our clients to know the code which we work by. We want our competitors to know that this is what they are up against. The main difference between our Core Values and the core values of every other IT company is that we actually abide by them and use them every day.


John Petote, CEO and founder of CIO Solutions, is the creator of our Core Values but he saw the value in receiving input from the staff so the resulting 10 Core Values are a collaborative effort of the CIO team.

 

What Should I do? vs. What Can I do?

Never take advantage of someone just because you can

 

It's Everybody's Problem

Take ownership, be accountable and offer assistance

 

Mistakes can be Opportunities

Learn from new mistakes but avoid repeating them

 

Proactive Mentality

Follow up, anticipate, prevent

 

Quad Win

Client, Company, Team, Individual

 

Always Invest, Never Spend

Be frugal but not cheap

 

Team Above Self

The objectives of the team supersede that of the individual

 

No Solution, No Whining

Whining only allowed if followed by a thought-out solution

 

Never give up but be Reasonable

See a commitment, resolution, project or idea to its completion

 

Enhance Everything

Make continuous improvements: Client, company, team, individual

 

Our Core Values exemplify our commitment to relationship, integrity, communication and trust. There is not a day that goes by in which I do not either reference a Core Value myself or hear someone in the office using one to make a decision. The Core Values have become an integral part of our company culture and we are grateful to have such a comprehensive guide.


CIO Solutions 10 Core ValuesSM

Employee Spotlight  - Richard Clark, Remote Network Engineer

Richard Clark
Richard Roy Clark was born on a naval base in Okinawa, Japan. His family settled in Santa Barbara when Richard was in the second grade. He grew up in Santa Barbara and is a true blue San Marco's Royal. His dad is a nurse at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital and his mom manages the Pepper Tree Inn on upper State Street. Richard has a BA in Cognitive Science from UC Merced and is interested in music, electronics, video games, hiking and brewing beer with his father.

Richard came to work for the CIO team in June 2010 as a Remote Network Engineer. Richard helps our Managed Services clients as well as mans the Cottage IT Help Desk. He enjoys the friendly atmosphere here at CIO and also likes the progress-focused environment. In a professional capacity Richard's goal is to earn the Microsoft Certified Architect certification, on a personal note he hopes to travel the globe as much as possible.

Here are some of Richard's favorite things:

Favorite color: Crimson
Favorite food: Japanese/Sushi
Favorite book/movie: Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Books and Movies)
Motto/quote: Don't sweat the small stuff (everything is small stuff)
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