CAT | Small businesses

A number of product updates, are set for launch, by WMware, in their user computing services. Information coming from a company internal document, shows that they will announce these updates on the 2nd of May. The updates include View 5.1, their desktop virtualization software, A hosted identity management service called Horizon Application Manager, an an update on their email and collaboration software, Zimbra 7.2

With these products, you stand to benefit from delivery of fast virtualization services, based on a cloud infrastructure. You will be able to store your files on a cloud service that will parallel that of Dropbox. All this is expected to happen between the months of May and June. There are separate add-ons, that will allow you, to observe the performance of your desktop and other resources, enabling you to tweak the system for greater stability, when problems arise. These updates are necessary, given that the current status of the tools in View, do not monitor performance and system health properly. This is the reason why vCenter has been added in View 5.1, to allow better desktops-as-a-service performance.

The View Storage Accelerator, allows for better caching of desktop images, in order to keep storage load at a constant. This feature formerly known as Content Based Read Cache, will also come, bundled, in View 5.1. Another update, the View Personal Management, will allow you to keep all your settings across windows devices, enabling faster speeds on desktop virtualization projects.

When it comes to using VPS hosting services, you will be able to push all applications into a cloud, whilst still storing passwords behind a firewall. This will allow you to use all cloud-based applications, such as Google apps, with much ease. All this will be possible, thanks to the Horizon App Manager, that will detect Active Directory, and other LDAP-compliant service. This will overcome the challenge arising from the use of mobile devices, and SaaS applications, for business purposes.

With these updates, several security challenges that are facing other cloud-based storage systems, like Dropbox, will be answered, allowing you to work effectively and safely, whilst still in the cloud.

· · ·

Make Money With No Cost.

If you are ready to make money with no cost to you, it is time to consider joining Freezone.  Freezone is UK’s best value hosting company and the company offers one of the best affiliate programmes that will give you commission on every sale you make.  If you are looking for the best commission rates in the industry and you want to receive rewards just for signing up, review why Freezone is the answer and start making money today.

What Does the Affiliate Scheme Through Freezone Offer?

The hosting packages sell themselves and you can make commission on every sale you make, including domain names.  Affiliates who are signed up with the Freezone affiliate programme can earn as much as £80 for each and every sale they make.  You will make up to £3 on each domain name and up to £80 on every eShop sale.  The commission structure is extremely clear cut so you never have to guess how much you will earn in commissions each time you are paid.

Some of the additional benefits offered by Freezone include:

*  £10 payout bonus just for signing up for the free account
*  Domain names are extremely affordable.
*  Commissions are paid on every product.
*  Commissions are paid directly into your Paypal account.
*  Accessibility to live support agents.
*  Online chat support tools for convenience.
*  Full account management tools so you can make more money.
*  A wide range of banners and the option to custom make banners.
*  Free access to advice from account managers.

You should never have to pay to become an affiliate and earn commissions.  In fact, the company should want you so bad they are willing to payout a bonus to you when you join.  Freezone is the host you have always been looking for.  Earn high commission rates as an affiliate partner with Freezone and earn money for selling domains, email, shared hosting, Eshop, and SSL certificates.

· · · ·

If you own a small business, Freezone Web Hosting can help increase your profits. This is a reliable web hosting company that can assist you in guaranteeing that your clients can locate your business through popular search engines. Freezone Ultimate Hosting provides services that your company will benefit from.

TheFreezone Ultimate Hosting gives you the most flexible hosting plan with 10GB of disk space, a Linux hosting platform, optional data restore with backup service, and unlimited mailboxes are among the many features. Aside from the powerful Freezone Ultimate Hosting, they also offer the Freezone Reseller Hosting service for those who want to earn extra cash.

With the Freezone Reseller Hosting plan, you can be a web hosting reseller. You just need to buy wholesale space which you will sell to another person or organization. You can charge for hard drive space as well as bandwidth. These are some of the features that give you more earnings. Freezone Reseller Hosting plan lets you to start your own small business without the need of a gigantic investment.

 

Right now, companies find it difficult to venture into the technology industry but with the help of Freezone Affiliate Programs you can earn money with ease. You can set up your branding and pricing plans to your own consumers without the requirement to be a technological expert. If you are unsure about where to start, the Freezone Reseller Hosting program is the ideal first step.

If you already have your own business and a website, Freezone Affiliate Programs may not be for you unless you have time to fit the sale of hosting plans into your schedule. The Freezone dedicated server is what you have to look out for though. This has helpful features like unlimited data transfer each month, DNS management, and unlimited sub domains to make sure your efforts in creating your site do not go down the drain.

With the aid of the Freezone dedicated server, your website will attract more visitors and increase the number of paying customers to a large extent. This will definitely give you more profits in return. Additionally, Freezone Affiliate Programs lend a helping hand so you can earn more money during your free time.

There are differences in the hosting platforms of Windows and Linux. Both OS Platforms have their advantages and disadvantages. Windows has the advantage of running Access and MS SQL that is Microsoft software Another advantage of Microsoft is that the servers offer great support for web developers. The programming environments on these servers include ASP, Visual Basic Scripts and the MS Index Server. This support is very important to many web developers.

Because Linux is an open source system, it is much more cost-effective in maintenance and operation. The cost of hosting Linux is less than that of Windows hosting. The open-source feature of the Linux platform minimizes the cost because you only need one license. Windows requires associated licensing for the hosting company and this cost is transferred to the end user.

Linux has other advantages besides the cost. In respect to performance, Linux offers scalability because of the wide range of software, applications, languages and databases it supports. This includes PH, Perl, PostGre, MySQL, PostSQL and others. One disadvantage of the Linux hosting platform is that it does not support some Microsoft technologies.

Although Linux is an open source platform, that does not mean it is not secure. Security is very important and proactive steps are taken regularly to ensure security. Modifications and software updates are done on a regular basis to make sure the latest security and performance patches are installed. Security is handled well in both platforms. It is important to note that security is more dependent on the server administrator than the actual platform.

Scripting is the factor that may influence what actual platform you choose. If your site holds a blog, shopping cart or a forum, this active content will require scripting. And, in this case, should you require applications such as ASP, ASP.Net, Access or MS SQL, Windows is the better option. If this is not the case, Linux will do just fine. Both platforms are comparable in performance and security. However, the cost advantage goes to the Linux platform. The support advantage is tipped in favor of Windows platform based on the scripting factor.

· · · ·

If you are considering registering a new domain, securing your privacy is very important. Failing to do so exposes your personal information to everybody with access to a computer. The process of registering a new domain involves providing contact information such as phone number, email address, name, city, and post office address. ICANN, the body that is tasked with overseeing domain name registration requires this information. While this is for noble purposes, unscrupulous individuals can misuse this information. The following reasons show why it is important to have domain privacy.

Avoid Spamming
The Whois database is freely available and anyone can login and get details unhindered. Spammers have created spam bots and used them to trawl the site for owner email addresses. This contact information is then sold or used to send unsolicited junk mail to your inbox. Spamming is the first doorway before things become more serious and scary.

Avoid Hacking
Your unprotected domain details can be used by hackers to gain access to your site. If you are just starting out, the cash to set up a secure site might be limited. Hackers are quite adept at taking advantage of such loopholes to penetrate your site. You may not even not notice that you site has been compromised. This could come to light after serious security breaches prompt you to call in the experts.

Avoid Identity Theft
This is very serious and has happened to site owners who only took steps when it was too late. Someone can use your details to engage in criminal activities which in turn could land you in serious legal trouble.

While this is certainly frightening, there are steps you can take to keep your personal information safe. To start with, IT experts agree unanimously that domain privacy is your first line of defense. This ensures that your contact details and personal information is not freely available. Domain registrars provide this service for an extra fee. Anyone who tries to look up your details on the Whois database will only see the registrar details. This security is invaluable compared with the damage hackers can wreak with access to personal details. You can also rest easy at night safe in the knowledge that no one is going to turn up uninvited to harass your family.

· · · ·

Freezone Internet, the UK’s top web hosting company, has created yet another way to serve their customers. Listening to their customers’ complaints about the traditional technical support, Freezone has decided to implement a remote desktop customer support.

Traditional tech support often involves lengthy phone conversations and irritated customers. Especially if the customer is unfamiliar with computers and their programs. Remote support, on the other hand, allows a tech advisor to access the user’s computer from theirs. Freezone uses this set-up to do everything from setting up email addresses, to setting up web hosting.

Although the thought of giving a stranger access to something as private as a computer may give some people pause, the remote desktop access at Freezone Internet is completely safe. It takes place over a secure and encrypted connection, which helps to make sure hackers cannot access any information, and if a customer is having trouble with a website that involves identifying information such as credit card numbers or birthdays, those fields are blocked from the support staff’s view. In addition, the sessions are completely under customer control, giving them the ability to shut down the link whenever they choose.

For those who do not have a land-line, or those who simply do not wish to tie it up with a long customer service phone call, Freezone offers easy & reliable alternatives. Their support staff, consisting of experienced CSRs, or customer service representatives, can offer assistance via chat as well. There are three steps to beginning a remote session:

Step 1 - Call or connect to the chat site, and ask for a remote support session.
Step 2 – Once an agent has responded, click the ‘generate code’ button, give code to agent, and do not close the  window.
Step 3 -  Follow all on-screen prompts.

If there is a problem with your computer, or you simply could use some help with a webpage, why not try Freezone Internet’s new remote desktop customer support services instead of going the old route? With its exceptional safety, ease of use, and reliability, it marks the future of customer service.

· · · ·

There are dozens of companies offering web hosting on the market today, so why would you want to trust us with hosting your data?  The main reason is that we have over 11 years of experience in handling hosting on a massive scale, and are uniquely qualified to handle yours as well.  We also offer a chat system that makes customer service more convenient than ever before, and if you sign up now, you will be eligible for a free domain name too!

We are particularly proud of our history, however.  We have over eleven years of experience, having started our company very early in the internet’s lifespan.  We have seen practically every problem and difficulty come and go, and have learned how to safeguard our clients’ information in the face of an emergency.

For instance, we do frequent backups of your data, not because we are obligated to do so, but because we want to ensure that if your site is hacked or otherwise broken, we can have you up and running again in very little time.  This security should be redundant on your own – in other words, you should run backups of your own data as well, but if you simply cannot resuscitate your site, you can contact us and we will help you out.

If you do need to contact our help desk, we have made it as easy as possible for you through our live chat support.  Instead of waiting on line during our busy hours, you can simply chat with us.  Our system will put you into a queue, where you will be notified once an agent is available.  This allows you to get along with your day instead of having to sit on the phone and wait for us to get to you.

Because we are so confident in our product, we are offering new customers a free domain name to help them get their first website started.  This is just a small way we can show that we are truly serious about doing a good job.  If you are looking for a professional web hosting company that will be available to help you 24 hours a day, we believe we are the best company on the market to help you.

· · ·

For many businesses, their website is the single most important point of contact with their current and future customers. And for most small businesses the responsibility of ensuring that their website is always up and available rests in the hands of their web hosting company.

In other words, whether or not your latest promotion is seen by your customers and prospects may be determined by the quality of service provided by your web hosting company.

Equally importantly, the type of hosting you choose may also determine the smooth running and responsiveness of your website.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of web hosting options – shared or dedicated.

Put simply, shared hosting is where your web hosting company hosts your website together with many others websites on a single server. Dedicated hosting, on the other hand, is where only your website sits on an individual server.

While both options have their respective advantages and disadvantages, for most small businesses, shared hosting is a perfectly good choice.

However, before you go ahead and buy shared hosting, you will need to ask your web hosting company a number of questions. How many other websites are likely to be hosted on the server? What happens in the event that you exceed your bandwidth or storage space? What sort of control measures are in place to stop your co-hosted websites from spamming and potentially getting the server blacklisted?

Of course, you may also want to consider where your web host is based. Certainly, for many UK businesses, a UK web hosting company is critical as they want to be confident of getting help as and when they need it.

Now, given the ever-improving nature of hardware and software, shared hosting will meet the demands of most small businesses and it is highly unlikely that you will see disruption to your service. As long as you can satisfy yourself with the support on offer from your web hosting company, we are confident that shared hosting option will prove to be both an effective and a profitable choice.

In the next blog, we will look at shared and dedicated hosting in a little more detail to help you make a more informed decision about your hosting package and your web hosting company.

· · · · ·

So there it is – the long trailed emergency Budget from the coalition government. Whether you consider it a Budget based on ideological choices or one based on necessity, one thing is clear – we’re in for a period of some considerable fiscal pain.

Or are we? The initial response to the budget seems to be mixed. While the social media space was abuzz with quick pronouncements long before the chancellor sat down, the press is starting to have its more considered say too. While some, like Polly Toynbee writing for The Guardian have used more poetic prose to express their disapproval (“…Lib Dem yellow ribbons decorated the axe handle, but they barely impeded the executioner’s swing.”) others have displayed more optimistic sentiments.

In fact, the consensus seems to be that we are all going to have to pay but not as much as we had feared. Economists estimate that, on average, we will all be £400 a year worse off.

From business point of view there seems to be some positives too. Markets have not shown any dramatic response – FTSE 100 slid down on yesterday’s close but no more than its daily fluctuation. What’s more, rating agencies have declared that Britain’s AAA status is safe.

Here then are some of the highlights:

  • expected savings have been increased to an eye-watering £113bn – that’s £40bn more than the previous government’s already ambitious target of £73bn
  • public sector borrowing will tumble from £149bn this year down to just £20bn in 2015-2016
  • across most government departments, there will be average budget cuts of 25% over four years
  • public sector will have to endure two-year pay freeze (effectively a cut in real terms when you take inflation into account)
  • VAT will jump to 20%
  • growth forecast for 2011 has been revised down from 2.6% to 2.3%
  • capital gains tax will rise to 28% (from 18%)
  • corporation tax will be cut to 27% in 2011 and then by 1% in each of the following years until we reach 24%
  • small companies’ tax rate will also be reduced to 20%.

While social commentators and public policy experts argue whether this is a ‘progressive’ or ‘regressive’ Budget, economist will tell you that UK businesses will have to endure tough times for a good while yet. The reduction in public sector borrowing and investment will have a knock on effect on small businesses too. And in regions where the public sector is a major employer, the impact on both people and businesses is likely to be worse.

Certainly, talking to our small business web hosting customers, we see a fairly cautious approach to investment, recruitment and marketing. Managers are looking at more value for money channels (digital including social media) and dropping some traditional channels such as direct mail.

No doubt that over the coming months discussions about the possible impact of the Budget will fade as reality starts to kick in. In the meantime, our advice to our customers is simple – make your online presence a significant part of your marketing strategy.

· ·

On the eve of the emergency Budget, the chancellor of the exchequer and his aides have been busy jumping from one news studio to another trying to prepare us for the ‘age of austerity’.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, George Osborne was careful not to give away too much details but it was clear that our breakfast next Sunday would need to be a lot less lavish than it might have been in the past.

The list of tax rises and spending is long and is likely to include increases in capital gains tax, VAT and NIC and a freeze in public sector pay and recruitment. Some independent observers estimate the cuts to amount to some £85bn. What’s more, if these cuts don’t do the trick, the chancellor hinted at more to follow.

Given that we have borrowed £1 for every £4 we spend and that our budget deficit is the highest of the G20 leading economies, there is universal consensus that action is needed. However, there is considerable concern too amongst the small business sector that it is likely to suffer disproportionately.

Consequently, small businesses expect to cut their investment and marketing budgets to pay for some of the tax rises. However, while you may have to cut costs, you don’t want to damage your revenue. Making the right choice about where you spend your money is critical.

In fact, in challenging times, it is even more important that you choose your marketing channels carefully. Focus on the simple metric – return on investment (ROI).

And that means a focus on digital channels – your website, email marketing and social media. Talk to your web hosting company to discuss how you might get more out of your web presence and how you might exploit email marketing and social media.

In fact, not only does digital marketing cost less, it is much more effective – when managed well, you can expect significantly better ROI than many traditional channels.

So while the chancellor delivers the emergency Budget tomorrow, make sure you put in to place your digital strategy today.

· ·