Is your hardware slowing your business down?

Is your hardware is slowing your business down and you don’t know where to turn to for advice on what to buy and where?

Did you know that CNLtd offers an hour’s free consultancy, providing you with the opportunity to meet us and for us to understand you, your business and your IT systems.  

Based in Shropshire CNLtd provide nationwide IT support to SMBs.

We have some great contacts with suppliers to sources some very reasonable kit for your Office.

We are also Dell Hardware Equipment Vendors and are very knowledgeable about the whole Dell range of Laptops, Desktops and Servers.

One of our suppliers’s recently contacted us about some very reasonable network printers from Brother for only £85.00 plus VAT each.   Ideal for a small office, they provide fast, double-sided high quality printing.

The team at CNLtd prides itself on the knowledge we have and will never try and sell you something you don’t need. 

In addition to this we will only source good quality products as experience shows that saving a few hundred pounds on the initial hardware cost will pale into insignificance against the thousands of pounds of lost productivity and profitability due to system failure.

Contact us today on sales@cnltd.co.uk or 0333 444 3455 for more information on how we can help your business.

What a firewall does – securing your network

The common features / benefits of firewalls:
 

• block unwanted incoming traffic to your network
• block outgoing network traffic based on source of destination ie. You may want to prevent employees from accessing certain web sites
• block network traffic based on content ie integrating with a virus scanner to prevent files or emails with viruses from entering your network
• allowing access to your network and internal resources to selective users
• allowing connection to internal network with a virtual private network (VPN).  VPNs allow secure connection from the internet to a corporate network ie allowing staff to work from home
• allowing the ability to monitor traffic on the network.

Generally a firewall is installed where your internal network connects to the Internet. However, some large scale organisations also use them between different parts of their own network to provide different levels of security.   An organisations Firewall can be a piece of hardware or software.

CNLTD have installed Hardware Firewalls for many of their customers and recommend Watchguard for being robust and easy to manage.  The cost for what theoretically looks like a small box is minor compared to having hackers get onto your network.

 

If you would like more information on Firewalls please contact us on 0333 44 3455 or at sales@cnltd.co.uk

Network Security - Combating Spyware / Malware

It was recently estimated that 90% of all PC’s are harbouring 30 or more pieces of Spyware/Malware and that these are to blame for half of all PC crashes within an organisation.

Spyware is a general term for a class of harmful applications that are distributed through the user browsing the Internet in a "normal" fashion. Typically Spyware is installed without the user’s knowledge by attaching itself onto what seems a harmless download.

Once installed it secretly gathers information from the infected PC, this includes facts about the PC itself, the user’s browsing habits and the network the PC is sat on. This personal information is then transmitted over the Internet connection without the user’s explicit consent or knowledge.

The potential for damage to your network and organisation from Spyware includes: thefts of personal and intellectual property, opening a backdoor into your network, violation of privacy, productivity losses and bandwidth costs.

Our services

There are a number of free software products which can be loaded on each and every PC, we believe that by using multiple software products the performance of your PC's can be severely decreased. Add to this the time involved going around each machine making sure it is up to date and has been scanned recently, means you can be wasting many hours protecting your PC's.

Commercial Networks Ltd can provide enterprise-wide solutions that prevent, detect and remove Spyware on all machines from your central server. By using AVG we can offer one product to protect against Spyware, Malware and Virus infections, all controlled from the same management screen. All the updates are only downloaded once to your server living bandwidth for your internet usage. At a glance you can quickly see which machines have failed to pick up the update and re deploy it to these machines.

Contact us today on 0333 444 3455 or at sales@cnltd.co.uk for more information.

%0 Leasing Finance on Dell Hardware Now Available

Following our recent blog on the use of finance for the purchase of hardware where we told you about one of customers who wanted to invest in new IT hardware.

We have now found that Dell our main hardware supplier infact offers its own 0% leased finance deals providing SMBs with a great way to finance new hardware.

The benefits of leasing are numerous both on a financial and technological level.

 

·         Protection against obsolesce

·         Freeing up capital for other uses, rather than tying it up in depreciating equipment

·         Leasing enforces a discipline and encourages a regular upgrade and replacement cycle

·         Easier equipment disposal, this taken care of by DFS

·         Better ROI and balance of project costs with benefits

·         With UK banks still hamstrung in their ability to lend DFS is a separate stand alone credit line, why risk the companiesexisting bank relationship and credit line?

·         Significant tax advantages over a cash purchase.

For more information please contact us on 0333 444 3455 or at sales@cnltd.co.uk

Happy Christmas from CNLTD

Wishing you a Happy Christmas from all the team at Commercial Networks Ltd.

We can be contacted on 0333 444 3455 or at support@cnltd.co.uk during our Christmas opening hours which are:

Friday 23rd 9.00am to 3.00pm

Wednesday 28th 9.00am to 5.00pm

Thursday 29th 9.00am to 5.00pm

Friday 30th 9.00am to 5.00pm

Normal opening hours from Tuesday 3rd January 2012

We look forward to assisting you in the new year!

Do you need greater flexibility from your phone system or are you looking at reducing costs?

Have you considered VOIP?  CNLtd recommends a windows based VOIP system which would increase productivity of employees and IT staff and cost your business much less.  Evolve your communication by enabling employees’ mobility:  Calls can be made and answered seamlessly from outside of the office and voice mail and faxes received via email.  It is also possible to link branch offices and re-direct local customer service number via the internet to your phone system at negligible cost.

This Phone System for Windows is an award-winning IP PBX that completely replaces your proprietary PBX, supports standard SIP soft/hard phones from any vendor, VoIP service providers and VoIP gateways to connect traditional PSTN lines. Add extensions or lines by adding standard SIP telephony equipment and save on consultants’ fees because of the systems easy to use web-based administration.

In simple terms this system can assist you in overcoming the limitations of outmoded hardware-based PBX systems, reduce costs significantly and add advanced communications features that will make your company more efficient and competitive!

This system is the only IP PBX to include a free Windows VoIP phone that can be used in or out of the office. A soft phone and the traditional hardware phone can be used at the same time using the same credentials. For example, the hardware phone can be used when at the office, but when at home or on the road it is very easy to switch to the soft phone and remain connected to the company’s phone system.

Because the System is just another Windows server application, it is easy to manage too: It can be monitored just like any other Windows server application using your existing network monitoring package.

The system can use the existing computer wiring, sharing the network point with the computer, and can be installed on an existing, non-dedicated Windows server or run as a virtual machine.

Overcome the limitations of outmoded hardware-based PBX systems, reduce costs significantly and add advanced communications features that will make your employees more productive and your company more efficient and competitive.

For more information contact mat.deaville@cnltd.co.uk or on 07878 453628.

Using Leased Finance To Upgrade Your I.T. Infrastructure

Here at Commercial Networks this week we have been look at using finance to source new and vital hardware for a local expanding small business.

Purchasing new hardware can involve a large capital investment, capital any small business can not necessarily justify tying up.

Our finance partner Bluestar can offer leasing on anything over £2500 + VAT.    Finance covering for you the total solution including hardware, software, software-only and install.    Leasing spreads the cost and provides for a Tax Efficient means of funding much needed improvements in your IT infrastructure.   This could mean your business having the means to upgrade hardware, making your systems quicker and more secure and ultimately more profitable.

To discuss this please contact Mat Deaville on 0333 444 3455.