Back in the Fall of 1993, Systech Information Services, Inc., under the guidance of Jack Prager, President, opened its doors and began a 15-year journey of designing, installing and maintaining business technology networks.

When we think back to what was the state-of-the-art technology in ‘93/’94, the growth and advances in business technology are staggering.  Systech and Jack Prager have been in the Information Technology (IT) industry ever since and have assimilated a tremendous amount of knowledge of business technology, providing Systech’s customers with unparalleled technical service and skills.

Upon being asked how it feels to bring Systech to its 15th anniversary, Jack Prager expressed a sincere “Thank You” to his customers, whose loyalty and continued support made Systech’s growth and longevity possible.

Systech is certified as a Microsoft Gold Partner!

Earlier this year, as Systech approached its 15th anniversary, Microsoft upgraded Systech’s Certification to Gold Partner, the highest tier of technology partnership awarded by this leader of the IT industry.

As a Gold Partner, Systech’s long-standing relationship with Microsoft is made even stronger.  Systech’s customers, of course, benefit by Systech’s Gold Partner Certification in knowing that one of the unquestioned leaders of the IT industry has given Systech its highest possible endorsement.

According to Jack Prager, President of Systech, this move has been in the planning stages for the last 12 months and is representative of the growth his company has experienced in recent years. “It is the support of our customers that made this move possible and necessary” said Prager.

Systech is entering its 15th year of operation and, in addition to the new location, has adopted a new logo and business tag line. “We designed a logo that graphically represents our central role in our customer’s business network. Our tagline: UNIQUE SITUATIONS, TAILORED SOLUTIONS; clearly states Systech’s focus on providing exactly what our customer’s business situation requires,” explains Prager.

Prager credits Systech’s emphasis on learning and understanding their customer’s business and goals for the strong relationship he and his technical staff have with their customers.

As Prager looks ahead and plans Systech’s growth and expansion, he recognizes he and his staff are uniquely positioned to help their customers meet today’s technology challenges: “Businesses are looking to control technology costs without giving up flexibility, efficiency and security. We help our customers achieve this goal by focusing on infrastructure optimization for their business network. It’s a win-win situation. We design and implement the tailored technology solution our customers need to grow and prosper their unique business. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

For more information call 630-241-4747 or contact Systech now to get started.

The Exchange 2000 server was found to have reached its mail storage limitation of 16GB. If something wasn’t done it could cause catastrophic loss of all mail data.

History:
Customer has Exchange 2000 SP3 running on Windows server 2000 SP4. The server hardware is a three year old Intel dual PIII system with 2 disk sets, boot mirror with only 1.2GB free and RAID 5 data set with 2.3GB free.

Customer Requirements:
Customer relies heavily on email, internally, as well as vendor and client communication and transactions. The Customer cannot be without email communication during normal business hours or for any significant period of time.

The Solution:
During emergency visit, temporarily expand mail store beyond its limits to allow for mounting of information store. We were then able to attempt reduction of the mail store using retention policies and asked users to clean out as much unnecessary email as possible. This provided us time to prepare the permanent solution, which was to perform an upgrade to Exchange 2003 using new hardware for maximum stability and performance. Install a new Intel Pentium Dual Core server running Windows Server 2003 R2. Prepare Windows 2000 active directory domain for its first Windows 2003 server. Use Move Mailbox method to migrate user mailboxes to new server over a weekend. This provides transparent upgrade to the end user and does not require anyone to touch client workstations. Review and configure backup systems, anti virus protection and retention policies.

The Benefits:
The solution was implemented within one week of the initial problem due to its critical nature. The upgrade was performed during non-business operations on a weekend to minimize downtime. The method used did not require any attention to the client workstations and therefore caused no business interruptions. When the Monday after the transition of the server arrived, all users logged into their Outlook email clients and were able to get right to work without any service interruption.

The customer was provided the latest version of Exchange Server that has a mail store limit of 75GB as opposed to 16GB. The entire active directory infrastructure was updated to support the latest Microsoft Server Operating system.

The customer has the capability to take advantage of new features of Exchange 2003 such as Mobile device support, RPC over HTTP, Internet Mail Filter and more.

History:
The customer has 120 computer workstations all protected with Symantec Anti-Virus 10.1 clients in an enterprise managed system. They own Symantec Enterprise Security 10.1. There was no restrictions on the use of the internet or restrictions on downloading and installing shareware or internet toolbars.

Customer Requirements:
The customer would like to reduce support costs, eliminate the results of infections and productivity loss, and restrict internet access and implement an internet acceptable use policy.

The Solution:
After reviewing current systems, it was determined the primary cause of the spyware, malware and virus infections were web browsing. Though all systems were protected using Symantec Anti Virus 10.1 and the primary server systems were also protected, the web browsing was the open door allowing infections to enter the network.

The customer already owned Symantec Enterprise Edition which includes Symantec Web Security. This software provides web content filtering and virus protection. However, this software was never initially implemented.

It was determined the best course of action was to implement this software and develop an internet acceptable use policy that included departmental URL allow only restriction lists. As well, several computers with full access to the internet were placed in locations throughout the facility on a separate network to allow users to access anything they would like on the web during their lunch and break times. We separated the internal network from the full access network in order to maintain internal network integrity should the full access computer be infected.

The Benefits:
The customer significantly reduced monthly support costs and loss of worker productivity while increasing their network integrity. The internal network is now fully protected from all access points and stability has been achieved. Further, an Internet Acceptable use policy has been implemented which directs the behavior of all employees and sets expected standards.

This was all accomplished with no service interruption and with software the Customer already owned.

History:
The customer’s primary location in Illinois uses a Small Business Server. They have 20 Windows XP Pro SP2 workstations that access the server. These workstations use a server based application for most of their daily work. As well, the server provides email, shared file access and internet access. The internet access is provided by a 512K DSL line.

Customer Requirements:
The customer’s server based application does not function well over low bandwidth links. As well, they would like to support and monitor the remote sites from the main office in Illinois.

The Solution:
A terminal server was purchased and installed at the main office. The DSL line at the main office was upgraded to 1MB and DSL lines were installed at each satellite office. Preconfigured VPN routers were installed at each satellite office. Once installed, these routers created a persistent VPN (virtual private network) connection to the main office. Preconfigured Windows XP Pro SP2 computers were shipped to each location. Each computer was configured to logon to the Terminal Server over the persistent VPN connection. This allowed satellite office users access to all company applications and server based email and file shares in a secure and responsive environment.

The Benefits:
The customer has been able to expand into new markets while maintaining central office control. They reduced costs of implementation and support by being able to extend access to the Small Business Server. In this manner, they did not have to purchase additional servers, software and licenses for each office. Further, we are able to support these satellite offices using remote assistance or remote desktop from Illinois.

History:
Their existing primary accounting application is not compatible with Windows XP Pro and fails to run on these systems. They have spent considerable money customizing the accounting application and are not prepared at this time to upgrade.

Customer Requirements:
The customer must regain stability by replacing the failing Windows 98 workstations. A stop gap measure must be provided to give time to develop budget requirements and upgrade path for the Legacy accounting system.

The Solution:
Microsoft Virtual PC was chosen to host an emulated Windows 98 desktop on the new Windows XP Pro workstation clients. The Legacy accounting systems client was installed in this virtual environment.

The Benefits:
The customer was able to replace the failing workstations while maintaining the Legacy accounting system function. Support costs have been reduced with the new hardware. Time is now available to develop a cost effective plan to replace the Legacy accounting system.

History:
The customer has 4 other buildings within a 1 mile area. They use 3 x T-1 lines currently for connections between the campus locations. 2 x T-1 are used for data and 1 x T-1 used for PBX phone system. The customer’s network bandwidth requirements are consistently increasing and T-1 bandwidth is no longer sufficient.

Customer Requirements:
They need the facility up and running in one month. SBC will take up to 3 months to provide T-1 lines. They would require a minimum of 3 lines. These T-1 lines have high recurring costs, estimated at $1,500.00 per month for the 3, and the bandwidth is limited.

The Solution:
Various technologies were researched and Systech selected the Proxim QuickBridge II unlicensed Radio system. This system provided a data path and a dedicated integrated T-1 for the PBX phone system.

The Benefits:
The customer was provided with data bandwidth equivalent to over 4 times T-1 speed using the microwave radio links, while still retaining a T-1 phone system in a secure and stable environment. The monthly T-1 recurring costs were eliminated. ROI is expected to pay for the implementation within 1 year. The entire installation was installed, configured and tested in less than 3 weeks.

Since this initial implementation, the customer has opted to eliminate their existing traditional T-1 lines in favor of this solution for their existing facilities.