Please help to support their valuable work – see http://www.SupportTheRoyalParks.org

The agency was formed in May 2006 by senior board members from some of London’s top creative communications agencies with a pedigree that includes over 150 industry awards, nationally and internationally. INITIALS Marketing was the winner of the 2011 IPM Agency of the Year award working with household names including Samsung, Sainsbury’s, BBC and Peugeot, amongst many others.

In common with many creative agencies, INITIALS has a large estate of Apple based desktop, laptops and mobile devices. Following concerns regarding its incumbent IT service provider’s ability to deal effectively with Apple technology alongside its Microsoft systems, INITIALS decided to investigate alternatives.

With over 50 users based at offices near Piccadilly Circus in central London, INITIALS needed an IT service provider with local coverage and the ability to respond, day or night, to users often working unusual hours in response to the needs of its clients.  Data security is also a vital consideration as INITIALS needs to maintain secure archives of artwork, video and documents on behalf of clients for an extended period of time.

Following a rigorous tender process, INITIALS selected Pensar, based on its proven track record working with similar creative and Apple centric organisations, and the depth of its service offering. To understand the environment, Pensar staff conducted a full audit and evaluation of the existing IT setup. This process uncovered less than adequate backup and disaster recovery provisions and several security issues, and helped define a clearer strategy to help INITIALS improve its overall IT position.

“It is easy to sing the praises of the Pensar team, in one word – awesome!,” says Richard Barrett, Managing Director for INITIALS Marketing, “The on-site team has been utterly fantastic, they have given me a full debrief of everything they found and all that they have done, and I can honestly say that I feel the weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Following the audit, Pensar has reorganised key communication and server rooms and implemented a combined on-site and remote backup system for critical data to improve INITIALS business continuity position.  Pensar now offers support across both Apple and Microsoft based desktop technology and the full spectrum of devices including Blackberry, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia smartphones, pads and tablets, with full 24/7 coverage.

“Pensar has provided us with confidence that our IT is properly supported and the technical staff we deal with have the knowledge and ability to resolve any issues in a timely fashion,” explains Barrett.

Pensar is now working with INITIALS to reuse some of its older decommissioned servers as a local file archive and a longer term plan to upgrade its telephony system to take advantage of new collaboration and user productivity tools.

“INITIALS is a great example of an organisation that embraces all manner of technology to meet the needs of its clients,” explains Mark Williams, Managing Director of Pensar, “Simply supporting Windows desktops is not enough for most modern businesses and as the BYOD trend grows, the ability to support a wider remit of devices and operating systems is increasingly critical for a successful IT service provider.”

About Pensar

Since it founded in 1996, Pensar Systems Ltd has grown to become one of London and the South East’s leading IT service providers with expertise covering both Apple and Microsoft environments. Pensar supports over 100 clients around the capital and is part of the Apple Consultants Network and Microsoft Partner community.

Alongside consultancy, implementation, maintenance and support, Pensar provides a range of managed services including Disaster Recovery, Mobile Device Management and Cloud Computing. Pensar  is also the only UK based Apple focused recipient of a MSPmentor Top 50 Award for leading managed service providers across Europe.  http://www.pensar.co.uk/

About INITIALS Marketing

INITIALS Marketing is a creative communications agency, with in-house teams specialising in all aspects of below the line creation and activation, including event & experiential, promotional, shopper and digital marketing sectors.

At INITIALS, we believe our approach is a little different, we have 4 centres of excellence in Shopper Marketing, Promotional Marketing, Digital Communications and Experiential Marketing and a group of dedicated people that always ensure that the correct mix of this experience is brought to bare on every brief we receive. Two basic ingredients contribute to delivering campaigns that really make a difference. Firstly, an exciting, innovative idea that will have heads turning. Secondly, a team of experienced, committed people whose expertise and attention to detail is second to none. For more information, please visit http://www.worldofinitials.co.uk/

Click here to download the full announcement

Read more: World Backup Day

Pensar recommends that to ensure the security of your important information, you should have more than one backup (local and offsite). For this reason, our SIRIS backup service is the preferred method.

Read more: SIRIS Backup

SPECIAL OFFER: To acknowledge World Backup Day, Pensar is offering a 25% discount for any orders placed on Friday 31st March.

If you wish to learn more, please call Mark Williams on 0845 402 6797.

The SMB 150 is an annual list of the top 150 IT professionals in the worldwide Small and Medium Business IT Channel put together by SMB Nation and sponsored by BlackBerry.

The process of deciding the final 150 is now taking place.

• Voting. A ballot has been presented with all of the nominations. Each candidate has a photo and a biography/sales pitch/statement seeking your vote!
• Judges. SMB Nation have recruited a panel of esteemed industry judges to oversee the election. The judges input will be weighted along with the voted. This validation step insure that truly the Top 150 are selected!
• Awards dinner! Awardees and members of the public will be invited to attend an awards ceremony and dinner in Los Angles in late April 2012.

Voting is open to all (not just those in the IT channel). If you’d like to vote, here’s how:

• Visit www.smb150.com and click the Registration button in the top right hand corner.
• Fill in your registration details and click Create User.
• You’ll then receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your account by clicking a verification link. Click that link.
• Then, log in to the SMB 150 web-site using the new username and password you’ve created.

Then search for the individual you’d like to vote for using the search box near the top right hand corner of the page and cast your vote.

Pensar, one of London’s largest Apple focused IT support and MSPs has been nominated by Nine Lives Media for inclusion in its MSPmentor 50 EMEA Edition, the first list identifying the top 50 managed service providers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Pensar, a member of both the Apple Consultants Network and Microsoft Partner community, is the only Apple Focused UK Partner to make the list. Mark Williams, CEO and founder of Pensar says: “It is both a recognition of our ability and also a wider acceptance that integrating Apple technology into a managed services portfolio is critical as the vendor grows its market share within both SMB and enterprise environments.”

The MSPmentor 50 EMEA Edition is based on data from MSPmentor’s global online survey, conducted between October-December 2011. The MSPmentor 50 EMEA Edition recognises top managed service providers based on a range of metrics, including annual managed services revenue growth, revenue per employee, managed services offered and customer devices managed.

“Nine Lives Media and MSPmentor congratulate Pensar for its leadership position within the EMEA market,” said Amy Katz, president of Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton Media. “While many IT resellers across EMEA cling to break-fix business models, the EMEA 50 list identifies true market leaders among IT service providers.”

According to MSPmentor data, MSPs on this year’s EMEA 50 list lifted their annual recurring revenues a healthy 7 percent and are now managing 164,000 desktop and mobile devices for customers, up nearly 50 percent from 2010.”

About Pensar

Since it founded in 1996, Pensar Systems Ltd has grown to become one of London and the South East’s leading IT services providers with expertise covering both Apple and Microsoft environments. Pensar Systems supports over 100 clients around the capital and is part of the Apple Consultants Network and Microsoft Partner community. Alongside consultancy, implementation, maintenance and support, Pensar Systems provides a range of managed services including Disaster Recovery, Mobile Device Management and Cloud Computing. Pensar Systems is also the only UK based Apple focused recipient of a MSPmentor Top 50 Award for leading managed service providers across Europe.

About Nine Lives Media

Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton Media, defines emerging IT media markets and disrupts established IT media markets. The company’s IT channel-centric online communities include MSPmentor (www.MSPmentor.net), The VAR Guy (www.TheVARguy.com), Talkin’ Cloud (www.TalkinCloud.com), VARtweet (www.VARtweet.com) and MSPtweet (www.MSPtweet.com). For more information, visit www.NineLivesMediaInc.com.

Click here to download the full announcement

Based in the City of London, MHC works with both market practitioners and software vendors. The consultancy focuses on wealth management, transaction banking, investment banking and asset management communities, and includes some of the leading names in the global financial markets such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Barclays.

With an upcoming office move planned, senior management felt a change of IT service provider would be welcomed and offered a formal tender to eight IT service providers with capability in London. “The references for Pensar were excellent and they were very competitive on price,” explains Jonathan Want, an Associate Director at Mansion House, “They were also one of the first organisations we met and they seemed the most suited to our needs and IT strategy.”

Since commencing work with Mansion House in January, Pensar has successfully carried out an office move and has now started a migration project for its Microsoft Windows and Exchange servers. “We also appreciate the per user pricing model and flexibility which will allow us to manage our IT budget in a much more efficient manner,” Want added, “Overall, it has been a good choice to select Pensar as our IT service provider.”

More information on Mansion House can be found here: http://www.mansion-house.co.uk

About Pensar

Since it founded in 1996, Pensar Systems Ltd has grown to become one of London and the South East’s leading IT service providers with expertise covering both Apple and Microsoft environments. Pensar Systems supports over 100 clients around the capital and is part of the Apple Consultants Network and Microsoft Partner community. Alongside consultancy, implementation, maintenance and support, Pensar Systems provides a range of managed services including Disaster Recovery, Mobile Device Management and Cloud Computing. Pensar Systems is also the only UK based Apple focused recipient of a MSPmentor Top 50 Award for leading managed service providers across Europe.

Click here to download the full announcement

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/comment/the-fear-of-integrating-apple-in-a-microsoft-centric-world-58543

Many companies feel they now have social media figured out. Twitter account? Check. Facebook page? Check. Communicating with customers? Check. Yet is having a social presence enough, or should brands be pushing for a measurable ROI? Now that you’ve got all those fans and followers, how do you keep them engaged? Is it really possible to measure value in pounds and pence?

This conference will showcase leading brands that are living and breathing social and that have truly seen results from their efforts.

By attending you will learn from:

- Salesforce.com: How you can live and breathe social and really make it part of your DNA

- Sony: Learning how to demonstrate social’s ROI by measuring the direct impact on sales

- Dell: Tips gained from a brand that has been in the social game from the very beginning

- Cisco: How social media can be used internally to achieve an integrated workforce

- Virgin:  How to go beyond facebook for real engagement

- Barclays:  How to use twitter for customer service

Plus a debate from top agencies on Who owns social media? Marketing, PR or Advertising?

The event takes place on Thursday 16th February at The Arts Theatre (2 minutes from Leicester Square tube) and tickets cost from as little as £20 with all proceeds going to charity.

To register, please go to:

http://www.socialmediadna.co.uk/register/

We look forward to seeing you there.

Our advice: because these are fake and ‘phishing’ attempts please not click or open any attachments – they invariably contain a virus or trojan. SIMPLY DELETE the email. If you have any banking queries, just contact your bank in the normal way – important thing being that you initiate the contact.

Here is an example:

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you are in doubt.

These new settings are defaulted ON and include allowing LinkedIn to use profile information, names and photos in third party advertising. Please see the links below for opting out.

To reach the hard-to-reach settings options the following URL’s should take you directly to them (cut and paste into your browser if they don’t work as live links)

Manage social advertising: https://www.linkedin.com/settings/?modal=nsettings-social-advertising&tab=account

Manage enhanced advertising: https://www.linkedin.com/settings/?modal=nsettings-enhanced-advertising&tab=account

Data sharing with third party applications: https://www.linkedin.com/settings/?modal=nsettings-data-sharing&tab=groups

Partner InMail: https://www.linkedin.com/settings/?modal=nsettings-partner-inmail&tab=email

You may wish to consider alerting your own contacts on LinkedIn.