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Cisco Partner Locator – About Cisco Systems Partner Networks

The Cisco Partner Locator is a handy tool that provides clients of Cisco Systems to get in touch with certified partners who can assist clients with their needs. The Cisco partner program was developed to help assist with collaboration among clients and their networking needs. A Cisco partner may function as a technical advisor to a company with a range of tasks that could include representation of Cisco products, network administration and technical assistance. By going to the Cisco Locator on the main Cisco web-site, it’s possible to get in touch with a Cisco partner near your location.

Cisco Certification involves an understanding of the breadth and scope of the different Cisco technological resources. The certification is based on different levels. For the Technology Skills Breadth certifications, partners are trained to deliver a wide range of networking services that range from Select Certification up to Gold Certification, and require appropriate amounts of hours and training, passing exams to be eligible for each certification. When choosing a partner on the Cisco Partner Locator, find one with certifications that match your needs. A Gold or Master certification is probably the most comprehensive, while a Technology Skills Breadth Select Certification is still optimized for assistance with small businesses.

The Technology Skills Depth specializations involve a number of different types of specializations to represent a partner’s technical understanding. The four specializations include SMB Specialization, Express Specialization, Advanced Specialization, and Master Specialization. As with the breadth certifications, the depth certifications also determine competency with networking needs, but in specific ranges and specialties that are more focused versus the breadth specializations. A Master is the most highly qualified in networking solutions for your company, and offers the most premiere services available on the Cisco Partner Locator. On the same note, an SMB Specialization may be less comprehensive, but could still represent a partner who is trained to meet specific needs of small businesses.

It’s also possible to become a regional partner yourself, who can be contacted through the Cisco Partner Locator. By seeking employment with Cisco Systems, you will be part of a huge team of international professionals dedicated to high-end networking solutions. The certification process allows a partner to manifest a new career with training and specialization, in order to assist local business and help with the implementation of Cisco products. For more information, visit the main Cisco Systems web-site or contact a regional representative.

Cisco Commerce Workspace – An E-Commerce Solution to Consider

Cisco Systems is a multinational networking solutions company that serves many of the largest corporations and governmental organizations in the world. You may have heard about their Cisco Commerce Workspace which is a lesser-known feature located through the Cisco Systems web-age. This feature was developed recently by Cisco Systems as a service for clients seeking an all-in-one network solution for commerce and transactions. It’s designed to allow collaboration between clients and businesses from a single web-site service.

The Cisco Commerce Workspace is accessed through logging into a browser platform. Some of the main features include deal registration and the ability to highlight quotes. A client can access the workspace and from this point, the client and provider can arrange their deals and handle the exchange virtually. This is a useful tool for a company that manages consistent business with certain clients, and wishes to streamline the process, lowering the amount of e-mail, phone calls, and other delays. It’s definitely designed as a way to enhance business to business commerce.

The system also allows a variety of ways to track the order and the shipping status of the products delivered to the client. The quotes can be turned into orders by simply clicking the appropriate button on the work-space, and the automated system will be integrated with your company to allow quick processing from confirmation up to fulfillment. The Cisco Commerce Workspace can theoretically save a business time and energy involved with a transaction. However, both parties must be integrated with this network to utilize it, versus other e-commerce related tools that may not require users to register for a specific service to work with it.

The Cisco Commerce Workspace is available by going to the primary Cisco Systems web-page and finding their commerce platform. As a browser based system, it would be a good idea to ensure that your company is outfitted with the latest firewalls and security systems to ensure that sensitive commerce data is traveling through a private network that could not be compromised by hackers, or malicious software that keylogs sensitive information. The CCW also provides a number of support platforms to help users become accustomed to it, as well as online forums that assist with technical services and to help learn how to fully utilize the network. For more information, check out the resources at the Cisco Systems web-page, including the PDF tutorials to help a new user get started.

Checkpoint RIA – Basic Information

Checkpoint RIA is part of Thomson Reuters, which is a leading tax platform that includes a variety of resources for financial professionals. Their clients include top banks, firms, and individual consumers. Their Checkpoint system is their online database of tax related information. Essentially, Checkpoint acts somewhat like a private tax encyclopedia, designed to help businesses understand tax related issues in an efficient manner. Some of the information provided includes international and federal tax issues, accounting, pension, estate, payroll, and a lot of other topics, as well.

As a tax and accounting research system, Checkpoint RIA (or PPC) is designed to allow customers to search for a wide range of topics, phrased as questions. For instance, a customer may ask “Does computer software depreciate?”, and even a complex question like this one is likely to bring up comprehensive and specific answers. For this reason, it’s a good tool for both accounting professionals and also small business owners who require immediate tax knowledge, or handy assistance that saves a costly trip to the accountant’s office. The system stays up-to-date if or when taxation laws change.

Checkpoint RIA has a number of other features, as well. Among them is the ability to flag documents and take notes. It’s easy to organize software in a specific way, to allow quick access to the articles that you need to reference. In addition, tools allow users to change fonts and increase compatibility for users with vision related issues. There are also “instant help tools” and animated tutorials that can be accessed at anytime to help users adapt themselves to using the system. The system is also designed specifically for use with Apple iPads and other forms of mobile browsing, which allows easy access to tax information if you are using a phone or tablet style device to access Checkpoint.

Checkpoint RIA / PPC services comes with a free 30 day demo accessible through the Thomson Reuters web-site. The service is also offered alongside other Thomson Reuters products. For instance, a purchase of Federal Tax Research w/ Turbo Tax Business comes with RIA Checkpoint installed, at about U.S. $260.00. The service can also be purchased by itself as a stand-alone option through the Thomson Reuters web-site, however this requires contacting a sales representative—unfortunately, the service is not offered for easy download or any type of especially convenient option if you are seeking to access the Checkpoint platform in this way. Although, if one purchases the free trial, it’s possible to upgrade to a full version directly off the site.

Best Firewall 2011 – Shopper’s Guide

Every year new anti virus and security software firms release new firewall applications designed to keep your operating system safe from intruders—whether hijackers on the internet or thieves trying to break into your network and access sensitive data. It’s important to keep your system safe by implementing proper firewalls, while at the same time it’s important to be aware of bad products. The wrong firewall can slow down your computer, block access to important programs or even compromise your system. The best firewall 2011 products are also available into 2012, as well. Here are some of the best security applications from last year.

The first favorite among users across the planet was Microsoft Security Essentials, and it was extremely popular as one of the best firewall 2011 products. The reason is because not only is it completely free, but it’s quite extensive. Security Essentials could easily be the bane of malicious software developers across the globe, as after Microsoft released this free service, a huge number of previously unprotected computers were finally reinforced by proper security measures. However, as a free service, it’s somewhat limited compared to the “big guns” on the market.

Another popular firewall, and one of the best firewall 2011 products, is F-Secure Internet Security (now the 2012 edition). At $49.95, this is one of the ‘bigger guns’ on the market. It includes spam-filtration systems that are reliable, as well as high usability and a strong interface. Another top choice is Panda Firewall. This is a user-favorite, and often used by consumers with large networks, as well as users who manage a lot of downloads. It’s known for especially high-powered internet protection through an intelligent “adaptable” interface that keeps your computer protected and inoculated against threats.

One of the all-time favorites, and probably the best firewall 2011 product (and into 2012) is ZoneAlarm Pro. First of all, the price point is more reasonable at about $29.99. Secondly, it’s multi-layered and compatible with your existing anti-virus software without creating conflicts. It can protect wireless PCs, and it provides free version upgrades. So, among all of these, if you are on a very tight budget—stick to Microsoft Security Essentials. The higher price point items like Panda and F-Secure, and for a less expensive but extremely durable service, check out ZoneAlarm. By understanding firewalls, you can keep your sensitive information safe, and your system secure from threats that could potentially compromise your computer, including all of your most important data.

UCS Cisco (or Cisco Unified Computing System) is a relatively new technology from Cisco Systems Inc. It’s particularly popular in Data Center environments and cloud-based networking infrastructures. Cisco UCS is being managed by a centralised UCS Manager. For more information please visit the Cisco website at: www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns944/index.html

The Cisco Power Calculator is a nice little tool which allows to calculate power consumption per switch. Cisco’s new EnergyWise switches offer users to cut electricity costs dramatically. For example unused PCs can be shut down or put into sleep mode over weekends, whole components can be powered down and woken up again by using EnergyWise power supplies. The EnergyWise Orchestrator is the centralised EnergyWise Management tool where energy consumption can be monitored and controlled from. A Cisco Power Calculator allows for effectively measuring Return on Invest.

The Cisco 3650 switch is a very popular product within Cisco’s switching portfolio. It’s typically being used as an access layer switch, has full Quality of Service options, Security features and can also ship with built-in Power over Ethernet functionality. This makes the Cisco 3650 an ideal switch to connect Voice over IP phones, IP Video cameras, access points and hosts. It only consumes 1 Rack Unit and has a very quiet internal fan.

Cisco Video Conferencing combines real time audio and video transmission. Cisco’s flagship is Cisco TelePresence Video conferencing. Real meetings can be held through TelePresence and the system is particularly popular amongst banks and large organisations in order to cut frequent travel costs. Cisco has bought the Tandberg Video Conferencing System and that move effectively made Cisco the market leader in this field. Although the product is still too expensive for small and medium sized businesses, there is a huge potential for Cisco Video Conferencing moving forward. At One 4 Networks we have 2 Cisco CCIEs who are experts on TP/Tandber installations.

The Cisco Configuration tool is an offering from Cisco Systems which allows Administrators to configure networking components through the tool rather than via CLI. Although the tool may speed up some work processes, it’s certainly not an ideal tool for beginners. We at One 4 Networks always recommend people new to Cisco Internetworking to start by configuring the Command Line Interface first, in order to learn and understand at least the basics on the CLI. You can find the Cisco Configuration Tool on Cisco’s website: www.cisco.com

Cisco VRF stands for Cisco Virtual Routing and Forwarding and is mainly used in MPLS networks. It’s a virtualisation concept. A router on its own is a physical box. VRF enables an administrator to create many logical routers within one physical chassis (similar to VMWare). Typically each Cisco VFR is an IP-MPLS customer with its own Routing table. The physical router is also know as a Shared PE (share Provider Edge router) as many different and logically separated customers share the same physical hardware platform. At One 4 Networks, we are experts on design and configuration of VRF Cisco environments.