BlueFire - Managed Services Enterprise

You don’t generate your own electricity, and you probably didn’t build your office – so why should you have to spend the money, time and effort to build and manage your own information technology infrastructure?

Desktops, servers, applications, networks and security each require specialist knowledge (and a considerable investment in time and money) to keep them running smoothly. The annual management cost of a desktop PC alone is estimated to be three or more times its purchase price, much of this because it’s so hard to keep computers updated and configured to suit your business needs. Skilled security professionals are hard to come by, applications need constant maintenance, and data centres are complex and expensive.

In the past, there was no way of avoiding the cost and complexity of IT, but with the emergence of managed service providers like BlueFire, businesses of all sizes have gained access to a revolutionary alternative. Bluefire offers a solution that provides the full IT capabilities of a Fortune 500 company, at a fixed price that’s a fraction of the cost of building & maintaining them yourself.

But a managed services environment isn’t only about making your life easier; because we’ve built an infrastructure to last, BlueFire MSE also offers a no-compromises solution to the most pressing business priorities companies’ face today.

Key Benefits	Description
Workforce Mobility:	Since all of your data and applications reside on our servers, they are accessible via secure Internet connections no matter where your employees are located. This means they can work from home, access key files from their smartphone while visiting a customer’s office, check email from anywhere using Blackberry devices or our Webmail service, or move between branch offices without worrying where their key files are located. Improved mobility also allows companies to implement ‘hot desking’, whereby the need for floor space is reduced by providing common-use desks that are available whenever mobile employees drop in. Online and Offline anywhere access enables efficient working to all authorised users.
IT Efficiency:	In a managed services environment, there’s no need to spend money on overspecified servers you don’t need, applications you don’t use, and desktops that need replacing every few years. The sheer size of our data centre environment has given us economies of scale that we pass on to our customers. Buy what you need, when you need it; because you only pay a flat rate per user, your IT expenditure is minimised and highly predictable – making financial controllers happy and freeing your staff to focus on building the business.
Business Continuity:	Our data centres have all of the features you would expect to find in a top-tier business: redundant communications links, backup power generators, backup cooling, and continuous backup of data from one site to another. All this means one thing: your data and applications are always protected, and continuously available for your use. Even if your office faces disasters like flooding or fires, you can be up and running immediately just by logging into your BlueFire MSE service from an alternative location.
Branch Office Management:	If your company has many branch offices, keeping them in sync while doing IT yourself is extremely difficult; witness the recent trend towards consolidating all IT capabilities in central, massive data centres. We’ve done the consolidation already, which means the BlueFire MSE solution scales from one desktop to a dozen or more branch offices without batting an eyelid. Without even trying, you can finally give every branch office employees access to the same applications, security, data and messaging infrastructure.
Data Security:	We treat your data and applications with all the care and protection we would if it were our own. Not only is data backed up regularly, but it’s only available through our BlueFire Private Network, to which your business is securely connected, or to remote users via our secure Internet portal. In line with the principles of Banking Grade Security qualification for Information Security, our security-trained personnel manage firewalls, intrusion detection systems, Web and spam filters, and more. End-to-end security from us means peace of mind for you.
Corporate Governance:	As if running your own IT isn’t complicated enough, an increasingly complex and demanding legal landscape has made it imperative to effectively manage and control your company data. Defining these controls is hard enough, but mapping them into software is simply more complicated than many companies can manage. At BlueFire, however, we’ve done the hard yards already, building up a clearly defined managed services offering that meets specific governance objectives in areas such as data security, retention and access control. This has attracted many US companies in the region looking for Sarbanes Oxley and Hippa legislative compliance.
Guaranteed Performance:	We’ve spared no dollar building the best IT infrastructure money can buy. We’re so sure it will provide the services you need that we back BlueFire MSE with fixed service level agreements (SLAs) that ensure you will never be left in the dark when it comes to your key business services. These SLA’s are all about commercial guarantees rather than technical complexities, as a result clear outlines of accountability that are easily measured.
24/7 Support:	Think of BlueFire MSE as the end of sleep deprivation – for you, at least. Rain or shine, night and day, our technical experts are on hand to make sure your managed IT environment is running optimally. Proactive monitoring and management ensures you’re always running the most up-to-date environment possible, and potential issues are identified and dealt with early on to ensure smooth sailing for all. No matter when you need us or why, we’re here to help you make the most of what tomorrow’s information technology has to offer – today.

No matter what your industry, and no matter what your expectations or requirements from IT, BlueFire MSE can be tailored to suit your needs. With most of the complexity taken out of your environment, you and your employees will be able to think less about technology, and focus more on what really matters: your business.

Features	Description
ENTERPRISE IT	Enterprise IT Enviroment deliverying Desktop Management, reduce TCO, improved management and flexibility, end user productivity & no single points of failure with included high avialability services.
FILE SYSTEM	Delivery of file services to all users on your corporate network.
EMAIL SYSTEM	Enterprise Managed Exchange Email System delivery Microsoft Exchange with Outlook to all users on your corporate network.
MANAGED SECURITY GATEWAY	Enterprise Security, Firewalling, Content Filtering and Managed Internet Services for safe gaurding you data and users from the dangers of the internet. Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Anti-phish and Web Content Security.
DESKTOP MANAGEMENT	Granular Management of Desktop - included SOE - Standard Operating Enviroment based on the following profiles - Office Worker, Power User & Mobile User.
ONGOING SUPPORT	Support, Monitoring and Management of you corporate network. 24 Hour Service Desk with Advanced Remote Management Tools for ensure you have access to IT Support when you need it.
REMOTE ACCESS	Anywhere access to your desktop securely over the internet.
MANAGED BACKUP	Enterprise Backup Systems to backup your data securely and allow easy restoration of your information on demand.

Managed Services Enterprise

The Managed Desktop is an established service that delivers an enterprise desktop based around expectations of a ASX List Top 500 corporation. A service that leverages BlueFire’s investment in infrastructure, systems and people; designed with no single points of failure to offer high reliability, resilience and scale. Facilities that provides an enterprise environment for servers, provides all critical services such as Communications, Backup, Security, Storage, Monitoring, Management, Reporting and highly secured Internet services.

The secure virtual desktop delivers anywhere access to you applications, files and email. The exact same desktop is delivered to you regardless of whether you are working in the office, at home of at a clients site. Online & Offline access is available to allow mobile workers to work on documents while mobile. 24/7 support structures are available with remote control capabilities allowing easy support when you need assistance.

The solution was drafted through listening to our clients and understanding in depth what any small to medium businesses expectations are regarding IT. Small and medium businesses cannot justify spending the type of money it takes to build the type of IT environment that most require. The concept is build a best of breed IT environment and leverage this across many clients. As a result you can deliver best of breed IT experience at a small to medium business cost.

This goes hand in hand with a documented service level agreement with guidelines and commitments to RESPONSE and RESOLVE times. Financial penalties apply in the event of BlueFire failing to meet these commitments. With any service level guarantee this is useless without the proper systems that provide accountability through reporting. BlueFire provides a 24 hour Web Portal to provide this information on demand. Easily traceable and accountable tickets can be monitored and all correspondence and actions are tracked through the use of audit trails.

BlueFire uses the best equipment available from Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Checkpoint security products, and Citrix centralisation thin client technology.

Evolution through advances in telecommunications infrastructure have permitted for the availability of high speed internet services to grant anywhere access to you information. The ability to build the infrastructure once and deliver this to many locations is very much a reality. You can simply purchase your IT in the same way you currently purchase electricity.

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ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT

Features
Description

Desktop Management Xxxx

Server Management
Xxxxx

Network Management

Xxxxx

High Avialability No Single Point of failure across entire IT enviroment.

XXX Xxxxx

XXX Xxxxx

FILE SYSTEM

Features
Description

Enterprise-class file management Integrated file management in one collaborative and secure workplace, available on-line and off-line. Work as you do today, easy, fast and secure access to all your files locally from your PC and from any internet enabled PC.

Anytime, anywhere access to files
BlueFire Portal provides Web Access to user’s files, directories and documents through a Web browser. The portal user interface is similar to the windows explorer interface, and you can perform most of the same tasks as you would on your local machine. Mobile users can easily access internal resources, email, file shares and documents – in a format that is easily visible. While presenting the appropriate level of access depending on whom the user is.

Synchronisation of your files.

Provide one central place to store business information, making it easy for employees to find, access, and share files and documents. These files are made available online and offline for easy access and management.

File Locking Powerful and innovative program that ensures that when a user is modifying a file, no other user will be allowed to make changes to that file on any machine that the user has chosen to lock.

Collaboration You work in a team and share some files and folders. You can use file synchronization to get and put the latest versions of the documents you are sharing with your team and make them available offline.

Advanced Security and Anti-Virus Protection. BlueFire, in conjunction with Symantec, provides a high-quality security service. Seamlessly integrates essential technologies such as antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion prevention & device control in the file system. Stops malware such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, bots and zero-day threats. Prevents security outbreaks thus reducing administrative overhead & lowers total cost of ownership for endpoint security.

EMAIL SYSTEM

Features
Description

Enterprise-class Messaging Integrate e-mail, calendaring, contact and task management in one collaborative and secure workplace, available on-line and off-line. Coupled with Outlook, today's leading enterprise collaboration client, Exchange will provide you with the most powerful online and offline collaborative platform ever. Enjoy the most scalable, reliable and manageable messaging and collaboration platform available.

Anytime, anywhere access to email
Outlook Web Access provides users access to e-mail, personal calendars, group scheduling and collaboration applications through a Web browser. The Outlook Web Access user interface is similar to the Outlook 2003 user interface, and you can perform most of the same tasks as you would in Outlook.

Public Folders to securely store data and share information

Create public folders to distribute information across your organization. Public folders can store messages and provide a general share point or personal storage location.

Collaborative scheduling Manage and share a calendar throughout the entire organization. Invite co-workers to meeting, check availability, reserve a conference room and more.

Task Management Create tasks and to-do lists, assign tasks to others and notify them through e-mail as well as check completion status.

Blackberry & PDA Synchronisation Enterprise Blackberry Enterprise Server Synchronisation plus Microsoft Mobile Synchronisation provided.

Advanced Security and Spam Protection BlueFire, in conjunction with Securence, provides a high-quality Anti-Spam service to help solve the long-lasting spam plague. It sends suspect messages to a quarantine folder for further handling (removed, allowed, or permanently allowed).

Archiving & Compliance Solution BlueFire, in partnership with Symantec, offers you a full-featured, all-in-one Archiving and Compliance Solution. It is designed to enable organizations to store, manage and monitor e-mail data in a more efficient and effective way, supports compliance with regulatory mandates, such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, SEC and NASD Rules.

MANAGED SECURITY GATEWAY

Features
Description

Internet Services Diverse and redundant Internet links with secure via internet peering. Guaranteed connectivity to and from the Internet through multiple carriers, fully redundant infrastructure and environmental systems.

Firewalls
Multi-tiered firewall design segregating networks with different security classification.

Intrusion Prevention & Visibility

Inbound and outbound Network Intrusion Prevention protecting the MSG and connected clients from traffic traversing the Internet, DMZ, and WAN segments. These devices analyse all traffic across the network to provide visibility of the types of traffic and scans and protects the network from malicious content, providing Real-time network monitoring and management. Consistent defence against malicious network traffic through unique infrastructure design and accredited policies, response plans and operational procedures. Customised reporting on a range of the organisation's network and security activities.

Content Filtering Email and Web Filtering Security Scanning, providing secure email, hosting and backup services.

High Availability WAN Services Diverse and redundant WAN links with services from Optus, Powertel, Uecomm, PIPE and Soul. Guaranteed connectivity to and from and in between all branch sites and the Internet through multiple carriers, fully redundant infrastructure and environmental systems.

Advanced Security & Access Control Highly secure physical environment allowing only authorised personnel access to client systems. Granular access control is managed across all digital assets throughout the environment whether inside the environment of accessing your information remotely.

Internet Peering BlueFire peering service enables a free interchange of data between internet service providers.

Network Backbone Scalable gigabit network throughput giving the organisation guaranteed network performance

Change Control Stringent configuration and change control procedures ensuring any requests are properly authorised, and assessed against potential risk to ensure client connectivity.

MANAGED ONGOING SUPPORT, MANAGEMENT & MAINTAINENCE

Features
Description

User Support All BlueFire users have unlimited access to telephone and screen-sharing support from our support department. We will resolve problems, provide training, answer questions, and give technical advice. At any time, our support technicians can provide shadow support. If granted, our support technician can view the user's monitor and share the use of the keyboard and mouse with them. Another option is for our support technician to take full remote control of the user's PC. Before a support technician can shadow a user's session or be granted control of a user's desktop, they must be given explicit permission via a verbal confirmation as well as a visual confirmation by clicking the appropriate dialog box on their screen. Support is available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Non-critical issues are not handled between 6:00 PM and 8:00 AM Monday to Friday. A sophisticated ticket tracking system is used to manage helpdesk operations. As support requests are submitted, each request becomes a tracked ticket, recording the user who made the request, the time, nature, and priority of the request, and the resolution of the issue.

Training
Orientation sessions are available for new users to be trained in using your systems as required. Training is provided to all users; received during the initial migration process.

Local Issues

Issues may arise having to do with local hardware, for example, network connectivity issues, local/network printing issues, spyware, virus issues, or local hardware failure. BlueFire will help you resolve all of these issues as well as any other reasonably related local technology problem that prevents or hinders you from properly working.
Software issues can result from Windows operating systems that result in slow performance. In order to resolve these issue BlueFire provides a re-installation service for $260 ex gst per PC/Notebook, in which the client sends the machine to BlueFire for re-installation. The machine is re-installed and configured, and returned to the client. All licensing and media needs to be provided to enable this service.
In the event that a hardware failure is diagnosed, BlueFire's support technicians can make the necessary arrangements to resolve the problem, such as reporting a problem to the hardware/warranty vendor. In the event the hardware has failed and is out of warranty,

Maintenance & Upgrades All application maintenance performed by BlueFire is included and is not subject to any additional fees. Depending on the specific application, maintenance may be a once-a-year task or a daily one. Tasks include updates, patches, log file examination, upgrades, and testing.

MANAGED BACKUP

Features
Description

Remote Backup & Restore Service
Fully automated process allows regular backup of data at scheduled intervals. Removes the inefficiencies, risk and high costs associated with self-managed backup solutions, replaces these processes with the ability to effectively backup & restore data when it is needed, to a place where it can be used, within a timescale that is acceptable to the business.

Backup SLA
Provisioned as a fully managed service, under strict performance criteria governed by a contracted Service Level Agreement, BlueFire can significantly enhance business continuity practices, whilst reducing overall cost of ownership and releasing IT resources to concentrate on more productive data management processes.

Scalable Backup Solution

The BlueFire solution is currently delivering managed backup services from 10GB to 25TB using the same technology and infrastructure.

Security & Data Integrity Security follows best practice for information management & security. Follows the ISO 7799 Security standard.