VAULT400

United Computer Group Releases Profile

2012-02-15T16:39:00.001-05:00

United Computer Group (Owner of VAULT400) recently released a Corporate Profile Document celebrating their 25th anniversary. You can learn more about United Computer Group by clicking here.

United Computer Group is a technology solutions provider for the mid-market. UCG is conveniently located in the Cleveland, Ohio area. This allows them to effectively service their over 1,000 IBM Power Server clients in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and other surrounding states.

VAULT400 in Security Newsletter

2011-11-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

I thought the advertisement in the SecureMYi Security Newsletter was pretty clever. I must admit this was the first time reading this newsletter and I found it quite informative. Anyway....here is the clever picture:

Disaster in U.S: An Extreme and Exhausting Year

2011-10-05T08:49:00.001-04:00

I read this article in Yahoo news about 2011. Triple digit temperatures, Tornadoes, Wild Fires and FLOODS have pummeled the U.S. It seems like more than ever the need for appropriate backup and disaster recovery is critical. Read Yahoo article.

VAULT400 Competitor was "Fired"

2011-08-31T13:35:00.001-04:00

Competitor was "Fired". VAULT400 initially lost the business due to lower install and support costs. Unfortunately, the client did not experience the savings nor support they had expected. They suffered from a serious lack of service! As you will read in this article from IT Jungle by Dan Burger; Managed Service Providers (MSPs) need to deliver project management skills. There needs to be continual communications on project status and especially on potential problems. A vendor who calls itself a managed service provider better be big on service.

77% of Businesses Experienced Data Loss Last Year

2011-07-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

Check Point and Ponemon published the results of their survey. Security Complexity in 21st Century IT Environments, show respondents cited customer information (52%) as the most common type of information compromised – in addition to intellectual property (33%), employee information (31%) and corporate plans (16%). With the adoption of Web 2.0 applications and more mobile devices connecting to the network, organizations are challenged with enforcing better data security and IT Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) requirements.

According to the survey of over 2,400 IT security administrators, the primary cause for data loss resulted from lost or stolen equipment, followed by network attacks, insecure mobile devices, Web 2.0 and file-sharing applications and accidentally sending emails to the wrong recipient. In addition, approximately 49 percent of all respondents believe their employees have little or no awareness about data security, compliance and policies – encouraging business to integrate more user awareness into their data protection strategies, as people are often the first line of defense. Link to complete artcle

Top 10 IBM i Product and Technology Trends for 2011 : Data Vaulting

2010-12-15T20:26:00.000-05:00

VAULT400 was singled out in the Top 10 Trends article in IT Jungle.

An excerpt from the article: Hosted DR/HA, and D2D
One of the most widely adopted cloud applications in the IBM i community may be data vaulting and hosted disaster recovery (DR) services. By sending their data over the wire to companies like Vault400 ... IBM i shops are getting rid of their tape drives and tape-based backup processes, while keeping data safe from outages and disaster.

VAULT400 On The Move!

2010-10-28T15:32:00.000-04:00

United Computer Group (VAULT400) is expanding their operations and moving to the Independence Corporate Center in Independence, Ohio. "This is a proud moment. Our staff additions and move to new office space confirm that our constant efforts to meet the needs of clients for both products and services are working to distinguish themselves from the competition," said Jim Kandrac, President of United Computer Group.

IT Jungle Discusses 5 Key Questions When Assessing Backup and Recovery

2010-09-09T11:39:00.000-04:00

IT Jungle (September 9, 2010) When assessing backup and recovery needs, your process should include the answers to five key questions, according to this paper. Within your company there will be differing opinions as to the answers, but it's necessary to reach some agreed upon priorities. Read More.

Why is data compression so important?

2010-08-02T08:53:00.000-04:00

Why is data copression so important?

Many people feel that storage is cheap and one should not worry about data compression. I beg to differ. Let's review exactly what is meant by data compression: Data Compression is the Process of reducing the amount of data needed for storage or transmission of a given piece of information (text, graphics, video, sound, etc.), typically by use of encoding techniques.

Simply stated, "You can save time and money by automatically compressing your data.". Imagine whatever you spend for storage being cut in half or in some cases reduced by 90%! Those saving are further compounded when you transmit the information over the Internet. In this situation the savings is time as well as money.

Web sites utilize compression all of the time. I am sure you have experienced s l o w sites. They typically have very large image files, flash and do not perform any type of compression like GZIP. By the way, compressing your site will probably improve your SEO as well. The top sites are compressed!

VAULT400 automatically compresses your data for you. When it comes to the IBM iSeires (AS/400), I have seen compressions as high as 10:1.

If you would like to see the impact on data transmission time for your data, click here and connect to the Calculate link.

VAULT400 has a new look!

2010-02-10T15:57:00.002-05:00

We decided to "clean up" our blog a little bit. Hope you like the new look.

Risk Mitigation with VAULT400

2009-11-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

One of the first steps in Risk Mitigation is understanding and admitting to yourself that you have a risk. VAULT400 has been an excellent risk mitigation tool for us. It addresses both online backup, disaster recovery and the day to day needs of recovery and piece of data from any point in time.

Another benefit is the broad range of platforms they address. Since VAULT400 is also an IBM iSeries business partner, they understand all of the special nuances associated with that platform. Since R&K is a reseller and user of the iSeries, that is of special benefit to us and our clients.

in reference to: http://www.rippe.com/RK_Risk_Mitigation.htm (view on Google Sidewiki)

Quick VAULT400 - FACTS - read on.......

2009-07-23T09:39:00.004-04:00

Management: With tape, each location must be managed locally by your staff because it requires manual intervention to load, eject and take tapes off-site. With VAULT400, you can centrally manage the solution from one location.

Recoveries: With tape, you must recall tapes from off-site storage before recoveries can begin. With VAULT400, you go to our central management console, identify the date you want to restore from and click the safeset, meaning recoveries are much faster.

Security: Do you encrypt your backups tapes? Many businesses skip this step because it adds time to backup windows. With VAULT400 you can encrypt backups without the overhead associated with tape encryption. Your data is secure and your backup windows are met.

Data Validity: Do you "verify after write"? Like encryption, many businesses skip this step because it adds time to backup windows, ultimately leaving you to discover any issues when you needed to recover. With VAULT400 error checking is part of the backup process and does not add time to backup windows.

Total Savings: While total savings includes tangible savings over tape, it does not include the risk of lost data. How much would it cost your organization if you lost a tape? Would you lose customers, incur regulatory fines, or lawsuits?

Our Quick VAULT400 Facts - and Best ROI for Your Business

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CLEVELAND Helping promotion of VAULT400

2009-07-19T09:38:00.002-04:00

Thanks Networking Cleveland dot net for
your help in promoting VAULT400 backup/recovery DR and HA

Case Study - JensonUSA Rolls with VAULT400

2009-07-17T13:00:00.006-04:00

Bike seller Jenson USA rolls with electronic vaulting backup/DR solution from UCG.

A new Case Study can be found our our VAULT400 website under In The News.

Online brick-n-mortar retailer choosing the best of the available components for the IBM System i.

Check out the story at ITJungle as well.

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85% of US Organizations Hit By One or More Data Breaches within the last 12 months

2009-07-15T09:38:00.008-04:00

I just read a press release on Data protection that was pretty powerful. It comes from the Ponemon Institute's fourth annual study of encryption usage in the enterprise.

The study surveyed 997 IT and security practitioners. Some key findings are listed here and you can see the report at: Encryption Reports. There are two reports listed (1) US 2009 Annual Study, and (2) UK 2009 Annual Study.

the following is from the report:

Data protection is an important part of an organization’s risk management efforts. Fifty-eight percent report that data protection is a very important part of risk management and 22 percent say it is an important part.
Encryption of data on mobile data-bearing devices used by employees is very important or important. More than 59 percent of respondents say it is very important or important to encrypt employees’ mobile devices - a sign that organizations recognize that valuable data is more mobile than ever.
More than 70% have fully executed or just launched data encryption strategy in their organization. Once again data encryption strategies are being implemented across a majority of the respondent participants. The majority of organizations, 78 percent, have some type of encryption strategy, up from 74 percent in 2008 and from 66 percent in 2007.
Data Breaches continue to be a huge problem: Eighty-five percent of organizations surveyed had had at least 1 data breach in the last 12 months, demonstrating that there is no let up in breaches as this is consistent with 84 percent sited in the 2008 report. Companies suffering more than 5 data breaches rose to 22 percent in 2009 up from 13 percent in 2008.
Encryption is mostly used to mitigate data breaches and comply with privacy and data protection regulations. In addition, there was an increase in the percentage of respondents who reported that encryption is also important to preserving brand and reputation.

Here at VAULT400 we encrypt EVERYTHING.
Just another advantage of using VAULT400.
Now, just time to implement!

HA - Five Minute Role Swap

2009-06-23T14:02:00.013-04:00

Demystifying the high availability role swap

There are many System i users who still believe a role swap between primary and back-up systems is a tricky operation that takes time when time is in short supply.

Well, it isn't tricky and a role swap can be completed within 20 minutes with award-winning *noMAX.

Listen to Raymond Hammell, Senior Technical Specialist with Maximum Availability, demystify the role swap process.

During these FREE webcasts, Raymond will outline all the ingredients of a simple and successful roll over (with a live five minute example) and you'll learn about the latest network options to move users over to the target system.

You'll see first hand what occurs to ensure that the data, application, and programs are exactly as they should be when a role swap is complete.

Choose which date will fit best on your calendar:

Tuesday 14 July (11 am EST)
Thursday 16 July (2 pm EST)

Brought to you by UCG, VAULT400 and *noMAX

REGISTER for the Webinar
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Revamping Your System i

2009-06-11T16:35:00.002-04:00

So, during the this down turn in the economy do you find yourself revamping your System i, purchasing a new/used system or just laying down the budget foundation for the future? Well, the downturn in the economy has many people thinking.

We to began thinking.
And the thinking has lead us to many new changes in our website and product line.

Stop by our site and give us your thoughts (we could always improve the site with your ideas).

www.vault400.com

Is Electronic Vaulting the Answer to the DR Question?

2009-06-08T11:27:00.002-04:00

Jim Kandrac's latest article has been posted on MC Press Online as the Feature Article (congrats!!!).

You can view it at: Value-based DR lies in the space between tape and HA for small and mid-size organizations.

Great solutions for IBM iSystems, Windows and many other platforms and applications.

Tropical Storms are Beginning

2009-05-29T11:41:00.000-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

2009 Hurricane Season

2009-05-28T09:10:00.006-04:00

70% Chance of having 9 to 14 named storms this 2009 season. Four to 7 of the storms they say could become hurricanes, including 1 to 3 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5).

The forecast also cited a 50 percent probability of a near-normal season, a 25 percent probability of an above-normal season and a 25 percent probability of a below-normal season.

For those of you in hurricane paths it would be a good time to consider your off-site backup solution.

10GB to 100TB+ Windows, IBM System i - Backup Restore

2009-05-27T09:41:00.001-04:00

UCG and VAULT400 is not a company and product that likes to sit around and watch the world pass us by.

So, we have added a few more products and solutions up our sleeves. Besides a direct SaaS solution (VAULT400) we now have Appliances and Software Licencing that can meet the most demanding of you out there.

Personally I am excited about the Appliance called Plug-n-Protect. It is just a great all-inclusive system for an enterprise environment. Quick Backups and Restores plus you can replicate offsite with it as well. Pretty cool product for those that need to backup & restore data. Plus, we hit the 6TB, 12TB+ ranges.

I'll get more into each solution at a later time. Right now I need to work on sales, website updates and some Data Sheets.

Value-Based DR Article by Jim Kandrac of VAULT400

2009-04-16T14:08:00.000-04:00

Jim Kandrac, President of VAULT400 recently published Value-Based DR Lies in the Space Between Tape and HA for Small and Midsize Organizations

Product News: SystemiNetwork

2009-04-09T08:43:00.001-04:00

Product News: UCG and Maximum Availability Offer Tailored DR Capabilities

United Computer Group, Inc. (UCG) and Maximum Availability Limited announce an agreement enabling UCG to incorporate Maximum Availability's *noMAX replication software technology as part of UCG's tiered recovery offering to clients who use Vault400, UCG's data vaulting solution. This agreement enables UCG to provide a fully managed "hot backup" high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) solution utilizing the *noMAX suite alongside Vault400. Customers who need to satisfy a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of one hour or less can deploy *noMAX realtime replication, whereas those who are content with a 12- or 24-hour RTO can use Vault400's shared or dedicated hardware RTO offerings. In both cases, data is replicated directly to highly secured and fully managed data centers. For more information, visit ucgrp.com.

VAULT400 has teamed up with Maximum Availability on a new Managed-Service HA Solution

2009-03-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

Companies can be back running in less than an hour with no hardware investment.

VAULT400 has teamed up with Maximum Availability on a new managed-service high availability solution that stores data offsite and allows users to pay by the month.

What VAULT400 is calling Managed Service High Availability guarantees to restore full service to a customer in one hour or less of notification that its system has gone down. The customer will roll over to the VAULT400 server running the client's pre-installed applications and *noMAX replicated data, and continue operations via a virtual private network.

The service is expected to appeal to 20 percent or more of System i (AS/400) users who need a near-term recovery point objective (RPO) and a short recovery time objective (RTO). While the guaranteed one hour is an outside limit of how long it will take VAULT400 to get the customer's system back online, Maximum Availability notes that its software can execute a role swap in only four minutes.

VAULT400 announced earlier that it was planning to offer a managed high availability solution, but it didn't say how it was going to accomplish this or what vendor it would team up with to make it happen.

"We find the people at Maximum Availability easy to work with, and they clearly see this type of service as complementary to their high availability offerings," said Jim Kandrac, president of United Computer Group, parent of VAULT400.

Updated Web Site

2009-01-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

I just visited the new design of the VAULT400 web site...it looks great! I also noted some new offerings from VAULT400. I was particularly curious about the new Option for Hardware Disaster Recovery. In this day of budget challenges, this a great answer for DR site capabilities on a budget you can afford. Here is a quick recap from the their site.

VAULT40 Receives Another Reader's Choice Nomination

2009-01-13T09:23:00.000-05:00

VAULT400 was nominated by Scott Mahoney of Roofing Resources. He said, "We have been using the VAULT400 system since last year. We have been very pleased with. Expecially the support fomr personnel. We have accidently deleted a few files and within minutes we have recoverd them."

See the SystemiNetwork Story

VAULT400 Selected as Reader's Choice Favorite Product for System i

2008-12-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

VALUT400 was nominated by Dave Caudle, MIS Manage at Lorraine Home Fashions. " I heard through the grapeine that you were interested in feedback about products and/or services that have really helped out. One such product/service that i've found very useful is VAULT400 from United Computer Group."

See Complete Story

AIX VAULT400 Agent 6.0

2008-12-08T14:45:00.000-05:00

United Computer Group, Inc.; Cleveland, Ohio

AT A GLANCE: United Computer Group introduces Vault400 Agent 6.0 to improve performance, security, ease of use and integration.

DETAILS: VAULT400 Agent 6.0 helps improve backup and restore performance with faster seeding, restore and backup of small object workflows. Bandwidth throttling is designed to minimize disruptions to daily business operations during backups. DeltaPro recreation technology provides faster backups by regenerating missing or corrupt delta file indexes. This version offers support for AES-256 encryption and a backup job creation utility for optimal configuration of backup jobs for new customers. Support for LocalRecovery and UltraRecovery helps ensure that backups from operating-system agents integrate seamlessly with replication capabilities of the Director operating-system support.

OS SUPPORT: OS/400* V5R1 and above, Windows*, AIX* 5.2 and 5.3
PRICE: Variable
PHONE: (440) 717-7655
E-MAIL: info@vault400.com
URL: http://www.vault400.com/

2008-11-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

It has become painfully evident to many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that they don’t have the budgets or the personnel to effectively manage their own backups. It is a fact that storage vendors, value-added resellers, and service providers are well aware of, and it is the reason that online backup-and-recovery services are starting to gain ground as a no-muss, no-fuss alternative to traditional tape and disk backup systems in many organizations.

The users of the VAULT400 service are well aware of the numerous advantages. With the difficult financial times facing our country, help a business colleague and suggest that they use a service like VAULT400. It will help everyone!

Eliminate the fear!

2008-10-30T11:38:00.000-04:00

Feeling scared yet? Halloween only comes once a year, but this past year has already been a chilling one for CIOs: Data leakage where companies least anticipated it. The long road to recovery after a hurricane took out a data center. E-waste, and the specter of a trash-laden world right out of Wall-E. A massive data breach leading to lawsuits galore. And while CIO jobs and salaries appear to be holding fairly steady, hardly anybody can honestly claim that the current economic situation isn't giving them the creeps.

Eliminate the fear...contact VAULT400.

VAULT400 Highlighted in IT Jungle

2008-10-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

I noticed that VAULT400 received some nice advertisement in IT Jungle regarding the online backup for iseries. Take a look...

Medical Mutual of Ohio reports missing computer disks

2008-10-24T10:47:00.000-04:00

Health insurer Medical Mutual of Ohio said 11 computer disks containing personal information on thousands of Ohio retirees are missing and are believed to be somewhere in the U.S. Postal Service. ... Read more about his and other Data Security Breaches

A Chronology of Data Breaches

2008-10-14T15:29:00.001-04:00

I found a site that many of you concerned with Risk Management and Data Protection will find interesting.

A Chronology of Data Breaches

What does the Chronology of Data Breaches contain?

The data breaches noted have been reported because the personal information compromised includes data elements useful to identity thieves, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and driver's license numbers. Some breaches that do NOT expose such sensitive information have been included in order to underscore the variety and frequency of data breaches. However, we have not included the number of records involved in such breaches in the total because we want this compilation to reflect breaches that expose individuals to identity theft as well as breaches that qualify for disclosure under state laws. The breaches posted below include only those reported in the United States. They do not include incidents in other countries. Chronology of Data Breaches

Articles & White Papers

2008-10-10T13:58:00.001-04:00

VAULT400 has a broad inventory of articles and white papers available to help you understand their technology or support your efforts to communicate with others.

SystemiNetwork Reports: UCG Enhance Backup Offering for i

2008-10-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

United Computer Group is offering VAULT400 Agent 6.0 for i. VAULT400 backs up business-critical data on the System i for immediate online recovery by taking a point-in-time backup during each scheduled session. If a restore is needed, VAULT400 can provide the data from any specific backup. The upgrade provides performance, security, ease of use, and integration improvements. See complete article

VAULT400 Updates Backup Agent by Alex Woodie of IT Jungle

2008-09-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

VAULT400 received a very nice review article in IT Jungle. The article starts out by saying:

System i shops using the VAULT400 online backup and recovery service from United Computer Group will experience faster, more trouble-free backups thanks to an updated backup agent for i OS, the company says. The new agent also supports the latest release of the OS/400 operating system, now called IBM i, as well as new security capabilities. See the complete article

VAULT400 Enahances Offering with Agent 6.0 for IBM i

2008-09-10T15:21:00.000-04:00

Cleveland, Ohio - September 9, 2008 - United Computer Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of VAULT400 Agent 6.0 for IBM i. This new agent includes several advantages relating to performance, security, ease of use and integration.

VAULT400 Agent 6.0 for IBM i improves backup and restore performance. Seeding, restore and backup of small object workflows are significantly faster through DeltaPro enhancements. Bandwidth throttling minimizes disruptions to day-to-day business operations during backups. The DeltaPro recreation technology provides faster backups by regenerating the delta file index when it is missing or corrupt, and will eliminate a reseed of data to the Vault.

Support for AES-256 encryption ensures customers running IBM i have access to the latest encryption algorithms. VAULT400 Agent 6.0 for IBM i is user friendly….Backup job creation utility provides a workflow for optimal configuration of backup jobs for new customers.

Support for LocalRecovery and UltraRecovery ensures that backups from IBM i Agents integrate seamlessly with replication capabilities of the Director OS support - Full support for IBM i V5R4.

The agent is immediately available for partners and customers from the VAULT400 Customer Support Center by emailing support@vault400.com

VAULT400 is a licensed solution of United Computer Group, Inc. (UCG). UCG was formed in 1987 and has served 600+ end user clients. For more information, please visit www.vault400.com or www.ucgrp.com

VAULT400 Featured at AVNET Conference

2008-08-27T20:41:00.000-04:00

Exciting speakers took the the stage during the General Session and technical, sales and executive level education was be offered throughout the conference. In the Solution Expo were numerous exhibits with some very exciting technology. Some of the more noteworthy vendors that I visited were VAI, VMWare, IBM and of course VAULT400.

I took the liberty of taking a quick photo of Jim Kandrac with one of Avnet partners visiting with him while everyone was setting up their booths.

VAULT400 Featured at ARROW MAYDAYS

2008-05-15T16:15:00.001-04:00

I just noticed via a Google Alert that Jim Kandrac from VAULT400 was one of the featured speakers. As you can well imagine, he was speaking about online backup services for the IBM platform. For those of you that are not familiar with May Days...this is an exciting event designed to offer you the best of IBM AS/400 iseries system i partner education and networking opportunities, along with some time to socialize and enjoy yourself. At the core of May Days 2008 is the Solution Center. This is where ISVs and IBM Business Partners come together to showcase solutions and witness how technologies work together for increased competitive advantages. Rumor has it that Jim Kandrac had standing room only at his session. Congratulations Jim!

VAULT400 Ready for IBM Delivery for SMB Customers

2008-05-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

IBM Aims to Simplify IT Delivery for SMB Customers
New Initiative Offers Web 2.0 Platform -- and a New Choice -- for Software and Solution Firms

LOS ANGELES & IBM Business Partner Leadership Conference - 01 May 2008: -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software and unveiled for the first time a broad initiative to combine hardware, software and services to tackle the cost and complexity of IT for small and medium businesses. The new, strategic initiative -- code-named the "Blue Business Platform" -- aims to provide a new and compelling choice to simplify IT delivery for companies that lack the time and resources to manage computer systems. The initiative, which is part of IBM's ongoing plans to aggressively target its largest opportunity for growth in the $500 billion SMB marketplace, is focused on enabling thousands of software and solution providers to dramatically accelerate the adoption and simplify the management of their business applications on IBM systems.
This new, open platform, which will be piloted and delivered in the coming months, will offer software and solution providers access to new customers on a global scale and reduce the high costs of new client acquisition, technology integration and support.

VAULT400 is participating in the early releases so they can fully support your online backup and recovery needs.

VAULT400 Featured in IT Jungle

2008-04-23T21:02:00.000-04:00

United Computer Group Sailing Smooth Through Rough Water by Dan Burger.

"Protecting Data for the SMB" could be the title of a book written by Jim Kandrac, president of United Computer Group. The Brecksville, Ohio, company is doing quite well. According to Kandrac, its revenue for the first quarter of 2008 was up 198 percent compared to the same quarter in 2007. That's pretty explosive stuff. When most companies are happy with status quo or small gains, where do numbers like 198 percent growth come from?

The key to this, Kandrac says, was the launch of Vault400 in September of 2006. Vault400 is an online backup and disaster recovery managed service. It can take the place of tape backup, handles encryption, and provide off site storage for archiving and disaster recovery.

See complete article

UCG (VAULT400) Has Record First Quarter

2008-04-20T19:24:00.000-04:00

Ohio Technology Firm UCG has record growth in first quarter. Brecksville, Ohio – April 18, 2008,

– United Computer Group, Inc. a Brecksville, OH based technology solutions company reported a record first quarter for 2008.The twenty-two-year old private company did not release revenue figures, but said its quarterly growth increased 198 percent from the same period last year.“UCG is fortunate to have hard-working, dedicated employees that focus on solving end user problems and loyal end user clients who realize and take advantage of the value of our offerings,” President Jim Kandrac said.UCG is headquartered in Brecksville, OH and has survived and thrived by being a focused niche player in the IT industry.

UCG’s long-standing hardware and software based solutions that run on IBM mid-market servers were enhanced in 2007 by the introduction of UCG’s VAULT400 online backup and disaster recovery managed service. VAULT400 has secured clients throughout Ohio and nationwide from California, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas. End User data from around the country is vaulted daily to UCG’s state of the art data center in Columbus, OH Kandrac predicted that 2008 would remain strong and the outlook for cost effective mid-market solutions, especially for the security and disaster recovery segment will continue to grow by over 50% annually.“End User clients are looking for solutions to solve their problems and address key business issues”, Kandrac said. I believe UCG is well-positioned to address end user requirements with cost-effective products and solutions.About United Computer Group, Inc. United Computer Group, Inc. (UCG) UCG was formed in 1987 and has served 550+ end user clients. For more information, please visit http://www.vault400.com/ or http://www.ucgrp.com/

Disaster Recovery Pod Cast by Wayne Madden

2008-02-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

If you have a minute, listen to this pod cast by Wayne Maden of the System iNetwork. It is sponsored by VAULT400. I hope this helps you with your iseries online backup plans as well as all other platforms. Thanks and enjoy!

Backup your email To Gmail

2007-12-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

Yea, I know this is not exactly what the Pros from VAULT400 would do. However, I am a little cheap with my own email so when I read this article I thought I should share with everyone. Remember not everybody has only iseries online backup information and critical system data. Sometimes, all that email that I never get around to reading will be valuable. Therefore, why not take advantage of good old Google and backup the cheap way.

Export and Backup Emails from Outlook to Gmail Online
Sachin writes - “I have few thousand email messages inside Microsoft Outlook (a pst file) organized in various folders. I know it is possible to download emails from Gmail to Outlook using POP3 or IMAP but is the reverse path possible.”
Sachin is looking for a trick to archive all Outlook email messages (and folders) to his online Gmail account for two reasons - one is secure backup and two, he will be able to access his old emails from any computer. Here is the rest of the article... http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/export-outlook-email-to-gmail-pst-backup/1938/

VAULT400 In IBM Global Solution Directory

2007-11-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

VAULT400 is the premier IBM iSeries online backup and recovery service (IBM System i , AS/400) and is featured in the IBM Global Solution Directory.

VAULT400 is uniquely qualified with their 20 year history as an IBM Business partner with a focus on the IBM iSeries online backup and recovery managed service as well as working with all major platforms.

In addition, the iSeries online backup service offers and insurance policy to all IBM System i, iSeries and AS/400 clients. It is call the VAULT400 Disaster Recovery Quick-Ship Program. Effective immediately, all IBM System i (AS/400) VAULT400 subscribers are eligible & can receive a 48-Hour Quick Ship Program at No Additional Charge.

IBM Features VAULT400 on Global Solution Directory Link

UCG Enhances VAULT400 Offering for IBM System i ( AS/400 iSeries )

2007-11-03T11:57:00.000-04:00

UCG Enhances VAULT400 Offering with Complimentary System i Disaster Recovery Quick-Ship Program

Cleveland, Ohio – October 31, 2007 – United Computer Group, Inc. announces the addition of the VAULT400 Disaster Recovery Quick-Ship Program for System i data vaulting subscribers. Effective immediately, all IBM System i (AS/400) VAULT400 subscribers are eligible & can receive a 48-Hour Quick Ship Program at No Additional Charge. See details and other news about VAULT400.

IBM Sees Real 'Value' in VAULT400

2007-09-18T13:43:00.000-04:00

Published: September 18, 2007
by Alex Woodie

United Computer Group, the Cleveland, Ohio, company behind the VAULT400 online backup offering, received a big stamp of approval from IBM this month when it was awarded a "value added enhancement," or VAE, in the managed services category.

VAEs are highly coveted certifications that bestow upon the holder the right to conduct business in highly competitive reseller channels. As such, they can make or break a company's entire existence in certain business segments. In this case, the VAE allows UCG to sell a range of IBM equipment, including System i, System p, System z, and SurePOS point-of-sale hardware. Read Article

IBM Give "Value Add" Nod to VAULT400...System iNews

2007-09-12T08:15:00.000-04:00

With all the HA/DR acquisition activity going on this year with industry heavyweights Vision Solutions, Lakeview Technology, and DataMirror, it's important to remember there's more happening in the space than big acquisitions. Case in point is United Computer Group's VAULT400, which is a managed service for online backup and recovery. IBM has recently approved UCG's VAULT400 product and service as a "Managed Service Value Ad Enhancement" for the IBM System i, System p, System z, and several IBM point-of-sale terminals. Read Article

VAULT400 Featured in IT Jungle

2007-09-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

Below is the beginning of a great article by Robert Gast regarding Data Vaulting

Vaulting Over Backups: The Pros, Cons by Robert Gast The notion of vaulting is really rather enticing. For a nominal monthly subscription fee, you can transmit critical business data securely over the Web to a backup site that is carefully maintained on your behalf. But what about the security and speed of the Web? Is it robust enough for enterprise-level backup? Furthermore, do vaulting solutions offer support for the increasing number of IT departments that use other platforms in addition to System i boxes? READ MORE >

UCG Awarded IBM Managed Services Value Add for VAULT400

2007-09-08T15:18:00.000-04:00

Cleveland, Ohio – September 7, – United Computer Group, Inc. announces the approval of UCG’s VAULT400 product and service as a “Managed Service Value Ad Enhancement” for the IBM System i, System p, System z and POS SureOne, SurePOS300, SurePOS500 and SurePOS700.

UCG and their marketing affiliates can jointly provide the above IBM products when being installed or upgraded to include UCG’s VAULT400 online backup and disaster recovery managed service.

While there are several products to do online backup and data vaulting, VAULT400’s broad platform coverage and focus on the IBM System i, set it apart from the competition. VAULT400 is a premier managed service for secure online backup and disaster recovery. VAULT400 backs up an entire organization’s business-critical data to VAULT400’s secure data center. Safe and Off-Site, the Encrypted Data is available online at all times for immediate, user-initiated recovery. VAULT400 works seamlessly in an organization’s existing infrastructure. According to the company, “The VAULT400 plug-in technology provides complete DR protection of the system, end-to-end data security, advanced compression, concurrent LPAR backups and easy to use Interface.” See Complete Press Release

More Security Breaches

2007-08-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately they seem to keep happening at an ever increasing pace. Here is one of the most recent incidents.

August 2007 VeriSign suffers data breach after July laptop theft VeriSign, the digital certificate vendor responsible for the internet's .com and .net domains, suffered a data breach last month when a laptop was stolen from an employee's vehicle.

VAULT400 has created a page on the web site for some of the more "noteworthy events". Click Here

Be sure and share with your colleagues that they can protect their data and their job with VAULT400. VAULT400 is a premier managed risk mitigation and business continuity planning service for secure online backup and recovery.

VAULT400 Sponsors VAI Golf Outing

2007-08-10T17:50:00.000-04:00

VAULT400 / United Computer Group sponsored a recent client Golf Outing with VAI in New York. Shown above is Jim Kandrac and his assistant who ran the "Beverage Cart".

VAI Company Overview: As an IBM Premier Business Partner, Vormittag Associates, Inc. (VAI) has positioned itself at the forefront of enterprise management software technology. VAI is a leading software development company that designs customer driven enterprise management software solutions for the IBM system i.

In 2006 VAI chose VAULT400 as their solution for online backup / data vaulting for their clients.

Data Security Breaches

2007-07-12T13:48:00.000-04:00

It seems like almost every day we hear of a data security breach....some examples of recent events:

June 2007 64,000 Ohio Workers Caught in Data Breach - A portable storage device containing personal information on 64,467 workers employed by the state of Ohio was stolen from an intern's care on June 10, according to a statement from the office of Governor Ted Strickland. The storage device contained names and and Social Security numbers... Read More

April 2007 IBM contractor loses employee data Data tapes containing sensitive information on current and former IBM employees were lost during transit by a third-party vendor, a situation IBM is calling inadvertent ...Read More

September 2006 Chase Notifying Individuals About Improperly Discarded Tapes - Chase Card Services announced that it is notifying 2.6 million current and former Circuit City credit card account holders that computer tapes containing their personal information were mistakenly identified as trash and thrown out... Read More

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Protect yourself with VAULT400. VAULT400 is a premier managed risk mitigation and business continuity planning service for secure online backup and recovery.

What is Data Vaulting?

2007-05-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

I am frequently asked to define this term which is also called online backup.

Definition according to myself is as follows: Data Vaulting (aka online backup) The process of sending data off-site, where it can be protected from hardware failures, theft, and other threats.

In VAULT400's case, it is performed as a managed service in which the data is compressed and encrypted at every stage and stored at a top tier data centr. Recovery of information can be performed at any time and from anywhere.

GOOGLE, YAHOO! and MSN Finally Agree On Something

2007-04-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

When it comes to iSeries Risk Mitigation….VAULT400 is the answer.

VAULT400 gives organizations confidence that their critical information is securely stored for as long as necessary, yet quickly accessible when needed. For more information on specific capabilities visit VAULT400.

Thanks for your help!

2007-02-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

Thom:

I just want to thank you for helping us create this blog. Since I joined the VAULT400 team at United Computer Group I have been very impressed with services your firm has provided our company. Hope you continue to contribute from time to time as I transition into the webmaster and blog contributor for VAULT400.

VAULT400 Earns Its Keep at Corrpro!

2007-02-14T11:50:00.000-05:00

Below is a summary of an unsolicited e-mail from Mike Lemon at Corrpro, praising VAULT400 services.

I am continually amazed at the ways in which Vault/400 earns its keep!

I performed a restore this afternoon that took a small fraction of the time that it would have taken me to locate the tape, load it, execute the command, and re-archive the tape.

In addition, the backup solution provided by Vault/400 is much faster and more robust and dependable than our old method. No more media errors, write protects, jammed up job queues, or shuffling tapes to our offsite storage.

The bottom line: Less downtime. Less effort. More peace of mind.

Thanks for everything,

-Mike

About Corrpro

Corrpro, headquartered in Medina, Ohio, with offices worldwide, is a leading provider of corrosion control engineering services, systems and equipment to the infrastructure, environmental and energy markets around the world. Corrpro is the leading provider of cathodic protection systems and engineering services, as well as a leading supplier of corrosion protection services relating to coatings, pipeline integrity and reinforced concrete structures.

How often do you Backup your Data Center?

2006-10-24T14:03:00.000-04:00

A recent article in Computerworld provided the chart below reflectiong Date Center Backup Schedules. How often do you Backup your Data Center? VAULT400 helps firms define their strategies even if they don't use the VAULT400 technology.

Don't Gamble When Choosing a Disaster Recovery Provider

2006-10-08T19:31:00.000-04:00

Below are some great tips I read in Processor Magazine that will help take the risk out of choosing your Disaster Recovery Partner...

Make sure your DR (disaster recovery) provider can offer you multiple choices for data recovery solutions to meet your needs.
Choose a provider with global reach and disparate, redundant, and hardened state-of-the-art facilities.
Choose a provider that allows you to retain access and control of your data.
Choose a provider that supports a wide range of computing platforms from legacy and midrange to Intel-based systems.
Make sure your provider has a proven track record in its field.
Be certain that your data is protected by a high level of encryption while in transit over the Internet and while resting on your provider’s servers and that your company has the only encryption key.
Always identify and document your recovery resources.
Make sure your DR provider invests in research and development regularly.
Check to be sure the provider is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Make sure there are no hidden fees; know all the costs up front.

VAULT400 has particular focus for the IBM iSeries (AS/400 System i5) and Windows, UNIX, Sun and Linux platform environments.

Health-Care Compliance and Data Backkup

2006-10-02T09:55:00.000-04:00

Having access to files all the time can come in handy if a company is pressed for an audit or has regulatory compliance issues. Regulatory compliance has become commonplace in virtually every business environment. Companies are constantly faced with litigation and regulation issues that require them to store important documents, and they're usually unprepared to deal with specifications for storage media, data authentication, accessibility and audit trails.

Health-care organizations must abide by HIPAA provisions, which regulate how patients' medical records are managed and communicated electronically. The VAULT400 service allows for quick access to files and compliance issues to be easily regulated if need be.

A great reference site Health and Legal Related issues is Juvan's Health Law Update.

Jim Kandrac will speak at Application Systems User Group of Greater Cleveland

2006-09-29T20:22:00.000-04:00

October 18 2006....Jim Kandrac will be the guest speaker for the Greater Cleveland User Group. He will be presenting VAULT400, an on-line back-up and recovery service for iSeries (AS/400) and most other platforms. VAULT400 can cost about 20% to 30% of the cost of High Availability.

VAULT400 offers up to 10:1 data compression on DB2 data and you are able to manage disparate (Intel, etc.) system back-ups from multiple remote locations to one central administrator.

Register for the meeting by clicking HERE

2006-09-27T07:28:00.000-04:00

This is another photo from my recent visit to the VAULT400 Data Center. Some of the staff was configuring a new rack and I took the opportunity to snap a photo of Jim Kandrac (President) and Vladimir Capitanov who was congfiguring the new vault.

Recent Visit to the VAULT400 Data Center

2006-09-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the people at VAULT400 in their Columbus Data Center. I must say, "VERY IMPRESSIVE". Everything they show on the web site and more for sure. Below is a photo of some of the caged space in the center. I know, not the greatest photographer, but you get the idea.

2006-09-21T08:26:00.000-04:00

Technical Brief now available from VAULT400

If you have not yet received a postcard or email with the FREE Briefing from VAULT400....Click Download Brief.

From there you can download a great brief on Online Backup-Delivering Advanced End-To-End Security. This brief will give you tips on how to deliver powerful and reliable off-site backup and recovery through advanced delta processing, compression and encryption.

Download Brief

2006-09-21T08:07:00.000-04:00

VAULT400 is certainly getting the Press Coverage. I saw this announcement on the web being covered by a lot of media types. Here is are some other links that I noticed on the web regarding VAULT400 and their data vaulting backup and restore services for the IBM iSeries as well as Windows, Linux, UNIX, etc.

FOX....http://ewatch.prnewswire.com/rs/display.jsp?a=19417-243501996-685069137

Channgel 3 News... http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5422611

EYEWITNESS News... http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=5422611

Channel 5 News...http://ewatch.prnewswire.com/rs/display.jsp?a=19417-243521273-685130562

Channel 7 News (NBC)... http://ewatch.prnewswire.com/rs/display.jsp?a=19417-243532546-685164257

The list seems to keep going.

Vault 400

2006-07-09T22:26:00.000-04:00

I searched & didn't locate a url for Vault 400 ?
What is the url ?

Give Your Data the Protection it Deserves

2006-07-08T09:28:00.000-04:00

In light of recent natural disasters, highly publicized security breaches and increased regulatory compliance mandates, many companies have developed a keen interest in what once only received lip service — data backup and disaster recovery. Though many companies routinely perform onsite backups, they struggle with off-site backup. Let's face it — storing your backups at home or at your other office across town may not be far enough away — plus it's a hassle. The solution — an online backup service, but which one? Vault400 is your answer. Vault400 fully supports just about every platform imaginable and are the recognized experts for the IBM AS/400 aka iSeries or System i. Each Vault400 service comes with free e-mail and telephone support. Once an Vault400 representative walks you through the 20-minute setup, off-site backup becomes fully automatic, eliminating the possibility of human error.

VAULT400

United Computer Group Releases Profile

VAULT400 in Security Newsletter

Disaster in U.S: An Extreme and Exhausting Year

VAULT400 Competitor was "Fired"

77% of Businesses Experienced Data Loss Last Year

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Give Your Data the Protection it Deserves