ITopener: Quarterly News Bytes from DMD

DMD's founder and President named Kentucky's 'Small Business Person of the Year'; DMD awarded Pacesetter Award

Dave Sevigny, DMD's founder and president, was awarded the title of 'Small Business Person of the Year' by the Small Business Administration. He will be honored at the May 11th receptions at the State Capitol and Governors Mansion. State winners from across the country will convene in Washington D.C. for a celebration luncheon and program on May 20th to mark National Small Business Week, May 16-20.

DMD was also awarded a 2011 Pacesetter Award by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center. The award is given to recognize businesses which 'introduce innovative products, increase sales and or production, boost employment, and serve the communities of the Commonwealth.' We are so proud! A big thanks to all our customers for their business and their support.

DMD Data Systems Roots for Watson at The Pub in Lexington

DMD invited clients and friends to share a night out at The Pub in Lexington to watch IBM's Watson supercomputer compete against former champions on Jeopardy. WKYT came out to film the event for the 11pm news. Watson was the clear winner of the three-day competition and took home the $1 million prize, which IBM donated to World Vision and to the World Community Grid.

Over 25 IBM researchers have spent the last four years working on Watson, and the Jeopardy challenge is part of the year long centennial celebration for Big Blue. Watson's cutting-edge advances in language recognition and interpretation, and information-seeking algorithms have many applications, from improving search engines to making high-quality healthcare and education more efficient and accessible. For WKYT's broadcast of the event and more information about Watson and IBM's Centennial, visit DMD's You Tube Channel.

DMD Supports Fitness in the Community and IT Fitness for Businesses

DMD was Presenting Sponsor for the Annual Shamrock Shuffle 3K on March 12 benefiting Lexington's Habitat for Humanity. A record number of runners, joggers, and shufflers turned out for the event. "Habitat for Humanity is a terrific organization," said Dave Sevigny. "It espouses a sense of community as volunteers join with their future homeowners to work together, and the stewardship aspects it promotes are in line with our company values."

DMD also plans to support the International Book Project's Book It 5K and the Mallard Point Lame Duck Tryathlon. "We encourage folks to stay physically fit, and suggest that businesses of all sizes review their IT systems to make sure they are fit as well. An investment in new, more efficient IT systems can yield big dividends in reduced energy and improved efficiency." Click here to get DMD's FIT Friday Tips. Does your business need an IT fitness check-up? Contact your DMD rep.

IBM Rolls Out Virtual Desktop

With budgets stagnant or shrinking, CIO's and IT administrators are required to keep doing more with less. Fortunately, there are new products which can help. One of these is IBM's Virtual Desktop. While the initial cost of desktop and laptop computers has fallen, the cost of managing them has climbed. Virtual Desktop offers reduced total cost of ownership with its ease of deployment and continually updated software, security, and backup features. Users can expect increased employee productivity through greater accessibility from any PC and mobile devices and through reduced down-time. DMD is your Kentucky source for Virtual Desktop. If you would like a more in-depth look, please contact your DMD rep.

DMD achieves 'Dynamic Infrastructure Elite' IBM Business Partner Status

Dynamic Infrastructure refers to IBM's selection of flexible IT offerings which are adaptable, scalable, and uniquely suited to the extremely competitive environment of today's small and mid-sized businesses. In January, the DMD team achieved advanced training in Information Infrastructure, Virtualization, Security, Asset Management, Business Resiliency, Services Management, and Energy Efficiency in order to achieve Dynamic Infrastructure Elite status. DMD has the up-to-date know-how to help your business find the most cost-effective solutions for your IT challenges.

April 22 is Earth Day - How Green is your IT?

According to Robert L. Mitchell of Computerworld, each watt saved in a data center reduces cooling usage by at least one more watt. Pacific Gas and Electric data indicates that removing one server from use can yield an energy cost savings of $1200 per year. While environmental and cost factors motivate some businesses to revamp their systems by employing virtualization and upgrading to more efficient equipment, for many public-sector and some private-sector IT departments this is not the case. While the costs of implementing better solutions are borne by these departments, the associated future cost savings due to reduced power consumption is not credited to these departments. This is a sad situation, as we all benefit from a cleaner environment and reduced energy costs. If this is a problem you face, DMD would like to hear your story. Please email us. Together we can get some needed attention on this issue and initiate change.

If you are interested in reducing your IT's carbon footprint, but unsure which steps to take to maximize your return on investment, try IBM's Assess your Green IT capabilities ROI calculator. The assessment covers three areas: Virtualization, Energy Efficiency, and Collaboration. Improving efficiency in each of these areas employs different strategies and the associated metrics are also different. For example, improving workplace collaboration tools can lead to improved revenue per employee, as well as reduced employee turnover and project time completion.