Accounting firms like many businesses have their own unique challenges when it comes to information technology.  However, one simple rule applies with all CA, CGA and CMA professionals throughout Alberta.  IT just has to work!

In recent discussions with many of Alberta’s top accounting firms we found that information technology was ranked as one of most critical tools within any accounting firm’s business.  When digging a little deeper on this topic it was also revealed that having a technology partner or outsourced IT firm who understands the complexities and uniquenees of the accounting world does provide a competitive advantage over those accounting firms who don’t trust in a technology support firm who works with other accountants, bookkeepers and accounting firms.

“Technology touches all parts of our business” said a Red Deer CGA during a recent town hall meeting on IT in the accounting world.  This is where Bulletproof InfoTech can help your accounting firm with all of your IT support.  Our solution offering are designed to exceed your expectations, all the time.

Bulletproof offers basic network and desktop support with applications such as QuickBooks, Simply Accounting and other small business accounting packages and the networks they run on. However information technology can do much deeper than these basic small business accounting solutions.  Understanding how accounting firms use information, process client accounting records and share knowledge within the entire firm is critical and Bulletproof understands how accounting firms work.

At the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 in New Orleans, Bulletproof was recognized for our work with the firm of Downey Swainson Roth LLP in Red Deer.   This recognition as a finalist in the Worldwide Small Business Specialist of the Year proved that IT services are more than just fixing your computer. It is about understanding the needs of your business and designing IT solutions which meet the needs of your business.

“Bulletproof InfoTech’s focus on understanding our business and recommending the right solutions to fit our needs ensures we have a lower cost of business with Information Technology and drives lower costs throughout our business.  They are our trusted business partner for all things technology”

Jerome Roth
Downey Swainson Roth LLP
Red Deer, Alberta

Learn how Small Business Server, Windows Terminal Services, DELL PowerEdge Servers, Microsoft Office 2007 and AuthAnvil helped this Central Alberta Accounting Firm achieve lower IT costs as part of the Bulletproof netSHIELD service.

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Jeff Anderson, Sean Tindall and Rene Sloos of the Bulletproof Management team joined the leaders of the Canadian IT Industry in Canmore for two solid days of meetings of the HTG 10 peer group. The purpose of the meeting is to share best practices and hold each other accountable for improving the participating companies. The big question: What do we need to do to exceed the expectations of our clients?

“It is a fantastic opportunity to learn from other IT Service providers and learn from their successes and the mistakes they have made in the past” says Jeff Anderson, CEO of Bulletproof. “This is like attending a IT Services university session based on real life scenarios and experiences”. HTG groups were started by Arlin Sorenson with the intent to leverage the power of peers.

The financial performance of each company is compared to the others, so it is very hard to hide from the realities of the business performance. Jason Dettbarnfrom Kaseya gave us a sneak peak of the new version of their management tool, which will help us to better serve our clients. Paul Moffatt from voxnetIQ gave a presentation on his services which will allow us to expand our portfolio to our clients.

Chris Day from FullyManaged, Vancouver has been accepted as a new member of the group. His company, which started as CDot networks provides IT Services to companies and non-for-profit organizations in the Vancouver area. Chris seems a great addition to our group. After almost two years of hard work Stuart Crawford decided to step back from his role as facilitator of HTG 10 in order to focus on new a new venture. A big thank you to Stuart for all of his hard work, and inspiring many of the groups members. Andrew Lozier of Next Dimension has been accepted as the next facilitator for our group and we are looking forward to his leadership.

It is a large investment in time, but it has a phenomenal payoff by taking Bulletproof to the next level, constantly improving the service to our clients in the Red Deer and Calgary area. New goals have been set to be accomplished by the next meeting in Dallas, where all 21 HTG groups from Great Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States will meet later this year.

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When someone asked me a year and a half ago if I would consider becoming a Dell reseller, my response was not very favorable. “Are they not cutting us out as the middleman?”. A year ago we went through a merger, and the other party was a loyal Dell Partner, while we were a loyal partner of another (two letter) company, whose name shall remain anonymous.

One of the decisions we had to make moving forward, was to decide who was going to be our leading vendor? We created a list of pro’s an con’s of each vendor, and hands down Dell came out as the clear winner! A year after our merger, my opinion about Dell has changed 180 degrees. They really want your business, they are genuinely interested to help your business succeed and they don’t seem to have traded price for quality. We consistently have had quality issues with the other brand, and really lost valuable business relationships because of it!

As an added bonus, as a reseller you can actually make a margin selling their systems. Bulletproof InfoTech is an IT service provider for the Red Deer and Calgary area in Alberta. Our clients are businesses in the Exploration and Production (E&P) Oil & Gas area, Accounting and bookkeeping firms and other small to medium sized businesses. Fixed fee IT support allows our clients to predict their expenditure on IT and Dell Partner Direct helps us to deliver quality systems and services to our clients.

Read more on Rene’s blog

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It is amazing how many small professional services companies in Calgary and Red Deer are finally catching on to the “Paperless Office”. The irony is that since the invention of the term, “Paperless Office”, the paper industry has sold more paper then ever! Going paperless is not a technology it’s a mindset!

In 2009, we have had discussions with a number of professional services firms about the benefits of electronic client records. In this blog we will discuss the benefits of going paperless for an accounting practice.

What are the benefits of going paperless for an accounting or book keeping organization?

There are still companies who will collect all receipts, statements and invoices in a shoebox and once in a while “dump” the “administration” at their book keeping/accounting office. This means you need to have physical access to the information in the shoebox in order to maintain the books.

Read more on Rene’s blog

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What is the right solution for business?
What options do you need?
Even more critical where can you turn for support 5 years down the road?

Computers from DELL Canada provides a complete offering including a scalable plus robust business computer solutions which meet the needs of innovative companies and small business throughout Alberta. More importantly, you have somewhere to turn in the years to come when a computer issues arises, and issues always come up when a replacement part is needed. DELL will be there to support you and this is why we have elected to partner with them as our main supplier of computer systems.

Here are the computer systems Bulletproof InfoTech recommends for your small business.

1. DELL Vostro – The Vostro line of DELL computers are ideal for any emerging small business who has basic business computing requirements. DELL Vostro desktop computers are built to grow with your business and easily fits into your expanding IT needs over the course of your business maturity. We have found them to be extremely reliable and have the capability to run all your latest software applications such as Microsoft Windows 7, Office 2007 and many business applications. Learn more about the DELL Vostro line by clicking here.
2. DELL Optiplex – The Optiplex line of DELL computers is the flagship business desktop computer system that Bulletproof recommends to our Oil and Gas companies, Accounting firms and all of our small business clients. The DELL Optiplex offers everything a business needs. If you are using Accumap, Microsoft Dynamics, Energy Navigator or CSExplorer the DELL Optiplex can meet and even exceed all your business computing needs. Learn more about the DELL Optiplex by clicking here.

No matter what product line who select the most important feature is post sales warranty. Many of the DELL computer systems support an industry leading five year product warranty. When you combine this impressive coverage for your business systems with quality information systems consulting from Bulletproof InfoTech your business has everything it needs to take care of your own business without the hassle and worry of business IT.

Contact Bulletproof today when you need help and support with your DELL business systems at 403.206.2233 and 403.340.1011.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your partners at Bulletproof! Thank you for allowing us to serve you in 2009 and best wishes for 2010.

Please note, our office hours during the holidays are as follows:

• Thursday, December 24: 8am – 2pm
• Friday, December 25: Closed
• Monday, December 28: Closed
• Friday, January 1: Closed

Of course, 24×7 on-call technical support will remain available as usual.

All the best to you and your family,

The Bulletproof Team

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Bulletproof was awarded Canada’s top honour with Microsoft in their Small Business category winning the IMPACT award for “Small Business Specialist of the Year” and earlier in 2009 we were recognized worldwide as the only North American Small Business partner to be named as a finalist with the “Worldwide Small Business Specialist of the Year”.

Now, our very own Vice President of Solutions, Rene Sloos has been named to the Worldwide Microsoft Small and Medium Business Infrastructure Partner Advisory Board for 2010.  This unique opportunity provides Bulletproof and our clients to have a voice within Microsoft’s Business and Marketing groups.  Our involvement will help influence their strategy to help our clients right here in Red Deer and Calgary plus all the small and mid-size business across the world.

Microsoft with Rene’s assistance will focus on Windows Server, System Centre and Microsoft ForeFront.  All of these tools and services are critical within the small business community.  Many of these Microsoft based services are used daily by many of our business clients.

Congratulations Rene on being selected for this position.

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Bulletproof InfoTech is happy to announce our recent partnership with Meraki.  Meraki offers the best wireless solution for schools, cafes, small business, junior oil and gas, accounting firms and whoever else simply needs a wireless business solution which offers more than what a simple wireless access point you pickup from the nearest office supply store.

Alberta businesses are now on the hunt for a simple, consistent and reliable wireless network solution which is highly secure, easy to manage and most important cost effective.  Bulletproof, together with our partner Meraki has the solution for you right now. We are so confident you can try us out for free.  You just need to ask us?

Bulletproof InfoTech has taken notice and is acting on the need for secure and robust Wi-Fri networks throughout the province. There are many in the business community asking about wireless solutions asking about the benefits wireless networks bring to the following:

• schools (private, public and colleges)
• medical offices
• conference centres
• airports
• business
• and every else who requires a wireless network.

Wireless networks and wireless mesh networks which offer the ability for any of your staff members (when authorized) to roam throughout your business and stay connected is becoming a must. Are you offering this for your staff members, guests or conference attendees?  If not, Bulletproof can help you right away with ensure your wireless needs are addressed.  We must keep in mind the basic wireless routers are good for basic needs, however when your business demands higher needs for security, robustness, and the ability to grow easily, it is time to call Bulletproof to check out what Meraki can do for you.

Almost ever single coffee shop offers wireless now to their customers, look at Starbucks which offers free wireless Internet services for 2 hours every day.  Starbucks is a success story with Meraki. A fellow partner in Latin America fitted the well-known coffee shop with Meraki solutions. Good Earth Cafe or Second Cup locations also offer wireless to their patrons in Calgary or Red Deer. Turn on your wireless device or laptop computer anywhere in the world and soon you will be online getting work done from the comfort of the cafe while you enjoy a fresh latte.  For the business owner or site manager, are you aware of who is using your Wi-Fi network?  Can you manage this easily?  What happens if it goes down, what is the impact on your reputation?

We have teamed up with Meraki to offer secure, stable and robust wireless networks in Alberta.  Some of our clients include private schools and post secondary education facilities throughout the province of Alberta.  Even booth of the Bulletproof InfoTech locations run Meraki in-house, this allows us to demo to you how Meraki works plus Bulletproof InfoTech has always made sure we use the solutions we recommend ourselves that we recommend to you.  We drink our own champagne here, we always have with everything Bulletproof offers to the business community in Red Deer, Calgary and throughout the province of Alberta.

Come by with our Red Deer or Calgary office today for a demo and see how Meraki works, ask questions to our technical team and experience it live for yourself.

Whose is a great candidate for a wireless network in Calgary or Red Deer?  Schools (private, public, college or universities) can utilize everything Meraki has to offer.  Meraki and Bulletproof offers an enterprise class wireless solutions which is centrally managed without having the worry of expending your entire IT budget.  This easy to manage network and centrally managed solution offers your IT department or the Bulletproof netSHIELD help desk the ability to manage and support your wireless networks through your standard Internet Explorer or Firefox web browser.

All management just sits out in the cloud (Internet) which offers your system administrator or our technical team the ability to centrally support your network with ease.  This saves you the hassle of running around managing your network and racking up huge IT support costs.  Meraki is ideal for the small coffee shop chain, conference centre, oil and gas business who needs something.  And more importantly keeps everyone on the network working, your staff productivity and your clients happy.

Offer your vistors, guests and customers a wireless experience they will share with their friends today.

What does a Meraki solution offer over the standard Wi-Fi router you can pick up at any computer shop?

Let’s not kid ourselvers.  You can pick up Wi-Fi routers at any computer or electronics store in Calgary or Red Deer and configure it to offer up wireless in your business, home or community centre.  It will work and your vistors, staff or customers can surf the web, send mails and access resources on the network.  Sounds simple enough however as your business, corporation, hotel or even your coffee shop grows how do you manage this? Especially muli-locations or buildings?

Meraki and Bulletproof can offer an central location to manage all your wireless access points.  This cloud (Internet) based solution allows Red Deer and Calgary business to deploy wireless Meraki access points easily and in most occassions have secured wireless offerings up and running in a matter of minutes not days.  The great thing about the Meraki solution is all of your access points are connected into the centrally managed location without the need for extra hardware saving you money.

Are you interested in rolling out wireless in your business and concerned about security and the reliability of the wireless network?  If you need to control the costs associated with wireless in your hotel, school, coffee shop or business Bulletproof and Meraki can assist you right away.  Reach out today to 403.206.2233 in Calgary and for those in Red Deer 403.206.2233.  Meraki through Bulletproof can even offer your business a free trial.

For additional information on Meraki’s wireless access points, wireless mesh networks visit the Meraki website today.

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Recently we read an article in ConnectIT, a Canadian and US newsletter focused on technology for small business here in Canada.  The article Barb authored was entitled “Five accounting tips for small business as they enter 2010“.  Barb is with Intuit Small Business and in her article she shared some of her insights with ConnectIT News on what small business needs to do now to get ready and also for them to win in 2010.

Barb summed up 2009 in one simple term “challenging”.  Yes 2009 was a challenge for many business owners across Alberta however out of these challenges entrepreneurship shined.

Barb went on to highlight the following five accounting tips to help small business:

• Track finances – It is critically important for a small business to track all expenses and revenues just like you would in your home or even your own wallet.  Barb mentions that many small businesses run into trouble when they do not manage their business by the numbers.  Healthy cash flow is critical to business success and managing your business by the numbers and not your heart is crucial for your ongoing success.
• Reduce overhead – Many business owners are stepping back and reviewing their overheads.  Rene and I had this experience today when we met with an Oil and Gas executive who is going through every expense and looking for new ways to do things and seriously looking at ways to cut back.  Barb also mentions to do this without having a negative impact on your overall business and service delivery.
• Manage relationships – This is crucial.  When was the last time you spoke with your banker, lawyer, your IT guy and any other trusted advisor.  These people are here to help you and assist you in running your business better.  Take advantage of their expertise to make you a better business person.
• Reduce bills – Cut the excess such as credit charges and even those little overages.  When was the last time you review your mobile phone bill or even your business telephone services.  Many of these services can be consolidated to help reduce the overall cost to your business.
• Continue to look forward – It is important to learn from the past however no one will ever reward you for past performance, it is the future that we all care about.  Look forward in your business, keep an eye on today’s snapshot and make adjustments to meet your future goals.

Bulletproof helps small business control costs associated with technology and computer systems support in Calgary and Red Deer.  Your business will have reliable systems support quarterbacked by a team of experts dedicated to your business success.  Call us at 403.206.2233 or 403.340.1011.  We are focused on Small Business computer support.

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Many different strategies were discussed during our 45 minute business review with our client.  We chatted about Microsoft Windows 7 and some of the productivity enhancements built into Windows such as jump lists, enhanced search over Windows XP and even simply shaking to minimize all your open Windows.  “This is all great” said our clients however not really something that interested him at this time, Windows 7 is on the horizon but he needed something right now which would make a huge spark.  He also mentioned training his staff on some of the new enhancements with Windows 7 and perhaps the challenges associated with migrating his computer platform was something he just couldn’t face at this time.  They were not against the benefits of Windows however it wasn’t something that he could just plug in and go.

This “plug and play” comment sparked the conversation deeper and allowed us to review some of new changes which have been occurring in his office plus across a number of clients Bulletproof takes care of in Calgary and Red Deer.  Many of our clients are moving from single displays to multiple displays and this client started to do the same.  It is not uncommon for computer systems to have two or more monitors these days and many of the systems Bulletproof provides are now coming with at least two monitors.  In retrospect,  it was our client who mentioned that once you make the move towards two monitors you never want to go back to just a single monitor.  “Nothing beats have your email in one screen and a document on another” said our client.

Many of our clients in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary have used two or more monitors for a number of years.  Geologists love having their Accumap maps open on one screen and the information about well’s production open on another.  Land Managers appreciate having an application such as CSExplorer open on the right side and information about the upcoming Land Sale on the left.

Many of the accounting firms we work with also see huge benefits to multiple screen environments.  Having information about your client expenses open at the same time as the general ledger have shown to increase the time to “catch up the books”.  Minimizing windows or even opening up multiple windows to find the Excel spreadsheet you are working on takes away from getting a job done in an efficient manner.

It is also possible for laptop users to attached additional monitors to their notebook computers so they can enjoy the benefits of having multiple computer screens.

Bulletproof can help your small business, junior Oil and Gas or Accounting firm leverage the benefits of multiple displays.  Talk to us today at 403.206.2233 or 403.340.1011.

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