This is also the perfect time of year to ask you, our valued customers, what you want from us in 2011 and beyond. We’d love to hear from you!

All of us at Robson Communications wish you a very happy Holiday Season and a New Year filled with peace and prosperity.

Season’s Greetings!

In his role as COO, Alex will focus on expanding Robson’s reach in British Columbia’s small to medium-sized business community by offering the technology solutions these companies need to be competitive. He understands the technology challenges these businesses face and will help set Robson on the path to becoming the preferred hosting services provider for SMBs across the province.

“I’m thrilled to join Robson and take on this new role during such an important time of growth and transition for the company,” says Alex Goncharov, COO of Robson Communications. “We’re developing new, cutting edge, cloud-based IT services that will be powered by the latest Parallels Operations Automation solution. These exciting new services are ideal for companies with little or no internal IT support and will help level the playing field for our SMB customers. Even better, this same platform is also being used for our enterprise solutions, which creates a unique growth path for our SMB customers who can now transition seamlessly to larger scale services as needed.”

“At Robson we’ve always strived to deliver the hosted technology solutions our customers need now, with the ability to scale up and down as needed and on demand,” says Martin Robson, President & CEO of Robson Communications. “When we decided to reposition our brand so that one business unit could focus exclusively on enterprise services, while the other concentrates on building our SMB solutions, we knew we needed someone with enough experience and vision to make it work. Alex comes to Robson with that ideal combination of hands-on experience, technical savvy and high level management expertise we were looking for.”

Are you looking for reliable, scalable and secure hosting services for your new or growing business that won’t hurt your bottom line? Contact us today to find out why so many local businesses have turned to Robson for their hosting needs. We’d love to hear from you!

The Robson Communications Team

All of us at Robson Communications are pleased to announce that early in the New Year we will launch an exciting new business unit focused exclusively on servicing the enterprise hosting market. At the same time, we will also introduce a new channel partner program designed to reward partners for offering our enterprise hosting solutions to their customers.

As the foundation for all hosting solutions offer by Robson, the world class Parallels Operations Automation delivers a super-efficient and fully customizable cloud services delivery infrastructure that is second to none. It is the ideal platform for any customer who needs to scale up or down quickly and seamlessly whether they’re deploying a hosted Exchange email solution or a fully managed cloud-based infrastructure. And this platform runs on our industry leading Enterprise Dell PowerEdge systems, the preferred solution for virtualization deployments.

“The unveiling of our new enterprise hosting business and innovative channel partner program marks a critical stage in the company’s evolution,” states Martin Robson, President & CEO of Robson Communications. “We’ve been designing, deploying and managing hosted technology solutions for enterprise customers since opening our doors in 2002 and now, with Robson Enterprise Solutions, we look forward to serving this market in an even more meaningful way.”

Enterprise solutions that put IT strategy & business priorities on the same page

With the speed of technology changes and the steep costs associated with keeping up – including hardware, software and human resources – many companies are looking to the cloud to solve their technology challenges. For a predictable monthly operating expense, our enterprise customers can maximize the investment they’ve already made in the technology that drives their business and take advantage of the latest advancements with little or no risk.

“Expertly engineering the customized solutions that put IT strategy and business priorities on the same page is something we’re passionate about,” says Martin Robson. “Now, with the repositioning of our brand, which will see one business unit focus on expanding our SMB hosting services while the other drives our enterprise solutions, we can more effectively serve both markets.”

Helping our partners expand their reach with cloud-based IT services

Through our powerful new Channel Partner Program, partners can now offer cloud-based, value-added IT services to their customers and use our collateral, proactive go-to-market campaigns and product demonstrations to support their sales and marketing efforts.

Our channel partners gain a competitive edge by offering a diverse set of world-class, cloud-based business services without incurring the high cost and hassles of building and managing their own infrastructure. Advantages of this program include maximizing revenue from existing customers, offering an expanded portfolio of services to prospects and ultimately gaining deeper customer loyalty. And all services are backed by our 100 percent uptime guarantee and standard-setting technical and customer support.

The launch date is fast approaching so stay tuned for more information or contact us to learn more about our enterprise solutions.

The Robson Communications Team

Whether you have five or 500 users, your business can access everything that would normally be housed on your office network without expensive hardware and software with Robson’s powerful hosted desktop solution. You can benefit from options like VPN connectivity, LAN extension, active directory domains, file and resource sharing and collaboration and productivity tools.

Before we delve into how hosted virtual desktops work, let’s review some of the key business benefits we discussed in our last blog:

•    Reduced operational and capital costs
•    No need for internal IT expertise
•    Remote access any time of day from any location with a network or Internet connection
•    Free copy of MS Office and free upgrades
•    Enhanced reliability and uptime
•    Enterprise-calibre security
•    Backing up and patching done for you

A hosted desktop is a fully-functional remote workstation that looks, feels and operates exactly like a PC. All of your software and data are housed in our state-of-the-art datacenters, instead of being held on local hardware. Business data is sent to your end user’s workstation (a PC or thin client) via the Internet with industry-standard encryption used to ensure no unauthorized third-party can access this data.

Keystrokes and mouse movements are relayed from your user’s workstation to our datacenters seamlessly to deliver a Windows experience that exactly matches a traditional desktop PC. You can print to your home or office printer wherever you happen to be located, as well as install software and customize as you normally would.

Since your desktops will no longer be tied to specific hardware, your team can access the information they need and stay productive 24×7 from anywhere with an Internet connection and end-device whether they’re at the office, at home or on the move. You also have the freedom to customize your environment and the flexibility to decide whether your setup is open, fully secured or managed by your internal IT resources. You can also choose to download and store your data in another location, delivering an additional layer of security.

The Robson Communications hosted virtual desktop solution also pairs extremely well with our other hosting services, such as hosted Microsoft Exchange email with optional hosted BlackBerry ES – bringing you a cost effective and comprehensive business infrastructure that’s available anywhere and anytime.

We invite you to learn more about our many business-ready cloud-based hosting services by visiting our website or contacting us directly to discover how our industry leading solutions can help your business.

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425

Today, businesses need their staff to have access to computers for many of their day-to-day functions. The way this is achieved is evolving as hosted desktops start to replace the traditional notion that all staff need a PC sitting under their desks. As part of the cloud computing concept, hosted desktop technology lets you take advantage of the many benefits of this innovative new way of delivering desktops to your team.

Hosted desktops offer exactly the same feel and functionality of a traditional PC, yet instead of residing locally, all of the software you use and data you need to store are housed in Robson’s state-of-the-art datacenters. Avoid the management time and capital costs associated with buying, setting up and maintaining PCs, without sacrificing functionality. In fact, with a full Windows environment with all the functionality you would expect and the ability to install whatever applications you need on-demand, your team will never know they aren’t using a PC.

Top 7 Business Benefits of Hosted Virtual Desktops

#1 – Cut Operational & Capital Costs

With hosted virtual desktops you can avoid the high initial CapEx associated with purchasing depreciating assets to build your infrastructure and acquiring the office applications you need, in exchange for a transparent per-user subscription model that ensures predictable costs and great value.

#2 – Remote Anytime, Anywhere Access

No matter where you’re located, you can connect to your hosted desktop. Robson’s networks give you secure access from any location via a network or Internet connection. This is ideal for forex traders and other commodities traders who need 24×7 access to global markets!

#3 – No IT Expertise Needed

Easy deployment and use are hallmarks of the hosted virtual desktop solution. Patching or administering your desktops, application compatibility or upgrades and worries about which vendor’s technology is best suited to your needs are now a thing of the past. Backed by our secure enterprise infrastructure, we take care of these tasks so you don’t have to. Want to do away with PCs altogether? We can provide your team with very cost effective, reliable and fully configured ‘thin clients’ that simply plug in, connect to the network and let your team get to work instantly.

#4 – No Need to Upgrade

Worries about upgrading are also a thing of the past with hosted virtual desktops. When you’re part of Robson’s infrastructure you gain access to powerful systems and the latest software available on the market.

#5 – Quickly Add Resources & Software

The resources and software you use can be scaled up or down on-demand. Add RAM or processors with the click of a button. Our cloud computing infrastructure lets us deliver these resources instantly. Deploy the latest version of MS Word or other software applications immediately and to as many desktops as you want or install your own applications.

#6 – Enhanced Reliability & Uptime

All of our hosted services are backed by our 100% network uptime guarantee. Enjoy round the clock access to your hosted desktop and sleep better at night knowing your data will never be lost.

#7 – Enterprise-calibre Security

Hosted virtual desktops give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your data is always secure and available. Your team will no longer house company data on local PCs and this information is no longer tied to specific hardware, so your critical data and information is safe from loss, theft or being mistakenly erased.

Stay tuned because our next blog will discuss exactly how hosted virtual desktops work and how they can improve your bottom line.

Until then, we encourage you to check out our robust line of customizable, cloud-based IT solutions, including hosted virtual desktops. You can also contact us directly – we’d love to hear from you!

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425

Whether you’re launching a new business website or have started outgrowing your current web hosting plan, deciding which plan best suits your needs is a decision that could have far-reaching benefits and challenges. There are three hosting routes you can take if you don’t have an on-premise server: Shared, VPS and Managed & Dedicated.

Shared Hosting

•    Share server with other websites
•    Highly cost effective
•    Ideal for basic websites and small business websites
•    Shared IP address

VPS Hosting

•    Offers same features, autonomy and functionality of a dedicated plan at a substantially lower cost
•    Runs an independent operating system, web server, mail server, FTP server and website hosting control panel
•    Can be rebooted independently and has own root access, apps, system libraries, config files, memory, processes and users
•    Ideal for websites that have outgrown a shared plan, as well as application development & testing, game serving and multiple virtual domain hosting
•    Dedicated IP address
•    Supports a wide range of operating systems

Managed Dedicated Hosting

•    Enterprise calibre performance and security without the overhead and headaches that can come with building and managing an on-premise web server
•    Highly customizable and includes fully managed monitoring, backing up, security, patching, troubleshooting and upgrading
•    High bandwidth and disk space limits make it ideal for high traffic sites, ecommerce sites and sites that use customized or very specific software and applications
•    Dedicated IP address
•    You get all the bells and whistles but at a higher cost

The majority of websites perform extremely well with a shared hosting plan. But if you’re still not sure which plan is right for you, a customer-oriented hosting company will take the time to learn about your needs and recommend the solution best suited to your current needs and potential future requirements.

Remember: Selecting the right web hosting plan is just as important as selecting the right hosting services provider. We encourage you to check out our blog entitled, How to Choose a Hosting Services Provider: A 10-point Due Diligence Checklist, for more information (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Why Choose Robson Communications Inc.?

Robson Communications Inc. is a leading provider of reliable web hosting solutions backed by an unwavering commitment to customer service and support. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure, together with our single-minded focus on customizing the perfect solution for your business, and then ensuring it’s available 24×7, gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your website is in good hands.

Sign up for our Shared Web Hosting plan before December 31, 2010 and get 3 YEARS FREE! Our VPS Hosting solution includes one free month; and, for a limited time only, we will waive the set up fee for our Managed Dedicated Hosting plan – that’s a $250.00 value!

Contact us today to find out which web hosting plan is right for you.

Cheers,

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425

Does your website still support your business goals, brand characteristics and the needs of your audience? Knowing the answers to these questions can be a good place to start as your begin to evaluate the effectiveness of your current website. If your answers are “No” then there’s a good chance you’re ready for a website redesign.

Of course, there’s a lot to think about when undertaking a project like this. Knowing what you want to accomplish will help you achieve your goals the first time around because there’s nothing worse than undertaking a website redesign only to discover that the new site doesn’t meet your needs. For instance, do you want to update the look to be more current or better aligned with your brand? Do you want to make it more search engine friendly? Do you want to add blogging and your social media accounts with sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked In? Do you need to revise your product and/or service offerings to better reflect your business today? These are all important considerations that will help get you on the right track from the beginning. Your answers to these six questions will help too.

1.    What’s the purpose of your website?

What do you want your site to do? Do you want it to provide basic information about your business along with contact information? Do you want it to generate online sales? (See our blog entitle, Tips for Designing a Website for Sales, for more info on this topic) Do you want to add a social component to build a sense of community among your visitors and create a deeper connection to your brand?

A clear understanding of the purpose of your website will help you decide how best to set it up and what platform will be the most effective.

2.    What’s working and what’s not?

Whether it’s the navigation, key images, a corporate video or your logo, you can make a list of what you like about your website to ensure those parts are kept. Also take some time to list what you don’t like or what simply isn’t working anymore. Are there aspects of the website that you’ve always wanted to change? Have your customers given you feedback on what parts of your website they get stuck on? If not, try asking a few trusted customers and even some business associates to tell you what they like and what could be improved.

3.    Does your brand need updating?

Updating your company’s brand with a new logo and website design can really freshen things up, particularly if it’s been a long time and the brand is starting to feel outdated. Just remember to be careful about making a dramatic change that could confuse your customers and site visitors.

4.    What are the most important pages of your website?

What is the focal point of your website and how do your visitors get there? Whether you wish to funnel visitors to your contact page, blog, online store, portfolio, newsletter sign up or services page, it’s important to have your new design focus on these areas and getting your visitors to them. It goes without saying that your homepage should include a call to action with a teaser to get them to the most important pages, but you should also ensure all the other pages include this call to action. Strategic links throughout the website with a call to action on each page can help guide your visitors to the pages you want, as well as take the action you want them to take.

5.    How should your company’s story be told?

Although you may be on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, your website is where the world will go to learn about your company’s story. So it’s important to ask yourself how that story is best told. Be it through words, images, videos or a combination of these, it’s important to understand how best to communicate this story in order to draw in and connect with your audience.

6.    How can you improve your website’s SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key consideration for any website redesign project you undertake given its potential to deliver significant business value when done right. You first want to make sure you don’t lose any search engine rankings, title tags from the old site or meta descriptions in the process. Next you want to ensure the website is accessible so spiders can present visitors with the information they want. The keywords for your industry need to be current and internal links within the website should be optimized. Understanding what pages and keywords/terms bring the most people to your website is an important part of the process since changing these can mean losing part of your audience. Instead, find ways to build on these pages and keywords to attract even more traffic.

Serving the needs of your audience and search engines is a key issue for any website redesign project. So is knowing the right questions to ask to ensure you’re on the right track.

How can Robson Communications Inc. help?

For the do-it-yourself business owner, Robson Communications offers a highly robust, business-ready solution that can help you build an online identity faster and easier than you thought possible. You can learn more about this powerful website building tool by reading our blog entitled, Business Websites Made Easy! Starting at just $9.99/mo and with no set up fees, this SMB Panel is also very affordable and has everything your small business needs in a hosting package.

We also offer Shared Hosting Packages and Dedicated Hosting Packages. Until December 31, 2010, you can even get THREE YEARS of FREE WEBSITE HOSTING when you sign up for a Shared Hosting Package. This offer includes free migration, set up and configuration.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help. We’d love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425

A Secure & Reliable Hosting Solution for Your Website

Until September 30, 2010, Robson Communications is excited to offer 36 Months of Free Shared Web Hosting on Linux or Windows!

This incredible offer includes:

•    36 Months FREE Shared Hosting
•    FREE Migration from Your Current Hosting Provider
•    FREE Set-up and Configuration on ALL Hosting Plans
•    5 GB Storage
•    25 GB Bandwidth
•    50 Email Mailboxes
•    Over 98% Client Retention Rate
•    PROMO CODE: WGT38864

Shared Web Hosting is an economical and flexible solution for individuals and businesses looking to establish an online presence or safeguard the presence they already have. From a simple blog to a complex web application, Robson Communication has the Shared Web Hosting plan that will give you the performance, stability and security you need.

Other key features of our Shared Web Hosting include:

•    Business Ready with Instant Activation
•    No Contracts
•    24x7x365 Phone & Email Support

Take advantage of local Vancouver hosting solutions for your business! Sign up TODAY!

The Robson Communications Team

With more and more companies using social media for lead generation and to boost brand awareness, tools and research are emerging that are geared at helping improve your methods and measure your effectiveness. While these tools don’t guarantee success, they can provide valuable insight and data as you begin to refine your strategic social media plan.

Not convinced that entering the world of social media is right for your business? Read our blog entitled, How Can Twitter and Facebook Help My Business? to learn more.

Boosting your number of followers

Social media sites like Twitter let you stay connected to your followers forever. Twitter helps you drive traffic to your website and build relationships with prospective customers. Whether you’ve already starting tweeting or are still putting your social media plan into action, you may want to visit search.twitter.com. Here you can enter your keywords to see if people in your industry are on Twitter and how active your industry is on the site.

Here are some steps you can take to help increase your followers and the sharing of your information through retweets:

•    Add a bio to your profile and include a link to your website
•    Use keywords for your industry in your tweets to boost your Google ranking since Google includes Twitter in its search engine results
•    Share content from your blog (the foundation of your social media content creation and delivery) to help make your Twitter account stand out
•    Sharing deeper, more thoughtful content that’s aligned with the needs and interests of your target audience has been shown to increase your reach by up to 75%
•    Help convert followers to leads by including links to key landing pages in your tweets
•    Tweet links to important company information like podcasts, videos, photos, presentations, eBooks and news releases

Since measurement is always a key part of any marketing initiative, you may also want to visit twitter.grader.com where you can get a percentile score based on the marketing effectiveness of your account(s). This score will tell you the number of times your account is listed on Twitter lists and the number of times you’re mentioned on other accounts.

Five ways to get retweeted

Research by Twitter expert, Dan Zarrella, author of The Social Media Marketing Book, has uncovered five tips for posting tweets that get noticed. In the world of Twitter, getting noticed translates into the coveted retweet. Retweets tell you that what you’re talking about is of interest to your audience (or followers) and let you reach a larger segment of the Twittersphere than you would on your own.

1.    The time of day and day of the week you post matters: Tweet in afternoons and evenings (between 3 PM and midnight to be exact), and on weekends to increase your chances of being retweeted. As well, the largest number of retweets occur on Friday.
2.    Your choice of words matters: Zarrella’s research found the word “you” is retweeted the most. “The word ‘you’, while very common, seems to occur especially often in retweets, indicating that if you’re talking to ‘me’, I am more likely to retweet it,” states Zarrella. In fact, Zarrella has come up with both a generic list of the 20 most retweetable words and phrases and a tool (still very much beta) that tells you the most retweetable words about your specific topic. This tool analyses up to 1,500 tweets and 1,500 retweets per word, and each word is recalculated after 24 hours to keep up to date with current trends on Twitter.

He also found that the words retweeted the least are: game, going, haha, lol, but, watching, work, home, night and bed. According to Zarrella, “The lesson learned here is that if you’re trying to get more retweets, don’t just engage in idle chit-chat or tweet about mundane activities.”
3.    Including a link matters: Zarrella also found that out of a random sample of tweets, only 19 percent included a link. When compared with a sample of retweets, this number goes up to 57 percent that included a link. The logical conclusion: a link may increase the chances that your tweet will be shared with others.
4.    Use bit.ly for URL shortening: According to Zarrella’s research, the most retweetable URL shortener is bit.ly. This is followed by ow.ly. These URL shorteners are newer and contain fewer characters, which is probably why they’re more successful, according to Zarrella. The older, longer and least retweetable URL shorteners are tinyurl.com and twitpic.com.
5.    Don’t overdo it: Although you might think that the more you tweet a link, the more attention you’ll get from your followers, but Zarrella says, “New data I’ve been working on seems to indicate that the more frequently you Tweet links, the fewer clicks you’ll get.” He suggests keeping your tweets to no more than one each hour to increase your chances of a retweet.

Good luck!

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425

Business email is now the dominant form of inter- and intra-corporate communications in virtually every industry – and from message delivery, file sharing, contact management, resource scheduling and as the hub of collaborative projects, Microsoft Exchange is the solution of choice the world over.

A significant portion of the messages exchanged include sensitive financial data and intellectual property. In fact, as many as three-quarters of the tens of millions of emails exchanged every day include intellectual property such as business models, product designs, customer and employee data, supplier agreements and pricing strategies. This has created a growing concern around the need for secured email services.

Threats to email security can include viruses, spam, phishing and hacking, to name just a few, but for many SMBs, the cost of ownership for Microsoft Exchange’s secure messaging platform is simply too high. Yet, Ferrik Research reports that, “Worldwide, spam will cost us all $130 billion; in the US alone, $42 billion. That’s a 30% increase over our 2007 estimates, which themselves were a 100% increase over our 2005 figures.” These statistics underscore the need for email security, as well as the power of Hosted Exchange Email to deliver the email messaging and collaboration solution SMBs want and need for a low monthly fee.

A Hosted Exchange Email solution lets SMBs capitalize on the platform’s perimeter and network security, spam management, reporting and other foundation-level efficiencies. Foundation-level efficiencies include advanced monitoring, OS provisioning, application lifecycle management and configuration management – tasks that can be highly cost prohibitive for SMBs, but that are all in a day’s work for a hosting company like Robson Communications.

Here are six key areas of security that Robson’s Hosted Exchange Email solution delivers:

1.    Physical Security: Our three datacenters (two in Vancouver, BC; one in Toronto, ON), which host the Exchange email of our customers, are physically separated from our corporate offices and physical access to them is strictly controlled and limited to only those staff members who require access. This secures our overall infrastructure, including the servers that host our clients’ email, from unauthorized access.

2.    Network Security: Fault-tolerant, brand name firewalls are used to protect our network. Each firewall is configured to block unauthorized traffic from entering the network, while a policy of redundancy and fault tolerance ensures all backup systems are instantly up and running in the event any one firewall fails. Our system also runs intrusion detection and prevention software that works in conjunction with the firewalls to monitor traffic flowing into the network. Suspicious traffic is isolated and our network management and security team are notified of any potential danger.

3.    Server Security: Our NOC engineers and technical staff take a proactive approach to the ongoing security of our servers and are very well-versed in the proper configuration of each server – maximizing performance without compromising security. Consistent patching of Windows and Exchange Server software ensures the latest updates and fixes are installed.

4.    Client Security: Data sent between the Exchange servers and the mail client used to access emails is secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The secure connection protects email as it travels between the mail client and the Exchange server, regardless of whether you’re in your office, at an offsite location or using a wireless or public Internet connection.

5.    Antivirus & Anti Spam: Comprehensive virus protection and spam filtering at the network perimeter is provided by the Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport server role, before dangerous emails can affect the network or reach your inbox. This is deployed with Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server to deliver a highly robust antivirus and anti spam solution.

6.    Backup & Recovery: Daily backups are performed to ensure you’ll always have your email, even in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure of the Exchange environment. Multiple backups let you easily recover from PC failures, comply with government regulations or retrieve inadvertently deleted messages.

At Robson Communications, our Hosted Exchange clients save an average of $15,750 annually (based on five mailboxes) – that’s $15,750 you can use to GROW your business!

Our plans start at just $8.99/mo! Sign up now and get the FIRST MONTH FREE (use Promo Code EXCHANGE2010). You can even enjoy unlimited storage and bandwidth when you sign up for our Hosted Exchanged Unlimited plan, starting at $12.99/mo. That’s anywhere from 56 percent to 70 percent less than an in-house system!

All Hosted Exchange Email plans are backed by our 30-day Money Back Guarantee, have no set-up fees and include our 100 percent network uptime guarantee.

Sign up today for your Hosted Exchange Email account with Robson Communications or contact us to learn more.

Kindest regards,

Jennifer Muzzin
Content Director
Robson Communications Inc.
1-877-472-3425