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Changes to cellular data plans, exploding Samsungs, Wi-Fi Assist issues and why you may not want to buy the iPhone 7 quite yet.

A message of thanks from ARG’s CEO and Founder Greg Praske on our 25th Anniversary to the thousands of clients and partners who have helped make us the most respected technology consulting and brokerage firm in the US.

Federal mediation has been approved, but the outlook is still not good for getting new services or moves completed.  Even if you aren’t billed by Verizon your services may be impacted.  If you have a move coming up, ensure you get early to ensure that your mission critical connectivity will not be compromised.

As you know, Verizon is on strike as of this morning.  Over the years, we have seen Verizon strikes that last hours, days, weeks and months.  It’s hard to predict what will happen here.  So, while we hope for a quick resolution, we have to prepare for a longer term dispute.

At ARG, this event is an opportunity for us to show our clients value.  Throughout the industry, every shortcoming in the coming weeks will be blamed on the Verizon strike.  Some of it will be true.  Much of it will not.  At ARG, we want to discern the truth.  We want to come up with solutions and alternatives.  We want to anticipate potential issues and delays.  We want to listen to our clients and communicate frequently.  We want to make a difference.

Beginning in 2014, ARG saw interest in cloud services start to grow substantially. Our clients were getting comfortable with the solutions and 3 key elements were being addressed to their satisfaction:

·         Security. The concern that the cloud is less secure than their own datacenter. Gartner and other independent analyst firms have studied the risks, concluding that cloud is generally more secure than premises-based implementations.

·         Savings. 

Here at ARG we are proud to have one of the best Cloud Advisors on our team heading into 2016. The cloud market is a daunting place for company’s looking to cloud their infrastructure, but luckily, we have the right person on our side that can now be on yours. To see what we’re talking about, here’s ARG Cloud Advisor Jim Begley’s take on the state of the cloud market at the end of 2015:

  ARG has been incredibly successful this year lowering our customers wireless bills by an average of over 38%.  As a special end of the year offer, ARG would like to provide you with a free mobility health review. We want to put you in the best wireless financial position to start 2016. The ARGRead more

ARG has been working in the cloud space for years now but increasing demand from customers has built to a point where we needed additional resources.  We spent months exploring the market and speaking with the best technical minds to find the breadth of experience that we felt would most benefit our clients.  We alsoRead more

ARG was thrilled to be selected as on of Virginia’s Best Places to Work this week.

ARG’s engineers make a huge difference every day for our customers, but sometimes the difference is too pretty not to share.

It seems like hacks and thefts of information are in the news daily, from Ashley Madison to the US Government, airlines, and businesses, no one seems to be exempt from the threat.  So what can you do to protect your organization and your client or members’ information.

Picture this: You’ve done the research, you’ve put in the time, you choose a data center for your business, and it all seems great. BUT, all of a sudden, weeks into your mission critical data being supported, the data center goes down. You never asked about uptime. It somehow got lost in the research and questions and the other projects you’ve been working on. Now, your business has lost tens of thousands of dollars. What now?

“Enterprise mobility” is a hot topic as we head into the final months of 2015. Increasingly mobile workforce emphasize the need for companies to enable and manage employee mobility in order to meet security and productivity demands. But what does this mean for you?

Companies who set out to mobilize their enterprises on their own tend to miss important security factors that could potentially put sensitive data in jeopardy. On top of that, they tend to overlook needs and requirements specific to their company which could lead the company’s inability to expand and improve with future add-ons.

If you couldn’t make it to the seminar, check out the live tweets from the event at #ARGSeminar. You can also reach out to us through our Contact page or info@myarg.com. An ARG consultant can set up a meeting to review UC best practices, and help you find a solution that best fits your unique business needs.

Matt West, one of ARG’s resident Implementation Engineers, saved a client some money last week by helping him short out a binding post with a quarter.

The client has a few plain old telephone lines. The first three lines were delivered to the wrong demarc, so Matt figured this one would be delivered to the wrong place as well.  The carrier ordered the line, and then sent the number and binding post information.  Matt called the new number and it was ring no answer, which is what it should have been.

At ARG we are often faced with the question, “What can YOU do for ME?” We pride ourselves in helping companies, big or small, get the most bang for their buck while investing in the best, unique technology solution for their business.

Tuesday September 22, 2015 | 7:30 – 10:00 AM | 7926 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 1150, McLean, VA

Breakfast will be served.

Don’t miss this opportunity to indulge in a global perspective of UC, and bulletproof your network with ARG.

The market for hosted voice is getting larger and more competitive by the second. As the market continues to evolve and new providers come to market, what is the impact on the company with the largest market share, Broadsoft, and how can ARG help you decide which platform is right for your business?

The consequences of down time for any company can send a negative ripple through their entire operation, regardless of duration. No company ever wants to face a network outage, but with providers offering solutions that nearly guarantee four hours of downtime a month, what other options are there?

It has been reported that more than two thirds of businesses were not going to make the upgrade deadline, which leaves their networks, servers, and possibly their entire IT infrastructures susceptible to bugs, cyber criminals, compliance issues, and more.  In 2013, Microsoft issued 37 “critical” updates to Windows Server 2003, and another 21 in 2014, suggesting it is still extremely vulnerable to bugs that have not yet been exposed. 

Now is the time to ask, “How are you protecting your business today, and what system does your business have in place to recover from a disaster, man-made or otherwise?”

So, we’re asking. Here at ARG, we have the time, tools, and know how to get your company backed up for life. There are too many examples of major businesses losing their ability to operate and all of their data being lost for your business to NOT be protected.

We’ve all heard our friends and counterparts in the industry say “if they’re going to move their company’s infrastructure into a third-party data center, then they will only consider a Tier IV data center.” Heaven forbid, someone would recommend a Tier II, or dare we say, a Tier I facility.  “Tier I” is almost a four-letter word.  But, why?

We did it! For the second year in a row, ARG has been selected for The Washington Post’s Top Workplaces list.

The Washington Post partnered with WorkplaceDynamics, an employee-survey firm based in Philadelphia, and asked the employees of nominated companies to evaluate their employers based on 22 questions covering the job, leadership and organizational health.  Within each size category, the employers were ranked based solely on employee responses to the survey statements.

News Flash: There is a technology that has a 96% purchase rate after clients tried the service. As unbelievable as that may sound, ARG knows it to be true. In 2015, most IT departments are still implementing one of the following problematic options:

Microsoft has made a big announcement: Microsoft Azure Stack. The new addition will be just one of the services Microsoft plans to add to the initial Azure program. Though it will not become available until 2016, techies all around the world are excited for its launch. But what exactly is Microsoft Azure Stack?

Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI) are quickly becoming the “it” service of 2015. We here at ARG use VDI, and are strong proponents of integrating it into the workplace. Not sure why DaaS or VDI could help you? Well a recent survey on the State of the Desktop seems to have all the answers. So, here are some of the key findings we find most helpful when making this important decision.

Today is the day – the FCC vote concerning whether to keep Neustar as the contract holder for Local Number Portability (LNP) or award the contract to Telcordia Technologies, a subsidiary of Ericsson, is happening.

Why should you care about this?

ARG’s Mobility Management Division is making a major impact on the bottom line of a high profile new client.

The team implemented changes that decreased this clients wireless bill by 75%, delivering annual savings of over $800,000.00

The ARG team met with 42 of the leading global and national providers of voice and data services as well as providers of creative new services.  The team also visited with many more in passing through out the Channel Partners Expo (#CPExpo) in both the hallways and restaurants of Vegas.  It’s clear that providers areRead more