TAS Client Software Now Available for Windows Vista

Users of CGNET's Traveler's Access Service(TAS) may now download the client software for Windows Vista from CGNET's Website.

Users of existing client software will automatically be prompted to upgrade to the latest version, which also supports earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows XP. The only users needing to download the software from the Website are those who are installing onto Vista for the first time.

If your software has your organization's logo on it, it is a custom dialer. You should contact your organization's TAS administrator for the latest version. Administrators can get assistance from support@cgnet.com.

Connect Africa!

Africa’s IT infrastructure got a potentially significant boost last year. During a Summit of Leaders in Kigali, Rwanda, in October, a strategic global partnership was born, called Connect Africa.

Organizers included the International Telecommunications Union, the African Union, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Working with the African Development Bank, the African Telecommunications Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Global Digital Solidarity Fund, Connect Africa aims to bring Internet connectivity and improved broadband infrastructure to the capitals and major cities of Africa by 2012.

The goal is to increase broadband connectivity in order to increase Africa’s economic competitiveness. According to the ITU, less than 4% of Africans have Internet access, with a broadband penetration of 1%. Hoping to change these numbers, the project has already received USD 55 billion in grants and loans. It will be interesting to see what the Project’s next four years bring to Africa and what it will mean for African commerce.

Further updates and information about Connect Africa can be found on ITU’s website:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/index.html.

Ricardo Uribe Named CGNET CTO

CGNET has named Ricardo Uribe as Chief Technology Officer. Uribe will head CGNET’s technical services and new product development efforts, reporting to CGNET founder and CEO Georg Lindsey.

Ricardo Uribe joined CGNET in late 1999, after working for seven years at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia in the GIS department, and later in the Information Systems Unit as Network and Computer Administration Manager, User Support Manager, and Acting Chief Information Officer. Most recently, Uribe led the International Operations Department at CGNET, contributing in the areas of network design, implementation and administration, management of the 24/7 support group and promoting research and development of new technologies.

Uribe has a BS from Oregon State University in Computer Science.

Uribe will be responsible for CGNETs provision of 24/7/365 managed network and IT services, as well as for developing new products and enhancing relationships with technology partners. “Ricardo’s drive and expertise has helped extend our clients’ reach globally, in the fields of philanthropy, health, environmental protection, research and relief.” Lindsey said. “We expect that in his expanded role as CTO, Ricardo will contribute strongly not only to serving our customers but also to CGNET’s growth” Lindsey said.

How Our Clients Save the World

Here's a good example, from Time, of why we like coming to work in the morning. When we can help organizations like this, we feel we share just a little bit in the good things they're doing.

CIAT (the International Center for Tropical Agriculture) and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, both mentioned in the article, are working to preserve the world's seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. They're both customers of ours. Many of our other clients, particularly in the CGIAR, are also involved in this and other seed banks. We think that's great.

TAS Maintains Service Continuity at Starbucks

Starbucks recently announced that it is switching its wireless carrier. AT&T Wireless will now provide Wi-Fi hotspot service at the coffee bar chain's many locations, replacing service by T-Mobile. The transition between the two carriers is expected to take months, which has led to worries that users might not be able to connect during the transition.

Fortunately, users of CGNET's Traveler's Access Service need not be concerned. TAS provides access both to AT&T Wireless and to T-Mobile, so users' wireless access through the TAS client will work, regardless of which system is in place at a particular Starbucks.

CGNET and iPass Connect the World Conservation Union

Just about everyone can agree that protecting the environment is a worthwhile endeavor. The problem is, there's not much money to be made in conservation—so the duty tends to fall to volunteers and nonprofit organizations.

By definition, nonprofits don't have a lot of funds to spare on needs not directly related to their mission. They have to be just as scrupulous about conserving their own resources as the environment itself. That's especially true for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Union (IUCN), a global conservation partnership representing 82 states, 111 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations and some 10,000 scientists and specialists from 181 countries.

It's a Big World. CGNET and iPass Have It Covered.
The IUCN, better known as the World Conservation Union, has more than 1,100 employees and 10,000 volunteers based in 45 offices worldwide. And at any given time, hundreds of those might be working on a project somewhere in the field—which can often mean the usual airports, hotels and coffee shops, but often includes some of the most remote places on sea or land. As IT Manager Fayez Mikhail explains, "Our goal is that you'll have your office with you wherever you go, even if that's a national park in the middle of Africa."

World Conservation Union must make the most of its membership-funded budget to connect its far-flung workers. That's why they chose iPass channel partner CGNET Services International to provide global roaming Internet access. CGNET's Traveler's Access Service builds on iPass Mobile Office and the iPass global virtual network to provide simple, secure connectivity through wired and wireless networks in more than 160 countries—including more than 89,000 hotspots worldwide.

Bridging the Language Barrier
Field workers are provisioned with a laptop configured with a standard software image that includes the iPassConnect™ client. They can connect via dial-up, Wi-Fi or ISDN using a single, simple interface—no matter where they go—without struggling with different vendors, languages and connection processes. Just a couple of clicks using a consistent client, and they're ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

But it's not just about simplifying life for fieldworkers. The folks in IT and Accounts Payable also enjoy having a single, easily manageable global connectivity solution. There's just one vendor to deal with for any support issue, anywhere and anytime.

There's also just one bill to pay—covering all the Wi-Fi service providers and mobile operators in the iPass global virtual network—including complete details for accurate accounting and internal billing. That's important, as Fayez explains, "because each project has its own budget. If we can allocate costs correctly, it really lightens the burden for the operations group. With iPass, all global activity is itemized by user and session on a single invoice making chargebacks fast, easy and accurate."

Green Is Good
Conservation is all about holding on to what you have. With iPass Mobile Office and the iPass global virtual network, the World Conservation Union can give its employees and volunteers simple, secure access from Uganda to the UN, and everywhere in between. And they can keep connectivity eminently affordable—so they have more green to spend on protecting the environment.

CGNET Clients Showcase DR Solutions at TAG Conference

Georg Lindsey (standing) moderates a panel with (from left) Matt Sharp, Jay Leslie and Aaron Levine

Three of CGNET’s most innovative clients presented their experience with business continuity and disaster recovery solutions at the Technology Affinity Group’s annual conference November 8 in San Francisco.

The panelists included representatives from Atlantic Philanthropies, Carnegie Hall, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Technology Affinity Group is made up of IT managers at foundations, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. Its Website is http://www.tagtech.org/.

All of the panelists have worked with CGNET to install business continuity solutions, and their individual approaches yielded some great stories and useful tips.

Carnegie Hall, for example, is moving its entire data center to a managed hosting service provider in New Jersey while keeping print services, security, networking and replica servers in its historic New York building. The move allows Carnegie Hall to defer the cost of retrofitting its 115-year-old building to accommodate expanding IT needs, while at the same time preserving a remote disaster recovery location. “Operating the equipment off-site has also freed up a bit of time for IT staff to participate in more mission-centric activities,” said Aaron Levine, Carnegie Hall’s CIO.

Atlantic Philanthropies, another New York-based client, is in the process of reorganizing its business continuity systems to take advantage of its global network of offices. The New York and Dublin offices will mutually replicate their email and other servers to each other, while other offices in Bermuda, Belfast and Hanoi will feed into this core. The email replication system will also provide message archiving.

Steam-Pipe Explosion
The new, more extensive system has been informed by lessons learned when a widely publicized steam-pipe explosion in New York City closed the foundation’s offices for a week in July. The foundation’s GIFTS and Dynamics databases moved to the replica servers quickly and effectively, but other, non-protected systems were out longer. A key lesson was the importance of providing the greatest continuity for email, which was what users missed most.

Matt Sharp, the Packard Foundation’s director of information technology, stressed a high tech and low tech strategy for business continuity. The foundation relies on high-tech, host-based replication to CGNET’s Sacramento co-location facility to protect its servers. On the low-tech side, however, the foundation focuses on being able to pay employees, pay vendors, and support local grantees during the disaster. The key elements of the low-tech approach are printed copies of the necessary records and financial instruments, plus agreements with banks and other external partners to backstop the foundation’s funding activities during a major disaster.

Georg Lindsey, CGNET’s founder and CEO, moderated the session and presented a model that included not only disaster recovery but disaster preparedness on the same continuum. He noted that users’ increasing demand for no downtime at all has really turned all of disaster recovery into downtime prevention.