Summer 2011

Acquisition

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2010-q2

From the President's Desk

There's nothing quite like summer here in the Nation's Capital. The monuments, parades and fireworks make an inspiring setting in which to celebrate our freedom and independence. From a personal perspective, scenes of Independence Day create the perfect occasion for celebrating together with family and friends, and to reflect on the individual freedoms and opportunities our country offers each one of us.

 

Freedom, opportunity and choice: these are the essential ingredients of the American Dream.

 

This also rings true for business. Particularly in a difficult economy, the freedom and ability to make the choices needed to adjust to challenges and pursue opportunities is essential to short-term survival and long-term success. And broadband is increasingly recognized for its power to bring positive change to areas previously left out of the high-speed digital revolution. Earlier this month, on July 2, President Obama announced $795 million in new government investments to expand broadband connections across the country. "Once we emerge from the immediate crisis, the long-term economic gains to communities that have been left behind in the digital age will be immeasurable," stated Mr. Obama.

 

CICAT is happy to play a small part in this endeavor, helping businesses across the country deploy and manage high-speed, widely dispersed multi-site networks, quickly and cost-effectively. Our vendor-agnostic approach provides the freedom to choose the best and most cost-effective network access for each individual site. And we continue to refine and expand our services and methodologies to ensure our customers reach each and every site in the fastest, most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.

 

The ability and freedom to innovate, adapt and seize opportunities are essential to the economic success of our businesses, our country... and every individual across our nation. We take pride in the role we play in bringing some of the tools necessary for this success to our customers, and in turn, the role our customers play in creating jobs and bringing new services to more places, faster.

 

Best wishes for a summer full of freedom, health and the pursuit of happiness. As always, I look forward to speaking with you soon and welcome your comments and suggestions.

 

Brad Wise

President and CEO

900 Sites, 35 Providers. No Waiting.

CICAT outfits clothing retailer with custom-tailored network.

CICAT recently completed a 900-site broadband deployment for one of the nation's leading clothing retailers. Looking for strategies that would provide immediate efficiency gains in the challenging economy, and provide the bandwidth for future innovation, the company decided that now was the time to migrate all 900 stores to broadband. The primary drivers were PCI compliance, faster POS and better inventory management. The mandate was to achieve these gains while keeping operating costs low.

 

The end result: broadband to more locations, for less.

 

After an extensive competitive review of potential providers for a secured network solution, the retailer selected a team consisting of CICAT and a leading systems integrator. CICAT was responsible for the network deployment and the on-going invoice consolidation services. Leveraging a mix of DSL, Cable, EVDO and T1 access from 35 different providers, CICAT was able to get broadband coverage to every one of the retailer's stores, located all across the United States. CICAT's extensive database of providers expedited the selection of the best carrier for each site. CICAT also worked on behalf of the client to "win-back" a number of voice lines in order to keep costs lower with the DSL installation.

 

With the deployment a success, the retailer now takes advantage of a PCI compliant network with faster speeds and a single invoice. CICAT consolidates the monthly network bills from all 900 sites into a single, concise statement. This service eliminates the time and expense the retailer's network operations staff would incur processing and reconciling these invoices. CICAT provides the retailer with full lifecycle services, from receiving and auditing invoices to payment, electronic archiving and finally, dispute resolution.

 

The combination of CICAT's depth of expertise our proprietary database, network-neutral positioning, and advanced deployment methodology enabled the entire deployment process to take place in just 5 months. The solution allows the retailer's staff to focus on using technology to help achieve their sales, growth and profitability objectives.

 

To find out how CICAT's solutions can help your organization achieve its objectives, visit our website or give us a call at 800-988-4736.

The Xs and Os of EVDO

Speed and Reliability, No Wires Attached

Network professionals remain skeptical of "connectivity without wires." After all, the dropped call didn't exist in the pre-cell phone era. In more recent years, even as reliability improved, concerns over speed, security and availability continue to make wireless the network manager's choice of last resort. However, EVDO is beginning to change all that.

 

EVDO's current 3G mobile broadband offers download speeds of 600 to 1400 kbps (roughly equivalent to DSL). This wireless technology can deliver reliable broadband connectivity affordably to sites beyond the reach of traditional land-based technologies such as cable, DSL, and T1.  

 

EVDO also offers retailers the flexibility to deliver high-speed connectivity to new locations quickly (often within hours), and can accommodate frequent moves, seasonal businesses, short-term needs and kiosk-based activity. And while EVDO's sweet spot is delivering affordable broadband to widely-dispersed, relatively remote sites, it is also well-suited for use as a back-up network technology.

 

EVDO is no panacea, but it does deserve a prominent spot in the network professional's toolbox. For example, getting a strong signal can be challenging because of the required location of the equipment. Amplifiers and antennas can be used to boost the strength, but this can add additional cost and sometimes is still not enough to have it work effectively. We have a great deal of experience in this area, so before you make any decisions regarding EVDO, please give us a call (800-988-4736) or send us an email.

News Briefs and Upcoming Events:

Groundhog Job Shadow Day 

 

CICAT recently participated in the Northern Virginia Technology Council's 12th annual "Groundhog Job Shadow Day." Held in conjunction with Fairfax County Public Schools, NVTC's Groundhog Job Shadow Day program gives students the opportunity to "shadow" technology industry professionals as they go through a normal day on the job. This excellent program provides students a real-world look at how the skills they learn in school are put into action in the workplace. It also provides us a vision of the future workforce. And the future looks bright.

 

In fact, we were so pleased with the talent, intelligence and enthusiasm of our "shadows" that we provided summer internships to two graduating seniors prior to beginning their college experience this fall.

 

The Groundhog Job Shadow Day is available to NVTC members. For more information, http://www.nvtc.org/events/ghjsd10.php

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