Taos-Header_Services--Talent-you-can-trust-080309 Volume 1 Issue 4                                                                                                                      August 2009

In This Edition:

  • Taos' perspective on Gartner's "10 IT Trends That Need Your Attention Now"
  • New Website Launched 8/1
  • Understanding the basics of virtualization 
  • The third installment of the Data Center article series
  • A variety of features highlighting Taos' presence in the Bay Area's IT landscape

New Clients

We're pleased to welcome these new clients to the Taos Family:

Bivio Networks
DiaDexus
Infinera
Lyris
Santa Clara County Assessor's Office



Featured Consultant

Charles Boatwright:
Sr. UNIX and Development Consultant and Practice Leader

Charles Boatwright is a senior Development and UNIX consultant who joined Taos in May 2007. He quickly moved up the ranks and became a Taos Practice Leader a few months later in October 2007. Charles is well-versed in software development, UNIX and Linux administration, and Windows development.

Read more...


Silicon Valley International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA™) 5th Anniversary Celebration Event Recap

On June 18, Taos sponsored the 5th anniversary celebration of the Silicon Valley chapter of International Institute of Business Analysis. Hosted at the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row, the event attracted nearly 50 business analysts for an evening of networking and celebration.

Read More...


Case Study

Engineering Lab Services

Success Highlights:

  1. Provided ongoing, highly skilled engineering lab support services for over seven years and counting
  2. Saved client countless hours of hiring resources by providing dedicated consultants in a sustainable, long-term engagement  Read More...  

Executive Leadership Team for TaosDear Reader, 

While summer is a great time for rejuvenation, it's also a good time to begin looking ahead at your organization's technology initiatives and plans for the upcoming year. Many of you may be enjoying time off during these next few weeks, and we're here to help you stay on top of what's going on in the technology world this summer. In this edition of the Trusted Advisor , our President and COO, Coco Brown, shares Taos' perspective on Gartner's "10 IT Trends That Need Your Attention Now" and how Taos is prepared to help your organization create a strategy to address these critical areas. We're also taking a closer look at the basics of one of the top trends, virtualization, how capacity drives your data center strategy and how Taos has successfully been contributing support to an engineering environment. We hope you enjoy this issue wherever you may be - on a beach, backpacking through the countryside or just relaxing at home - and that it provides some food for thought on how to keep propelling your organization forward.

Warm regards,

The Executive Leadership Team at Taos


Coco Brown

Off the Beaten Path: Strategies for Tackling Data, Green IT & Social Media

By Coco Brown, Taos President and COO

Recently, Gartner released its Ten IT Trends that Need Your Attention Now.  As the leader of an IT consulting company, I am well positioned to share perspective on a few of the top ten I find most interesting.  I'm also going to give you some "off the beaten path" suggestions to tackling these issues.  (When I refer to "you" I generally mean the CIO or equivalent leadership role in IT).  The three trends I choose to look at are Data Deluge, Energy and Green IT, and Consumerization and Social Software.   Read More...



Bruce Whetstone

How Capacity Drives Your Data Center Strategy: Build Your Own, Move to a Co-lo Facility, Outsource it All?

Part 3 in a 4-Part Series on Data Centers

By Bruce Whetstone, Executive IT Management Consultant with Taos' Office of the CIO Practice

"We are rationalizing, virtualizing, standardizing and consolidating, but we're still out of capacity in our existing data center, and we need a plan for growth."

Not too many IT leaders are in a position to make the above statement.  Most have additional capacity that can be found in their existing facilities (with, of course, some input of time and effort to reconfigure systems and to invest in the tools to manage virtualized systems, which offsets some of the savings).  They just don't have the processes in place (to apply the rigor needed) to squeeze the last ounce of juice out of their existing facilities. Read more...


Tizoc SpiersVirtualization 101: Understanding The Basics

By Tizoc Spiers, Sr. Windows Consultant

Virtualization has gone from being a niche technology over the past few years to being an essential part of infrastructure and data center planning.  The introduction of any new technology, however, can add layers of complexity and, if improperly executed, can eliminate any of the savings such technology initially offered.  Investing some up-front time to planning and research will go a long way in allowing you to create a stable and scalable virtual infrastructure. Read more...


Announcements

  • A fresh look to our website launched 8/1: When it comes to our website, change has been good! We are proud to announce that our newly designed website launched August 1. Make sure to check it out at www.taos.com and visit often!
      
  • Taos is MBE-Certified: Taos has recently become Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certified by the Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council (NCMSDC). The MBE is a nationally-recognized minority business certification. The NCMSDC certifies any for-profit business located in Northern California or Hawaii that is 51% or more ethnic-minority-owned, operated and controlled by a U.S. citizen(s). Our founder and CEO, Ric Urrutia, was born and raised in Guatemala before moving permanently to the United States in 1981. Based on his Latin American background, Taos was approved for the MBE certification on July 6. We look forward to continuing our business partnerships as a certified Minority Business Enterprise.
     
  • Service Desk making news in Idaho: The Idaho Business Review caught wind of the opening of our Boise-based Service Desk in late May and was quick to publish an article on the new service. Go here to read the full article.


We Want Your Feedback

Taos is always interested in your feedback.  Send us an email and let us know what you think at newsletter@taos.com.

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