Whether you have an existing computer network or need to build a new one, TOSS'^® System Integration division is fully equipped to help you. TOSS^® has years of experience helping people maximize the use of their computing resources.

TOSS'^® Systems Integration team delivers services in these main areas/categories:

• IT Strategy and Planning
• Microsoft-Centric IT Design and Implementation
  • Active Directory & Windows Server
  • Exchange / Email Migration / Email Archiving
• Document & Records Management
• Standardized Desktop Design and Build
• Server Virtualization (see our separate web section on these services)

IT Strategy and Planning

Building and maintaining an IT environment can be similar to putting together a puzzle, with the added challenge that the puzzle is always changing. TOSS^® senior consultants have decades of experience in IT and can put that experience to work for your company. Developing an IT strategy is critical to ensuring the long-term health of your IT environment. TOSS^® will work with your company’s business and IT department to ensure your company is using the right technology for your ever-changing business requirements, and help plan and budget your major IT initiatives and regular annual maintenance requirements.

Equally important is when companies merge or split. TOSS^® has years of experience with planning and executing projects to deal with these types of corporate 'events' at both the strategic and technical levels.

Microsoft-Centric IT Design and Implementation (or Directory Services and Server Platform)

TOSS^® has worked with clients large and small to design, build and maintain their networks. Microsoft's offerings fall into many categories, and TOSS^® specializes in the following:

Active Directory & Windows Server

The foundation of the Microsoft server platform is Active Directory (AD), a distributed directory service that maintains information on who is allowed to log on to your network, and what they are allowed to access. It also serves as an information repository for enterprise applications such as Microsoft Exchange. The needs of small vs. complex and distributed organizations are very different; these differing requirements factor into the AD design. TOSS^® understands these subtleties and will design an AD environment that is right for your company, and can change and grow with your company needs.

Exchange / Email Migration / Email Archive

The most popular groupware/email environment in use today is Microsoft Exchange. Similar to Active Directory, Exchange can scale from small to large organizations, and the correct design for your organization is key. TOSS^® has extensive experience implementing Exchange, and with it, other Exchange add-ons/subsystems such as email archiving, Blackberry/PDA integration, and unified messaging. Also key in email system design is storage management – email volume gets larger every year. Compliance regulations mandate the retention of certain content for years, and people in general are likely to hold on to most of their emails. TOSS^® leverages the experience of its Storage Engineering team to design a storage platform that will accommodate the performance and storage requirements of your Exchange system.

Server Virtualization

Many of today's data centers are dealing with server sprawl and ever-expanding use of expensive electricity and HVAC. In addition, many of the servers currently in use are not taxed (low CPU utilization), but are required because many vendors will not support an application that is on a server with another application.

Server virtualization allows an organization to run several instances of an OS on a single piece of hardware - so one physical server could run 10 "virtual" servers on it. This would create more efficient use of the hardware's CPU and storage capacity, as well as reduce power and HVAC requirements by reducing the server footprint (ten pieces of hardware into one).

TOSS^® has certified VMware engineers on staff that have designed and implemented virtualization environments for companies large and small. Combining TOSS’^® virtualization experience with its SAN engineering services produces a combination that many of our customers benefit from by more fully utilizing their investment in virtualization technologies. See the Virtualization section of our website for additional info.

Document Management & Records Management

If your company produces document-based intellectual property, or you quite simply have a lot of documents that must be managed, categorized, indexed and secured, a document management system (DMS) will help your company meet those requirements. While document management systems grew out of the needs of professional services organizations (e.g. law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms), they are now a critical component of most businesses in managing their electronically-produced content.

The DMS addresses the following needs:

• Centralized Management – documents are saved directly into the DMS from Microsoft Office and are centrally housed to maintain control of the company’s intellectual content. This prevents documents from being dispersed on uncontrolled laptops and desktop PCs.
• Categorization – each document stored in the DMS has 'tags' associated with them, such as author, typist, document type, company division, etc. Users can then search for documents using these criteria.
• Full text index/search – The content of the documents stored in the DMS can be full text indexed so that users can find documents by any word or phrase contained within.
• Security – DMS documents can be easily secured so that only specific individuals have access to search, view and/or edit the content. This is especially critical to businesses that deal with sensitive documents or have regulatory or legally enforceable responsibilities to their clients (i.e. law firms and financial firms).

Tight integration with Microsoft Office and other applications such as WordPerfect and AutoCAD ensure that most content that a company produces can be stored in the DMS.

TOSS^® has over a decade of experience designing, implementing and maintaining document management systems for various organizations. Our clear leadership in this field makes TOSS^® the obvious choice for any organization contemplating the implementation of a DMS for their business.

Records Management

Companies are increasingly becoming subjected to new laws that maintain rules on document retention for legal and accounting purposes. A Records Management system is used to properly enforce retention policies on content generated by an organization. A records plan layout determines the retention rules that are required to be followed by a company, and which documents fall into its various categories. The Records Management System keeps track of the documents, where they are located (paper and electronic information), and controls their ability to be edited.

Standardized Desktop build

In order to more easily setup and manage large quantities of workstations, many companies will create an 'image' of a PC with all of its applications, and then distribute that image to the PCs under their control. Using an image with all core applications installed, or distributing the core applications to a desktop that contains only the base operating system, are two different methods used today to more easily manage large quantities with a small IT staff. TOSS^® has 15 years of experience building standardized desktop images for organizations, and creating the procedures, infrastructure and automation to allow for a virtually ‘hands-off’ desktop deployment approach.

Contact TOSS^® today for more information regarding our comprehensive Integration Solutions.