Why we’re not Google

Posted on by March 4, 2014

Several times we’ve been asked why people would pay to use our services when Google offers free email and document storage and low-cost additional services. “Why we’re not Google” could run to several pages, but this article on the BBC Technology website today about Google’s (mis)handling of German data presents us with a great opportunity to mention data security.

You know what data security is – you want your data to be completely protected from anyone who might fancy a snoop, but easily as important and really more so, is the fact that the data is YOURS and remains yours, and you can get hold of it whenever and wherever you need to. In the nicest possible way, we have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the content of your data; our interest is in providing you with the best document storage and sharing service for your business, something that we often recommend is best done via Zimbra. We’re not interested in collating aggregate or any other information about the type of data our customers store and share. Just one of the many reasons why we’re not Google.

Acting up

Posted on by March 4, 2014

I’ve just read this brilliant article by Jason Cohen, founder of Smart Bear Software. We’ve tried numerous approaches on our website from so much jargon no-one understood what we did, to words of one syllable that insulted people’s intelligence, on the advice from people who supposedly knew better than we did. In the end we’ve gone with what we do best – being ourselves. We’re a small company that provides excellent service to much bigger companies, hosting and managing the online services that they need to run their business, and using Open Source software to do it. That about covers it.

Ironing, or IT?

Posted on by March 4, 2014

I’ve been listening with great interest to Merrie Marketing’s audio on attracting more customers. Kim O’Rourke talks a great deal of sense, and I was particularly struck by point 3: identify your weak areas, and get someone else to do them.

Now it might be writing press releases, ironing or IT, but whatever form it takes, Kim makes the point that spending the time learning the skills might not be the best use of what is, sadly, a finite number of  hours in the day. Now I have enough trouble keeping on top of my own ironing, and I’m no expert when it comes to press releases, but IT we can help with.

Specifically, OpenSure can look after your email and all things web-related, generally holding your hand and making sure everything works smoothly. If IT’s your thing then fantastic, you can tinker with things to your heart’s content (as long as you’ve got the day job covered) but if IT is the work of the devil or holds you up or even loses your data, then have a chat to us. If you’re a dab hand with the iron we might even come to some arrangement.