It was a very good year for .....

Maybe 2008 wasn’t a great year for the stock market or certain politicians, but it was a pivotal year, a wake-up call for maintaining vigilance.

As organizations reexamine their use of resources to support the essentials of business success, we’re grateful that more clients put their network’s safety, reliability and performance on that priority list. They saw the value of their network as providing access to Internet resources, as a facilitator of internal communication, and as safe transmittal and storage for work they create. They protected and enhanced their networks with our PolarStar services.

We may dread 2009 if we only look at the belt-tightening and budget cutbacks, but periodically businesses should take a hard look at how they operate in order to fulfill their mission. They may discover a better way of doing what they do. That is the sense we have of what 2009 offers, rethinking and finding new, more efficient, sustainable ways to satisfy our needs.

For people like yourself who are already turning the corner, we thank you for your business, your trust, your feedback, and ideas. No matter where your journey leads, our Polar Systems team is with you all the way. We wish you all the success imaginable for 2009.

It could be a very good year.

Director of Operations

Proactive Network Services

Intelligent Network Security Solution

By Bret Jones, PolarStar Practice Manager

Intelligent Network Security Solution

Network security is a critical component to a company’s success when doing business over the internet. Intelligent Network Security solutions from Polar Systems enable customers to focus on their core business instead of monitoring and responding to network disruptions caused by both internal and external attacks, human error and the demands of regulatory compliance.

A corporation’s network has become increasingly more critical to the productivity and profitability in both large and small organizations. As companies extend these networks to suppliers, remote offices, partners and customers around the world, protecting the critical applications and business information that reside on these networks has become a primary concern of IT executives worldwide.

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A True Polar Star

PolarStar Team Profile: Dan Spraker

Polar is going to have to get along without Network Engineer Dan Spraker for the next year. He’s known for about a year that a second tour of duty in Iraq was possible, and he has now received the official word and will be leaving in early 2009.

In addition to being a Network Engineer at Polar, Dan is a First Sergeant for a field artillery battery in the National Guard. He has 93 personnel (all in the reserves) working directly for him and Dan is responsible for their preparation and training on Howitzer cannons. Since he has only one weekend per month with the troops, their training in recent months has been intense. There are eight soldiers assigned to each cannon, and they work a lot of crew drills to sharpen their training. Dan says if one person isn’t performing perfectly, the whole team is off. “We need to be proficient in what we do to be timely and accurate in supporting our infantry troops. If we’re not, we’ve failed our mission.”

Continue reading Dan's story

Technology Corner

Providing World-Class Customer Service Requires World-Class Commitment

By Tim Tragesser, Business Development Manager

Polar's World-Class Customer Service Commitment How do we ensure that our clients have a great experience with Polar Systems? We invest a great deal in providing great support. That involves spending money, not only for infrastructure but also for a team of players that view the support role as a mission, not just an occupation.

Client Communication

We recently hired Kim Wheatley to handle client communications and follow-up. Her official title is Client Support Specialist. That means she’s responsible for making sure that our customers have a good experience working with Polar. Behind her passion for customer support is a background in project management, and she does a lot of coordination with new clients. This includes making sure that our technical team is set up to deliver what we’ve committed to the customer. For example, Kim calls a meeting with all the people who will be involved in supporting the new client. She makes sure that everyone knows what’s unique about this particular client, and what their role will be in making sure client expectations are met. Not surprisingly, our customers say that she is awesome to work with.