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How many times have you driven around in circles in your downtown looking for a place to park, breaking out in a sweat because your big presentation is about to start without you? Sure, there are parking meters but who carries change anymore?

 

At Consuro, we love having our headquarters in Downtown Fort Worth. You have everything you need; restaurants, shopping, and other local businesses within walking distance. But we understand that for people who don’t have a place to park it can be a hassle to come downtown, sometimes scaring people from coming back. Not anymore!

 

Fort  Worth is finally a part of this growing trend, solar-powered parking pay stations! Props to San Antonio and Austin for already installing these technologically-friendly machines.

 

Here is what we like about the new parking meters:

• You can pay with a credit /debit card
• It prints your receipt (your accounting team will love that!)
• Solar-powered (environmentally friendly)
• It’s new technology (had to give a shout out to our industry)
• It makes downtown a more friendly place
• It gives you peace of mind knowing you are going to make it to that meeting on time!

So next time you want to stop by the Consuro office for a visit or grab lunch downtown, don’t be afraid! There is a spot waiting for you.

 

Watch the NBC News Coverage.

In the past year Consuro achieved not one but two gold competencies in hosting and desktop through the Microsoft Partner Program. The gold partner status is the highest level of membership in the Microsoft Partner Program, but what did we have to do to get there?

1.          Eight Microsoft Certified IT Professionals had to pass the following exams:

•          Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010

•          Database Developer 2008

•          Database Administrator 2008

•          Server and Directory

•          Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7

2.         Two sales and marketing employees were required to pass four online assessments about Microsoft products and also pass one Microsoft Licensing exam.

3.         Ten customer references were submitted during the application process.

4.         Consuro met a rigorous revenue commitment set by Microsoft.

We are telling you this because there are about 650,000 Microsoft partners out there, but the Gold Membership status is a rare find; only 5 percent of those partners have attained a competency, either silver or gold.

When you’re looking for someone to manage your IT, you want the best.  Our long-standing relationship with Microsoft ensures that we have the highest level of technical competency in the IT industry. At Consuro we strive to deliver the gold standard that brings peace of mind to our clients.

As a member of the Junior Associates Circle, Consuro Managed Technology is underwriting Dallas Museum of Art's 19^th annual “An Affair of the Art: Glory of the Age,” at the Lindy Hop sponsorship level. The event, which will be held on March 3, 2012, will raise funds for the Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties, an exhibition which will open March 4, 2012.

Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties is a nationally touring exhibition featuring more than 130 paintings, sculptures, and photography by more than 65 American artists.

Art and technology often complement each other. For this reason, Consuro sought the opportunity to raise funds for a local art initiative that reflects the advancements and discoveries of the 1920s that led to where we are today.

The life of the American people dramatically changed as a result of World War I and technology played a major role in the economic and cultural advancements that followed. The art of the 1920s demonstrates this transformation of urbanization and industrialization.

“An Affair of the Art: Glory of the Age” is the Junior Associates Circle’s most anticipated event of the season. Anyone may purchase tickets to further support this initiative.

One of the most rewarding aspects about Consuro is the face-to-face relationship we establish with our clients. Every day, we help organizations solve their IT problems, but we also take advantage of an opportunity to show who we are behind the Consuro Managed Technology polos.

 

Franklin Construction, one of our clients, plans a dove hunt every year for its contractors, vendors, and clients. We wanted to show our appreciation of our relationship with Franklin Construction by being Silver Sponsor, in addition to attending their event.

 

I had already been away from home, traveling to the Fort Worth office all week, so I was happy that my 14-year-old son, Graham, could attend the dove hunt along with me.

 

Mark Wanke, vice president of Franklin Construction, hosted the event on his property outside of San Antonio. I was really impressed with all the improvements he had made to the ranch, from the well-maintained roads to the various entertainment areas.

 

We drove up to the ranch around 7:00 a.m. and were greeted by a number of friendly people who offered us drinks and breakfast burritos. Once we loaded up on food, we decided to find a spot and settle in for a couple hours of dove hunting.

 

After the dove hunt, we walked back to the pavilion area where people were already cooking and getting ready for lunch. Others were playing games on the basketball court or fishing while Graham and I decided to explore the river. Later on, Graham competed in a closest-to-the-hole golf tournament, which he won for the youth category!

 

Around mid-day, more people started showing up. Then they opened up the skeet shooting for practice then a full-blown competition. The entire time, Franklin Construction employees were everywhere: running the different events, preparing food, and even driving around on four-wheelers offering people snacks and beverages. Soon after that, it was time for my son and me to head home.

 

Overall, about 150 people attended the Franklin Dove Hunt. I appreciate all the work everyone at Franklin Construction put into planning the event for their clients and contractors. We had so much fun that next year, we plan on making arrangements to stay even longer.

 

--Sean Goodnight, Account Manager

Kevin Valadez, co-president of Consuro, was selected for Nine Lives Media Inc.’s fourth annual MSPmentor 250, a global report that identifies the world’s leading managed service executives, entrepreneurs, experts, coaches and community leaders.

 

It’s an honor to be identified as a respected opinion leader in the managed services industry. This recognition as one of the top experts adds to our goal of becoming the leading IT provider in the Texas regions we serve.

 

The fourth annual MSPmentor 250 report is based on a global survey of MSPmentor site readers conducted from April through July 24, 2011. The MSPmentor editorial staff also weighed in with nominations, based on the team’s daily coverage of the managed services market. The resulting MSPmentor 250 report represents managed services experts across business, technology, sales, marketing, community development, coaching and more.

 

MSPmentor’s readership and editorial staff are uniquely positioned to identify the world’s top managed services experts. MSPmentor is the world’s leading managed services blog and community—and the ultimate guide to managed services. We value the opportunity to be included in this annual look at the top executives in the industry.

As a Consuro client, you already benefit from using the asset tag login on the Consuro Support website.  We have been working behind the scenes to create an iPhone app that offers the same function but is easily accessible at your fingertips.

 

The new iPhone app will allow you to submit a new ticket, view an existing ticket, or login as an administrator if you have those rights.

 

If you want to submit a new ticket, you simply launch the application, select "Submit new ticket," and enter your Asset Tag number, Ticket Title, and Ticket Description.

 

Another function of the application will be the ability to view the status of a new ticket or existing tickets by selecting the "View ticket" option. Once logged in, you can filter by open tickets or all tickets. By selecting the desired ticket number, you can view the status and details of that ticket. Our help desk technicians will respond by leaving new comments to keep you informed. In addition, you can submit your own comment by selecting "New Response."

 

Additionally, if you have access as an administrator, you may log in with administrator rights. With this function, you can view any ticket submitted by anyone in your organization.

 

Our goal for this app is to:

1.    Simplify the ticket process for customers

2.    Allow information to be accessed on-the-go anytime, anywhere

3.    Provide assurance that we are monitoring and responding to client's issues and needs 24/7

 

So stay close and keep an eye out for the launch of the new app!

We count on anti-virus software to keep us safe. What happens when it becomes the culprit?

 

I was upgrading a client to Sophos Anti-Virus from the Norton Security Suite. I uninstalled Norton and restarted the computer to ensure that it was completely removed. What I had removed was the computer’s ability to connect to the Internet.

 

I did everything imaginable to troubleshoot the connection. It would not resolve an IP address. I finally took the PC back to our office to continue working on it. After some research I discovered that I needed to download a separate application to perform a full uninstall of Norton. You would think that clicking a ‘Remove’ option in ‘Add/Remove Programs’ would have been adequate. It’s possible that Norton and I may not be on the same page.

 

I ran the uninstaller tool, restarted once more, and like magic the PC came back to life. If you find yourself in a similar situation a web search for ‘norton uninstaller’ will get you going in the right direction.

 

It’s clunky software like this that makes me proud of our partnership with Sophos. It offers our clients excellent protection without the overbearing behavior that has plagued anti-virus software for the past few years.