“Smart Technology… Better Business.”
Info Exchange Ltd., a wholly owned Jamaican company, was officially formed in January 1996 with the purpose of using technology to increase Business Efficiency. Utilizing Internet technologies, Info Exchange has focused on creating and delivering “Internet-based” integrated Business Solutions to its clients, both locally and internationally.
The ability to perform in-depth business analysis and develop database intensive web-based applications have now become commonplace within the organization. We have evolved into a full-service business solution company dealing with the infrastructural needs such as email, networking & collaboration; to mission-critical, line-of-business applications development; to strategic alignment of business with technology.
In January 2000, Info Exchange became a Microsoft Partner with focus on software development, systems implementation, and hosted services within the Microsoft suite of products.
With this mix of skills and competencies, Info Exchange focuses its activities in two broad areas of endeavor. Application Development and Outsourced (managed) Services further described below.
Application (web-based) Development
Since our incorporation in 1996 Info Exchange has been known as a high-end (web- based) software development company. With strong background in Software Project Management, Systems Analysis, and Database Design we have been responsible for the development of many business critical applications.
Over the years we have developed a proven development methodology. The approach used for software product development is probably the most important component of any project. Missed timelines and cost overruns are often caused due to problems in the developmental approach.
Outsourced (managed) Services
In 1999 Info Exchange began offering Managed Services to its customers. The overall objective was to lower the customer’s operational cost by allowing them to redistribute resources to where it’s needed most while maintaining equal or higher Service Levels. This could be achieved if the customer ‘outsourced’ certain aspects of their infrastructure to facilities operated by Info Exchange.
By outsourcing, companies can now reap the same benefits that were once reserved for large corporations with large IT Budgets. Info Exchange’s Managed Services offers companies the advantages of:
- Better use of Capital - Organizations no longer need to commit Capital to purchase or implement Email Server Hardware or Software.
- Lower TCO (Total-Cost-of-Ownership) – dramatically reduce the operational costs associated with an ‘on-premises’ solution.
- Cost predictability – the direct relationship between number of users and cost provides management with a clear vision of what costs will be.
- Lower budget risk – reduce the number of ‘unknowns’ from the budgeting exercise as there is no more need to provision for the possibility of hardware replacement (due to failure), staff replacement (or addition), etc.
- Immediate deployment – the infrastructure is already in-place.
- Ability to scale-up or scale-down as needed, with no risk.
- Anytime, anywhere access to information – that is access anytime from anywhere in the world.
By mid-1999 Info Exchange introduced its Email Protection Service. This was Ideal for companies with their own On-Premises Email Server (MS Exchange, Lotus Notes, etc.).
Info Exchange is now one of the larger providers of corporate email spooling services (with over 5,000 users on the platform) as companies are no longer ‘locked into’ the email service provided by their ISP or bandwidth provider.
This service includes:
- Store & Forward (Email Spooling),
- Messaging Continuity (Disaster Recovery
- Anti-Virus and Spam filtering. Viruses and Spam are removed before they reach your network saving you significant bandwidth while increasing risk protection.
- DNS management.
In late 2006 Info Exchange became the first company to introduce Hosted Microsoft Exchange Service in Jamaica. This was ideal for companies who have outgrown their present email infrastructure, or are considering an upgrade, or want to redistribute their IT resources. We currently support over 1,500 users on this platform. The service includes:
- Exchange Server 2007 and 2010
- Outlook 2007, Outlook Web Access
- Mobility
- BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server)
- Active Sync
- Email Encryption
- Web-based management panel for customer to manage the User Accounts. No need to manage Exchange Server.
- SAS-70 Type II Audit Certified…. This is a stringent Audit standard of our processes and controls. Please visit http://www.sas70.com/about.htm for details on the standard.
In 2009 Info Exchange introduced its Online Data Backup Service – for companies who want to move away from Tape-based backup systems, or have outgrown their present backup capabilities. Service includes:
- Agent-less backup
- Technology such as In-file De-duplication, Delta-Blocking, and Compression allows:
- Growth of backup set (or generation) to be in the order of 5% per month as opposed to >20% per month for traditional backups.
- Every backup is a full backup (no need for incremental)
- Smaller volumes of data are transmitted
- Lowers the RTO (Restore Time Objective) as file retrieval and restores are faster.
- Backup data in multiple places for additional redundancy
In early 2010 Info Exchange introduced its Email Archive or Email Registry service. This service introduced to address the following major issues:
- Over 80% of corporate intelligence resides within Email. It has therefore become a corporate asset.
- Users are sending and receiving larger volumes of email along with larger and larger attachments.
- Retention policies require that corporate communication documents (including email) must be kept for five or more years.
- Email Servers are now being used as large Filing Cabinets (a feature they were never designed for.
The registry or email archive stores a ‘tamper-proof’ copy of every email sent or received by every user in the organization. This archive remains outside and separate from the email server hence there is no burden placed in it.
Select Managed Services References
Services Overview
One of the important facts is that Info Exchange has a churn rate of less than 0.5%. Our customers have remained with us over the years because of our uncompromising service levels.
These include:
Select Spooling Customers include:
- Companies Office
- OUR
- VMBS
- Bureau of Standards
- Victoria Mutual Insurance
- Ministry of Tourism
- JUTC
- TPDCo
- Supreme Ventures
- Globe Insurance
- Wisynco Group
- Lascelles Group
- Airports’ Authority
- Civil Aviation
Select Hosted Exchange Customers include:
- Ministry of Water & Housing
- Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce
- Zenith Insurance Brokers
- Delta Supply Company
- Houses of Parliament
- Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
- National Property & General Insurance
- Coffee Industry Board
- Ministry of Energy & Mining
Email Disaster Recovery Archiving includes:
- Supreme Ventures
- Airports’ Authority
- National Meats
- Lascelles Merchandise