December 31, 2010
In his personal note for December 2010, Dee Rudko talks about closing the year in good spirits in spite of family concerns around health and well-being. AMRCON has also done well, and he’s looking forward to doing more in 2011.
Happy New Year everyone! I waitied to get my final note for 2010 unitl the year was over. January is always a time to reflect, get throguh the holidays and regroup to stay on track for the new year.
We’re very lucky that even with family that were in an out of hospitals, everyone closed out the year with good spirits and health in their
line of site. What is it with the holidays and some of our presious family icons needing to spend time in the hospitals? Do they know that does not count as a siesta? I want to wish my grandmother Anna, or Baba as we call her in Ukrainian, good health for 2011. I wish to extend good health to everyone needing that extra prayer for 2011. Continue Reading
December 30, 2010
SCS Commodities, the largest independent floor and OTC energy broker on the NY Mercantile Exchange, has trusted AMRCON to manage its IT support since 2008. So, when executives at SCS decided to move to a larger space, they called upon AMRCON’s expertise to manage the build-out process of its IT infrastructure and data center solutions.
“There are so many issues that must be thoroughly examined when moving any business from one location to another,” said Dee Rudko, CEO of AMRCON. “But, when you’re talking about moving the highly technical and sensitive aspects of a trading floor with no disruption in business, it is extremely complex.” SCS is moving from a 6,000 square foot space to a 19,000 square foot space with 103 trading seats to accommodate the company’s current 65 traders and allow for future growth.
Luckily for SCS, Rudko and his partners at the Schneider Electric and American Power Conversion (APC) have handled the project management for many build-outs, with particular experience working with financial companies. Preliminary planning for the SCS build-out began in November of 2009, and the first phase of the build-out just started mid-October.
To coordinate all the electrical and teledata needs for the new location, AMRCON called in Schneider Electric, the world leader in energy management. Schneider Electric is well-known for working for high-end security companies like those in the financial, educational, and healthcare industries. Joe Metcalfe at Schneider is managing the first phase of the build-out.
“We’ve just begun the demolition work on the floor,” said Metcalfe. “We are pulling old wiring and beginning to set-up the electrical and teledata needs for all of the trading desks on the floor. This process should take about six weeks, and then once the floors and walls get put into place, the project gets handed over to APC.”
APC, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, is the industry leader in developing and building the physical infrastructure to support critical data needs. On the SCS project, Andrew Conte of APC, is managing the data center design for the new trading floor.
“Once the electrical and teledata are ready, and the walls and floors are built, then we will come in and build the data center,” said Conte. To support such a large trading floor, the data center itself will be quite big, requiring 800 square feet of space alone. And, it will feature the latest in green technology to reduce energy waste and save money.
In terms of the green initiatives, the SCS data center will feature UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) technology developed by APC that will create 96% efficiency on a 36% load, compared to older technology that can only create 75% efficiency on a 36% load. “So, SCS will realize huge energy savings on their power consumption,” said Conte. “But, they’ll also be saving on the cooling side because we will install row and rack-based closed couple cooling.”
Row and rack-based closed couple cooling, invented by APC, enables a data center to receive the proper cooling it needs by cooling row by row rather than cooling an entire room. “Energy is wasted when a room is over-cooled or under-cooled,” said Conte. “With our unique cooling system, we will be dedicating the cooling to exactly where it is needed, thereby saving energy and reducing energy costs. It is also scalable, which means that in the future if SCS finds it needs more capacity, we can always add it. We call it, ‘pay as you grow’ technology,” said Conte.
“We anticipate a seamless move with absolutely zero downtime,” Rudko said. The SCS build-out will continue through the rest of the year, with a projected move date of February, 2011.
December 1, 2010
When you have a product that is unique and sets you apart from competitors, you want to do all you can to protect that product. And that’s exactly what AMRCON® has done by securing registered Trademark status from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
“Here at AMRCON, our proprietary ODS support product was the catalyst behind our success and our desire to pursue registered Trademark status,” said Dee Rudko, CEO and founder of AMRCON. “We offer a very unique service, something that I have not found elsewhere in my many years in the managed services industry. It is so unique that we have created partner programs so that our service can reach more people. And that’s why I felt it was necessary to secure a Trademark – to protect ODS and what makes it so unique,” Dee said.
“It’s quite important to register trademarks and intellectual property because it puts the world on notice,” said Eric Melzer, Esq. of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith and Davis in Woodbridge, NJ. “Now that the AMRCON name and everything AMRCON provides is protected by a registered Trademark, the rest of the world is presumed to know that they cannot use the Trademark without ramifications, unless they first obtain AMRCON’s permission to do so. It automatically increases the value of the name,” Melzer said.
The new AMRCON Trademark protects the AMRCON name, graphic logo, and covers every service that AMRCON provides. Being granted a Trademark is a long and complicated process that often takes up to one year and can leave some applicants rejected. “Trademarks are not automatically granted,” said Melzer. “If a product is deemed too similar to others on the market, a trademark will not be granted.”
“When I see a business that has a registered Trademark, I automatically feel like I can trust this business more than others,” said Dee. “Earning registered Trademark status says that the product we offer is true and proven, and that AMRCON is only going up from here. We’re going to be around a very long time.”
“I think the AMRCON trademark will continue to separate us from other managed service providers and bring us to the next level,” said Dee. “Since we opened our doors in 2005, we have grown significantly, but now this Trademark enables us to grow further. Though our predominant footprint is here in the tri-state area where we first began, we can now take our brand and reach out further. We can share ODS and all it benefits with many more businesses and individuals than ever before.”
The AMRCON logo was created by artist and graphic designer Roman Laszok. “My inspiration for the AMRCON logo was the energy produced by fiber optics, which to me represents anything high-tech,” Roman said. “That’s also why I chose a neon green color,” said Roman, who has more than 15 years of experience developing brand identity and print material for various clients. In addition to AMRCON, Roman has done graphic work for Verizon and Walmart. He is based out of Portland, Maine.
In an effort to further protect AMRCON’s intellectual property, Dee has also pursued copyright status for all of AMRCON’s collateral material, documentation and important legal documents. “The pieces are registered with the United States Copyright Office of Library of Congress and are protected nationwide,” said Dee. “This is especially valuable to our AMRCON partners and agents because our intellectual property becomes theirs when they partner with us. Now, they know that we have taken our programs to the next level by protecting their investment.
For more information about the AMRCON Trademark, please email Dee at arudko@amrcon.com. For more information about the Trademark and Copyright process, email Eric Melzer at emelzer@greenbaumlaw.com.
November 29, 2010
Busy month, end of year rounding the corner and projects getting pushed to close before the end of the year have simply left me in a time deficit. My beautiful wife Sunny and I still managed to spend some time together. We were very grateful to be invited to the The Silver Hill Hospital Gala held at Cipriani’s 42nd Street NYC, for a benefit dinner. It was attended by about 200 people to include some celebrities and many other supporters. The event was a huge success and benefited the lives of children suffering from mental and substance abuse disorders. Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan Connecticut devotes an entire segment to such adolescents. Sunny and I have been active supporters for several years.
Yes, some fun and games went into my business trip to Florida for the IT Nation Conference. I already spoke about the business end. This picture to
the right is of my little guy Deeko and myself by the pool watching Santino go down the water slide at the Waldorf-Astoria in Orlando. He looks like he’s thinking “hmm, when do I get to do that”. I think Santino went down the slide at least 10 times. I feel like I’m getting pretty old! Not getting used to those crows feet next to my eyes. Will someone please comment and tell me if those go away?
Yes, a trip to Orlando would not be complete without a visit or two to Downtown Disney. Buzz lightyear and crew are well represented here. Even little Deeko almost jumped off a bench yelling “to infinity and beyond”, I was lucky to catch him and explain he shouldn’t try that again, lol. That wasn’t the last of it. This page makes it seem like I was on vacation but I really put in about four 12 hours days, really I did! Only a few days were spent on leisure time. I got bits and pieces while Sunny ran around entertaining these guys. Not sure how she has the energy, maybe that’s why we’re such a good fit, we’re both high energy.
I’m going to cut it here and hope everyone stays calm and relaxed with the holidays coming up. Talk to you next month. Dee Rudko, CEO
October 31, 2010
It seems like everything went into turbo mode this time of year. Not sure what it is, but I’ve hardly had time to sit at my desk. Halloween is always a little busy for the Rudko’s. Before the 31st I think we take part in at least 3 events where costumes are required. The biggest hit is our trip to Hershey PA for trick or treating. If you have children it’s a great little escape and it’s become more and more popular each year. Hershey does quite a bit around the park and they keep adding new things each year as it grows in popularity. They even have a section just for trick or treating. The guys love it.
We also had another big occasion in the family with the Christening of Douglas Thomas Hay
. Congratulations to the Hay family and please let us know what you’re feeding that little guy? I think he’s as big as Deeko already. It was nice to have the entire family together. It seems events like this are far and in between.
I am sorry we’re late this month with getting all of this out. Between traveling and all that we have going on at the office it’s been tough. Expect quite a few new announcements from AMRCON from now until the end of the year. Not to mention our new website will be completed in just a few more weeks. We’re very excited to have it completely overhauled once again. It seems I’m just never happy with technology for too long before I have to redo it all over again. This is a good thing for all friends of AMRCON. It means we’re providing a better experience for you. Thanks everyone for following us.
September 30, 2010
Chilworth Global needed an IT support company to meet their needs. They called AMRCON six months ago and are now on ODS Managed Services – no more problems. AMRCON responds within minutes, remotely. AMRCON’s service is leaps and bounds above the rest.
Large companies typically have significant technology needs, and that is definitely the case with Chilworth Global, a world-renowned chemical safety and testing company. Employees in its Plainsboro, NJ office and its Chicago office need workstations that run efficiently and a dependable backup system to safely store their data. But up until six months ago, these needs were simply not being met.
“We were working with an IT support company that just was not attentive to our needs,” said Norman Ferstenberg, Controller at Chilworth. “Whenever there was a problem, we would wait a day or more for someone to come out and assess the situation. But, that person usually couldn’t help and would end up spending hours talking on the phone to a technician to find out what needed to be done.”
This lack of response, skill and expertise led to days of downtime – unacceptable and frustrating to say the least.
So six months ago, Ferstenberg called AMRCON for help. AMRCON conducted a diagnostic review of Chilworth’s systems and immediately got the company up and running on ODS Managed Services. Since AMRCON has taken over IT support for Chilworth, it has been like night and day.
“You just can’t compare the two companies at all,” said Ferstenberg. “AMRCON responds to technical problems within minutes, and they do it remotely. We no longer have to wait days for people to come to the office to assess the problem. Instead, AMRCON can do it instantly and then let us know right away what needs to be done,” Ferstenberg said.
“The previous IT company that Chilworth used was just not capable of handling their needs,” said Jeff Surofsky, Support Engineer at AMRCON. “When we stepped in, we brought with us a managed services platform that can handle IT problems, large and small, with such speed and efficiency that it sometimes baffles our clients. As a matter of fact, they told us it was like going from the ‘Flintstones to the Jetsons’ in one day,” Surofsky said.
In addition to managed services, AMRCON also got Chilworth on board with its exclusive backup system. “The system they were using was so antiquated that no one knew for sure if backups were running at all,” said Surofsky. “Now, in the event that there is an equipment failure that affects their data, we can retrieve it quickly.”
“AMRCON’s service is leaps and bounds above the rest,” said Ferstenberg. “Now, we no longer worry about our IT needs because AMRCON is definitely taking care of them.”
September 29, 2010
Some people say I’m a bit nuts for doing this but I’ve always wanted to learn how to fly! So starting in August I began training on the helicopter in the picture. Now I’ve flown small planes before so being up in the air in a small aircraft is nothing new. I will say a helicopter takes a bit more coordination and control. It’s been a lot of fun and hope to continue toward my license through the year when I have time of course. That’s usually the only part that gets in the way, my schedule. However, it’s a bit more time efficient then playing golf. It only takes a few hours of my day, so its a lot less time and you don’t need to coordinate with other people other than the instructor. So I can schedule a flying lesson much faster making it an efficient hobby. My hope is to be able to someday avoid the traffic going upstate to the house, or to CT to visit family. In the next couple of months I will test both routes to see how long it takes and learn the route. I’ve flown over CT quite a bit in the past and its pretty neat that before I could only circle my family property, this time I get to land in the yard!
We have a very happy family announcement to make this month. My little sister Motria was married to Robert E. Grasing II late this month. I think she’ll always be a little sister though. They are 
currently all over Europe and Facebooking their days which is pretty cool. The ceremony was absolutely perfect, as it should be for my little sister. I think both sets of parents were a part of quite an amazing union. I only had room for one picture, so here it is. I think this is the one that sums it up. Everyone is very happy for the new couple and wish them many years of happiness. Friends & Family who want to see more, please visit “Motria Grasing” FB page, where you will find 1.1M pictures.
So with September coming to a close, we have one more quarter to year end. This is always an exciting time of year, but none the less stressful as well. The holiday’s are coming though, and I always look forward to them. It seems during the year everyone is so busy with their own lives. Even my side of the Rudko family, now with 2 sons, have mini vacations, the Jersey Shore, upstate and all kinds of busy trips planned over the weekends. I generally work nonstop during the week, so no one really sees me. The holiday’s are the times that really bring the extended family together. It seems the cold usually slows everything else down just in time. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming months. Regardless of how fast and crazy this year went by, I think we’ve been really blessed. The holidays are a nice time to share that all around. This image kind of sums it up, walking along the boardwalk in Keyport on the water.
August 20, 2010
So far August has been very good to us. The picture to the left was a great long weekend in Seaside, along with my nephew Anthony and niece Arianna, yes we did see Snooki. I just can’t believe summer is almost over. We still have a few nice weather weekends to go and that should carry into September! AMRCON had a sponsorship at the Matawan Idol night, it was a lot of fun and was
amazing to see the amount of people that came out to support it. They had some great talent. We look forward to being a part of it again next year. Thanks to all the visitors that stopped by our table and remember to come and visit AMRCON the first Friday of any month from 8:30 – 10:30am for our Open House Free Breakfast Tour.
The Rudko’s have a few more trips up our sleeves. We’ll be in Lake George this week and in Connecticut in September. My sister Motria is ge
tting married and everyone will be there, here is a picture of Deeko already pulling his tuxedo out of the closet. Yes, he does a lot of black tie events throughout the year so he has his own tux. I guess they really due emulate their father, I just didn’t think it would be this soon! My cloning project is working perfectly. We all hope Motria & Robert have a terrific day. It will be a great time, looking to report on it next month.
We had a great time with my BNI networking group “Sweet Success” at the Blue Claws game. I don’t think Santino will be much of an athlete. He spent much of his time more interested in the bounce house and 
walking around. Deeko on the other hand has quite an arm and watched most of the game, waiting for a ball to come his way. Although I’m glad that the close ones we had were just out of reach since he didn’t have a glove! They have quite a stadium if you ever have the chance to go to a game. Plenty to do, even if you can’t sit still for the game. Here’s a shot of Santino and myself over in the outfield. Yes, it was just to the left of the bounce house, it’s the only way we got him to walk around for the shot.
I’m looking forward to spending some final days on vacation with the kids. It’s all business for me until the end of the year. Well maybe not completely, but for the most part. We have quite a few projects to finish up and I always start thinking about end of year once the 3rd quarter ends. My wife Sunny laughs because she says I managed the family on the fiscal year. I guess I do, but what other way is there? Suggestions?
July 31, 2010
July was a busy month. From 1st hair cuts to me getting on a wake-board for the first time in a few years. Gees I’m starting to feel a bit old! I hate it when old TV shows, children’s toys, or other fun things come up in conversations, and I go and mention something no one else remembers! What happened? Didn’t everyone grow up enjoying the same things I did? I guess not. I can’t believe I have people who work with me that were born in the 80′s. My wife even looks at me funny sometimes when I talk about my youth, or telling jokes about things she has no idea what I’m talking about. I guess I always was a bit ahead of myself. The worst is when I can relate to someone that has some years on me. So why the good old day reminders? I really just want to make sure all of this is normal! Can someone respond?
What will my kids talk about when they’re my age? Will it be Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles, or maybe Buzz Lightyear? I wish I could only explain to them to stay
where they are and grow up slowly. For my sake and their own. I can’t believe my oldest is already 4, and the little guy is not so little anymore. I was always too ahead of myself, never in the moment. I lived my youth wanting time to go by quickly so I could start making my own decisions and get my career going. I think I started thinking that way a bit too young, at 10 or so. I’m just thinking that I hope my boys don’t follow that part of my footsteps. Any ideas on how to keep them right where they are?
We welcomed a new member of the family this month, congratulation’s to Douglas and Jenna on the birth of Douglas Thomas! I hope you guys get sleep soon, lol. It’s been so much fun to watch their oldest Nicolette and Santino grow up together. I’m still not used to being called Uncle Dee by 6 people ranging from 5 to 25 years old. I really got a jump start when I joined this family. It’s funny when Santino hangs out with my nieces and nephews and comes home calling me Uncle Dee.
So August seems it’s going to go by too fast. I hope everyone finds the time to get away and enjoy some summer before it’s gone. I think we have a few trips still planned, although scheduling them has been difficult. But I can’t complain, the year has been good to us and we’re all very thankful. More to come, be sure to comment on my questions. Come out and see us at our upcoming events. The Matawan-Aberdeen Idol Singing Contest will be August 3rd at 6PM on Main Street in Matawan, we have a few others before the end of summer so take a peek and come visit.
June 30, 2010
I usually have so much on my mind I just don’t know where to start. I know business has been very busy and balance between work and family has had its challenges. The nice thing about it is that AMRCON has been growing at a steady pace that allows for additional qualified employees to make AMRCON even better. So I’m going to try and leave the business end of the blog at that. We’re very blessed and doing very well. A Thanks to all of our loyal clients.
After all of the excitement of the past few months the family had the chance to get away for a spell to the family house upstate. Funny, while we were there we found some familiar characters in the photo 
to the right. Does anyone recognize these notorious gangsters? OK, so maybe not all of us are notorious gangsters but the 2 little ones are for sure! We try and do it all up there, and it was funny that the last time we had done one of these pictures we only had Santino, so we had to get an updated photo. The extended weekend was mostly spent in the Lake George area, Water Slide World, the family house on the Hudson River and some stops here and in-between. I can honestly say I only opened up my laptop twice, and I think once was just to look something up locally. Can someone tell me if learning how to relax just comes with age? I’ll tell ya it’s been getting easier, but it’s so stressful for the years you try and figure out how to unstress! Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Regardless, I’d like to hear from anyone that can tell me if and when they noticed things just got less stressful: was it at a certain age, monetary goal success, moving, children, marriage, promotion? What was it, or maybe it hasn’t happened?
More trips to come. If any of you want to share your thoughts in the blog, please feel free. I’ve also started a mission on Twitter “DeeRudko” and you probably all know how to find me on Facebook “Dee Rudko”. A new fun little application is Foursquare. It’s an application that allows you to check into locations as you move through your day, it also links back to Twitter and Facebook. Check it out. I’ve been playing a bit of a game with a few of my friends to see who can score the most check in points. So far Cliff has us all beat, but I’m trying to catch up. Check it out and search for me. If you haven’t started in social media, you should. The business opportunities are endless. The personal aspects are fun. I found people I haven’t talk to since grade school. Funny thing is I started networking with them in business as well. Funny, some of us were fighting on the playground, now we’re passing business referrals. Who would have thought?
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