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.
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.”
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.
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