This past Friday, December 13^th Pinnacle Computer Solutions held their open house in celebration of their 25^th anniversary in business. Brian Ricci began Pinnacle in 1988 to serve as a technology solutions company designed to revolutionize and virtualize the workplace. Pinnacle, an international business, focuses on backup and disaster recovery, storage area networks, network and systems installations and maintenance, network monitoring, managed IT services, Cloud and hybrid-Cloud solutions, as well as custom business application development.  In fact, visit GooglePlay for our latest foray into mobile apps for Samsung, Android and Blackberry: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromo.dev274911.app259196).  Pinnacle also offers training in MS Office, Office365, GoogleApps and programming languages.  Pinnacle helps businesses maintain competitiveness with a streamlined approach to the moment-to-moment (sometimes second-by-second!) changes of today’s modern marketplace.

Visitors took open house tours of the premises and saw the tech lab, storage area networks, four rentable classrooms, the disaster-recovery room (complete with desks, phones and computer areas for businesses to be back in action within 60 minutes of a disaster – more on that below), the virtualized desktops at every workstation, the new 300+ terabyte storage system, and the exciting demo of the Promethean ActivBoard by Debra L. Smith.

Debra is Pinnacle’s Education Integration Specialist and she demonstrated the different –and amazing- amenities the Pinnacle and Promethean partnership offer. One such amenity is the Promethean program. Debra has a singular talent for teaching the Promethean ActivBoard and syncing it with practically any kind of mobile device imaginable.  The “oohs” and “ahhs” and wide-eyed smiles in Classroom 2 spoke to the amazing collaborative potential of this new line of education multimedia.  The Promethean line of collaborative groupware (local and remote!) is already revolutionizing classrooms around the Tri-State as well as businesses seeking to leverage Promethean’s many collaborative multi-media functions. Promethean features an interactive whiteboard that can scale small or big – they’re available in a multitude of sizes.  The software allows users to either manipulate it manually via the screen or to access the program remotely through the use of smaller handheld boards, personal computers and even mobile devices.  Try to imagine a giant computer screen that works through the touch of the user. This allows instructors to give a completely interactive lecture without having to worry about such matters as their class keeping up with notes as the entire presentation can be emailed in an instant to those in the class.

“Technology is an ever changing and demanding industry,” said Ricci. “The hardest part of our business is trying to predict which way the industry is going to turn and to determine what the next big products and software are going to be. When dealing in technology you have to be willing to change the entire aspect of the business every few years in order to remain up to date and stay competitive.”

It is because of this that Pinnacle only offers products that they use themselves. This allows them to know their systems in and out which serves their customers well in the situation that any problems might arise. Pinnacle also mirrors the virtual operation of the business they provide services for. This allows them to restore a company’s entire computer system in a matter of minutes by using a backup that Pinnacle has stored on their own servers.

In extreme cases of technical difficulties Pinnacle offers a number of “Disaster Recovery Rooms” to their clients. These rooms, fully furnished with workstations, allow a business to temporarily relocate their operation and continue working off of Pinnacle’s mirror of their operation while their home operation is brought back online. Pinnacle’s ability to mirror and backup all of their clients data ensures that no information is ever lost, and that, in the event of disaster, their operation can be mirrored and fully functional in as little as one hour.

Ricci takes the position that every investment by any company should be met with a return on investment. This includes those businesses that choose to use Pinnacle’s services. In the past Pinnacle has been able to cut companies’ operating costs by up to 75%.

Recently Dell computers went private and shortly after they contacted Ricci and his associates at Pinnacle to organize a joint effort on certain accounts. This is only because of Pinnacle high level of expertise within the technology industry.

Pinnacle also offers more attractive rates for non-profit organizations and currently has Easter Seals and St. Johns school operating completely virtually. It is businesses such as Pinnacle that continue to pioneer their industries and push the boundaries of thinking and product application. Congratulations to Pinnacle Computer Solutions on 25 years of outstanding business, all in Evansville, and good luck on the next 25!

At this time of year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on our many blessings. Without you, our generous donors and volunteers, uninsured and under insured women and men in Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana would not receive much needed help.

Because of you, our local grant recipients can provide screening and diagnostic mammograms, treatment assistance and educational programs to people facing breast cancer every single day.

We wish you and your loved ones Joy and Peace at the holidays and throughout the New Year!

Komen 2014 College Scholarship The Evansville Tri-State Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is currently accepting applications for the local College Scholarship Program.  The program offers college scholarships of $500.  Application and guidelines can be obtained HERE.
Komen VIP Jackets Now Available We have a limited number of Komen VIP jackets for sale here in the Affiliate Office.  They can be purchased during regular business hours for $30 each.  Women’s sizes S-3XL & Men’s sizes S-2XL. These jackets would make great Christmas gifts for your loved ones!
Chick-fil-A Calendars Our Affiliate has been given a number of Chick-Fil-A 2014 calendars to sell for $8 each.  The buyer receives a calendar and $30 worth of Chick-Fil-A coupons and our Affiliate receives $5.  Stop by our office anytime between 8:30am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday and purchase yours today!   Jim’s Express Over $880 was raised this year.  Thank you Jim Bengert for hosting this wonderful annual event!  We look forward to seeing the trains again next year.