Iowa Lakes Community College Selects Vital Support Systems, a TDS® Company, as New Managed Services Provider
DES MOINES, Iowa (PRWEB) July 16, 2013 -- Vital Support Systems announced today they have signed a five-year contract with Iowa Lakes Community College to provide managed services for the college’s IT network. This is in addition to the hardware and software solutions Vital has been providing the last eight years for Iowa Lakes.
As part of the new contract, Vital will provide Iowa Lakes the Cisco Unified Communications and LAN/WAN solution, storage area network, and a backup solution as well as managing the school’s most critical network and systems/server components. Vital is a division of TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC (TDS HMS).
“Everything at Iowa Lakes depends on the systems now in Vital’s hands,” says Valerie Newhouse, president, Iowa Lakes Community College. “This includes all our records, academic information, and our internal and external communications system. Since 2005, Vital has been providing the support and direction we’ve needed, and their support has been exceptional. I look forward to expanding our partnership.”
“Now we’re adding more to their plate,” adds Newhouse. “Since the beginning, Vital has been providing exactly what they said they would. The reliability and security the company offers coupled with the trained staff and expertise to manage our IT 24/7 is outstanding.”
Contracting with Vital to now manage the college’s IT infrastructure, will allow Iowa Lakes IT employees more time to focus on strategic initiatives. The biggest change according to Newhouse, “Instead of spending a majority of their time trouble-shooting, our IT staff will have time to research, do strategic IT planning, and take the lead on deploying new technologies. At the same time, our school gains a more stable environment with 24/7/365 monitoring and support service through Vital.”
“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Iowa Lakes,” says Mike Wohlenhaus, vice president of Managed Service Sales at Vital Support Systems. “When a long-term customer expands their services, you know your company is doing something right. And, we know that by managing Iowa Lake’s most critical IT network components, it frees up their team to focus on the things that will make the college stronger.”
In addition to building its relationship with Iowa Lakes Community College, Vital has deep ties with many of Iowa’s community colleges. Wohlenhaus says, “There is a deep respect and strong ties between the colleges and our company. We are proud to foster the trust and continue providing the services these schools provide the residents in Iowa.”
Located in Iowa’s Great Lakes Region, Iowa Lakes Community College has several campus locations in Algona, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Spencer and Spirit Lake. Students can take classes full time or part time; days, evenings or weekends; via television, fiber optics or with a professor in the classroom; and via the Internet with online courses. Students can also choose college transfer, career option, technical or vocational courses, one class at a time, or continuing education classes. In order to ensure the campuses and students are connected, Iowa Lakes is relying on Vital Support Systems’ IT environment and backbone.
Vital offers a comprehensive suite of products and services, including: managed services, planning, engineering, procurement, and installation. The company also provides management of IT infrastructure solutions from world-class hardware and software vendors such as Cisco, EMC, Hewlett Packard, VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix. Vital provides a wide range of IT solutions, including colocation, disaster recovery, and data security services to businesses throughout the Midwest.
Learn more about Iowa Lakes Community College and Vital Support Systems.
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For more information contact: Cindy Tomlinson, Associate Manager—Public Relations / TDS HMS / 608-664-4471 / cindy(dot)tomlinson(at)tdstelecom(dot)com
Iowa Lakes Community College
Located in the picturesque Iowa Great Lakes Region, Iowa Lakes offers several locations throughout a five-county service area: Algona, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Spencer and Spirit Lake. You can take classes either full time or part time; days, evenings or weekends; via television, fiber optics or with a professor in the classroom; and via the Internet with online courses. You can also choose college transfer, career option, technical or vocational courses, one class at a time, or continuing education classes. One of Iowa’s premier community colleges, the faculty and staff at Iowa Lakes recognize learning is lifelong. Continuing education is an emphasis of the college. General interest courses are available to adults and older learners. Iowa Lakes is also the primary regional supplier of relicensure courses, Adult Basic Education, high school completion (GED), high school diploma credit courses, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and short term vocational training. Visit iowalakes.edu for more information.
About Vital Support Systems
Founded in 2001, Vital Support Systems is an information technology company providing network and systems solutions, cloud infrastructure, colocation and managed services to businesses nationwide. Vital Support Systems provides the most flexible infrastructure options in the industry – on-premise, colocated in one of our Tier 3 data centers, or in the cloud, using ReliaCloud™ Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). In addition, Vital partners with global leaders, such as Cisco, Citrix, EMC, HP, Microsoft, VMware and others to design, procure, implement, or manage mission critical solutions. To provide an even more comprehensive range of IT services, Vital joined TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC (TDS HMS) in June 2012. Visit http://www.vitalsite.com for more information.
TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC is the parent company of OneNeck® IT Services Corp., Vital Support Systems, and VISI Incorporated. TDS HMS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc., is growing rapidly and now employs more than 500 people throughout the U.S. TDS HMS companies specialize in engineering and management of IT infrastructure, including: hosted application management, managed hosting, and ReliaCloud™ enterprise cloud services. TDS HMS owns and operates Tier 3 data centers in Iowa, Minn., and Wis. Visit oneneck.com, vitalsite.com, visi.com and http://www.reliacloud.com for more information.
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS], a Fortune 500® company, provides wireless; broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 7 million customers nationwide through its business units, U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecommunications Corp., and TDS Hosted & Managed Services. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, TDS employs more than 12,300 people. For investment information, visit teldta.com.
Cindy Tomlinson, TDS HMS, http://www.tdstelecom.com/mediaroom, 608-664-4471, [email protected]
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