There's a new buzzword in the world of IT maintenance, and it's "Managed Services." Hailed as the newest, cheapest way to get computer maintenance, Managed Services providers offer one flat rate, unlimited service, and remote access to take care of issues from afar. It's supposed to be a great deal and great service.

Well, you can't believe all of the hype, especially if you're a Mac user. If you've gotten a call from a "Managed Services Provider," they'll tell you that you can get all of your IT needs taken care of for a fraction of the price. But that low cost comes with a price of its own: locking down your network.

Many Managed Services Providers (MSPs) make their money by forcing you to work within a very limited network. You can't install new devices, software, or utilities. Do you want FTP software? Sorry, you'll have to call your MSP and pay them to give you the password. If you have severe problems, they press a button and completely wipe your system and install a new one. Hardly elegant solutions. For many Mac users, it's simply an unacceptable way of working.

Apple has long been a tiny piece of the pie in the whole personal computer market. Today, in the US, Apple has about 5%.

Even though those numbers look like a weakness, we all enjoy the advantages of the "boutique" nature of Apple.

We have all seen the iPhone ads on TV, showing how the iPhone lets us flip through album covers with the flick of a finger. Apple calls these flipping album covers "Cover Flow," and it is a terrific, tactile way of searching through a music collection. Cover Flow makes the task of searching fun, more like flipping through LPs at a record store than browsing a boring list of .mp3 files.

Apple's OS X has been leading innovation on the desktop for years. With features like Exposé, Spotlight, Dashboard, and incredible ease of use, OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and OS X 10.4 Server are some of the best operating systems available today.

Yet, with all of its innovation, Apple has fallen flat in one area very important for business: the ability to easily share contacts and calendars.

Whether a hard drive or a CD, the media is where your data lives, and every different type of media has it's advantages and disadvantages. Next, we'll take a look at what's available.

Optical Media

Example 1: Yo' Momma. (aka, the Home User...)

Many of our customers see their data as just data, but an effective data management strategy means understanding how data is stored, protected, and used later to make money. That means figuring out what your data is: Storage, Backup, or Archive?

Tech Superpowers recently underwent an internal "green audit," where we reviewed what more we could be doing to help reduce our impact on the environment. The good news? Every bit we've done also has reduced our operational costs. The bad news? There's more that we can do.

What if we could offer you an alternative to the traditional model of onsite consulting - one that was cheaper, faster, and greener? You'd probably perk up and pay attention.

So what's our next Green move? To help our customers to lower their impact on the environment. Enter our Customer Recycling Program, aimed at providing a "0% Landfill" option for disposal of computer and electronic equipment.