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JHC Technology is a Service Disabled, Veteran-Owned, Small Business based in the Washington, DC Metro area. Our primary focus is to offer customized solutions and IT consulting to our Commercial and Government clients. Our experts have a broad experience delivering and managing Microsoft Enterprise applications and Cloud and Virtualization Solutions, as well as mobilizing Enterprise data.
Showing posts with label CORE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CORE. Show all posts

Monday, July 21, 2014

GSA IT Schedule 70 Offers Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Infrastructure with SDVOSB Status

The United States General Services Administration (GSA), an agency devoted to the efficient acquisition of services for the United States Federal Government, awarded JHC Technology, Inc., with a contract schedule as an approved vendor of Information Technology services to federal, state and local government agencies. Although JHC Technology has worked with all levels of government in the past, the GSA award serves as a formal contract vehicle for government customers to directly procure and leverage JHC Technology's services, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Infrastructure products. 

As an expert services integrator and Service Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), JHC Technology is proud to have been awarded its GSA IT Schedule 70 Contract with Special Item Number 132-51 providing Professional IT Services that include Cloud Engineering and Administration categories; and Special Item Number 132-52 providing AWS Cloud Services to Federal, State and Local governments.


For more information, please contact:

Ms. Wendy Dueri
Director of Business Operations

About JHC
JHC Technology, Inc. is a Service Disabled, Veteran-Owned, Small Business (SDVOSB) that provides Engineering, Architecture, and Subject Matter Expert level services in Microsoft, Citrix, Amazon Web Services and mobility services to apply intelligent technology solutions to a broad range of business needs. Our primary focus is to streamline business processes, securely increase the mobility of end users, and effectively provide customers with highly scalable environments while ensuring necessary computing power and infrastructure by leveraging on-demand, utility-based computing and next generation solutions.
 
JHC Technology is an Amazon Web Services Authorized Government Reseller Partner, Advanced Consulting Partner, and Channel Reseller. In addition, JHC Technology holds partnerships with Citrix Systems and Microsoft Corporation.  For more information on JHC Technology, please visit http://www.jhctechnology.com.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Hybrid Cloud Solutions: Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Microsoft Office 365


Can Microsoft Office 365 and Amazon Web Services (AWS) work together?  The answer to this cloud riddle is YES.  

There seems to be an overall confusion between what these Cloud venders provide as services.  To be clear, Amazon Web Services is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider and Microsoft Office 365 is a Software as a Service (SaaS).  

In enterprise deployments of Office 365, many organizations have requirements to manage and synchronize user profiles to Office 365, restrict user access, provide secure mobile access, and advanced Exchange/Lync/SharePoint management (Remote PowerShell and management consoles).  

In order to satisfy these requirements, organizations will need to deploy the following components within their controlled environment:
  • Mobile Management Solution (Blackberry Enterprise Server 10)
  • Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) internal and proxy
  • Exchange and Lync Management Console
  • Remote PowerShell for SharePoint, Exchange, Lync, and other Office 365 components

Some of our clients have elected to move these components into their own Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) within Amazon Web Services (AWS) so that they can take advantage of the power of AWS (Elastic, Pay as you go model, network, high availability, etc…) and remove their dependencies on managing their own data centers. Once these components have been deployed they can be configured to integrate/communicate with Office 365 Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and other Office 365 components.

JHC Technology has also designed and implemented virtual application and desktop technology to run on Amazon Web Services.  We are able to deploy the Microsoft Outlook virtual application as well as other office products on AWS and connect them to Office 365.  In this scenario, users are able to connect to an AWS region and access Outlook either via virtual desktop or virtual application from any device and pull down their Office 365 exchange mail securely.

Organizations should not be tied down to use only one cloud model (IaaS vs SaaS). They should look at their overall requirements and choose an architecture that is flexible enough to expand for future requirements.

James Hirmas is the CEO for JHC Technology.  He can be reached at jhirmas(at)jhctechnology.com,@JHC_JamesHirmas, or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Cloud Isn’t All or Nothing

One of the misconceptions that I run into as I visit potential clients is the amount of access a company like ours has when performing a cloud project for a company or individual.  Invariably, at some point, the question of data visibility comes to the forefront.  It usually goes something like this:  “So are you going to be able to see everything, because we can’t have that!”

The answer to this question is the same as many other answers we give when it relates to highly malleable cloud projects:  “It depends.”

Cloud isn’t an all or nothing endeavor.  Your data doesn’t have anything to do with our work, and whether we get to see the data is totally up to you.  I look at it this way:  A cloud provider, such as AWS, can come to the site at which you’re building your dream home.  AWS will put a Home Depot on the site and then leave.  AWS doesn’t tell you how to build your home, what boards to use, or whether that joint requires a nail or a screw.  All they do is keep the Home Depot stocked.  JHC handles the architecture and deployment, and we know all the best practices when it comes to using the material.  But that’s where it ends.  We can build your house without ever knowing what will go in it.

Your data is the same way.  We don’t need to see it and building your cloud environment isn’t dependent on having any access to it at all.

We are doing one project with a global organization in which we have full control of the cloud infrastructure we are deploying.  This infrastructure is being deployed in an AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).  As part of the creation of the VPC, our client’s requirement was that the VPC only allows access from a specific set of IP addresses.  As it stands, that IP range is limited only to our client’s development servers.  What that means is while we can deploy a server into the AWS VPC, we can’t even verify its operation beyond the fact that the server is running.  We have no access to ping the server or remote into it.  The only access comes from the client’s on-premises machines.

Testing the capabilities of the cloud can provide tremendous insight for an organization.  Many times, involving an outside consultant with cloud experience is also the wise step.  But, don’t fret that you’ll need to give the ol’ “Keys to the Kingdom,” to your consultant.  You can build and test all sorts of services without exposing your data outside your organization.

Matt Jordan is the Cloud Services Manager for JHC Technology.  He can be reached at mjordan(at)jhctechology.com, @matt_jhc, or connect with him on LinkedIn.


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Amazon Web Service (AWS) - Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) Architecture

I have decided to deviate from my blog series about Non-Technical Cloud Barriers and talk about some of the solution architecture work JHC is performing for our Federal clients moving to Amazon Web Services.  One of the major design hurdles the Federal Government has to take into consideration when moving into the Cloud is how to implement Trusted Internet Connection (TIC).  What is Trusted Internet Connection?  Department of Homeland Security describes TIC as an initiative to:

“…optimize and standardize the security of individual external network connections currently in use by federal agencies, including connections to the Internet. The initiative will improve the federal government's security posture and incident response capability through the reduction and consolidation of external connections and provide enhanced monitoring and situational awareness of external network connections.” (You may also refer to OMB Memorandum M-08-05).  
My understanding is that currently, no public Cloud offerings have the capability/ability to natively provide TIC for their federal clients.  In most cases, internet traffic is routed back to the federal government datacenter and out a TIC router provided by a vendor through the vendor’s Managed Trusted Internet Provider Service (MTIPS).  Currently the following vendors are the only MTIPS providers available under the Networx contract:
  • AT&T
  • CenturyLink (formerly Qwest)
  • Sprint
  • Verizon Business
For Federal Agencies looking to expand and/or move all infrastructure operations into the Cloud, but still need to maintain a physical datacenter to allow for a TIC vendor provided router, it is not cost effective and from a networking prospective it is inefficient.  Using AWS features, JHC has been able to design a TIC solution that removes the requirement for Agencies to have to maintain physical datacenters for TIC compliance while providing a TIC solution that is High Availability and has built-in Disaster Recovery.  Below is a high level overview and sample architecture of the TIC Solution:
  1. Utilize AWS Regions in US East and/or GovGloud
  2. Deploy Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) within the AWS Region and associate subnets across Availability Zones.
  3. Within your VPC deploy EC2 virtual routers and EC2 web content filters across Availability Zones for high availability and disaster recovery.
  4. Establish VPN connection between your agency and EC2 virtual router.
  5. (Optional) for additional high availability and disaster recovery connect your AWS regions via EC2 virtual router and load balance user internet traffic across the US.
  6. Use AWS Direct Connect feature to route your internet traffic to Equinix facility in either Seattle Washington and/or Ashburn, VA utilizing AWS Virtual Private Gateway.
  7. Drop TIC provider router into Equinix and connect AWS Direct Connect Router to TIC Router


James Hirmas is the CEO for JHC Technology.  He can be reached at jhirmas (at) jhctechnology.com,@JHC_JamesHirmas, or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Importance of Network Security in Business

Networks, including the internet, are one of the most essential things to businesses. Without computer networks, companies would be lost and would not have a way to communicate without these systems and this would cause businesses to operate slower. Starting relationships between many businesses, networks in many ways become synonymous with the groups and businesses they bring together. Business employees, customers, and business partners would have available access to their information stored in network systems, could get to their network systems and share them easily among themselves. Computer networks give their owners speed, ability to connect, and ultimately value to their users. They give possible solutions for business difficulties and issues that would not be possible to other businesses. Computer networking systems are required for electronic communications. As time moves on, businesses spend a ton of money on computer systems that are used to manage various functions such as accounting, human resources, customer service, purchasing, inventory management, etc. In a world considered perfect, companies would be able to combine all of their computer systems together both new and old. In order to ensure the security of their networks, most businesses take physical precautions: making sure their server is located in a secure environment, make sure all security features are enabled, use both hardware and software firewalls, set up a strong password and change it every 6 months, install the latest software and always using Wi-Fi has the primary means of connecting to the internet.

The use of personal computers in industry and commerce has expanded dramatically in the last decade. Large gains in employee productivity are possible as a result of this technology. However, ensuring the security of the processes and the privacy of data that these machines access is a very hard problem. Solutions that ensure security by preventing access by appropriate users are inconsistent with the gains in productivity that are possible. At JHC we use CORE as a strategy to help solve the issue, CORE stands for Cloud, O Trust, Regionalized and Elastic. CORE provides the same user experience, application functionality, hardware performance, security etc. It achieves rapid application deployment, security, performance and speed and it reduces costs. Network security is a problem that network administrators face. Threats that affect network security are vulnerabilities, spyware, spam, phishing, malware, cybercrime and misleading applications. It is something that network administrators should keep a careful eye on. For example, if the home network does not have any security measures in place, then the person is at a high risk of data loss due to hacking. Network security is something that businesses do not take very lightly because they want to protect their valuable information and network resources from hackers. It is a problem because of unauthorized use and can be resolved by increasing the security encryption levels.

Kelechi Uzo-Okoro is the Administrative Assistant for JHC Technology.  She can be reached at kokoro(at)jhctechnology.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Cloud Solution? It's Simple Math

I had a great chance to get super nerdtastic this past weekend with a woman at an insurance underwriting firm.  Her job is to develop the insurance policies of senior management of large IT firms.  When she found out I worked in and around cloud technology, it was her chance to ask about the oft described “cloud solution provider.”  It gave me a chance to think about what that really means.  What makes a company a “cloud solution provider”?

I look at it this way.  There are companies that are, in essence, “cloud product providers,” and companies that are “cloud solution providers.”  Maybe there are even a few flavors in between.  But there’s a big difference?

For me, I think of it in the context of a math discussion.  In math, every problem has a solution.  You can’t give the solution without knowing the problem.  One begets the other.  A “cloud solution provider” digs to the core of your needs and develops the proper answer for your organization.

However, a “cloud product provider” works the other way, just the same as any other off-the-shelf product.  Those firms have a product and you have to find the one that best (but probably not fully) meets your needs.

Therein lies the rub.  IT in the cloud isn’t a one size fits all world.  IT in the cloud isn’t even a two- or three-sizes-fits all.  There needs to be a unique understanding of the problem before you can even get to the solution.

It’s important to draw that distinction among companies offering “cloud solutions”.  Be sure to find one that takes the time to fully understand your needs before offering its solution.  Cloud is a new and dynamic space, full of incredible opportunities.  But it’s also full of potential speed bumps or worse from firms that are simply jumping on “cloud solutions” as a buzzword.  Be sure to know what you’re dealing with and how that provider fits your roadmap.  A “cloud product provider” probably won’t be able to help you move forward.  They might not be able to work with you to develop a roadmap to gain efficiency and agility.  They’ll get you a product and let you figure out the rest. 

If you’re truly ready to leverage the cloud in a big way, or you’re just interested in dipping in your toe, it would behoove you to find that “cloud solution provider,” because that will be your best way forward.

But that’s how I see the “cloud solution” discussion.  How about you?  What makes a company a true “cloud solution provider”? 

Matt Jordan is the Cloud Services Manager for JHC Technology.  He can be reached at mjordan(at)jhctechnology.com, @matt_jhc, or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

AWS Management Console for AWS GovCloud (US), by Jeff Barr (@jeffbarr)

Read Full Article Here: http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2013/04/aws-management-console-for-aws-govcloud-us.html

The AWS GovCloud (US) was built with government customers in mind. It is an isolated AWS Region designed to allow US government agencies and customers to move sensitive workloads into the cloud. AWS GovCloud (US) adheres to US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) as well as a variety of other audited and certified compliance regimes (see the AWS Security and Compliance Center for more info).

I'm happy to announce that the AWS Management Console can now be used to manage AWS resources in the AWS GovCloud (US) Region. This instance of the console is separate and distinct from the instance used to manage AWS resources in the public AWS Regions. The UI is the same and all of the functionality is there, but access to the console is restricted and the console works only for AWS GovCloud (US).
The Console in Action at JHC
While working on this post, I spoke to James Hirmas, CEO of JHC Technology, to learn about how his company uses the new console to build and run applications for the US government. James told me that they have been beta testing the console and that they are happy to see it launched. Their federal clients generally run from locked-down desktops and cannot install ElasticWolf or other client-side applications. The new console GUI and the wizards make AWS more accessible to their customers and runs well in government environments.
We also talked about some of the systems and applications that JHC has built for their US government clients. Here's what I learned:
To help transition developers to cloud computing, JHC built a templated development environment that can be launched on-demand. The environment includes Active Directory, SQL Server, Lync, and a set of development tools. By launching copies of this stack as needed, developers can work within a clean, isolated environment. They avoid running out of resources and no longer get in each other's way.
JHC built an AWS-powered source control environment using TeamFoundation and Active Directory. Developers sign in and are connected to the on-demand development environment by means of an RDP session.
They also build public-facing government websites using EC2, Elastic Load Balancing, the Relational Database Service, and S3 (Earlier in his career, James designed and managed the implementation of Recovery.gov, the first AWS-powered federal government website).
Getting Access to the Console
AWS GovCloud (US) accounts can be obtained only by individuals or entities that qualify as U.S. Persons under applicable regulations. To initiate the sign-up process, contact your AWS GovCloud (US) Region Business Representative. You will need to sign the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS GovCloud (US) Region Addendum.
If you are an AWS GovCloud (US) user and you want to gain access to the new console, please consult the AWS GovCloud (US) User's Guide.
-- Jeff Barr, Amazon Web Services