Tag Archives: EasyStreet

Oregon Luminaries Gather to Recognize EasyStreet’s Sustainability Actions

Posted on by Karen Karger

 

From left to right: Rich Bader (EasyStreet Online Services), Spencer Moersfelder (Energy Trust of Oregon), John Haas (Intel), Mayor Denny Doyle (City of Beaverton).

On Wednesday, July 7, EasyStreet hosted a media event to celebrate the completion of our hot aisle/cold aisle containment project and to promote our new green data center expansion.

Representatives from Energy Trust of Oregon presented EasyStreet with a $65,000 incentive check for completing the energy efficiency project, which will save over 500,000 kW per year.

Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle was also on hand to congratulate EasyStreet for its contributions to the city’s growth and sustainability initiatives.

John Hass, a Director at Intel’s Eco-Technologies Programs Office and a member of The Green Grid, spoke about PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) as the basis of evaluation for the EPA’s Energy Star for Data Centers Program.

Executives from other organizations who were instrumental in enabling EasyStreet’s sustainability initiatives also participated in the event, including Archinetix, Inc., USI Insurance Services, U.S. Bank, Evergreen Financial, Northwest Bank, the Oregon Department of Energy and Portland General Electric.

We’ll share more information later, but wanted to provide some links to the media coverage we’ve seen so far.

This article appeared on the front page of The Beaverton Valley Times. Sustainable Business Oregon (Portland Business Journal) ran this article.

Practicing ‘Truthiness’

Posted on by Karen Karger

A recent BNET article caught my eye because of its title, ‘Truthiness’ Can Make or Break a Corporation. I noticed it because EasyStreet is known for its “truthiness” or “transparency,” as we usually call it. Our executives are transparent with employees. Our employees are transparent with each other. And — most importantly — we’re transparent with our customers.

One point the author makes in this article is that lying, like most behavior, is contagious. And that requiring truthfulness is a lesson about how to run a successful organization. (At EasyStreet, we also understand that Portland is a small community and that our reputation depends on it.)

I think this article is worth a read. You can find a link here.

EasyStreet Passes SAS 70 Type II Audit

Posted on by Karen Karger

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EasyStreet is proud to announce announced the successful completion of our SAS 70 Type II audit.

Why is this important to EasyStreet customers?
Today, companies need to be assured that their service providers have implemented controls over security, information technology and related business processes. This SAS 70 audit means that  an expert CPA firm has evaluated and tested the internal controls governing EasyStreet’s colocation facilities —  and has verified that they have operated effectively over time.
Obviously, this is an important accomplishment for EasyStreet, but it also has benefits for companies who choose to co-locate at our data center. By extension, our SAS 70 audit lets you:

  • Address compliance regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR Part 11 or the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
  • Save the cost of doing your own audits. For example, sharing a copy of the SAS 70 report from EasyStreet with your PCI or CISP provider can often reduce your costs for those audits.
  • Ensure your SaaS offering has a strong system of internal controls for safeguarding sensitive data.
  • Create a strategic advantage by using a SAS 70 audited provider. (Having an audited data center may be required for you to win clients in certain regulated industries.)
  • Trust in the critical components of your IT infrastructure, such as security, redundancy and reliability.

Our President and CEO, Rich Bader, said, “This is a critical milestone in EasyStreet’s evolution. I knew our processes, people and internal controls were sound, and we now have third-party verification to further instill confidence in our services. I’m proud — but not surprised — that we were able to pass on our first audit.”

EasyStreet’s SAS 70 audit was conducted by Linford & Company LLP of Denver, Colorado.

For more information, read EasyStreet’s SAS 70 FAQ page here.

Informative articles about why SAS 70 is important can be found at TechNewsWorld and Online Tech Blog.

EasyStreet Among Oregon’s Most Admired Companies

Posted on by Karen Karger

A tableful of EasyStreet staffers just returned from a Portland Business Journal luncheon recognizing the state’s Most Admired Companies for 2009. EasyStreet was fortunate to be eighth on the list of ten technology companies so honored. We’d like to congratulate our customers who also received this distinction:

  • AKT LLP (Steve Tatone was the top CEO in the Professional Services group.)
  • Albina Community Bank
  • The Collins Companies
  • Ferguson Wellman Capital Management
  • Intel Corp. (Named top Technology company.)
  • Leatherman Tool Group Inc.,
  • Mercy Corps (Named top Nonprofit organization.)
  • Miller Nash LLP
  • Oregon Health & Science University (Named top Health Care organization.)
  • PacTrust
  • Reser’s Fine Foods Inc. (Al Reser was the top CEO in the Agriculture and Forest Products group.)

Most-Admired-200

You can click here to read more about this prestigious award and the other fine Oregon companies that achieved it this year.

Oregon Health Network (OHN) Celebrates Network Operations Center at EasyStreet

Posted on by Karen Karger

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Imagine an OHN-member hospital in Wallowa having a video consultation with a doctor at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Suddenly there is a network problem and the connection is lost. A Network Management System alerts the technicians at the OHN Network Operations Center (NOC), located at EasyStreet Online Services, and they work with the service providers on both ends of the connection to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

The state’s first broadband telehealth network has become a reality and this accomplishment was celebrated at EasyStreet on Friday, December 4. Nearly 75 stakeholders were in attendance and, as the saying goes, “a good time was had by all.”

OHN is a non-profit organization comprising healthcare, technology and telecommunications experts gathered together to create the first broadband telehealth network in Oregon. A membership-based organization, OHN strives to connect and serve all organizations and partner communities (providers, educators, government and business) who are critical to improving the quality, delivery and access of healthcare education for all Oregonians, regardless of location.

You can read more about the technology behind the telehealth network here.

Or read the full  press release here.

First EasyStreet Group Bike Ride

Posted on by Karen Karger

It’s time for the Carefree Commuter Challenge, so EasyStreet employees are making sure we take a few extra bike trips as we participate. EasyStreet’s Co-Founder, VP of Customer Services and dedicated cyclist, John Beaston, recently pulled together our first group bike ride. (Unfortunately, a few of our dedicated riders were out of the office!) You can see the 7.5-mile route we pedaled here. Another trip — this time a lunch excursion along the Fanno Creek Greenway at a little over 11 miles — is planned for next week.

EasyStreet Expertise Sought for a Local News Story

Posted on by Karen Karger

Bob Heye, a reporter for local ABC channel KATU called earlier this week to ask if EasyStreet could help their viewers learn about the importance of securing their Wi-Fi networks. So after a bit of encouragement from his manager, EasyStreet Tech Extraordinaire, Kenny Payne, came to the rescue. (Along with our other technical staff, Kenny is well versed about all things Internet.)

Below is a picture from one of our many security cameras showing Kenny being taped by the news crew. (Don’t even try to access our secure data center without being caught!)

You can view the entire resulting news story, “Is your wireless network a public porn gateway?,” including Kenny’s words of wisdom, here.

We’re Number 20!

Posted on by Karen Karger

It’s not often being 20th on any list is brag-worthy, but EasyStreet was blown away to be ranked number 20 on Oregon Business magazine’s 2009 list of 100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon. The awards ceremony was held at the Gerding Theatre last night. For the 2009 survey, nearly 30,000 Oregon workers rated satisfaction and importance in five statements related to sustainable practices.

Because the awards are based on employee input, Oregon Business Publisher Andrew Insinga said these awards are all about “what these companies are doing to be green when nobody’s looking.” Even Governor Kulongoski stopped by to offer his congratulations. And we were delightfully serenaded by the Portland Cello Project.

To read more about the Top 100 Green Companies award and see the complete list, click here.

Performance artist Drew Slum delivers his rapid-fire rap-poem, “Ode to the 100 Best,” which cleverly incorporates the names of all 100 companies on the list. I hope he publishes it somewhere for everyone to read — it’s amazing!

Performance artist Drew Slum delivers his rapid-fire rap-poem, “Ode to the 100 Best,” in which he cleverly incorporates the names of all 100 companies on the list. I hope he publishes it somewhere for everyone to read — it’s amazing! (Thanks to Susan Hayden for the photo!)

EasyStreet Power and Network Upgrades a Success

Posted on by Karen Karger

If most of you are unaware of our recent power and network upgrades, that’s a good thing! It means all of our extensive planning and testing resulted in no disruption of service to our customers.

We recently added a third back-up generator, and on Saturday, May 9, we doubled the Portland General Electric power coming into our data center to 1500kVA. The process took seven hours, five electricians and a quarter mile of 1-inch diameter wire. Our generators took the load for the entire time it took to complete the upgrade. They have since been re-fueled with 594 gallons of diesel.

We’re also making network improvements, including increasing our upstream capacity by 6X to 3 Gbps.

You can see all of our “current” data center specs here.

Did you get stimulated at InnoTech?

Posted on by Karen Karger

Thought I’d post a few pictures about our booth at InnoTech. We featured our Stimulus Package for Entrepreneurs. Plus we wanted everyone to have fun and celebrate the spirit of innovation that is the basis for new business in Oregon.

There are a couple of nice photos on twitpic here and here.

Kent Lewis of Anvil Media Twittered about winning $17 in our cash cage. He looks happy and stimulated to me. Thanks, Kent.