NOBODY DOES BETTER{ }IT

5NINES llc | 222 West Washington Avenue, Suite 360 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.512.1000 | 5NINES.com

locally owned and operated by madisonians since 2001

10YEARS of ExcEllEncE

MOvINg BuSINESS FORwaRD

Frank Bremser developed his business approach early in his career while doing business sales and acquisition work. “I met people who spent their entire career building their business,” Bremser says. “They were 60-70 years old and they had no exit strategy. I said to myself, ‘I don’t want this to happen to any of my clients.’”

Bremser went on to found a full-service CPA firm with a focus on helping owners and their businesses maximize value through profitability and minimizing taxes. As the company mantra states, Bremser Group, Inc. is all about “moving your business forward.”

“Our true goal is to help owners build up enough of a nest egg so that they can retire into the sunset, enjoy their life and still have a business that has value. A business they can sell at a realistic price, without having their retirement contingent on this price,” Bremser says.

Bremser Group helps clients do this through a three step process. First, by assisting in compliance work by helping their clients prepare complete and accurate financial statements and tax returns. Second, with their mentoring program, where they discuss goals and achievements in quarterly meetings with their clients. Third, with their facilitating program, where they recommend other professionals to meet their client needs and objectives—such as IT services.

A truE pArtnErship

Bremser Group and 5NINES have a long-standing trusted partnership and are both vendors and clients to one another. Bremser is confident recommending 5NINES as an IT company “that’s going to care about our clients’ business as much as we care.”

“I think Frank’s business philosophy is pretty similar to 5NINES in that we look at our clients as partners,” says Todd Streicher, president of 5NINES. “Their success is our success. The whole idea is to enable and to provide that success to our clients and that way we mutually grow and benefit.”

Since 2006, 5NINES has managed and supported Bremser’s entire technology environment, which until recently resided exclusively onsite. When Bremser needed to upgrade their servers and VoIP phone system in early 2010, they faced the decision of whether to invest in their onsite infrastructure again or move to the Cloud. After consulting with 5NINES and crunching the numbers, Bremser decided to do a little of both.

controllEd migrAtion to thE cloud

Bremser saw the immediate benefits of migrating to the 5NINES Cloud for Hosted VoIP, DataSafe Backup and Hosted Exchange.

NOBODY DOES BETTER{ }IT

5NINES llc | 222 West Washington Avenue, Suite 360 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.512.1000 | 5NINES.com

locally owned and operated by madisonians since 2001

10YEARS of ExcEllEncE

BgI Facility

Waunakee, WI

Full-time/with seasonal employees: 15/25

History

5NINES had been providing onsite IT support and lifecycle management for Bremser since 2006.

Challenge

Bremser needed to upgrade their onsite servers and VoIP phone system and had to decide whether to invest in their onsite in-frastructure again or move to Cloud services.

Solution

A staged migration to the Cloud. 5NINES virtualized Bremser’s onsite servers that weren’t ready to decommission, and Bremser migrated to the 5NINES Cloud for Hosted VoIP, DataSafe Backup and Hosted Exchange.

Results

Bremser saved an estimated $30,000 in capital outlay by switching to 5NINES Hosted VoIP. Equally important, Bremser benefits from the increased reliability, scalability and support of the 5NINES Cloud. The virtual serv-er platform allows Bremser to easily migrate remaining servers to the 5NINES Cloud when ready (late 2011/early 2012).

Hosted Exchange: Pay-for-use model al-lows Bremser to easily add and remove email accounts for seasonal employees. Enterprise-grade features gives Bremser greater mobile connectivity.

Distributed WSUS (Windows Server Up-date Services) keeps Bremser up-to-date with security patches and updates.

5NINES DataSafe Backup: Bremser mi-grated from a risky, time-consuming tape rotation system to secure offsite backup to the 5NINES Cloud. Some features and benefits include:

• Data can be continuously and redundantly backed up to 5NINES CloudCenters in Madison and Milwaukee

• No computer is left behind: Runs equally well on Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris OS

• Enterprise security: Data encrypted transmission and storage, private key option, HIPAA compliant

• Self-recovery of data is easy and immediate

• 5NINES recovery support when needed

Hosted VoIP (Voice over IP): 5NINES part-ners with Cisco, the leader in network-based voice communications, to provide this complete telephony solution. A proven enterprise-class IP communica-tions system, Cisco Unified Communica-tions Manager, helps Bremser Group create a unified workspace that supports a full range of communication features. Business-grade voice is delivered through Cisco's world-class IP phones.

5NINES MicroNet microwave broadband data & Internet connection: Bremser con-nects directly to the 5NINES Cloud using MicroNet. Fifty times faster than a T1, MicroNet is secure, scalable and carrier-neutral.

MicroNet uses a protocol dubbed "AirMAX," which was invented by Ubiquity Networks.

Radio hardware: Motorola, Ubiquity Networks

Routing and switching hardware: Cisco, Brocade, Juniper

Lightning and EMP surge suppression/protection hardware: Protection Technology Group

5NINES used VMware to virtualize Bremser’s servers, affording them several advantages over their previ-ous onsite installation, including:

• Mitigated end-of-life issues

• Ability to scale resources up and down and quickly bring up servers as needed

• Safer patch/OS updates management

• Increased uptime

5NINES Advanced Managed Sup-port: 5NINES monitors all of Brem-ser's internal systems, servers and workstations 24x7 to ensure every-thing is online and running smooth-ly. Techs are able to address issues before Bremser knows they exist. Reporting is set up so Bremser can check present and historic network health. Also includes:

• Patch Updating

• Change Management

• Anti-Virus Protection

• Tier 1 Support

• Lifecycle Management

ClOuD TECHNOlOgY

The Cloud is a new paradigm for delivering information and services, making them accessible from any device (desktops, laptops, smartphones, thin clients), any location (office, home, coffee shop), at any time, via communications networks and the Internet. Your applications and data live and run from servers that can be located anywhere—even multiple locations—around the world.

Below are some of the world-class technologies 5NINES uses to power Bremser’s Cloud infrastructure.

BrEMSEr Group, INc.tEchNoloGy cASE StudY

ClOuD

Contrarily, Bremser had a couple of other onsite servers that weren’t ready to decommission. To maximize this investment, 5NINES installed a virtual platform designed to host Bremser’s current environment and give them room to grow. With this virtualization, Bremser can easily migrate these servers to the 5NINES Cloud when ready. This is scheduled happen in late 2011/early 2012, at which time Bremser will be operating entirely in the Cloud!

cost sAvings

To upgrade its existing on-premise VoIP phone system, Bremser faced an estimated $30,000 in capital outlay, plus a monthly phone bill and ongoing support costs.

Switching to 5NINES Hosted VoIP, Bremser paid a one-time installation fee of $500 and pays one flat monthly fee that includes everything else—phones, service and support. This monthly fee is the same as they were previously paying for service alone!

Because 5NINES owns and supports the phone system, Bremser always has the latest features and software at no ad-ditional cost and never has to worry about the technology becoming obsolete.

Another big advantage of Hosted VoIP, and Hosted Exchange, is that they can be rapidly provisioned and scaled as needed, and Bremser only pays for what they use.

“During tax season we add several seasonal employees,” Brem-ser says. “It’s a monthly fee per user for the Exchange and the phones, so we can ramp up and increase the fee for those four months and decrease it for the rest of the year. That’s a nice option.”

incrEAsEd rEliAbility And frEquEnt upgrAdEs

When Frank Bremser analyzed cash flow and the cost of keeping the company’s servers onsite versus moving to the Cloud, it was close to even. What convinced him to move to the Cloud were

increased reliability and frequency of upgrades. Sixty percent of Bremser’s business is done during tax season, so it’s essential for the company to be online and reachable by customers. Having up-to-date technology, high availability and proactive, responsive support is essential.

“My technology will be updated more often and monitored more closely onsite at 5NINES,” Bremser says. “In the past, we’d plan three to five years before we had to buy another server; we hoped for five. As a business owner, you stretch it a little bit—‘do I really need to spend $25,000 this year, or can I put it off until next year?’ With 5NINES’ program, I know that every three years servers are going to be looked at and updated.”

Reliability was very good before, but I think it’s going to be even better now,” Bremser adds. “It’s been six months since the major transition, and we’ve been doing the backup for over a year. It’s all been good.”

dirEct connEction to thE cloud

Bremser uses MicroNet wireless broad-band to connect from Waunakee direct-ly to its Cloud services in the 5NINES CloudCenter in downtown Madison. It also serves as the company’s primary Internet connection.

“We’ve been using MicroNet for over a year and a half with no issues that I would consider significant,” Bremser says. “Reliability hasn’t been a problem. I know some people have concerns over the impact weather can have on connectivity. We’ve had a lot of poor weather since we’ve upgraded to MicroNet, and we haven’t had a problem.”

5NINES took readings of Bremser’s MicroNet connection last win-ter during an epic snowstorm. In blizzard and whiteout conditions, signal strength was great.

Being 100-plus feet above ground, MicroNet’s high-availability advantage is clear as floods, construction, snow plow blades, etc. all miss the hardware.

“With other providers, we’ve had cut lines a couple of times,” Bremser says. “No one’s going to cut these lines.”

(coNtINuEd)

pEAcE of mind

The intangible benefits of moving to the 5NINES Cloud don’t go unnoticed. Backing up and storing the company’s data in 5NINES’ Tier-3/4 CloudCenter is much more secure than the tape rotation system they previously used. “That was a big issue,” Bremser says. “The person that was taking tapes home lives in this area, so if our building got wiped out by a tornado, their house could be wiped out too and we’d lose everything.”

Bremser now has peace of mind knowing that one of the company’s most im-portant assets is protected, and employees aren’t wasting valu-able time fussing with tapes.

AccEssiblE from Any dEvicE, Any locAtion, Any timE

Cloud computing allows Bremser Group to access its services and information any time via the Internet. This high availability coupled with 24/7 support from 5NINES, enables staff to meet customer expectations. Bremser recalls an early Sunday morning when he and his wife were working at home on a PC and laptop,

and they couldn’t connect. He called 5NINES after-hours support, and the problem was solved within 15 minutes.

“In today’s economy and society, that’s very important,” Bremser says. “People are connecting with BlackBerries, from home offices, with iPads and laptops…Our clients expect us to be available 24/7.

If we have a problem, it’s nice to know that we can get it fixed, so we can work and take care of

our business.”

With Bremser’s upgrade to Hosted Exchange, mobile devices are au-tomatically synched with user’s Outlook calendars on the Exchange server. Bremser really “appreciates the automatic syncing. It’s a lot

more efficient and allows for better customer service. You don’t have to worry about mis-communication or making the

client wait.”

When it comes down to it, that’s what the Cloud is all about—making things more effi-

cient so you can focus on your customers and “moving business forward.”

BrEMSEr Group, INc.tEchNoloGy cASE StudYClOuD

BrEMSEr Group, INc. tEchNoloGy cASE StudYClOuD

Todd Streicher and Frank Bremser share a smile and a common vision of what it means to “move business forward.”

nEtwork 222mAdison

bREmSER gRoup, inc.waunakee

nEighboR WAunAkEE buSinESSESconnect to 5NINES through the Bremser antenna. MicroNet’s robust platform accommodates speeds up to 50 time faster than t1, cable and dSl!

thE bREmSER cloud resides in the 5NINES cloudcenter. Secure

5NINES MIcroNEt poINt to poINt

WIrElESS BroAdBANd

mAnAgEd usEr dEvicEs

cloudcENtEr

AffoRdAblE ExpAnSion thin client terminals cost 80% less than conventional desktop computers.

viRtuAllY limitlESS ExpAnSion 5NINES created a thin client architecture that will accommodate unlimited growth.

“Our clients expect us to be available 24/7.”

—Frank Bremser, president of Bremser Group, Inc.

EASY ExpAnSion the Bremser Group can add or remove thin clients terminals in a matter of minutes.

brEmsEr cloud infrAstructurE

2 | 5NINES Case Study: Bremser Group, Inc. 5NINES Case Study: Bremser Group, Inc. | 3

Contrarily, Bremser had a couple of other onsite servers that weren’t ready to decommission. To maximize this investment, 5NINES installed a virtual platform designed to host Bremser’s current environment and give them room to grow. With this virtualization, Bremser can easily migrate these servers to the 5NINES Cloud when ready. This is scheduled happen in late 2011/early 2012, at which time Bremser will be operating entirely in the Cloud!

cost sAvings

To upgrade its existing on-premise VoIP phone system, Bremser faced an estimated $30,000 in capital outlay, plus a monthly phone bill and ongoing support costs.

Switching to 5NINES Hosted VoIP, Bremser paid a one-time installation fee of $500 and pays one flat monthly fee that includes everything else—phones, service and support. This monthly fee is the same as they were previously paying for service alone!

Because 5NINES owns and supports the phone system, Bremser always has the latest features and software at no ad-ditional cost and never has to worry about the technology becoming obsolete.

Another big advantage of Hosted VoIP, and Hosted Exchange, is that they can be rapidly provisioned and scaled as needed, and Bremser only pays for what they use.

“During tax season we add several seasonal employees,” Brem-ser says. “It’s a monthly fee per user for the Exchange and the phones, so we can ramp up and increase the fee for those four months and decrease it for the rest of the year. That’s a nice option.”

incrEAsEd rEliAbility And frEquEnt upgrAdEs

When Frank Bremser analyzed cash flow and the cost of keeping the company’s servers onsite versus moving to the Cloud, it was close to even. What convinced him to move to the Cloud were

increased reliability and frequency of upgrades. Sixty percent of Bremser’s business is done during tax season, so it’s essential for the company to be online and reachable by customers. Having up-to-date technology, high availability and proactive, responsive support is essential.

“My technology will be updated more often and monitored more closely onsite at 5NINES,” Bremser says. “In the past, we’d plan three to five years before we had to buy another server; we hoped for five. As a business owner, you stretch it a little bit—‘do I really need to spend $25,000 this year, or can I put it off until next year?’ With 5NINES’ program, I know that every three years servers are going to be looked at and updated.”

Reliability was very good before, but I think it’s going to be even better now,” Bremser adds. “It’s been six months since the major transition, and we’ve been doing the backup for over a year. It’s all been good.”

dirEct connEction to thE cloud

Bremser uses MicroNet wireless broad-band to connect from Waunakee direct-ly to its Cloud services in the 5NINES CloudCenter in downtown Madison. It also serves as the company’s primary Internet connection.

“We’ve been using MicroNet for over a year and a half with no issues that I would consider significant,” Bremser says. “Reliability hasn’t been a problem. I know some people have concerns over the impact weather can have on connectivity. We’ve had a lot of poor weather since we’ve upgraded to MicroNet, and we haven’t had a problem.”

5NINES took readings of Bremser’s MicroNet connection last win-ter during an epic snowstorm. In blizzard and whiteout conditions, signal strength was great.

Being 100-plus feet above ground, MicroNet’s high-availability advantage is clear as floods, construction, snow plow blades, etc. all miss the hardware.

“With other providers, we’ve had cut lines a couple of times,” Bremser says. “No one’s going to cut these lines.”

(coNtINuEd)

pEAcE of mind

The intangible benefits of moving to the 5NINES Cloud don’t go unnoticed. Backing up and storing the company’s data in 5NINES’ Tier-3/4 CloudCenter is much more secure than the tape rotation system they previously used. “That was a big issue,” Bremser says. “The person that was taking tapes home lives in this area, so if our building got wiped out by a tornado, their house could be wiped out too and we’d lose everything.”

Bremser now has peace of mind knowing that one of the company’s most im-portant assets is protected, and employees aren’t wasting valu-able time fussing with tapes.

AccEssiblE from Any dEvicE, Any locAtion, Any timE

Cloud computing allows Bremser Group to access its services and information any time via the Internet. This high availability coupled with 24/7 support from 5NINES, enables staff to meet customer expectations. Bremser recalls an early Sunday morning when he and his wife were working at home on a PC and laptop,

and they couldn’t connect. He called 5NINES after-hours support, and the problem was solved within 15 minutes.

“In today’s economy and society, that’s very important,” Bremser says. “People are connecting with BlackBerries, from home offices, with iPads and laptops…Our clients expect us to be available 24/7.

If we have a problem, it’s nice to know that we can get it fixed, so we can work and take care of

our business.”

With Bremser’s upgrade to Hosted Exchange, mobile devices are au-tomatically synched with user’s Outlook calendars on the Exchange server. Bremser really “appreciates the automatic syncing. It’s a lot

more efficient and allows for better customer service. You don’t have to worry about mis-communication or making the

client wait.”

When it comes down to it, that’s what the Cloud is all about—making things more effi-

cient so you can focus on your customers and “moving business forward.”

BrEMSEr Group, INc.tEchNoloGy cASE StudYClOuD

BrEMSEr Group, INc. tEchNoloGy cASE StudYClOuD

Todd Streicher and Frank Bremser share a smile and a common vision of what it means to “move business forward.”

nEtwork 222mAdison

bREmSER gRoup, inc.waunakee

nEighboR WAunAkEE buSinESSESconnect to 5NINES through the Bremser antenna. MicroNet’s robust platform accommodates speeds up to 50 time faster than t1, cable and dSl!

thE bREmSER cloud resides in the 5NINES cloudcenter. Secure

5NINES MIcroNEt poINt to poINt

WIrElESS BroAdBANd

mAnAgEd usEr dEvicEs

cloudcENtEr

AffoRdAblE ExpAnSion thin client terminals cost 80% less than conventional desktop computers.

viRtuAllY limitlESS ExpAnSion 5NINES created a thin client architecture that will accommodate unlimited growth.

“Our clients expect us to be available 24/7.”

—Frank Bremser, president of Bremser Group, Inc.

EASY ExpAnSion the Bremser Group can add or remove thin clients terminals in a matter of minutes.

brEmsEr cloud infrAstructurE

2 | 5NINES Case Study: Bremser Group, Inc. 5NINES Case Study: Bremser Group, Inc. | 3

NOBODY DOES BETTER{ }IT

5NINES llc | 222 West Washington Avenue, Suite 360 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.512.1000 | 5NINES.com

locally owned and operated by madisonians since 2001

10YEARS of ExcEllEncE

MOvINg BuSINESS FORwaRD

Frank Bremser developed his business approach early in his career while doing business sales and acquisition work. “I met people who spent their entire career building their business,” Bremser says. “They were 60-70 years old and they had no exit strategy. I said to myself, ‘I don’t want this to happen to any of my clients.’”

Bremser went on to found a full-service CPA firm with a focus on helping owners and their businesses maximize value through profitability and minimizing taxes. As the company mantra states, Bremser Group, Inc. is all about “moving your business forward.”

“Our true goal is to help owners build up enough of a nest egg so that they can retire into the sunset, enjoy their life and still have a business that has value. A business they can sell at a realistic price, without having their retirement contingent on this price,” Bremser says.

Bremser Group helps clients do this through a three step process. First, by assisting in compliance work by helping their clients prepare complete and accurate financial statements and tax returns. Second, with their mentoring program, where they discuss goals and achievements in quarterly meetings with their clients. Third, with their facilitating program, where they recommend other professionals to meet their client needs and objectives—such as IT services.

A truE pArtnErship

Bremser Group and 5NINES have a long-standing trusted partnership and are both vendors and clients to one another. Bremser is confident recommending 5NINES as an IT company “that’s going to care about our clients’ business as much as we care.”

“I think Frank’s business philosophy is pretty similar to 5NINES in that we look at our clients as partners,” says Todd Streicher, president of 5NINES. “Their success is our success. The whole idea is to enable and to provide that success to our clients and that way we mutually grow and benefit.”

Since 2006, 5NINES has managed and supported Bremser’s entire technology environment, which until recently resided exclusively onsite. When Bremser needed to upgrade their servers and VoIP phone system in early 2010, they faced the decision of whether to invest in their onsite infrastructure again or move to the Cloud. After consulting with 5NINES and crunching the numbers, Bremser decided to do a little of both.

controllEd migrAtion to thE cloud

Bremser saw the immediate benefits of migrating to the 5NINES Cloud for Hosted VoIP, DataSafe Backup and Hosted Exchange.

NOBODY DOES BETTER{ }IT

5NINES llc | 222 West Washington Avenue, Suite 360 | Madison WI 53703 | 608.512.1000 | 5NINES.com

locally owned and operated by madisonians since 2001

10YEARS of ExcEllEncE

BgI Facility

Waunakee, WI

Full-time/with seasonal employees: 15/25

History

5NINES had been providing onsite IT support and lifecycle management for Bremser since 2006.

Challenge

Bremser needed to upgrade their onsite servers and VoIP phone system and had to decide whether to invest in their onsite in-frastructure again or move to Cloud services.

Solution

A staged migration to the Cloud. 5NINES virtualized Bremser’s onsite servers that weren’t ready to decommission, and Bremser migrated to the 5NINES Cloud for Hosted VoIP, DataSafe Backup and Hosted Exchange.

Results

Bremser saved an estimated $30,000 in capital outlay by switching to 5NINES Hosted VoIP. Equally important, Bremser benefits from the increased reliability, scalability and support of the 5NINES Cloud. The virtual serv-er platform allows Bremser to easily migrate remaining servers to the 5NINES Cloud when ready (late 2011/early 2012).

Hosted Exchange: Pay-for-use model al-lows Bremser to easily add and remove email accounts for seasonal employees. Enterprise-grade features gives Bremser greater mobile connectivity.

Distributed WSUS (Windows Server Up-date Services) keeps Bremser up-to-date with security patches and updates.

5NINES DataSafe Backup: Bremser mi-grated from a risky, time-consuming tape rotation system to secure offsite backup to the 5NINES Cloud. Some features and benefits include:

• Data can be continuously and redundantly backed up to 5NINES CloudCenters in Madison and Milwaukee

• No computer is left behind: Runs equally well on Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris OS

• Enterprise security: Data encrypted transmission and storage, private key option, HIPAA compliant

• Self-recovery of data is easy and immediate

• 5NINES recovery support when needed

Hosted VoIP (Voice over IP): 5NINES part-ners with Cisco, the leader in network-based voice communications, to provide this complete telephony solution. A proven enterprise-class IP communica-tions system, Cisco Unified Communica-tions Manager, helps Bremser Group create a unified workspace that supports a full range of communication features. Business-grade voice is delivered through Cisco's world-class IP phones.

5NINES MicroNet microwave broadband data & Internet connection: Bremser con-nects directly to the 5NINES Cloud using MicroNet. Fifty times faster than a T1, MicroNet is secure, scalable and carrier-neutral.

MicroNet uses a protocol dubbed "AirMAX," which was invented by Ubiquity Networks.

Radio hardware: Motorola, Ubiquity Networks

Routing and switching hardware: Cisco, Brocade, Juniper

Lightning and EMP surge suppression/protection hardware: Protection Technology Group

5NINES used VMware to virtualize Bremser’s servers, affording them several advantages over their previ-ous onsite installation, including:

• Mitigated end-of-life issues

• Ability to scale resources up and down and quickly bring up servers as needed

• Safer patch/OS updates management

• Increased uptime

5NINES Advanced Managed Sup-port: 5NINES monitors all of Brem-ser's internal systems, servers and workstations 24x7 to ensure every-thing is online and running smooth-ly. Techs are able to address issues before Bremser knows they exist. Reporting is set up so Bremser can check present and historic network health. Also includes:

• Patch Updating

• Change Management

• Anti-Virus Protection

• Tier 1 Support

• Lifecycle Management

ClOuD TECHNOlOgY

The Cloud is a new paradigm for delivering information and services, making them accessible from any device (desktops, laptops, smartphones, thin clients), any location (office, home, coffee shop), at any time, via communications networks and the Internet. Your applications and data live and run from servers that can be located anywhere—even multiple locations—around the world.

Below are some of the world-class technologies 5NINES uses to power Bremser’s Cloud infrastructure.

BrEMSEr Group, INc.tEchNoloGy cASE StudY

ClOuD