Cloud

For the 6th Time, Red Level Appears on the Inc. 5000 list, Posting Three-Year Sales Growth of 50%

Novi, Michigan-August 18, 2017 – Inc. magazine today ranked Red Level at NO. 4648 on its 36th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment— its independent small and midsized businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000. “We are certainly tremendously pleased to find ourselves included in the Inc. 5000 again,” says Dave King, Red Level CEO. “Recognition such as this is certainly a badge of honor, coming as it does from a publication that’s this widely read and broadly respected. We’ve managed to achieve a good pattern of solid, sustained growth in what can be a volatile and unpredictable market; it is gratifying for ...

2023-02-16T16:01:43+00:00

Smoothing the (Sometimes) Bumpy Path to the Cloud

For all of its entrepreneurial spirit and historical legacy of innovation, Southeast Michigan isn't Silicon Valley. This region built its business foundation on hardware, in the truest sense of the word - big factories, big machines, big cars - and lots of it. Given our mindset, a transition from a self-run, in-house IT infrastructure to the new and seemingly nebulous Cloud environment doesn't seem like the most natural move for many. Nonetheless, that's what Michigan businesses are doing - and they're doing it in droves. For many if not most companies, the Cloud question has become a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' Businesses are looking past their crowded, cable-filled server rooms and envisioning a future of fast, secure, accessible-anywhere applications, data and services. These businesses are immediately faced with some critical questions: What information and services should they move the Cloud? What benefits might they expect to receive? When should ...

2023-02-16T16:01:43+00:00

RED LEVEL AWARDED CORP! MAGAZINE “MICHIGAN’S ECONOMIC BRIGHT SPOTS” HONOR FOR SECOND SUCCESSIVE YEAR

The Warren-based business magazine Corp! has selected Red Level as one of its “Michigan Economic Bright Spots” for the second year in a row. The award is given to acknowledge businesses whose growth, profitability, and increasing employee levels distinguish them in their fields and as contributors to their communities. Corp! honors a wide range of companies in virtually all industries with “Economic Bright Spot” honors, with sizes ranging from small family firms to Fortune 500 enterprises. Corp!’s panel of independent judges reviews hundreds of area businesses’ nominations to identify a select number of standout companies. The award is a distinction shared by a only a small number of Michigan technology firms. Red Level CEO David King is especially pleased to receive the award for the second year running. “Throughout our thirteen-year history, we’ve been relentlessly focused on delivering solutions that generate success for our clients,” King says. “While we’re certainly ...

2023-02-16T16:01:44+00:00

For Unprepared Businesses, Opportunities and Revenues are Gone with the Wind

It’s been a cold, dark few days for hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents – and a costly one for countless area businesses. Since the windstorms of March 8, it’s been hard to drive through any area of southeast Michigan without encountering disabled traffic signals, the sound of emergency generators, and scores of shuttered businesses. According to the Detroit Free Press, the storms’ 60 mile per hour wind gusts resulted in the single largest weather-caused power outage in Michigan history, with over 1 million Michigan homes going dark – as well as countless businesses. Even as crews work around the clock to restore service, nearly five days later, almost 100,000 homes and businesses remain powerless. The public hazard posed by the outage is obviously the most consequential consideration. The economic cost to companies – and ultimately to the regional economy – is not inconsiderable, however. It’s worth noting that the ...

2023-02-16T16:01:47+00:00

Don’t Be Afraid of the Cloud

I’m an old-school network guy. My career has been built meticulously architecting datacenters with the latest offerings on SANs, switches, servers, firewalls, and threat remediation. I read all of the articles that talked about how the cloud was the future and how it would change the landscape forever. In no way did I accept that any cloud offering would meet my high standards of performance or security. Then by virtue of a changing career path, I was afforded the time to learn the real truth about a concept I had completely dismissed. And as it turns out, it’s actually the most incredible platform that I was never able to architect myself. Microsoft has bridged the gap between my beloved on-premises network operations center and the cloud with rock solid hybrid solutions. This cleanses the palate for guys like me who needed to gain the trust of the technology as it ...

2023-02-16T16:01:47+00:00

IT Investments: Time To Move From Uncertainty To Action

There’s very little that Americans seem to agree on these days – our recent, seemingly endless, election season demonstrated that. If there is one feeling that most people seem to have in common, though, it’s that they’re glad it’s finally over. Businesses have a particularly good reason to be glad: Election season represents a protracted period of uncertainty, and if there’s thing the marketplace has a problem with, it’s that. To strategize, plan, or budget effectively, you need a reasonably solid sense of what future circumstances are going to be like. Now that this election’s over, we have some sense of that. Even if the outcome isn’t to everyone’s liking, there’s a lot to be said for certitude: The way it looks right now, the markets have taken the news in stride, and there’s no strong likelihood of major changes that would be disadvantageous for business. For many of the ...

2023-02-16T16:01:49+00:00

Six Big Challenges – or Opportunities – for CIOs and CEOs

A CIO’s work, it seems, is never done. For that matter, neither is the worry associated with most of it. It’s a big job, and one that seems to get bigger just about every day: New technologies, new security threats, new business challenges, and new opportunities alike conspire to consume more of our attention and more hours of our waking lives (and at worst, keeping us up at night and intruding on sleep time as well). …

2023-02-16T16:01:49+00:00

We’re Microsoft’s Heartland Cloud Partner of the Year

Excuse me if I seem a little bit proud at the moment. I am. Red Level has been named as Microsoft USB Champions Club Heartland Cloud Partner of the Year for 2016. Not for the first time, or the second, but for the third year running. In 2014, Red Level was named Partner of the Year and for the past two consecutive years, Cloud Partner of the Year. A true “hat trick”. What does that mean, you ask? Well, if you’re not in our line of work, that title might not mean a lot to you, but from where we stand it means a lot. In essence, it means that our company has been selected for outstanding performance when it comes to, in the Microsoft’s words, “arming the small business community with the right technology and services they need to be successful.” In practical terms, that means helping companies to ...

2023-02-16T16:01:51+00:00