Net Friends, Inc. - Our Partners

Net Friends has spent years building strong partnerships with top-tier vendors across the software and hardware industries, many of which are listed below. Readers may note that many of these vendors are in competition with each other - this is because we consider it critical to keep our customers' options open and flexible. We're not seeking to profit by pushing the products of one vendor who gave us the biggest discount; instead, we establish a partner relationship with any vendor who can meet our high standards for quality and support. We then pass the benefits of that relationship on to customers for whom that vendor is a good fit.

In fact, we'd prefer customers to view our list of partners as evidence of the

extensive and diverse range of our expertise rather than simply a catalog of approved brands. We did not compile this list lightly. Discerning the best vendor to fulfill a given customer's needs and mediating between vendor and customer to implement an optimal solution are major components of our services. Behind each logo is our personal commitment to comprehensive support and professional objective judgment of that vendor and their offerings.

If you see a vendor below whose products or services intrigue you, please contact us to discuss your options with an expert consultant. We guarantee an honest opinion.

Hardware/Software/Cloud Providers

We're experienced in the full range of Apple's diverse products. We frequently partner with the Apple Store to provide advice and mixed-platform integration services to support a sale.

Dell servers and workstations are the backbone of nearly all our enterprise and SMB solutions due to their low TCO and unfailingly helpful support.

We consider EMC the gold standard in enterprise/critical storage and backup for high-load and high-impact systems.

We tried many firewall vendors before settling on Fortinet's Fortigate line as the only one we could recommend in almost every situation - and we do.

Few support firms can match our three silver Microsoft Partner badges - or the intimate access they give us to Microsoft support. We're proud to pass these benefits on to customers large and small.

Among the best values we offer customers are the vulnerability scans only Qualys partners can access: current, comprehensive, and affordable.

The industry standard for secure, flexible, and robust virtualized computing is VMware, and we work hard to stay on the cutting edge of VMware-based solutions.

Small Business Systems

Reliability, ease of customization, and competitive pricing make Digium an easy call when a customer needs VoIP designed and implemented -- we even use it ourselves.

We are happy to support Wasp barcode scanners and printers for use in a wide variety of environments, from point-of-sale to healthcare.

LightSpeed is the complete retail Point of Sale solution for single or multi-store operations that combines Mac innovation with powerful backend business tools, a streamlined POS interface for fast front-counter sales and a tightly-integrated Web Store for selling online.

Backup Systems

AppAssure is our unanimous choice for offsite backup of SQL, Exchange, and other "always-on" systems that need to be restored quickly and reliably.

Endlessly flexible and easily managed, Retrospect is the core of our offsite backup service and a great choice for customers with complex backup scenarios.

For Windows servers with massive file archives, we rely on ShadowProtect for bulletproof reliability and flexible rapid restore options.

Veeam is the only app we recommend for full and rapid backups and restores of virtual machines. No VMware virtual environment is safe without Veeam installed.

CrashPlan is as close to foolproof encrypted backup as we've seen yet, particularly for customers with mobile workstations or who lack a Windows server.

Specialist Proactive Management Systems

Windows servers create 1,000 log entries a day - Event Sentry tells us which two of them are important. We deploy ES on all critical systems to catch problems before they start.

PacketTrap's host monitoring tools keep our finger on the pulse of customer networks everywhere and help us meet our Managed Services SLA goals with ease.

Recommended Local Technology Businesses

When a Triangle customer needs network cabling run or repaired, Mark Barham's perfect record for flawless, rapid installations makes him our first and only call every time.

When looking at a customer's smoking power supply, our first thought is: "Where's the nearest Intrex?" Great prices and helpful staff make Intrex our local partner for PC parts and repair.

Our collaborations with One Cow Standing run from simple database consultations to enterprise-scale web apps built from scratch. They continually impress with their ability to deliver on time, in scope, and within budget.

When an academic or medical institution needs a complex web app or DB fronted by a simple, elegant interface, we turn to SciMed Solutions and their clever problem solvers.

Net Friends partners with and recommends Triangle-based 1013 Web Services for top quality, custom website development, email and web-hosting, domain registration, and SEO services.

Our partners at PrinterStop supply the Triangle with quality new and used printers, as well as parts and service for existing equipment. We rely on PrinterStop for economical, reliable and prompt service.

Castra Consulting provides System Information and Event Management (SIEM) services to clients locally and beyond. We are happy to partner with Castra Consulting on projects of all sizes and duration.

Recommended ISP Services

We recommend TWC's Business Class Internet services as the best ISP value with the best support in the Triangle.

We recommend Verizon Wireless as the most reliable wireless provider in the Raleigh-Durham area.

We enthusiastically recommend Clear's reliable and fast wireless broadband service for customers who need coverage too quickly or too distant for traditional carriers to handle.