In today's commercial environment, information technology has become an essential part of the mix.

That goes double for businesses which don't regard themselves as technology-based.

Auto dealerships sell cars, SUVs and a trouble-free ride.

Kerry Litschke and Aura Technologies have the expertise to help your business. Satisfied clients include Eastside Dodge, Stewart Creek Golf Course and Bernard Callebaut.

Golf courses sell tee-times and occasional glimpses of paradise. Retailers of fine confections sell sublime tastes to restore the faltering spirit.

Yet leaders in each of these fields realize they cannot perform efficiently in the digital age without an up-to-the-minute IT component.

Many of the smartest traditional operators have discovered the surest way to be certain their IT systems are up to speed. It's to summon an expert such as Kerry Litschke, president of Aura Advanced Technologies.

Highly respected Alberta enterprises such as Eastside Dodge, Stewart Creek Golf Course and Bernard Callebaut have done exactly that. And they couldn't be happier with the results.

Aura is a 20-year-old company which is situated in the heart of Calgary's business district, at #1670 801 6th Ave. S.W.

Litschke and his experienced team of Microsoft-certified professionals offer the complete gamut of IT solutions, from Web development to infrastructure; from network start-up to system support; from programming to trouble-shooting.

And though he's a qualified expert in project management, network design and a wide range of software platforms, Litschke is also pretty good at explaining complex technological systems in readily understandable language.

At the moment, the Aura president is particularly excited about the company's Application Service Provider model, or ASP.

This is a product designed to streamline the information flow generated by medium-sized businesses, particularly those with a central operations base and a number of far-flung branch offices.

To illustrate, Litschke cited specific ways Aura's Application Service Provider has been working on behalf of a client in the property-management business.

"This company manages 5,000 rental suites across the province. Until they signed on with us, they were updating a vast amount of important data by every means imaginable – via spreadsheet, via e-mail, even by Greyhound," he smiled.

Not an efficient use of resources, obviously.

But by utilizing Aura's ASP model, computer operators in the client's branch offices now transmit each item of data via the Internet, sending it through the Aura firewall to be hosted within Aura's 100-per-cent secure data centre.

"Now all the client's data is centralized on our secure servers, for immediate and easy access and instant updating," Litschke continued.

That means managers can readily access rental information about each of those 5,000 units. The location of every suite, the name of its tenant, recent condition of the suite, amount of rent owing on the suite . . . all with the click of a mouse.

Or ponder this example. Aura Advanced Technologies also hosts learning servers used by companies which provide service training to the oil and gas industry.

These fully secure servers allow each student of, say, a safety course to log on via the Internet, come in through the firewall and follow the course from the information stored on Aura's customized server.

"Another service we can offer you is an accounting application," added Litschke. "So if your people are out at client sites or branch offices, and billing day-to-day, they can access our centralized accounting server via the Internet and enter their billing at that point – on time and up to date," he said.

"We provide the firewall. We back up all the client's information. We maintain the operating system."

Meanwhile, security stands as the least of an Aura client's worries.

Company servers are maintained in the temperature-controlled, camera- and laser-guarded TELUS "bunker," or Intelligent Internet Data Centre. This fabulous facility is protected by 24/7 security and features back-up power sources as well as back-up Internet feeds.

Litschke's convinced that Aura's ASP is the model most businesses will turn to in the very near future.

To be blunt, the advantages in efficiency, the total absence of IT headaches and, above all, the cost benefits, will be too obvious for business leaders to ignore.

For more info, access the richly detailed Aura website at: www.auracomputers.com. Or call Kerry Litschke at 403.269.6123 and ask to set up an appointment.

He'll be delighted to explain how Aura's Application Service Provider can help your business.

Consider allowing Aura Advanced Technologies to assume responsibility for every one of your IT needs.

Then relax. And go back to doing what you do best.