SMB Nation Blog

By Harry Brelsford, Founder, SMB Nation, Inc.

Influential Microsoft Analyst Firm celebrates 20 years

Rob Horwitz and His team of analysts are in the midst of an intense discussion about Windows Azure – Microsoft’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution for cloud computing. Just out the window sunbathers and boaters meander on the dock, enjoying the last days of summer and the sunset behind Seattle’s skyline across Lake Washington. But Horwitz and his team are oblivious to what’s happening outside as they dissect a laundry list of Azure capabilities, dismissing many as “markitecture” but flagging others as potentially important. The discussion is dominated by a few simple but recurring questions: “What’s really new?” “Why should I care?” and “What can I do with it?”

Yesterday, Intronis, Inc. announced the availability of their latest cloud backup and disaster recovery solution. The Fall Release ’12 has been updated to be interoperable with VMware vSphere.

This week our industry friend and fellow techie Jay Weiss, Owner, ComputerHMO, is representing SMB Nation (and the Pocket MBA program) at the Windows Server 2012 events in Texas. Weiss has been tooling around Houston and Austin this week, and is headed to San  Antonio today.

Today, AVG Technologies announced updates to their AVG AntiVirus for Android and released a new AVG Safe Browser for iOS devices. These announcements greatly expand AVG’s mobile solution base.

“AVG views mobile as a strategic focus area and since the launch of our first mobile security product in 2010, we have seen immense growth in this sector,” explained JR Smith, CEO, AVG Technologies, in a press release today.

Come visit the Microsoft Redmond campus for the 7th annual SMB Nation Spring conference focused on V3:

1. Virtual Desktop/VDI: Master the engineering side of implementing virtual desktop solutions from Microsoft, Citrix and other key vendors. All in one intensive weekend!
2. Virtualization: Discover server-side virtualization best practices direct from expert MVPs.
3. Value: Attend the respected Pocket MBA business content lectures on how to make money as a virtualization expert, a “Cloudie” and MSP. True ROI ahead!

Guarantee: You will leave this conference with the skills and guidance you need to implement “V” solutions immediately for your customers.

Picture this scenario: You are sitting through another presentation training course on (insert program name here) and you are doing the following: completing your weekly grocery list in your head, counting the fibers in the carpet, or thinking that you would rather be anywhere but listening to this instructor try to explain how to use the Microsoft Office Suite in a monotone voice.

By Chris Taylor

One can find pretty much anything on the internet these days, but for a truly difficult challenge to modern sophisticated search engines, try finding an accountancy practice which proudly proclaims to act on a purely reactive basis.  One which acknowledges that their sole interest is in plodding along, seeing the same clients with the same compliance requirements, at about the same time every year (usually when a submission deadline is imminent).  “Here’s your records, Mr X, here’s the accounts and tax return, this is your tax liability, here’s our bill, see you next year”.

Of course everyone wants to know this year “What’s on your wish list?” For me last year it was my Kindle Fire, which I have been using regularly since receiving from my husband last Christmas. However, I realize I probably should have waited until this year for the Kindle HD! I’m due for an iPhone upgrade, so if my husband is reading this blog, maybe he will take a holiday hint??

Yesterday at the AWS re: Invent 2012 event in Las Vegas, NV,
F5 Networks, Inc. announced a virtual edition of their BIG-IP product suite. This announcement brings full BIG-IP functionality to the AWS cloud.

Date: Thursday, November 29

Time: 11:00 am - Noon PST

Speakers:

• Harry Brelsford, Founder, SMB Nation, Inc.
• Mark Winter, VP of Sales, RapidFire Tools
• Bob McCool, President, arielMIS, Inc. (Special Guest)

This webinar, hosted by Harry Brelsford, describes two different tools that you can use to perform quick and easy, yet comprehensive IT assessments that will win you new clients and generate new revenue streams.

D&H Distributing is running a set of three exclusive Weekly Special promotions lasting two weeks each from now until mid-December. Through these promos, resellers will receive exclusive discounts and rebates on merchandise from select manufacturers ordered during the specified period. The program is designed to help increase the VAR’s purchasing power to support them through the fourth quarter of 2012.

VoIP phone developers 3CX and snom said this morning that they have formed a strategic partnership to provide increased flexibility for organizations using snom phones with 3CX Phone System.

Avnet Technology Solutions yesterday introduced four off-premise cloud computing solutions powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). These initial offerings are designed to provide MSP, VAR and ISV partners with integrated, packaged solutions that span the AWS portfolio.

Earlier today, Quest Software released the latest version of their MessageStats solution. This system now includes the MessageStats Business Insights functionality, which allows IT managers and organization leads to glean valuable insight into how their employees use e-mail while ensuring proper security compliance for their e-mail systems.

Following Hurricane Sandy, and with the potential for disruptive winter storms in the coming months, Cbeyond Inc. today released its top five disaster prevention strategies IT teams can implement now to ensure business continuity.

EVault and Cequel Data Centers today announced that Cequel Data Centers has joined the EVault Partner Program and will promote and sell EVault’s cloud-connected backup and recovery services at its locations across the United States.

Make 2013 your best year ever by attending this 100% educational content virtual conference for SPONSORS ONLY!
Don’t miss the end-of-year opportunity to dive deeply into the SMB channel in this one-day virtual workshop. For SMB Nation sponsors only, learn to quickly and profitably position yourself in the elusive SMB channel and avoid pitfalls, apply best practices and make 2013 ahead of plan.

We’re always innovating and looking for ways to add maximum value for our readers. In recent months, we’ve been monitoring content aggregation sites such as Real Clear Politics. Based on that testing, we saw an opportunity to offer you the “best and brightest” content articles in the SMB channel.

Regret minimization. If you lead your life with an abundance philosophy, you’ll likely have few regrets. I was recently traveling in the Los Angeles-area and noticed a vacant space, which was once occupied by a computer store/reseller. I couldn’t help but wonder what its “story” was. Did the computer store not pivot to stake out a leadership position in the technology field? Did it rest on its laurels and not innovate? Did it run out of energy and just close up? Was the store owner not business savvy? I pondered this for far too many hours.

By Harry Brelsford, Founder, SMB Nation

Initial Reaction

Hostile. That one word would summarize the July 5, 2012, early AM reaction from the SBS community to the “End-of-Life” announcement from Microsoft. But like any “fog of war” or trauma scene, the initial reports are often confusing, disjointed and later updated (consider recent U.S. State Department reports out of the Middle East). Such was the case with the SBS EOL announcement. Since we’re a family publication, I’ll summarize many of the comments as “Microsoft is forcing me to go to cloud.”

I caught up with long-time SMB IT Pro Joshua Liberman (winner of the Iceland vacation at SMB Nation Fall 2008) who offered feedback from a rural perspective.

Quest Software, a part of Dell and a provider of IT management solutions, today released three best-practice tips for Privileged Account Management (PAM) from EMA’s latest report: "Why You Need to Consider Privileged Access Management (And What You May Not Know About It That You Should )."

Here we go again! As I do each week, I am really enjoying bringing our readers a quick round-up of the blog coverage I didn’t manage to get to during the week prior.

We hope all of our readers based in the U.S. had a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration and long holiday weekend! Because of the short holiday week, there doesn’t seem to be a lot going on in the realm of industry events, with the exception of a trio of Microsoft/MVP Windows Server 2012 events in Texas this week. Jay Weiss, long-time SMB Nation writer and friend, will be “manning” the Pocket MBA booth at the events in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. 

Today, 8X8, Inc. announced that they have been named as a Leader on Gartner, Inc.’s 2012 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service. Leaders on the Magic Quadrant demonstrate the ability to properly execute their ideas as well as a complete understanding of their market’s direction.

I'm excited about this time of year. The holiday season has started with Thanksgiving followed by Black Friday and beyond. But I'm most excited about Small Business Saturday - now in its third year. It's the Saturday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I personally applaud American Express for starting this event to spend at least $50 USD at a local small business on that day. I've honored that. But as you can read in this entry there has been controversy that a private sector firm was funding,. promoting and exploiting a holiday opportunity. I understand that reasoning but in the absence of anyone else doing this, you gotta give it up for AMEX for getting this party started! I predict that someday, when this holiday is more secular and mainstream, AMEX will essentially hand-off this branding to a foundation.

From us to you - we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving 2012! It's been a fast-forward year and we can't believe its the start of the holiday season. With that said - enjoy the company of your friends and family this holiday weekend. And check back tomorrow for more information on how to participate in Small Business Saturday!