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 have been pretty busy around here at SMB Nation in gearing up for our SMB 150 Awards Gala Dinner, and our Spring Conference, which will be held May 3-5, 2013, at the Microsoft Redmond Campus. For more information, and to register, go to: http://spring.smbnation.com/.
As for other live industry events, due to the Passover holiday this week, and Easter this coming weekend for those celebrating, there’s not much going on for the trade show front. Since this is a slow travel week, why not register and tune in to our webinar scheduled for Thursday, March 28 at 10 am PST (1 pm EST) discussing Email Management—Doing More with Less. Click here to learn more on how your organization is impacted by day-to-day email management and how software tools can help.
Please take some time to peruse a few snippets of information that we didn’t get a chance to bring you last week….let us also know if there was something we might have missed, which is not mentioned in this entry…because as you know…we love news!
1.) NETGEAR’s NAS Devices Now Built on Custom Platform for Easier Storage: NETGEAR last week announced a new portfolio of networked-attached-storage (NAS) products which run on the newly developed ReadyNAS OS 6. These revolutionary devices are built on a custom platform designed as “storage made easy” for both the home and small to medium-sized businesses (SMB). NETGEAR also unveiled a suite of new downloadable applications for these products on the genie+ marketplace.
The new product line also features seamless cloud-like file synchronization with ReadyDROP\ and Dropbox integration. In addition, ReadyNAS Remote from NETGEAR enables you to easily access files from anywhere in the world on any web-connected device. NETGEAR is the first company to offer prosumers and small businesses the ability to back up Mac data from any location in the world, without paying a monthly fee for cloud storage.
Select models of the NETGEAR ReadyNAS 100 and 300 series are now available worldwide through reseller channels and a variety of e-commerce sites. The full line of new ReadyNAS models will be available in the second quarter of 2013 through authorized NETGEAR PowerSHIFT channel partners and other reseller channels and e-commerce sites.
2.) GRRL Tech Raises Awareness for Women in Technology: More than 470 female high school students and 60 educators from 31 Rhode Island area high schools and career and tech centers were welcomed to the University of Rhode Island Kingston campus last week to attend Tech Collective’s 12th annual GRRL Tech Interactive Technology Expo.
Presented by Tech Collective, Rhode Island’s industry association for Information Technology and Bioscience, and hosted by the University of Rhode Island, GRRL Tech (Girls Reaching Remarkable Levels) is an interactive technology expo offering female high school students an engaging look into dynamic and rewarding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) opportunities. Through industry mentoring and hands-on workshops, GRRL Tech aims to raise awareness of the STEM industries and career pathways.
3.) Infonetics Research: Video Conferencing Market Gearing up for Comeback: Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its 4th quarter (4Q12) and year-end Enterprise Telepresence and Video Conferencing Equipment report, which tracks dedicated and PBX-based video conferencing and telepresence infrastructure and endpoints (desktop, immersive telepresence, videophones, multipurpose rooms, and software).
“After a rotten early 2012, the video conferencing market appears to be turning the corner. On the heels of double-digit growth the previous quarter, revenue was up again in the 4th quarter, keeping full year revenue essentially flat,” reports Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. “Helping the market stay afloat were sales of PBX-based video endpoints, which more than doubled in 2012. PBX-based video is proving popular because it offers organizations a cost-effective way to enjoy multimedia communication using infrastructure they already have.”
4.) Citrix Enterprise Mobility Cloud Report: iOS Leads, App Blacklisting on the Rise: Citrix last week released its Enterprise Mobility Cloud Report, revealing key trends that are shaping the enterprise mobility market. Despite a sharp increase in Google Android devices enrolled in Europe, Apple iOS still leads in enterprise mobility worldwide. iOS is also the preferred platform in many vertical industries, such as retail and restaurants.
The report also details trends in how enterprises are dealing with apps and security policies, with a rise in mobile app blacklisting, including Facebook and Dropbox. The Citrix Enterprise Cloud Mobility Report for Q4 2012 is based on aggregate data from Citrix customers who have deployed enterprise mobility in the cloud.
The most commonly blacklisted apps were Angry Birds, Facebook, Dropbox, and YouTube, while the most commonly whitelisted apps were Evernote, NitroDesk TouchDown, Google Chrome and Adobe Reader. Skype was the only app that made both the blacklist and whitelist.
The complete Enterprise Mobility Cloud report can be found here.
5.) Barracuda Networks Further Extends Reach into Education Market: Barracuda Networks, Inc. last week announced a combination of pricing programs and product enhancements that further extend the company’s reach into the education vertical. The new programs and enhancements are intended to help K-12 education customers address the mounting IT challenges resulting from increasing network traffic, more stringent regulatory requirements, higher awareness of online student safety, and vast numbers of mobile devices being used both on and off the campus.
