Your weekly roundup of IT news for the channel
Good news for MSPs: 61% of IT leaders plan outsourcing investments this year
According to a new report from Elk Grove Village, IL-based IT solutions provider American Digital Corporation, 61 percent of IT leaders plan to invest in outsourced managed services over the next two years. The study – titled the "2014 State of SAP Report – was queried IT professionals in February and March and was primarily focussed on identifying the trends surrounding SAP use this year. American Digital is a prominent SAP partner. While IT leaders clearly have a level of comfort using MSPs for support, the news is mixed when it comes to handing over total control of their internal IT infrastructure. "Today we see companies comfortable with outsourcing application support, but many are still holding on to the infrastructure in-house," said American Bill Loupakos, Digital Professional Services Vice President in a statement. For example, 74 percent of IT leaders stated they will retain full control of their data centers while the remaining 26 percent will use some combination of internal and outsourced capability. As far as SAP findings are concerned: SAP HANA, SAP Mobile and Managed Cloud are the most in-demand SAP offerings and all are likely to be outsourced with only 29 percent of respondents saying they'll use in-house resources for SAP-related support.
Unitrends picks up cloud-based disaster recovery startup Yuruware
Columbia, S.C.-based data protection and disaster recovery vendor Unitrends announced it has acquired Yuruware, an Australian start-up that is developing technology that allows easy disaster recovery using public clouds. According to Unitrends, the Yuruware technology gives users the ability to run virtual machines and virtual networks in nearly any public cloud, including Amazon Web Services and OpenStack clouds, with Microsoft Azure on the road map. Unitrends will use Yuruware's machine and network transformation capabilities – the ability to spin up a virtual machine in the cloud – to further build out its existing Reliable DR product line, which it acquired in December with the acquisition of PHD Virtual and which can already spin up a virtual machine in both physical and virtualized environments.
Microsoft: We Have MDM Solutions for Enterprises, Too
Microsoft may not be the first name you think of when you think about enterprise mobility but wants to remind enterprise mobility management providers that it offers enterprise class mobile device management solutions. The software giant is in the process of publishing a series of how-to blog posts that highlight specific tasks required for successfully managing a client’s mobile assets. The new posts build on a series of strategic articles by Brad Anderson, corporate vice president of Windows Server and System Center at Microsoft, which describe what it takes to be successful in enterprise mobility at a strategic level, including defining enterprise mobility, what's coming for enterprise mobility, what components are relevant to enterprise mobility and what enterprise mobility looks like in action.
You can find the first few blogs through the links below:
- How-to perform device enrollment for mobile devices
- How-to configure mobile device setting
- Deploying apps to mobile devices (forthcoming)
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks found cyber defense consortium
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks have partnered to create a cyber defense consortium which will use shared threat intelligence to help member organizations protect their customers from increasingly sophisticated cybercrime attacks. The consortium will provide a forum for collaboration on threat intelligence and sharing of preventative measures including:
- Better cross-industry, cross-vendor threat intelligence
- Better coordination of incident response
- Better prevention of cyber attacks using advanced malware
You can learn more about the consortium at www.cyberconsortium.org.
ESET allies with Ingram Micro for NA distribution of its cyber security solutions
Ingram Micro and Bratislava-Slovakia-based ESET have formed a strategic alliance under which the distributor will provide U.S. channel partners with access to ESET’s digital security products. The new alliance enables ESET – which is dedicated to the channel distribution – to offer a combination of products and services, along with a volume incentive program, flexibility for resellers in securing credit, and a facilitated process for securing quotes and placing orders. According to Eric Kohl, executive director, Advanced Technology Division, Ingram Micro, the alliance will make ESET’s full line of Endpoint Solutions for business will be available through the agreement while Ingram will support ESET’s penetration of the north american channel community with targeted marketing programs, technical support and financial services. “The need and demand for flexible and powerful security services is at an all-time high and we’re excited to team with ESET to bring greater choice, performance and value to channel partners throughout the U.S.“
CloudBerry Lab cloud backup enhanced with remote management in latest update
Newport Beach, CA-based cloud backup vendor CloudBerry Lab has released an upgrade to its Managed Backup Service that will allow service providers to create and manage key backup and recovery processes remotely. The service is designed for MSPs and VARs who can use their own storage accounts at Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier, or Windows Azure to provide branded cloud backup to customers. There is no charge to service providers for signing up for CloudBerry Managed Backup service and users get 2 GB of free cloud storage to evaluate the service.
Zoho updates remote support software, unveils iPad app
Pleasanton, CA-based business, collaboration and productivity applications provider Zoho has released an updated version of its remote support software. New features added to Zoho Assist, the company's RMM software, include a new file transfer window, a new HTML5-based technician console in Linux and Mac and a "Help Me" tab for live support. Designed for independent IT technicians, outsourced IT firms, remote PC repair service professionals and SMB IT support specialists, Zoho Assist is an on-demand, Web-based application that enables users to provide assistance on Linux, Mac and Windows platforms. The company also launched Zoho Assist for iPad, an app that makes it possible for users to:
- Connect with IT professionals when they need help
- Capture screenshots of a remote computer
- Switch between multiple monitors
- Take control of a remote computer
Follow this link to access a free 30-day trial
Acronis Disk Director 12 Updates Data Manipulation, Disk Management
Woburn, Ma.-based Acronis has released the latest version of its backup and disaster recover (BDR) solution: Acronis Disk Director 12. The company said the solution provides new features aimed at helping users organize hard drives for superior performance, while protecting and securing users’ data through the use of multiple volumes on a single drive.
The major new features available in Acronis Disk Director 12 include:
- Partition management
- Extended Windows support
- Across-the-board PC support – Users can create Acronis bootable media (Linux-based or Windows PE-based) and boot into a recovery environment on a UEFI-based machine.
- Improved recovery capabilities with Acronis Recovery Expert tool
Sophos delivers individual file encryption and anti-virus with new EMM solution
Oxford-based IT security vendor Sophos has released the latest version of its enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution Sophos Mobile Control 4.0. According to the company, the solution is designed for SMBs who want to manage and secure content, applications and devices. The new release includes individual file encryption, integrated anti-virus and web filtering and also supports Apple, iOS, Google, Android and Microsoft Windows Phone 8 devices. SMC 4.0, which is available on premise or as a service, integrates with Sophos UTM, Checkpoint and Cisco to provide network access control and allows IT administrators to manage devices through a web-based management console or to create a self-service portal that allows users to perform several basic tasks like changing passwords, registering devices and reporting lost or stolen devices.
