Apple’s iPad is a revolutionary device. Regardless of whether you prefer or dislike Apple technologies and regardless of whether you believe they belong within enterprise environments, they’re coming. Apple sold more than a half million units in the very first week they became available. Enterprise IT administrators would be smart to consider loading/supporting the following iPad applications to help themselves and users make the most of the new computers.
1. MobileIron Sentry
Many ill-informed iPad detractors criticize the new device, stating iPads place enterprise security at risk. That’s simply incorrect. iPads pose no more of a security risk than do smartphones. Using the free MobileIron Sentry iPad app, enterprise IT departments can track iPhones and iPads, view device inventory, block offending or compromised devices, and remotely wipe stolen, lost or compromised units. The application also enables remotely suspending email access for active staff, just-terminated employees, and others.
Paired with the MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform, enterprise IT departments can leverage MobileIron Sentry to better manage and secure, not only iPad deployments, but numerous other Smartphone platforms. Among the technologies supported are BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian, with Android support forthcoming.
2. Desktop Connect
Enterprise users and administrators needing to remotely connect to other systems can do so using Desktop Connect, an $11.99 application from Antecea Inc. Using 128-bit encryption, Desktop Connect enables iPad users to remotely access and administer Windows XP Professional; Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate; Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate; and Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard systems.
Desktop Connect can also be used to connect to secondary systems to view Adobe Flash video, remotely control media players and presentations, access additional files and listen to audio files. The application can also be used to take remote control of a system in order to provide technical support or remote repairs.
3. Apple’s iWork Suite
Apple’s IWork suite includes the Pages word processor, Numbers spreadsheet program, and Keynote presentation application. At $9.99 each, these Multi-Touch-optimized applications are indispensable when needing to create, edit, or share professional documents — spreadsheets and presentations using the iPad. The iWork suite also enables iPad users to work with common Microsoft Office file formats, including .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files, while on the go.
4. PrintCentral for iPad
PrintCentral for iPad is a $9.99 iPad application. The software, sold by EuroSmartz Ltd., enables iPad users to print email messages, documents, spreadsheets, Web pages, photographs, and other files. Files can also be transferred for printing using iTunes synchronization using a cable, but many users will prefer to print directly to printers connected to their Macs or PCs, which PrintCentral for iPad enables.
Travelers will find additional functionality, in that Print Central enables users to print using thumb drives or using an integrated full-featured email client. The application also permits mounting iPads as a network disk from a Mac or PC, moving and printing files using iDisk and WebDAV technology and even copying files using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technologies.
5. OmniGraffle
Some of the iPad’s biggest strengths, besides its ease of use, are its portability and ability to comprehend intuitive finger movements. If enterprise users are to truly leverage the device’s full capabilities, a simple application is needed that helps organize thoughts, enable freehand drawing, and essentially replace back-of-the-envelope or napkin drawings.
The Omni Group’s OmniGraffle application, a $49.99 program, is an approachable, easy-to-use app users can employ to create freehand drawings, draft diagrams, create tables, record processes, create Web site wireframes, draft page layouts, and more. With numerous included stencils and templates, OmniGraffle quickly makes an enterprise users’ iPad an incredibly powerful and mobile tool that can be used to fuel brainstorming sessions, power what-if conversations, and capture and record critically important notes, all while leveraging the iPad’s Multi-Touch technology.
Original Article - TechRepublic
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Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Google broadband: Is there an enterprise angle?
Topeka, Kansas, wanted to rename itself Sergeyville (after Google founder Sergey Brin), but opted instead for Google, Kansas, in an effort to bring Google’s “Fiber for Communities” experiment to that city.
Google’s early 2010 announcement about a high-speed Internet service surprised some of its watchers. Telecommunications companies pointed to TiSP , Google’s 2007 test of free, in-home wireless broadband service, as a harbinger of free, high-speed service for cities. Google, despite its mounting legal woes, has not lost its knack for surprising, disruptive action. The Google announcement kick-started some city managers into action. Will Topeka become a guinea pig? (The mayor proclaimed that for the month of March, Topeka would be known as Google, Kansas—The Capital City of Fiber.) Greensboro, N.C., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Tallahassee, Fla., want Google to pick them as well.
Many questions must be answered about this brilliant marketing play. Google, continuing its multipronged effort to force telecommunications companies to move or get out of the way, sees gigabit speed connectivity as necessary for more sophisticated online services. For consumers, the chief advantage of a fast connection is rich media, including digital video. For Google, high-speed connectivity lubricates its bandwidth-intensive applications. Those range from geospatial to medical information systems to interactive applications like online games.
Interesting investment
Google has the cash, the technical know-how and the desire to put pressure on television, cable companies and any other company that it perceives as blocking its progress. In the present economic environment, targets of Google pressure will have to respond. A public relations battle is beginning, and the lawyers are buttoning their vests.
But is the high-speed play relevant to Google’s enterprise business? The short answer is, “maybe.” With media coverage of Topeka becoming Google, Kansas, in high gear, Google has some other technology that could be used to disrupt high-speed Internet services in organizations of almost any size.
Google has its own, homegrown telecommunications technology. From an early quality of service invention to the raft of content delivery patent documents, Google has some impressive capabilities in its labs or idling in the firm’s data centers. In November 2009, Google said it would support the idea of the high-speed wireless technology, WiMax. But Google has at least one interesting investment that might provide a glimpse of how it will penetrate the enterprise with high-speed connectivity.
Have you heard about Meraki, a startup company founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco? Probably not. Google does not make it easy to locate information about some of its more interesting investments. The firm has been funded by Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures and Google. The firm’s technology enables low-cost, high-speed networking systems for organizations of any size.
Meraki’s unique, cloud-hosted controller architecture provides centralized management and security through an intuitive Web interface. The approach eliminates the costs associated with traditional network management methods in use at most cable companies and broadband vendors. An organization needs some network devices that cost about one-third what a more traditional high-speed wireless device from Cisco or another major network vendor charges. The small boxes connect to the organization’s network. Then the Meraki magic kicks in.
An organization with several locations can manage the high-speed wireless networks from a single browser window. The Meraki technology eliminates the need for individual configuration, provisioning and administration of wireless networks. That reduces costs by shifting the administration of different, geographically distributed networks to the cloud. Meraki has focused on improving the efficiency of high-speed network management. Reports and security can be administered by one person, ensuring more consistency, better uptime and quicker response to problems at different locations.
Let’s assume that you operate a business with a corporate headquarters in a midsize city, one warehouse and distribution center, and a smaller sales and support office in a suburban office park.
You want employees to have wireless access in each facility. In the distribution center, the orders are managed with third-party barcode scanners that connect wirelessly to the company’s inventory management system. In other offices, wireless connectivity has replaced more traditional hardwire cabling. Employees have access to e-mail and Web browsing to access intranet and Internet resources. Each location has a system administrator who babysits the systems. At headquarters, the company has a networking guru who steps in when the other system administrators run into a technical glitch with the firm’s wireless system. Each administrator has been trained to use the proprietary devices from well-known vendors like Cisco, Lucent or Juniper, among others.
The hardware is expensive. The administrators need special training. The maintenance activities have to be performed on site and then coordinated among the team responsible for the wireless network and its security.
Enter Meraki. A customer plugs in the Meraki devices at each facility and connects them to the company’s network. A single administrator can manage the wireless connectivity at the three locations. The staff can be redeployed or terminated. Security is handled from a single console.
The core technology of Meraki is the Enterprise Cloud Controller. Meraki combines multiple networks into one virtual network. The administrator can handle device management, provisioning, security and status monitoring. When the distribution company opens an office in a city halfway across the United States, Meraki’s administrative tools allow the newly acquired company to be integrated into the corporate network in a day or two, sometimes less. Using locally managed resources, the integration can take weeks, sometimes months. The savings are not measured in reduced hardware costs. The savings result from elimination of staff, engineering services and expensive troubleshooting, which might require the networking guru to visit the remote location and fix the problem. No special training is required to administer a Meraki network via a browser.
Meraki can deliver high-speed connectivity to the organization’s employees without towers. A Meraki device is needed, which connects to the Internet, and the company’s cloud-based control system takes over. Instant high-speed wireless Internet.
Meraki implements a zero-configuration solution. High-speed wireless becomes available when the devices are plugged in and connected to a high-speed network like the one Google proposes to test. The Meraki gizmos discover the network and perform automatic configuration in a way that is similar to how Apple computers handle network connectivity. Once connected, the Meraki device then hooks into the Cloud Controller. Meraki strikes me as a pain reliever for network configuration migraines.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Google’s early 2010 announcement about a high-speed Internet service surprised some of its watchers. Telecommunications companies pointed to TiSP , Google’s 2007 test of free, in-home wireless broadband service, as a harbinger of free, high-speed service for cities. Google, despite its mounting legal woes, has not lost its knack for surprising, disruptive action. The Google announcement kick-started some city managers into action. Will Topeka become a guinea pig? (The mayor proclaimed that for the month of March, Topeka would be known as Google, Kansas—The Capital City of Fiber.) Greensboro, N.C., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Tallahassee, Fla., want Google to pick them as well.
Many questions must be answered about this brilliant marketing play. Google, continuing its multipronged effort to force telecommunications companies to move or get out of the way, sees gigabit speed connectivity as necessary for more sophisticated online services. For consumers, the chief advantage of a fast connection is rich media, including digital video. For Google, high-speed connectivity lubricates its bandwidth-intensive applications. Those range from geospatial to medical information systems to interactive applications like online games.
Interesting investment
Google has the cash, the technical know-how and the desire to put pressure on television, cable companies and any other company that it perceives as blocking its progress. In the present economic environment, targets of Google pressure will have to respond. A public relations battle is beginning, and the lawyers are buttoning their vests.
But is the high-speed play relevant to Google’s enterprise business? The short answer is, “maybe.” With media coverage of Topeka becoming Google, Kansas, in high gear, Google has some other technology that could be used to disrupt high-speed Internet services in organizations of almost any size.
Google has its own, homegrown telecommunications technology. From an early quality of service invention to the raft of content delivery patent documents, Google has some impressive capabilities in its labs or idling in the firm’s data centers. In November 2009, Google said it would support the idea of the high-speed wireless technology, WiMax. But Google has at least one interesting investment that might provide a glimpse of how it will penetrate the enterprise with high-speed connectivity.
Have you heard about Meraki, a startup company founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco? Probably not. Google does not make it easy to locate information about some of its more interesting investments. The firm has been funded by Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures and Google. The firm’s technology enables low-cost, high-speed networking systems for organizations of any size.
Meraki’s unique, cloud-hosted controller architecture provides centralized management and security through an intuitive Web interface. The approach eliminates the costs associated with traditional network management methods in use at most cable companies and broadband vendors. An organization needs some network devices that cost about one-third what a more traditional high-speed wireless device from Cisco or another major network vendor charges. The small boxes connect to the organization’s network. Then the Meraki magic kicks in.
An organization with several locations can manage the high-speed wireless networks from a single browser window. The Meraki technology eliminates the need for individual configuration, provisioning and administration of wireless networks. That reduces costs by shifting the administration of different, geographically distributed networks to the cloud. Meraki has focused on improving the efficiency of high-speed network management. Reports and security can be administered by one person, ensuring more consistency, better uptime and quicker response to problems at different locations.
Let’s assume that you operate a business with a corporate headquarters in a midsize city, one warehouse and distribution center, and a smaller sales and support office in a suburban office park.
You want employees to have wireless access in each facility. In the distribution center, the orders are managed with third-party barcode scanners that connect wirelessly to the company’s inventory management system. In other offices, wireless connectivity has replaced more traditional hardwire cabling. Employees have access to e-mail and Web browsing to access intranet and Internet resources. Each location has a system administrator who babysits the systems. At headquarters, the company has a networking guru who steps in when the other system administrators run into a technical glitch with the firm’s wireless system. Each administrator has been trained to use the proprietary devices from well-known vendors like Cisco, Lucent or Juniper, among others.
The hardware is expensive. The administrators need special training. The maintenance activities have to be performed on site and then coordinated among the team responsible for the wireless network and its security.
Enter Meraki. A customer plugs in the Meraki devices at each facility and connects them to the company’s network. A single administrator can manage the wireless connectivity at the three locations. The staff can be redeployed or terminated. Security is handled from a single console.
The core technology of Meraki is the Enterprise Cloud Controller. Meraki combines multiple networks into one virtual network. The administrator can handle device management, provisioning, security and status monitoring. When the distribution company opens an office in a city halfway across the United States, Meraki’s administrative tools allow the newly acquired company to be integrated into the corporate network in a day or two, sometimes less. Using locally managed resources, the integration can take weeks, sometimes months. The savings are not measured in reduced hardware costs. The savings result from elimination of staff, engineering services and expensive troubleshooting, which might require the networking guru to visit the remote location and fix the problem. No special training is required to administer a Meraki network via a browser.
Meraki can deliver high-speed connectivity to the organization’s employees without towers. A Meraki device is needed, which connects to the Internet, and the company’s cloud-based control system takes over. Instant high-speed wireless Internet.
Meraki implements a zero-configuration solution. High-speed wireless becomes available when the devices are plugged in and connected to a high-speed network like the one Google proposes to test. The Meraki gizmos discover the network and perform automatic configuration in a way that is similar to how Apple computers handle network connectivity. Once connected, the Meraki device then hooks into the Cloud Controller. Meraki strikes me as a pain reliever for network configuration migraines.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Monday, 3 May 2010
MobileIron Named 'Cool Vendor' by Leading Analyst Firm
Vendors Selected for the "Cool Vendor" Report are Innovative, Impactful and Intriguing
MobileIron, the first company to deliver virtualized smartphone management, has been included in the "Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2010" report published on April 9, 2010 by Michael King et al, of Gartner, Inc. In the report, Gartner states "Technology providers that qualify as cool vendors must think very far out of the box and provide solutions that are potential game-changers."
Enterprise mobility is in need of such innovation. IT departments are losing control of smartphones due to the challenges of fragmented platforms, user-driven computing, and increasing wireless costs, yet they retain all the accountability. MobileIron's solution combines data-driven smartphone management with real-time wireless cost control. It provides visibility into what's on a smartphone and how it's being used, letting both IT and users better secure data and control costs without compromising privacy, even on employee-owned phones.
"We consider our inclusion in the Cool Vendor report by Gartner confirmation of our mission to solve the challenges CIOs face as business data moves to the smartphone," said Bob Tinker, CEO of MobileIron. "Smartphones are more difficult to manage than laptops ever were. Companies need a scalable solution and that is why we built the MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform."
To access the Gartner report, "Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2010" please go to http://www.mobileiron.com. You can also see MobileIron in Booth 2009 at the BlackBerry Wireless Enterprise Symposium April 27-29 in Orlando, Florida.
About Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process
Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.
Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.
About MobileIron
MobileIron is solving the problems CIOs face as business data moves to the smartphone. The MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform is the first solution to give IT and users real-time intelligence and control over smartphone content, activity, and apps in order to secure the enterprise, reduce wireless cost, and improve the mobile user experience. MobileIron's investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Storm Ventures. For more information, please visit www.mobileiron.com.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
MobileIron, the first company to deliver virtualized smartphone management, has been included in the "Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2010" report published on April 9, 2010 by Michael King et al, of Gartner, Inc. In the report, Gartner states "Technology providers that qualify as cool vendors must think very far out of the box and provide solutions that are potential game-changers."
Enterprise mobility is in need of such innovation. IT departments are losing control of smartphones due to the challenges of fragmented platforms, user-driven computing, and increasing wireless costs, yet they retain all the accountability. MobileIron's solution combines data-driven smartphone management with real-time wireless cost control. It provides visibility into what's on a smartphone and how it's being used, letting both IT and users better secure data and control costs without compromising privacy, even on employee-owned phones.
"We consider our inclusion in the Cool Vendor report by Gartner confirmation of our mission to solve the challenges CIOs face as business data moves to the smartphone," said Bob Tinker, CEO of MobileIron. "Smartphones are more difficult to manage than laptops ever were. Companies need a scalable solution and that is why we built the MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform."
To access the Gartner report, "Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2010" please go to http://www.mobileiron.com. You can also see MobileIron in Booth 2009 at the BlackBerry Wireless Enterprise Symposium April 27-29 in Orlando, Florida.
About Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process
Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.
Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.
About MobileIron
MobileIron is solving the problems CIOs face as business data moves to the smartphone. The MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform is the first solution to give IT and users real-time intelligence and control over smartphone content, activity, and apps in order to secure the enterprise, reduce wireless cost, and improve the mobile user experience. MobileIron's investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Storm Ventures. For more information, please visit www.mobileiron.com.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Expand Networks Transforms WAN Optimization Entry Pricing with New Branch Office Accelerators
Expand Networks www.expand.com, the leader in optimizing WANs for branch office consolidation and virtualization, today announced two additions to its Accelerator product family - the 3830 and 3930. Delivering advanced WAN Optimization in the industry’s most compact form factor, the Accelerators outscale competitive offerings to set new standards for price/performance at the branch office.
Ideal for small offices, retail branches, VDI environments and harsh, “on the move” locations such as ships & oil rigs, the 3X30 series enables customers without rack space to realize the benefits of WAN optimization with the smallest footprint possible. The 3X30 series also assures investment security with a pay-as-you-grow licensing model scaling as the branch office or mobile environment grows.
Adam Davison, Corporate VP of Sales and Marketing at Expand Networks explains, “Whilst other WAN Optimization vendors reduce entry level ranges, we’re responding directly to growing customer demand for extending global network deployments into smaller or harsh locations, but doing so cost-effectively and with the opportunity to scale. This is equally critical whether in a small retail branch or a harsh satellite environment. These Accelerators provide affordable pricing without performance degradation; ensuring customers’ investments are fully future-proofed.”
Delivering the full capabilities of Expand’s AoS, the new Accelerators provide standards-based TCP Acceleration (SCPS), Compression, IPSec VPN and QoS performance enhancements that optimize and condition WANs in the most cost-effective deployment. The 3830 Accelerator includes optional 4GB flash for caching, while the 3930 offering is equipped with a hard drive, enabling maximum optimization across all Expand platforms.
About the 3X30 Accelerator Series:
* Robust WAN Optimization: utilizing the same robust management features found in high-end appliances.
* Price/Performance: The most competitively priced solutions for these environments, on average costing 30% less than competitive offerings.
* Scalability: Starting at 64KBs, through to 2MB, the Accelerators outscale all competition; supporting 64,000 TCP connections compared to only 200 from the nearest competition.
* Footprint: The smallest physical appliances on the market, enabling customers to deploy WAN Optimization anywhere.
* Flexible licensing: Customers pay only for what they need, scaling investments by simply purchasing license upgrades.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Ideal for small offices, retail branches, VDI environments and harsh, “on the move” locations such as ships & oil rigs, the 3X30 series enables customers without rack space to realize the benefits of WAN optimization with the smallest footprint possible. The 3X30 series also assures investment security with a pay-as-you-grow licensing model scaling as the branch office or mobile environment grows.
Adam Davison, Corporate VP of Sales and Marketing at Expand Networks explains, “Whilst other WAN Optimization vendors reduce entry level ranges, we’re responding directly to growing customer demand for extending global network deployments into smaller or harsh locations, but doing so cost-effectively and with the opportunity to scale. This is equally critical whether in a small retail branch or a harsh satellite environment. These Accelerators provide affordable pricing without performance degradation; ensuring customers’ investments are fully future-proofed.”
Delivering the full capabilities of Expand’s AoS, the new Accelerators provide standards-based TCP Acceleration (SCPS), Compression, IPSec VPN and QoS performance enhancements that optimize and condition WANs in the most cost-effective deployment. The 3830 Accelerator includes optional 4GB flash for caching, while the 3930 offering is equipped with a hard drive, enabling maximum optimization across all Expand platforms.
About the 3X30 Accelerator Series:
* Robust WAN Optimization: utilizing the same robust management features found in high-end appliances.
* Price/Performance: The most competitively priced solutions for these environments, on average costing 30% less than competitive offerings.
* Scalability: Starting at 64KBs, through to 2MB, the Accelerators outscale all competition; supporting 64,000 TCP connections compared to only 200 from the nearest competition.
* Footprint: The smallest physical appliances on the market, enabling customers to deploy WAN Optimization anywhere.
* Flexible licensing: Customers pay only for what they need, scaling investments by simply purchasing license upgrades.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
New Cloud Service Offers Antivirus Alternative
Security vendor Panda Software has announced a full cloud web security service which it claims frees smaller companies from the need to filter for malware using complicated gateway boxes.
Aimed primarily at laptops used outside a company's offices, but also branch offices, from the point of view of the user Panda Cloud Internet Protection is about as simple as security comes. There is no security software running on the PC, and the traffic is run through Panda's data centres by pointing the browser at a proxy server.
Traffic is then combed for the usual range of malware, attachment and botnet indicators. Admins set up the service using a web console to allow or disallow certain URLs, and access to named social networks, webmail, blog systems and other online applications. Control can be taken as far as the enforcement of specific browsers and versions.
The advantage for IT is that policies can be enforced quite quickly and easily for the one part of the PC population that tends to hit problems, namely laptops and smartphones. Doing this as a service frees them from having to specify and manage an appliance, integrating it into other infrastructure.
Performance is claimed to be 15 microseconds at worst from a global family of data centres What the service doesn't secure is email, for which the company has a separate offering.
"That is the beauty of having your own data centre," said Panda Software UK and Swedish product manager, Sebastian Zabala. "We make sure that latency is not an issue."
Cloud security services are fashionable on the back of rising disaffection with the established client model, but companies have been surprisingly slow to invest in the new infrastructure needed to being such services to fruition. Cloud is easy to talk up but expensive to build. Meanwhile, larger security companies make a lot of money from selling software licenses.
Cloud security is a bit pricier than conventional software antivirus. Panda is offering companies batches of 25 licenses for £67.55 ($103) per machine, per year, several times what it would cost to stick software on the same laptop, albeit that the security filtering on offer will in theory be more substantial. Free trials are being offered to try out the service first, however.
Panda Software also offers a free cloud antivirus system for consumers.
Cloud Distribution are UK distributors of Panda's Cloud Protection platform, please get in touch if you'd like to trial the solution.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Aimed primarily at laptops used outside a company's offices, but also branch offices, from the point of view of the user Panda Cloud Internet Protection is about as simple as security comes. There is no security software running on the PC, and the traffic is run through Panda's data centres by pointing the browser at a proxy server.
Traffic is then combed for the usual range of malware, attachment and botnet indicators. Admins set up the service using a web console to allow or disallow certain URLs, and access to named social networks, webmail, blog systems and other online applications. Control can be taken as far as the enforcement of specific browsers and versions.
The advantage for IT is that policies can be enforced quite quickly and easily for the one part of the PC population that tends to hit problems, namely laptops and smartphones. Doing this as a service frees them from having to specify and manage an appliance, integrating it into other infrastructure.
Performance is claimed to be 15 microseconds at worst from a global family of data centres What the service doesn't secure is email, for which the company has a separate offering.
"That is the beauty of having your own data centre," said Panda Software UK and Swedish product manager, Sebastian Zabala. "We make sure that latency is not an issue."
Cloud security services are fashionable on the back of rising disaffection with the established client model, but companies have been surprisingly slow to invest in the new infrastructure needed to being such services to fruition. Cloud is easy to talk up but expensive to build. Meanwhile, larger security companies make a lot of money from selling software licenses.
Cloud security is a bit pricier than conventional software antivirus. Panda is offering companies batches of 25 licenses for £67.55 ($103) per machine, per year, several times what it would cost to stick software on the same laptop, albeit that the security filtering on offer will in theory be more substantial. Free trials are being offered to try out the service first, however.
Panda Software also offers a free cloud antivirus system for consumers.
Cloud Distribution are UK distributors of Panda's Cloud Protection platform, please get in touch if you'd like to trial the solution.
Join Us: http://bit.ly/joincloud
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Expand Networks Takes WAN Optimization Performance and Installation to New Industry Heights
Advanced operating system enables easy deployment, management & monitoring with increased levels of optimization
Expand Networks www.expand.com, the leader in optimizing WANs for branch office consolidation and virtualization, today announced a major upgrade to its operating system – OS 6.3 – that will significantly improve the functionality, value and installation of its Accelerators. This latest OS runs across Expand’s range of physical & virtual Accelerator solutions, and introduces advanced features to help customers achieve increased performance, ease of use, value for money, greater WAN provisioning capabilities and improved management and monitoring efficiencies.
The enhanced Layer 7 QoS features of OS 6.3 provide the highest levels of integrated visibility and control in a single OS of any vendor in the market, enabling organizations of all sizes to maximize their WAN infrastructure. OS 6.3 also introduces significant advancements in ease of deployment; for example, high latency environments requiring TCP acceleration benefit from enhanced dynamic SCPS support, and a new RDP proxy feature enables “zero touch” installation into Microsoft RDP environments.
WAN Performance Made Easy
As IT infrastructures become more virtualized and distributed, so the need for effective deployment management increases. OS 6.3 has a number of new and enhanced features that enable organizations to deploy in a more dynamic & intuitive way, ensuring ease of configuration, use and ongoing management of Expand WAN optimization solutions. These include:
· Central configuration – Enhanced central configuration enables single sided configuration, making global deployments across multiple timezones as simple as possible
· SCPS TCP Acceleration auto configuration – Single Sided “dynamic auto configuration” means no need to configure remote accelerators for acceleration functionality
· TCP auto bandwidth optimization/Virtual Bandwidth – Extended ability to Optimize and control Physical and additional virtual bandwidth in dynamic environments where capacity availability is constantly changing.
· Microsoft RDP proxy – Accelerators are uniquely auto configured for “zero touch” installation into RDP environments, to deliver simple and immediate optimization & acceleration benefits for Microsoft RDP protocols with no need to change RDP Server or client settings.
Improved Optimization, Acceleration, Visibility and Control
This latest OS dramatically enhances application visibility and control via enhanced layer 7 QoS, enabling organizations of all sizes to maximize their WAN infrastructure. The new and enhanced features include:
· Enhanced VMware Vsphere4 integration - Fault tolerance and High Availability (HA) in virtualized environments enabling IT to take advantage of VMware’s suite of management tools such as VMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and High Availability, to dynamically deploy, manage, maintain and assure the performance of Expand’s Virtual Accelerator.
· Enhanced web caching for non Hard Drive appliances – The ability to now use hard Drive caching techniques in Extreme environments on our non hard drive platforms via the use of a 4GB Solid Stat memory card that simply slots into the available expansion slot.
· Enhanced TCP Acceleration with Hybla - Congestion avoidance algorithm counteracting the performance deterioration of TCP connections within high-latency terrestrial or satellite radio links.
Combining these new features with its existing RDP and Citrix Layer 7 Visibility and Control capabilities, Expand now boasts the industry’s most comprehensive Layer 7 QoS engine enabling IT to easily identify, manage and control all applications traversing the enterprise & Cloud WAN, while deployment has become even more simplified with the new dynamic installation management features.
“While tactical optimization technologies can deliver extra network capacity, if it is not being controlled appropriately it can have a detrimental effect on the company’s most important applications and, as a result, its business performance,” comments Efi Gatmor, CTO of Expand Networks. “IT has realized that maximizing the WAN is no longer just about just providing acceleration, but about enabling enhanced levels of traffic visibility and control. These latest OS advancements further enhance Layer 7 visibility and ease of use, to provide greater control and optimization of the WAN thus enabling organizations to assure the quality of user experience across complex environments.”
“Committed to a following a wholly holistic approach to WAN Optimization, Expand enables organizations to choose and use the right tool for the right application – and optimize it – regardless of network environment, or protocol. With our integrated technology, we continue to deliver this experience across physical, virtual and mobile appliances, and will continue to innovate in meeting the evolving needs of organizations,” concludes Barr.
Expand Networks OS 6.3 is available to customers on request from today, with general availability in May.
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Expand Networks www.expand.com, the leader in optimizing WANs for branch office consolidation and virtualization, today announced a major upgrade to its operating system – OS 6.3 – that will significantly improve the functionality, value and installation of its Accelerators. This latest OS runs across Expand’s range of physical & virtual Accelerator solutions, and introduces advanced features to help customers achieve increased performance, ease of use, value for money, greater WAN provisioning capabilities and improved management and monitoring efficiencies.
The enhanced Layer 7 QoS features of OS 6.3 provide the highest levels of integrated visibility and control in a single OS of any vendor in the market, enabling organizations of all sizes to maximize their WAN infrastructure. OS 6.3 also introduces significant advancements in ease of deployment; for example, high latency environments requiring TCP acceleration benefit from enhanced dynamic SCPS support, and a new RDP proxy feature enables “zero touch” installation into Microsoft RDP environments.
WAN Performance Made Easy
As IT infrastructures become more virtualized and distributed, so the need for effective deployment management increases. OS 6.3 has a number of new and enhanced features that enable organizations to deploy in a more dynamic & intuitive way, ensuring ease of configuration, use and ongoing management of Expand WAN optimization solutions. These include:
· Central configuration – Enhanced central configuration enables single sided configuration, making global deployments across multiple timezones as simple as possible
· SCPS TCP Acceleration auto configuration – Single Sided “dynamic auto configuration” means no need to configure remote accelerators for acceleration functionality
· TCP auto bandwidth optimization/Virtual Bandwidth – Extended ability to Optimize and control Physical and additional virtual bandwidth in dynamic environments where capacity availability is constantly changing.
· Microsoft RDP proxy – Accelerators are uniquely auto configured for “zero touch” installation into RDP environments, to deliver simple and immediate optimization & acceleration benefits for Microsoft RDP protocols with no need to change RDP Server or client settings.
Improved Optimization, Acceleration, Visibility and Control
This latest OS dramatically enhances application visibility and control via enhanced layer 7 QoS, enabling organizations of all sizes to maximize their WAN infrastructure. The new and enhanced features include:
· Enhanced VMware Vsphere4 integration - Fault tolerance and High Availability (HA) in virtualized environments enabling IT to take advantage of VMware’s suite of management tools such as VMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and High Availability, to dynamically deploy, manage, maintain and assure the performance of Expand’s Virtual Accelerator.
· Enhanced web caching for non Hard Drive appliances – The ability to now use hard Drive caching techniques in Extreme environments on our non hard drive platforms via the use of a 4GB Solid Stat memory card that simply slots into the available expansion slot.
· Enhanced TCP Acceleration with Hybla - Congestion avoidance algorithm counteracting the performance deterioration of TCP connections within high-latency terrestrial or satellite radio links.
Combining these new features with its existing RDP and Citrix Layer 7 Visibility and Control capabilities, Expand now boasts the industry’s most comprehensive Layer 7 QoS engine enabling IT to easily identify, manage and control all applications traversing the enterprise & Cloud WAN, while deployment has become even more simplified with the new dynamic installation management features.
“While tactical optimization technologies can deliver extra network capacity, if it is not being controlled appropriately it can have a detrimental effect on the company’s most important applications and, as a result, its business performance,” comments Efi Gatmor, CTO of Expand Networks. “IT has realized that maximizing the WAN is no longer just about just providing acceleration, but about enabling enhanced levels of traffic visibility and control. These latest OS advancements further enhance Layer 7 visibility and ease of use, to provide greater control and optimization of the WAN thus enabling organizations to assure the quality of user experience across complex environments.”
“Committed to a following a wholly holistic approach to WAN Optimization, Expand enables organizations to choose and use the right tool for the right application – and optimize it – regardless of network environment, or protocol. With our integrated technology, we continue to deliver this experience across physical, virtual and mobile appliances, and will continue to innovate in meeting the evolving needs of organizations,” concludes Barr.
Expand Networks OS 6.3 is available to customers on request from today, with general availability in May.
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Monday, 12 April 2010
MobileIron's iPad App Monitors Corporate SmartPhones - Converge ...
MobileIron, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, introduced its MobileIron Sentry App for the Apple iPad. The app provides a mobile command center from which IT departments can monitor and take action on smartphones accessing enterprise email. The MobileIron Sentry App for iPad delivers real-time monitoring and response capabilities including:
* Dashboard view of smartphone connection activity.
* Identification of unauthorized or risky access.
* Blocking of rogue devices.
* Policy setting based on the device type employees are choosing.
MobileIron offers a Virtual Smartphone Platform that helps companies take control of smartphones, including for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, and Android.
MobileIron is headed by Bob Tinker (president and CEO), who previously led the Business Development team for Cisco's wireless business units. The company was co-founded by Suresh Batchu, previously Engineering Portfolio Leader for application switching and security at Nortel Enterprise Data Network, and Ajay Mishra, who previously was a co-founder of enterprise wireless pioneer Airespace (now part of Cisco).
Original Article - Broadband Wireless News - http://www.convergedigest.com/Wireless/broadbandwirelessarticle.asp?ID=30084
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* Dashboard view of smartphone connection activity.
* Identification of unauthorized or risky access.
* Blocking of rogue devices.
* Policy setting based on the device type employees are choosing.
MobileIron offers a Virtual Smartphone Platform that helps companies take control of smartphones, including for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, and Android.
MobileIron is headed by Bob Tinker (president and CEO), who previously led the Business Development team for Cisco's wireless business units. The company was co-founded by Suresh Batchu, previously Engineering Portfolio Leader for application switching and security at Nortel Enterprise Data Network, and Ajay Mishra, who previously was a co-founder of enterprise wireless pioneer Airespace (now part of Cisco).
Original Article - Broadband Wireless News - http://www.convergedigest.com/Wireless/broadbandwirelessarticle.asp?ID=30084
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