SMB IT | Curtis Franklin | April 2007

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April 2007

April 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Book Review: Windows Vista, The Missing Manual

I looked at the table of contents inside David Pogue's Windows Vista, The Missing Manual and thought I was going to pan it. I see a title containing a phrase like 'Missing Manual' and for some reason I think it's going to contain secret hacker-style Easter egg sort of things that geeks like me love. But read only the Table of Contents and all you see are explanations of all the obvious stuff that nerds already know. Things like operating the file system, right-clicking operations, printer installation, security settings, etc. etc. et nauseum cetera.

But don't close it based on the chapter headings. Start reading through it. Okay, it's still not for someone like me. But being this is a blog on SMB topics, this book very much is for someone on your SMB staff. Most likely several someones--usually those people who don't wear propeller beanies, never heard of gnome illusionists and have social lives. Pogue's Missing Manual does a real good job walking those folks through a potentially nerve wracking Vista move.

True, I wish it were smaller for those people, but there are ways around that. Generally, you show them a book this size and they start sniffling like Dumbo rubbing trunks with his Mom. But you don't have to make them read all of it. Skim the work and put together a syllabus for the average biz users in your group.

If it were me, I'd have them read chapters 1-3. Get them through that and they're generally good to go as long as you've got an IT guy around to do the setup, backup and similar back-end tasks for them. Lots of Web work and more reliance on bundled apps means they should also read chapters 7 & 11. After that, day-to-day non-nerd users are generally okay.

What's nice about this book is that it's got an accessible, tutorial writing style. Clear, non-geeky and intellectually padded with loads of annotated screen shots. Yeah, you can use this as a text book and teach your co-workers this stuff while they're reading it; but unless they ate a lot of lead paint chips as children, Pogue's word smithing doesn't really need a teacher's backup.

Power users can go through the other chapters in Pogue's book and get benefit, too. Especially the items on security, the new control panel features, the maintenance and disk sections and even the media sections if they're turning their home machines into TiVos.

It's not a book of hidden hacks and ways to make Vista do things only a hobbit could love, but Windows Vista, The Missing Manual is a solid primer for the new OS. Well written and clear to boot. Recommended as long as you're a member of the appropriate audience.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 30, 2007 11:05 AM

April 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/30

* Dell thinking about more than direct. In a leaked memo, Dell's CEO outlines a number of 'steps to success' one of which is looking at sales opps in an 'indirect' channel. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Cyber-currency business under federal indictment. A federal grand jury later last week unsealed an indictment against the three founders of E-Gold, an online currency operation. The charges claim the company was laundering money for kiddie porners, identity thieves and similar slime. Maybe the government is finally getting wise to the Web's convoluted process strands. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Brandjacking on the rise. Home users falling for the male enlargement ads aren't the only ones at risk from cyber-bad guys anymore. According to a study by MarkMonitor, corporations face threats from cyber-squatters, clickfraud and other abuses aimed specifically at businesses. (Source: PC World)

* Microsoft beats AT&T on patents. In a major upset, Microsoft wins a 7-1 decision on a patent infringement lawsuit against AT&T. So software coupled with hardware can't be patented. Ironically, this will be a big boost for open source folks and it's also going to turn a whole bunch of other patents on their ears. (Source: BetaNews)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 30, 2007 07:39 AM

April 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/27

* AdWords need supervision. Google's advertising engine is a quick source of revenue for many SMBs. But its AdWords system seems to have been hacked by malware dorks and is now distributing said evil code to unsuspecting recipients. Which would be your customers. Google better get on the stick with that. (Source: InfoWorld)

* McKinnon says hacker damage exaggerated. The pathetically infamous "NASA hacker", Gary McKinnon just went on record saying that businesses are exaggerating the amount of damage hackers cause. Then again, he's awaiting deportation for computer crimes, so I'm guessing he's not entirely objective. (Source: Silicon.com)

* AOL betas Yahoo-copy home page. In line with its new Web-only direction, AOL just betaed a look at its new home page. And it's Yahoo. Like almost a pixel for pixel copy. Doesn't AOL have any creative people of its own over there? (Source: BetaNews)

* Wikipedia for the legal set. This is cool for SMBers who need to catch up on legislation that may be affecting their business. WashingtonWatch.com is a Wikipedia-style site designed to explain new legislation and trends as well as engender discussion. (Source: PC World)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 27, 2007 10:33 AM

April 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/26

* Dell gets into solid state, too. The Dell guys won't let Sony get the best of 'em, so they're introing a solid state disk option on the Latitude line of notebooks. Hey, solid disks are nice, but I wish they'd get this exploding battery thing under control first. Seems to me that solid disks could take a back seat until they make sure my crotch doesn't catch fire. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Web 2.0 security rears ugly head. It had to happen sometime. So much work in getting Web 2.0 glitz up on the Web that security has taken a back seat. So now, things like the Samy worm pop up and exploit the new tech. If your SMB is based on that, better pay attention now rather than get fried later. (Source: PC World)

* New Internet speed record set. Some Internet2 researchers just set a new speed record: 9.08Gbps. Hithertofore (it's a word!), achieved only in LAN settings using 10Gbps + fiber tech. Wonder how long it'll take Verizon to make this part of their backbone. Probably be beaming to work by then. (Source: BetaNews)

* Hitachi releases new enterprise hard disks. UP to 1TB in capacity (want one of THOSE!!) and speeds up to 10K rpm. What's 'enterprise' seems to be size and the channel they're selling through. (Source: DailyTech)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 26, 2007 05:46 AM

April 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/25

* TJMaxx shopping for KY. This is going to hurt. But aside from nuking a company that seems to deserve it, this is also going to open the floodgates of data security lawsuits across all manner of businesses. Gonna mean a boom for both security vendors and lawyers. Hopefully, it'll put some pressure on data thieves, too. (Source: InformationWeek)

* FaceTime does Skype manager. I doubt many businesses are running Skype as a primary phone service; but I bet there are a bunch using it as backup voice. For those, FaceTime just came out with a management console. Should help with control and security. (Source: InfoWorld)

* More digital wallet news. This time it's Nokia partnering with...well everybody except anyone we care about in the US. Digital payment plan for use with cell phones, initiated by Nokia, also including LG and Samsung as handset makers, MasterCard as payment processor, and a whole pile of Euro and Asia cell phone providers. Naturally, no cell phone providers in the US because Nokia's plan requires sharing and that's against the evil empire's number 1 rule. (Source: PC World)

* Wanna know if you're getting paid enough? This site will tell you. Called PayScale and it dynamically compares your paycheck numbers with those of other folks doing the same job. Always collecting data, so the comparisons get more accurate over time. (Source: CNET)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 25, 2007 09:48 AM

April 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld LIVE! #12: Managed Services and SaaS

This week it's about discovering the difference between managed services and software as a service providers. Certainly siblings, but each has different goals, different technologies and as it turns out different concerns with government legislation.

To get the scoop, we've got Charles Weaver, president of the MSP Alliance; Ken Rudin, CEO of LucidEra (an SaaS business reporting provider); and Paul Lindo, CIO of FB2 Corporation (an SaaS CRM vendor).

You can download this week's episode by clicking on this link: Listen!

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 25, 2007 09:33 AM

April 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/24

* HP has new inkjet cartridges. Three new types: 'standard', 'value', and 'specialty'. Designed for people who print a little, print a lot and print specialty items. For all those who haven't moved to color lasers yet. (Source: HP)

* Salesforce does SaaS. Wish they'd had this when we were building our CRM. But folks into that today can begin using Salesforce's platform and dev language to build SaaS apps of their own. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Need money? Go online. Seems the growing community of Web moola lenders is still hungry for customers. Turns out they're wooing a potentially riskier class of borrowers than their brick and mortar counterparts. Hey, maybe I should re-fi again. (Source: PC World)

* VA best tech job state. The AeA just pubbed a study showing that Virginia leads the union in concentration of tech jobs. And that's tech jobs in teh private sector, not just because there's loads of gov there. (Source: InformationWeek)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 24, 2007 08:22 AM

April 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/23

* PC games coming back. With all the attention going to the console wars, PC-based games seem to have been taking a hit. Turns out that's changing. Might it have something to do with consoles costing as much as PCs? (Source: NY Times)

* RIM readies client software. Hey, if Microsoft can do it for Exchange, the RIM guys figure they can do it for the Blackberry. Announced for later this year, so far confirmed to run on Windows Mobile 6. That's the easy road, tho. Be better for the non-Exchange-using world if they got it running on Palm and Linux, too. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Microsoft to double PCs by 2015. Another big goal from the guys in Redmond. Forget the spiraling economy. Forget global warming. Microsoft's going to double the number of PCs on people's desks in the next 8 years. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Your SMB successful? Take a lesson from David Hayden. A model of the dot-com entrepreneur, Hayden's in deep doo doo right now because the very people entrusted with his wealth are now looking to take him for all he's worth. (Source: NY Times)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 23, 2007 08:30 AM

April 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft & Unisys do Free Hosted Exchange 2007 Trial

Maybe you're thinking about Exchange 2007 for your SMB. But perhaps you're not sure how all those new features are going to work in real life. Unisys and Microsoft have your back.

Sign up for the trial and you get a temp account on a Unisys-hosted Exchange 2007 server farm. From here you get full access to Ex2007's features, including the ability to get email, manage contacts, schedule meetings and access your box via the latest OWA interface. You can even sync with compatible mobile devices.

You can sign up for the free service here.

'Course you can still apply for the regular Exchange Eval Software, but the hosted service lets you start exploring Ex2007 right away.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 20, 2007 11:38 AM

April 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/20

* RIM explains the outage. Just in case your road warriorness came to a screeching halt last Tuesday-Wednesday, the RIM guys are offering an explanation. Read and regain the warm and fuzziness. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Open Source going mobile, too. The Googlers and Apple have been pushing hard into the mobile world, so now it's the Penguin's turn. The guys behind the popular Gnome open source user interface have announced that they're going for the mobile segment, too. (Source: PC World)

* Google chasing collab tech big-time. First it's Google Apps, then CRM and Google Talk and now they've bought video conferencing software from a Swedish company, called Marratech. Looks like the want to stomp on Office Live in a big way. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Lenovo axing 1400 workers. Move to Taiwan, fire off the fat. Lenovo announced it was cutting 1400 jobs throughout its worldwide operations in an effort to 'streamline' operations. Hope it doesn't streamline ThinkPad product and service quality into the bargain. (Source: DigiTimes)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 20, 2007 11:13 AM

April 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/19

* New legislation to revamp patent system. FINALLY! The Patent Reform Act was introduced yesterday. Grants patents to those first to file rather than first to invent, limits damages and has a new procedure for challenging patents. (Source: ComputerWorld)

* Salesforce.com goes political. The Salesforce.com guys just introduced Campaignforce--a version of their CRM software designed specifically for politicians. They've got an optional PromiseTracker to keep your candidate up-to-date on lies and even an interface to QuickBooks to track bribes. KIDDING! (Source: CNET)

* More useful to SMBs: Symantec offers disaster recovery. Symantec just announced its first software-as-a-service product, called the Symantec Protection Network-Online Backup Service (marketing-challenged). Disaster recovery is all over the description, but it boils down to online backup. (Source: Network Computing)

* Numara updates Track-It. Long-time favorite help desk and asset tracking app for my SMB customers, Track-It just went to version 8. Now has a redesigned and supposedly much more intuitive interface and also updated reporting so Track-It can better...track. (Source: Numara Software)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 19, 2007 06:57 AM

April 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/18

* IBM announces new Web 2.0 portal. IBM is announcing a WebSphere Portal redesign with new tools designed to let businesses do quick mashups with disparate software, including both Web-based and enterprise silo-type software. Testing to follow. (Source: IBM)

* Ray of hope for Vonage? Vonage is in trouble with Verizon over patents. But now, third-party telecomm experts (who admittedly still have ties to Vonage) are questioning the validity of Verizon's patent claims. Maybe Vonage won't need to find a workaround. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Porn on 1 in 4 corporate PCs. Rather surprising in this day and age of desktop audits and content filtering, but a new study shows nudie pix on 25% of corporate PCs. Definitely a case for corporate big brother. Then again, the study was commissioned by a software firm that specializes in keeping desktops clean. And 25% seems more than a little high. Grain-of-salt alert. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Adobe releases Creative Suite 3. It's out and about and rewritten for Intel Macs. Do it all from conception to final rich media presentation. (Source: IT Wire)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 18, 2007 08:16 AM

April 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld LIVE! #11: Identity Theft & SMB

This week we're talking about identity theft. Not just how to protect yourself, but how to protect your business. To help, we've got Joanne McNabb, the Chief of the California Office of Privacy Protection; Pat Dane, the chief revenue officer for MyPublicInfo.com, and our own Victor R. Garza, an author of our Zero Day blog.

You can download this week's episode by clicking on this link: Listen!

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 17, 2007 03:46 PM

April 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/17

First, our sincere condolences to the victims' families of yesterday's senseless violence at Virginia Tech.

* Vonage customers better have a backup. They'll most likely figure something out, but for now, SMB Vonage customers are working without a net. The company has admitted it has no workaround on continuing operations without continuing to infringe on Verizon patents. Means a shutdown unless they come up with something fairly fast. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Google CRM out and about. CRM for Google was built by Etelos and attempts to combine CRM features with Google Apps and Google Desktop. It's got 1500 beta customers, but is going commercial as of today. Should be an enterprise version in the works, too. (Source: PC World)

* Windows Live Hotmail going live in US next month. The new mail client that's supposed to put Microsoft back on top of the Web 2.0 cool list. It's going to be leaking in a few features at a time, starting in Europe and India. But it should be fully available in the US by mid-May. (Source: BetaNews)

* Talk again about Internet sales tax. In case your SMB is a Web e-tailer, this is for you. Senatorial legislators and the National Governors Association have formed a powerful alliance arguing that out-of-state Web retailers shouldn't be immune to state sales taxes. Gonna be a fun fight. (Source: CNET)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 17, 2007 08:58 AM

April 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/16

* CA upgrades small biz security software. This refers to the company's Protection Suites, includes Windows-only AV, anti-spyware and desktop storage. Now has an SMB version priced at $325+ for 5-user packages. (Source: PC World)

* AOL founder to get into med site. Stephen Case is set to unveil his new consumer health site, RevolutionHealth.com. Should be big competition for WebMD--not just for content but for ads, too. (Source: New York Times)

* Businesses getting into SaaS. Software as a Service is becoming more and more popular for businesses of all sizes, mainly for its flexibility as a software delivery model. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Dell does low-power servers. They just announced the PowerEdge Energy Smart 2970 which uses the company's new Dual Dynamic Power Management capability. Does better power for quad-core CPUs. (Source: NWC)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 16, 2007 06:42 AM

April 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Q1 Tech Wages Breaking Records

The Yoh Index of Technology wages is a quarterly index apparently used by a number of big 'ole Fortune 500 companies to determine salary levels. Overall, the Yoh-Yoh-ers are saying that hourly tech wages rose an average of 5.5 percent in Q1. Presented a table that looked like this:

.NET Developer $53.40
Aerospace Engineer $48.41
Clinical Research Associate $59.83
Database Administrator $59.80
ETL Developer $66.52
Hardware Engineer $75.68
Java Developer $57.27
Project Manager $60.73
SAP® Functional Consultant $76.67
Technical Consultant $83.72

I love how 'technical consultant' is worth more than anyone with a specific skill.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 13, 2007 12:11 PM

April 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/13

* IBM teaming to get into hosted apps. IBM is teaming up with mid-sized Indian hospitals on hosted applications. Supposedly a growing market opportunity in off-shore software. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Apache scrapping with Sun. The Apache folks are getting into a donnybrook with Sun Microsystems about the Java Technology Compatibility Kit required for the Apache Harmony project--an open source implementation of Java 5. Not smart on Sun's part to start battening those hatches now. (Source: PC World)

* T-Mobile goes low-cost with Sidekick. Just in case your salesfolks have been wanting a high-priced Sidekick, now you can give them a low-cost job. Should be about $99 with HTML capabilities and full AIM/Yahoo/MSN IM features. (Source: BetaNews)

* Google getting deeper into voice. A self-described 'Google watcher' says the company just got deeper into speech with a patent being filed for voice-controlled search technology. More hints at an eventual Google phone interface. (Source: InformationWeek)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 13, 2007 09:51 AM

April 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Iomega Announces High-End 450r NAS

Iomega StorCenter Pro NAS 450r2.jpg
Iomega's all about small and medium-sized businesses. In fact, only the SMB market--they're very vocal about that. So when Iomega says 'high-end' don't go thinking about a honking rack full of disks and servers like you'd buy from EMC. Think about the new 450r.

It's full name is the StorCenter Pro NAS 450r. Comes as a 1U rack-mount device with fully hot-swappable SATA II drives. It runs Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 on top of two dual-core Xeon CPUs, a gig or so of RAM and dual gig Ethernet ports. Also has a couple of USB ports for easy print serving.

Aside from Windows Storage Server, the box also comes with CA's BrightStor backup, CA's eTrust AV software and a 5-client license of EMC's Retrospect Express client backup software. Your basic backup-everyone-in-a-box package.

The 450r costs $3,999-to-$4,999 depending on whether you choose 1TB or 2TB versions. Iomega says they'll be coming out with a 4TB and larger version later this year, once the right SATA II drives become available. You should be able to upgrade at that time (not confirmed from Iomega as yet), though you'll need to do it across all your disks.

Overall, the 450r looks like a good bet for a medium-sized business. The right network ports so you can plug it into a 1GbE backbone along with your servers, a good OS, a decent backup package. I think it's overkill for small offices, however, so I wish they'd offer more than just a 5-user bundle of Retrospect. Then again, Vista's internal backup package is pretty good and works just fine with Windows Storage Server on the back-end.

The 450r is announced today, but won't be available until the end of the month.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 12, 2007 09:55 AM

April 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/12

* Oracle CRM goes BlackBerry. Oracle announced that its taking its Siebel CRM software mobile. Idea is to provide a Siebel-compatible mobile interface, tho whether it'll be full-powered or not remains to be seen. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Vista betas coming to a close. If your SMB is running one or more Vista machines on late beta versions of the OS, then your feebie time is coming to a close. MS is reminding folks that those betas expire June 1. And that's not support...that's the beta. As in, you try and logon and all you get is a prompt to buy a full license key or re-install the OS. (Source: ComputerWorld)

* Google cuts into a ClickBot. Seems the Googlers ar trying to make the world aware of its click-fraud woes. They dissected a clickbot back in the summer of 2006 and did a white paper on the result. Seems they're losing $50,000 because of this thing, tho they can't say at what interval. Considering how many billions those guys have coming out of their ears, I'm having a hard time feeling urgent about this. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Franklin Covey does Vista Gadget. The world's biggest time managers announced a new version of their PlanPlus application along with a Task List gadget so you can track things next to a clock and scrolling pics of your kids. (Source: Franklin Covey)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 12, 2007 08:25 AM

April 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld LIVE! #10: Data Protection

And we're back. This week it's all about Data Protection. We've got Rob Emsley from EMC; FB2's CIO, Paul Lindo and our own InfoWorld executive editor, Doug Dineley. We get into what data protection is, where it's going and why SMBs should care.

You can download this week's episode by clicking on this link: Listen!

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 11, 2007 11:29 AM

April 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/11

* IBM and HP make new SMB plays. It's the final frontier and the big vendors are chasing it. IBM's introing a new server line, while HP is releasing a new storage platform. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Darwin launches online data loss calculator. Need to impress the suits with the potential financial pain of a data loss incident? The folks at Darwin Underwriters just launched an online calculator for just this purpose via Tech/404. (Source: Darwin)

* Microsoft not the only one with Patch Tuesday. Seems both Oracle and Symantec had/will have a patch release on Tuesday. Symantec was yesterday, and fixed a flaw that affects all Enterprise Security Manager installations. Oracle's is coming next Tuesday and will fix 37 little boo-boos ranging across all its product lines. (Source: InformationWeek, ZDNet)

* Retailers and FBI team up on crime database. They're calling it the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet), and it's a secure database that will let retailers nationwide share information on crimes, scams and other dangers not just with the FBI but with each other, too. For SMBs in retail, this is a must-look. (Source: Dark Reading)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 11, 2007 04:46 AM

April 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/10

* 5 patches today. Microsoft is releasing 5 patches today, including four security patches one of them ranked 'critical.' There's also an update to the Malicious Software Removal Tool. Get 'em while they're hot. (Source: RedmondMag)

* Salesforce.com releases new tool. They're calling it Salesforce Content and it's designed to let workers do that all-powerful buzzword: collaboration. Share email, docs, videos, etc. just like the wiki folks or the SharePoint guys. (Source: InformationWeek)

* A coming inkjet revolution? There's some new inkjet technology on the horizon. It's called Memjet and could allow manufacturers to put out $200 inkjet color printers that can churn up to 60 pages per minute--30ppm for photo-quality color. Love the concept, but at those speeds, their cartridge disposal methods better be pretty green. And cheap. (Source: PC World)

* Sony comes out with mini-Vaio. The PS3 may be getting hammered, but Sony's still a power in notebooks. Just came out with a 12.1-inch sub-notebook, the Vaio Type-G, that's not only small but carries 32GB of flash storage instead of a hard disk. (Source: Gizmodo)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 10, 2007 06:07 AM

April 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/9

I'm operating as though today isn't a holiday. So if it happens to be one for you...well, pretend.

* Vonage gets a reprieve. Vonage has been under fire from Verizon for using some patented tech it shouldn't have. Now they have a reprieve. But if you'd like the full history of the problem as well as an explanation of what this means to your Vonage service, then hit those links. (Source: InfoWorld, NetworkWorld)

* Citrix getting into desktop virtualization. Guess that makes sense. Their marketing play was similar to virtualization, just using remote access. Since that's on its way out, moving into true desktop-v is a logical move. (Source: TechWeb)

* KDDI to offer cell net in US. KDDI is the second largest mobile phone operator in the Japan, for those who don't recognize the name. They'll be renting pipes and bandwidth from Sprint/Nextel, but their marketing will be targeting mainly Japanese workers visiting the US. Look for a full roll-out by the middle of this month. (Source: ZDNet)

* Dash hands out free GPSes. Dash Navigation is handing out 2000 GPS units for a free six-month test drive. Just got over to the Dash.net Web site to sign up. I'm going there now. (Source: TGDaily)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 9, 2007 06:25 AM

April 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/6

* Need Vista deployment tome ships. For those who are rolling out Redmond's next big thing and struggling with the anemic amount of help material for it on Microsoft's site, fret no longer. Redmond just shipped the 1500-page Windows Vista Resource Kit. If you can't find help there, you're hurting. (Source: PC World)

* VeriSign to raise domain fees. Not a big change, so no practical need to freak. 7% increase for .com names and a 10 cent increase for .net names. Not gonna break anyone's budget. (Source: CNET)

* Thinking about a notebook? Think Acer. Yep, Acer's managed to move up in the rankings enough to become the third biggest player in notebooks. I've reviewed a couple of them in the past year, and it's no joke. Check them out. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Parallels Desktop nuking Mac batteries. Ouch. I'm a devout Parallels user, so I hope they fix this quick. Seems a noted Mac/Windows compatibility site, MacWindows, has pubbed a series of reports that indicate that Parallels, build 3188, is disabling batteries on MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks. They shut down on battery power and won't restart until hooked to main power. 'Course, it hasn't actually happened to me yet, so it's not a universal problem. (Source: ITWire)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 6, 2007 06:48 AM

April 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)

REVIEW: Business Desktops from Dell and HP

Just had a chance to set up a few Dell Optiplex 745 small form factor biz PCs for a sometime client. That reminded me that I've had an HP Compaq dx2200 MicroTower sitting in the downstairs lab for quite a while. So here's a short comparison of the two.

DELL OPTIPLEX 745
The Dell OptiPlex line has been around for several years. They're not really value-oriented like the HP machine, but when someone mentions a PC meant for business use, it's the OptiPlex I think of. Though I try to do it without ending on a preposition.

The machines I was setting up cost just over $1700 and were housed in a sleek ultra-small case that fit just about anywhere. Each came with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, a gig of RAM (we ordered that in a single DIMM so we can expand if we feel like it), a fast 160GB SATA hard disk and a 256MB dual-monitor-capable ATI video card. Got all that because this particular client bought these jobbies with Vista Business pre-installed. He's not worried about software compatibility, since he's one of the lucky few who isn't dependent on some old package that won't be Vista-ized for another year. He also got a nice lease deal via Dell's small business leasing service and some nice 19-inch flat panels tossed in, too.

Our configurations were fairly basic since this is a small 5-person office. But the OptiPlex line is capable of things enterprise-class IT admins might be interested in, too. Dell has options for systems management and diagnostics in hardware, the ability to enable or disable Wake-on-LAN, and more. While purchasing, you can even ask for things like disabling games, Outlook Express or legacy communications applications--'course, Vista Business takes care of that for you, but it's a nice thought nonetheless.

The OptiPlex's are also capable of both basic and advancec configurtions. The machines we purchased started at $950 (sans display), but can run over $2K if you add in things like second hard disks, upgraded optical drives and similar stuff. Dell also allows you to choose multiple partitions to be pre-installed on a single drive as well. It's not the be-all/end-all of advanced configs, but it's nice to be able to setup machines with that degree of tech details right off the Web customizer.

Dell has the ability to do custom software installations on your machines prior to deployment, but nobody offered that to us during our sales cycle--guess when you're only buying 5 machines the more advanced stuff gets left in the background. Then again, they did have a good sales and leasing staff and we got what we ordered purty darn quick and with no screwups on delivery.

Performance, BTW, is great. I can't run benchmarks since (a) it's Vista and (b) these are client machines, not lab machines; but setup, Office installation, and some day-to-day-type use showed us these machines were quick enough to keep the rank and file happy even under Vista's heavier hardware load. Then the guys started doing their dev work on the new machines and we didn't hear a performance peep, either--that's the acid test to me. Quiet users, happy Oliver. Overall, we likee.

HP COMPAQ DX2200
Not as rosy a hardware picture as the Dell OptiPlex 745, HP's dx2200 nevertheless deserves attention because (a) it's not meant to compete with the 745, and (b) it's way, way cheaper. Look up 'value PC' in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of the dx2200 there.

My test unit came in an old-style tower case filled with mostly old-style hardware: A Pentium 4 3.0GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB SATA hard disk, a CD-RW/DVD-R combo optical drive and a 17-inch flat display. The OS was Window XP Pro, but that's because they shipped this box back in late 2006. Today, HP adverts the dx2200 as being 'Vista-capable'. However, I'm going on 8 months of living with Windows Vista on a variety of machines and you wouldn't want to run it on the dx2200 configured this way. That's not to say you can't, but you'll lose the fancy graphics eye candy.

But that weakness is really the box's strength. This thing starts at $400. Ours was $539 as configured (and that includes the display). So I could have set up my client's 5-man office with Windows XP-running dx2200s for the price of two Vista-running OptiPlex's--with money left over for a new color laser printer and a Linksys small office switch. Not bad.

But not good enough for that particular client. Those guys are semi-techies running more than just email and MS Office. They're not doing space shuttle simulations, but nevertheless, the hardware in the dx2200s simply wouldn't have hacked it for these folks, which is where you really need to be careful with this particular machine. Power users, techies and similar workers aren't meant for dx2200 hardware.

Then again, I've got a friend who owns an 15-person plumbing business. That's six PCs in the office that need to be replaced because they're seven year old and out of warranty. Those guys do email, scan eBay and Home Depot for equipment and job leads and run a hosted CRM application. Now that's perfect for the dx2200.

And while the dx2200 isn't going to have the OptiPlex's advanced desktop management features, HP doesn't skimp on back-end sales services. We got a good lease deal from Dell on the OptiPlex boxes even though we were only buying 5. But HP has SMB-oriented financing and leasing, too, as well as a good bundling option with their printer business.

All in all, I'd go with the Dell OptiPlex 745 over the HP Compaq dx2200 for most information workers. $400 hardware is, actually, just that, and it simply won't cut it for anyone who has risen above an email and basic productivity level. But there are millions of business PC users who actually haven't done that. And for them, especially their managers who don't want to spend $2K for someone to check an electronic calendar, the dx2200 is perfect.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 5, 2007 11:50 AM

April 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/5

* MS email customers looking at instability. Microsoft has this problem with all their hosted services--especially during my time on Spaces. Now it's Hotmail, which is related to their Office Live email services. Seems Microsoft is increasing capacity to steal some of Yahoo's thunder. The upgrade'll be good but users are going to be suffering from some services glitches for a while. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Cisco introes new SMB certification & products. Cisco announces a new certification, called 'Select,' which will focus on its SMB-oriented products and services. They also showed off a new line of voice and data products aimed at companies with 50 or fewer employees.--called, appropriately for once, the Small Business Communications System. Gonna steal some thunder from Microsoft's Response Point. (Source: eChannel Live)

* Lenovo announces consumer unit. The folks smart enough to buy the ThinkPad line are fighting to sell PCs outside their home area and core expertise (business). So they've announced a new consumer division, tho we haven't seen specific products out of it yet. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Kiss that VGA port goodbye. Still a couple of years out before they actually disappear, DVI and VGA ports for monitors and projectors are nevertheless dead in the water. That's because the VESA org just approved the DisplayPort 1.1 spec. Faster, supports hi-def, smaller plugs and more. Downside is that it also integrated Blu-Ray's DRM, tho I'm not sure what that's doing in the vid port. (Source: BetaNews)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 5, 2007 06:35 AM

April 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld LIVE! #9: The Evolution of Cell Phones

Again, we had a rerun this past week because my jet setting co-host, Scott Draughon, had to hob-knob with the stars in California. We're back this week, however, and our topic is the future of cell phones.

We're talking with Stephane Marceau, CEO of up-and-comer MobiVOX; Vivek Khuller, founder and CEO of DiVitas (look for a Test Center review on their technology real soon) and InfoWorld's own chief technologist, Tom Yager, who just got back from CTIA with wireless stars in his eyes.

MobiVOX, by the way, is a tres cool Canadian company that's in open beta right now. The software allows any cell phone (and they emphasize 'any') to run a Skype client. It's also supposed to enable other forms of VoIP, but that Skype thing is immediate and sexy. I'm going to give it a shot later today. If you'd like to give it a try, the nice folks at MobiVOX have opened a special place for InfoWorld readers to give them a whirl. Just head over here and follow the instructions.

Meantime, if you want to hear us wax rhapsodic on the future of cell phones to consumers and business users, you can download this week's episode by clicking on this link: Listen!

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 4, 2007 09:41 AM

April 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/4

* The FBI's ongoing hunt for virtual crime. Seems the explosive growth in virtual worlds is prompting the FBI to check into gambling on Second Life. Maybe they'll check into illicit wagering on hobbit-tossing contests in World of Warcraft, too. (Source: CNET)

* Cisco oozing into Linksys brand. Seems Cisco is looking for new ways into the small biz market, so expect resellers to offer new 'synergies' between Linksys and Cisco-branded products aimed at SMBs real soon. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Microsoft expressing its love for Expressions. Seems the Redmondites originally decided to keep its Expressions Web dev tool from its mainstream developer community. And it further seems that the developers in that community expressed massive irateness at this obviously benighted move. So Microsoft has shifted back into the light and will offer Expressions to its MSDN developer community. Durn tootin'. (Source: ZDNet)

* Google debuts Mac tools. I should have reviewed this. Damn! Almost two years after releasing Google Desktop for Windows, the Googlers have just released the Google Desktop for the Mac. These guys do the hands-on I should have done. (Source: Ars Technica)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 4, 2007 04:40 AM

April 03, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMBs: Think About Buying an Office Condo

home office1.jpg
BusinessWeek just did a feature on a burgeoning trend in the SMB space: buying an office condo. The trend here in the Big Apple area is similar, but, affected by high urban pricing, has evolved into larger companies creating more joint office campuses to ease expansion needs. Prices are good and the ability to cash in on an office sale allows you to view the office as an investment rather than simply another liability.

But office park condos aren't the only ways you might cash in like this. Small businesses and new businesses, especially, can look at other options, including residential condos and houses. The upsides are similar to those in an office park or building scenario, though there are a few additional gotchas you need to consider:

1. Check the real estate forecasts for your potential buying area. Make sure you're not looking at a possible loss. The nice thing about this approach is that you can resell the property to either another business or a residential consumer.

2. Make sure the property is in a live/work zone. This becomes especially important if you wind up needing any remodeling that requires subsequent inspections -- electrical, plumbing, etc.

3. Business-class broadband services. Important if you're hosting a few servers yourself. Not so important for folks who aren't hosting machines, especially if a large chunk of your employees are virtual. In my experience, however, you're going to bump your head on residential bandwidth limits with more than 5 users. Best to make sure you can upgrade to higher-end business DSL or T-1 services, just in case.

Frankly, I really like the idea--as long as you've got the disposable income at present. If I had a limited budget, I'd definitely opt for cheaper rent or virtual environments and spend my money on more critical areas of the business. But if you've got the spare dollars, then real estate is a solid investment.

The BusinessWeek article points out that should your company fall on hard times, the property might become a burden; and, similarly, if you suddenly hit a windfall and require a quick bump in available space, a real estate purchase might be unduly constraining.

Frankly, I don't agree with either of those. My company is in tight-budget mode right now, and if we had an internal real estate investment to draw upon I can't think it would be anything other than positive. You can borrow against it or move out, go fully virtual, and rent the space to someone else, creating an additional revenue stream. And if you're suddenly successful and need more space, I still don't see the advantage of this over renting an office.

In the renting scenario, I suppose you could talk your landlord into exchanging your lease for something larger in the same complex or simply adding the next condo over onto yours. That's still available to you in the purchase scenario--just a different way of planning. And if direct expansion isn't feasible, there are so many technologies designed to tie two office sites together virtually, I can't imagine a business that couldn't be divided that way with a little planning.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 3, 2007 11:38 AM

April 03, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/3

* Vista gets new licensing options. The Redmondites just issued two new licensing options for Vista Enterprise customers. Option one covers diskless computers, option two covers a client version of Windows on servers so users can run them elsewhere virtually. (Source: InfoWorld)

* Online ads to surpass radio. This is good news for both SMBs and InfoWorld, which just went online-only as of yesterday's last print issue. Meantime, a study from ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that Internet advertising will grow another 28.2% in 2007 which will put it ahead of radio--though I think those are UK numbers. (Source: PC World)

* Spam soars and targets SMBs. MessageLabs just issued numbers stating that spam levels have jumped 76.3% just in Q1 of 2007. And guess who most of it is aimed at: that's right, we hapless SMBers. I hate those guys. (Source: InformationWeek)

* Deepfish followed closely by Minimo. Actually, Deepfish is following Minimo, because the latter is actually being released while Deepfish is only an early beta. But Minimo is definitely behind in terms of press. But it is available and does support Windows Mobile 5 or higher, so give it a shot. Available here. (Source: PC World via Yahoo)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 3, 2007 06:40 AM

April 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Dell Competes with ToughBook

Panasonic sent me a ToughBook a couple of years ago. This was still the full-bore, can't kill it ToughBook that looks like a space ship component. (Now, Panasonic's introed new ToughBooks that are shorter on toughness, longer on style and aimed 'business rugged' whatever that means.) Brian Chee and I had some fun throwing the thing across the ANCL lab and then seeing if it would still run--it did, never even hiccuped.

Seems rugged PCs is a decent enough market for some more big-name competition, however, and right now that name is Dell. The company recently introduced a new Latitude ATG (stands for All-Terrain Grade, tho it should be All-Terrain Geek) notebook, aimed at road warriors who need to take their PCs into less-then-friendly conditions. The box is optimized to resist dust, big-time vibrations and higher-than-average moisture--though it's definitely not water-proof. Still, it ain't a wimp, since Dell says the ATG can pass the MIL-STD810F spec for battle-ready hardware.

The ATG comes with a Core 2 Duo, up to 4GB of RAM, a shock-mounted 80GB hard disk, and Vista or XP. The screen is optimized for outdoor viewing, the case is made of partially rubberized magnesium alloy with the external ports protected from environmental nastiness.

All in all, it looks like a worthy competitor to the ToughBook line and runs about $2,600 for those who are interested.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 2, 2007 02:18 PM

April 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 4/2

* April Fools jokes from Google. Something about a free print-and-deliver service for GMail and a hi-speed Internet service being offered through your toilet, called Dark Porcelain. Hee hee. Ha ha. Couple more hee-hee's from Phonescoop (Samsung's switchblade phone) and ThinkGeek (the WiiHelm) (Source: San Jose Mercury News)

* Game not over for US Internet gambling. Congress may have passed its anti-Internet gambling law within the US, but the results haven't been as expected. Not only has this spawned an off-shore Web gambling boom, now the World Trade Organization has declared Congress' action illegal. Web gambling may be coming back to the US after all. (Source: BetaNews)

* PayPal wooing SMBs with new services. This is an April 1 story, so I'm hoping it's not a hoax, but if it is it's a pretty boring one. If it's not, then it's a good way for smaller businesses to manage payment processing with their own branding on the front and PayPal's processing services on the back. (Source: PC World)

* Could be an H1-B visa rush today. Today's the day that the US government begins accepting H1-B visa applications. Given the immigration boom, analysts are expecting a glut of applications. Get in line early. (Source: ComputerWorld)

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 2, 2007 06:47 AM

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