It's the End of Windows As We Know It...

...and I feel fine.

We all should feel fine actually, because the launch of Windows 8 is just around the corner this year.  "But Herr Leader," you ask, "Windows 7 was just released?  Why is Microsoft trying to hurt our brains?"   It's easy Skippy, they're not.  Windows 8 isn't going to be replacing Windows 7 as a desktop/laptop OS.  It will however be replacing them on Tablets and making Windows Phone 7.5 look even better.  This article over at CNN reminded me that I needed to talk about it with y'all. :)

For those of you who haven't seen, there is a beta for Windows 8 available to test, and all reports come across well.  I've yet to pull this and set it up myself (as my tablet is an ARM tablet and I can't get it on there yet), but as an Xbox user and Windows Phone adopter, I'm already quite used to it.  Knowing Microsoft, they're not looking to replace Windows 7 yet either, because they've been driving so hard to get it adopted by businesses...as well it should be, it's probably the best OS they've come up with in a very long time.

Rather than force an OS to conform to two distinct platforms (touch units and traditional units are NOT the same thing), and having a crappy experience on one or the other, they've sidestepped that nightmare.  This sidestep allows MS to put out for both platforms as it perfects both.  This, in my opinion, will then lead to Windows 9...a hybridization of both Windows 7 & 8...but that's several years off.  Here's a link to a great article at Forrester about Windows 8 and adoption.  It's nice to know my thoughts are on the level with the guys who get paid to think about these kinds of things. :)

If you get a chance, grab a copy of the beta and test it out.  I think that most folks will enjoy it...and it's good to see Microsoft taking a leap forward instead of playing "Three Stooges" with the rest of the companies in the IT Space.

Have a great weekend!

HP Chimes In on a Special PC Mall Webinar...

So BYOD (bring your own device) is getting bigger and bigger...and while some of us have been talking about this for awhile, it's good to see heavyweights like HP start to get involved.

We here at PC Mall have set up a special webinar for April 26th, in which experts from HP will be discussing how to handle BYOD in your environment.  So if you're not on the Meraki train, and prefer some HP flavoring to your network, this seminar is for you!

Lastly, here's a good article on this over at Forbes.  However I think the illustrious author forgot the 6th step...Call your PC Mall Dragontech team to help you get to where you need to be! :)

 

Virtualization Management Tools

I happened across this article last night (miracle of Stumble!)...and thought that y'all would find it useful.

Note that this is also end of month and end of the quarter.  If you've not called and ordered from us yet, why are you reading this?  I know you've got something...heck, I bet you $1 there's something you've forgotten.  Call us and let's talk about it! :)

 

update:  sorry about that...link should be fixed now. :)

Consumerization of IT Strikes Back...

(Cue cease and desist from Lucas in 3...2...1... ;) )

Seriously folks, if you didn't heed my advice in prior posts about the Consumerization of IT...what we in the VARspace are calling "Mobility Device Management" or MDM...please take a look at some of the information I have for you here.

Hands down, if you work in IT you know that your users in your company are bringing in their own devices.  Whether it be their smart phones, iPads, laptops, tablets...you name it...it's logging into your wireless and using your network, or it's a tool they can use to work smarter.  In the end, I've always found that IT isn't just about managing systems, but y'all are the core that helps employees work smarter and faster.  Why wouldn't you want to give them every tool available to get their work done?  I'll tell you why in two reasons:

1) It is a lot of work that you may not be able to do, or aren't a specialist in

2) It is expensive work...or at least perceived that way.

There are solutions, and the work involved can vary quite a bit, that's where folks like us here at PC Mall come in.  We have a team of experts in MDM that are at your beck & call...and they're led by a well known expert in this particular field, Dr. Robert Kite.  Whether it's Apple-focused, or other kinds of focuses, they can help you build a solution and implement it.

Not keen on bringing in our service team, or you've got less than 100 employees?  The easiest solution is from the folks at Meraki, who I talk about quite a bit.  The reason being is that their system is designed to manage content and access to wireless and wired units...all with a few clicks and pulldown menus.  Take a look at our webinar page and take one of their trainings!  Like what you see?  Let us know and we can make sure you get a free trial unit.

In the end, the most important this is to engage help now before the Wolf of Consumerization has already eaten Grandma Network and taken over her bed.  If you have any questions, ASK. :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Why I love working with Dell...

I don't think many of our clients understand how well Dell has embraced the channel over the past year.  They've followed suit behind HP who was in this position 10 years ago...and really are working hard to let us sell their product.

Now, I don't know if you as one of our clients/friends realize how big this is.  Chances are if I speak to 10 clients, 6 out of 10 uses Dell in at least one way.  Two years ago, it was a chore to sell their desktops and servers, let alone printers.  Now, we've got printers in stock ready to ship right alongside desktops and laptops...that's HUGE.  Heck, right now there's a decent little mono printer the 1130 Single User...normally $120, now down to $76!  Right now if you're looking at adding 5-10 printers over the year, let me know and I can talk to our Dell rep about getting a demo unit out to you right away.  Never hurts to try things right?  Options are good, and their product is good!

So there you have it...we have their products stocked and ready to ship...on the equipment side of things that's a great thing to have.  If you have Dell in your environment, give us a call and talk to us.  We have an amazing team who can help you grow the way you want to grow...with Dell. :)

 

(Don't think HP is slouching...they're going to throw us some major stuff tomorrow with the quarter ending...so if you're an HP user, or just want an awesome deal, keep your eyes peeled here tomorrow for something cool. :) )

"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall..."

SURPRISE!

I was going to post this when I first found out about it last week, but I wanted to wait to make sure it was going to go through.  But, now it looks like Dell's acquisition of Sonicwall is going to happen sometime in their 2nd fiscal quarter (before the end of July) of this year.  Estimates run the price around 1-1.5 billion for Dell to now own the plucky networking company.

Much like what happened with KACE, things should only look better for Sonicwall, being able to actively sell into Dell's already large customer base is a great thing.  I know that as a sales rep, after KACE became a part of Dell, working with them became a breeze...not just for me, but for clients too!

Also, if you haven't heard, Western Digital will be buying Hitachi Global Storage...and that deal is currently in the works.  However, they have to sell off quite a bit of stuff to rival Toshiba, to make up for this near-monopoly on hard drives that WD is creating.  The Dell-Sonicwall thing I can understand...this WD & Hitachi thing may not go through...it just has screaming bad juju written all over it, because it will give them a 49% market share on all internal drives produced.

Keep your eye on the marker and what's going on here.  For those of you hoping Hard Drive prices are going to come down...there's a possibility that with this acquisition, they'll either come way down...or never will.

(Granted, I am a pundit on things like this, and this is just my opinion on the matter.)

Note:

Someone asked me "Mike, where are the deals?  Why don't you publish deals more often on this site?"  My answer is that it can take away from the information presented here.  But, I will always bow to client pressure...so here's some HP notebook deals that don't match the article.  ;)

Smart Buy EliteBook 8460p Intel Core i5-2410M 2.30GHz Notebook - 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 14" LED-backlit HD, LS DVD+/-RW SuperMulti, 56K Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, Webcam, TPM 1.2, Fingerprint Sensor, 6-cell Li-ion HP EliteBook 8460p - Core i5 2410M / 2.3 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 14" HD anti-glare wide 1366 x 768 / HD - Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Smart Buy Sku #8320737 Price $879.98

EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8560w - 15.6" - Core i5 2540M - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8560w - Core i5 2540M / 2.6 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 15.6" HD+ WVA anti-glare wide 1600 x 900 / HD+ - AMD FirePro M5950 - Smart Buy Sku #8784405 Price $1,249.97

EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8760w - 17.3" - Core i7 2820QM - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 8 GB RAM - 750 GB HDD HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8760w - Core i7 2820QM / 2.3 GHz - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit - 8 GB RAM - 750 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti DL - 17.3" Full HD WVA anti-glare wide 1920 x 1080 / Full HD - NVIDIA Quadro 3000M - Smart Buy Sku #8788770 Price $2,759.99

If you have any questions...give me a call!
https://clients4.google.com/voice/embed/webCallButton

Android Malware Explosion!

Well, this was an interesting article found by DragonTech's Dwight Tabangcura from our own Daily Breeze down here in South Bay Los Angeles.  It's an interesting thing to see...going from 400 incidents to over 15,000 in under a year.  This relates to you in a very special way...say it with me...Consumerization of IT.

Your people are bringing in smartphones to your environment...those Android units are logging into your WiFi, and likely doing things that their users can't see.  How are you managing those phones?  Disallowing people to have phones?  Investing in specialized anti-virus programs?  How about having software in place on those devices that will protect your company?

Where do you get that?  Check out our friends at Mobile Iron.  They have a way to help you manage those devices, keep your network and company safe, AND...it's not going to eat your budget for years to come.  Solutions like this aren't easy...but nothing truly worth it actually is.

Take it to heart...Mobile Devices are starting their takeover of IT...and your company is on the list. :)

(Note that I'm not bragging that I called that this would happen with Android over a year ago...but I was right.)

 

 

Apple and Enterprise

This is a topic that's come up as of late, and there are a lot of folks on either side of the issue, but most of us are stuck in the middle wondering why this is a question.  Apple is big with consumers, not with business, and always has been.  But with the Consumerization of IT (hey, I've been writing about it, are you reading?), people are bringing their Apple units to work into places where they've never been before.  iPads and iPhones are items that people personally have, but are they truly enterprise-worthy?

Yes and no.

The easy to use methodology of Apple's OS is wonderful for the average user.  It just works for them.  So certain users can really do with Apple's setup...and not just those guys doing graphics or video...the most basic of the Apple units can do wonders for the most basic of users.  They have programs that mirror (or in the case of Office are also made for Apple's units) most of what is used in an office, so it should be easy to bring together...right?  Not so.  The average IT person is not well versed in Apple programming, networking and the like.  Now that number is getting better every year, but that's because a younger generation that is well-versed in Apple products is coming to work now, and bringing their iPhones with them.  Still, having to learn a whole new way of doing things isn't easy, and takes both time & money...something most companies aren't willing to invest in.  But, those that do usually don't know where to start.  However, we here at PC Mall actually can do assessments to help you and your company determine your needs, what you should be trained on and how to help set you up for a true Mobile Device Management platform.  There's help if you want it...believe me it's true. :)

Now those on the "Apple Enterprise, BAH" side, are really not happy with Apple's "enterprise apps" and their release "schedule" and it's affect on the IT world.  (Not really a schedule, sometimes it looks like I handed my blindfolded kid nephew a marker and a calendar.)  The real worry is that Enterprise is slow to change and adopt, so when your OS update plan is "kinda when we want to" instead of every 3 years...that's going to drive most companies and their IT staff batty.  Galen Grumen makes a great point in his blog that these folks need to get over themselves, and to "Get a clue: The notion of a three- or five-year technology road map is untenable and unrealistic outside of mainframes, ERP, retirement tracking, and nuclear containment -- the systems that need to be static and stable at their cores for decades. Any IT leader expecting such plans from any user-oriented technology provider should be fired."   IT is a place where if you're not on your toes, what you're working with can become obsolete and unworkable...and so will you the IT worker be as well if it's not corrected soon.

In the end, if you want to bring Apple deeper into your company's enterprise, come talk to us.  We're actually starting to hold classes at our Headquarters in El Segundo, CA...and if you've got enough staff, we'll come out to your office to run training!  Yes it costs money, and yes it's worth it to be Apple Certified.  So let's start talking about the future, and not live in the past...too much. :)

 

[Webinar News] EMC VNXe Series!

Howdy folks!  This webinar just came across my desk:

EMC is introducing a new, record-breaking unified storage platform—the EMC VNX family. These hardware and software solutions are simple to provision, efficient with lower-capacity requirements, affordable for any budget, and powerful enough to handle the demands of virtual applications.  In fact, the new family delivers the world’s simplest array to manage and the world's highest midtier performance.  The VNX family is designed from the ground up for virtual application environments—from simple, money-saving server and storage consolidation for small business, to the next-generation virtual data center applications

 

 

 

 

Always worth learning new things, right? :)  Click on the link above and register now!

Absent but busy...

Howdy folks...it's been awhile...but with all of the insanity around the end of Quarter, and the release of the new iPad, life's been a bit busy to post.  But, true believers, it's not like we here at the PC Mall Dragontech team are not thinking about you.  Yes, here are some of the tech news bits that I've drummed up over the past week.  I'll be posting more over the next few days...some of which will be automated posts, but new things will always cause me to post immediately.

For those of you who travel or have folks who work for you that travel...here's something interesting I've found in the New York Times.  Apparently the FAA is now doing testing on electronic devices that can be used during flight.  They even admit that the last time they did any testing was in 2006...you know, back in the dark ages before the glorious iPad and iPhone (or any other real smart phone) existed.  Granted, I don't fly, but when I did, it was a pain to not be able to get my email, work on what I needed to work on, etc...because who can actually get any real sleep on a plane?  Anywho, look for this boom in tablets to affect every industry...even the airlines who will find a way to make $20 off of this somehow.

Speaking of Apple, they now have $97 billion in cash reserves and are trying to figure out how to spend it.  Good Gravy.  I'm praying that they give out free iPads to schools.  Heck, every school is fighting to keep up with technology...because state budgets are apparently better spent on Prisons than on educating your children...so why not reinvest in our youth again?  Not only that, but you'll nail that 'cradle to grave' strategy that every business strives for.  Heck, Apple...iPads for textbooks for children.  Let's help Americans be strong again...or at least let all the kids play Angry Birds at recess.

That's just to start...more to come later this week, folks!

The "New iPad" is here!

I'm following in the wake of the 128379283792387 blogs talking about this...because this isn't really heavy IT/Tech news.  The "New iPad" (frontrunner for the lamest product name update) had some minor changes, but the only real major change was the graphics.  And a pretty significant change at that. The new Retinal Display compacts the amount of pixels per inch down to 326 pixels...somewhere near 4x the density of most other displays out there. At 2048X1536 it's the highest resolution tablet on the market...I'm not precisely sure what that gets the users who are going to buy the New iPad, but I'm sure it looks good. :)

Signs also point to a possible shortage of the Retinal displays.  See here for more details.

Bottom Line:  If you're interested in the new iPad, it's a pretty beautiful machine...but if you have an iPad 2, don't toss it just for a new display.

The "New iPad" will be on sale March 16th...and if you need to buy more than a couple units, give us a call here at the office.  We can help get your request into our shipments from Apple, so you can be shipped out on the primary wave of shipments.

Also, we've dropped our prices on the iPad 2...so if you want one, now's the time to buy.  Remember, give the Dragontech team a call or email...WE can help you get what you want. :)

Regaining Control of Your Network

This just came across my desk, and I apologize for the last minute feel of it.  The folks at SonicWALL are holding a webinar on Thursday March 8 at 11am PST called "Lighting up Your Entire Network to Improve Performance & Productivity"

Following on my prior points about the Consumerization of IT, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), they're going to talk about how you can lose control over your network, and how to solve it. (With their products of course.)  This webinar is going to be hosted by Jan Sijp, Director of Product Marketing at SonicWALL (see?), and Mike Patterson, Industry Expert and CEO of Pixar.  They're going ot talk about the need to better understand what's going on under the hood of your network, and why flow-based network and application traffic analytics are good tools to gain insight.

You can register for this webinar here.  If you've got an hour this is a good topic.

Meraki is also doing their webinar about their new Security Appliances on Wed March 7 at 11am here, and on March 13th, they have a discussion on BYOD and how that'll affect you as well.

 

Who says you don't have enough to do? ;)