Samsung's newest Windows Phone 8

Yes, yes I know.  I don't sell these phones, but after using my Samsung focus for over a year and a half now, I'm very happy with their ability to make a great smartphone.   While the Windows Phone Blog is a little biased in their opinion of their product, they're going to tell you which is the best phone to purchase in regards to Windows Phone 8.  For those of you who haven't seen Windows Phone 8...I think you're in for a treat. :)



You can read Microsoft's review of Samsung's phone here...and when I get one of those phones, I'll show it off here as well. :)

For those of you who haven't used a Windows Phone 7 or 7.5, you're missing out.  It's a different kind of sandbox, and those who utilize an iPhone can relate a bit to how it operates.  Since most folks still utilize a PC desktop with Windows while at work, the internal workings of the phone pair up nicely.  For example, being able to read excel documents, powerpoints, and word docs on my phone as a native function has come in quite handy over the past year.  Not to mention a lot of features that you'd need a specific app for on another phone are built into the OS.

Is Microsoft perfect, no.  But neither is any of the other manufacturers.   Phones aren't always driven by how useful they are, but by what people see as a status symbol.   However when that status symbol doesn't play well with your work environment, you'll be looking for an alternative. :)

 

-Mike L.

PC Mall Vision 2013 - Save the Date!

Howdy folks!

If you've worked with me and my cohorts here for more than a year now, you've heard about the PC Mall Vision event.  We do these every year to showcase with our Partners what is coming in the new year.  They're amazing events, and those who've attended have always walked away with a lot of information, a lot of plans...and a lot of stuff. :)

Registration will be coming soon, and as you can see below we're at the LAX Mariott this year...right up the street from our new offices.  If you'd like to come on down for the event, make sure to mark it on your calendar and be on the look out here for more information on the event!

Come on down and meet us...see how we can continue to make your experience better, and your job a heck of a lot easier!



See you there!

-Michael Leader

The story of the Barracuda and the Rock Lobster...

Down...down...down.

Seriously though, I've done a lot of work with Barracuda over the years, and I know a lot of you have as well.  While many folks consider me a Meraki shill, I do have a lot of respect for Barracuda and their products.  These guys were doing messaging archiving and email archiving before most folks, not to mention their webfilter, and new backup services.

One of their newer products, the Cudatel, is a phone PBX that can meet the needs of companies who cannot afford to do a full $100,000 phone installation.  The box keeps it very simple, with no user or per-feature fees.  You can see a lot about it on the link above, but if you're interested, we should get on the phone with them. :)

When you get down to it...take a webinar they're offering.  They're free and hey...it never hurts to learn something new.

 

Unless it's a martial art. :)

 

Peace!

 

How something Tiny can be HUGE...

Happy Friday everyone!  Before ya go out to enjoy your weekend, I wanted to show you probably one of these most amazing things I've seen here in my time at PC Mall.

I was recently tasked by a client of mine to help them replace the desktops in sixteen locations, and those units needed to be small, efficient, but also powerful.  Most everything was not going to work...either too big and powerful, or too small and useless.  The client was in a bind because they also had to meet a price point of $530, and that wasn't happening either.  Near the end of our rope, I reached out to a good friend at Lenovo, and was introduced to their Tiny unit.

The Lenovo M72e...or the "Tiny"...is just that, tiny.  Often we've been forced to try and use inferior small form factor models, or to make thin clients work when we didn't need thin clients.  Let's face it, nobody likes to be the guy who has to force a puzzle piece into a slot not made for it...it's just not fun.  These little guys meet the size requirement (they're as as tall as a golfball and the length of 3), but most importantly, they've got core i3 and i5 processors.  So toss out the DVD drive...and voila!  You've got a small, kickbutt computer.

Granted, they got a very low price because they bought 250 units, but you can get this unit here for $539 easily.  :)



Take a look and see right here.  If you're interested in learning more, let me know and we'll get you on the phone with our Lenovo rep and we can talk speeds & feeds...but most importantly, we can answer your questions too.

There you have it...happy Friday! :)

Coming out of the past...

I saw this ad last night on television, and I knew it had to go up today.  Its message is quite clear and useful if you think about it...

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2isDZgoTFk&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

See what I mean?  You can track a bit and learn some about Ultrabooks right from Intel's site, but suffice to say for an exec they're a need, and for sales they're a want.  Speaking as someone who's had to travel with a big, clunky, heavy laptop on planes and trains...these things would be fantastic.  Right now I own a 17" laptop and that guy...while awesome...could probably beat a huge dent in a car.  Not so fun to carry around.

We're at a crux this year.  With so many companies having to skip on refreshing hardware over the economic dip we had in 2009-2011, most everyone is behind a bit on technology.  If you've got a salesforce, you need to consider either ultrabooks, or a tablet solution...something we can help you on.

If you're in the Los Angeles area, we'd like to invite you to our Secure Mobility Summit coming up on the 24th.  Lots of good information on how to handle a mobility solution...and attendees will receive a free Apple TV.  (1 per company I believe.)  Just click here for to sign up to attend...make sure to select Michael Leader as your rep...or your rep's name if they differ from mine. :)

Hope you have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What...you didn't think I couldn't get a Doctor Who reference in there somewhere? ;)

HP Deal of the Week!

Man these guys are being RELENTLESS when it comes to these deals on Gen8 servers!  This deal is only valid until August 21, 2012, but I think its worth looking at.

Normally this server runs at over $6500, so a $700 reduction in price is a good deal indeed.

Take a look!  (it's in a book...sorry that's been in my head for nearly a week)



 

Microsoft and BYOD

Came across this article from Microsoft this weekend, and thought that I'd pass it along.  I've talked about BYOD and the Consumerization of IT now for almost a year...and it's good to see many of you taking up this battle.  It's not going to be easy, but we can help you if you want.

 

In the meantime, take a look at this article here.

 

Lastly, I downloaded this ebook last week and finally got around to mentioning it here.  Worth a look.  Cute and pretty succinct about BYOD.  Granted it's by MaaS360, but it proves they've got their heads in the right place....just remember to buy your services from me/us! :)

 

Have a good Monday! :)

Windows Server 2012 release!

Well...this just came down the pike via the Microsoft TechNet newsletter.

 

Join Us for the Launch of Windows Server 2012

September 4, 2012 – Windows Server has reached its release-to-manufacturing (RTM) milestone. Save the date and join us for an online launch event where our executives, engineers, customers, and partners will share more about how Windows Server 2012 can help organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of the cloud OS.

Now before you start going crazy, making plans and buying party hats...this is the release to manufacturer date.  That means you'll be able to evaluate and purchase starting on that date.  What I'd recommend is if you've not been a part of the evaluation process already, to do so starting on that date and see what it's all about.

Microsoft and the Cloud.  Some of you may cheer, others jeer, others be aghast in horror of change...but change it has and it looks to be a good change. :)

(yea I'm excited...sue me. ;) )

 

 

Email Archiving - How to not lose your shirt...

Email archiving is something that all businesses need to do...by law.  How to do it right is one of those things that can be elusive.  I've had a couple of clients who've been successful with Arcmail, so I wanted to present this here...and get you to check out their webinars each week.  The question, "Why Archive?" seems like a no brainer, but Arcmail breaks it down simply on their site here.   Let me sum up some of the primary points.

1) Compliance - Whether it's HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, or others, you need to be in compliance.  No to mention that if your company is sued, and email is involved, you have to be able to produce the emails.  Failure to do so can be fatal...in a legal sense.

2) Extending Mail Server life - These servers take a beating every day.  You know they do, but most email servers are just slow and overloaded.  By archiving regularly, you take the burden off of the email server to manage all of those emails.  (How many does your company get each day?)  This will help extend the life of that server just a bit longer, so you're not forced to purchase a server when you're not ready.

3) Accessing Archived Data - There are those companies that would just rather settle a lawsuit with someone than dig through their email archives.  Arcmail has a great little search feature that will help you discover what you need, rather than hiring a firm to go through and manually search your archives.  A lot cheaper yea?

Consider that it's effective to have an archiving solution.  If you want to know more, contact me...I'm happy to talk to you about what you want to do and get you in front of the right folks to talk about it.  If you want to learn more about their product click one of these links for their webinar.  Make sure to add PC Mall and my name (or your rep's name) to the form:

Thursday August 9, 2012

Tuesday August 14, 2012

Thursday August 16, 2012

 

Windows 8 RTM to the head...

Yup...here it is...

Windows 8 has been released to manufacturing.  You can see the official blog post here, and more on RTM here.  It looks like distributors and VARs will be getting the OEM versions of these around August 16, with September 1 being the licensing release date to those without Software Assurance.

Exciting stuff.  Hopefully y'all were able to test the product like I have been.   Now it's time to get this stuff and start testing it with your current setup.  If you're using touchscreens, how about an operating system that is designed to work with them AND be a real OS?  The ARM version for tablets is going to be a killer, and for those of us saddled with using Android on our old HP Touchpads, this should be a godsend.

Enjoy your weekend!   I know I'll be enjoying mine! :)

Symantec Renewals - saving 20%

For those of you who are using Symantec's Endpoint Protection, or the Symantec Protection Suite...it's a good time to renew.  Symantec is offering 20% off with 3 year licenses.  It's a good time to take advantage of their renewal structure, and/or co-term any of their licenses that you have already...because it'll be a lot easier to renew in 3 years if you do. :)

They're also offering to trade you up to Symantec Protection Suite and save 30% off MSRP for doing that.  That means upgrading from Endpoint Protection, Antivirus, mail security for exchange/domino, messaging gateway, or web gateway.

You all know me well enough that I don't pitch things that make me money...they save you money.  If you're interested, give your PC Mall rep a call today! :)