Storage Means Business

IT’s version of Audi’s Green Police

green_police2 One of the best Super Bowl commercials this year was Audi’s Green Police ad for the A3 TDI.

It’s stirring some controversy according to a USA Today article.

One area where “green” has been getting some traction (no pun intended) is in IT. Companies are paying more attention to Green IT, not exclusively for environmental reasons, but more so for the long term sustainability, cost cutting, and simplicity of moving to a more power conscience IT infrastructure.

One example is Spiceworks, the highly touted free IT management software company for SMBs, now offers a plug-in that can track energy consumption of devices on the network, when they are being used, when idle, etc. that helps IT managers make decisions that can trim costs and conserve energy.

Maybe Audi made you laugh, maybe they made you angry, depending on what side you’re on. Needless to say, companies like Spiceworks are using software technology to help any SMB IT Manager be their own version of the “green police”.

And it’s a good thing…there’s no arguing that.

What was your favorite Super Bowl ad?

image by: agreenliving.org

February 8, 2010 - 2:15 pm | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Best Practices | Tagged A3 TDI, audi green police, environmentalists, green police, IT management, Seagate, SMB, Spiceworks, super bowl ads, super bowl commercials, superbowl, USA Today controversy | Comments (1)

With 1 Billion broadband users … who has the power?

in-stat_logo InStat recently released a study that indicates that global broadband subscribers will reach 1 Billion by 2013.

In 2009, the number was 578 Million…. so basically, the number of high speed internet subscribers will double in the next 3 years.

2006: 294 Million
2009: 578 Million
2013: 1+ Billion

More users with a bigger pipe, means greater the access to information, entertainment, knowledge, and the more we consume…the more we create and share.

For businesses, this is critical to success. The more people with broadband, the greater their ability to access information to make buying decisions. The more likely they are to share their experiences (good and bad) with others. At the same time, the greater your ability to reach out to them, to engage, listen, learn, and improve. We all know the internet is a powerful thing…and with over 1 Billion people using it more and more everyday, the more powerful it can be for both the business and the consumer.

But then again, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
— Spiderman; Ben Parker

February 5, 2010 - 1:38 pm | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Market Trends | Tagged broadband subscribers, digital content growth, digital enterrainment, growth rates 2009-2013, InStat, Seagate, small business, SMB, storage growth trends | Comments (0)

An all-in-one take over

Lenovo-IdeaCentre-A300-All-in-one-PC The VAR Guy posted this week that Lenovo expects All-in-One PCs will account for 60% of its desktop sales within 2 years. The drop in prices and the desire to conserve space and reduce complexity are thought to be the main drivers behind this transition and it makes sense.

All-in-ones aren’t likely to replace high end desktops and workstations, but may become the norm for mainstream and entry level PCs. The strategy worked for Apple years ago. It’s probably safe to say the iMac must account for at least 60% of their desktop sales, while the Mac Pro is more for the high end user.

With the potential rise of the All-in-One as the mainstream office computer, what does that mean for storage? With less or no expansion bays for internal storage, and less customization, stylish, space-saving external storage may be the ideal compliment to every all-in-one desktop, especially stylish external storage with encryption.

Of course, the notebook and mobile computing is the norm, but you can make a case for the Lenovo’s predictions about their all-in-ones business.

Afterall, not everyone needs to be mobile.

February 4, 2010 - 8:53 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Market Trends | Tagged all in one, Apple, desktop computer trends, desktop refresh, external storage for desktops, FreeAgent, imac, lenovo, Mac Pro, Seagate, SMB, The VAR Guy, usb storage | Comments (0)

The rewards of channel friendliness

Biz_Solutions_Best-Vendor_Seagate Business Solutions magazine released their 2nd annual best channel vendors report and Seagate ranked among the highest for hard drive manufacturers in the areas of

1. Channel Friendly
2. Product Reliability

John Teeple, channel marketing director at Seagate says, ”Seagate’s approach to the channel is one that has a strong basis in quality, integrity and generally keeping things as simple as possible,” said John Teeple, channel marketing director at Seagate. “We’ve reduced and streamlined the number and complexity of channel programs, improved our channel communications and enhanced our Web-based interaction with customers…One thing that the channel likes is consistency, and that really plays to our strengths. By doing a few things really well over a long time period, we demonstrate to integrators and resellers that they can have confidence in Seagate.”

Such confidence in Seagate could not be more evident coming off the heals of a tough 2009. In the eyes of resellers and VARs, Seagate has excelled in continuing to bring to market the reliable products and at the same time support customers that provide Seagate products to SMBs.

It just goes to show that if you are honest and own up to your issues, listen and respond, and bring to market the most reliable products, you will be successful in the eyes of those most important to your business…your customers.

Isn’t it really that simple?

February 1, 2010 - 10:58 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Resellers & Vars, System Builders | Tagged best channel vendors, best hard drive vendor, best smb products, Business Solutions, channel VAR programs, most reliable hard drives, seagate partner program | Comments (0)

Technology refresh needed at SMH(ospitals)

hospital-help HIMSS Analytics together with Dell surveyed healthcare IT executives and found that small to medium sized hospitals are expected to experience a 25 to 50% increase in demand on their data centers over the next 2 years. What’s contributing to this increase:

Electronic Health Records
Digital Imaging
Health Information Exchange
Business Intelligence
Data security

According to Dell, small and medium sized hospitals existing IT infrastructure is fragmented with little or no standards adding inefficiencies in storing, accessing, and sharing data. This poses a huge opportunity for solution providers. Everything from automation, virtualization, tiered storage, to SaaS would contribute to increased efficiency and scalability, and best prepare healthcare providers for data growth for the long haul.

Check out Dell’s 6 point action plan for small to medium hospitals.

Technology does yield better care. It’s up to vendors and solution providers to ensure it’s sustainable.

January 28, 2010 - 9:09 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Best Practices, Market Trends, Resellers & Vars | Tagged BI, Business Intelligence, dell, EHR, healthcare IT, HIE, HIMSS, hospitals, saas, SMB, solution providers, tiered storage, virtualization | Comments (0)

Smarter data rolls faster downhill

downhill-mountain-bike-snow Last week I posted, “Smarter data in a shorter period of time“, that talks about how businesses are demanding more out of their data in terms of providing the intelligence they need to grow, and they want it now!

Today, AMI Partners released a “5 SMB trends that the industry isn’t talking about” that takes this whole smarter data in a shorter period of time level deeper. AMI predicts:

#1: SMBs will loosen restricted ICT budgets.
#2: Hollow SMB value propositions will be replaced by tangible business propositions.
#3: Cloud computing solutions will struggle to capitalize on the full market opportunity presented in 2010.
#4: Social media will move beyond its primary role as a promotional tool into the more strategic role of business intelligence in 2010.
#5: Growing number of channel partners to become ‘Total’ IT solution providers, putting pressure on existing CP skill sets.
#6: Maturing of managed services industry will create a “capabilities chasm” among managed services providers (MSPs).

If you look at these predictions, it’s not entirely about SMB’s having the ability to harness the power of their own data, as much as it is the solution providers and vendors providing “smarter” data in order to facilitate better business decisions.

Vendors must have the data that proves their solution will lower TCO and raise ROI and equip solution providers to better sell total IT solutions.

Solution providers must be able to leverage this data to effectively communicate it to their SMB customers. At the same time, solution providers need to be working with customers to compile their own data to provide tangible proof to their customers on how effective a solution has been in terms of lowering TCO and raising ROI.

SMB’s themselves will use all of this information to make better business decisions and invest in technology that thus enables them to take advantage of data streaming in from interactions with their own customers.

The smarter the data the faster it rolls down hill.

How are you making your customers smarter?

Image by: http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-09/downhill-mountain-bike-snow.jpg

January 26, 2010 - 12:43 pm | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Best Practices, Market Trends | Tagged 2010 trends, AMI Partners, BI, Business Intelligence, marketing best practices, Seagate, SMB ROI, SMB TCO, SMB trends, solution provider programs | Comments (0)

A nostalgic move from tape to disc

Old-VHS-turns-into-hard-drives Just for fun.

“Be kind and rewind”… no more with this creative way to turn old VHS tapes into a unique external hard drive solution. I know I still have VHS tapes laying around in the basement. Everything from E.T. to Karate Kid, to the classics like Rocky I, II, III, IV…maybe Jaws or Caddyshack would make for some nostalgic storage.

This ads a whole new element to the decision making process when buying storage.

What movie would you memorialize?

Related Posts

Just for fun

Image by: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CentennialMerchant?section_id=6676486

January 21, 2010 - 12:23 pm | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Just for Fun | Tagged backup drive, external hard drive, external storage, Just for Fun, movie rentals, recycling vhs tapes, Seagate, smb. VHS tapes | Comments (0)

Smarter data in a shorter period of time

We all know that data is exploding at both the user level and the company level. In recent years, we have gone beyond just managing data growth to exploiting it.

Business Intelligence is expected to continue to grow steadily in 2010 according to a recent study conducted by kognitio and Baseline Consulting of BI companies, but like most technology investments these days, the ROI needs to be almost immediate. More and more companies choosing to deploy BI technology want it up and running and spitting out the smarter data we all need in a matter of weeks.

This is all good for the storage industry. Business Intelligence for any size company in essence increases the value of data. In many cases the value of an individual piece of information falls short of what a collection of data can tell you about your business and your customers which ultimately can help shape your short term plans for success as well as your long term plan to sustain and grow.

One area the study’s participants found skeptical was social media:

“Almost two-thirds (63%) of the people who responded to the survey said they are “undecided” about the value of data collected from social media sites to help them understand more about their organization or customers. Another 23% called social media “overrated,” saying “there are not as many customer conversations going on as the media would have us believe.” Only 14% said they want to incorporate data from Twitter and other sites as part of their ongoing data analysis efforts.”

Probably because there remains a steep learning curve for B2B companies especially when it comes to understanding and deploying a social media strategy. The value of the data collected from social media sites goes hand in hand with what you are trying to get out of participation. If you fail to have a concrete plan or strategy, or fail to engage with customers using social media, your view may be skewed. I would argue that the 14% of those surveyed that plan to incorporate data from social media, actually have a social media strategy and plan. The other 86% struggle to believe the hype.

Maybe that in itself is a case for business intelligence….. use data to determine what your social media strategy should be…or not. Check out Seagate’s Rich Harris social media rant to get more perspective.

Social media or not, BI is a trend to keep your eye on. As providers enable ways for companies to deploy and reap rewards in a shorter period of time, the more SMB’s will invest in the technology.

Hmm… give me a solution that does not cost an arm and a leg, and will help my company grow immediately….now that sounds familiar.

How quickly is your data making you smarter?

January 20, 2010 - 10:32 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Market Trends | Tagged 47Project, analytics, B2B, baselne consulting, BI, Business Intelligence, data growth, kognitio, Rich Harris, Seagate, SMB, social media, storage trends | Comments (1)

The eras of technology marketing & innovation

whats_data_storage_coming_to

Just for fun. Take a trip down memory lane and a glimpse into the future.

Check out these ads over the decades and see just how far we’ve come. Take a look at some of these ads then take a look at the video tour of Intel’s booth at CES. It’s crazy how far computer technology has come, and still crazier at how far we still have to go.

Check it out.

Everything video for SMB VARs in 2010

video_icon_full Storage seems to be a hot topic for 2010. With data growth immune to economic conditions, and many companies simply getting by in 2009 with what they had, is there pent up demand for storage systems in 2010? One would argue yes – especially for medium to large enterprises.

But what about small businesses? Check out SearchStorage.com’s list of the top storage trends for SMBs in 2010. This is a good list for how and why SMBs will need to manage their data growth and backup needs, but what about the what? What will be driving the data growth and the need to deploy such technologies like virtualization and data deduplication locally, on the network, or in the cloud?

I think one hot application for SMB storage will be everything video.

Video Surveillance – with the latest security scare(s) at the airports and the raised awareness levels for better security, you may see elevated interest by small businesses to invest in upgraded video security solutions. Higher resolutions and frame rates, built-in analytics and intelligence, longer archival periods, etc all lead to more storage.

Video Conferencing – with travel costs all but reduced to nothing, and most notebook computers having web cams, video conferencing will continue to grow. Throw manual meeting notes out the window, and record the video conference. Recorded video is one way to refer back to the conversation, to retain ideas and brainstorm sessions, action items and next steps. Not to mention save the slackers that failed to join the meeting.

Video Production / Video Sharing – Everyone is producing video… at least at the consumer level. This will trickle in to small businesses as well. Small businesses, especially SOHOs are quick to adopt technology they are comfortable with as consumers. Video is one of those mediums that enable small business to market their company and their brand via the web. Everything from customer testimonials, to product demonstrations could be delivered to customers via email, social media, and the company website.

Video Archive – Once the time is spent producing and delivering the video, of course it needs to be stored and archived both on the web, and on local PCs and/or servers for future use. As more and more businesses turn to creating their own promotional, educational, or editorial video, the greater the importance to effectively store and protect that video for the long haul. Plus it’s always fun to refer back to old video for comic relief from time to time.

Video – it helps you protect, collaborate, market, and laugh….why not make it a big part of your business plan for 2010?

January 13, 2010 - 8:10 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Market Trends | Tagged 2010, archive, SearchStorage.com, SMB, surveillance, trends, video, video conferencing, video marketing, video production, video sharing | Comments (0)

For Home

For Business

For Enterprise

For Home

For Business

For Enterprise

Downloads

Installation

Troubleshooting and Returns

Storage Means Business

IT’s version of Audi’s Green Police

With 1 Billion broadband users … who has the power?

An all-in-one take over

The rewards of channel friendliness

Technology refresh needed at SMH(ospitals)

Smarter data rolls faster downhill

A nostalgic move from tape to disc

The eras of technology marketing & innovation

Seagate Friendfeed

For Home

For Business

For Enterprise

For Home

For Business

For Enterprise

Downloads

Installation

Troubleshooting and Returns

Seagate Friendfeed

Seagate Social