Acronis, a leading provider of easy-to-use disaster recovery and data protection solutions for physical, virtual and cloud environments, today announced a five city tour across Latin America to introduce Acronis Backup & Recovery® 11, the new product which allows organizations to simplify their disaster recovery and data protection needs, to the channel community. Resellers from across the region are invited to join Acronis Executives and experts on the following dates:

Resellers interested in learning more about the latest developments in data protection and disaster recovery solutions are invited to register for their local city at the following website addresses:

For Spanish language – http://promo.acronis.com/Partner-Roadshow-ES.html
For Portuguese language – http://promo.acronis.com/Partner-Roadshow-PT.html

Built upon Acronis’ established disk imaging technology, Acronis Backup & Recovery^® 11 provides the market’s first affordable solution for integrated disaster recovery and data protection in one. It offers both a data-centric and a system-centric view of physical and virtual machines as well as providing secure offsite storage in the cloud; this allows IT managers to simplify their operations from one unified platform, therefore saving costs. To find out more visit www.acronis.com/backup-recovery/

Exinda, a global provider of WAN optimization solutions featuring Unified Performance Management (UPM), is heating up its North American presence this summer with the addition of key members to its Sales, Systems Engineering and Strategic Accounts teams, a continued cross-country roadshow in association with the Angelbeat technology events.

Under the leadership of Kevin Kirksey, Exinda’s VP of Sales, North America, the company has bolstered its teams to broaden its customer service and support capabilities. Among the new team members is Jack Graziano, Director Strategic Account Systems Engineering, responsible for building Exinda’s relationships with key sales and technology partners. Graziano has held senior leadership roles at Websense and Bluecoat Systems. John Saltmarsh, who formerly held senior sales leader Bluecoat and Procera, Craig Fiske, former Territory Manager at Allot, Extreme and BlueCoat/Packeteer, and John Osuyos, formerly of A10 Networks, have joined Exinda as regional sales managers. The company has also appointed Nick Gagliardi as head of its Systems Engineering team, and added John Stanislawski, formerly of Bluecoat as Senior Systems Engineer to help customers get more from their Exinda investment.

Members of Exinda’s expanded teams will be meeting with customers at the Angelbeat technology events throughout the remainder of the summer and early fall.

“Angelbeat events give companies the opportunity to meet with the Exinda team for a one-on-one, personalized demonstration of our WAN Optimization solutions,” said Kevin Suitor, Exinda’s VP of Marketing. “With our Unified Performance Management (UPM), we provide customers the ability to see and control the traffic and users on their network, and apply intelligent optimization to reduce the cost of bandwidth, manage congestion, improve application performance, enhance user experience and reduce the incidence of help desk calls.”

Each one-day Angelbeat seminar focuses on the top two issues of 2011- cloud computing and smartphone/ tablets – and helps you understand the impact from their deployment on your existing security policies, network architecture and overall IT infrastructure. The proven Angelbeat methodology of concise technical presentations across these multiple/complementary areas is followed. CPE continuing education credits are provided.

Intronis, a world class online backup solution, announced today that Carol Ferrari, VP of Marketing and Customer Success has been recognized by Everything Channel’s CRN Magazine as one of the top Women of the Channel in 2011. This annual list recognizes female executives for their accomplishments over the past year, based on their achievements as executives and the amount of influence they wield over the technology channel. This year’s Women of the Channel were chosen by the editors of CRN Magazine from a field of vendor channel organizations, distributors and solution providers.

Carol Ferrari’s role at Intronis has been pivotal in the continued engagement with the company’s customers. In her time thus far with Intronis, Carol has launched a channel customer success process, which allows partners to take part in an onboarding program to ensure all partners are utilizing best practices for their Intronis solution. In addition, Carol developed a Networking series which allows potential and current partners to engage with one another not only to learn more about Intronis and its offerings, but hear from Intronis current customers on how the solution is helping them be successful in their business. Carol has also formalized our product launch process for new releases, which is a major communications and training venue that enables our partners to effectively use the Intronis solution in their business.

“This year’s Women of the Channel list honors those female executives who epitomize success within the IT channel – a traditionally male-centric industry. Whether they come from tier-one vendors, VAR500 solution providers or just bring a bevy of channel experience that cannot be ignored, the 2011 Women of the channel list will recognize the most influential women of the channel based on their overall achievements, and their influence in the technology industry,” said Kelley Damore, VP, Editorial Director, Everything Channel.

Carol Ferrari exclaims, “I am so honored to have received such great recognition from CRN, and be among this great group of women who were recognized in the Channel as influential and successful executives. Being a part of the Intronis team has allowed me to reach higher in my career goals within the industry. I look forward to doing even more for the channel as well as continuing to be an inspiring role model to other females within the industry.”

With the Summer travel season underway full tilt, major airlines engage customers via social media channels. Planning a trip or vacation has never been easier, or more socially connected than this year. ExactTarget helps put companies and customers in the digital conversation – better communication, means better customer retention, according to anyone’s news.

US airlines have already flown some 206 million vacationers, this is an increase of more than 3 million since the same period of last year. While this is good news for the airlines, the congestion of the airways can prove troublesome for travelers. Morgan Johnston of JetBlue Airways had this to say about the social sphere;

“Tech savvy travelers are increasingly using social media to provide real-time feedback to carriers and share their experiences with others. You need to stay sharp if you want to keep up and stay engaged”

Jet Blue, Hawaiian Airlines, United and US Airways, among the many others, are utilizing Twitter, Facebook, and soon G+ to engage their clients and potential clients in real communication about travel. With the need for consumer loyalty becoming a more and more important factor for the airline industry, even smaller airlines have adopted social channels to get their message across.

From airBaltic, easyJet, and Hawaiian Airlines, to JetBlue, Icelandair, and the larger carriers, return customers have become a top priority. And retention is about communication in the digital age. And ExactTarget is one tool many are converting to.

The global interactive marketing provider, ExactTarget, uses CoTweet to help these airlines integrate into the social media aspect, by helping with day to day customer problems such as; flight delays, rescheduling, seat organization, luggage handling and much much more.
Here are five ways Social media has helps airline passengers with their flights.

• SouthwestAir helps customers find awesome deals for the whole family. Southwest Air recently celebrated their fortieth anniversary by giving a 72 hour long sale in flight tickets, along with messaging consumers via Facebook, and Twitter. If you need to reschedule your flight plans, social media networks like Twitter, produce a faster and more expedient result than your everyday customer service.
• airBaltic connects with their customers through social media outlets to give an up to date flight plan.
• UnitedAirlines alerts their followers and friends in Facebook and Twitter, about delays and rescheduling. United passengers can always have the latest on their flights.
• USAirways provides program updates, great new deals and last-minute reward opportunities through their social media outlets. If you’re a frequent flier you get the latest on deals and rewards. If you have problems with your baggage, you can reach out to customer service through Facebook or Twitter and you get a quick resolution to any of your problems.

Morgan Johnston of Jet Blue Airways had this to add about his company’s initiative via social spheres;

”CoTweet has helped us transition from a single listening post to a 24/7 monitoring hub with the ability to leverage multiple areas of expertise within our organization to provide a seamless flow of information between our operations, and our customers.”

These and other airlines have reached out to ExactTarget to get their CoTweet program, to increase their interaction with customers and passengers during times of crises. CoTweet was a real help to some airlines last year when the volcanic eruption in Iceland took place, and shut down some of the world’s largest airports. Jesse Engel, VP of social media at ExactTarget added this;

“Over the last few years we’ve seen a significant uptick in conversations about air travel across social media, which has opened the door for airlines to say, ‘We’re here, we’re listening, and we care!’

Every once in a while we’re fortunate enough here at Zippycart to snag some quality time with a leading figure in the world of ecommerce. Today we’re presenting a special interview that we had recently with Zmags’ CEO Michael Schreck. He gave us the inside story on Zmags and their new product “Commerce Pro.”

Q. You were recently appointed as CEO – how did that come about? What attracted you most to Zmags?

My own personal iPad epiphany drove me to connect with Zmags Corporation (Zmags). On day 1 with my shiny new iPad, I was navigating around Flipboard and the WSJ and experienced my first compelling online advertisement (no, dancing babies do not qualify as compelling). I couldn’t believe it. Finally the content, the navigation, and seamless ability to respond to a call to action, could all co-exist simultaneously in a rich media environment. All my beliefs about the future of mobile marketing seemed to finally be possible and available. I wanted to be part of that future.

When I co-founded m-Qube in 2001 (where we accomplished many amazing things and the company was acquired by VeriSign for $250MM) it became abundantly clear that wireless carriers’ platforms and handset limitations at the time would constrict our ability to execute our full vision. I had been waiting for a dynamic new platform to unleash the creativity of the world’s marketers and a signal that the time had arrived.  The iPad was the signal. I wanted to be part of that transformation in marketing. I began searching for a company that truly got it – that understood that rich media and these new devices were offering a new way to market…to market the “possible.”

When I experienced my first Zmag, I saw the potential. I was instantly intrigued by what the company was trying to do for its 3,000 global brands; icons like Lenovo, Ralph Lauren, Lexus, Dick’s Sporting Goods and thousands of other leading brands. The Zmags platform offered marketers the brilliance they customarily accomplished offline—but now across virtually any online or mobile device—that was a revelation. Helping leading global brands to better convert and leverage offline skills to drive online engagement and purchases across mobile devices and social media was something I knew I had to be a part of.

And as you know, the Company just launched the first e-commerce engine integrated directly inside this rich digital experience called CommercePro. Some of the top retailers/brands in the world have quickly adopted the solution from Express to Jenny Craig to Laura Ashley. They understand that a truly engaging experience results in improved conversion rates and larger order sizes. For the first time, there are significant impulse purchases happening online thanks to CommercePro.

Q. What is one thing that e-commerce retailers are not paying attention to that CommercePro can help them take advantage of to drive sales?

I think there are two profound trends that major retailers/brands need to be extraordinarily sensitive to:

1. E-Commerce, as we know it today, commoditizes and homogenizes previously profitable customers.
2. Truly leveraging the art of off-line merchandising and engagement will determine long-term winners and losers in the future of online commerce (f-commerce, e-commerce and mobile commerce). Most retail online sites habitually condition shoppers to search for discounts and promotions, lack an ability to drive impulse purchasing, and fall far short of a comparable in-store experience. The core of web shopping was designed by non-retail techies (often in their early twenties) who had little or no interest in designing a channel that would engage “power shoppers”, merchandise brilliantly, or offer a truly personalized shopping experience. As larger and larger percentages of retail dollars come through the online channels, retailers need to adapt now before they permanently condition massive swaths of profitable customers to become “bargain shoppers” or “task-only shoppers” and lose their accompanying margins forever.

Further, retailers must offer online the “ideal personalized shopping experience” that they work so hard to provide consistently offline. When I walk around a leading retailer’s offline store, there are so many cues that encourage me to stay longer, browse and ultimately buy more. This is exactly what is missing online. Retailers and brands are creating very “standard issue” e-commerce sites (particularly parroting Amazon) because they feel they have to. But competing with a retailer with 2-3% margins feels like a fool’s errand. At its core, personalized merchandising is virtually absent online.

CommercePro solves for both of these challenges. First, it is designed to offer a different path and experience for certain segments of a site’s traffic. Its focus is on the most profitable customers who are seeking engagement and merchandising and enjoy that experience. Second, the digital experience inside CommercePro can be customized and curated (and constantly optimized) leveraging a retailer’s off-line merchandising assets and strategies. Finally, retailers can be consistent across their channels and procure the increased conversions, order sizes, and margins that correlate with such effective cross-channel merchandising.

Q. What is one thing that you want people to know about CommercePro that they might not realize from reading the promotional material? What’s the heart and soul of this product, to you?

Because CommercePro is the first digital interactive experience available with an integrated e-commerce engine, there are no words yet in our common vocabulary to fully describe the Zmags experience. Thus, we tend to refer to it as an “interactive catalog experience” – but it’s so much more than a digital version of a paper catalog. While the user feels that he/she is in control of the experience with the dynamic interface, it is truly the retailer’s direction that guides the interaction between user and products and user and brand. Much like Cyrano de Bergerac, the retailer can orchestrate an outcome without making it obvious who is pulling the strings.

Q. How is the business/retail climate different now? What about today’s marketplace makes it ripe for CommercePro?

The tablet and social media phenomena have forced retailers to accelerate their marketing agendas at a rate previously unheard of. Smartphones, iPads, Groupon, Facebook, to name only a few, are now a permanent consideration for marketers and have arisen virtually overnight. Marketing organizations were already resource constrained as they battled with how the web and offline channels should align (which now seems like the easy part of the challenge).

That is where CommercePro comes in. Our over 3,000 global customers wanted one solution that could help them address all these new channels simultaneously. CommercePro provides the functionality to deliver an interactive digital experience across virtually all devices seamlessly (without significant IT requirements). We can have a leading brand up and running in a few weeks. We can port a merchandised experience to the iPad, Facebook, and the web all from our SaaS solution today.

Q. Which kinds of online businesses are most well-suited to CommercePro – how can businesses of all kind leverage CommercePro?

The core market for CommercePro is principally retailers and brand owners who have 1) an e-commerce store 2) a print catalog/circular 3) brick & mortar locations and/or 4) a product line that is sold through other retailers. Aligning all these channels with a consistent merchandised experience is critical and CommercePro makes that easy.

One of our most prominent conversations right now with global brands is around Facebook commerce.  Retailers have spent months (sometimes years) collecting thousands of “fans” in the social network. Yet very few are able to turn those fans into buyers – and even fewer without leaving the Facebook environment. One example of how CommercePro is changing the face of interactive shopping is through Facebook – our customers can embed a fully functioning digital Zmag right into their fan pages. And their fans can become buyers with a few simple clicks. As far as I can tell, that means that virtually every leading brand out there can leverage CommercePro.

Q. Is there anything you’d like to leave our readers with in terms of advice or insight into how to succeed in e-commerce or business in general?

Something I’ve said for years about the offline world continues to be even truer in the online and mobile realms. “It’s all and always about (understanding) the customer, stupid.” What have you done today to delight your customer and how do you know? Ensuring that your culture believes this, is empowered to do this, and most importantly has consistent metrics to track it. We tend to use the Net Promoter Score as our core metric for internal and external customer measurement and in so doing are constantly learning about how we please (and sometimes displease) our clients.

Q. What is a typical day like at Zmags? You have offices in multiple different time zones, how does that affect things?

Even though we have 3,000 brands as customers, we are still a young company striving to keep up with our growth. Because our teams are distributed nearly equally between Boston, Copenhagen and London, each office feels more like a “start-up” in its intensity and collegiality (it is hard to “hide” in an office of only 40-50 teammates). I like that a lot. The downside of course, is we have to travel more, use video conferencing and FaceTime a lot, etc. When we get it right, we effectively have a company that is operating virtually 24×7 somewhere in the world—which is exciting from a productivity point of view. We also benefit from a broader set of cultures, languages, disciplines, and experiences. Cross-functional teams are a part of the daily diet, which means we’re all learning globally all the time. In our new Boston office, we have a large Chinese orchestral gong that is “rocked” whenever we do something that delights a customer. It can be awfully loud….but we want everyone to know when we have made a difference for a customer.

Q. If Zmags was a dog, what kind of dog would it be and why?

I’d say we’re a Labernard – a combination of two great dogs, where the end result is a beautiful hybrid. It’s the best of both animals – the energy and beauty of the Labrador with the protective qualities of a St. Bernard. I like to think we are extraordinarily energetic in innovating with and yet fully protective of our clients. Hopefully, we exhibit the traits of this “gentle giant” of a dog.

Global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget launched a new guide today that provides marketers practical advice on how to create effective cross-channel marketing campaigns across social media, email, mobile and the Web.

“This guide gives real world advice and direction to help marketers meet and exceed customer expectations, and achieve cross-channel marketing success.”

Entitled The Field Guide to Cross-Channel Marketing, the new guide features channel-specific best practices and offers actionable insight on how to connect channels to create successful cross-channel campaigns.

“Regardless of their industry, interactive marketers must be able to deliver optimized, relevant and customized experiences as customers become more difficult to engage,” said Tim Kopp, chief marketing officer at ExactTarget. “This guide gives real world advice and direction to help marketers meet and exceed customer expectations, and achieve cross-channel marketing success.”

Featuring insights from ExactTarget’s acclaimed Subscribers, Fans and Followers series and industry thought leaders including MarketingSherpa, the guide includes advice for marketers across several industries including retail, financial services, technology and publishing among others.

The guide includes:

• Actionable advice on how best to engage customers at the right time using the right mix of interactive marketing channels;
• Proven tactics to boost revenue using social media, email, text campaigns and websites; and
• Real-world examples of successful cross-channel strategies for B2C and B2B marketers.

The free Field Guide to Cross-Channel Marketing is available for download by clicking here.

The launch of the new guide follows a recent Forrester Consulting study commissioned by ExactTarget that found 48 percent of interactive marketing executives rank understanding customers’ cross-channel interactions as one of the top challenges facing marketing today. Entitled “The New Campaign Management Mandate,” the June 2011 study found marketers’ lack of cross-channel insights result in brands interacting through disconnected channels that fail to deliver seamless brand experiences and the real-time, relevant dialog consumers expect.

Based on a survey of nearly 160 marketers, the study identified key challenges marketers face to meet the new reality of cross-channel engagement and offered persona-based recommendations to help marketers evolve their interactive campaign management capabilities.

Intronis, a world class online backup and recovery solution was awarded its 4th Best Revenue Generator Award at the ASCII Reseller Success Summit in Orlando, Florida this July. This is the 5th consecutive ASCII win overall!

Ted Roller, VP of Channel Development and Melissa Abreu, Customer Success Manager accepted the award on behalf of the entire team at Intronis. “Four straight “Best Revenue Generator” awards is unprecedented at our events,” stated Jean Alexander of ASCII. “The MSP community across the nation is clearly very excited about the Intronis solution.”

Ted Roller stated, “ASCII provides an incredible opportunity for Intronis to showcase the value of our solution. The Best Revenue Generator Award suggests that the IT industry recognizes the value in a partnership with Intronis. We at Intronis appreciate the continued support we have from our current partners and look forward to making new partnerships with MSPs who are looking for a leading online backup solution. ASCII continues to provide an outstanding venue that drives education, collaboration, community and profitability for everyone involved.”

In recent years, there has been a great deal of hype behind mobile advertising and brand promotion through applications. But according to a recent ExactTarget study, email remains one of the key factors to mobile content marketing campaigns.

In its Mobile Dependence Day report, ExactTarget noted that mobile email, more than any other mobile marketing format, is driving American smartphone owners to make purchases.

The survey revealed that 56 percent of polled smartphone users have completed a purchase after receiving a mobile email. Marketing via text messaging came in second, influencing purchases among 41 percent of respondents.

However, mobile email is only part of the conversion process. Businesses can couple email newsletters with strong content on their mobile websites to provide potential customers with additional information and compel them to follow through on a purchase.

As Brafton has reported, mobile marketing has the capacity to transform email campaigns, as more consumers are likely to email both personal and business email accounts through their mobile devices. As this trend continues, more businesses will recognize the potential of mobile email and its ability to target specific audiences effectively.