eEye Digital Security, a provider of IT security and unified vulnerability management solutions, will exhibit at the Texas Association of Governmental Information Technology Managers (TAGITM) 33rd Annual Education Conference, May 17-20, 2011 at the Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center in Galveston, Texas. The TAGITM Conference provides technology education specific to county and city IT Managers and staff.

eEye invites the media and TAGITM attendees to explore the company’s latest innovations, demonstrated in Booth 411, primarily the company’s Retina CS Management solution, Retina Insight reporting engine, as well as add-on modules for Configuration Compliance, Government Regulatory Reporting, and Patch Management.

eEye CTO, Marc Maiffret, will offer insights during a breakout session presentation, “On the Frontline of the Threat Landscape,” to be held on Wednesday, May 18 at 10:30 AM in the Hibiscus/Daffodil room.

“eEye has built a strong reputation for helping government organizations improve their security posture,” said Marc Maiffret, CTO, eEye. “Since the very beginning, now more than 10 years ago, we’ve put a strong focus on building solutions that enable government organizations to reduce risk and more easily meet complex compliance requirements. We look forward to sharing our latest offerings with TAGITM attendees.”

eEye will also encourage TAGITM attendees to take advantage of free resources that the company provides to the IT security community, including a free vulnerability scanner, Retina Community. Since April 1, 2011, more than 5000 IT security professionals have downloaded the tool. Most recently, the Company released a new IT security research report, In Configuration We Trust, which outlines simple configuration changes that can dramatically improve an organization’s security posture. eEye’s Zero Day Tracker provides an online catalogue of the newest zero-day vulnerabilities, instructions for quick remediation, and a historical record of past vulnerabilities. eEye’s Vulnerability Expert Forum (VEF) webinars, hosted monthly by CTO Marc Maiffret and the eEye Research Team, continue to attract hundreds of IT security professionals seeking insight and information on recently announced critical vulnerabilities from Microsoft and other software vendors.

eEye is participating in the TAGITM conference “Exhibit Space Bingo.” Attendees must visit the eEye Booth (411) along with other participating vendors to complete their bingo card and qualify for prize drawings at the close of the conference. eEye is also giving away an Amazon Kindle as a door prize during the TAGITM event.

About eEye Digital Security
Since 1998, eEye Digital Security has made vulnerability and compliance management simpler and more efficient by providing the only unified solution that integrates assessment, mitigation, protection, and reporting into a complete offering with optional add-on modules for configuration compliance, regulatory reporting, and integrated patch management. eEye’s world-renowned research and development team is consistently the first to uncover critical vulnerabilities and build new protections into our solutions to prevent their exploit. Thousands of mid-to-large-size private-sector and government organizations, including the largest vulnerability management installations in the world, rely on eEye to protect against the latest known and zero-day vulnerabilities. More at eeye.com.

Exinda, a leading global provider of WAN Optimization solutions that offer Unified Performance Management (UPM), today introduced the Exinda Edge Cache, a key feature of Exinda’s ExOS 6.1 software. The Exinda Edge Cache enables single-sided caching of Internet-based content, including web objects, videos and software updates with a single Exinda WAN Optimization appliance at the branch office or data center, enabling a superior user experience and reducing WAN utilization costs.

“The use of video in the enterprise is changing the way the companies do business. Video training, video conferencing, and corporate videos are vying with recreational video traffic and other business applications for network bandwidth,” said Lucinda Borovick, research vice president at IDC. “WAN links present a challenge because of their often limited bandwidth and high operating expenses. The ability to offload much of this video traffic from the WAN can have a significant positive impact on application and network performance.”

With the Exinda Edge Cache, web objects are cached at the network edge when they are downloaded from the Internet. These objects can then be delivered to the users on the corporate local area network much faster, providing a better user experience. In addition, IT departments can pre-populate content such as software updates in the Edge Cache, enabling users to access the files more quickly compared with accessing them over the WAN improving the user experience by five to 40 times. By caching these web objects in the local office, organizations can drive down the network traffic consumed by each office, which directly reduces network costs.

“By eliminating the repetitive download of content over the WAN, the Exinda Edge Cache dramatically improves the speed and performance of internet applications,” said Kevin Suitor, Exinda’s VP of marketing. “Our customers have seen as much as 80% reduction in http traffic over the WAN, and more than 35% reduction in video and other content. By reducing the consumption of valuable WAN resources, organizations can maximize their existing network spend and use the savings to fund innovative projects that further reduce cost.”

Exinda Edge Cache features:

The Exinda Edge Cache enables caching of web objects, video, software update and other content on the WAN. It also offers cache statistics, which provide insight into the amount of repetitive data being offloaded from the WAN link, how cacheable the network data is, how frequently the cache is being accessed, and by how many hosts, helping organizations to understand the nature of their network traffic over time.

The Exinda Edge Cache can also be aligned with an organization’s optimization policies, allowing the administrator to only cache specific content for specific users or groups of users, and to maintain very precise controls over how much WAN bandwidth should be made available for each type of cacheable content. ExOS 6.1 offers the ability to run Edge Cache alongside current TCP Acceleration and WAN Memory Byte caching simultaneously. This ensures that all traffic directed over the corporate WAN is accelerated with TCP optimization and application acceleration, as well as accelerating internet based traffic and applications using the Edge Cache.

Exinda’s Unified Performance Management Strategy

Exinda’s WAN Optimization solutions enable network managers to leverage Exinda’s unified performance management (UPM) solution, which offers network visibility, bandwidth control and application acceleration technologies within a single, easy to-use appliance.

About Exinda

Exinda is a proven global supplier of WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration products having shipped over 10,000 appliances to more than 2,000 organizations worldwide. The Exinda Unified Performance Management (UPM) solution encompasses application visibility, control, optimization and intelligent acceleration – all within a single network appliance that is affordable and easy to manage. Exinda is headquartered in Andover, MA and has established regional offices in Canada, the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific to support the growing global demand for its products and services. Exinda is a 100% channel business with products being distributed by a worldwide network of solution partners who offer local support and services. For more information, please visit http://www.exinda.com.

The worlds of disaster recovery/business continuity and data protection conceptually are two sides of the same coin. Keeping information safe and secure go hand-in-hand with making sure that this data can be recovered and put to its proper use in a timely manner after an emergency.

 

This InformationWeek story on Acronis’ version 11 — and, of course, the product itself — makes the assumption that the conceptual link is growing stronger. Data repositories, in the cases of both DR/BC and data protection, are increasingly decentralized. The story quotes Izzy Azeri, Acronis’ senior vice president and general manager for the Americas, as pointing out that the amount of data is exploding and the places it is being stored are proliferating. It is stored on premise, at hosting companies and in the cloud.

 

The explosion of data and the run of emergency situations around the world should lead to more attention being paid to how DR/BC is implemented. The events of the past decade show the importance of disaster recovery planning (DRP), the topic discussed by Richard Dolewski, CTO and vice president of business continuity services for WTS, in this Data Center Knowledge piece. His column goes into significant and very good detail on the need for testing, and points out that there is more than one approach. Among many other things, he describes active and passive DRP test techniques.

 

Much of this isn’t new. It should be noted, however, that it is growing more important. Just during the past couple of months there have been a devastating earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear disaster in Japan and horrific tornados and record flooding in the United States. It may simply be a matter of perception, but it seems that the emergencies are occurring more often than ever and are more serious when they do happen. In any case, a look at the evening news should squelch any notion that DR/BC isn’t a vital, mission-critical operation. Data protection also is vital, though even IT personnel aren’t taking it as seriously as they should.

 

The bad news — surrounding the explosion of data that must be protected — has a bit of a silver lining: The very explosion can tighten the knot with data protection. The smart companies recognize that simply saving gazillions of gigabytes of data backed up doesn’t do much good if it isn’t ordered so that IT departments struggling to get back online after an emergency can make heads or tails out of it. The need to identify and prioritize what is what and where it is stored also are vital elements of data protection. Thus, more than ever, data protection and DC/BC are reading from the same script.

Global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget announced today that it is a finalist for Company of the Year and two of its executives were named finalists in the 2011 American Business Awards “Stevie^® Awards”.

“The recognition by the American Business Awards is a testament to the great work of our more than 900 employees around the globe who are committed to client success.”

The American Business Awards named ExactTarget a finalist in the Best Overall Company of the Year in the Computer Services and Software category (up to 2,500 employees). Chief Executive Officer Scott Dorsey and Senior Vice President of Human Resources Todd Richardson were also named finalists in the Executive of the Year and Human Resources of the Year categories respectively.

“Our strategy of smart growth and aggressive investment in innovation and building a world-class team to serve our clients continues to fuel our record-setting growth,” Dorsey said. “The recognition by the American Business Awards is a testament to the great work of our more than 900 employees around the globe who are committed to client success.”

ExactTarget edged out more than 2,800 organizations from across the country vying for the recognition. Dorsey is among four chief executives named finalists for the honor, including Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Members of the Awards’ Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and specialized final judging committees will select award winners from among the Finalists during final judging. Winners will be announced June 20 in New York City. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.

The honors come less than a week after ExactTarget’s Interactive Marketing Hub^TM earned the title of ‘Innovation of the Year’ by TechPoint, and cofounder and chief executive Scott Dorsey was awarded Indiana’s top technology honor. In the past year alone, ExactTarget has garnered a host of awards and accolades including:

• Wall Street Journal Next Big Thing – list of 50 most promising venture-backed companies;
• Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies for the fifth consecutive year;
• Deloitte Technology Fast 500 (fourth appearance in past five years);
• Best Places to Work in Indiana for the fifth consecutive year;
• Indiana Chamber of Commerce HR Professional of the Year – ExactTarget’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources Todd Richardson; and
• 2010 American Business Awards Finance Executive of the Year – ExactTarget’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer Traci Dolan.

ExactTarget posted annual revenue of more than $134 million in 2010, a 41 percent year-over-year growth from 2009 totals.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing and interactive marketing solutions. The company’s Interactive Marketing Hub technology provides organizations a single solution to connect with customers via email, integrated text messaging, landing pages and social media. Supported by collaborative global services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among many others. ExactTarget powers permission-based multichannel communications for thousands of organizations around the world including Expedia.com, Best Buy, Papa John’s, CareerBuilder.com, Gannett Co., Inc., The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Home Depot and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.com.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget launched a new guide today that offers practical advice on how to transform consumer research into effective marketing campaigns across email, Facebook and Twitter.

Entitled Top 5 Things Consumers Want from Marketers, the guide pairs findings from ExactTarget’s consumer research with clear step-by-step advice on how to create engaging interactive marketing campaigns that deliver on consumers’ expectations and drive new business.

“Consumers’ expectations of brands have never been higher,” said Tim Kopp, ExactTarget chief marketing officer. “Our new guide brings together the best of our research with real-world ‘how-to’ recommendations designed to help marketers create powerful interactive marketing campaigns that build brand loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.”

Featuring insights from ExactTarget’s consumer research, including its acclaimed Subscribers, Fans and Followers series, the new guide includes practical advice on how to:

• Expand an email marketing program to include Twitter and Facebook;
• Coordinate interactions across all online channels to create a seamless customer experience;
• Allow customers to select the best channel and frequency for brand interaction; and
• Optimize campaigns to increase engagement and overall performance.

“As consumers continue to evolve into digital media multitaskers, the rules of marketing will be irreversibly changed,” states the Nov. 2010 report by Forrester Research Inc. entitled “CMO Mandate: Adapt or Perish”. “In this new world, there is greater demand to consume media across multiple platforms, causing exponential growth of content — both branded and user-generated — but unfortunately consumers will become more difficult to engage.”

The Top 5 Things Consumers Want from Marketers briefing is available for free download at www.ExactTarget.com/ConsumersWant.

The launch of the new guide follows news that ExactTarget’s next generation of interactive marketing technology – the Interactive Marketing Hub^TM – has been named the “Innovation of the Year.” Awarded by technology trade association TechPoint, the honor recognized the Interactive Marketing Hub’s unique strength and ability to enable marketers to plan, monitor and track real-time interactive marketing programs from a single dashboard. By aggregating all customer interaction data as it happens, the Interactive Marketing Hub allows marketers to instantly take action on data across all online channels in real time.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing and interactive marketing solutions. The company’s Interactive Marketing Hub technology provides organizations a single solution to connect with customers via email, integrated text messaging, landing pages and social media. Supported by collaborative global services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among many others. ExactTarget powers permission-based multichannel communications for thousands of organizations around the world including Expedia.com, Best Buy, Papa John’s, CareerBuilder.com, Gannett Co., Inc., The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Home Depot and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.com.

Even before the budget was handed down small and medium IT businesses were keen to remind the Government about the long term importance of programmes such as the NBN, which they clearly did not want trimmed.

According to Karl Sice, general manager at Acronis;

“Big investments in technology which free up commerce and enable growth are good news for the economy and to future proof it. Recent examples, such as the NBN, provide companies and particularly small to medium businesses like those which Acronis serves, unprecedented access to market opportunities and geographies which weren’t previously possible to cover.”

Treated as an investment rather than a budget item the Gillard Government’s first Budget proved a largely NBN-free zone.

It did however continue to focus on health related spending led by a $2.2 billion five year programme to improve the delivery of mental health services, $1.8 billion over six years on health infrastructure for the regions, and $740 million over five years to provide affordable access to medicines and technologies.

ICT services provider CSC Australia welcomed the health sector initiatives. According to Lisa Pettigrew, CSC’s National Director for Health Services; “We recognise the importance of electronic health records for mental health consumers, who need to be able to track what happens across the continuum of care from community and home to acute settings. It is important for all Australians, and particularly mental health consumers, to have choice and control over their own health records.”

She added that the investment of $14.4 million over five years to consolidate mental health websites and provide e-therapy services to an additional 45,000 consumers was important. “Continued funding of this magnitude is a major step towards empowering Australian consumers and the health system towards achieving a healthier population and a sustainable health system.”

Ms Pettigrew added that; “e-health is also crucial to regional health and CSC welcomes the Government’s announced spending of $1.8 billion for regional health services. In a tough budget year, it is heartening to see the government’s commitment to e-health is unwavering.

“The e-health reality created by this government in last year’s budget will ensure that the modernising of Australia’s health system will be underway by 1 July 2012.”

Data protection vendor Acronis has introduced what it says is the industry’s first product that combines backup and disaster recovery software into one application that protects data on physical or virtual IT assets, as well as in the cloud. Acronis emphasized that the Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 solution is designed to be easy to use, especially for small to midsize businesses that may not have the experienced IT staff to handle more complex solutions.

Previously, data backup and disaster recovery required separate solutions because backup involved finding a specific file or folder while disaster recovery involved replicating or restarting an entire data center down to the bare metal, says Izzy Azeri, general manager for the Americas for Acronis. For the first time, in version 11, those tasks can both be managed in one solution.

Backup & Recovery 11 also catalogs each item saved and notes whether it was saved to tape, disk or a cloud storage array. The catalog also records when a particular file was last saved.

The new version provides wizards for setting up data retention policies, establishing what is to be saved, where and how often. The wizards make it easy for IT novices to manage their data backups, Azeri says, although there are also advanced features for more experienced IT professionals.

Version 11 also creates a step-by-step disaster recovery plan that takes into account compliance regulations a business must follow, such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for companies that handle credit cards, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for those in the health care industry and Sarbanes-Oxley for publicly traded companies. The plan can be automatically updated each time a new file is saved in the event file names change or data is backed up to a new location.

“The automatic creation of the disaster recovery plans is a very cool feature, one that I have not seen before in this area,” says Dick Csaplar, senior research analyst at Aberdeen Group. “The fact that one is created automatically means that the person doing the recovery doesn’t have to be the one who did the initial backup.”

Managing backup and recovery for any IT system is “daunting,” Csaplar adds, especially for SMBs juggling physical, virtual and cloud assets with small IT staffs. Although Acronis faces competition from companies such as EMC Avamar, Symantec, CommVault and Quest, “I believe the bar has been raised by this Acronis product.”

As SMBs expand their use of virtualization, Backup & Recovery 11 manages data protection on virtual machines, providing simultaneous backup of all the virtual machines (VMs) on a host server. “It’s hard to back up all the VMs on one host because there’s a short backup window and the backup has to be done sequentially. With this new feature, you can do all VM backups in parallel,” says Azeri.

As some MSPmentor readers know, my hard drive failed on May 3. A few readers have asked me for an update. Specifically, was my cloud-based backup service able to restore my files? Unfortunately, it’s not a simple Yes or No answer. Here’s why… plus an important cloud sales lesson for managed services providers. In short, there’s a simple way to sell SMB online backup and disaster recovery (BDR) services vs. consumer cloud backup services.

The good news: My cloud-based backup service worked as advertised. All of my files and content were safely backed up to the cloud. The bad news: Restoring all of those files, using my home broadband connection, would have required a continuous three-day download. As a workaround, I restored only my email and a few selected files. The online backup company, which competes in the consumer market, is mailing me a CD containing the rest of my data.

There’s an important lesson here for MSPs that are striving to compete with commodity backup and restore services: Backup is important but restore times are even more important. In separate conversations and email exchanges over the past week, both Doyenz and Intronis made that point to me. Plus, some readers are telling me to check out hybrid cloud solutions — which backup data to local appliances as well as off-premises clouds.

The Sales Lesson for MSPs

Here’s a simple suggestion: MSPs should back up 50 gigabytes of sample (non-critical) data to a consumer online backup service. Then, practice a restore with the end-customer present. Show them how long the restore process — over a broadband Internet connection — can take for a mere 50 gigabytes of hard drive data. Now, do some math and show the customer how much longer the restore would take if the process involved 500 gigabytes of data, a terabyte of data and so on.

Bottom line: Based on my anecdotal experience last week I suspect most consumer online backup companies can’t restore data fast enough over the Internet for typical small business customers.

By the end of the conversation you should be able to upsell the customer from a consumer online backup service to a true cloud BDR (backup and disaster recovery) service.