Effective June 30, 2010, Microsoft will be discontinuing their mid-market infrastructure solution, Windows Essential Business Server (EBS). The Windows EBS blog explains, “midsize businesses are rapidly turning to technologies such as management, virtualization and cloud computing as a means to cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. Those capabilities are already available through other offerings, including Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft System Center and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).”
This announcement does not affect any other Windows Server products — Windows Small Business Server (SBS) remains unaffected. Current EBS 2008 customers may take advantage of a limited time offer from Microsoft. From June 30, 2010 to December 31, 2010, “currently EBS 2008 customers can get the individual component software from the EBS 2008 suite for free (local taxes, shipping and handling charges may apply).” Visit http://www.microsoft.com/ebs for more information on this offer.
Cyber criminals related to the Mariposa botnet were finally arrested last month. The Mariposa botnet, a network of 12 zombie computers assembled together to steal personal information, is believed to have infected approximately 13 million computers in more than 190 countries. The botnet spread over P2P networks, infected USB drives and through web links. After a user was infected, malware would begin to install and allow the hackers to access sensitive information.
The Register reports that “half the roster of Fortune 1000 companies harboured machines infected by Mariposa at one time or another.” In fact, Christopher Davis, chief exec at Defence Intelligence in Canada, says, “It would be easier for me to provide a list of the Fortune 1000 companies that weren’t compromised, rather than the long list of those who were.”
After Davis first discovered Mariposa in May 2009, he teamed up with Georgia Tech Information Security Center, PandaLabs and law enforcement personnel to form the Mariposa Working Group. After months of collaboration, Panda Security, other security experts and law enforcement were able to shut down Mariposa on December 23, 2009.
Big changes have been happening over at BlackBerry and they have decided to make one of its most popular products completely free. BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express provides advanced BlackBerry smartphone features with no additional software or user license fees. It also works with any Internet-enable Blackberry data plan. Download it now at the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express site.
Okay, so it’s nearing March. Those new year’s resolutions you made almost two months ago haven’t been sticking. Need a bit of help? Chrometa! Chrometa is “a time tracking app that respects your time.” Because, “tracking time shouldn’t take time.” So, “Chrometa takes care of the details and lets you focus on your work.” I’d say that’s a pretty smart application…
Chrometa has notoriety to claim as well. Inc.com, Law.com, TechnoLawyer and Business Journal have all featured the product. Hey, and check out even more reviews and buzz circulating for Chrometa. They include first-hand experiences noting the app is “kick ass” and “a straightforward solution to a painstaking task.” Lee Rosen, an attorney in North Carolina even claims “Chrometa pays for itself on the first day – before you go to lunch.” That’s some super high ROI, if you ask me.
So what exactly does it do? Chrometa is a program that automatically tracks your time. Find out just how long you’re spending on documents, emails, applications, calls, meetings and everything in between. Recall everything you’ve done and account for billable time and become more productive by automating many tedious tasks. This program is great for lawyers, event planners, graphic designers and other professionals who need to keep track of and account for billed time. Why not try it out for yourself? They offer a free 30-day trial. If you’re already impressed, snatch it up (for $10 less, that’s one entire $Hamilton bill) at SoftwareMedia.com.
Beck & Lee (Miami) and the Weston Firm (San Diego) filed a class action lawsuit against Yelp yesterday. Why? Well, according to the Yelp Class Action Website, “the lawsuit alleges that Yelp runs an extortion scheme in which the company’s employees call businesses demanding monthly payments, in the guise of ‘advertising contracts,’ in exchange for removing or modifying negative reviews appearing on the website.”
Last year, Kathleen Richards at East Bay Express wrote an article about how several businesses in the Bay Area were contacted by Yelp. John, a restaurant owner in the Bay, was contacted about negative reviews that were featured prominently on his Yelp site. “We can move them,” said the Yelp sales rep. Then came, “Well, for $299 a month.” Ha! What?! Although the article mentions this issue is addressed in the Yelp FAQ, there are a number a local business owners that challenge the statement. Yelp denies the statements addressed in Richards’ article though. The Wall Street Journal did an article on these events.
According to AdWeek, the ads will be running throughout the month of February. If you watched NBC’s Olympic coverage of the men’s figure skating last night, Kristi Yamaguchi was trying to deduct her costumes on TurboTax rather than provide commentary on the skating. Okay, okay, it was a commercial. But, it’s obvious Intuit is feeding off NBC’s domination of the Vancouver Games to promote their TurboTax software — even though that wasn’t the first time Kristi’s ad aired.
They probably haven’t convinced me to do my taxes just yet, but the commercials are a riot (and I do like the GPS-like navigation feature they’ve been hyping). It was difficult to find any of the above mentioned spots, but here’s (an equally funny) one of Days of Our Lives star Alison Sweeney…
If you’re all ready to do your taxes, SoftwareMedia.com has a handy dandy Tax Filing Guide and all sorts of TurboTax and Intuit products. Make sure to also put those deductions from the “free” business software you acquired.
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Research in Motion (RIM) announced its free server software today, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express. Basically, the software syncs your BlackBerry smartphone with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server. Mike Lazaridis, President and co-CEO of RIM, explains, ” In a marketplace where smartphones are becoming ubiquitous, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express significantly raises the bar by providing a cost-effective solution that allows companies of all sizes to support enterprise-grade mobile connectivity for all employees without compromising security or manageability.” Although not as fancy as the pay version, BESX users will be able to:
Wirelessly sync email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks
Manage email folders and search email remotely
Book meetings and appointments
Set up out-of-office replies
Edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files with Documents to Go
Access files stored on the company network
User mobile apps to access business systems behind the firewall
BESX releases in March. Visit the site to learn more about BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express features in the meantime though… While BESX has “the same robust security architecture found in BlackBerry Enterprise Server,” BESX only features 35 “IT controls and policies” whereas, the full BlackBerry Enterprise Server version has over 450 tools. But those 400+ features come at a price… If you are unsure whether or not BESX will suit your needs, check out RIM’s spiffy BlackBerry Comparison Chart.
Take the Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition “20-Minute” Challenge: fully deploy the software in just 20 minutes. At the CRN Test Labs, Endpoint Protection SBE was installed in 16 minutes. How long does it take you?
More information about the product may be found at the Symantec website. There’s also a quick blog breaking down the challenge.
If you just want to start the timer, the product is available for download here. The product is limited 30-day trialware, but once you’re convinced and ready to commit SoftwareMedia.com is ready for you. Feel free to hit up our licensing specialists and take advantage of our software licensing price guarantee!
At a lost for which backup software to use? CA’s ARCserve Backup and Symantec’s Backup Exec have been top contenders when it comes to company backup software. But, according to an independent study conducted by Productive Corp., ARCserve “clearly” surpasses Backup Exec’s features and technology.
The two products were compared in “9 categories to help you uncover the right solution for your data backup needs.” Productive points out that although “these two data backup and storage products are relatively similar in function,” the differences in features are made evident in the product comparison. These features include the nine categories: “ease of install,” “ease of use,” “scalability,” “performance,” “cost,” “data security,” “supported systems,” “customer service,” and “extra value.” The review also concludes ARCserve being a better return on investment product.
SoftwareMedia TV’s spotlight star is donning the sleek black look, once again. Experienced Microsoft sales rep, Todd Francis, is back for part two of our Microsoft Open Business licensing video series. In our first video, Todd explained how to purchase basic products through the Microsoft Open Business Program. He went over frequently asked questions such as how many licenses you will need, the different product options available and the benefits of buying a product with software assurance. In part two of this series, watch as Todd explains how to purchase the more complicated products available through the Microsoft Open Business Program. The following video also runs through the differences between the two available CAL licenses — user CALs and device CALs. In addition, Todd also explains other important terms, such as processor license and external connector.
For more information, see our Microsoft Open Licensing Guides. See more software tutorials by clicking on the SoftwareMedia TV tag or follow us on YouTube. Although this wraps up our Microsoft Open Business licensing videos, never fear! Todd will be b(l)ack soon.
Are there any topics you would like Todd to explain? Anything you want us to cover? Hit that comment link and let us know!
Effective June 30, 2010, Microsoft will be discontinuing their mid-market infrastructure solution, Windows Essential Business Server (EBS). The Windows EBS blog explains, “midsize businesses are rapidly turning to technologies such as management, virtualization and cloud computing as a means to cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. Those capabilities are already available through other offerings, including Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft System Center and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).”
Cyber criminals related to the Mariposa botnet were finally arrested last month. The Mariposa botnet, a network of 12 zombie computers assembled together to steal personal information, is believed to have infected approximately 13 million computers in more than 190 countries. The botnet spread over P2P networks, infected USB drives and through web links. After a user was infected, malware would begin to install and allow the hackers to access sensitive information.
Remember BlackBerry’s big announcement for a 
