I’m feeling great today! Fall is kicking in where I live, and I love that crisp air feeling. It’s also back-to-school time, and there is still an opportunity for you to attend the amazing SMB Nation Fall Conference in late September in Las Vegas!!! As one of our loyal readers, please contact me offline if you’d like the user group/community discount to “get ya there” as the early bird rates have now passed…I can be reached at harryb@smbnation.com.

In this issue: I share some survey results with you about your Geek preferences. I also provide some updates on the SMB MVP Tour currently under way across the world right now!

Enjoy the read….

PS – There will be a special prize drawing at this year’s fall conference for a 2012 Harley-Davidson motorcycle (sponsored by OKI Data) – some qualifications steps apply.

Cheers…harrybbb

Also, check out our weekly webinar: Email Security and Archiving.

Join David F. Skoll and I on Thursday, September 15th from 10:00-11:00am Pacific time as we discuss why filtering and archiving should be done at the gateway and describe our hosted and on-premises offerings. We also describe our multi-tenant product that allows an MSP to provide service to multiple customers while keeping customer data separate.

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/311694488

Are you over 2/3 Geek?

A well-worn business metaphor concerns the Wizard of Oz. The saying goes along the lines of pulling back the drapes, and you can see the real man behind the wizard theatrics in the classic movie. So let me share some internal observations about how we got to where we’re at with the SMB Nation Fall Conference.

I performed a casual survey of MVPs, attendees and other stakeholders to determine what their Geek IQ was. What I found is that, at the start of the day, the middle of the day and even the end of the day, you are still a technical professional and proud of it!

The good news is that we shaped the SMB Nation curriculum to reflect this. We have found that you WANT GEEK at your fall event with a sprinkling of BusinessSpeak and other topics. So we have assembled an amazing roster of technical subject matter experts where the content is over 2/3 GEEK! Go to fall.smbnation.com to see for yourself!

I have more good news. The geek is alive and well. Last week I converted our own company to Office 365, and found that a computer guy/gal is a critical part of the equation. The cloud is technical as I had to dive deep on a few migration topics, work with technical support on some setup issues and think through my DNS configurations. All of these actions point toward a long life ahead as geeks. I will detail the specifics of my Office 365 conversion at a future date in the October CloudSpeak issue.

I challenge you to confirm what I have just presented to you. Look closely at our content agenda for the fall show at fall.smbnation.com and confirm or deny the argument I have asserted above.

Living on “The Managed Edge^” of IT Network Security

By Benjamin Yarbrough, CEO, Calyptix Security

Two massive trends are converging to put extreme pressure on IT security for small and medium sized businesses. The first trend is a massive migration of computing and network infrastructure from the main office into the cloud. The second trend is the “consumerization” of IT in the workplace and the rapid proliferation of mobile computing devices in the form of bigger, faster tablets and smart phones. The combination of these forces has resulted in a dramatic expansion in demand for remote access to corporate computing resources. Company employees are increasingly working from home, on-the-road, or deployed virtually in an array of satellite offices, accessing the corporate network through multiple devices.

Meanwhile, malware is becoming an increasing problem for business. What had traditionally been an issue exclusive to consumers and government or financial institutions has suddenly made a crossover into the enterprise. This trend is being helped through a number of factors including employee mobility, the use of social networking sites, and user-driven IT. As a result, the corporate network is increasingly being exposed to malware, trojans, Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) and other attacks that have the potential to lead to a data breach and compromise sensitive data.

This new reality highlights the need for more security at "the edge" of the company network -- through which most of the critical business information is now flowing. More scrutiny needs to be placed on the quality of conventional firewalls sitting in front of the network , and a greater emphasis must be placed on the need for regular management and maintenance of the critical devices protecting “the edge.”

Calyptix Security is pioneering the development of "The Managed Edge™” cybersecurity solution. The Managed Edge is continually monitored and updated to protects the SMB network from incoming viruses, malware, and other security threats from the outside world... it's also monitoring and managing outgoing network traffic to protect the broader global network community from criminal hijacking and use and of the company's computing resources.

Moreover, The Managed Edge security solution itself leverages the massive trends of cloud computing and mobility to allow you -- the managed security service provider -- to manage and maintain the security devices remotely, and automatically.

Want to know how to “manage the edge” of your clients’ networks with better, smarter, and more effective security strategies? Contact me directly and I’ll provide more on our latest thinking.

Get on the Train – the SMB MVP Tour!

The popular SMB MVP tour continues. It knows no bounds. This Wednesday night (September 14) the train stops in New York City (I’ll be there with bells on!). Next stop is in Portland, OR, on Friday, September 16, and Seattle on September 17. My intentions are to be at each of these events as I’m a “groupie”

You can sign-up here:

http://mvptour2011.sbsmigration.com/events/

BONUS: We are hosting a reception this Wednesday night from 9PM to 11PM after the SMB MVP event. We will have a guest presentation from VU Telepresence highlighting SMB video conferencing!

MSP Mentors Teach Service Providers How to Extract Value from their RMM Solution

Mike Byrne, Director of MSP for Quest Software and Michael Foreman, Territory Manager, have a combined experience of 10 years teaching IT service providers how to build, price, and sell managed service contracts. On September 20^th, as part of PacketTrap MSP’s on-going “Ask the Expert” series, they will be the guests of honor. These free, monthly sessions have featured MSP business consultants, experienced MSPs and even scripting experts- all with the goal of educating IT service providers. "MSPs comprise a highly knowledgeable, but highly specialized group of people. These webinars are meant to provide IT service providers with guidance from experts in subjects that complement their technical knowledge” says Pierre Tapia, Community Manager for PacketTrap MSP.

The events typically begin with a question and answer session or prepared topics that relate to the expert’s subject matter. Throughout the discussion, participants are invited and encouraged to ask questions. The goal is to have an interactive conversation between expert and the audience. “All questions are welcome. Although we’re able to offer specifics on solutions that relate to PacketTrap MSP, the purpose of these meetings is to educate, not to promote a product.”

The next “Ask the Expert” will take place on September 20^th, 2011 at 11am PDT. You can register by visiting PacketTrap.com and clicking Events.

We’re just under three weeks out and it’s time to register, book your flights and make it happen for the 9^th Annual SMB Nation Fall event. It all begins at fall.smbnation.com. Don’t forget there are community discounts if you belong to a user group, etc.

Security vendor Cyberoam discusses the following important trends in network security, business productivity and Internet connectivity:

Rising Internet dependence among organizations is leading to a host of network security issues including malware threats, data leakage, insider threats and more. Newer technologies such as virtualisation, unified communications, and cloud computing are increasingly being adopted because they help reduce costs while addressing system manageability issues.

Data leakage prevention: An organization’s employees are privy to most confidential data comprising trade secrets, intellectual property, customer records and more. Data breaches may be accidental or malicious and may involve email, print-outs, removable media such as pen drives, CD ROMs and instant messengers.

The best antidote to data leakage is to invest in an endpoint data protection solution which can secure corporate data and assets, thus, reducing an organization’s legal liability and business losses. A fully-equipped endpoint data protection solution like Cyberoam’s contains performs several functions: controlling document operations and document sharing, encrypt removable devices at the time of copying them to a device, block file transfer over chat, email, etc., control access to printers, manage multiple removable devices and applications.

VoIP: Interactive applications like VoIP require high quality in terms of QoS to ensure the best possible user experience. Security vendors should provide application-based bandwidth management service so that administrators can deliver highest quality bandwidth to VoIP services which can be routed via high speed Internet links.

Cloud services and Virtualization: In the age of Cloud computing, applications residing within the organization’s data centers are today moving out on the cloud, competing with external applications for bandwidth. The growth in number and variety of applications compounded with their availability over the web and acceptance of Software as a Service (SaaS) as mainstream applications is soon to bring about fight for bandwidth for accessing these applications. There is a need to resolve the tussle for users’ time, space and bandwidth between cloud and external applications.

Security solutions like Cyberoam UTM offers visibility and controls over the Application Layer 7 and User Layer 8, enabling the firewall to identify applications and users. Cyberoam integrates firewall with the 4 elements of who (users), which (application), when (time) and what (bandwidth) and ensures the creation of the most efficient, straightforward set of firewall rules to make bandwidth available for critical applications and staggering non-critical application usage.

Disaster recovery: Continuous connectivity and security is paramount to a client in today’s scenario. Enterprises need to operate under continuous security while enjoying efficient access to critical information, applications and services.

Active-Active High Availability solutions like Cyberoam’s provide efficient, continuous access to business-critical applications, information, and services. Active-Active HA increases overall network performance by load balancing the network traffic between two Cyberoam appliances.

Total Managed Print™ Delivers Impressive Results for MSPs

Cloud-based, brand agnostic, modular Managed Print Services solution from OKI is turnkey and ready to implement

Today’s workplace is comprised of both hardware, and an assortment of services and systems. Within the workplace of the future, however, all of these will likely be provided through a single source. As this evolution takes place, the need for analysis, maintenance, support, sales and servicing of these functions will require a comprehensive MPS program in order to ensure complete customer service and satisfaction.

This evolution is already taking place, and the time is now for MSPs to become MPS providers in order to: (1) augment your existing business model, (2) further-penetrate existing accounts for long-term retention, (3) identify new opportunities, (4) realize immediate return on investment, and (5) ensure a long-term recurring revenue stream.

The rationale for becoming an MPS provider is simple: it’s profitable! But in order to enter the MPS arena, you need a billing system, a remote monitoring system, a method for integration into existing business processes, and a national service and support network with the ability to generate automated fulfillment of supplies. Though this may sound like a daunting task to put all of these systems into place and enter the MPS arena, all this is available today through the turnkey Total Managed Print™ (TMP) solution from OKI Data Americas.

TMP is a cloud-based system featuring a comprehensive set of brand-agnostic tools to get you up and running as an MPS provider quickly and with no up-front costs. These tools include: customer data capture, data analysis, a proposal generator, flexible acquisition options, implementation services, remote monitoring and management, national service and supply fulfillment, back office processing and billing, and continuous fleet optimization and reporting.

TMP also features the flexibility to utilize its various modules independently - or in its entirety - as a complete solution. Such features and functionality are critical in meeting the unique business needs of all types and sizes of channel partners.

Finally, TMP works within your existing infrastructure. It is easy to implement, supplements your offerings for small to medium sized businesses, is modular - with the ability to evolve as your needs change, and is supported by both a knowledgeable staff and the expertise of a global leader in printing solutions. For more information, visit http://www.okidata.com/tmp or see OKI at SMB Nation 2011 Fall Conference, September 30-October 2 in Las Vegas, NV.