footprint

Symantec buys into online storage

Paul Mah — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:11:11 -0400

Symantec has quietly paid an estimated $123 million for privately-held online storage firm SwapDrive. The size of this deal eclipsed the $75 million that storage giant EMC paid for rival Mozy last September. Neither company issued a press release, but Symantec has grudgingly confirmed that the deal closed on June 6.

According to TechCrunch, SwapDrive is adding 13,000 new customers a day, with services sold by more than 60 partners, including luminaries such as Iomega, Dell, Intuit and even Best Buy. A Symantec spokesperson says that this acquisition is purely a move to get into the consumer online backup market. It's apparent that Symantec is feeling the heat too quickly to boast its footprint in this important niche.

For more on the acquisition of SwapDrive by Symantec:
- check out this The Register article

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 released

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:15:33 -0400

Last week, we introduced you to Lenovo's MacBook Air alternative alternative, the IdeaPad U100. Lo and behold, the thing has popped up on Lenovo's website today and is ready to be ordered. Here are the final specs: a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo with 4MB of L2 Cache and an 800MHz FSB, Intel X3100 integrated graphics, up to 3GB of RAM and up to 120GB of storage. Not too shabby for a machine with an 11" footprint. It's on sale now for $1,899--$100 less than we initially suspected.

For more on the U110:
- see Lenovo's website

Google faces security hurdles in the enterprise

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Google seems to be everywhere these days, but as the search giant moves into the enterprise, they're facing much of the same security scrutiny as those who have gone before them. Researchers at Ponemon Institute are expected to release a report today that outlines the concerns among IT professionals regarding the overall security of Google Desktop, the company's PC search utility, specifically within the confines of business operations. Their research revolves around a cross-site scripting vulnerability reported and subsequently patched by Google in February; the authors of the report say that their work underscores a growing level of concern over the company's rapidly expanding footprint in the enterprise. In a survey of more than 600 IT security specialists who indicated that they were familiar with the Google Desktop vulnerability, an overwhelming 71 percent said that they believe that the product likely harbors other security flaws. The company is trying to address security through its acquisitions of software vendors and has sponsored malware research projects such as Stopbadware.org.

For more on Google's security challenge in the enterprise:
- read all the details in this Infoworld. Article

Vista to generate $9.5 B for NY/NJ businesses in 2007

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:01:37 -0500

Take this one with a grain of salt, folks. A Microsoft-sponsored study conducted by analyst group IDC claims that Windows Vista will generate $9.5 billion for businesses and industries in New York and New Jersey, through 2007--that's $7 billion in New York and $2.5 billion in Jersey. Additionally, IDC predicts that Vista will make its way on to 4.7 million PCs in the area (ambitious, but not impossible) and will generate over 20,000 jobs. "Windows Vista's footprint in the state will be wide, as original equipment manufacturers sell PCs that run on it, software companies sell applications that run it, and services and distribution firms deliver, install, support and train on it," said John Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president at IDC. "We expect that in the first year of Windows Vista shipments, this ecosystem will sell more than $7 billion of Windows Vista-related products and services in New York." Now that's all well and good for the NY/NJ economy but does this mean that you should deploy Vista right away? Not unless supporting local business is more important to you than the security of your business's data.

For more Vista predictions:
- see this Microsoft press release

Selling outsourcing now a prime HP goal

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:01:35 -0500

HP is intent on expanding its outsourcing services, though it doesn't plan to expand its operational footprint in India. According to the new honcho named to run the $15.5 billion technology and business services organization, John W. McCain, HP will put together a special sales force aimed at increasing its level of U.S.-based customer outsourcing. The vendor says that its biggest competition are India-based outsourcers, though IBM is deeply entrenched in the industry as well.

For more on HP's outsourcing services strategy:
- check out the article at InformationWeek

ALSO: Outsourcing growth may be stalling in China. Article

SPOTLIGHT: Microsoft campus to expand by one-third

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 19:01:32 -0500

In between all its other endeavors, such as running full bore into the security market and trying to fix its own system's flaws, Microsoft also has big plans to expand its operational footprint in Redmond. It's spending nearly $1 billion to construct and or build 14 more buildings that will house another 12,000 employees--growing its base by a full third. Article

Google, Skype put bucks into wireless start-up

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 19:01:35 -0500

Search giant Google and Skype have teamed up with leading venture capitalists to invest in a new user-run network of WiFi hotspots. FON Technology SL, based in Madrid, was formed about four months ago and allows users to share each other's WiFi connections via special software. An interesting concept as it could significantly increase the footprint of WiFi in a short amount of time, assuming people have WiFi in desirable locations. But as one analyst points out, FON faces competition from free WiFi in public hotspots and the potential unhappiness of broadband providers, some of which prohibit the sharing of connections in that manner.

For more on the global WiFi effort:
- read this BBC article

PLUS: Research predictions of wireless tech industry. Article