Managed Services, Backup And Recovery, And Networking News From September 2014
Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in Managed Services, Backup and Recovery, and Networking news, Autotask announces new tools and an acquisition. Unitrends introduces backup capacity and storage inventory reporting tools, and AffinityLive announces integrations with Kaseya and GFI MAX. Axcient announces it has acquired DirectRestore, RapidFire Tools launches a new IT assessment tool, and HP adds new desktop and mobile workstations. Also, snom offers new business phones, a base station, and repeater.
Autotask Announces New Tools, An Integration — And An Acquisition
Autotask has announced a tool that provides automation and insight into the sales process. The company also announced additional capabilities made possible by an integration with LogMeIn and the acquisition of CentraStage.
Autotask has added the Opportunity Assessment/Sales Process Tool to its business management solution. The Opportunity Assessment feature provides data for guidance on where additional sales, marketing, or technical focus may be needed. The Sales Process feature standardizes the process for sales reps to follow.
The LogMeIn Central and Autotask integration gives managed services providers (MSPs) the ability to generate tickets automatically when alerts are triggered, to diagnose and fix remote computers directly from Autotask, to configure ticket parameters that map to Autotask fields, and to acknowledge alerts in Central when you close a ticket in Autotask.
The acquisition of CentraStage, a SaaS platform for endpoint management, will give Autotask partners remote monitoring and management capabilities for all of their customers’ servers, computers, and mobile devices.
Unitrends Introduces Backup Capacity, Storage Inventory Reporting Tools
Unitrends offers two new tools designed to help systems administrators determine how much storage to allocate for backups and which files are critical to back up. The Unitrends Backup Capacity Tool provides a comprehensive look at all data center files residing on storage devices and servers, as well as file-level information. The Unitrends Storage Inventory Tool enables systems administrators to assess and to generate reports on how storage assets are being used and where they are stretched to capacity.
AffinityLive Announces RMM Integrations
AffinityLive announced its cloud-based automation software for professional services integrates with both Kaseya and GFI MAX remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions. Through the partnerships, Kaseya and GFI MAX users can manage — within the cloud through a single dashboard — CRM, project management, and retainers, with real-time insights into team performance and profitability. The integrations include two-way, real-time connections between the RMM system’s server infrastructure and AffinityLive’s queue, ticket, and time-billing platform. AffinityLive’s email integration automatically tracks all of the technicians’ time and work — whether at their desktops or on their smartphones.
Axcient Acquires DirectRestore
Axcient, a provider of cloud-based Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS), announced the acquisition of DirectRestore, a granular recovery technology provider. DirectRestore’s technology is one of only a few solutions that allow organizations to restore individual items from popular applications such as SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange database backups and replications. Axcient customers have access to this technology at no charge. The acquisition also expands Axcient’s research and development team by 30 percent, enabling the expansion of Axcient’s RaaS platform to support broader recovery capabilities.
RapidFire Tools Launches New IT Assessment Tool
RapidFire Tools released Network Detective INSPECTOR, a new IT assessment tool that can perform comprehensive internal IT vulnerability assessments and produce layer 2 and 3 network diagrams. The new offering, available through annual subscriptions, is the first Network Detective module that also comes with a fully configured hardware appliance that plugs into the target network. Once activated, the device performs a noninvasive scan of the entire network — and everything connected to it. The vulnerability data collected by this module is securely encrypted and can be remotely accessed by the services provider. It is automatically imported into the Network Detective application’s built-in data analyzer to generate a set of branded, internal IT security reports, which can be used for internal consumption or shared with the client.
HP Adds New Desktop And Mobile Workstations
HP has added new Z Workstations to the line. The HP Z840, Z640, and Z440 desktop workstations feature the latest Intel Xeon processor product family, and NVIDIA and AMD professional graphics options. They offer workstation applications from companies including Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Dassault, ESRI, Siemens, and SolidWorks. They also include Thunderbolt 2 for faster throughput of large files, HP Z Turbo Drive to help eliminate storage bottlenecks, HP Performance Advisor for system monitoring, and HP Remote Graphics Software for remote collaboration of graphics-rich applications. The HP ZBook 15 G2 and 17 G2 Mobile Workstations offer optional Intel quad-core processors and NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro professional graphics that are ISV-certified. The 15 G2 features a 15-inch diagonal, 3,200 x 1,800 Quad-HD display, and the 17 G2 features a 17.3-inch diagonal display with optional HP DreamColor.
snom Offers New Business Phones, Base Station, And Repeater
snom technology AG expanded its lineup of IP-based cordless DECT products with the new snom M65 IP DECT phone, M700 multicell base station, and the M5 DECT repeater. Applications of the new products include communications for businesses that require mobile coverage across several floors or throughout large buildings, but the phones can be used in businesses of any size. The M65 phone has a 2-inch backlit color display and a backlit keypad, wideband audio (including speakerphone), and six polyphonic ringtones and a vibration setting for incoming calls. When used with the M700 base station, the M65 features voice mail, call forwarding, call lists, caller ID, direct search in a corporate directory, three-way conferencing, auto answer, and two simultaneous calls. The M700, which can be used in single cell or multicell configuration, supports up to 200 handsets, 40 base stations, and 100 repeaters in the same installation. The M5 repeater, which includes DECT encryption, increases reception range and bridges gaps between base stations.