Vidtel: A cloud-based Video Conferencing service for SMBs for any-to-any connections

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

We all know that video conferencing adoption is on the rise among SMBs. Collaboration technologies such as Video and Web Conferencing will increasingly be important to SMBs to satisfy their priority to make employees more productive. While these solutions have been around for a long time we believe that broad adoption among SMBs is upon us as evidenced by the priority assigned to such technologies versus the current level of penetration. As per Techaisle’s research data, currently in the US there are nearly 75,000 SMBs that use video conferencing and 790,000 that use web conferencing.

There are obviously many solutions that SMBs can take advantage of ranging from hosted to onsite solutions. Key players such as Microsoft (Live Meeting/Lync), Citrix (GoToMeeting) and Cisco (Webex) have great brand and mind share in the SMB space. However, there comes a time in the life of an SMB, depending upon its vertical or the role of the user, when high-quality, easy-to-use, any-to-any video connections’ based video conferencing becomes too important to ignore. This is where Vidtel steps in.

Vidtel is a cloud-based video conferencing service for any-to-any video connections. Its MeetMe offering allows multiple conferencing participants incredible interoperability, that is to say, it allows for users to seamlessly invoke a video conference, connecting video phones, PCs, tablets, room systems, smartphones and devices using SIP, H.323, Skype or GoogleTalk.

Vidtel is a small but growing organization founded by dynamic entrepreneurs who are focused on bringing affordable high-quality cloud-based video conferencing solutions to SMBs. To that extent, Vidtel has also recently partnered with Vu TelePresence that allows both Vidtel and Vu to gain from each other. Vu is able to bring MeetMe capabilities to its customer base and Vidtel stands to gain from Vu’s already established market presence.

We tried Vidtel’s MeetMe service. It seemed quite simple to initiate and conduct a video conference. To initiate a meeting, a Vidtel SMB customer with a MeetMe account simply provides the meeting room dial-in information to other participants, as one would with an audio conferencing bridge and set up a meeting time. For example, if the meeting were in room 2002, one Skype user would be asked to add Vidtel.2002.1 and the other Vidtel.2002.2 to his/her Skype contacts and dial that contact from either a tablet, mobile or PC/Mac. SIP users would dial 2002@vidtel.com and H.323 participants would dial 65.50.196.118 then 2002#. Users can even add security PINs.

A question that often arises is, what about support for SMBs? Vidtel provides level 1-4 support via video/phone/email for SMBs directly and levels 2-4 for resellers and wholesale providers who own the SMB customer relationship.

Vidtel offers a tiered pricing structure, from a low of US$199/month to US$599/month, depending upon the number of participants, standard or high-definition video.

SMBs who are seriously debating about using multi-point, any-to-any, high-definition video conferencing capabilities should check out Vidtel.

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Mobile and Touch: A new interaction formula takes hold

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

Every decade or so, the tech industry experiences a tectonic shift. Over the last 40 years, we have seen changes in hardware, software, communications, networking, development tools, languages and platforms. Each has been significant in its own right. Some are incremental and though touted as game changers, they impact a narrow slice of technology users. It is arguable whether the shift to mobile is the most important of all but it has been as impactful as the arrival of the PC, if not more because of the pace at which the change has occurred.

Most readers of this blog are well aware that the most impactful changes in technology are those that ultimately change user behavior and disrupt how people interact with information that affects their daily personal and professional lives. A technology such as that changes the entire eco-system around it. When Apple introduced the world to GUIs and the mouse followed subsequently by Microsoft, it broadened the market for PCs and changed how people interacted with information. The combination of mobile and touch
technologies is having the same impact.

Take Instagram for instance. I must admit that I never gave Instagram a fighting chance of success. When I first heard of it I thought what possessed these guys to build a photo sharing app given the presence of huge success of Flickr and Picasa – both properties of
large companies. Similarly, Pinterest is but a feature of Facebook, right? Wrong! And I am glad to have been proven wrong. These and other apps prove a simple reality – Mobile IS different. What these and other success stories prove that it is possible to reinvent existing applications and indeed markets in an increasingly mobile centric world.

Emerging Mobile Interaction Formula
When one analyzes the characteristics of these apps a few things become evident.

  1. Goal completion – Successful mobile apps must be responsive and allow users to complete the task quickly and with the least amount of friction. This seems elementary but is critical in mobile scenarios.
  2. Context – Apps must be contextually aware and on the flip side make easily make evident to the user what the context is. Again, elementary but of heightened importance when thinking mobile apps.
  3. Relevance – Limitation of screen size means that developers must be clever and super sensitive to how an app communicates relevance. There is no room to explain what an app does or is supposed to do, no room to guide the user in a systematic manner.
  4. Entertainment – Even productivity apps must provide some form of entertainment even if it takes the form of simply taking engagement to a new level. Immersive games do this as a matter of necessity but so do apps like Path and Evernote.
  5. Communication – Communication is central to all successful mobile apps. People don’t use mobile devices in a vacuum. While apps like Path present a simple elegant UI, its central value lies in being able to share one’s life with others. Regardless of the genre an app might fall into, communication has to be a central tenet of the app whether it is one-to-one or via social networks.

Touch technology is an important component of this and also presents some challenges. It has its advantages but also has limitations. It allows for a more natural interaction with information but for that to happen applications must be redesigned and rethought impacting even the most basic applications used every day.

  • What does a spreadsheet optimized for mobile platforms look like?
  • Does it (should it) even look like a spreadsheet?
  • What about graphics applications?
  • What is the best way to create a presentation on a touch optimized mobile platform?

Historically these apps have been designed and optimized for specific operating systems and devices. Compared to successful mobile apps they take on the status of silos, operated by individuals and content created within these apps is shared in the most rudimentary ways (think email). Touch interfaces aren’t just a way to replace mouse clicks and apps that do just that are foregoing the opportunity to drive new value for their users. For example, take a look at the following concept emerging out of MIT’s Fluid Interfaces lab.

This is Swÿp and this is how MIT describes it.

With Swÿp you can transfer any file from any app to any app on any device: simply with a swipe of a finger. Swÿp is a framework facilitating cross-app, cross-device data exchange using physical “swipe” gestures. The framework allows any number of touch-sensing and collocated devices to establish file-exchange and communications with no pairing other than a physical gesture. With this inherent physical paradigm, users can immediately grasp the concepts behind device-to-device communications. The prototype application “Postcards” explore touch-enabled mobile devices connected to the LuminAR augmented surface interface. Postcards allows users to collaborate and create a digital postcards using Swÿp interactions. Swÿp enabled interfaces can support new generation of interactive workspaces possible by allowing pair-free gesture-based communications to and from
collocated devices. (Source: http://fluid.media.mit.edu/people/natan/current/swyp.html)

Another interesting concept is “Sparsh” (means “to touch” in Sanskrit).

‘SPARSH’ lets one conceptually transfer media from a digital device to one’s body and pass it to another digital device by simple touch gestures. The digital world — laptop, TV, smart phone, e-book reader and all are now relying upon the cloud, the cloud of information. SPARSH explores a novel interaction method to seamlessly transfer something between these devices in a real fun way using the underlying cloud. Here it goes. Touch whatever you want to copy. Now it is saved conceptually in you. Next, touch the device you want to paste/pass the saved content. SPARSH uses touch based interactions as just indication for what to copy, from where and where to pass it. Technically, the actual magic (transfer of media) happens on the cloud.
(Source: http://fluid.media.mit.edu/people/pranav/current/sparsh.html)

What this means for businesses – Embrace “Mobile First” Approach

Businesses Should Embrace “Mobile First” Approach
IT departments are already dealing with an onslaught of devices that their constituency is asking them to support. The so called BYOD (Bring Your Own devices) trend has stressed IT managers and many resist the trend citing security concerns. But any platform shift causes some pain for some amount of time. Progressive IT managers should look at this as an opportunity to add new and more value to employees. The shift to mobile and touch platforms will eventually force IT departments to embrace a “Mobile First” approach to IT strategy and the sooner IT managers do it the better because ultimately, the growth in mobile isn’t about devices or software or networks. Those will continue to evolve. It is about how we interact with information in a way that enriches our individual experiences and productivity.

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Intuit brings data-driven insights to small businesses with the launch of Intuit Small Business Revenue Index

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

Rapid fire announcements from Intuit, all directed towards the betterment of small businesses. Today Intuit announced the availability of Intuit Small Business Revenue Index, which is based on aggregated data from QuickBooks Online. By the very meaning of the term “aggregated” it should be understood that the data is anonymous, that is democratized across 200,000 small businesses. This index is the first of its kind in the market that provides current information on monthly small business revenue. It complements Intuit’s monthly Small Business Employment Index to provide a more complete picture of the economic health of US’s small businesses based on revenue, hiring and compensation trends.

With its latest announcement, Intuit has demonstrated that it is bringing data-driven insights to small businesses, sole-proprietors; insights that were previously only available to large enterprises. This information should empower small businesses to compare themselves against benchmarks and thereby effect changes in their organizations.

It certainly places in the hands of Intuit’s small business customers, power of the data. Both the Employment and Revenue Indexes are updated monthly by Intuit which is far more often than government stats and take a snapshot that is more targeted and pertinent to small business owners. They could use it as a signal for whether it’s time to hire, cut back or increase employee salaries.

As Techaisle had mentioned in its own press release on big data on April 26, 2012, data analytics is equally relevant for small businesses. 12 percent of small businesses using business intelligence are interested in big data analytics. However, they are looking for an IT vendor or partner to collect, collate, and analyze big data and present to these small businesses as a resource, in other words, democratization of big data. The collected data is an aggregation of information being created by other small businesses within the same vertical segment or employee size category. Intuit to my mind, just did it.

Timing by Intuit could not be more perfect.

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Intuit accelerates its SMB cloud offerings with Demandforce Acquisition

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

Intuit today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Demandforce for approximately US$423 million. Demandforce has been primarily focused on SMB segment offering products and services to help SMBs navigate and thrive in connected economy by automating their marketing and customer communications, building and maintaining a strong online reputation and raising their profile with their local consumers.

Speaking on the acquisition, Kiran Patel, EVP and General Manager, Intuit Small Business Group said, “Demandforce sits at the sweet spot of Intuit’s SMB customer base and is consistent with our goal to help our customers save time and make money.  With a compelling customer value proposition, SaaS model and high growth profile, Demandforce will provide opportunities to grow Intuit’s customer base and revenue per customer over time.”

Analyst Speak

Intuit is continuing to build its capabilities in cloud application areas focused on alleviating the pain points of small businesses. Based on surveys conducted by Techaisle over the last 3 years, improving sales and marketing has shown up consistently as the top business pain point of small businesses. Moreover small businesses are increasingly struggling to grow their revenues, retaining and positively connecting with their customers in a virtual world. Techaisle survey data shows that nearly 45 percent of small businesses are not sure how social networking tools can help promote their business. 68 percent of small businesses mention that “their business success depends upon a strong relationship with the customer, providing goods and services highly customized to their needs and being responsive to their demands”. These same small businesses are gravitating towards social media campaigns (48 percent), email marketing initiatives (68 percent) to generate new customer leads and maintain existing ones.

Demandforce acquisition certainly helps Intuit in extending its existing offering of website services. It rounds off the full suite from “get found” to “increase exposure” to “extend communications” to “consolidate presence”.

Beyond the capabilities of Demandforce, the acquisition brings into Intuit’s fold many different small business vertical industry solutions. These verticals are typically ignored or only addressed by web-hosting providers. They constitute a very large part of the SMB universe but with a dichotomous adoption of technology. For example, salons and spas use very limited technology but still want to increase their customer base beyond the usual “word-of-mouth”. On the other hand wealth management businesses use advanced and emerging technologies but strongly desire customer expansion, communication nurturing, feedback mechanism and certified reviews to positively impact their business.

Success of the acquisition will be dependent upon Intuit’s ability to integrate Demandforce with its web services, back-end systems such as Quickbooks and cross-sell across both Demandforce and Intuit customers.

It is a move in the right direction.

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Dell confirms its position as an end-to-end solutions company

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

End-to-End Solutions Company
Convincing conference, unified messaging from all executives, substantial customer success stories including SMBs, considerable partner alliance conversations, convergence showcase, expanding geographic footprint, emerging technologies, mid-market design point, and end-to-end solutions story. What can I say?

At the recently held Dell Annual Analyst Conference, in Austin, the centerpiece of messaging was Dell’s relentless pursuit to be an end-to-end IT solutions provider and a trusted partner. Michael Dell in his conversation with the analysts proved that Dell has changed the conversation from product to services.

“Many new change vectors are going on – Data centers are becoming server centric/compute centric, networking is being combined with computing and storage and security are becoming one – Dell has the ability to understand where the puck is going”, said Michael Dell. To that extent Dell is busy building products and solutions from which customers can capture value.

Dell has made 20 acquisitions since 2008 to build a solutions delivery capability. Its R&D, which is increasingly being focused on storage, server, security and networking convergence went up by 40 percent in the last year alone.  A key aspect of the strategy is to develop converged solutions that include storage, security, servers and wrapping it all together with services and deliver end user solutions that help customers compute in environments with pervasive data access.

Since his return as CEO, Michael Dell has steadily moved Dell into new areas for higher growth and profitability. Although Dell’s revenue has remained within a narrow margin, growing by only 1.5% from 2008 to 2012, its net income after taxes has grown by 18.5% within the same time period. Dell today has greater diversity in its solution offerings and broader geographic footprint. Both storage and security are higher margin products and with the acquisition of EqualLogic, Compellent and recently SonicWall, Dell’s margin story continues to improve.

Dell’s end-to-end solutions story is also beginning to look complete with portfolio having evolved from PCs and servers to services. Dell’s software portfolio is not where it should be but Dell is building out its capabilities for on premise software, cloud applications and software embedded in hardware. Consistent with the overall theme it wants to offer software solutions that are easier to buy, easier to use and easier to extract value.

Even the channels organization is perfectly aligned and focused on continuing to grow its PartnerDirect program that was started five years ago and is now approximately US$14 billion business for Dell. The channel’s organization headed by Greg Davis is continuing to make its rules of engagement very partner friendly and empowering and training its channels to provide value to their customers. Greg is ensuring that there is consistent
channel engagement across both mature and emerging markets with deal registration, compensation neutrality and executive priority. With over 135,000 training modules delivered in the last year alone it aims to provide simplicity, enablement and a strategy to win datacenters together. To take advantage of new social media networking platforms, Dell has also launched a new social media training program for its channel partners. The
training program, developed based on Dell’s own experiences, provides its channel partners access to a number of useful social media tools and tips, including links to all of PartnerDirect’s social media platforms, a Q&A forum, registrations for both a live virtual training session and on-demand refresher courses.

Executing on its vision
Dell’s vision is being driven by five key market dynamics:

  1. Emerging markets growth
  2. Consumerization of IT
  3. Explosion of data
  4. Alternative computing platforms
  5. Corporate IT complexity

Dell has not only been able to integrate the businesses it has acquired but also has successfully scaled them. Dell Boomi, a middleware for cloud, originally acquired for its ability to bring cloud integration to SMBs, is equally at home in large enterprises. A  recent example is OneWorld Alliance which has implemented a new information technology (IT) hub based on Dell Boomi AtomSphere cloud integration, designed to substantially reduce complexity, cost and time involved in linking new member airlines into the alliance.

SMBs’ “CIO in a box”
Whenever an IT vendor presents customer stories I look for sincerity in the customer’s dialog and contribution of the IT vendor to customer’s success. Current Motor, an Ann Arbor, Michigan based SMB stole the show and my heart. With only 12 employees it uses full end-to-end solutions from Dell in the most interesting yet fundamental ways. Remember that it is only a small business; nevertheless Dell put a team together to bring to fruition integration with salesforce.com and digital dashboard enablement of Electric Scooters six months sooner than expected. Solutions used – mobility, cloud, hardware, software, services. As Laura Flanagan, Executive Chairman, Current Motor put it, “Dell is her CIO in a box.” And it all started with Laura approaching Dell with a business pain point. The result — sincerity in dialog and value-add by Dell.

As Dave Johnson, SVP, Corporate Strategy said in his presentation, the “heart of the customer is the CIO.” No worries, SMBs, if you do not have a CIO, Dell can play that role for you.

Next Steps for Dell

  • The entire Dell team has to work harder to get its messaging and capabilities heard by its current and potential customers because I feel Dell’s end-to-end
    solutions story has not yet reached the crescendo it deserves
  • By focusing on mid-market design point Dell should not forget that small businesses have different needs and the last thing they want is a scaled-down version of product meant for mid-market businesses. Other IT vendors have tried in the past with zero to limited success
  • Dell should formulate and articulate its mobile strategy beyond its planned introduction of tablets and smartphones, especially for the SMB segment that are adopting mobility solutions faster than enterprises
  • Technology pain points have now overtaken business pain points for SMBs. Dell can be that unique IT Vendor that helps SMBs sort out and identify relevant technology options (cloud, mobility, infrastructure, managed services, virtualization, social media, business intelligence, marketing automation) by becoming a trusted advisor and business consultant

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Big Data is the Answer – What was the Question?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

The Big Data Analytics’ promise: enable “data monetization” through timelier, more accurate, more complete, more granular, more frequent decisions. So, what exactly are the types of business problems big data analytics likely to solve? For this one may need a mini-MBA in Big Data Use Cases.

First let’s define what makes data Big.

Big Data, Little Data
We live in a world of data: transactions, feedback and real-time interaction with customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. In addition to brick, click and mobile transactions, the new variable in the mix is Human generated data – explosive growth of blogs/reviews/messages/emails/pictures. Social graphs such as product recommendations based on circle of friends, jobs you may like, products you have looked at, people who are your contacts etc. also create “second order” data that can be mined for sentiment analytics on products or companies or fact discovery.

Another new variable is computer generated data. Computers generate data as byproduct of interacting with people or with other devices. More the interactions, more is the data and this data comes in a variety of formats from semi-structured log files to unstructured binaries. This “exhaust fumes” of data can be extremely valuable. It can be used to understand and track application or service behavior so that one can find patterns, errors or sub-optimal user experience. One can mine it for statistical patterns and correlations to generate insights.

However, if one listen to the hype, companies can harness this information learn faster, make better decisions, and stay one step ahead of their competitors. Unfortunately, harnessing big data (and separating the signal-from-noise) is trickier than it looks. It takes a lot of skill and superb understanding of use cases.

Big Data Use Cases
The key to exploiting Big Data Analytics is focusing on a compelling business opportunity as defined by a use case — What (What exactly are we trying to do?). Use cases are emerging in a variety of industries that illustrate different core competencies around analytics.

E-tailing/E-Commerce – Online Retailing Use Cases

  • Recommendation engines
  • Cross-channel analytics
  • Event analytics
  • Right offer at the right time

Retail/Consumer Use Cases

  • Merchandizing and market basket analysis
  • Campaign management and customer loyalty programs
  • Supply-chain management and analytics
  • Event- and behavior-based targeting
  • Market and consumer segmentations

Financial Services Use Cases

  • Compliance and regulatory reporting
  • Risk analysis and management
  • Fraud detection and security analytics
  • CRM and customer loyalty programs
  • Credit risk, scoring and analysis
  • High speed Arbitrage trading
  • Trade surveillance
  • Abnormal trading pattern analysis

Web & Digital Media Services Use Cases

  • Large-scale clickstream analytics
  • Ad targeting, analysis, forecasting and optimization
  • Abuse and click-fraud prevention
  • Social graph analysis and profile segmentation
  • Campaign management and loyalty programs

New Applications

  • Sentiment Analytics
  • Mashups – Mobile User Location + Precision Targeting
  • Machine-generated data, the exhaust fumes of the Web

Health & Life Sciences Use Cases

  • Health Insurance fraud detection
  • Campaign and sales program optimization
  • Brand management
  • Patient care quality and program analysis
  • Supply-chain management
  • Drug discovery and development analysis

Telecommunications Use Cases

  • Revenue assurance and price optimization
  • Customer churn prevention
  • Campaign management and customer loyalty
  • Call Detail Record (CDR) analysis
  • Network performance and optimization
  • Mobile User Location analysis

So, What’s the Big Deal?

The big deal is that if analytics is done well there is room for margin expansion and additional profit.

Shirish Netke
(Republished with permission)

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Dell Defines Channel’s Role in its Cloud Strategy: Partners Can Play a Role Based on Their Resources and Competencies

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

On March 29th, 2012, Dell announced a new Cloud Services and Solutions Certification program for its channel partners that want to transition to cloud-based business model. This program (http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/cloud-computing) specifies additional sales and technical training required for the new certification and is initially directed at channel partners who already have a certain level of infrastructure-related skills and sell Dell’s enterprise products.

Dell’s Cloud Services & Solutions Certification is comprised of three primary pillars in providing cloud services and solutions:

  • Cloud Builder – for channel partners that can provide services to design and develop a cloud infrastructure for their customers. This is typically suitable for VARs.
  • Cloud Provider – for channels that have the capabilities or want to acquire skill-sets to operate a cloud networking operating center (NOC) enabled with Dell technology to provide cloud services. These include:  Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS).  This is typically suitable for SaaS ISVs, Service providers.
  • Cloud Service Enabler – for those channel partners that want to act as aggregators or brokers identifying, securing and integrating the appropriate set of cloud technologies and services from multiple sources and operating the resulting cloud for their customers through a set of managed services. This is typically suitable for MSPs & Systems Integrators.

Techaisle believes that Dell’s new channel program is a step in the right direction. Techaisle’s research has shown that businesses are looking for advice and guidance from their channel partners on the use of cloud services & solutions. In addition, Techaisle’s channel research has also shown that many channel partners who want to offer cloud-based offerings to their business clients, themselves need help and support from their vendors. The new training requirements will ensure that channel partners have the required cloud-related skills to be the best in business. Dell is also making it easy
for partners to demonstrate their infrastructure-related skills by accepting their membership in channel programs of recognized vendors in technology areas of security, networking and virtualization. In addition to getting preferred pricing, Dell’s Cloud Partners will also have access to financing from Dell as well as support engagement from Dell Direct Sales and Services.

A key feature of Dell’s program is the recognition that channel partners vary greatly in their size, skills and resources. The program allows partners to transition to the cloud computing model in a manner they feel is best suited for them – be it as a cloud builder, cloud provider or as an cloud service enabler (aggregator). The program also allows partners to supplement Dell’s technology with their own technology services, giving them significant flexibility to offer Dell-based cloud offerings without having to write-off up their investment in their existing services.

Dell has steadily evolved its channel strategy over the last five years and this new certification represents an important step in that evolution. Given this steady evolution, Dell’s channel partners can expect Dell to further fine-tune channel’s role in the cloud, develop additional support programs and also expand its cloud-based offerings for the channel.

For more information on Dell’s announcement and to learn more please click on the link http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/cloud-computing

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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A Neat Digital Filing System for Small Businesses

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Anurag Agrawal

I used to watch with interest, the commercials of Neat, a scanning and digital filing solution. My interest turned to amazement when we actually installed one in our office. It is a perfect product for SMBs to transform expense receipts, business cards and all types of documents (legal, purchase orders, invoices, brochures and many other types) into an organized digital filing system.

For a small business, a paperless office is sometimes more a dream than a reality. Paper documents are being handled daily by these businesses, whether it is a healthcare provider, a CPA, a legal professional, a retailer or a manufacturing unit or another industry. These paper documents have a way of mysteriously vanishing when one requires them the most and that is because no matter how meticulously they are filed physically, paper documents are not searchable.

With the increase in mobility and work from anywhere, anytime culture, employees within SMBs have become more frequent travelers and telecommuters. Especially with traveling sales and customer support personnel there is a manifold increase in paper documents. Each traveling employee generates many different receipts which in most businesses have to be meticulously filed with accounting/finance departments.   Neat, with its two different products, NeatDesk and NeatReceipts, helps a small business organize its paper clutter efficiently, effectively and seamlessly.  Above all, there is no learning required.

Using Neat, small businesses can:

  • Scan expense receipts – Neat product automatically parses, identifies the information and populates the items and amounts in the right fields. The expense reports can be emailed or exported into a reporting system
  • Simplify tax preparation – scanned items and amounts from receipts can be assigned tax categories allowing for creation of pdf tax reports
  • Develop a contact database – scan business cards and export to outlook or other contact management solutions
  • Manage documents – invoices, purchase orders, legal signed paperwork and other documents can be easily scanned and filed into appropriate folders
  • Search across documents – and when the time comes to look for a paper, Neat makes it really simple to search across documents

Information, after all, is critical for making informed, timely, relevant and strategic business decisions to drive growth and achieve overall business success. And Neat aids in that objective by screening and digitizing information for the small business professional. Neat calls it “information activation”.

NeatDesk sits quietly in a corner of an office desk, elegantly, ready to perform its task with one touch operation – scan or scan to pdf. It has three different feed-trays with do not allow for any confusion or paper mess – one for receipts, second for business cards and third for all other documents. The intelligence of the solution lies in Neat’s software which has been built to recognize type of document and content on the document. A rare feat indeed.

However, if this is not exciting enough, Neat is busy rolling out its NeatCloud and NeatMobile offerings. When available in Spring, the two offerings will allow small businesses to:

  • Backup and sync their scanned documents securely to the cloud
  • Access their documents from anywhere using any device
  • Share files and folders with workgroups or departments

NeatDesk is priced at US$399.95 and NeatReceipts is priced at US$199.95 and believe me they are worth the money.

Neat is a neat product. Try it.

Anurag Agrawal
Techaisle

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Dell Deepens its Commitment to SMBs with Acquisition of SonicWALL

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Anil

BROADENS RANGE OF OFFERINGS AND INCREASES NUMBER OF SMB CHANNEL PARTNERS

On March 13th, 2012, Dell announced the acquisition of SonicWALL, a leader in Unified Threat Management (UTM), further broadening its portfolio of security offerings, especially for SMBs and branch offices. By acquiring SonicWALL, Dell gains on multiple fronts.

  • Broaden its Portfolio of Products and Services for SMBs. While SonicWALL has added enterprise-level offerings in recent years, for a long time it was known primarily as SMB-focused company and one of the leaders in UTM for SMBs. Known primarily for its security appliances, it offers SMBs gateway security to protect their networks as well as web and email security, secure remote access and continuous data protection (secured at remote locations). Most of these offerings would supplement Dell’s existing products and enable SMBs to purchase more of their products from a single source.
  • Expand its Channel Partner Base. SonicWALL sold almost all of its products through a loyal base of channel partners, who benefitted not only by selling SonicWALL appliances but also earning ongoing service revenues from managing those appliances as well as off-site continuous data protection (CDP). In that respect, SonicWALL was a step ahead of the industry in offering remote services and would fit in well with Dell’s cloud ambitions. While there may be some overlap between the channel partners of the two companies, and Dell may not grandfather all of SonicWALL’s partners to resell Dell products, Dell would still significantly increase the number of its channel partners (including many MSPs) and broaden its footprint in the SMB market.
  • Enter a Fast Growing and More Profitable Area. SonicWALL accounts for less than one-half of one percent of Dell’s revenues but it is growing much faster. While Dell’s revenues, including revenues from various acquisitions, have essentially remained stagnant over the last five years, SonicWALL has grown by almost 30% during the same period. Its net profitability is 2-3 times higher than Dell. By selling SonicWALL’s products to its current customer base, both directly, through Dell Services and through Dell’s PartnerDirect members, this profitability will increase further as selling through Dell will help reduce SonicWALL’s sales and marketing expenses (which account for 35-40% of its total revenues)

Dell has acquired several companies in recent years that had developed products primarily for SMB customers. After acquiring them, Dell has not only increased their sales to SMBs but, in many cases, also sold those products to branches of its large customers. If Dell follows the same strategy for SonicWALL’s offerings, its latest acquisition will be a win-win situation for Dell, SonicWALL, their customers and Dell’s investors.
Anil Miglani

 

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Windows 8: Microsoft’s Bridge to the Mobile Market

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Anil

On Feb 29th, 2012, Microsoft officially unveiled its new operating system, Windows 8 at the World Mobile Congress in Spain (the Beta version is now available for download by end users). We feel that Windows 8 will lay the foundation for not just Microsoft’s survival in the mobile devices space but also help it grow in the face of intensifying competition from other operating systems (e.g. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android).

The first thing to remember is that Windows 8 is not just a desktop or a notebook operating system and, given Microsoft’s dominance in the PC operating systems, the primary objective of Windows 8 would not be to defend its share on the PC market but rather to extend its reach to the ARM chips and various mobile devices.

The immediate demand for Windows 8 will come from the large proportion of Windows XP users who were so satisfied with that older OS that they never even bothered to upgrade their PCs to Windows 7, in spite of its substantial enhancements over Windows XP and Vista. Windows 8 further enhances the capabilities of previous versions of Windows, making it an attractive upgrade for PCs.

However, Microsoft is intensely focused on the mobile market and has designed Windows 8 to work with both x86 and ARM processors and has also designed it to work with a multitude of mobile devices, (e.g. notebooks, tablets, etc.), making it highly attractive to business users as well as consumers who want to access not just the Internet and various mobile apps available for Apple and Android but also their traditional PC-based apps
including, and especially productivity applications like Microsoft Office.

In the last few years, we have seen exponential growth in mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) based on Apple and Android.

  1. While iOS has primarily been seen as a premium brand targeted at early SMB adopters, it is now expanding its base to price-conscious SMB users by offering its older versions at lower prices.
  2. Android-based devices come at a multitude of price points from various vendors. This is especially important among SMBs in price-conscious emerging markets.
  3. Given the rapidly evolving market conditions, Windows 8 should ideally start at the low-to-medium end of the SMB price segment to prevent further expansion by Apple’s iOS and Android and then steadily move up the value chain by offering products with more features/ functionalities at comparatively higher price points to intensify competition against iOS and Android.

There are essentially four key areas that will be critical for Microsoft’s success in mobile market: operating system, mobile devices, applications and service providers (carriers).

Mobile Operating System

After several years of lagging significantly behind other vendors, Microsoft’s Windows 8 is a significant improvement over its predecessor mobile operating systems. The current version will not give it the kind of dominance it has in the PC market. However, if it halts, or slows the rapid growth of Apple and Android devices, it would be a major success. Even as it releases the current version, we can be sure that the company is already planning new future versions with significant improvements that would help it grow its share vis-a-vis Apple and Android.

It is important to highlight a couple of differences between Microsoft Mobile and its key competitors. While Apple’s iOS is available only on Apple’s devices, Google goes to the opposite extreme and allows limited OS customization to device vendors to help them differentiate their products. While the device manufacturers may like this idea initially, this is likely to create tremendous variety in the market, causing much confusion for the app developers as well as customers. Microsoft, on the other hand, specifies the hardware requirements for its operating system and app developers and customers will know exactly what they get when they buy a Microsoft-based device.

Mobile Devices

One of the greatest requirements for success in the mobile space, and where Microsoft has an advantage is the ecosystem of OEMs, ISVs and other channel partners.

  1. Microsoft has the largest number of OEM partners for PCs (e.g. HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, LG, etc.), who will be very quick to offer mobile devices based on Microsoft’s new operating system. In addition, many of the OEMs who currently offer Android-based devices will hedge their bets by offering Microsoft-based mobile devices also (rather than focus on just one OS like Android).
  2. Nokia (Microsoft’s strategic partner) has the largest subscriber base of mobile phones, especially outside the US. In addition, other phone vendors like Samsung and LG also have significant subscriber bases and are well-regarded in  select markets. They will also be quick to offer Windows-based devices, enlarging the potential base of Windows Pone users.
  3. User-friendliness of hardware devices will also be critical to Microsoft’s success in the mobile space. OEMs like Nokia and Samsung have shown significant potential for innovation in design and incorporating user-friendliness in their     devices that we feel quite optimistic about their ability to accelerate acceptance of Microsoft as a mobile operating system. Collectively, these OEMs (in Microsoft’s ecosystem) account for bulk of the market and they will undoubtedly find it easier to sell Windows Phones to their existing customers instead of phones based on alternative operating systems.

Mobile applications

Apple and Android have had a head start in getting apps for their devices due to their early expansion. Their relative advantage in applications will diminish in the next 2-3 years very significantly.

  1. Most ISVs who currently develop Windows-based applications will be quick to port their apps to Windows–based mobile devices also.
  2. Similarly, developers who have already invested significant amounts in developing new apps for Apple and Android will be unable to resist the urge to supplement their revenues by adapting their apps for Windows Phones with minimal incremental investments and tapping into the expanding base of Windows users.
  3. Already, many applications are available for use on Windows phones from the Windows Phone applications store and the number of these applications will increase significantly in the future.
  4. These developments will be possible if and only if Microsoft encourages and provides incentives for its own ISVs as well as ISVs of Apple and Android-based apps to migrate to Windows 8. Given that this may be the last major window (pun unintended) of opportunity for Microsoft to gain market share in the mobile space, it is reasonable to assume that it will allocate adequate resources for this     (it has already made senior-level leadership changes in this regard.)
  5. All these developments, which might take a few years to implement, will result in a very large number of mobile apps for Window 8-based mobile devices, reducing the app gap with Apple and Android and vastly reducing the ISVs developing apps for WebOS and RIM’s Blackberry.

Service Providers

The final key element that will determine Microsoft’s success are the service providers (or the wireless carriers). Many of the OEM vendors like Samsung and LG, who are likely to develop Microsoft-based mobile devices already have long-established relationships with carriers in local markets, making it easier for them to sell Windows-based devices to or through them. In addition, if the carriers see significant adoption among the end customers, they may not need much convincing at all.

Other Considerations

  1. Considering that SMBs use different devices to access same apps and data, the display should adapt to the device being used automatically. VDI vendors are already offering such capabilities and Windows 8 should not be left behind in this race. Microsoft could even consider buying Citrix for this (and selling off its online division, with which Microsoft has significant overlaps).
  2. Automatic synching of apps and data on various data used on various devices. Microsoft already has the SkyDrive to help in synching up the data. VDI would help its users synch their apps also and reduce the maintenance and support costs for businesses and hosting companies
  3. Small Business users and consumers are somewhat similar in terms of their needs, motivations and budgets. Since Windows 8 is in the best position to bridge the gap between notebooks/ desktops and tablets by offering its range of business applications, it should go all the way and also offer consumer apps that Small Business users might want on their mobile devices, including integration with     social media.
  4. SMB Users carry their mobile devices wherever they go and, if the experience of cell phones is any guide, they will lose these mobile devices. Microsoft, along     with its service providers should provide remote locations/lockout/wipe-out capabilities as a standard feature. This will be especially important for security conscious users.
  5. Microsoft Office should be available on all versions including mobile devices.
  6. Battery life will be an important consideration for SMBs.

Many customers have been waiting eagerly for the launch of Windows 8. Techaisle’s latest Ultrabook study (completed in January 2012), SMBs cite the availability of Windows 8 as the 2nd most desired feature which will spur the demand for new client devices.

Microsoft and Nokia were among the first ones to identify the mobile device market and Microsoft launched its first tablets nearly a decade back while Nokia launched its Communicator even earlier than that. While their vision was ahead of the market practicalities, they lost their focus when the requisite technologies and customer work styles did ripen up, allowing first Apple and then Android devices to grow rapidly. But given Microsoft’s vast and resourceful ecosystem, a few years from now, all past rumors of its death in the mobile space might seem premature. With the launch of Microsoft 8 and its strategic partnership with Nokia, it has taken first concrete steps to gain its
rightful place in the mobile market.

Anil Miglani
Techaisle

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