Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access

Friday, May 15, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

In this Webinar, you will learn how to cost effectively upgrade your customers' data centers with Minicom’s IP KVM solutions. In today's unstable economy, many companies are slashing their IT budgets and reducing staff leaving little or no money for Data Center technology upgrades and stretching employees. With fewer resources, however, the need for remote access—and the associated increase in efficiency--is more important than ever before.

• Leverage Legacy Hardware: Learn about Minicom’s unique “Real Needs” approach which allows you to transform your customers’ legacy KVM switches into IP KVM regardless of manufacturer
• Be More Competitive: Offer a solution that provides your customers with the remote access they need for a reasonable budget
• Earn better margins when selling Minicom products
• Close sales faster, while saving your customers money

Join Synnex and Minicom to learn how you can provide your customers with crucial functionality on a budget, while earning great margins.

Friday, May 15, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Space is limited - register early:

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Related Material:
White Paper: Real Needs "Boost Your ROI by investing in KVM IP Management"
Podcast:KVM IP Value Proposition (4:48 minutes)
Online Demo: KVM IP Products Test Drive

10 Tips For A Quick Business Continuity Plan

While the threat of swine flu is all over the news, there are numerous reasons to have a business continuity plan in case you need to run your business remotely.

I asked a question on some of my LinkedIn Groups to see what IT Managers and CIO’s were doing, if they didn’t already have a business continuity plan in place. While some of the replies were (to say the least) sarcastic, others were very helpful with their advice.

According to a member of the Network World LinkedIn Group that works at Cisco, "they have already been told that they can request to work from home if we have concerns about health risks." He also said that “at Cisco teleworking has always been encouraged and everyone I know already uses the VPN to extend their day and people often work from home, so the infrastructure is already in place”.

Another fellow member of the CIO’s,com LinkedIn Group that works in Mexico City shared his company’s emergency plan. They were forced to send 90% of the staff home and will now work remotely. If you are a small business and you don’t have a business continuity plan yet, you really need one and here are some tips for support remote operations:

1. Business Impact Assessment must be done quickly but only to define vital functions for the company, do not try to do a BIA for entire company at this moment. Have this definition communicated to all IT, Finance, Operations and Sales teams to set clear business priorities.

2. Test the remote operations today, assure the functions defined in point one, can be operated remotely (VPNs, Laptop) [Do not open or change security], Assign an IT team to assure remote access (monitoring, VPNs and leased links administration and applications availability)

3. Set a Help Desk focused to help employees to get a connection to company systems

4. Distribute IT team to support vital operations

5. Set collaboration tools now (chats, remote meeting, soft phones)

6. Write down and publish a communication Network, including names and procedures

7. Call your local sales contact for laptops (will be better if you know how many laptops are available around and delivery times)

8. Identify outside providers that can run some business functions temporarily (distribution, payroll, invoicing, collections, etc) and evaluate cost, viability and timing to deliver and recover the functions

9. Write down and publish the main policies and procedures that will apply in this contingency plan (e.g. no changes in users profiles are allowed, all employees will be able to request a VPN access, when the contingency finishes all access will be revoked)

10. Keep your CEO informed all the time, and request funds and approvals to support the contingency, do the figures to support 1 month of remote operations.

Please add more tips or ideas in the comments and I can update the list.

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Related Material:
Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management

Fear of Swine Flu Prompts Business Continuity Plan

If you are a medium business owner, CIO or IT Manager, what can you do to protect yourself and the company you work for if the swine flu reaches your city or town? In a recent article “Swine flu prompts CIOs to prepare business continuity plans” some practical ideas were brought up about what can be done if you are forced to work from home. Some companies in Southern California are already taking measures to insure business continuity, in case of emergency.

Some of the highlights from the article:

Stephanie Balaouras, a principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc., said CIOs must check the limitations of the remote access technologies available in the organization to prevent what she described as a 'gotcha situation' -- believing the business is more prepared than it really is.

She goes on to say “having a workforce continuity strategy as part of a business continuity strategy and in addition to a disaster recovery strategy is an important investment across the business.” (click to go to full article)

This is good advice, but what if you don’t know where to start? How can Minicom help you be prepared and keep your server room safe and secure?

Take a look at our IP Control, the remote KVM gateway provides access and control of your computers and servers, no matter how distant, via a standard web-browser. It’s compatible with any brand KVM switch and gives you the power to access and reboot downed devices without having to be physically within reach. It’s affordable and ideal for remote support and remote service applications. If your IT Manager needs to work from home, the IP controls’ secure 128-bit SSL encryption insures secure remote access.

Want to try it out? Go to directly to our online product test drive right now. Don't wait, be prepared!

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote KVM access - Planning your Remote KVM strategy
On-demand Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management (27 minutes)
Upcoming Webinar: Synnex Presents Minicom's Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Access

Find Where to Buy Minicom Products

PR: Minicom Signs Distribution Agreement with Tech Data U.S

Press Release:

IT products distributor will carry Minicom's remote KVM and HD Digital Signage connectivity solutions

Minicom Advanced Systems – developer of KVM and Digital Signage solutions - signed a direct distribution agreement with leading IT products distributor Tech Data Corporation. Tech Data will offer Minicom's industry leading “last mile” high-definition multimedia distribution solutions for Digital Signage networks together with its diverse product lines of IP KVM and analog KVM switches, extenders and IT access management solutions for the server room and data center.

“This is a very important milestone for Minicom” said Saul Mishaan, President of Minicom America, “Tech Data offers us the winning combination of world-class service and the right channels into the IT and Digital Signage markets , be it VARs or system integrators. This gives us full confidence that this partnership will lead to significant growth in years to come. Opening a direct relationship with Tech Data gives our customers better visibility to our industry leading solutions and makes it easier for them to get service.”

“Tech Data and Minicom will continue to partner to ensure our customers have access to all the components they need to design, deploy and support cutting-edge digital signage solutions,” said Tech Data Vice President, Peripherals Product Marketing Wendy Linsky. “Tech Data supports Digital Signage VARs through our Digital Signage and Projector SBU, providing them access to the dedicated sales and technical resources and the latest solutions. In addition, we’ll distribute a complete line of Minicom KVM switches and extenders enabling more resellers to add these products to their data center solutions.”

Tech Data joins Synnex and Electrograph as national distributors selling Minicom’s products. The distribution agreement is effective May 1, 2009 and covers the entire United States.

About Tech Data
Founded in 1974, Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ GS: TECD) is a leading distributor of IT products, with more than 100,000 customers in over 100 countries. The company's business model enables technology solution providers, manufacturers and publishers to cost-effectively sell to and support end users ranging from small-to-midsize businesses (SMB) to large enterprises. Ranked 105th on the FORTUNE 500(R), Tech Data generated $23.4 billion in sales for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2008. For more information, visit http://www.techdata.com/

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Tech Data's top selling Minicom product is the Mini KVM Extender - The Mini KVM Extender is made up of 2 micro sized, compact units on both ends: the Transmitter unit that connects to the computer and the Receiver unit that connects to the KVM hardware. The Mini KVM Extender is a pure hardware solution making it both software and network independent. It connects PS/2 consoles to any platform - SUN, USB and PS/2.

Interop Las Vegas - May 17 - 21

Interop Las Vegas takes place in just a couple of weeks. Choose the most convenient way for you to connect and stay fully updated about this and other upcoming Interop events:

Follow Interop events on Twitter
Join the Interop group on LinkedIn
Read and subscribe to the Interop Blog

If you are going to Interop, check out their recent blog post on “Resources while at the show” – for some very good advice.

We will have Minicom reps at the show, which you can find at our partner Wright Line’s booth - #1861. They will be handing out a 60-day trial version of our latest remote access management system on DVD – so stop by to get yours for free.

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Can't make it to the show? Want to test the product on your own servers? Fill out a "General Information Request" form with "DVD demo" in the comments section and we will send it to you in the mail or if you prefer I can send you a link to download the ISO on FTP.

PX Saves Valuable Time & Money for IT Outsourcing Company

The Client: A local IT outsourcing company that services approx. 50 clients and until now has used VNC as a remote support software. His client lists includes a dozen or so small branch offices, local non-profit organizations and real estate offices, all local small and medium businesses in the same metropolitan city.

His Problems: He needs to cut overhead by reducing travel costs and valuable time. He would also like to eventually expand his client base to towns farther away.

His Customers Needs: When a computer crashes and can’t be fixed using VNC, there is significant down time before he arrives and fixes it. Also, when a client hires someone new and has a new computer, they need to wait for a technician to come to configure it.

Minicom Solution: He bought 50 PX units and preconfigured them in his lab then sent them to each customer. When there is a problem, instead of sending a technician to fix it he instructs the customer with the problem PC to take the PX from its storage place, plug it in and proceeds with his service. In the past, when a client orders a new computer, instead of using precious time to travel and physically configure it, he instructs them to plug in the PX and he is able to set everything up remotely.

Added Benefit: Not only is the PX plug and play – it’s a simple to explain and simple to use solution. It was particularly attractive to this customer because he was able to choose between USB, PS2 or Serial versions. He was able to support each customer with a PX according to their needs.

If you want to see if the PX is the right remote access solution for you – test drive it and other IP products in our online demo right now!

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Related Material:
White Paper – Remote Support Using KVM IP Technology
Case Study – PX with KVM.net for Centralized Management
Podcast – PX for the Managed Service Provider (3 min)
Product Brochure - PX (pdf)

Webcast: The SmartRack 116-116 IP Switch

Title: “The SmartRack 116-116 IP Switch”

Speaker: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development.
Duration: 2:10 minutes

The SmartRack KVM switches are compatible with all major operating systems and can control any server’s brand and model, regardless of the server condition and network connectivity, covering the entire spectrum of crash scenarios.

Ideal for those who need both the console and switch together, this combined KVM switch and rack console provides total control.

Want to see more? Visit the Minicom Media Club for a wide selection of archived webinars, webcasts and podcasts.

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Related Material:

White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology

Online Test Drive: KVM IP Access Demo of all products

Case Study: AGH University in Poland - one universal system with access and control by 3 or more administrators

Support Report: Smart 232 Cascaded with Phantom System

Occasionally I get to work on interesting applications; here is another solution that I would like to share… I had been requested to find a solution for real out-of-band Keyboard/Video/Mouse access from two consoles (that are located in a control room) to multiple racks in the server room.

For this I proposed to use our Smart 232A KVM Switch that will be installed on each rack. The Smart 232A is a two user KVM Switch that allows two users connecting simultaneously to 32 servers. On top of that I daisy-chained the Phantom system with Specter USB over CAT5 cable. This allowed two users sitting in the control room to select which rack they wanted to access and which server within the rack to control.

The connection from the two controlling consoles to the servers is done through the daisy chained CAT5 cable to give real time video & mouse control.

Learn more about the Phantom or Smart 232A systems.

Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for this Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom product or are you looking for solutions for your IT department? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.
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Related Material:

Product Brochure: Smart 232
Webcast: Smart 216/232 Analog KVM Switches (2 min)
Case Study: Emergency Call Center uses Phantom System

Branch offices need remote KVM access to survive

It is no longer only large companies that have multiple locations. With the increase in globalization more and more small and medium sized businesses have branch offices and satellite locations. These locations may have a server or two that is critical to its business, but each location can’t afford its own IT person. For one IT person to manage distant IT is nearly impossible without KVM IP access.

As part of their normal service routine, servers and computers must be maintained regularly. This includes: updating anti-virus software, spyware, applications, etc., reconfiguring firewalls, installing updates for your O/S and hardware drives, and the list goes on and on. All these tasks can be performed remotely by using Remote KVM Access.

Remote access reduces expensive travel costs for IT staff to remote locations. With oil prices at record levels, the less staff must travel, the better it is for the bottom line.

Remote KVM IP access has become the standard at the enterprise level and now medium and small sized businesses need it in order to survive.

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Related Material:
Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management (27 minutes)
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Case Study: 888.com uses global centralized management system
Article: Reducing Travel Costs with Remote Server Access

Restrict Server Room Access to Increase Security

When staff is allowed in the data center, there is really nothing stopping them from plugging a crash cart into a Windows machine or worse, damaging or stealing equipment. By upgrading analog KVM switches with KVM IP gateways, additional security is provided by the ability to relate user names to their designated servers regardless of changes to their port configuration. Your IT staff’s access to servers and devices can be restricted, especially in branch offices where it might be harder to monitor all server room activity. If you don’t want your UNIX administrator to access Windows machines, you can make sure that does not happen.

Almost all KVM IP switches use SSL security; the same tools used by eBay and most ecommerce businesses. By using KVM IP gateways, you can manage and restrict server room access to secure your data center.

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Online Test Drive: KVM IP Access Demo of all products

Case Study: AGH, Poland’s second largest University DX System & IP Control

Gartner Report Says IT Spending Decline in '09

One of Gartner’s latest reports says IT spending will be affected by the economy just like everyone else.

The unprecedented decline of the global economy is impacting the IT industry with worldwide IT spending forecast to total $3.2 trillion in 2009, a 3.8 per cent decline from 2008 revenue of nearly $3.4 trillion, according to Gartner, Inc.

Go to Gartner's site to read about it>>

The full report is available with payment, but the highlights will give you a nice overview.

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Related Material:
Minicom's Real Needs Approach - Maximize past and future investments
White Paper: Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Webcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition (22 min)

FREE WEBINAR: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Data Center Access

Rackit Technology Corporation and Minicom Advanced Systems invite you to join a webinar presenting cost effective solutions for remote access to data centers, server-rooms and remote/branch offices.

Is the current economic situation delaying your plans to upgrade the data center? Now, more than ever, we need to concentrate on what are your Real Needs:

Remote access? Yes, that's a real need.
Replacing your perfectly good switches? Not so much.

This short webinar will focus on learning how you can give your Data Center's KVM infrastructure a facelift and transform it into a remotely accessible IP system without replacing your legacy KVM switches.

We will be focusing on:

*Why we suggest not throwing out perfectly good KVM switches and serial devices just because you need to upgrade to an IP environment

*How you can save time, money, and training headaches by concentrating on your Real Needs

*What our competitors do not want you to know - how to extend the life of your products.

Space is limited so register for this free webinar today.
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM EST (1 hour)

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Related Material:

White Paper: Real Needs Approach: Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Podcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition
Case Study: Christie Digital - four remote administrators manage 100 servers in its data center

ABC’s of Remote Management

Once upon a time organizations built redundant infrastructures at remote sites to ensure stability of their IT infrastructure. Now, many organizations turn to IP-based remote management technologies which offer a more cost-efficient centralized IT management solution. These solutions allow remote access to computers/servers to conduct maintenance, service faulty devices or simply reboot frozen operating systems. Today remote server management has become a standard for enterprise class data centers.

More and more, the ability to access servers from outside the server room or office has become increasingly important to small and medium size organizations. Due to shrinking IT staffs and budgets, it is more crucial for these customers to have KVM IP access to their infrastructures.

Why has remote KVM IP access become the standard at the enterprise level and why is it so important to medium and small sized businesses?

To find out watch our latest Webcast “The ABC’s of Remote Management” (Length - 27 minutes)

Speaker: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development, Minicom

Talking points:
What is remote management?
The value of KVM Switches
Why use IP KVM?
The Benefits of Real NeedsTM

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Related Material:

White Paper: “Protect Your IT investment with KVM IP Management”
Case Study: AGH University in Poland - one universal system with access and control by 3 or more administrators
Article: “Reducing Travel Costs with Remote Server Access”

Microsofts SMB Insight Report

Microsoft surveyed more than 600 of their Small Business Specialists as well as 1200 SMB's in the US, UK, France, Brazil, India, Germany, Mexico and China. Their study released today shows that SMB’s will use technology to cut costs and grow business. It’s a must read. Here’s what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says on the front page:

“Because they can respond so quickly as business conditions change, small and midsize companies have an advantage in a volatile and uncertain economic climate. The right information technology tools and solutions lets them build on this advantage by helping them cut costs and improve productivity today, while enabling them to stay focused on innovation so they will be poised for growth when the economy begins to turn around.”

Part of the study says that one of the trends and attitudes among SMBs, is an increase in remote workers. They state that “a majority of Small Business Specialists believe their SMB customers will increase their remote worker base and will expand the role/job function of remote employees in 2009.”

This is good news for us – since we specialize in remote server management!

Go to the full study now>>

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Related Material:

White Paper: Boost Your ROI by investing in KVM IP Management
Webcast: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Server KVM Access (3.15 min)
Webcast: Why should your organization use KVM IP (4:48 min)
Learn More: Minicom Real Needs Approach

Product Spotlight - Smart 2 Buy Switches for Small to Mid-size Businesses

For a number of years, 2 user switches have been the most popular model of KVM in the data center. From the enterprise to the mid-tier to a small company’s server room, two concurrent users is the most commonly requested configuration in the KVM industry. There have been a handful of studies done to understand why 2 user switches are so popular which found that the inherent blocking built in to single user switches is most likely the reason.

In small data rooms like an SMB environment with between 20-30 servers, a multi-user KVM IP switch is a perfect tool for cost effective remote, BIOS level server management, as well as local, at the rack access. The ROC dongles for 2 user switches allow servers to be up to 100’ from the switch with no video resolution distortion. This means more than 1 cabinet or servers/desktops (not in a cabinet) can be connected to the switch and managed effortlessly.

Minicom recently added a couple of 2-user switches to our Smart Family Line, a competitively priced solution for businesses with multiple branch locations. These offices often have several servers and network devices but do not have a full time IT person. Remote BIOS level access provides IT staff at corporate headquarters with a quick, cost effective and simple way to get access to servers and devices in remote offices.

The new Smart 216 IP, also available with 32 ports - Smart 232 IP, enables one local and two remote users, access and control of up to 16 (or 32) servers. In addition, two remote users can operate serial sessions for controlling serial devices such as routers, managed network switches or PDU's.

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Related Resources:

• White Paper: “Remote Support using KVM IP Technology”
• Upcoming Webinar: Remote KVM Management 101, March 24th, 2:00 EST
• NEW Webcast: The Smart 2-User KVM Series
• Free Live Online Demo of all Minicom IP Products

Added Features: Server Access Management Capability

The recently launched Smart 216IP & 232IP multi-user IP KVM Switches enable one local and two remote users, access and control of up to 16 or 32 servers simultaneously.

In these IP KVM Switches there is a built-in access management system that allows you to configure the users’ connection permission. You can define that a user that logs into the system either from the local or remote will have access to some of the servers that are connected to the KVM switch.

For example, Michelle in the marketing department has limited access which has been assigned to her. She only needs to remotely access the internal presentation server in order to manage the corporate digital signage system. On the other hand, the IT staff has different server access assigned to them which allow them to manage their parking lot cameras and security fence devices which are also assigned to specific servers.

Using the Smart 216IP & 232IP graphical management interface you can define up to 16 users accounts that each of them may have access to specific KVM & Serial ports, and when the Smart 216IP/232IP are been managed by the KVM.net II system there is no limitation to the number of users you can define in the system.

Surviving 2009 With Remote KVM

Guest Post by Rami Sasson, Vice President Sales at Minicom

I came across an article, Data center efficiency critical for surviving 2009 by Matt Stansberry, Executive Editor, Data Center and Virtualization Media, TechTarget. In the article Mr. Stansberry points out that the need for more computing power in the datacenter will continue to increase despite the economic downturn and slashed budgets so companies will have to do more with what they have.

I think this also true for remote KVM. With IT staffs being cut along with all other department head count reductions the need for the IT staff efficiency is paramount. Having the ability to have full remote access to hardware is critical for admins to minimize server downtime but I hear from many companies they don't have the budgets to upgrade to expensive digital KVM switches. This is where the power of Minicom's "Real Needs" approach to KVM solutions grabs their attention. We explain to a corporate CIO they can continue to use their existing KVM switch and simply upgrade it to an IP KVM for a fraction of the cost of putting in a completely new digital KVM.

The IT staff organization must live with the reality that they have to do more with less but that does not mean throwing up their hands in desperation. What do you Really need? Minicom can provide it.

An excerpt of the article:

Data center efficiency critical for surviving 2009
by Matt Stansberry, Executive Editor, Data Center and Virtualization Media, TechTarget

Extending the life of the data center in lean times. Despite the down economy, business demand for data center services continues to increase. And the cost of building data centers has skyrocketed. During boom times, companies would build new data center facilities because they have run out of power and cooling capacity and literally can’t supply more power into the building. But in today’s economic and credit climate, this isn’t a workable solution.

"Take a look around you. What you have now is likely what you are going to have to work with going forward, at least until the economy picks up," said Chuck Goolsbee, a data center executive at Seattle-based hosting firm Digital Forest. "If facility or operations staff have grandiose plans in process, expect them to get scaled back or shelved. Even projects in progress are at risk."

According to Goolsbee, executives aren’t funding data center projects. And even if they were, outside financing in the form of debt would be almost impossible to find.
"Ironically, demand for data center services is not going to change that much," Goolsbee said. "In my 15 years in the business, data center demand has remained on a steady ramp and hardly ever wavered."

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Want to learn more about Remote KVM Access?

Join Minicom for a FREE Webinar Remote Management - 101

Date: March 24, 2009

Time: 2:00 PM EST (Duration 1 hour)

Whether you have 10 servers or 500, learn the basic tools needed to remotely access and manage servers, PCs and devices. You’ll learn the difference between RDP, VNC, ILO and KVM. You’ll understand each tool’s value and about the products that enable you to effectively utilize all of them in an efficient and intuitive manner. If you are an IT salesperson or consultant looking to get a better understanding of the most commonly used tools and terminology that your customers utilize or an IT professional looking for a solution to a disjointed remote management strategy, this webinar is for you.

If you cannot make the live webinar, all of our podcasts and archived webinars are available at the Minicom Media Club.

Event Summary: KVM.net II Certification

Last week, 15 Minicom resellers braved the terrible weather and travelled to the NY/NJ area to become certified to sell KVM.net II, Minicom’s revolutionary remote access management platform. Our local partners were well represented while others came from as far away as Colorado, Texas, and Canada. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Randy Yoder of Iowa City’s Mercy Hospital. Randy gave our resellers a great presentation about Mercy’s specific requirements and how Minicom provided a solution with a mix of the PX and KVM.net II.

The day also included an overview of KVM.net II positioning, key differentiators, features and functionality and several case studies. Our partners were able to configure the KVM.net II during the “hands on” portion of the day prior to any technical training, proving that KVM.net II is the most intuitive remote access management platform on the market. During the group sessions our partners were separated into 4 groups, each with a distinct list of customer requirements. Each group was tasked to develop a solution to meet their customer’s requirements and present the solution to all of the participants.

These partners are now members a select group of certified resellers of KVM.net II. They left the training with a detailed understanding not only of KVM.net II, but Minicom’s entire remote access solution set and value proposition. With the sales activity that began immediately after the event, we are proud to call the event an unmitigated success.

Jennifer Vallarautto, President, TechSolutions, Inc./Office Out Of The Box had this to say:

“When I was invited to attend Minicom’s training on KVM.net II, I was not sure what to expect. After all, I am in sales, and have not installed or used any of these products myself. After the training, which took only a day, I not only knew product benefits and features, I also knew how to use the systems. As a certified partner, I am now better able to consult with my customers and help them select the best products for them.”

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Related:

• Mercy Hospital Webinar (archived version – play now)
• KVM.net II Remote Access Management Platform Live Test Drive
• WHITE PAPER: “Boost Your ROI by investing in KVM IP Management”
• Case Study: Centralized management system for a government agency
• Office Out of the Box Blog Post about KVM.net II

Upcoming Webinar: Smart 2-User KVM Series

Join us for this short product review webinar. Minicom's Smart 2-User Family consists of 4 new different products - The Smart 232 IP, Smart 216 IP, Smart 232 and Smart 216.

Come learn why these products are different that any other 2 user products in the market.

The Smart 216 IP and Smart 232 IP although offered as 2 user switches can really act like a 5 user switches at the same time on the same switch - 2 users over IP; plus one local user; plus 2 serial remote connections to serial devices. Come learn the details.

Speakers Include:
David Zucker,Director, Business Development - KVM Division
Ivo PetrovDirector, Technical Support

Date: March 12, 2009

Time: 2:00 PM EST

Topic: Product Review: Minicom's new Smart 2-User KVM Series
Space is limited so register for this free webinar today.

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Related:

• KVM IP Product Test Drive: Go to Minicom Online KVM IP Demo
• White Paper: "Remote Support using KVM IP Technology "
• Podcast: “Why should your organization use KVM IP?”

Support Report: Managing the Access to Console Servers on the Port Level

In a recent project I was involved with, the customer had an interesting request… His company has multiple consoles servers which allows remotely secured access to their serial devices across their network.

(Photo: Serial Switch)

Their IT manager often allows individual users remote access to selected ports of these serial console servers. Until now, this action required him to log into the configuration settings of each console servers and manage its access individually.

With the KVM.net II remote access service open architecture, he can now configure the access permission to a remote serial device behind the console server for each individual port. In other words, he can set up user "A" with permission to access port 1 & 3 of console server one, and port 5 & 8 of console server two at the same time.

(Photo: KVM.net II screenshot - Access Service open architecture - click to enlarge)

From now on all users will connect to one IP address and according to their log-in information they will see a list of all remote managed serial devices they have permission to connect with. With the KVM.net II, the user just points and clicks to get seamless access…

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Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for this Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom product or are you looking for solutions for your IT department? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.

IT Managers in Healthcare Cont'd

I recently posted a webinar on demand about IT managers at hospitals, now there is a great interview at Tech Republic of CIO Patrick Moroney who takes time to explain the changes and challenges facing IT in the healthcare industry.

Jeff Cerny of Tech Republic asks CIO Patrick Moroney “10 questions on the changing role of the healthcare IT executive”

"Patrick Moroney is a CIO with a knack for being a professional change agent as well as a world-class networker, which is a winning combination by any measure. He is president of the Barnier Group, performing CIO advisory services at New Mountain Capital and advising Houston-based Intermarine. He’s also the driving force behind the 6,000+ members of the Technology Leadership Association, which he founded in 2002. He has been the CIO at National Medical Health Care Services, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), ServiceMaster, and the Food & Nutrition division at Monsanto. He has held a variety of roles on six continents and is a member of the Society for Information Management. Patrick received the 2004 CIO of the Year award from the Executives’ Club of Chicago. While he was the CIO of HCSC, he took the #21 spot in Computerworld’s top 100 best IT workplaces of 2005. And in 2006, he was was included in Computerworld’s Top 100 CIOs list."

Go to: "10 questions on the changing role of the healthcare IT executive”

Webinar on Demand: The Challenge for Hospital IT Managers

With hundreds of servers spread throughout numerous locations, it can be extremely time consuming and challenging to track down and manage troublesome servers and network devices in hospital environments. To solve these challenges and make the day to day maintenance of servers and devices in hospital network closets more efficient, Minicom has developed the solution outlined in this quick webinar.



Learn "How to use Remote Management of Network Closets in the Hospital Environment"

Total time: 12 minutes

Presented by: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development, Minicom

Customer Stories Wanted

This is a call for customer stories which I would like to feature on the blog regularly.

As Minicom system integrators and partners, you are the eyes and ears to the end users. I am looking for customer stories to publish on a regular basis. With your help we can offer solution ideas that can be helpful for others.

Please take a minute to submit the following information from a recent installation or sale:

1. What is the type of customer? IT manager of SMB or vertical market? Bank, school, etc? (we respect the privacy rights of our customers and will not use a company name unless there is permission to do so.)
2. What is the specific problem they need to solve?
3. What Minicom product did you use for the solution? And, were there any other products that worked together with Minicom to help solve the problem?
4. What is the reason the customer chose this specific problem? Financial, easy use, simplify actions?
5. Did this specific solution help you in the future to solve similar problems?
6. If there was any feedback, what was it?
7. How did this solution help the customer?
8. Do you have a pictures of where the installation took place for a visual reference?

If your customer story is chosen to appear on the blog, do you want to help promote your business with a free link to your business/company or direct contact information? If not, please specify and we will keep all information anonymous.

Please send all customer stories to minicom@minicom.com

Thank you for your participation!

Support Report: Remote monitor & control multiple computers over IP from a single computer

Recently we had an interesting application request that I would like to share…

A customer requested a solution to allow him to remotely monitor and control five computers which are located in multiple locations.

His requirement was that there would be five screens attached to a “Master” PC and this Master PC will constantly monitor the remote computers and take the control when needed. There is also a need to maintain a local console next to each remote computer for local operation. Another important requirement is that there should be no software installed on the remote computers.

We recommended adding a Quad VGA adaptor to the “Master computer” that will allow him to connect five screens to the Master PC at once, along with using our IP Control he can remotely view and control each computer without the need of installing any application on them (this feature is also known as remote bios level access). The Smart Extender that is also added to each remote PC will allow the local user to ‘share’ the control with the administrator working from the Master PC without being disconnected.

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Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for this Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom product or are you looking for solutions for your IT department? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.

Reseller Seminar & KVM.net II Certification Invitation

If you are a Minicom Reseller, please join us for a Partner Product Seminar & become certified to sell Minicom’s revolutionary Centralized Remote Access & Management Solution – KVM.net II

During the seminar you will learn:

• Why centralized access is critical to your customers, large and small.
• The exclusive advantages of the KVM.NET II solution.
• To position a central access solution to your small, medium and large IT end customers
• How to design solutions to real life customer problems
• Hands on training with KVM.net II and other remote access products.
• How to access valuable sales tools
  

Event Location and Details:

• At the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Elizabeth, NJ
• 0.5 miles from the Newark International Airport

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

• 9:30 - 12:30 Product Introduction
• 1:30 - 5:30 Certification Training

Please RSVP by February 15, 2009 to: David Zucker at David.Zucker@minicom.com

Please Note: If you are not from the area, room reservations can be made here. Advanced Room Rate Specials are available from $63.95 onwards.

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Previous attendees said:

Jim Fry, President, Fox Network Systems:

"KVM.net II certification training was probably the best focused product training I've seen in a decade. Although the training had participants at all levels of prior experience and technical knowledge, the Minicom leaders kept the participants and material on track and focused. This made sure the beginners weren't lost and the "old-timers" weren't bored silly. Minicom people kept attendees interested and involved with lecture, tests and interactive groups. My hat's off to the Minicom team for a job well done."

Jim Mollencop, DataSPAN - Territory Manager PNW:

"The certification program for KVM.net II was VERY informative and helpful! Not only does Minicom have a great IT solution that is simple to set up, use and sell at great margins, but also provides a great marketing tool for these tough economic times called "Minicom's real needs approach" said Jim Mollencop, dataSPAN Territory Manager PNW. "Literally a few days after the training I visited a client and discussed the "real needs approach" and was immediately asked for a quote at the meeting."

Support Report: Remote Bios Level Access over 3g Network

From time to time we receive interesting technical support questions and seeing as how it's always fun to share in-house, we are going to also share them here:

Recently a telecommunications company requested to remotely control a PC not dependant on the operating system (also known as remote bios level access). Ideally, the connection would be over cellular network. The main concern was quality of performance when controlling a remote desktop over a 3g network… and primarily how fast will the screen refresh!?

The application he intended on using was to mend an application from anywhere, in other words he has an application that needs to be mended regardless of the physical location of the operator.

Most of the time he needs the remote collection to be over Lan or wireless but there will be times where the remote operator will connect to the cellular network. Their requirement was also not to install any application or driver on the controlled computer.

This is where our KVM over IP technology suits his needs. By using the PX USB (Minicom’s high-performance IP Gateway) or IP Control (remote KVM gateway) products we were able to demonstrate and control a remote computer over a 3g cellular network with excellent performance.

Learn how remote KVM gateways can work for your IT needs, download the FREE white paper “Remote Support using KVM IP Technology” or test one of Minicom's IP products in an interactive live demo - go to Request Demo Form.

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Thanks to Nir Dary, Minicom's Technical Support Manager for the first Support Report!

Do you have a technical question about a Minicom KVM product? Visit Minicom Support for FAQ's, product updates, user guides and contact details for our expert technicians around the world.

SMB Tweets

Twitter has been around a while now, and if you don't know what it is or how small business can get the most out of this free tool, just go see what Bernie Borges of BAMB (Bay Area Business Magazine) wrote in his article: "Is Twitter a Corporate Communication Tool?"

I agree with Bernie when he says "The opportunities for businesses to use Twitter are plentiful. Individuals within your company can create a Twitter profile. They can post comments about things that are happening in your company or your industry. They can search to find and follow people who share common interests by searching in Twitter using relevant keywords."

If you are considering starting a Twitter feed for your small business, there are helpful FAQ's on Twitter for a good overview.

Jason Hiner over at Tech Republic recently posted "Techies: The top 10 people you should follow on Twitter". There are much more than 10 on his list which is definitely worth looking at.

You can now follow Minicom on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Minicom_IT

Free Webinar Invitation

Is the current economic situation delaying your plans to upgrade your server rooms? Join us for a FREE Webinar: Cost Effective Solutions for Remote Data Center Access

Date: Friday, February 6, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

Now, more than ever, we need to concentrate on our Real Needs:

Remote access? Yes, that's a real need.

Replacing your perfectly good KVM switches? Not so much.

This short webinar will focus on how to give your Data Center's KVM infrastructure a facelift and transform it into a remotely accessible IP system without replacing any legacy KVM switches.


We will be focusing on:

• Why we suggest not throwing out perfectly good KVM switches and serial devices just because you need to upgrade to an IP environment
  
• How you can save time, money, and training headaches by concentrating on your Real Needs
  
• What our competitors do not want you to know ---how to extend the life of your existing products.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.


System Requirements:

PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, VistaMacintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Minicom KVM Switch Technology Chosen by the Largest Bus and Tram Operator in Gothenburg, Sweden

Minicom’s keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) switch technology was selected by the largest bus and tram operator in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Customer is the largest bus and tram operator in Gothenburg, Sweden. The overcrowding in their seven Network Operations Centers (NOCs) was causing slow downs in operations and service. They wanted to cut down on equipment to streamline operations. Each NOC had a single manager monitoring eight servers. These servers were in turn connected to eight monitors, which they want to keep. They wanted to reduce the numbers of keyboards and mice from eight to one in every one of the NOC´s.

The Bus Company contacted a system integrator that works with Intronics Sweden. They told them what they were looking for and asked for help in building a solution. Intronics turned to Minicom. Minicom suggested installing a single Smart 108 KVM switch plus eight VGA extenders for the monitors at each NOC. This was a new technology for Intronics Sweden, so they first tested some other brands, but Minicom´s solution was finally chosen as the best. Intronics installed a Smart 108 KVM switch for switching the keyboard and mouse between the servers and a VGA extender for connecting each monitor to a server.

It was mainly a question of time and money. The quick delivery was a big part of the solution, because they had a strict time limit in which they had to finish the installation. Minicom was able to deliver its solution within the two week deadline. As a result of the Minicom solution, the Bus Company has decreased the numbers of keyboards and mice in their NOCs. Their managers are now more effective since they no longer have to jump around the office going from PC to PC and can control all their servers from a single console.

SMB IT On Air

I recently started looking around at Blog talk radio after seeing that they have a channel called Small Business IT, which is based in Calgary Canada.

Small Business IT Radio is a show for IT Professionals that service the small business market. In this show we will cover everything from technology to how to market your business. All are welcome

Today’s show is “Leveraging Kaseya in your SMB IT Business” Kaseya is a monitoring tool available to SMB IT Professionals.

All other shows are available on demand, including the 2008 recap:

“2008 – The Year of the Rollercoaster” - 2008 was a roller coaster year to say the least. Starting off with a bang and ending with uncertainty of what the future has to offer the SMB IT consultant. With the economy failing and the threat of online services taking away from our sales, what does 2009 have to offer us?

It’s always nice to hear good advice and up to date information. It’s worth it to take some time to listen to them.

Security Spending To Increase In 2009

“Security is getting a bigger piece of the IT budget pie,” said Jonathan Penn, author and vice president of tech industry strategy and security, about a recent Forrester report.

The next biggest issues were disaster recovery, followed by identity and access management.

This is good to hear, considering Minicom is in the Access Management business. Our Centralized Access & Management System, KVM.net II fits right into this category.

For your Server Room or Datacenter KVM.net II will:

• Automate centralized remote access
• Create customized access services
• Use a single portal to access ANY of your IT assets via a single-click
• Keep your existing KVM infrastructure
• Preserve your investment in training time
• Unify administration of targets and users across geographic locations to distributed branch offices
  
  A free interactive online demo is available, just fill out this short form and set up a time that is convenient for you.

Starting a Small Business Advice

While some people are taking a holiday break, Stefan Töpfer of The Small Business Blog isn’t. His latest post targets those of us who might be making new years resolutions to “Start my own home business or small business”.

His 5-step plan is solid:

Define Your Goals
Get A Business Idea
Test Your Business Idea
Bootstrap All The Way
Stay Focused, Always!

If you are planning to start your own small business in these rough times, take some time to read or listen to the article as a podcast.

Stefan Töpfer is CEO & Chairman of WinWeb (which developed OnlineOffice - The Small Business Infrastructure). His blog, The Small Business Blog is one that I’m adding to my list to watch. Good advice and resources for small businesses!

Free Webinar: Minicom's Smart 2-User Series

Free Webinar Invitation

Date: December 18th, 2008
Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM EST (1 hour)
Topic: Minicom's new Smart 2-User KVM Series

Speakers Include:
David Zucker, Director, Business Development - KVM Division
Ivo Petrov Director, Technical Support

Limited space is available

Minicom's Smart 2-User Family consists of four new different products. Join us for this free product introduction webinar. Learn why these products are different that any other 2-user products in the market.

Smart 216 IP – 16 port CAT5 switch with 2 remote users and 1 local user
Smart 216 – 2-user, 16 port KVM switch



Smart 232 IP – 32 port CAT5 switch with 2 remote users and 1 local user
Smart 232 - 2-user, 32 port KVM switch

These competitively priced switches have great mouse synchronization and are compatible with our remote access management tool - KVM.net® II. Combining innovative CAT5 technology and OSD management, the Smart CAT5 switches are the perfect KVM solution for SMB server and rack environments.

Limited space is available

Can't make it? Schedule a free online IP product demo with a Minicom rep at a time that is convenient for you and in the meantime download a free white paper on “KVM IP Management for Today’s IT Budget”

Announcement: Minicom Partners with Alexander Schneider

Minicom recently established a partnership with Alexander Schneider Ltd, the leading solution provider for datacenters, and representatives at the forefront of the Green IT industry in Israel.

Eli Sasson, President of Minicom says: “we are happy to have Alexander Schneider as a part of our international distribution network. The reason they were chosen was because of their professional capabilities to implement advanced solutions in server rooms in most of the leading companies in Israel. Another reason is their reputation for excellent customer support, which they provide 24/7.”

According to Igal Schneider, CEO “the cooperation with Minicom enriches the offerings of solutions that Schneider provides its customers in the server room. Some customers that we currently service are Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Visa Kal, Rafael, Elbit, Nice, Comverse, Checkpoint, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Finance & others…..“Minicom has a wide portfolio that fits with the SMB perfectly; furthermore, the closeness to the R&D center will enable customization of unique solutions for the Israeli market. This is a natural cooperation between both companies that believe in advanced technological solutions along with reliable support to the customer”

About Alexander Schneider Ltd.
As a leader in the field of data center management, Alexander Schneider Ltd. provides hi-performance products and Turn Key solutions for OEM systems and data center infrastructure, offering leading-edge products, integration services as well as engineering and design (NPI) capabilities. Alexander Schneider has been in business since 1963, with operations in Netanya, Israel and Rhode Island, USA.

For more information please visit their website.

SMB Nation - Bringing IT Together

In a comment in a post about getting to know SMB IT better, SMB Nation CEO Harry Brelsford was kind enough to recommend their site for inclusion in my research. After taking some time to look it over and join the “tribe”, I am pleased to see how much they offer the SMB IT professionals. There is much to learn from them.

SMB Nation reaches its audience with events and free webinars. Their next webinar: ”Not Just Another 50 cent Online Backup Service!“ is scheduled for tomorrow, December 11, 2008, 8AM PST (GMT-8).

Learn how the real VARs, MSPs and trusted advisors create revenue opportunities with remote online backup protection services. Learn how the latest compliance regulations will create long-term relationships and revenue streams for your business. Find out why those cheap backup services create a false sense of security and are not telling the whole story.

Register now at SMB Nation

They also offer most of their webinars on-demand, which is very helpful for someone who needs information right away.

I took the opportunity to get a closer look, and choose to watch “SMB Mergers and Acquisitions: Time to Sell Your SMB Practice?” It is well worth investing a little over one hour to hear their tips on how to run your business in a way that makes it ready to sell, and why you should run your business this way, even if you aren’t looking to sell.

Check out the other educational webinars available at SMB Nation.

2008 Year of The Milestone, according to Channel Web

Channel Web has published their pick of the best products of 2008.

The Test Center evaluated hundreds of products in 2008, from the palmtop to the data center and everything in between. In selecting each product of the year, Test Center editors needed to make sure that there was a critical offering to the market at large, significant value to the end user and immediate impact on how the lion's share of solution providers in the channel would think about and deliver technology.

Some of the products that made the cut are

• Notebook - WINNER: Lenovo ThinkPad X300
• Operating System - WINNER: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
• Web Application - WINNER: Firefox 3.0
• Smartphone - WINNER: iPhone 3G
• Product Of The Year - WINNER: Intel Modular Server

See the rest of the slideshow... including reasons why they choose these products to represent the best of 2008.

A Closer Look at SMB IT

I'm just getting in to the SMB IT industry from the marketing side of things and while researching, the first site that popped up in search was SMBITPROS.com. I did a quick overview and my initial impression is that this is a great resource for up to date, practical advice for this sector.

smbITpros.com cover topics that deal with SMB IT such as:

• Finances
• Managing
• Marketing
• Operations
• Sales
• Starting Up
• Technology

This is how they describe themselves:

"smbitpros.com is the ramblings of Michael Cooch and Josh Clifford, Founder/CEO and CSO (Chief Service Officer), respectively, of Everon Technology Services, LLC. Everon is a pioneer and leader in the SMB managed services space, serving clients around the United States and a handful of offices in Europe."

Their latest post “How to compensate salespeople when they sign longer term managed services contracts?” hit home with something Minicom manufactures. If you want to hear our perspective on managed service providers, listen to this podcast by David Zucker, Minicom’s Director of Business Development of the IT & KVM Division. David will explain how “managed service providers can now sell a KVM IP device as a monthly service” using Minicom’s PX.

The Minicom Media Club offers a variety of free podcasts and archived webinars for your enjoyment.