The SMB Tech Report

Study Finds 14% Increase in Cloud Computing Awareness

A new study by Webtorials, commissioned by Fonality, finds a 14% increase in awareness of the capabilities of cloud-based technology among SMBs since a year ago. This finding suggests the market will see broader adoption of cloud services by SMBs this year. more

HP and Box Team Up

HP and Box have teamed to provide integrated hardware and software tools to help organizations manage and share information in the Cloud. Purchasers of HP business PCs will have access to a free account on the Box platform providing extra, cloud-based storage. Purchasers of HP Compaq 6200 and 6005 Pro Series PCs will receive a free 10 GB Box account with the option to upgrade to additional capacities at a reduced annual rate. Those that purchase HP Compaq 8200 Elite series PCs will receive a Box account with unlimited storage for one full year. more

Spiceworks Announces Bi-Annual Survey Results

Spiceworks, a social business network for IT professionals, has announced the results of its bi-annual survey of SMBs. The survey finds Cloud service adoption has jumped among SMBs, with 46% now using Cloud services, up from 28% in the first half of 2011 and 14% used them in mid-year 2010. Tablet PCs are also becoming popular; half of respondents either have deployed or plan to deploy iPads or other tablets in the next six months. more

Persistent Systems and Proactive Education Offer Cloud Migration

Software product development company Persistent Systems and cloud services and project management firm Proactive Education Inc have announced a partnership offering economical software and application migration to the Cloud. The service will use Persistent Systems’ Cloud Assessment Tool to provide SMBs with an accurate assessment. more

Social Yo Announces Partnership with Nimble

Social Yo had partnered with Nimble, a social business platform that combines relationship management and social engagement. Under the partnership, Social Yo will offer its customers access to the Nimble service, which provides contacts, calendar, communications, and collaboration for business professionals in a single integrated online platform. more

Check it Out: Office 365: Cloud-Based Web Apps

You have probably heard about Google Docs, and you may have used it. We use it for file sharing, and it has served us well. But, it can be annoying when someone need to download and use the files in a Microsoft Office application. A year ago Microsoft started offering online versions of Office applications, and now Microsoft is offering Office 365, which allows editing, storing, and sharing Office files online for free if you have a copy of Office applications on a local computer.

Early reviews are saying Google Docs and Office 365 are so dissimilar they should not be compared, but they both try to do the same thing--offer online access to files and give people the ability to use and share those files. If you like Google Docs, but are not entirely happy with it, then try Office 365.

Toshiba Joins Cortado’s Cloud Printing Alliance

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. has joined the Cortado Cloud Printing Alliance, allowing Cortado workplace App users to print from iOS, Android, Blackberry, or Symbian smartphones and tablets to any Toshiba MFP in a WiFi network. To use the system, users must install the Cortado Workplace app on their mobile devices. The app provides free 24/7 access to 2GB of online storage for documents created on mobile devices, from which users can print to any device participating in the network. more

Adobe Announces FormsCentral, a Web-based Forms Software Solution

Adobe has announced FormsCentral, a Web-based solution and service for creating and managing HTML forms. The company says FormsCentral is built around Acrobat X and part of Adobe’s effort to expand into new customer segments using its Web-based technology. The Web-based forms are hosted by Adobe at an Adobe URL and can be used for anything that requires a user response online from surveys to event registration. The service provides templates for a variety of uses along with the ability to create customized forms. more

OfficeDrop Announces Desktop Cloud Connector

OfficeDrop has announced Desktop Cloud Connector, a downloadable Windows application that connects your desktop to OfficeDrop’s digital filing system. The app allows users to file electronic documents, including those created with ScanDrop, OfficeDrop’s cloud scanning software, and manage their files from their desktops. more

Cloud Services Offer SMBs Better Solution for Backup and Recovery

A new online article posted on Wikibon.org examines cloud storage and concludes it offers a superior, more cost-effective and more dependable solution to data backup and recovery for SMBs. more

Salesforce,com and VMware Partner to Create VMforce

VMforce will provide a trusted, open path to the cloud for six million enterprise developers, including the two million members of the Spring community. It will allow Java developers to access Force.com platform services, which includes the new VMware vCloud technology to simplify management of applications on VMware vSphere. more

Yankee Group Study Finds Problems in Cloud Computing Contract Fine Print

Buyer Beware should be the watchword when shopping for cloud computing services such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), warns a new report from Yankee Group. A careful review of the fine print in contracts finds today's cloud contracts are rife with disclaimers, misleading up-time guarantees, and questionable privacy policies and compliance claims, according to Cloud 99.99: The Small Print Exposed. The report examines terms of service, service-level agreements, and privacy policies of 46 software-, infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service offerings from 41 vendors, including industry heavyweights Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce.com and Rackspace. more

Salesforce.com Agrees to Acquire Jigsaw

Salesforce.com has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wikipedia-style crowd-sourcing service Jigsaw to supplement its popular customer relationship management service. The addition of Jigsaw will allow data service providers like D&B, Hoover's, and LexisNexis to expand existing partnerships to deliver new data services to the cloud. more

DocuLex Announces Cloud-Based Document Management for Disaster Recovery

DocuLex has announced its Archive Studio software-as-a-service document and content management service designed for disaster recovery and business continuity preparedness. The software provides remote document access, permissions, printing, and distribution, as well as off-site document warehousing. more

Wyse Releases PocketCloud Virtualization App for iPad

Wyse Technology, a provider of thin computing and client virtualization systems, has released the Wyse PocketCloud App for the iPad, delivering cloud-based virtualized application support. This new version, completely rewritten for the iPad to get maximum use from its high resolution screen, includes more than 20 new features and improvements including support for VMware View 4. more

Verizon and IBM Team to Create Private, Cloud-Based Managed Data Vault

Verizon and IBM have expanded their business partnership to create Managed Data Vault--a private, automated data backup system. The system, to be sold by both companies, uses Verizon's secure high-speed private network to run automatic backups of data from client sites to a special off-site data center. more

Novell Announces Novell Pulse Cloud-Based Collaboration Platform Preview

Novell Pulse, designed to be a real-time collaboration platform for companies of any size, will combine real-time authority, communications, and social messaging tools with security and management capabilities. Attendees of this year's Novell BrainShare conference will get the first accounts to the cloud-based collaboration platform along with five invitations to hand out to collaboration partners when the preview is released. more

Social Sentry Saas Service Monitors Employee Use of Social Networks

Teneros Inc. has announced Social Sentry, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) service that monitors employee public activity on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It is designed to manage corporate risks related to compliance, leakage of sensitive information, human resource issues, legal exposure, and brand damage. more

GGO Announces Pricing for SaaS Digital WarRoom for E-Discovery

Gallivan Gallivan & O'Melia LLC (GGO) has announced the pricing of its new subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) Digital WarRoom Hosted Software Service, scheduled for release in April. The Digital WarRoom is a flexible e-discovery SaaS model tailored for medium-to large-sized matters. It provides economies of scale savings of as low as $20/Gb for law firms and includes early case assessment and gross relevancy tools to help users identify and manage e-discovery fees. more

Double-Take Enhances System Integrator Program

Disaster recovery and workload optimization provider Double-Take Software has announced enhanced support and tools for systems integrators to make it easier for them to integrate Double-Take's tools, including its cloud computing services, into their software packages for businesses. more