Gartner Analyst Suggests Dell Enterprise Customers Should Start Looking Around

HP Customer & Market Insights has just made a recent Gartner report, Dell’s Leveraged Buyout Necessitates Scenario Planning for Customers, available to all HP Employees.  In this report, Gartner Research Director Adrien O’Connell provides perspective on Dell’s leveraged buyout, and the implications it may have on Dell’s enterprise and consumer customers. 



The Dell LBO has been big news lately, with the $24.4bn Michael Dell, Silver Lake and Microsoft funded initial offer being joined now by offers from Blackstone Group, and activist investor Carl Icahn.  While these offers are debated by Dell’s board, O’Connell suggests that Dell customers view Dell’s claims that it can transform itself into an enterprise tech company “with a degree of caution.”  Dell’s low margin PC business is not enough to sustain the company, and delayed delivery times or account team responsiveness may indicate danger signs for the company as it shifts strategy, and realigns its business.  Dell enterprise customers need to have alternative plans developed, and consider how private equity may impact Dell’s future, and their own supplier portfolio.

One outlet taking notice of the Gartner report, channelregister.co.uk, asks “Can it really be that enterprise customers should make sure they have an emergency raft ready to head to the shores of rival PC makers should Dell jettison its desktop and notebook portfolio when it goes private?”  Gartner’s report seems to suggest the answer is “Yes.”

·         Check out more of Gartner’s take on Dell’s LBO: “Dell’s Leveraged Buyout Necessitates Scenario Planning for Customers”.
This report is provided by Customer & Market Insights, and available to all of HP through 25 June, 2013.

·         Get weekly perspective on Dell from the Dell RADAR

·         Search MarketVision for insights on Dell

·         Read the channelregister.co.uk article

7 Reasons to Outsource Your IT with CTG

As your business grows, so to do your IT needs. But for many small businesses, hiring a dedicated, in-house IT technician is just not financially possible. For businesses like these, we at Convergent Technologies Group offer HighGround by CTG, our managed IT Services, giving you all the benefits of a full IT department without the overhead!

The Benefits of Managed IT Services with Convergent Technologies Group

1. Cut Costs: Outsourcing your IT needs allows you to utilize an entire team of IT specialists for less than the cost of an in-house employee.
2. Increase Productivity: Give your customers and employees the benefit of professional support when they need it. By reducing downtime, your office remains more productive often.
3. IT Network Security: If you rely on technology, IT security is a crucial component of your business plan.
4. Disaster Recovery: As a business owner, you know that downtime can kill a business. That is why we offer outsourced disaster recovery to ensure that your vital business data is available when you need it.
5. Preventative Maintenance: Maintenance is the key to keeping your network up and running. Convergent Technologies Group analyzes computer systems for potential problem areas to keep your business running smoothly.
6. Focus on Growing your Business: We believe business-people should focus on their business, not on the tools that make it run. You are not an IT specialist. You are a business owner. So let us worry about you technology needs while you worry about what's important, like growing your business. 
7. Education: At Convergent Technologies Group, we believe in educating our customers; explaining sometimes overly-complicated technology terms in ways that our customers understand, so that they feel more comfortable with what they have, and better understand what they may need to move forward. 

Utilize all the benefits of a full IT department for one predictable, low-cost monthly fee. We look forward to working with you and your business. Contact Convergent Technologies Group for your free no obligation consultation and see if HighGround by CTG is right for you. 804.353.5307

Ready or not here BYOD comes!

With more than 5.9 billion mobile subscribers and 1.2 billion Web users worldwide, it is safe to say that mobility is no longer the future of networking—it is the reality. To get their jobs done, employees are now using a mix of mobile devices --personal and company owned--for what is known as the hottest trend in the workplace called Bring-Your-Own-Device or BYOD.

The Challenge: Ready or not here it comes

As more and more devices join the network, the ability to control access to applications, protect corporate data, and financially support both new and legacy systems is presenting IT managers with significant challenges. Demands and expectations for performance, bandwidth, and reliable access to applications are just going to continue to rise. Not to mention the host of security, management and legal issues BYOD can present. 

If you think stopping BYOD at the front door is a possible way around this, think again. In a recent survey, “Trusted Mobility Index,” conducted by Juniper Networks of more than 4,000 mobile-device users and IT professionals’ reports “many employees circumvent their employers’ official mobile-device policies with nearly half of all respondents who use their personal devices for work (41%) doing so without permission from the company.” Whether you are ready for BYOD or not, it is inevitably here for good with predictions of almost 15 billion network-connected devices by 2015.

The Solution: Embrace mobility with Simply Connected by Juniper Networks

Businesses need a solution that enables them to deliver on the promise of mobility without sacrificing performance, scalability or security. 

• Deliver coordinated security for enterprise network access
• Remote data wiping
• Access rights management
• Full enforcement of security policies on any device, anywhere, anytime
• Deliver a comprehensive enterprise offering
• Resilient network throughout, with no single point of failure
• Improved operational efficiency, with real-time automation to support critical business processes
• A foundation for fast, secure, and reliable delivery of applications to all users and devices at any location

As you can see, mobility and BYOD is a very present reality and impossible to avoid but with Simply Connected you can embrace it and Convergent can help. To learn more about Simply Connected by Juniper Networks contact Convergent Technologies Group and we will get you started. 

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BYOD: Developing a Security Policy

Who hasn’t heard of BYOD or bring your own device?  It’s happening right now in your organization as we speak. Chances are you may even be reading this on one. According to a recent poll completed by Harris Interactive, more than 80% of employees use personally owned electronic devices for work related functions. Smartphones, notebooks, iPads, e-readers, gaming consoles and more—the list of personal devices gaining access to employer networks seems to be growing every day in what has come to be a new phenomenon in the way employees are connecting to enterprise networks.

While BYOD is not necessarily a bad thing—staff can stay in touch with up-to-the-minute, real-time data, regardless of where they happen to be—it can pose a serious security risk for companies who don’t have a BYOD policy in place.

The risks you ask? The possibilities are endless when an unsecured device can gain access into the core intellectual property of an organization.

• Users browsing malicious sites
• Clicking malicious links in email and SMS messages
• Installing questionable firmware updates
• Making assumptions about the security and privacy of applications and public Wi-Fi connections 
• Forgotten or stolen devices without simple levels of security in place like password protection
•   Confidential company data lying around on unsecured devices

These are just a few of the possibilities when you do not have a BYOD security policy in place. Unless organizations can control the highly mobile platforms their users are allowed to bring into the enterprise, security will inevitably become a problem.

Now you are aware, what do do about it? Below are a few simple ideas to think about when getting started: 

1. Establish what devices are permitted 
• Specify to employees who are interested in BYOD which devices you will support and which ones you will not. 
2. Establish a stringent password policy on all devices
• If your employees want to take part in BYOD then they will have to have a complex password in place to access their devices at all times. 
3. Define who own what apps and data
• The line gets a little fuzzy when combining both personal and work data onto the same device. If an employee quits or the device is stolen or lost what happens to the data? Enacting a policy providing you the right to wipe personal machines if they were used for work purposes should an employee quit or lose their device, will aid in keeping the company secure. 
4. Train employees on good security policies 
• Empower your employees to recognize questionable websites and links, educate them to identify possible phishing attacks and show them how to take on the simplest of security measures by turning on auto-locking features, password protections and encryption of their devices. 
5. Make it an easy transition for your employees 
• Always assume your employees will value their own convenience over company security. If your security policy is to complex or inconvenient they will find a way around it. Keep this in mind when you are establishing your BYOD security policy.   

These are just a few simple and inexpensive ideas to get headed in the right direction. Contact Convergent Technologies Group and we will help you with the right solutions to keep your company protected. 

6.5 Million LinkedIn Accounts May Be Compromised, Change Your Passwords Now

If you have a LinkedIn account, now's a good time to change your password. Up to 6.5 million user accounts and encrypted passwords have reportedly been leaked and posted to a Russian hacker site. Read More