Microsoft

Computers

Lenovo adds more consumer flair, security to ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga commercial devices

January 8, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Lenovo adds more consumer flair, security to ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga commercial devices
Lenovo traditionally makes channel-focused product announcements at CES as well as consumer product, and this year they announced significant refreshes of their flagship commercial devices.

Virtualization

NComputing looks to drive North American business in 2019 on both enterprise and SME fronts

January 7, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on NComputing looks to drive North American business in 2019 on both enterprise and SME fronts
At Citrix Summit this week, NComputing will be displaying a new device, the RX-HDX+, to strengthen their enterprise platform, and is looking to make major gains this year in the enterprise, with strategic partner Citrix, as well as in the SME space, with an aggressive push of their Verde offering into the MSP market.

Cloud

Vena Solutions deepens Ad Hoc Analysis in quarterly release with intuitive and insightful analysis theme

December 13, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Vena Solutions deepens Ad Hoc Analysis in quarterly release with intuitive and insightful analysis theme
Other enhancements reflect top priority being given to mobile optimization and to bringing more of a consumer software experience into FP&A software.

Cloud

HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target

November 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target
HPE made a big play in 2018 around servers in the SMB space, followed up by solutions related to hybrid cloud. While those will continue in 2019, the company is also looking to roll out similar initiatives around simplification around storage and hyper-converged solutions for SMBs.

Cloud

Liquidware expands Stratusphere capabilities and adds consumption-based pricing option as Desktop-as-a-Service market escalates

November 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Liquidware expands Stratusphere capabilities and adds consumption-based pricing option as Desktop-as-a-Service market escalates
Microsoft shipping their turnkey Windows Virtual Desktop in the spring, where Liquidware is a go-to-market partner, is likely to increase partner opportunities around services.

Cloud

CloudJumper strengthens integration with Microsoft on multiple fronts

November 12, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on CloudJumper strengthens integration with Microsoft on multiple fronts
CloudJumper announces that their Cloud Workspace Management Suite in now available on the Azure Marketplace. They also spotlighted their integration with Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop at the IT Nation Connect event, and created a new position of VP Strategic Alliances, where the management of the Microsoft relationship is a critical element.

Storage

NetApp extends data fabric with DevOps announcements

October 24, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on NetApp extends data fabric with DevOps announcements
NetApp made a flurry of announcements on Wednesday at Insight extending their data fabric, with special relevance to developers and architects, emphasizing their cloud-first focus, and articulating their hybrid and multi-cloud proposition.

Cloud

Major new Azure integration highlights NetApp cloud announcements

October 23, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Major new Azure integration highlights NetApp cloud announcements
NetApp is touting the new Azure NetApp Files as a huge extension of their Microsoft relationship, which gives them a level of integration with their Azure cloud that Microsoft has not done before with anyone. Other announcements include the General Availability of NetApp Cloud Insights, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, and new ONTAP support for NetApp HCI.

Big Data

X-IO Technologies rebrands as Axellio to focus on edge and HCI after selling storage business to Violin

October 17, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on X-IO Technologies rebrands as Axellio to focus on edge and HCI after selling storage business to Violin
Axellio has only had its new product portfolio on the market for a little over a year, but has met with a strong response for their edge solutions in the performance part of the market, and just introduced a new HCI solution in partnership with Microsoft that is based on the Microsoft software-defined stack.

Backup

Zerto sets the table for next year’s Zerto 7 convergence with Zerto 6.5 release

October 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Zerto sets the table for next year’s Zerto 7 convergence with Zerto 6.5 release
Zerto 6.5 has new feature enhancements, which will be of particular interest to Cloud Service Providers, but the most significant news here is more likely the continued moves towards their upcoming version, which they see as a massively disruptive offering.