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TechTargets Buys The Brian Madden Company

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In case you haven’t heard yet, congratulations are in order for The Brian Madden Company, as they’ve been acquired by TechTarget, the media company behind tech sites like IT Knowledge Exchange, NotebookReview.com and LabMice.net.

From Brian’s blog post:

First, my plan moving forward is to do the job I’ve been doing the past five-and-a-half years. I plan to blog, write, and speak about the application and desktop virtualization industry from a technical and independent standpoint. The great news is that by being part of TechTarget, I’ll be able to focus on this 100%. My life running The Brian Madden Company has been amazing, but running a small business is hard work. Really, really hard work. Over the years I was probably only able to spend half my time actually writing and doing my “day job.” The rest of my time was spent doing overhead BS tasks, like building and managing the website, setting up new advertisers in our banner ad system, rebooting servers, working with the accountants about taxes, and about 1,000 other things that required my time. All of this was critical, but none of it directly enhanced the value we bring to the community. That all changes by being part of TechTarget, and I think the most immediate change you’ll see is that I’ll be able to write a lot more than three articles per week.

As to whether I’ll “bolt,” all I can say is “no way!” I’ve been in this business too long to bolt now. I’ve been using Citrix for over ten years, and I think the next three-to-five years will be the most interesting yet. I didn’t come this far not to see this whole VDI thing through. But what about leaving TechTarget? Would I just sell to them and then leave? Again, no way! Working for TechTarget is my dream job–I get to keep the good parts of my old job–while other folks at TechTarget handle all the operational work that I wasn’t too interested in to begin with. Now I get to be a full-time blogger while someone else worries about keeping the lights on!

Regarding BriForum, we’re planning on having BriForum 09 in Chicago as planned. It will be the same BriForum as years past. The same community-led speaking process, the same independent focus, the same Geek Out game show, the same side-by-side video player, and the same DEMO Lab. The only difference is that I won’t have to personally print 500 name badges the night before, Gabe and I won’t have to manually enter all of the session info into our database, and I won’t personally have to lay out the Pocket Guide. Also, we’ll have a full-time sales department to help bring more products into the DEMO Lab and more attendees. And all of this means more technical content. Woo-hoo!

The same goes for BrianMadden.com. The website itself will stay the same. The URL will still be BrianMadden.com. Jon Brown (my new boss) put it best. “It’s like when Proctor & Gamble bought Gillette,” he said, “There are operational efficiencies on the back end, but people still buy the same Gillette products, and most of them don’t even notice Gillette’s not an independent company anymore.” TechTarget has won dozens of awards for editorial excellence and independence, and I’ll be able to write with exactly the same freedom that I’ve enjoyed the past five-and-a-half years on my own. This is absolutely critical to me, and something that Gabe and I really checked out before we moved forward with this deal. We talked to several the hundreds of TechTarget journalists, and we asked them point blank about whether they’d ever received pressure to change a story or to be nice to a certain vendor. And in every case, the journalists told us that they were able to write what they wanted, and if an advertiser got mad, that was too bad.

As I’ve alluded to a few times in this post, Gabe will also be part of TechTarget. His full-time job will be as a site editor for BrianMadden.com. Previously, Gabe spent probably 90% of his time at The Brian Madden Company doing overhead work–managing Exchange and our Blackberry server, making and editing DVDs for BriForum and our training class, backing up our servers, etc. All of that overhead work will go away, and you’ll see great technical articles (like this one) from him almost every day instead of just a few times per month.

The bottom line is that by being part of TechTarget, Gabe and I can focus on what we like to do most: writing for BrianMadden.com and hosting the best independent conference in the industry. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened for us since we’ve been part of The Brian Madden Company, and we’re eager to share that excitement with you. Just watch.

Lenovo Introduces Secure Managed Client

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Lenovo today announced Secure Managed Client (SMC), a storage-based desktop computing solution that can dramatically help businesses reduce IT costs and security risks by turning off hard drives and storing all data in a non-server remote location – all while offering users the flexibility and performance of a traditional desktop PC.

The SMC solution consists of a client, a hard drive-less ThinkCentre desktop PC Intel vPro technology, a Lenovo co-developed software stack and a centralized Lenovo Storage Array, powered by Intel.

SMC offers several significant benefits over current server-based computing options such as blade PCs, thin clients or desktop virtualization, most notably:

  • Preserves PC fidelity – SMC gives the end user a full Windows experience
  • Avoids IT complexity – SMC works with and enhances current IT process and tools
  • Safe and flexible investment – An SMC ThinkCentre can easily be converted back to a traditional desktop PC by re-enabling the hard drives
  • Energy efficient – An SMC ThinkCentre uses less energy than a traditional desktop PC
  • Security – Information from all desktops in an SMC fleet is stored in a safe, single location, significantly reducing the threat of on-site theft of data

Lenovo estimates that large enterprise customers in North America typically spend about $120 a month to fully manage a PC. This expense takes into account such things as deskside IT visits, call center support, and management costs. Lenovo further estimates that using the SMC solution can potentially reduce this expense to as low as $70 per PC.

The SMC solution is currently being offered on the ThinkCentre M57p1 desktop PC, and can also be offered on the ThinkCentre M58p2 in early 2009. The recently launched M58p is the greenest, most secure and most manageable ThinkCentre desktop yet.

Industry Moves: Stephen Pollack Joins Embotics Advisory Board

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Embotics today announced the appointment of Stephen Pollack to its Advisory Board. Stephen Pollack is a recognized leader in the virtualization industry who founded PlateSpin (acquired by Novell earlier this year). With the addition of Pollack, the Advisory Board will continue to help guide Embotics’ direction, organization and strategy for product and company growth.

With over 25 years of relevant experience, Stephen is a seasoned entrepreneur and proclaimed expert in virtualization who will assist the Embotics Advisory Board with product planning, organizational strategy and investor relations. He founded PlateSpin in 2003 and grew the company from a startup until its industry-renowned acquisition by Novell.

Prior to PlateSpin, Stephen held a variety of technology leadership roles across sales, marketing, services, support and product management. He has been instrumental in the growth of successful global ventures, including his roles as Director of Product Marketing and Customer Services at Fulcrum Technologies, Business Unit Director of IT Asset Management Solutions at NCR and most recently, VP of Product Management at FloNetwork.

Moderro Debuts Xpack Internet Computer

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Moderro Technologies today announced the Xpack Internet Computer – a turnkey web-centric cloud computer.

The Xpack Internet Computer is an integrated (hardware, operating system and web management) solution for the cloud desktop. It features a clean and friendly user interface and operating system that was written by Moderro specifically for interacting with web-based applications.

This functionality, combined with simplicity, security, small footprint, energy efficiency, and backward compatibility, make the Moderro Xpack a perfect choice for “cloud-only” office or venue.

The Xpack desktop hardware includes a USB keyboard and mouse and a standard VESA mount option, which allows the hardware enclosure to be mounted to the back of the LCD display. Dual VGA/DVI output options coupled with dual monitor auto-detection, allows Xpack users to increase in productivity by using one display for monitoring, another for working.

Xpack’s energy consumption is a fraction of that of a regular computer with its advanced power-saving technology and software-driven power-management functions. The Xpack is also a solid state computer with no moving parts to ensure reliability especially when used as a public terminal or kiosk solution.

By using web applications, XPack users keep their data on Moderro’s integrated cloud storage, or on a personal USB storage device, which allows Moderro to get rid of local storage and make the system proof from viruses and other malware.

Enterprises are assured their migration to cloud computing will be seamless because the Moderro Xpack is compatible with popular desktop virtualization technologies such as ones from VMWare, Microsoft, and Citrix. This allows IT departments preserve their investment by making the Xpack compatible with existing investment while transitioning to all-cloud computing.

Communications capabilities include a WiFi Antenna and 100/1000 Ethernet port.

Moderro is targeting the Xpack Internet Computer for use in public terminals, kiosks and libraries, education and training facilities, as well as private and government offices ready to migrate to cloud computing. Xpack is available direct from Moderro. The Xpack has a starting price of $395.

IBM To Snap Up Cross-Platform Virtualization Specialist Transitive

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IBM today announced it plans to acquire Transitive Corporation, a privately held technology company headquartered in Los Gatos, California, with a research and development team in Manchester, United Kingdom. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Transitive is a leader in cross-platform virtualization and a pioneer in developing technologies that allow applications written for one type of microprocessor and operating system to run on multiple platforms — with little or no modification. As a result, the technology will enable customers to consolidate their Linux-based applications onto the IBM systems that make the most sense for their business needs.

Transitive’s technology has earned the company 48 worldwide patents and several industry awards.

This acquisition is part of IBM’s strategy to help clients optimize the efficiency and productivity of their computing infrastructure and improve the utilization of the servers that run them. With this translation technology, along with existing migration capabilities, IBM systems give businesses a faster, easier path for server consolidation to reduce operational expenses, floorspace and energy costs.

Transitive technology is currently included as part of the IBM PowerVMTM software designed to help customers consolidate their x86 Linux workloads onto IBM Systems. IBM is seeing a growing trend of customers migrating from under-utilized servers to IBM Systems, including onto mainframe and Power Systems. The company is committed to developing additional tools and solutions to make migrations even easier, while minimizing the risk and increasing the financial returns for clients as they consolidate and virtualize to achieve significant business benefit.

KACE Study: Virtualization Gains Momentum With SMBs

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KACE today announced the results of a new study that revealed more than three quarters of medium enterprises have adopted some form of virtualization. In addition the research showed the fastest growing area for virtualization is application virtualization, with 64 percent of medium organizations reporting they have either deployed or plan to do so in the next year. Also uncovered is the need for an integrated solution for systems management and virtualization. Seventy-one percent prefer to combine their systems management tools for both virtual and physical systems in a single, integrated product and many prefer their systems management tools offer integrated application virtualization management capabilities.

The research, consisting of an online survey of more than 500 respondents, the majority from medium-sized enterprises, was conducted by King Research and commissioned by KACE to gather data about the current state of virtualization adoption among medium enterprises. Focusing on hot-button issues such as growth of adoption, barriers to deployment, the importance of managing mixed physical and virtual IT environments, and specific areas of virtualization growth, the research revealed adoption of virtualization among the medium enterprise proved to be as rapid as enterprise adoption.
A summary of the key findings from the study include:
— 64 percent reported they have adopted or plan to adopt application virtualization in the near future, making application virtualization the fastest growing virtualization segment among medium enterprises surveyed;
— 85 percent of respondents revealed they have deployed virtualization technologies or plan to do so within the next twelve months;
— A reduction in hardware requirements was cited by 82 percent as the primary benefit they have achieved with virtualization;
— Over half reported cost savings as the most important consideration when justifying the cost of virtualization;
— 71 percent of respondents who have deployed application virtualization technologies cited they prefer systems management tools for virtual and physical systems offered in a single, integrated product;
— 86 percent felt that virtualization has had a positive impact on them personally — almost half cited they could do more with their budgets due directly to virtualization.
Survey metholodogy
A database of IT professionals was emailed and invited to participate in a Web survey on the topic of virtualization. A total of 519 respondents completed the survey representing hands-on IT professionals (36 percent), IT managers (32 percent), IT executives (2 percent) and others. This survey focused primarily on the responses of the 291 participants (56 percent) from mid-sized companies, those with 100-5000 employees.
The survey was conducted using Zoomerang, an online survey tool. Respondents were not compensated for participating in this survey except to be offered a copy of the final report. This survey was sponsored by KACE, a provider of IT automation appliances.