bruceb news

LogMeIn has become the most widely used product for remote access to a home or office computer. Remote access is requested by more offices all the time as a cheap and efficient way to use line-of-business programs at the office from a home computer or notebook or iPad. LogMeIn is free or cheap, it’s secure, and many people find it easier than any alternative, even if there’s a Small Business Server at the office that will set up a Remote Desktop session.

LogMeIn deserves fifteen minutes of your time to understand its basics! Please treat it like any other service that affects your productivity and your security: take the time to learn its features and its controls. […] continued

A few days before Christmas, Microsoft delivered the “Office 365 Integration Module for Small Business Server 2011 Essentials,” a long awaited add-in that integrates Microsoft’s new server software for very small offices with its hosted Office 365 service.

In some respects this is what SBS 2011 Essentials should have included all along, and the combination is a compelling choice for many very small offices considering their first onsite server or a replacement for an aging Small Business Server 2003 tower. You’ll find a full description of Small Business Server 2011 Essentials here:

• Overview
• Remote Access
• Backups

Separately, the two products are already compelling choices for small businesses. […] continued

Western Digital is shipping the first device available in the US with Microsoft’s small business storage and backup software, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

Microsoft has a gift for names, doesn’t it? It’s a little embarrassing to gush over a product that is brand new on the market and very appealing when it has a wince-inducing name like “Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.” It is closely related to Microsoft’s other new small business server, the one named “Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.” Couldn’t this have been named “Storage Server 2011 Essentials”? That’s a nice name. Maybe it was taken. […] continued

Previously:
Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Part 1: Overview

Microsoft has done more than anyone else to promote remote access to small business networks. Almost ten years ago, Small Business Server 2003 opened up Outlook Web Access and safe remote desktop access to small businesses for the first time. SBS 2008 and the various iterations of Windows Home Server refined that first portal to make it easier and cleaner and more likely to work properly.

SBS 2011 Essentials brings something new to the table: remote access to files. Hold that thought and let’s look at some of the other features first. […] continued

Feeling confident about your ability to keep up with the pace of change? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Small businesses will soon have the option to have all of their computing power hosted offsite. No servers in the closet; no workstations under the desks. Onsite you’ll have a monitor, a keyboard and mouse, and a fast Internet connection. Everything else will be in the sky. And yet when you sit down, you’ll log in and see a Windows 7 desktop and click on the Word icon and browse through your files and start Outlook and read your mail.

Sounds odd, doesn’t it? […] continued

I am excited to announce a new service for all my clients – patching and updating your workstations.

Bruceb Consulting Monitoring will review and install updates to Windows, Office, Firefox, Java, Flash, Adobe Reader, and other important programs and utilities – automatically and silently.

I will review the updates that are necessary for you to be safe online, and I’ll install them on your computers.

There’s a monthly charge for my monitoring service. It’s a small price to pay for two important reasons:

• SECURITY You’ll be at less risk from malware delivered by poisoned web sites, because browser add-ins like Java and Flash will be up to date on your computer.

[…] continued

Previously:
The Future Of Small Office Technology
History Lesson, Part 1: Small Business Server
History Lesson, Part 2: Windows Home Server
Looking Forward: Small Business Server 2011 Standard

I have a long article for you about an exciting new platform for small businesses scheduled for release in six months. Take your time and read this over the holiday weekend, but don’t get lazy and decide you can skip this one – there will be a test when class meets again. Happy Thanksgiving!

Small Business Server 2011 Essentials will be marketed as a “first server” for small businesses with fewer than 25 users. […] continued

Verizon has introduced a new service that anyone with an Android phone should set up right away. It significantly enhances the security of the phone and adds some important features to make the phone easier to use. Oh, and it’s likely to be free for most of you.

Doesn’t sound like the Verizon that we know and tolerate, does it? This appears to be a genuinely good thing. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Verizon Mobile Recovery is an app installed on the phone that allows you to do five things if the phone is lost or stolen, all by logging in at the Mobile Recovery web site:

• Remotely lock the phone.

[…] continued

In June I wrote an article about LogMeIn Express, a free and extremely easy to use service being tested by LogMeIn for quickly sharing a screen with one person or a small group of people.

When I went back to look at it recently, I discovered that the service has been renamed “Join Me” and moved to https://join.me, which is odd but certainly easy to tell people on the phone. At the moment they’re trying to make it look hip by rotating a selection of big photos (beach sandals, water coolers) and cute slogans on the web site. Personally I’m not crazy about the photos but perhaps they’ll get over that. […] continued

I’m going to tell you about a new free service from LogMeIn that will make some of you so happy that you will clap your hands in childish glee.

You already know LogMeIn as the company behind LogMeIn Free and LogMeIn Pro, the best software available for remote connections to an office or home computer – fast, secure, with a sleek, intuitive interface and features that outdo the competition. LogMeIn also powers LogMeIn Rescue, the support software that I use to connect remotely to your computer when I need to look over your shoulder.

The company is testing LogMeIn Express, a new service that will let you share your screen with one person or a small group of people, literally in seconds. […] continued