Archive for the ‘Product’ Category

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Mind the Gap – Bridging the Security Gap in Microsoft’s Communication and Collaboration platform

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Microsoft’s Communication and Collaboration platform comprising Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 and Microsoft SharePoint streamlines how organizations connect people, processes and information. Microsoft SharePoint alone boasts 100MM+ users. Throw in Exchange and Microsoft OCS R2 and the user base balloons. However communication and collaboration is not limited to corporate boundaries and the out-of-the-box file transfer capabilities provided within Outlook, OCS and SharePoint do not provide a guaranteed secure delivery path to all users.

To work efficiently and share information securely across organizational boundaries requires an additional file transfer security layer to bridge the security gap in Microsoft’s communication and collaboration platform.

Punching holes in firewalls, managing separate server farms to serve the external user community, changing network topology, adding servers to the DMZ adds a tremendous amount of IT management and licensing cost to maintain this additional infrastructure.

Today we announced general availability of the Accellion secure file transfer plug-ins for the Microsoft Business Productivity Suite.  The Accellion plug-ins enable Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook and OCS users to quickly and securely send information from within Outlook, the Office Communicator Client or from the SharePoint Document Library to both internal and external parties.  Best of all the organization has complete tracking of all file transfers to ensure compliance and data security.

• Want to send and track a file from the Microsoft SharePoint library to an external collaborator?
• Want to send a 2G file without hampering the performance of the Exchange server?
• Want to send a file securely during chat within Microsoft OCS?

No problem, with the Accellion Microsoft Business Productivity secure file transfer plug-ins.  Designed for fast, easy deployment, the Accellion secure file transfer plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook, SharePoint and OCS allow organizations to maximize the utilization and performance of these solutions while closing the security gap.

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

It’s an Automated Life

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

I recently visited a friend who praised her Roomba…her robot vacuum cleaner.  That conversation got me thinking about the futuristic Jetson’s cartoon from the 1980s where George Jetson and his wife Jane employed a robot maid named Rosie to cook, clean, and do mundane tasks for them.  We might not be flying saucers to work in 2010, but we do automate many things to make our lives more productive.  We use auto-pay to pay our bills on time.    We use banking apps to show us when our account is running low on funds. Automation has become part of our daily lives at work and at home.

It may be a bit of a stretch, but the Accellion Automation Solution Suite’s auto-clean up functionality is a little like the Jetson’s robot maid Rosie.  Rosie vacuumed the Jetson’s space-age house to eliminate all the clutter in order to create a safe environment for the Jetson kids – Judy and Elroy.  Accellion Automation enables businesses and government agencies to transfer files automatically and securely, and cleans up after itself to keep organizations safe.

Accellion’s Automation Solution Suite is a comprehensive group of products that streamlines business processes and centralizes the management of all secure file transfers.  For example, with Accellion Automation, retail businesses can ensure that point of sale (POS) data is sent securely from individual branch offices to headquarters every night.  Design firms can scan large design documents and then transfer them securely via Accellion Automation. Entertainment companies can send ticket specials to clients every weekend via Accellion Automation Agents.  All clients have to do is click on the Accellion secure link in their email to download the ticket information.

So while Accellion might not be able to turn your organization into Cosmos from the Jetson’s, at least you can automate secure file transfers and do it in style.

Posted in Accellion, Automation, Product | No Comments »

A Little Privacy Please

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

TechCrunch is one of my favorite sites to get the latest tech gossip.  Who wouldn’t want to know about Mark Zuckerberg’s personal life, Carol Bartz’s liberal use of the F-word, and of course breaking technology news?

Last week’s post by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington caught my eye.   Arrington emphatically states that Google employees found abusing user data should be criminally prosecuted.  I couldn’t agree with him more.   Google recently fired two employees for inappropriately accessing user data but hasn’t commented on whether employees will be charged with any crime.

With Google and other search engines having an un-Godly amount of user data, I wondered what life would be like if all of our data was secured.  What if all our emails were encrypted and file attachments kept away from prying eyes?

For those trying to ensure that Yahoo/Bing and Google stay at arm’s length, might I suggest In-Private Browsing which prevents the browser from storing information on your browsing session.

As for protecting the integrity of email file attachments, Accellion offers a FIPS 140-2 certified solution that is secure enough for federal, state and local governments to quickly and easily send and receive files using the Accellion managed file transfer system.  With Accellion, corporations and their employees can protect documents from prying eyes and meet compliance regulations.

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

The File Transfer Minimalist

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Today’s blog is a personal musing on art, simplicity, minimalism and making your customers happy.

Yesterday I caught the last day of the Fisher Exhibition at SFMOMA. Amazingly I found a parking spot, even though Oracle World was kicking-off across the street and the Giants were playing the Brewers at ATT Park. The Fisher Collection is the private art collection of Doris and Don Fisher, the founders of Gap Inc.. Who would have thought selling denim and chinos would lead to one of the world’s leading collections of contemporary art, including works from Calder, Warhol, Kiefer, Diebenkorn and many more? My favorite pieces? The Calder mobiles – the motion and simplicity appeals to the engineer in me.

calder

On the floor below the Fisher Collection was The Anniversary Show celebrating 75 years of SFMOMA and displaying more than four hundred works from the collection. Now while I’m a fan of simplicity, it can be taken too far.  One of the more baffling art pieces on display is entitled White Painting (3 Panels) by Robert Rauschenberg. Yes you’ve guessed it, it’s a white painting in 3 panels. The White Painting is so minimal it’s in serious danger of having no there, there.

whitepainting

For me, the best Art is like the best Technology, it shouldn’t need explaining. If we had to compare Accellion to a piece of contemporary art, think Calder mobile not Rauschenberg’s White Painting. At Accellion we are aiming for simplicity not bafflement. With that thought, I’ll wrap up my comments on art, simplicity and minimalism and leave you with a compliment we received on Friday from a prospective customer that seems topical…

“Hey guys, 

I just wanted you to know that I am really taking a liking to your product… I have never had anything up and running so quickly as Accellion.  Of all the solutions I have tested the last few months I am stunned at the minimal time necessary to get Accellion up and running… There is nothing I like better than implementing a solution that makes me look good to my users!”

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Fashion Week – IT Needs to Strut its Stuff

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Reading this week’s coverage of NY’s Fashion Week makes me yearn for opportunities to use adjectives such as “periwinkle”.  The LA Times writeup on the Tommy Hilfiger show Hilfiger Goes Over the Hedge included this adjective laden sentence “The collection was grounded in the blue hues — the requisite navy blue joined by shades of periwinkle and light blue, which found their way into Bengal stripes, checks, plaids and seersuckers — and white (tennis, anyone?) with cheery pops of reds, yellows and pinks throughout.”

When was the last time I got to write about “seersucker”?

Apart from Apple Computer, with their signature designs, does anyone in the IT industry really get this idea that technology can be beautiful?  Does anyone care?  Yeah I know IT is mostly a man’s world but perhaps there would be more women in IT if we injected a little more fashion into the world of software and hardware.

Imagine opening a beautiful periwinkle blue gift box containing your newest server.  Your software arrives in a translucent, shimmering CD case.  You eagerly upload the latest software upgrade to see this season’s UI colors and themes.

IT needs to strut its stuff a little more and it starts here.

For our Spring Collection, Accellion will be featuring bold colors, strong lines and folds of software with interesting embellishments, punctuated with a shocking display of features.

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Accellion at Microsoft Tech Ed North America

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Last week, Accellion exhibited at Microsoft Tech Ed North America for the first time. It was a great event and met all of our expectations!

We couldn’t believe how busy our booth was in New Orleans. We spoke with prospects from across the country and met with so many of our existing customers. It’s always nice to put faces with customer names.

Our days were filled with conversations with attendees about secure file transfer and with our new demos showcasing our new plug-ins for the Microsoft Business Productivity Infrastructure (BPI) and Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) – including plug-ins for Outlook 2010, SharePoint 2010 and Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

We’re already looking forward to Tech Ed next year. See you in Atlanta!

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

Big File Transfer Myth – BUSTED

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Mythbusters has to be one of my favorite programs. Since 2003 they have tested more than 700 myths related to technology, science, animals, humans, food – you name it they’ve tried it.  And if they haven’t tried it you can submit a myth for them to test.  Last week’s episode investigated the validity of the Giant Water Slide Jump that has been a recent YouTube hit.  Awesome fun!

Stephanie Jordan of Messaging News did her own myth busting this week in her recent article entitled Managed File Transfer Myth:-MFT is just for Big Corporations with Big Files.

Stephanie tackled the Big File Transfer myth head-on by exploring the relationship between the size of a file, the size of an organization and the associated security risk.  Its an important topic to cover and thanks Stephanie for raising awareness that no matter the size of the file or the size of the organization you can get yourself in a heap of trouble if you are not securing the transfer of intellectual property and confidential information.

Just like the Giant Water Slide Jump, the Myth that Managed File transfer is just for Big Corporations with Big files is officially  - BUSTED.

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Product | No Comments »

Accellion Cloud beats the Volcanic Ash Cloud

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Yet again, ash clouds from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland are seriously affecting airline traffic, with Heathrow airport closed again this morning. Over the past few weeks millions of passengers - and important documents – have been stranded across Europe and the world.

Clyde & Co. LLP, a leading international law firm based in London, recently purchased the Accellion secure file transfer solution to ensure safe delivery of sensitive documents and avoid paying courier charges.  They had originally chosen an Accellion hardware appliances but then fate intervened: Clyde & Co. ran into problems thanks to the flight disruptions caused by the Icelandic volcano: it wasn’t only passengers that were struggling to get home, the Accellion appliance could not be delivered by FedEx either.

But it got worse than that. The continuing disruption also meant that courier companies couldn’t deliver legal documents to Clyde & Co’s clients either – a major disruption of service for a legal company.

Clyde & Co. IT manager, Phil Newnham, called Accellion for urgent help and while we couldn’t charter a plane, we set up a hosted Accellion cloud appliance and within minutes Clyde & Co. was able to send confidential legal documents. Clyde & Co. files were flying again.

Even volcanoes can’t stop Accellion.

Posted in Accellion, Cloud, Product, UK | No Comments »

eWeek Review of Accellion Managed File Transfer

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

eWeek Magazine recently conducted a product review of Accellion secure file transfer. The review, appearing May 5, 2010, describes Accellion’s managed file transfer solution as highly scalable, appropriately priced and designed for the performance, security and compliance needs of the enterprise.  Wow, when I read that, I felt like taking the rest of the day off.  Yep, that just about sums up what Accellion secure file transfer is all about.

According to the reviewer, Wayne Rash, “The primary differentiator between Accellion’s product and similar products such as YouSendIt is that Accellion is designed specifically for the performance, security and compliance needs of the enterprise.  It’s not an outgrowth of a consumer product.”  The review continues by stating, “Beneath the surface of the Accellion product lies support for the largest of enterprises, with infrastructure that can be based in your data center or in the cloud.  The key feature of Accellion’s solution is that it’s equally useful for enterprises of any size.”

Wayne tested Accellion in the cloud.  To view his eWeek review of the Accellion Secure File Transfer Solution in its entirety visit Accellion Delivers Enterprise Class MFT.

Thanks Wayne you made our day.

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Digital Copiers and Scanners – Digital Time Bombs

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian wins the Accellion Top Sleuth award this week, with his story on Digital Photocopiers Loaded with Secrets. Holey Moley, what were people thinking when they discarded their digital photocopiers?  Digital copiers contain hard drives that store images of documents, scanned, copied and emailed from the machine.  Extracting this info from discarded photocopiers is not much of a challenge, especially when the disk is not encrypted. Apparently one photocopier even had a sensitive document still under the copier glass. While major manufacturers of digital copiers and scanners offer security and encryption packages, there is mounting evidence that organizations aren’t generally aware of the security risks inherent with these devices.

So why the interest by Accellion in digital copiers and scanners?  We’ve had our eye on these little beasties for quite some time as potential sources of data leakage. Today’s digital copiers and scanners provide the ability to scan a document and then email the resulting digital file as an email attachment. Without security controls, digital copiers and scanners pose a serious threat to protection of intellectual property and non-compliance with regulations such as HIPAA. In addition, scanned documents create huge email attachments that wreak havoc on email performance.  A couple of years ago we introduced the SMTP Satellite to plug this security hole and improve email performance.

With the Accellion SMTP Satellite organizations can secure and track the transfer of scanned documents and offload delivery from email.  And we’ve written earlier on our view that disk and data encryption is always a good idea.

Posted in Accellion, Data Breach, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

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