The future is virtual - why AR and VR will live in the cloud

Augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies have passed the zenith of the hype cycle and are slowly coming back down to earth. Yet this doesn’t mean that they have failed to catch on. While we’re still some way off the immersive virtual worlds of fantasy stories like Ready Player One, mixed and virtual reality is going mainstream. You don’t need an expensive headset or room-scale tech to experience VR and AR, collectively known as cross reality (XR). Consumers are also accessing immersive reality experiences through their web browsers. The technology has become an important part of many sectors, particularly for training purposes in industry and construction. There’s clear demand for these immersive experiences; 50 per cent of companies not currently using the technology will start experimenting with it in the next 2-3 years, and 82 per cent of adopters say the benefits are meeting or exceeding expectations.

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Backup and Disaster Recovery

GRAX Introduces Free Data Backup and Recovery Service for Salesforce

businesswire | September 12, 2023

GRAX, Inc., a leading innovator in Salesforce data management and protection, announces the general availability of GRAX Lite for free Salesforce backup and recovery. GRAX Lite is a game-changing free solution that enables businesses to prevent data loss by safeguarding their Salesforce data. GRAX Lite addresses a critical need in the SaaS data protection market by offering comprehensive free backup software. In an era marked by escalating cyber threats and stringent compliance regulations, GRAX Lite arms businesses with a powerful tool to shield their vital Salesforce data. Built on the principle of data ownership, GRAX Lite gives Salesforce users the power to take back that ownership and control of their valuable Salesforce data with a couple of clicks. "At GRAX, we have always believed that data protection is an unassailable right," said Joe Gaska, Head of Product at GRAX. "With the launch of GRAX Lite, we are breaking down barriers and providing businesses with the tools they need to secure their mission-critical Salesforce data so that they can focus on growing their business." Key capabilities of GRAX Lite for Salesforce Backup and Recovery Effortless Backup and Recovery: GRAX Lite simplifies the backup process allowing users to protect and easily restore their Salesforce data with just a couple of clicks. 100% Data Ownership: GRAX Lite empowers users to retain full ownership of their data by enabling backups into the customer-owned storage service – Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Azure cloud storage environments. Maintain Your Digital Chain of Custody: With GRAX, users retain full control over their data’s Digital Chain of Custody – GRAX runs entirely in the customer-owned cloud. Unlimited backup storage: GRAX Lite enables users to capture all of their data into their cloud of choice, where users can leverage their existing cloud agreements. Daily Automated Backups: Users gain peace of mind with automated incremental backups of Salesforce data, including files and attachments, ensuring no critical information is lost. Granular Control: Swiftly restore individual records, making it simple to bring back data quickly when you need it. User-Friendly Interface: The user-centric design of GRAX ensures that any user can navigate and deploy free Salesforce data protection from the GRAX Platform with ease. GRAX Lite is a testament to GRAX's commitment to data sovereignty and data governance. By providing a free and user-friendly solution for Salesforce backup and recovery, GRAX Lite empowers organizations to take back ownership of their data assets, create a comprehensive backup strategy, and focus on driving business growth. About GRAX GRAX helps organizations adapt faster by making it easier to get strategic value out of their historical SaaS application data. Customers can fully own, access, and reuse all versions of their cloud application data anywhere, anytime by simply backing up or archiving it to their own cloud environment and seamlessly pushing it into their data ecosystem. GRAX delivers unparalleled SaaS data backup, archive, recovery, and reuse functionality in a fully integrated solution, helping leading organizations improve business continuity, regulatory compliance, customer retention, and revenue growth.

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Backup and Disaster Recovery

In an Era of Escalating Cyber Threats, Commvault and Lenovo Simplify Enterprise Data Protection and Speed Recovery in the Hybrid Cloud

PR Newswire | October 17, 2023

Commvault®, an enterprise data protection leader for global businesses, announced new highly reliable backup and recovery solutions for enterprise organizations, powered by Lenovo technology. Paired with Lenovo's award-winning hardware systems, Commvault is delivering simplicity to IT teams with data protection and management from a single view, while giving CIOs flexibility, reliability, and blazing performance at immense scale with better TCO and faster time to value. "Innovation through collaboration has always been at the heart of Commvault. Partnering with Lenovo propels us further into a future where enterprises can safely say their data is secured, protected, and recoverable," said Alan Atkinson, Chief Partner Officer, Commvault. "This partnership stands as a testament to both companies' commitment to supporting global enterprises in navigating the multifaceted challenges posed by today's data-driven business landscape." "As we continue to operate in such a fast-paced and data-driven business environment, ensuring the safety, accessibility, and recoverability of critical business data has never been more important. It is for this exact reason that Commvault and Lenovo have come together to deliver highly reliable backup and recovery solutions for enterprise organizations," said Brian Connors, Vice President and General Manager, Software & Business Development, Lenovo. Commvault software is recognized for its unmatched depth in cloud-native integrations, supporting an array of applications, databases, and infrastructures. For the 12th consecutive year, Gartner positioned Commvault as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Software Solutions. Commvault also ranked highest in six out of seven use cases in the 2023 Gartner® Critical Capabilities for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Software Solutions. About Commvault Commvault is a global leader in cloud data protection. Our industry-leading platform redefines the next generation of data protection as the only solution with comprehensive data protection, proactive data defense, advanced ransomware protection, and a single view across all your data. This lets you secure, defend, and recover your data, applications, and production workloads – on-premises, in the cloud, over SaaS, or spread across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The result is early warning of attacks, active defense to reduce the impact of intrusion, and rapid, accurate recovery of your data. Simply put, Commvault is data, protected.

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Virtual Desktop Tools, Desktop

Epson Announces New Ultra Compact Desktop Solutions Offering Document Management Perfect for Remote and Hybrid Workers

PR Newswire | September 26, 2023

Epson, the best-selling retail scanner brand in North America,1 today announced three new compact and lightweight document scanning solutions – the WorkForce® ES-C220, ES-C320W, and ES-C380W. Featuring an intuitive design and exceptional flexibility, these modern scanners boast a new footprint that saves 60 percent of desk space,2 ideal for tight spaces. Designed for fast and easy document management, the ES-C320W and ES-C380W offer comprehensive wireless scanning to smartphones, tablets, computers, and the cloud,3 enabling small business owners, hybrid employees and busy professionals to work efficiently and streamline tasks. "With the work environment shifting to a hybrid and remote workforce, compact and lightweight solutions that easily integrate into home offices and tight workspaces are essential for today's workflow needs," said Carrie Fox, director of product marketing, Scanners, Epson America. "Professionals and consumers alike can easily conquer clutter and reclaim office space with the new compact WorkForce scanners, designed for productivity and peace of mind. These unique and flexible solutions offer single step scanning, organizing software and a vertical paper path to help customers accomplish more and streamline active workdays." These high-performance workhorse scanners offer features to keep home offices and business organized. The ultra-compact solutions deliver fast speeds with an innovative, space-saving design and vertical scan path that saves 60 percent of desk space2, making it easy to place virtually anywhere, even when space is limited. With two-sided scanning, and a 20-sheet Auto Document Feeder, the new scanners can efficiently handle stacks of paper in one fast pass at speeds up to 30 ppm/60 ipm.4 Intelligent image adjustments such as automatic cropping and paper skew correction help ensure amazing image quality with each scan. The flexible scan path provides remarkable versatility and the ability to scan most document types, from standard paper to invoices, greeting cards, business cards, and passports.5 Touting robust software, all three scanners include Epson ScanSmart® Software6 allowing users to preview, email and upload scans as well as save valuable time with automatic file name suggestion for streamlined file management and OCR. To enhance workflow efficiency, the WorkForce ES-C380W includes ScanWay® for scanning directly to a USB drive,7 mobile device3 or upload to popular cloud storage services7 Dropbox®, Evernote®, Google Drive™ and OneDrive® using the scanner's bright 2.4" LCD touchscreen, no computer needed. About Epson Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.

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Virtual Server Management

EMA and Auvik Research Reveals Hybrid and Remote Work Has Increased Workloads, Posed Challenges to Remote Network Experiences

Business Wire | September 28, 2023

New research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) and Auvik, an award-winning provider of cloud-based network management software, revealed that the ongoing shift to hybrid and remote work environments has resulted in key changes to the roles and priorities of network administrators in order to address new connectivity challenges and prioritize and preserve a secure, productive end-user experience. The report examined the remote and hybrid work paradigm through the lens of network operations teams – 73% of which reported an increase in workloads, either slightly or significantly, following the shift from traditional to hybrid work environments. Results from the report demonstrated that the top challenges associated with the remote work experience are poor home Wi-Fi setups, distance from applications, and poor ISP quality. To combat these obstacles, 72% of surveyed organizations have deployed network hardware to the homes of remote workers, including network security devices (62.7%) and Wi-Fi access points (54.1%). Additionally, 90% of organizations with hybrid workers shared that they had to upgrade Wi-Fi networks to address increased office mobility requirements. “These results reinforce that although people are beginning to return to the office, hybrid work is here to stay and is resulting in significant changes for network administrators,” said Alex Hoff, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Auvik. “Although IT teams no longer own all the assets utilized daily by employees, they are still responsible for these operations. And despite not being able to directly exert control over employees’ home networks, they can have visibility over these environments with network monitoring tools. Implementing network visibility software helps IT professionals overcome these new obstacles by providing the ability to maintain visibility and control amid changing work circumstances. The data provided in this report reinforces Auvik’s place in the market and demonstrates that our recent acquisitions, integrations, and expanded product offerings that were designed to help IT teams adapt to these new norms are well-suited for the challenges that are being identified within the industry.” Additional findings from the report include Nearly 49% of network operations teams started working with a new tool vendor to help them manage the network experience of remote workers. 76% of organizations need to unify how they manage network access policies across on-premises networks and remote users. Remote desktop access tools (deployed by 81% of companies) remain the go-to solution for troubleshooting remote users’ problems, but endpoint monitoring tools are increasingly popular (79%). Although 87% have allocated funds in their budget to update network operation tools for remote and hybrid user support, only 32% of organizations shared that they have been successful in doing so. The top issues employees most often report when they are working from home are VPN access issues, followed by performance issues with SaaS applications. “96% of IT organizations said they are supporting hybrid workers, and 30% of all employees who work remotely are hybrid workers,” said Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, EMA. “With employees working both at home and in the office, it is important to have the assets and software necessary to support them in both locations. This means enterprises must invest in more secure remote access solutions that offer integrated network security automation, centralized management, and network optimization or network enhancement, as well as network observability tools that are able to monitor performance across disparate locations.” Methodology Auvik commissioned an independent research firm to survey 354 IT professionals directly involved in supporting the networking requirements of employees who work from home. About Auvik Auvik’s mission is to simplify how IT teams work and live by providing cloud-based IT monitoring and management with simplicity and speed. It lets IT professionals visualize IT infrastructure, SaaS applications, and shadow IT in minutes. As a result teams can identify and resolve issues in seconds, saving valuable time. Auvik is one of the fastest-growing North American technology companies, and is winner of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Fast 500. Visit www.auvik.com for more details. Auvik is a registered trademark of Auvik Networks Inc. About EMA Founded in 1996, EMA is a leading industry analyst firm that specializes in providing deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help their clients achieve their goals.

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