Virtualization has enabled businesses of all sizes to get more out of their technology, while simultaneously reducing costs, and increasing productivity. One dream many business owners have is that they have the ability to access their Windows desktops from their phone or tablet. A recent announcement from virtualization giant VMware brings your Windows desktop to mobile devices.

In mid-March, VMware announced Unity Touch, an app that allows users to view, open, run and manage Windows files and applications on their Android and iOS devices.

What exactly is Unity Touch This app takes your existing Windows desktop and makes it more manageable and easier to use on mobile devices. This feature is part of the Horizon View offering from VMware which allows administrators to virtualize the desktop environment, and users to access their desktop from anywhere.

Unity Touch takes Horizon View desktops and makes them easier to use on a touchscreen device. When it's introduced, you will be able to log in to your desktop and access your files and applications.

How does Unity Touch improve desktop access on mobile devices? One of the most important parts of the Windows environment is the Start menu. It's what the majority of users use to access their files and run applications. On mobile devices that connect to a virtual desktop, space is limited, so having a full start menu just doesn't cut it. This app essentially makes the Start menu an 'app drawer' on the left-hand side of your screen - think of any screen where you can select apps on your mobile device.

There's a little tab, located in the middle part of the left-hand side of the screen that you can press to bring up a list of files and apps that you can scroll through. This list also functions as a kind of launch center where you can switch between open programs, close them or even manage files.

Will my business find it useful? If you travel lots, or have to be away from your computer and don't want to carry a laptop with you, this could be a solution for you. You do need to have a VMware Horizon View Desktop version 5.2, the Horizon View Client 2.0 installed on your mobile device, as well as an Android, iPad or iPhone.

If you are interested in accessing your desktop from a mobile device, contact us today. We can work with you to develop a solution.

As the line between work and life continues to blend, two devices are standing out as major change agents. Those devices are the smartphone and to a lesser, but growing, extent the tablet. It’s common to see someone on their ‘day off’ checking their work email on their phone. While this is great for companies, it can also be harmful, especially if those devices aren’t encrypted.

Encryption is not a new concept, it’s probably been used since the inception of communication. In standard terms it’s the conversion of data into a form that can’t be easily understood by unauthorized people. This form is commonly referred to as a ciphertext, or more commonly a cipher. Some people will call this a code, as codes are the same idea. Only the form is not meant to be secure and can be understood by other people e.g., binary code, Morse code, etc.

When data is encrypted, it can be sent to recipients, usually using normal transmission methods e.g., Internet or data connections. Upon receipt of the encrypted data, it needs to be decrypted (changed back to normal data). Decryption on mobile, and most computerized devices, is done using a key. This key is an algorithm that can understand both the encryption and normal data. It takes the encrypted data and essentially translates it to a form of data we can read or interact with.

Many businesses go to great lengths to ensure their data is encrypted both within the network, when sent amongst the network, or to trusted recipients outside the network. In a perfect world, all of your connection points – devices that connect to the network – would be secure. In the real world, employees using mobile devices that are unencrypted to store data or access company systems pose a big risk.

Take for example the CEO checking his work email on his own iDevice. Any emails sent between the company’s email server and the phone’s email program will usually be encrypted. However, when an attachment is opened with confidential news about an upcoming merger, a copy is usually downloaded onto the phone’s memory. If the boss hasn’t taken steps to encrypt the mobile device’s memory, and the phone is lost then someone picking up the phone could turn it on and see this information. If the user can understand the information, they could create a ton of trouble for both companies involved.

Another scenario, one that’s becoming more popular, is where the company’s accountant has visited one of the increasingly popular drive-by-malware sites and malware has been installed on an unencrypted phone. The accountant might open work emails and download next quarter’s financial projections, along with a document containing the password to a newly reset work account. The phone’s memory is unencrypted, so the hacker who monitors the malware can come along and grab the information. Now, not only does the hacker have access to the system – through the password – they also have confidential numbers a competitor would likely pay a handsome sum for.

While these situations may seem extreme, they can and have happened. The risks can be minimized though. While the obvious answer to problems like this is to simply bar employees from accessing work systems from mobile devices, this solution runs counter to the way most people work, and will likely be largely ignored by nearly everyone.

The best solution lies in a mixture of different approaches, all centered around a solid mobile device usage plan. You should take steps to first figure out when your employees access office systems using a mobile device, why they are doing this and what are they accessing. From there it’s a good idea to look into security options, vendors like us can help you with this step. It’s also beneficial to establish a use policy that dictates when devices can and can’t be used. Also, utilizing apps to encrypt memory on phones will help. At the very least, it’s a good idea to encourage your employees to use a password on their phone.

Mobile device encryption should be an important part of your company’s security plan. If you’d like to learn more, or implement a security system please contact us as we may have a solution that meets your needs.

In April 2011 VMware purchased SlideRocket, an online tool that lets users create and share presentations. By itself it’s a useful tool for users who give presentations, which let’s face it, is almost every business owner and manager. SlideRocket’s recent partnering with Google’s cloud storage app has provided users with an even more powerful way to share and collaborate on presentations.

Google has recently released its cloud storage and collaboration app, Google Drive. What does this have to do with SlideRocket? Well, SlideRocket’s full set of content authoring tools have been integrated into Google Drive. This means that users of SlideRocket can use Google Drive as another way to create, collaborate on, and store presentations.

Chuck Dietrich, Vice President of SlideRocket by VMware, commented, “Together with Google, VMware is helping individuals and businesses embrace new technologies for collaboration in the cloud era.” He went on to note that SlideRocket and Google Drive provide users with a great way to do just that.

If you use SlideRocket and would like to work with other users over Google Drive, simply log into both services with the same account and in Google Drive select Create and More followed by SlideRocket. Once you log in and integrate your accounts, you’ll have access to your presentations without having to log in to SlideRocket.

If you’d like to know more about how you can virtualize your business, or the different products offered by VMware, we’re ready to tell you more. Let’s talk virtualization.

For employees developing Java applications, there are a number of ways they can go about it. In the past, many had to first develop a framework, then develop the applications around it. This changed when VMWare released the Spring Framework. The Spring Framework was recently updated, read on to learn more.

VMWare recently announced that extensions to its Spring Framework are now compatible with Spring 3.1. This update ensures extensions like Spring Android, Integration, Security, Data and Mobile, etc. play nicely with the latest version of Spring, allowing for developers to more quickly develop business solutions and applications.

Who is VMWare? VMWare was founded in 1998 on the platform of providing virtualization solutions and software to companies of all sizes. The company creates virtualization software to work on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X with a focus on shifting businesses onto the cloud, without disturbing existing operations or compromising security.

What is Spring Framework? Spring Framework is a process that allows developers to develop applications that can be integrated with Web services, security, messaging and databases that use Java. The Spring Framework builds a framework for developers to use, so they don’t have to develop one themselves. Therefore, it allows them to focus on creating and deploying Java applications in a number of different environments.

What do the Updates Bring? With Spring 3.1, there are a number of updates to the existing framework. The biggest accomplishment with this update is that all of Spring’s Frameworks are compatible with each other. This allows developers to not worry about developing workarounds, if one part of the framework is out of date. In short, it makes developers more efficient, while giving them the ability to develop Java based applications much faster.