Konica Minolta Uses Panda Security to Easily Manage Security for its Highly Distributed Workforce

• Konica Minolta Portugal has trusted Panda Security to protect its IT network for more than eight years

Konica Minolta, a leading provider of IT and office equipment, has been working with Panda Security to help protect its highly distributed workforce in Portugal for more than eight years.

For Konica Minolta, the benefits of being able to manage the protection of the entire network remotely is of special relevance with its dispersed IT infrastructure. By eliminating the need of local teams being dedicated to security or constantly traveling between the branches to provide internal IT support, Konica Minolta is able to focus on its core business. Konica Minolta’s IT infrastructure is made up of approximately 200 computers mainly concentrated at its headquarters in Prior Velho, Lisbon, with offices in three other strategic cities (Porto, Coimbra and Faro).

“The antivirus solution Panda Security for Enterprise guarantees the protection of all workstations and servers, which are easily managed from a single location through the Panda AdminSecure tool”, said Delfim Oliveira, IT Manager of Konica Minolta Portugal. This gave Panda a competitive advantage over its competitors. “The security decision was strongly motivated by Panda being the most innovative company on the security solutions market”, explained Oliveira.

Panda Security has been able to meet all of Konica Minolta’s needs. “Since installing Panda’s products we haven’t had any infection issues, which provides us with significant peace of mind” said Oliveira.

One of the most outstanding features of Panda Security for Enterprise is “the ease of management provided by the AdminSecure centralized console”, which sets it apart from its competitors.

Konica Minolta’s experience of dealing with Panda Security reflects the support mantra to provide a quality service by maintaining a close relationship. Delfim Oliveira described the relationship with Panda’s support technicians as follows: “Whenever it was requested, Panda Security support displayed technical competence and professionalism, solving incidents with either a remote fix or in some cases an onsite visit”. However, he clarified that “The stability of the Panda solution installed on our systems ensures no current incidents and the experience we have gathered during our years of partnership allow proactive protection against new threats”.

Panda Security for Enterprise provides the most advanced proactive protection in a multi-tier flexible architecture covering all network layers. Its functionalities include network access and application control. Panda Security for Enterprise provides complete protection against known and unknown threats, based on a combination of the most advanced proactive technologies and comprehensive, periodic audits.

Panda Security’s solution combines unauthorized Internet access filtering, anti-spam and anti-malware protection, content filtering and detailed reports.

For more information about Panda Security for Enterprise, please visit: http://www.pandasecurity.com/enterprise/solutions/enterprise

For more on Konica Minolta’s customer success story, please visit:  http://press.pandasecurity.com/press-room/case-studies/

News Release from Cisco - Workforce Survey

Cisco Workforce Survey in Northern Europe Confirms Need For Open, Flexible Workplace Environment That Accommodates Social Media, Device Freedom And Remote Access

Amsterdam, the Netherlands  – March 13, 2012 – A majority (60%) of IT decision makers from North European countries believe the ability to work remotely leads to increased productivity, and it is no longer necessary to be confined to an office to be productive, according to a study held in the North European region and published today by Cisco. Although these IT decision makers believe technology allows them to be more mobile and flexible, more than half (56%) of those surveyed, led by those in Norway and The Netherlands, work one or more extra hours per day as a result of the ability to work remotely.

In Northern Europe, there is a growing need for remote access to the company network, social media access in the workplace and for the freedom to use personal devices for business purposes, also known as 'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD). This trend has a tremendous impact on the IT policies of organizations and among end users who are employed by companies with IT policies, as the study also found that nearly half (47%) indicate their IT policy could use improvement or updating. These are the main conclusions of an online survey held by Cisco in five countries: Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands. The results of this North European survey complement and confirm the findings of last year's Cisco Connected World Technology Report, an international research into the demands, behaviour and work lifestyles of the next generation of workers.

In addition, the survey found that when faced with the choice between ‘a higher salary and no remote access' versus a 'lower salary position that offers remote access', end users are split, with one out of every two respondents (53%) opting for a lower salary, because they find work flexibility more important. With little differentiation across the countries, more than 6 out of 10 (65%) end users expect to have remote access to the network in the future.

Looking at the use of mobile devices, end users from Northern European countries tend to use more than one device during the typical workday: more than 8 in 10 (82%) end users indicate they use at least one device at work that is not company-issued. More than half (51%) of the surveyed IT decision makers even indicate that up to 50% of their company's mobile workers use a smartphone as their primary communication device.

Overall, most businesses in the surveyed countries have at least taken some steps to prepare for a ‘mobile and distributed' workforce. Still 1 in 5 IT decision makers (21%) indicate that their company is as yet completely unprepared. The highest percentage of unprepared businesses is reported in Norway (26%). In The Netherlands, 14% of decision makers indicate that their company is totally unprepared. In each country, roughly one-third (36%) indicate they are actively working towards enabling a mobile, distributed workforce, especially in the Netherlands (45%). Surprisingly, although Norway reports the largest percentage of completely unprepared companies, it also has the highest proportion of companies that already have state-of-the-art IT support for a ‘mobile and distributed' workforce (34%), together with Denmark (31%). In that respect, Netherlands (14%) and Belgium (12%) trail the pack.

Few end users (less than 1 in 5, 19%) report that access to social media type websites and applications is restricted at the workplace. Likewise, about 6 in 10 IT decision makers (59%), particularly those in Denmark, feel that access to social media sites and applications are important for the work-life balance, or staying competitive with other businesses that use them.

Supporting Quote

Niels Furu, Vice President, Cisco Northern Europe: "Our Workforce Survey in Northern Europe confirms that employees really want an open and flexible workplace environment. The survey indicates that IT decision makers want to accommodate this requirement and in a secure way enable a mobile, distributed workforce. Most end users in the surveyed countries indicate that they work an extra hour or more per day because of their ability to work remotely.  This shows BYOD brings the productivity we are looking for."

Key Findings

Remote Access and Mobility

• While the vast majority (68%) of IT decision makers indicate that it is critical for employees to be able to connect to the corporate network anywhere and anytime, end users tend to be divided. About one in four believes it is critical to be connected all the time, while 4 in 10 indicate that this is not imperative.
• Similar to the worldwide study conducted by Cisco in 2011 across 14 countries, not being able to access information due to physical location continues to be the greatest limitation to remote access, according to end users who have this capability. Roughly 4 in 10 (40%) indicate that location poses no restriction to remote access.
• Only a small proportion of end users who do not currently have remote access believe their company is open to this idea. The largest proportion indicate their job role is the primary obstacle keeping them from working remotely. Overall, the majority feel that this is not a big issue for them and the ability to work remotely is still a privilege in today's world - not a right.
• About 3 in 4 end users rely on cellular or WLAN connections for job performance outside the workplace and for nearly half, these are the primary types of network connections.
• IT decision makers indicate that satisfying user demand for mobile device connectivity is the primary driver for wireless LAN adoption. In Denmark, more than half indicate that guest access is a primary driver.

Device Freedom

• Most end users (84%) report using two or more devices during a typical workday.
• More than half (51%) of IT decision makers indicate that up to 50% of their company's mobile workers use a smartphone as their primary communication device. Relative to Norway, a significantly larger proportion of end users in Belgium use their mobile phone for work. Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) end users are allowed to use their personal PC or Mac for work.
• Approximately half of the surveyed end users are restricted from using personal devices for work purposes and for access to the corporate network.
• More than one-third (37%) of end users expect access from a personal mobile device.

Social Media

• Overall, fewer than 1 in 5 (19%) end users from the total sample indicate that their company currently restricts access to online games, social networking and Twitter. Restricted access to sites tends to be more prevalent in Belgium than in other countries.

• Access restrictions tend to be stricter worldwide relative to Northern European countries, as roughly 4 in 10 end users worldwide indicated being restricted from accessing online gaming and social networking.

Security and IT policy

• More than one-third (36%) of IT decision makers indicate they are actively working towards enabling a mobile, distributed workforce.  More than half (57%) indicate that security is their biggest challenge.
• Data lost outside of the organization continues to be a great concern for IT decision makers. However, just under half (40%) of them believe that just as much data is leaked or lost when employees are outside the company as when they are in in the office.
• While most IT decision makers (66%) believe employees are concerned about security threats when remotely accessing corporate information outside the office, just 44% of end users are worried about this.
• Risk behaviour such as sharing work computers and sensitive information externally tends to be significantly more prevalent in Sweden and Belgium than in other Northern European countries.
• About 8 in 10 IT decision makers (78%), driven by a significantly large proportion in Norway and Denmark, indicate their company has an IT policy outlining acceptable uses of company resources such as personal computers, cellular telephones and smartphones.
• However, fewer than half of end users (45%) are aware their company has an IT policy. This awareness is lowest among end users in Belgium and the Netherlands. Significantly larger proportions of end users in Sweden and Denmark are aware that their company has an IT policy of acceptable uses.
• Among those who are aware of the IT policy, nearly half of employees do not adhere to it "all the time" and feel that it could be improved.

Video

• There is a clear difference in perception between IT decision makers and end users on the importance of video for business communication in the coming years. While 60% of IT decision makers feel its importance of video will increase, only 14% of end users expect to be using video in the next two years.
• About 4 in 10 end users, driven by a considerably large proportion in Sweden, can currently use video at their workplace. More than half of those who actually use video, indicate this is mainly for training and education purposes – including a significantly large proportion in Norway (75%).
• About one quarter (28%) of end users, driven by a significant proportion in Belgium, expect video to become one of the most important modes of communication at work.

Datacenter

• Top priorities for IT decision makers over the next 3 years are to better manage resource capacity and to improve agility and speed in the deployment of business applications.
• Leading technologies and trends that are most important to achieve data center goals over that same period include cloud computing and mobile access to information for employees.
• The majority of IT decision makers from the total sample indicate that their primary strategy for achieving those top priorities is cloud computing, particularly in the Netherlands. In Denmark, that primary strategy is unified data center fabric, in order to unify SAN and LAN data traffic.
• Although fewer than 1 in 4 IT decision makers already use cloud-based computing, more than half are currently planning to adopt this or are considering its business value.
• About 6 in 10 (59%)  IT decision makers see the role of the network in their company's data center increasing over the next 3 years.
• 4 in 10 IT decision makers anticipate that 50% or more of their company's production servers will be virtualized over the next 3 years.

Survey data

• The online survey completed in February 2012, by 523 end users and 503 IT decision makers (ITDMs).
• The survey was held 5 countries to gain approximately 100 completes for each subgroup in each country (~200 total completes per country).
• Respondents were screened to meet the following criteria:

–      Adults (22+)

–      Employed (full or part time)

–      Not employed by a company in market research or nonprofit industry

–      Employed by an organization that employs 10+ people worldwide

–      End users: 50% Male / 50% Female; not employed by a company in the IT consulting industry

–      IT Decision Makers: CIO, CSO, CISO, VP of IT, Director of IT, Network Manager/IT Manager, IT Administration, IT Consultant, with at least some influence on the purchasing decisions for their company's security hardware and software.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate.  Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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New Software for Influx of Mobile Devices to Workplace

News release from IBM:

IBM Announces New Software to Secure the Influx of Mobile Devices to the Workplace

New York-based School System Looks to Mobile Management; New Software Secures Smartphones and Tablets for Apple iOS, Android, Symbian and Windows

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ARMONK, N.Y. - 31 Jan 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today introduced new software to help organizations better manage and secure the explosion of smartphones and tablets in the workplace, while also managing laptops, desktops and servers.

In addition to the new mobile security and management software introduced today, IBM also announced the acquisition of Worklight. Worklight accelerates IBM’s comprehensive mobile portfolio, which is designed to help global organizations leverage the proliferation of all mobile devices -- from laptops to smartphones and tablets.

As the mobile workforce is expected to reach more than 1.19 billion by next year, there are new pressures to connect personal smartphones and tablets to corporate networks and provide employee access to business data on them. At the end of 2011, almost half of mobile devices used in the workplace were employee owned according to IDC. This “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) trend raises additional concerns about managing security risks. Mobile exploits doubled in 2011 from 2010, according to the IBM X-Force Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report.

IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices helps organizations support and protect the growing mobile workforce. Through this software, firms can use a single solution to secure and manage smartphones and tablets, as well as laptops, desktop PCs, and servers. It manages Apple iOS, Google Android, Nokia Symbian, and Microsoft Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices.

The software extends security intelligence to deal with the growing threats from mainstream adoption of the BYOD trend. Organizations can install the IBM software in hours, remotely set policies, identify potential data compromises and wipe data off the devices if they are lost or stolen. The software helps configure and enforce passcode policies, encryption and virtual private network settings.

“As the BYOD movement accelerates, it presents new opportunities and challenges for organizations. In order for them to take advantage of this trend, it is important that organizations have mobile security and management policies in place,” said Bob Sutor, vice president, IBM Mobile Platform. “The new offering from IBM will help organizations manage personal and enterprise-owned mobile phones and tablets across IT networks in order to minimize risk, increase productivity and enhance innovation.”

New York-based School System Automates its Computing Endpoints and Looks to Mobile Management
The Western New York Regional Information Center (WNYRIC) housed within Erie 1 BOCES, a regional public education services organization in Buffalo, N.Y., manages hundreds of thousands of computing endpoints for more than 100 school districts. IBM Tivoli Endpoint Management software automatically updates security protection and power management of its computers and servers across the school district. Before using the software, one of the ways to perform these functions was for someone to drive to each location and manually update each machine. IBM software will help the WNYRIC reduce energy usage through automating power settings of these thousands of endpoints, resulting in an estimated savings of $3.2 million in a year.

Now more of the district's administrators, teachers and students are looking to tap their district-issued and personal iPads, iPhones and Android devices to create lesson plans, communicate and share documents on their network. The WNYRIC is planning a comprehensive way to manage mobile security issues and compliance and has gotten early access to IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices.

“Our school districts are looking for a way to manage and secure hundreds and potentially thousands of smartphones, laptops and other computers,” said Jill Holbrook, associate director of the WNYRIC. “Automating the computer updates and security protection across our entire network—including mobile—would speed our ability to provide more secure and efficient services to the administrators, teachers and students we support.”

Managing and Securing Mobile Devices throughout the Workplace

This new release of IBM Endpoint Manager extends IBM capabilities in managing the security and compliance of servers, computers and point-of-sales devices, such as ATMs and self-service kiosks to smartphones and tablets using mobile operating systems while addressing the unique aspects of those devices. IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices enables customers to:

·        Safeguard Data -- Selectively wipe enterprise data when devices are lost or stolen and configure and enforce passcode policies, encryption, VPN, and more.
·        Provide Flexible Management -- Secure and manage employee- and corporate-owned mobile devices using a combination of email-based and agent-based management, while preserving the native device experience.
·        Maintain Compliance -- Automatically identify non-compliant devices and take action by denying email access or by issuing user notifications until corrective actions are implemented.
·        Unify the Infrastructure -- Leverage a single infrastructure to manage and secure all devices: smartphones, media tablets, desktops, laptops, and servers.
The IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices is built on IBM’s 2010 acquisition of BigFix software.
For more information, please visit: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/solutions/endpoint/mdmbeta/

Global IT Survey Highlights Enthusiasm over Tablets

News release from Cisco:

PRESS RELEASE

Global IT Survey Highlights Enthusiasm over Tablets in the Enterprise, Shows Customization, Collaboration and Virtualization as Key Features

IT managers express concerns over security and application access

Related Information

Here's a quick look at some of the top findings from Cisco's global survey on IT managers' perceptions about tablet form-factor mobile devices in the enterprise.

The Cisco Cius: Cisco's highly secure, built-for-business mobile collaboration device in the tablet form-factor.

Cisco Cius and HD Media Station. Here, the Cius is shown docked during a video call.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jan. 24, 2012 – Cisco today announced findings from a global survey of IT managers' perceptions about tablet form-factor mobile devices in the enterprise.

Cisco commissioned Redshift Research to survey 1500 IT managers and executives in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain to assess attitudes, fears and hopes for tablet form-factor mobile devices ("tablets") in the workplace. Still a nascent market, 2012 is seen as a year in which enterprise-grade tablet computing will undergo significant change.

Redshift polled IT managers and executives in a wide variety of global companies of all sectors and sizes.  All respondents are either primary IT decision makers or play a key role in the decision process for all IT products. Sole proprietors were excluded from the study. Field work was conducted in late 2011.

Key findings include:


Tablet Demand

•       Tablets vs. smartphones: which win?  Globally, IT departments report employees place one tablet request for every three smartphone requests today.

•       Which countries lead? Of the countries surveyed, the US and France are tied for tops—each report a tablet is requested by 21% of the workforce. Senior executives are most likely to be issued a tablet in the US (38%) and least likely to be issued one in the UK (27 percent)

•       Who's most excited? Spain tops the list, with 90% of IT managers believing the tablet will become more popular in the next two years.

•        "Uber-connected sales guys". Tablets are significantly more prevalent among salespeople in Germany (31%) than in all other countries (21% on average).

Fears And Wants

•       Tops in security concerns? The U.S., the country with the most experience managing tablets, also ranks #1 on the "security issue": 75% of US IT managers said new rules must be established around security and device usage.

•       What about app access? Nearly half (48%) of all IT managers surveyed agree that access to company applications should be restricted for all employees. Canada and UK were the top countries in wanting to see restricted access on tablet form-factor devices (55% and 56 %, respectively).

•      Custom apps? IT managers universally agree that custom tablet applications would benefit their business.

•       Top "want list" features? Globally,three-quarters of IT managers indicated email and document sharing are "must haves". About half agreed or strongly agreed that these are desirable: video conferencing, IM, access to company databases and seamless synchronization with other business devices.

"BYOD"

•       Turning a blind eye to BYOD. Globally, 48% said their company would never authorize employees to bring their own devices (BYOD), yet 57% agreed that some employees use personal devices without consent.

•       51% of the respondents reported the number of employees bringing their own devices to work is on the rise.

•       Using personal devices without consent was highest in the US (64%) and lowest in Germany (49%).

•       Access to company servers was highlighted as a "huge problem" of the "bring your own device" to work phenomena as was lost/stolen devices (64% globally).

•       Globally, 44% say that handling BYOD issues diverts IT attention from other important projects.  

Supporting Quotes

Tom Puorro, director of product management, IPCBU, Cisco Systems

"Mobile workers and virtual workspaces are here to stay—but so are the demands on IT to continue to ensure enterprise-grade security, manageability and interoperability.  2012 promises to be an exciting year and IT leaders are a critical component in unleashing innovation and enabling organizations to take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity. Cisco is keenly focused on helping its customers navigate the post-PC era and transform their business."

Additional Resources:

• Find out more about Cisco's highly secure, built-for-business mobile collaboration device,  the Cisco Cius
• Visit the Cisco Collaboration blog

Technorati Tags:


Cisco, Cisco Cius, business tablet, mobile collaboration device, tablets, technology trends, cloud computing, BYOD

About Cisco Collaboration


From award-winning IP communications to mobility, customer care, Web conferencing, messaging, enterprise social software, and interoperable telepresence experiences, Cisco brings together network-based, integrated collaboration solutions based on open standards. These solutions offered across on-premise, cloud-based or virtualized platforms, as well as services from Cisco and our partners, are designed to help promote business growth, innovation and productivity. They are also designed to help accelerate team performance, protect investments, and simplify the process of finding the right people and information.

About Cisco


Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

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