Below is a short video on a service we recently released which enables box builders and PC repair providers the ability to offer each of their clients a free 30 day subscription to Carbonite and generate commission of 20% should they buy anytime afterwards.

If this could help your business, call us on 1300 886 673 or email info@carbonite.com.au

I received this email from a reseller who recently started promoting Carbonite. Its a great example of a real life “disaster” and shows just how important online backup can be to a small organisation.

“I haven’t been promoting Carbonite for long but I recently installed it on a small business client I have, who wanted backup for a couple of laptops that are used in the showroom. I recommended Carbonite and they approved so we installed it and all was working fine. Last week however I receive a call from the client telling me that both of his laptops had been stolen. He had left the showroom unattended for less than a minute and in that time someone had literally walked into his showroom and walked out with 2 laptops.

He obviously had insurance for the laptops and we were able to get him some replacements pretty quickly but the challenge was getting the data back. So I called Carbonite and asked them what the process was to restore the data. Mind you, to date I had only done partial restores not a full restore, so I was sweating a little.

I am glad to say that it performed as it says it would. We were able to restore all of the data and have 2 new laptops up and running within a day. Client was happy and so was I. Thanks Carbonite!”  Peter Elliot – PE Computers & Software Solutions – 0419  014 774

Thanks to Choice Magazine, Carbonite received another great review this week. We scored a whopping 90% and the prize for the best performer out of a field that included Mozy, SugarSync, Livedrive, Dropbox, SkyDrive and a few others.

The review was undertaken using a quite a few criteria including ease of use, upload speed, download speed, storage space, web browser access, encryption, automatic backup, versioning, file sharing, operating systems and mobile apps.

So it was an extensive review and even though they got a few things wrong like whether we offer Web Access, which we do and Mobile Access which we also do via an iPhone app that was only recently released, I thought we did really well and maybe deserved a slightly higher score than 90%, putting us even further ahead of our closest competition.

As a marketer, you often ask yourself how effective are these reviews? The answer is very important. Particularly if the review is an influential body like Choice Magazine. Just today I had an existing client call up about a question he had, and he mentioned that he had seen the Choice Review and it gave him further justification to purchase another subscription.

I also had another client call up today who said they purchased Carbonite without even bothering to trial it first because he had read a write-up in APC Magazine.

So thank you both Choice Magazine and APC for reviewing Carbonite and giving it the credit that its due.

To assist our customer who are using Reckon’s Quickbooks and wish to use Carbonite to backup it up (sensible approach), we have produced a short 3 minute video that runs through what you need to do.

To assist our customer who are using MYOB and wish to use Carbonite to backup it up (sensible approach), we have produced a short 2 minute video that runs through what you need to do.

Carbonite Inc have officially released Carbonite Pro – the business version of the very successful Carbonite home product.

When I first started working at Carbonite Australia, one of the first questions I asked was “Is there a business version?”, and the answer was No. Well this is exciting because it will give the product great reach into the business community in Australia, and significant exposure. It will also be great for our supporting resellers who have been repeatedly asking for this since.

So what’s it all about?

Features

Carbonite Pro comes with an Administrator Dashboard which makes it easy to make certain that all of your computers are backed up. This sits at the heart of the application and lets you see important information, like the backup status of every computer, how much data is backed up and which users are not backed up.

Installing Carbonite Pro is easy and uses an automatic invitation feature. You can invite users to join in and they simply click through the email to install the application.

Security

As per the consumer version the service uses Blowfish and DES III encryption, same standards as online banking.  Files are encrypted before they are copied to teh Carbonite servers and then are transmitted over encrypted lines. They remain encrypted at Carbonite’s secure data centres.

Restore

If and when files are lost or damaged, the Carbonite Restore Wizard will guide you step-by-step to recover them. This is a similar service as that which is offered via the Consumer version.

Pricing

Carbonite uses a simple “tier” structure based on the volume of data you have backed up. As your backup volume moves up and down, so does your pricing.

• You pay the flat fee for that tier – and nothing more
• You can always check on the size of your backup through the administrator dashboard.

Free Carbonite Pro Trial

You can start a 30 day trial of the US version here. Please note that Australia/New Zealand customers cannot purchase this service via Australia nor the US at the moment. We are told that work is being done to at least enable sales via the US, with the hope that we will have an Australian version with $AU pricing soon. Stay tuned for more.

Watch the Tutorial

Man, this is what I’ve been waiting for! I have my iPhone with me wherever I go (I have to confess to being a little obsessed with it) and now I can view my backed up files — anywhere, anytime — using the new Carbonite app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

I can imagine my first great experience with it. Siting waiting at Melbourne airport for my trip to Sydney. I am preparing for a client presentation, so I pull up my PowerPoint presentation on my iPhone and review it. I then spend some time looking over a contract. While still waiting at the gate, I decide to browse my favourite pictures of me and my family.

The Carbonite app gives me access to the backed up files from each of my computers, even if the computers are turned off. And I don’t have to be logged into a Wi-Fi connection or lug my laptop with me. It displays my photos, documents, and other important files and allows me to share any of my backed up files with someone else via email, right from the app. It’s fast and super-simple. I’m really proud of this Carbonite app and I hope you all will find it as useful as I do.

The best part? It’s free for all Carbonite users.

AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd, which distributes the AVG range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security products, has created a Back-To-School Computer Use Checklist For Parents.

In one easy list are guidelines to help parents understand the current terminology, what to be looking for, and how to ensure children are using computers safely and responsibly. It also includes an associated shopping list of software and accessories for parents to consider.

Lloyd Borrett, AVG (AU/NZ)’s Marketing Manager, said: “There is much to learn and monitor when it comes to your children’s use of computers. With the many threats out there today and changes in technology, it can be quite a daunting task for parents to keep up. From our extensive knowledge of what is happening in the area of Internet security, we have compiled a checklist covering all the issues.

“As parents and their children rely more and more on the information stored on home computers, I cannot stress too highly how vital it is to protect it against online threats or loss.”

With the growing use of laptops by school children will come enormous losses of school homework, assignments and study notes through laptop damage or theft.

A child’s school may have an open wireless network, or kids could decide to work at the local Internet caf. These are prime targets and leave laptops vulnerable to viruses, worms and other malware.

“It’s no longer a matter of the ‘dog eating my homework’. It will become a matter of ‘the worm ate my homework’ if parents don’t have all the protection mechanisms in place,” Borrett said.

“Using home computers safely has become easier as everything that’s required is now affordable and easy to install,” Borrett continued.

The overriding caution in AVG’s Back-To-School Computer Use Checklist For Parents

is to keep all security and backup software current by using automatic updates and ensure it is licensed, installed and running properly at all times.

“Viruses are being introduced so rapidly that most reputable security software vendors release multiple threat definition updates every day. Not only the operating system but all other programs and pieces of software on the computer need to be regularly updated,” Borrett advised.

For parents looking for security software, the AVG Internet Security 9.0 full suite solution delivers excellent Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Enhanced Firewall and Anti-Spam protection (www.avg.com.au). Even the basic protection provided by the free version of AVG is much better than nothing at all.

Borrett also suggests a solution for parents worried about homework and assignments being lost, or the kids losing all their data if a laptop is stolen. He recommends they use an Internet based remote backup solution such as Carbonite Online PC Backup.

Another recommendation is to educate children to stay away from the popular peer-to-peer (P2P) networks from which the vast majority of the files being shared are copyrighted songs and movies which are illegal to download and often carry infection mechanisms.

The AVG Checklist also includes a shopping list of helpful accessories suggesting everything from a USB key for easy transfer and transportation of data to a laptop security cable.

View or download the Back-To-School Computer Use Checklist For Parents.

Your most valuable asset as a business (excluding your staff and bank balance if its positive) is your data. Customer records, tax invoices, contracts, plans, tax information. If it all goes, you will probably go with it (along with the bank balance).

Creating a backup plan and associated procedures are imperative to ensure that should disaster strike, you and your staff know what to do next to get the business started again. Unfortunately for most businesses, the creation of a Backup Plan or process is usually something that happens after data has been lost.

Once you have created your Backup or Disaster Recovery Plan, it needs to be communicated to all staff and it also needs to be accessible both locally and offsite. It must also be kept current which means reviewing it a few times a year to ensure it is still relevant and accurate.

To assist you with your backup you should first consult and IT professional. They will atleast give you a few options to think (get scared) about.

Your Backup Plan is only really effective if the recovery process actually works. Software services such as Carbonite are ideal for micro and small businesses as they give you both a backup process to access and store the data, plus an easy to use method to recover it instantly.

Your backups need to be regular and you also need to consider both online and offline backups. Online allows you to safely store all or some of your data in a remote location, so should the building burn or hardware gets stolen, you can easily retrieve it. Offline backups (local hardware storage) give you the ability to get all of your data back instantly. You need both.

Your backups must also be regular. Services such as Carbonite (online backup) allow your backup to occur automatically for you, so you don’t need to physically perform it. Once a file has been backed up, it is automatically monitored by the software and any changes are updated for you. However your offline backup (using external hard drives) needs to be scheduled and performed daily or at a minimum, weekly.

Small businesses often fall into the trap of not training their entire team on the backup and recovery process. Your staff should atleast know where your backup plan is kept.

And finally Testing. We encourage everyone who trials Carbonite to test the recovery process so they atleast have some awareness of the recovery process when a PC failure occurs. I would expect that 10% probably perform this test. Most people are only interested in seeing the data being backed up. Rest assured Carbonite works. This same rule also applies with your local offline backup. You should be performing a review atleast monthly to ensure that the backup process is actually working and that the files kept on the external drive are correct and accessible.

So in your list of 2010 objectives, at the top of the list should be “Create backup and recovery plan“.

Whether you are a small business preparing to close down for a few weeks or taking some time off from work yourself and want to get organised for 2010, now is a good time to consider your backup needs.

To help you I have prepared a mixed bag of tips that will assist you to get and stay protected in 2010.

Review what you have on your PC’s and assess what needs and doesn’t need protecting. It’s probably a good time to also clean out some old downloads and applications that you aren’t using.

If you have been using a hard drive to backup, then get it out and get it to work. Ensure you get a copy of all important files onto the external hard drive. It might also be a good time to set up an auto sync so that in future, when you plug it in it, it will automatically know what to start backing up. There are several tools out there free and paid that will do this for you.

Once you have completed backing with your hard drive, do yourself a favour and test it out. Check to see that the date on the files is today’s and that the files can be opened.

If your hard drive looks like it’s getting pretty full, then maybe it’s a good time to invest in another one. Terabyte drives are under $200 these days so, it’s worthwhile having plenty of space.

Online backup isn’t just for big businesses. Ensuring that your important files are located offsite somewhere is called a sound backup strategy and it’s just as applicable for your home as it is for your business. The last thing you want when you return from your break or a day out is to find that your PC and other hardware has been damaged or stolen. Relying on an external hard drive will not help you in any way. A remote backup solution is the only way to recover those files instantly.

Online or remote backup doesn’t need to cost you the earth. Services like Carbonite will cost you less than $6 per month to protect all the files on your PC. To be honest you don’t need to back everything up with Carbonite either. If you are also using an external drive, I would use online backup for the really important stuff, the stuff you can’t live or run your business without.

With Carbonite, you can use the defaults when installing it. This will pick up most files on your C: drive. Alternatively you can manually select the files that you believe are important and you can do this via Windows Explorer. If you are a business, backup files like your email, MYOB/Quicken database, Tax Invoices, Tax Documentation, Contracts and agreements.

Get the backup started early so that you can have it all uploaded well before you shut everything down. Typically, uploading works through 2 – 3GB per day.

If you are already using an online backup service, be sure to check the expiry of your subscription so that it doesn’t fall when you are away and don’t have access to your emails. In most cases your data will be safe for another 30 days but its best to be prepared. We are talking about your data at the end of the day.

Have a great festive season and see you in 2010.

Carbonite Australia Team