IT Connection Product Assessment reports provide in-depth analysis of more than 200 products and services. Each Product Assessment report includes expert analyst advice and recommendations on what to look for when making buying decisions. Click here to view sample reports.
Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) Microsoft is an aggressive presence in the cloud, cutting BPOS pricing and offering more standalone versions of individual applications. However, the company’s partner strategy opens up the potential for serious channel conflict.
Google Apps
Google has enjoyed its time in the sun, basking in the part it has played as the innovative upstart. However, as more traditional vendors embrace the cloud delivery model the company may find it harder to distinguish Google Apps. (9/17/2010)
IBM Applications on Demand
IBM’s efforts in the on-demand services space are paying big dividends. The company kicked off 2010 with one of the largest reported cloud engagements in its deal to transition 300,000+ Panasonic employees from Exchange to LotusLive. (2/1/2010)
Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS)
Microsoft BPOS has been riding through rocky terrain of late with a embarrassing service disruptions. These issues may just be minor bumps in the road as Microsoft taps its marketing and channel strength to capture a larger share of the cloud. (9/17/2010)
Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS)
- Buying Criteria
Total Cost of Ownership
A measure of the factors that affect the cost of a device over its entire useful life, including licensing, support contracts, training, support software, and other factors (TCO).
Scalability
Scalability measures the performance and capacity of the security device based on key industry metrics including concurrent sessions, setup/teardown rate per second, and encryption and inspection performance, but also ranks solution breadth, clustering technologies, and architecture.
Management
Firewalls and VPNs are often distributed across multiple geographies. Centralized reporting and management reigns in the cost of remotely administering users and networks.
Encryption
The encryption metric specifically ranks each product based on its stated encryption capabilities and the platform's ability to deliver that encryption at speeds at or near the rated capacity of the device.
Depth of Defense
Firewall/VPN and unified threat management devices are converging into a single product category in the enterprise branch and enterprise mid-market segments. Depth of Defense ranks each product based on the sophistication of its access and inspection features.
Product Landscape Chart
