Napera launched PC Security Informer for Google Apps Marketplace back in June of 2010. The primary benefit of offering PC Security Informer as a Marketplace App is that it provides single sign-on to Napera customers that are also Google Apps users. The primary benefit to Napera is the exposure to new potential customers.  In fact, over 25% of our signups come via Google Apps Marketplace.

In an article about its one year birthday, PCWorld asked: “Where are the ‘Killer’ Apps?”  As both a long time Google Apps user and as a maker of a Marketplace App, I too pondered this question.  That is until it occurred to me that this is actually the wrong question to ask.

The question is not where are the killer apps, but whether the Apps Marketplace along with all the third party apps will help drive more users to Google Apps.  After all, Google is a company committed to bringing their customers to a world they call 100% web and customers still using non-cloud-based solutions represent the lion’s share of their potential market. To drive more users to Google Apps, these Marketplace apps must help make Google Apps better than the alternatives — and by alternatives, I talking about traditional Microsoft solutions such as Exchange, SharePoint and Active Directory.

Google has identified some trends among those using Apps Marketplace and are using these trends to make the Marketplace better.  These trends point out what current Google Apps users are looking for but not what will attract new users.  I applaud Google for their efforts to improve the Apps Marketplace, but if I were Google and committed to 100% web, I would also be looking for improvements that will drive new customers to Google Apps. For example, adding support for legacy authentication such as Radius could help customers migrate users to Google Apps while continuing to support legacy appliance-based file servers and WiFi solutions.

At Napera, we too think the future will be dominated by cloud solutions.  But the reality is many companies still have a lot invested in local infrastructure so the transition to the cloud is going to take time. In the meantime companies are looking for products that help make this transition. Napera Insight fills this role for network management and monitoring.

As Google Apps Marketplace embarks on its second year, I look forward to apps that will help drive more customers from their traditional solution to a 100% web.

Why would I not be more concerned that Microsoft has launched a cloud-based service that is nearly identical to Napera Insight?  Well, for starters, it’s not quite identical, which I will elaborate on below.   No, the reason I am not concerned about such a mammoth competitor is that Microsoft will draw in more customers that previously would not have considered a cloud-based approach by evangelizing the concept of cloud-based management and by destigmatizing the idea of storing IT data in the cloud.  And those customers that learn about InTune but have an IT environment that is not solely Windows based will be looking for a heterogeneous alternative.

Although cloud is all the rage these days, there are some companies that are still reluctant to use it for IT management. The primary reason for this is the security concerns of storing IT data in the cloud. When we introduced the first cloud-enabled switch in 2008, I was talking with an IT manager of a mid-sized company who told me he’d never buy or deploy our product because we store IP addresses and user names in the cloud.  This seemed parochial knowing that successful products such as Salesforce.com and Quickbooks Online store much more sensitive information in the cloud.  Nonetheless, it is a legitimate concern that must be overcome.  Having Microsoft use their Goliath marketing machine to promote cloud-based IT management is a good thing for all of us in this market.

Microsoft will cast a wide net bringing in many new customers, but there are some significant limitations to InTune that will leave many of these prospects looking for an alternate solution.  First and foremost, it is a Windows-only solution. If you have Apple Macs on your network, you are out of luck.  Second, InTune only supports its own built-in endpoint protection.  I realize this is probably a bigger concern to endpoint protection vendors than it is to most businesses — does anyone really care what brand their endpoint protection is these day?  But if you are in the camp that does care and wants to leverage your investment in your current endpoint protection software, InTune isn’t for you.

So, if you love the Windows InTune concept but have Macs on your network or you want to stick with your current endpoint protection software, give Napera Insight a spin.  Napera Insight is a cloud-based IT management platform that will grow with your business regardless of the types of devices found on your network.  You will also find it to be easier on your pocket book than Windows InTune.

A new 2.0 release of the Napera ActiveAgent for Windows and Mac is now available online. Our ActiveAgent is a lightweight installer that helps you configure Microsoft’s  NAP technology that is part of Windows, a task usually only achieved by the bravest of mortals with the appropriate degrees in rocket science. On Macintosh, the Napera ActiveAgent provides reporting capabilities for OS X overlooked by our friends in Cupertino.

The three most important features of our new agent are:

• Automatic agent self-updating for both Mac and Windows. Our agents now stay updated automatically, which is one less thing to worry about for the busy IT admin.
• Automatic registration to your Napera account for Mac and Windows agents. With a handful of mouse clicks PCs are up and running, reporting their status to Napera Insight. You no longer have to manually enter a registration code.
• We updated our Windows agent to use the standard Microsoft Windows installer which can be deployed silently using group policy if you desire.

If you installed the previous 1.0 release of the Napera agent, this new version can be installed right over the top. Additional information about the Napera agent is available in our customer support forum.

PC Security Informer now works with Google Apps, and can be added via Google Apps Marketplace. This is a great option for IT admins as companies continue to migrate core functions of their business to cloud based offerings. The Google Apps Marketplace combines multiple, synergistic cloud based offerings in a single location, with unified authentication and a common dashboard. Over two million businesses use Google Apps today, and since the launch of Google Apps Marketplace earlier this year, apps have been deployed to over a million users.

We’ve added OpenID authentication for administrator single-sign on from Google Apps. We will be adding additional integration features and new Napera Insight apps to the Google Apps Marketplace in the coming months.

To add PC Security Informer to your Google Apps account, visit the PC Security Informer page in the Google Apps Marketplace and select ‘Add it now’.

If you haven’t tried out Napera Insight yet, please sign up for our free 30 day trial and let us know what you think.

Seattle, WA – June 7, 2010 – Napera Networks (www.napera.com), a leading provider of cloud-based systems and network management applications, today announced the launch of PC Security Informer on the Google Apps Marketplace, the online storefront for Google Apps products and services. PC Security Informer is available immediately to over two million businesses that use Google Apps for messaging and collaboration. IT administrators can use PC Security Informer to continuously monitor Macintosh and Windows PCs, and quickly determine whether they pose a threat to a safe computing environment. PC Security Informer is part of Napera Insight, the company’s flagship online service that delivers enterprise-class systems and security management to small- and medium-enterprises.

“PC Security Informer is the first systems and network management application available via Google Apps Marketplace, and the easiest way for IT admins to know whether their company’s PCs are patched and have up-to-date antivirus, antispyware and desktop firewalls protecting them,” said Todd Hooper, CEO and founder of Napera Networks. “By combining Napera’s applications with Google Apps, we are enabling IT admins to enjoy enterprise functionality in a cloud computing service without the cost and complexity of traditional solutions.”

Powered by Napera ActiveAgents deployed on PCs and network devices, Napera Insight enables a family of cloud based solutions that monitor, inform and resolve everyday IT issues.  As the first app built for Napera Insight, PC Security Informer leverages existing antivirus and antispyware software to immediately inform an administrator when a desktop or laptop computer is a risk to their network and their business.

Google Apps administrators can enable PC Security Informer directly from the Google Apps Marketplace, using Google’s secure single sign-on. Napera plans to deliver additional Napera Insight applications for Google Apps during 2010.

Pricing and Availability

PC Security Informer for Google Apps is available immediately at http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/. A 30 day trial is available, and annual subscriptions start at $99.

About Napera Networks

Napera Networks is delivering a new breed of active network management services, powered from the cloud. Napera Insight, the company’s flagship offering, is an online service that delivers enterprise-class performance and security management to small- and medium enterprises. Napera Insight Apps can be instantly deployed and require zero-maintenance, making them ideal for busy network administrators. For more information, please visit www.napera.com.

Media Contacts:

Napera Networks

press@napera.com

PC Security Informer automatically emails you a daily report about your network at 7am in your local timezone. The daily issue report from PC Security Info covers any issues with your PCs such as users who haven’t installed the latest OS update. You can configure this report for PC Security Informer via the Notifications page under Account Settings to arrive daily or once a week for those who desire a little less in their inbox.

A typical daily report looks something like the following.

That’s great for canned reports, but what if you want Napera Insight to alert you about something when it happens? Custom lists created on the Network page can automatically trigger an alert when any parameters match a condition that you have specified. Currently eighteen different parameters can be checked, including PC centric info such OS update, antivirus, antispyware or firewall issues, as well as network information such as hostname, IP and MAC addresses, NIC vendors, OS types and more. This information is gathered from the Napera ActiveAgent as well as any Napera enabled switches deployed on the local network.

To create a new list, simply go to the Network page and select New List from the left hand column to get to the New Computer List page. Enter a name for your list, select one or more parameters that you wish to monitor, and how often you wish to be alerted. Each email alert generated by a list can be sent hourly, daily or weekly.

You can always see the contents of a list in real time by selecting it from the left hand column on the Network page, and you can fine tune or delete each list from the menu that appears next to each list name.

As an example, here is a list that alerts the admin within the hour if a Windows user disables their firewall.

If you are using a Napera enabled switch with our Switch Detective app, then lists can be used to alert on multiple parameters that the switch observes on the local network. The list below will alert you daily to any new iPhone users on your network.

For advanced users, you can also nest the lists recursively by selecting Computer List as one of the variables.

Too many emails? Every report and alert email contains a link to your Account Settings where you can configure all of your alerts and their timing. This can help you disable alerts that are not critical. If you need to share alerts with someone else, invite them from the Admins page for your Insight account and they will automatically receive reports and alerts.

New features include the following.

• PC Security Informer now has end-user advisory capabilities and a company portal. The Microsoft NAP agent will display an alert on the task bar to inform users of any outstanding issues with their PC, and the NAP agent provides a link to the Napera portal for more information. Here’s an example of what it looks like on Windows for an end user who has disabled their firewall, which puts their PC at risk.

• The administrator can customize the Napera portal by selecting Account Settings>Portal. The admin can also see the portal status from the detail page for any PC. Future releases will provide expanded portal functionality for communicating with end users.

• Users of Switch Detective can now select installation of the Napera ActiveAgent on Windows or alternatively use the built-in Microsoft NAP agent only for quicker deployments.

• Email reports and the Napera Insight dashboard have been improved.

• New features for the Napera ActiveAgent for Windows and Mac include automatic updating capabilities. New agent downloads will be available online next week.

If you haven’t tried out Napera Insight yet, please sign up for our free 30 day trial and let us know what you think.

“SaaS applications clearly are no longer seen as a new deployment model by our survey base, with almost half of those surveyed affirming use of SaaS applications in their business for more than three years,” said Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner.

In terms of investment levels in SaaS solutions over the next two years, survey respondents gave encouraging responses for software and service providers, with on average 53 percent of organizations expecting to increase investment levels slightly and 19 percent significantly.

This fits with the mood we saw at Interop last week, with SaaS offerings and the rise of the cloud computing paradigm no longer seen as something novel, but rather as viable alternatives to traditional deployment models.

In terms of exactly what customers will be buying in the future, this IDC enterprise IT spending report predicts that customer spending on cloud IT services will be $42.3 billion by 2012, with infrastructure offerings such as Napera Insight second only to business applications.

More details are available in “User Survey Analysis: Software as a Service, Enterprise Application Markets, Worldwide, 2010,” on the Gartner website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1337828.

The Napera team will be at Interop 2010 in Las Vegas next week, giving private demonstrations of Napera Insight.

Contact us via sales@napera.com if you would like to meet up and see the future of cloud based network management.

The first news occurred just before RSA, when enterprise vendor Citrix Systems announced GoTo Manage, based on their recent Paglo Labs acquisition. GoTo Manage offers remote surveillance, control and support of IT infrastructure in the cloud, with the Citrix philosophy of ‘simpler is better’. The Citrix Online offering is priced around $1 per network device per month and performs network discovery, monitors data from network devices and provides a cloud based search engine for logs. GoTo Manage is an interesting product that fits well with Citrix Online’s popular GoTo MyPC service.

Just yesterday, our neighbors in Redmond announced a public beta of Microsoft Intune, their cloud based desktop PC management service. Windows Intune is designed for small and medium businesses to manage updates, monitor Windows and track assets. Microsoft have taken a different approach to Citrix and under the hood, Intune is based on a number of existing Microsoft enterprise technologies such as WSUS, System Center Operations Manager, App-V and Microsoft’s own anti-malware software. As a result, Intune has a reasonably heavy footprint on each PC. The beta release of the agent clocks in at over eight megabytes, requires multiple reboots to install and started no less than seven new processes on my Windows 7 PC when I tried it out.

The Intune beta has a number of technical limitations, such as supporting only a single anti-malware product instead of the vendor neutral approach that Napera Insight offers. Eschewing HTML, the Microsoft team opted for a Silverlight based interface, which is fast but can be frustrating if you are used to right clicking and copying information from Web pages. Although pricing has not been announced, the final release of Microsoft Intune will also include upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise, indicating that Intune is likely to be aimed at the top end of the market. Regardless of the beta limitations and pricing, entry of Microsoft into this market is certainly a milestone.

A number of other vendors have also dipped their toes in the SaaS pool recently, with Quest Software releasing beta versions of Quest OnDemand, and Shavlik announcing a beta of it.shavlik.com for SaaS-based discovery and reporting of assets, and security updates. Several other players in the network and systems management market are sitting on the sidelines and have yet to announce any SaaS initiatives, but the year is still young!