VARs Win Big in Vegas with SMB Nation 2009 Event

It has taken a few days to comb through all the business cards, brochures, and my own notes from  SMB Nation 2009, which is a testament to the wealth of information one could glean from the annual event.

With that in mind, I'd like to offer kudos to Harry Brelsford and his team for putting together a great agenda, not to mention their hospitality and helpfulness. I wouldn't have gotten a seat on the plane home without them, but that's another story.

Congratulations are also in order for Symform, Inc., whose online storage service, called the Symform Cooperative Storage Cloud, was honored by SMB Nation with two awards: Best Service Product and Most Promising New Product. Also honored at the event for Best in Show was Internet security firm Calyptix Security for its AccessEnforcer all-in-one security appliance for Microsoft's Small Business server, as voted by show attendees.

Other vendors with cool new products include Datto, which provides hardware-based backup and data recovery; Kerio, provider of the Kerio MailServer for companies with up to 40 users; Reflexion Networks, which relaunced two years ago with Total Control, a managed email security service; 8kMiles, an online outsourcing "ecosystem" that enables you to vet contractors with whom you would like to work; and CharTec, which has a very slick (and fast) Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) program that enables MSPs to easily obtain custom hardware and licensing for their clients, and offers sales training and support to boot.

But these are only a few of the innovative offerings at the event (check out HeroWare, StorageCraft, SoftLayer Technologies, and Panda Security too). Also onsite were such well known companies as Microsoft, Citrix, Zenith Infotech, and Lenovo.

Like I said, there was lots to absorb on the tech side. On the lighter side, seeing Hary B. dressed as Elvis was worth the price of admission to the Saturday night SMB Nation bash.

A good time was clearly had by all.

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