Lenovo to offer new ThinkPad line for SMBs
Lenovo on Monday confirmed plans to launch a new ThinkPad laptop line, the SL series, with features and support services geared toward small and medium-size businesses.
Priced from US$699 to $1,199, the laptops will come with online backup services and LoJack technology to track down stolen laptops. The machines will be aimed at businesses with up to 99 employees that can't afford an IT staff to troubleshoot their own laptop problems.
The online backup service will be a first for the entire ThinkPad line, said Charles Sune, worldwide segment manager for Thinkpad SL series. It will provide a way for businesses on a budget to back up data.
Also included is Absolute Software's LoJack technology, which can help track down stolen laptops. Additional security and support tools will be provided from Lenovo's ThinkVantage hardware and software line, including its Active Protection System, which protects data on a notebook's hard drive.
Lenovo has also pulled a page from its consumer-focused IdeaPad laptops in the SL series, sprucing up the ThinkPad design with a more stylish look and multimedia features such as a connector to display high-definition video and software for video creation. That's a shift away from the ThinkPad's traditional business focus, with the new look intended to make it more palatable for both personal and business use.
The SMB market is a fast-growing but price-sensitive segment, so Lenovo made some trade-offs in designing the laptops, Sune said. For example, the SL laptops will not come with the proprietary docking stations usually found on enterprise ThinkPads, but will include a USB-based port replication system.
The laptops will be formally announced in the next few weeks. Lenovo declined to give specific hardware details.
Lenovo has been pushing high-end models priced above US$1,000, like the ultra-thin X300, but sees a new business opportunity among smaller businesses. Lenovo will target the products at Europe, the U.S., Greater China and Asia-Pacific, where SMBs will present the greatest opportunities over the next few years, Sune said.
IDG News Service
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
VMware ESX Server in the Enterprise
By Edward L. Haletky
Published Dec 29, 2007 by Prentice Hall.
Enter now! | Official rules | Sample chapter
Green IT
By Toby Velte, Anthony Velte, Robert C. Elsenpeter
To be published Oct. 10, 2008 by McGraw Hill Professional
Enter now! | Official rules | About the book
http://www.mindshift.com/Prod
http://www.mindshift.com/Products-and-Services_PCRetrieve.aspx If you lose your laptop, there's a data protection service that initiates a remote data wipe of the machine when it is lost or stolen. The same company, mindSHIFT, also has a laptop recovery service. Pretty neat!