PerfectDisk Blog from Raxco.com| Defrag Software

Economic downturn -- Computerworld piles on

                          

"The economy may not pull tech spending down with it. But for many IT managers, frugality is now in order." So screams the cover of the October 27th issue of Computerworld, adding to the list of tech publications that point out that it's now the time to get more out of what you have. The full article, Economy puts IT in penny-pinching mode, can be read here.

 

Computerworld does state that Gartner still expects IT spending to grow by small amounts this quarter and during 2009, but says projects with high price tags and lengthy returns on investments may be a hard sell internally." The article quotes Blair Mandryk, Global IT manager at Haworth, as saying "the business is still expecting IT to deliver, so without having the money to do it, you have to find creative ways." That is part of what is driving PerfectDisk's increased interest and calls to our sales' department.

Meet creativity, AKA smart defragmentation with PerfectDisk.

             

Obama or McCain, red or blue -- you're covered in 2009

                           

The big race finally comes to a conclusion a week from tomorrow. No endorsement or recommendation here - that will be left to the newspapers, TV pundits and every other voice around the world that is chiming in like never before this year. For the purposes of this space, I'm going with "New in 2009." Out with foreclosures, job losses, and inflation. Whatever direction the US electorate takes a week from tomorrow, it's going to be looking for change.

As are we here, with PerfectDisk. There will be some "stay the course." We're not going to do away with things like defrag thoroughness, total free space consolidation, and unparalleled scheduling flexibility - all the smart stuff our users expect. But there will also be change - not for just for the sake of it, but for a better user experience. Faster. Enhanced usability. More information. More automation. More virtualization. More of what our users have asked for.

2009 is coming. Change is on the way. 

        

2009 tech trends -- Gartner misses a little, eWeek hits it...PerfectDisk plays

   It's that time of the year -- 4th quarter -- when the pundits and analysts are rolling out their predictions for what will be the big technology trends in 2009. Industry analyst giant Gartner analyst group weighed in with its top 10 strategic technologies for 2009:

• virtualization
• cloud computing
• servers
• enterprise mashups
• specialized systems
• social software
• social networks
• unified communications
• business intelligence
• green IT.

It's hard to argue with Gartner's list -- all highly visible and important issues. Many dubbed 2008 the year of virtualization. I think 2009 is going to go after that title as well. Our virtualization solutions have been well-received out of the box in early 2008 and have continued to pick up steam throughout the year. Developers and administrators both see the value. In line with Gartner, our server business has also been thriving this year. Servers are running all aspects of business, are crucial, and need to perform flawlessly and optimally.

Yet despite Gartner's nice list, in this week's edition of eWeek magazine, Eric Lundquist, editor in chief, has put together The 10 techs Gartner missed, that acknowldges Gartner's strong list but also points out some other very important ones. I'm with Eric - he definitely hits on some key ones that I see evidence of here in our somewhat smaller world view that is disk defragmentation.

                            

Number 3 on Lundquist's list is "Tune-up." He says "look, 2009 is going to be tough on the budget. Companies are going to want to extend systems through overhauls and tune-ups rather than through new purchases." Choir here, Eric - nice sermon! Indeed, we've actually seen increased activity across our business lines since the economic meltdown over the last several weeks. The IT adminsitrators and managers in the trenches understand that the money for a bunch of new shiny hardware isn't coming through. But by spending a little bit on software that can extend their existing PCs, laptops, and servers lives as well as boost their performance to make their users more productive and happy, they can be literally heroes in their organization. Same thing for small businesses and same for consumers. They are looking to get the most our of what they have. Enter good ol' tried and true, boring defragmentation. Like every other recession.

                                                           

Number 10 on Lundquist's list is "New green." He's not talking about marketing hype that is everywhere these days. Lundquist says "the biggest cost savings is the system that is turned off..." That's doable with PerfectDisk's flexible scheduling options that allow for completely defragmenting your entire drives and completely consolidating free space...and shutting off your machine. Other not-so-smart solutions might never get the job done if you actually turned them off to save some energy.

There's also going to be a lot from us in 2009. For the latest, follow PerfectDisk on Twitter.

PC Magazine says "make Vista great" with PerfectDisk

                             

PC Magazine has been running an online series on how to "make Vista great." In today's article, Make Vista Great, Part 3: Improve Performance and Stability, David A. Karp gets into some key areas as to how to make Vista run better. One of his topics is "Mind your hard drive," where he points out that "the speed of your hard drive has significant impact on your PC's performance and stability." He then goes on to point out the limitations of the Vista Disk Defragmenter utility and some of the reasons that PerfectDisk is the way to go, including making Vista "faster and healthier."

Be a superhero -- make Vista great -- find out how here.

               

cnet and Download.com -- "This close to perfect"

                                             

The editors at cnet and Download.com have come out with an editorial review on PerfectDisk 2008 Professional, calling it "close to perfect." It say that PerfectDisk 2008"picks up where the Windows Disk Defragmenter leaves off, adding powerful features, an attractive interface, and a top-notch help file with clear instructions and definitions." And there's more.

          

You can read more here.     

 

                   

The recession -- personal or business -- and your PCs, laptops and servers

                            

The financial meltdown rolls on around the world, and whether or not it started just on Wall Street, it is now undeniably on every Main Street as well as any other street in every country, affecting everyone to some degree. I'll leave the economic punditry to the legions of economists. From the standpoint of your own personal system or businesses, what's it mean?

One of the reasons Raxco Software is in its 30th year of business is because we've provided solutions for people and businesses that help them in good times and bad. Booming times? Get even more productive and boost the bottom line even more. Bad times? Wring everything you can out of what you've got. Hold onto the desktops and laptops you have, squeeze more out of your servers.

And right now, with things about as bad as we've seen them, it's time to make the most of what you have. Which is why PerfectDisk sales continue to do well. Do more with what you have.

With that in mind, see Defragmentation Return on Investment -- More than Meets the Eye -- a new white paper. Read it here.

And meet the downturn headon.

               

Financial crisis have you down? Look to family...

                             

As the financial woes around the world continue to mount, it's seems like it's becoming harder and harder to find some good news. Double that if you're a Chicago Cubs fan.

Like the saying goes, money won't buy you happiness. It's the people in your life, your loved ones, friends and family that make anything worthwhile. And when times are tough, it's those same ones that you look to lean on to get through them. 

       

Maybe it's corny (okay - it IS corny), but here at Raxco Software we always refer to the PerfectDisk family, or the "growing family of PerfectDisk users." And it is growing and we are fortunate for that, and for all the support we get. And what is it with family - you love your family, but that doesn't mean you don't complain to them or everything's perfect. Or that you aren't always looking for ways to make your family better.

So it is with the PerfectDisk family. We always try to get everything right, but we don't always. But we also think we get a lot right, which is fueling our growth, even in these down economic times. We "fight" (or constructively argue :)) with each other all the time, with everyone ultimately trying to do what is best for the customer. We get a ton of compliments from our users - but we also get some complaints here and there, and of course suggestions for improvements. It's all good, because it all makes us better and helps us challenge ourselves every day.

If you're a customer, you're part of the family. And there are other ways to become more involved with the family, and I invite you to take advantage of them,

• Join the PerfectDisk Pro User Community, where hundreds of users can share information, ask questions, vent, and more -- www.perfectdiskprousers.com.
• If you're a Facebook user, join the PerfectDisk group.

• Subscribe to our Keep Your PC Healthy (consumer) and Optimize Now (business) newsletters.

• Follow me on Twitter for the latest up-to-the-minute news and happenings on PerfectDisk.

Sing your praises. Make suggestions. Vent. You know...just like family.

        

QBS Distribution gains rights to PerfecftDisk in the UK

                                

We're real happy to have a new partnership with QBS Distribution in the United Kingdom to promote and resell the entire family of PerfectDiskdefrag and storage products. QBS Distribution is a division of QBS Software, and has a mandate to professionally service software resellers. The company has a great reputation and supplies software to just about every corporate reseller, VAR, system integrator and others. They have a great presence in the UK and Ireland, and we're confident this is going to give our already growing UK business a big boost.

An official announcement will be made next week.