Tag Archives: customers

The first Drobo Users Meetup starting in Silicon Valley

blog mblandini logo The first Drobo Users Meetup starting in Silicon ValleyI’ve always loved users groups focused on a particular technology.Considered the original user group, I used to attend SHARE* conferences before coming to Drobo. These days, my wife, daughter, and I belong to a local east bay meetup group not for computer technology but for dachshunds (our two mini’s participate too). Based on my experience, I believe that users groups only work if they are lead by real users with an agenda built around the experiences of group members.

The great news is that a real user has volunteered to kick off the first Drobo Users Group here in Silicon Valley. John Reinert of ReelGood Pictures and his colleague Brook Dain of the San Jose Police Department will be leading and presenting at the inaugural Drobo Users Meetup on Wednesday December 12.  The fun and informative agenda includes:

  • 11-11:30 – John and Brook sharing their experiences test driving the new Drobo 5D and Mini Thunderbolt products in their workflow, plus other findings from John’s REDucation class that will take place12/3 to 12/7
  • 11:30-11:45 – The new Drobo 5N will be on display; volunteers will race to see who can set it up their NAS device first and win a Drobo polo shirt prize in the “NAS Challenge.”
  • 11:45-1PM – Lunch and socializing; as the event is being held @ Drobo HQ, there will also be an “expert bar” so that you can ask questions and get more demos of the latest Drobo products.

Come hang out with other users who have Drobo as part of their creative workflow and enjoy the HoneyBaked Ham holiday lunch as part of the festivities. Full information and registration for the meetup is available @ http://drobouserssv.eventbrite.com.

Net = It’s a pleasure for Drobo to support user groups. If you don’t live near Silicon Valley, but want to lead a Drobo users group of your own in your area, just let me know and we can discuss providing a kit to support your meetup event. It could be a great way for you to get a Thunderbolt Drobo to test and share your experiences with your group.

* SHARE Inc. is an independent, volunteer run association providing enterprise technology professionals with continuous education and training, valuable professional networking and effective industry influence.

Talk live to Mario and other Drobo experts @ http://www.drobo.com/live or e-mail mario@drobo.com

Who needs Drobo + Microsoft?

blog tbuiocchi e1332538899728 Who needs Drobo + Microsoft?It’s actually pretty simple.  Just solve the following equation:

  • I want to run the world’s most popular applications +
  • I want to have them deployed and managed easily +
  • Reliable, highly available & protected by disk-based backup
  • But I have real budget constraints
  • And I don’t have a ton of IT resources

= Educational institutions, healthcare, and state and local governmentContinue Reading

The customer is always right

blog mblandini e1332538823856 The customer is always rightNot unlike most folks, my first job was not in high tech, it was in customer service. I was a waiter in high school at a 24-hour diner prior to joining the Marine Corps. Before that, I was a paperboy for the San Jose Mercury News back when kids still delivered papers on bicycle. I earned carrier of the month in 1984 right about the same time that the popular Atari video game Paperboy was released.

In customer service, the motto “The customer is always right” is well understood.Continue Reading

Today a customer bought 1 petabyte of Drobo storage for their business!

blog tbuiocchi e1332538899728 Today a customer bought 1 petabyte of Drobo storage for their business!Hold onto your hats – one Petabyte, one end user, one deal! That’s a long way from where we started and quite a testament to the value that businesses are seeing from Drobo.

We don’t as yet have the approval to give you all the details about the customer and their use case, but this is just a natural (albeit unexpectedly large) step in our growth into the business segment. Continue Reading

Halftime in America – Drobo for Business in Detroit

blog mblandini e1332538823856 Halftime in America – Drobo for Business in DetroitLast week: 39-minute flight from Toronto to Detroit and 2 days of high-density meetings in Detroit metro. No longer in the top 10 in North American business, the perception is that business is down in the motor city, even though 7.6% growth was enough fro GM to be the world’s top-selling automaker in 2011. Anywhere data is growing is a place where users are looking for newer, more advanced ways to store their data. It’s not just about lowering cost; the ability to storage massive amounts of data supports innovation and evolution in all types of organizations.

Without the capacity for new applications, innovation is inhibited. I was very excited to validate several ways Drobo users are accelerating innovation by harnessing massive amounts of information they otherwise could not feasibly store and protect.Continue Reading