After lots of discussions with our small business users, we're happy to say that the product they've been asking for — Carbonite Pro — has arrived! We think it does a great job of meeting the needs of the various business owners and managers — especially with regards to being simple to use and a great value.

First, unlike the Carbonite you're used to where you get unlimited backup of one PC, Carbonite Pro lets you back up an unlimited number of PCs. There is just one account to manage and protect all the PCs in your office.

Then, since most small businesses don't have a full time IT person, we designed Carbonite Pro so virtually any office administrator can easily use it. Everything is in plain English (no confusing technical terms) and the dashboard is simple to use.

With Carbonite Pro, there's no per-computer charge and you only pay for the amount of backup space you use. And pricing is based on a simple tiered system.

You may not have any idea how much space your company needs and that's why we provide a month free. Throughout the month, you can use the dashboard to see how much space your company is using. You can also see the amount of storage used by each employee. So if someone gets carried away and backs up some very large files, you'll see it.

There are lots more easy-to-use features in Carbonite Pro. To add a new user, just enter the person's email address and Carbonite will send that user a pre-authorized link to install Carbonite Pro. In fact, the user doesn't even have to be in the office to set up Carbonite Pro. (Sales teams and others who are always on the road or who work at home will love it.) And what if one of your employees leaves the company? It's easy to immediately freeze that employee's account, stop any unauthorized downloading from the backup, and re-assign access of those files to someone else.

I could go on and on about the numerous benefits of Carbonite Pro, but we all know that a hands-on trial is the best way to see whether the product is right for you. So, if you’re a small business, just go to CarbonitePro.com and sign up for our free trial.

I absolutely believe you'll find Carbonite Pro very easy to use and the most cost effective online backup solution on the market. When you try it, please let me know how you like it.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Man, this is what I've been waiting for! I have my iPhone with me wherever I go (I have to confess to being a little obsessed with it) and now I can view my backed up files — anywhere, anytime — using the new Carbonite app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

I had my first great experience with it while waiting for my plane at LaGuardia Airport. I was supposed to give a talk at a conference later that day, so I pulled up my PowerPoint presentation on my iPhone (the original is on my office computer) and reviewed it. I then spent 20 productive minutes looking over a contract. While still waiting at the gate, I decided to browse my favorite pictures of me and my daughter high above the clouds on the top of Mt. Washington.

The Carbonite app gives me access to the backed up files from each of my computers, even if the computers are turned off. And I don't have to be logged into a Wi-Fi connection or lug my laptop with me. It displays my photos, documents, and other important files and allows me to share any of my backed up files with someone else via email, right from the app. It's fast and super-simple. I'm really proud of this Carbonite app and I hope you all will find it as useful as I do.

The best part? It's free for all Carbonite users. To learn more or download the app, go to www.Carbonite.com/iPhone.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

I read an interesting article on Yahoo news this morning: 1 in 3 laptops die in the first three years.

The survey, conducted by SquareTrade, a warranty company, highlighted the following statistics: Looking at the first 3 years of ownership, 31% of laptop owners reported a failure to SquareTrade. Two-thirds of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, and one-third (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage. The complete report is available here: http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

These findings correlate quite well with the actual behavior of our users: approximately 11% of our users have to do a full restore of their data each year. Over three years, that's almost exactly the same 33% number. Another interesting statistic from our own user base is that almost half of all users do a partial restore each year — mostly to recover accidentally deleted or overwritten files.

I'll bet that if you asked the average computer user what the likelihood is of their computer data getting destroyed, they would guess a much lower number. Having a 1 in 3 chance that you are going to lose everything on your PC only highlights why online backup is so important.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Bill Blinn of TechByter Worldwide interviewed our CEO, Dave Friend, for the November 15, 2009 TechByter podcast.

As a Carbonite fan, Blinn discussed his confidence in our online backup service as he introduce this week’s TechByter podcast, "The real safety net, and it's one that has saved me more times than I like to admit, is Carbonite. It's easy to make a dumb mistake that deletes files I need. I can get them back from my hot backup or from my Acronis backup. But more often than not, I've recovered them from my Carbonite backup."

Dave's interview can be found on www.TechByter.com in two parts:

Listen to Part 1 (Audio 5:07)

Listen to Part 2 (Audio 1:13)

— Alison

I am very pleased to announce that my long-time business partner and Carbonite CTO has won the coveted "CTO of the Year" award from the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. The award was given at a big dinner at the Boston Marriott last week, and we're very proud of Jeff. He joins a group of technology leaders from the Northeast that includes many of the pioneers of today's IT industry. Having worked with Jeff for more than 25 years through 4 other startups, it is impossible for me to contemplate starting a company without him. He's that rare combination of technical guru, sensible business head, and mentor for the technical team. Congratulations Jeff!

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Our Mac product, which launched earlier this year, continues to receive a good reception from the media.

We've recently had reviews published with MacFormat and MacWorld magazines.

Christopher Phin from MacFormat awarded Carbonite 4/5 stars and appreciated our efforts to design a Mac version of the product:

“

Unlike many companies that have developed a PC application and then gone on to make a Mac version, the developers genuinely seem to have 'got' the Mac."

MacWorld magazine also awarded Carbonite 4/5 stars. Karl Hodge noted how the low cost is small price to pay for piece of mind.

“

The client is highly configurable and can be set to run when it's convenient. Costing around £3 a month to run, it's a low price for a little peace of mind."

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

If you run a small business, backing up your data is critical. In fact, in the UK, all businesses are legally obligated to keep certain data records for a minimum of seven years. Not doing so could lead to a hefty fine or even prison sentence if vital data cannot be provided upon request.

I recently wrote an article for SME Web that addresses how SMEs with a limited IT budget can still protect themselves against losing critical business files.

SME Web is an online resource for owners and managers of small and medium sized companies in the UK, offering them best-practice advice on how to run their business. If you're interested in reading the full article, click here.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Wow, they just keep coming. Another 5-star review for Carbonite's Mac version, this time from MacUser Magazine: "Verdict: This good value online storage solution is so easy-to-use you'll have no excuse not to back up your files."

Check out the whole review here

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

Another nice recognition of Carbonite comes from the UK magazine Which? — similar to Consumer Reports in the US. They gave us their Best Buy rating, and that's apparently not easy to obtain. What they said is,

“

This accolade is far from easy to obtain. In fact, Best Buys are only awarded to those products that have performed to the highest standards in Which?'s rigorous testing and analysis, and cannot be requested or bought. This coveted award can be seen in the national advertising campaigns of popular brands including Miele, Panasonic and Procter & Gamble."

“

Our magazines do not carry advertising, we do not accept sponsorship of any kind and — just as a consumer would — we buy all of the thousands of products we test each year. It is for these reasons that consumers can truly trust the unbiased information we provide."

  I was unaware of this magazine, but my friends in Europe say they swear by it. Thank you, Which?.

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite

We just got another 5-star review, this one in IT Reviewed, an important online magazine for IT professionals and technorati. We really appreciate it when reviewers ask a lot of questions and do their homework. This writer, Chris Harris, really appreciated our ease-of-use.

“

If you've decided to use an online backup service, Carbonite is the best in the business. There are many positive points that the service provides including ease of use, the security of off-site storage, and low cost. There's no better online solution than Carbonite. Its hand-holding approach and close integration with Windows makes it accessible to all.

To read the entire review, click here

— Dave
CEO, Carbonite