Microsoft Announces Comprehensive Media Services Platform and Architectural Guidance for the Cloud


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Microsoft Announces Comprehensive Media Services Platform and Architectural Guidance for the Cloud
April 16, 2012
Windows Azure Media Services and Broadcast Reference Architecture empower customers to more easily design and build cost-effective cloud media solutions for a world of devices.

LAS VEGAS — April 16, 2012 — At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2012 conference today, Microsoft Corp. announced new media services and guidance to enable content providers and customers to realize the power of cloud computing. The new cloud-based Windows Azure Media Services is designed to make creating, managing and delivering media to any device easier than ever by offering a comprehensive set of ready-to-use first- and third-party media technologies. Microsoft also published a new Broadcast Reference Architecture that offers prescriptive guidance on how media companies can architect their solutions to improve systems performance management as they move toward the cloud.

Windows Azure Media Services

Taking advantage of the worldwide Windows Azure cloud infrastructure, Windows Azure Media Services gives content providers and media partners the nearly unlimited capacity of the cloud to cost-effectively handle a huge volume of digital media and make it available in the format that customers want, when they want it. Windows Azure Media Services’ ready-to-use services allow customers to simplify the creation of complex media workflows built on Microsoft Media Platform and third-party technologies.

“Our internal research shows that more than one-third of today’s Internet traffic is devoted to video consumption, and we expect that to grow to 80 percent by the end of 2015,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, Windows Azure application platform. “Not everyone has the expertise or capital required to build a media infrastructure, so Windows Azure Media Services enables companies everywhere to build custom media solutions that easily scale and adapt to meet consumers’ needs, wherever or however they consume it.”

Highlighting the diversity of solutions enabled by Windows Azure Media Services is a broad ecosystem of media partners, with many already integrating their technologies for customers to use in their own media solutions. These include high-speed transfers from Aspera Inc., content encoding from Digital Rapids Corp., ATEME and Dolby Laboratories Inc., content security from BuyDRM and Civolution, and video-on-demand streaming from Wowza Media Systems Inc. In addition, Windows Azure Media Services enables full-service media companies such as iStreamPlanet Co. and Movideo Pty. Ltd. to host and offer complete workflow solutions to customers.

Windows Azure Media Services will also support an entire ecosystem of connected devices from some of the largest consumer electronics and manufacturers in the world. With support for Microsoft Smooth Streaming, HTTP Live Streaming and Flash media formats, Windows Azure Media Services will enable customers to reach almost any connected device, from Xbox 360, Windows Phone and Windows-based PCs to non-Microsoft platforms such as smart TVs, set-top boxes, MacOS, iOS and Android. To further enable true interoperability between media technologies from different vendors, Windows Azure Media Services will also include native support for MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP), the International Organization for Standardization and Interoperability Executive Customer Council standards developed by Microsoft and other industry leaders that deliver an exceptional video experience for end users by automatically adapting to varying client and network conditions during playback.

To further showcase the capabilities of Windows Azure Media Services, Microsoft is working with Akamai and deltatre to deliver high-definition streaming video of the London 2012 Olympic Games across multiple countries through major rights holders in Europe, North America, Central America and South America. This will be the first time an event of this scale will be hosted and broadcast from a cloud platform to millions of viewers around the globe.

“Consumers now watch video anywhere, anytime and on any device,” said Bill Wheaton, senior vice president and general manager of Media at Akamai. “Working with partners such as Microsoft and deltatre, we’re eager for the Olympic Games to start and for the powerful combination of Windows Azure Media Services and Akamai’s SOLA Media Solutions to deliver a high-quality viewing experience on a global scale.”Customers can visit http://www.windowsazure.com/media to sign up for the preview of Windows Azure Media Services.

Broadcast Reference Architecture

Microsoft’s goal is to provide media and cable companies with the necessary tools and guidance to make decisions and deliver technologies that enable powerful business transformation. The Broadcast Reference Architecture provides the way forward for media organizations to assess current technology, resources and processes; to lay the foundation for future success; and to provide flexibility to allow businesses to grow, adapt and innovate quickly and in a cost-efficient manner.

Microsoft published the Broadcast Reference Architecture for the first time today and has worked with several partners, including Harris Corp., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Decentrix Inc., to roll out this reference architecture. The Broadcast Reference Architecture white paper is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/telecom/docs/BroadcastReferenceArchitecture.pdf.More information about Microsoft’s products and services for media and cable companies is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/telecom/media.aspx.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Protecode Announces Streamlined Audit Service for Discovering Open Source and Third Party Code

Protecode Announces Streamlined Audit Service for Discovering Open Source and Third Party Code

QuickAudit Ideally Suited for Small to Medium-Sized Organizations and Projects 

OTTAWA, CANADA – April 16, 2012Protecode, a leading provider of open source license management solutions, today launched QuickAuditTM,  a code auditing  service for small projects of 5,000 software files or less. QuickAudit is a one-time software assessment service that identifies all open source and third party code, highlighting licensing and copyright obligations associated with the code. This service is ideally suited for small and medium-sized organizations and for smaller projects in larger organizations. 

QuickAudit is intended for use any time a transaction involving software is anticipated. This can include product delivery to market or clients, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), investments, as well as technology transfer between organizations whether they are commercial, academic or otherwise public. 

QuickAudit is offered through an easy-to-use, secure, self serve system on Protecode’s website at www.protecode.com. The audit is performed by Protecode’s licensing experts using Protecode System 4TM automated scanning tools. As part of this service, Protecode delivers an executive audit report detailing all open source packages, licenses, copyrights, etc. associated with software files in the target portfolio. A license obligation report, summarizing the obligations associated with all licenses found in the portfolio, is also provided. 

Most organizations, knowingly or unintentionally, use open source and third party code to speed up development and reduce costs making software audits necessary. Since records of external code usage are not generally kept, uncertainties around Intellectual Property (IP) ownership can arise, affecting time to market and negatively impacting M&A activities. Protecode’s QuickAudit service allows organizations to identify software components that are used in their projects and remedy licensing issues before they become a problem. 

“Often a code audit is one of the last steps in the quality assurance process reviewed by a prospective customer. Protecode’s streamlined audit can be completed in as little as five days, depending of the number of files, which in turn speeds up the customer’s quality review process,” said Mike Sherman, vice president of engineering, Mocana Corp, a leader in smart device security. 

Protecode’s streamlined QuickAudit service addresses the global demand for fast and efficient code auditing services, especially in locations where an open source audit service was not previously available. With guaranteed pricing, delivery times worldwide, and a web-based application process, Protecode’s QuickAudit service complements its existing Protecode CertifiedTM service, bringing open source license management to smaller organizations worldwide. 

About Protecode

Protecode provides a comprehensive solution for managing open source software licenses. Protecode System 4™ uses lightning fast code scanning that works behind the scenes in real-time with code libraries, build processes and desktops to detect and report open source licenses relative to company-defined policies. Built for ease-of-use and minimal intrusion into existing development processes, Protecode cost-effectively manages the lifecycle of open source licensing obligations. Protecode is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with partners worldwide. For more information, visit www.protecode.com

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PR Contact: Angela Tuzzo, MRB Public Relations, 732-758-1100, ext. 108, atuzzo@mrb-pr.com

BlackBerry Triumphs in Enterprise-ready OS Battle, Apple #2

BlackBerry Triumphs in Enterprise-ready OS Battle, Apple #2

New research from industry analysts and Trend Micro reveals which platforms are work place secure

OTTAWA, April 13, 2012 /CNW/ - The newest findings from Trend Micro, Inc. (TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704) a global leader in cloud-based security software and services, compare the ability of several different mobile platforms to meet the demands of use in the enterprise.  Canada's own BlackBerry 7.0 scored highest across the board, ahead of Apple iOS5, Windows Phone 7.5 and Google's Android 2.3.  Altimeter Group, Bloor Research and Trend Micro's own specialists carried out the research.

BlackBerry attained the highest average score (2.89), followed by iOS (1.7), Windows Phone (1.61) and Android (1.37). The platforms were each scored on a combination of factors including built-in security, application security, authentication, device wipe, device firewall, and virtualization.

Trend Micro's Key Findings:

BlackBerry -Corporate-grade security and manageability make this platform the option of choice for the most stringent mobile roles. However, many features and protections that are commonly enabled or enforceable via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) are not present on devices that are user-provisioned via BlackBerry Internet Services (BIS). In fact, some of the strongest features restricting high-risk activities that users may undertake, such as removal of password protection for the device, may be rendered inactive if a user's device is not provisioned via the BES.

Apple - The iOS application architecture provides user protection because all applications are "sand-boxed" in a common memory environment.  Security in iOS also extends to the physical attributes of the iPhone and iPad.  There are no options for adding removable storage, which in effect provides another layer of protection for users. Apple also compares favourably to BlackBerry insofar as the BlackBerry IT administrator has complete control over the device, while with Apple's iOS, an IT department can only configure items once the user has supplied his or her permission.

Windows Phone - Microsoft has created a reasonably robust and secure smartphone operating system in Windows Phone. The OS uses privileges and isolation techniques to create sandbox processes. These "chambers" are based on a policy system that, in turn, defines which system features the processes operating in a chamber can be accessed. 

Android - Although Android is now available in more recent versions (4.x), version 2.x is still the most widely deployed on existing and new handsets. This is a security risk in itself; with no central means of providing Operating System updates, meaning that many users remain unprotected from critical vulnerabilities for a prolonged period. On the plus side, it is a privilege-separated operating system and applications can't access the network without prior consent. Apps run in their individual sandboxed environment and permissions are granted by the user on a per app basis.  Unfortunately the end user often fails to closely inspect the permissions request dialogue in their haste to use the app. It is often unclear, when permissions are given, what the application is actually capable of.

"The continuing explosion of BYOD (bring your own device) coupled with the consumerization of IT continues to make every mobile device a risk to business. While some mobile devices manufacturers provide enterprise grade security capability, organizations need to protect their valuable data regardless of the device their employees choose to use." Commented Jim Short, Trend Micro Canada General Manager.

The report is available here www.trendmicro.com/cloud-content/us/pdfs/business/reports/rpt_enterprise_readiness_consumerization_mobile_platforms.pdf

Trend Micro
 (TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704), a global cloud security leader, creates a world safe for exchanging digital information with its Internet content security and threat management solutions for businesses and consumers. Additional information about Trend Micro Incorporated and the products and services are available at Trend Micro.com.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in Internet content security, focuses on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers. Trend Micro is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats. A transnational company, with headquarters in Tokyo, and operations in nearly 30 countries including Canada, Trend Micro's trusted security solutions are sold through its business partners worldwide.

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For further information:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Claire M. Tallarico, 416-616-9940

No More Cell Shock

No More Cell Shock

 
 

April 12, 2012 10:30 AM

Ontario intends to introduce legislation that would strengthen the protections available to Ontario consumers when entering into cell phone and wireless services agreements.

The legislation would, if passed, make it easier for Ontarians to understand the costs and terms of wireless services agreements for cell phones, smart phones and other mobile devices.

Full disclosure of goods and services

More than 80 per cent of wireless service agreements are post-paid, which means people are billed after they sign agreements and use the services. Consumers often experience "cell shock" when they are charged for services they did not agree to or they did not know would result in added costs. An example is when a consumer is charged for paper bills even though their agreement did not include a cost for that service.

The legislation would, if passed, help consumers understand their contracts:

  • Providers would need to clearly explain what services are provided, which services would result in added costs, how services can be accessed, rates and restrictions (for example, if a long-distance plan is within Ontario only).
  • If a phone is provided free or at a discount, the contract would need to include its retail value and the actual cost to the consumer.
  • Information on how cancellation fees are calculated would need to be included in the agreement.
  • The legislation would also require companies to provide information on roaming charges and whether a cell phone is locked, for how long and the cost to unlock it.

Cancel agreements at any time with limits on cancellation costs

The proposed legislation would give consumers the right to cancel a wireless services agreement at any time by giving notice to their wireless services provider. The cost to cancel would depend on the type of agreement. Cancellation costs would be capped.

There would be no cost to cancel no-fixed term agreements where no phone was provided. If a phone was provided free or at a discount price, the maximum cancellation fee would be a pro-rated amount of the cost of the phone. For example, if a $500 phone was provided at $100, the cost to cancel would be calculated as if the agreement was for four years. In that case, if a customer cancelled after two years, the customer would owe $200.

For fixed-term agreements where a phone was not provided, the maximum cost to the customer would be either $50 or 10 per cent of the remaining payments under the contract (whichever is less). If a free or discounted phone was part of the agreement, the cancellation fee would be a pro-rated amount of the value of the phone calculated over how much time has expired. For example, if a $500 phone was provided at $100 for a one-year agreement, the cost to cancel would depend on the time left in the agreement. If a customer cancels after three months, the customer would owe $300.

Comprehensive, easy-to-understand agreements

The proposed legislation, if passed, would ensure contracts include clear disclosure of key terms, making them more understandable to consumers. Companies would also need to deliver an agreement in a form that a consumer can keep, such as electronic documents or printed copies.

If a copy is not provided to the consumer at the time the agreement is made or the company does not make all the disclosures that the law requires including all the key terms of the contract, a consumer would have the right to cancel the agreement within one year of signing and the company would need to refund all payments made under the contract to the consumer.

Consent

If passed, the proposed legislation would require companies to get a customer's express consent if a fixed term contract is to be renewed, extended or amended. This means customers must expressly agree to any change to the agreement before it is made. Automatic contract renewal would not be allowed. Consumers must receive updated copies of all amended or renewed agreements.

All-inclusive pricing

Under the proposed legislation, wireless services providers would have to include the total cost of an agreement in any price advertising, making prices more transparent. This means that all charges that a customer would see on their bill - the "all-in" cost - would need to be the most prominent price information shown in the ad.

Unacceptable Billing

Under the proposed legislation, consumers could not be charged for services they could not access because their hardware was being repaired while under warranty. If the customer received a loaner phone while their phone was being repaired, the borrowed phone would need to be provided free of charge. This would not apply to phones that are damaged by the consumers or not covered by warranty.

Strong, Enforceable Remedies and Protections

The proposed legislation, if passed, would make it an offence for wireless services providers to bill customers for payments a provider is not entitled to under the legislation. The legislation would give consumers who are owed a refund the right to sue the provider and claim three times the amount that is owed them.

Ontario is joining with Québec, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador in proposing legislation that would offer Ontario consumers strong protections and remedies when it comes to the cell phone agreements.

CONTACTS

  • Bryan LeBlanc
    Minister's Office
    416-326-1939
  • Sandra Bento
    Communications Branch
    416-327-9708

Gartner Outlines 10 Consumer Macro Trends to Impact Technology, Media and Service Providers for Next 10 Years

Gartner Outlines 10 Consumer Macro Trends to Impact Technology, Media and Service Providers for Next 10 Years

STAMFORD, Conn., April 16, 2012— Consumer technology markets are being redefined by a new set of consumer expectations and values shaped by global economics, technology and social change, according to Gartner, Inc. Analysts have identified 10 consumer macro trends shaping the technology, media and service provider markets over the next 10 years. All 10 of these trends converge around questions of value — what consumers value enough to pay for, how consumers' values are changing, and how technology and service providers (T&SPs) can respond to this to increase their sales and margins.

"Technologies are changing fast, but so are consumers. An understanding of the major demand-side dynamics is critical in order to build a 360-degree view of how the volatile market for digital technologies and services will evolve the next 10 years," said Nick Ingelbrecht, research director at Gartner. "Consumer macro trends are summaries of often complex and interrelated shifts in consumer behavior. All of these aspects of consumer behavior are dynamic and specific change drivers, and all of them impact technology markets."

Market Trend No. 1 — The Great Depression, Part 2: Consumer Confidence and the New Normal

Consumer technology markets are being redefined by a new set of consumer expectations and values shaped by global economics. In mature markets, many consumers have cut back on discretionary spending in the wake of successive financial crises. However, consumers seem to put a higher value on media and communications products in times of recession as they cut back on more-expensive substitutes. Tough times create "buyer's markets," meaning that T&SPs must adjust their operations to accommodate changing consumer expectations. This involves switching to more recession-friendly marketing messages, a greater range of "affordable" or "value" product options, more-strenuous customer engagement efforts, and improved customer experience.

Market Trend No. 2 — The Impact of Acceleration/Deceleration: The Temporal Digital Divide Widens

Structural acceleration is changing consumption patterns and leaving some consumers behind. Acceleration means consumers expect regular and increasingly frequent product upgrades. Over time, there has been a closing of the classic "digital divide" between the haves and have-nots in terms of access to basic technology products and services. However, new digital divides have opened up, especially inequalities in relation to the social graph and consumers' ability to access and manage — or not manage — real-time, nonstop ubiquitous connectivity that is the product of technological acceleration.

Acceleration should in theory give consumers more spare time to do the things they want. In reality, they experience the reverse. Therefore, the most valuable product that T&SPs can deliver to consumers is extra time in the day to do things that they want or need to get done. Products and services that help consumers fill their time more productively and/or pleasurably are the most compelling

Market Trend No. 3 — Women Wanted: Unlocking Gender Opportunities

The consumer technology market is trending toward the production and marketing of more female-friendly technology products targeted at the market's single biggest demographic: women. Women are underrepresented in key job roles within the technology and media sectors. This is clearly a missed opportunity given that women typically control from 70 to 80 percent of household spending, including big-ticket items such as computers, cars and houses. T&SPs should conduct a gender audit and invest, if necessary, in recruiting suitable talent to redress underrepresentation of genders in key decision-making and creative roles.

Market Trend No. 4 — The Power Customer Replaces Consumer Power

Technology is facilitating more customized shopping experiences and putting greater power into the hands of the customer. Consumers have unprecedented access to the information they need to make more-informed decisions about switching between brands. Dealing with empowered consumers makes life more challenging for brands, but presents an opportunity for competitive differentiation to organizations that are prepared to invest in meeting the demands of power customers. Technology brands need to assess and improve their ability to interact and develop a relationship with their customers through customer care initiatives, including after-sales and technical support.

Market Trend No. 5 — The Social Information Lifeline

The consumer market is increasingly turning to social networks for news and information and tuning out of mainstream media news feeds. Increasingly, consumers are turning to social networks to get their daily fix of news and information about the wider world, as well as sharing their news and posting their commentaries. As a result, news format and content are progressively being reconstructed around social media channels. News media and content providers need to move to a multiscreen distribution arrangement using social, mobile and interactive channels. Social media will continue to challenge traditional brand relationships and business models, and a whole-organization response will ultimately be required in building a cohesive social CRM.

Market Trend No. 6 — Humanity 2.0: Consumers Become the Computer's "Killer App"

The market is being driven by self-reinforcing patterns of technology usage that are fundamentally changing consumer behavior. The self-reinforcing characteristics of technology usage shows that not only will the consumer technology market grow, but it will also take a bigger share of the consumer wallet in the future, as well as creating new markets. Technology providers must anticipate changes in consumer behavior early in order to create a credible presence in the new media environment. At the same time, two-thirds of the market can be considered later adopters, who will be slow to absorb new services and digital interactions, and T&SPs should consider developing bridge products and services that will allow later adopters to embrace these technologies and products.

Market Trend No. 7 — Renegotiation of Consumer Trust

The consumer market is seeking new institutions, brands and values to trust in. The collapse of confidence in traditional institutions following bank failures, government collapse, corruption, economic and civil unrest and the disruption to previously accepted "norms" (such as local communities and nuclear families) have sent consumers searching for new brands, values and social organizations that they can trust. Brands that help their customers through hard times can build strong emotional and cognitive loyalty among consumers, leading to significant opportunity for brand extension.

Market Trend No. 8 — Changing Channels: Brands Chase the Migration of Consumer Mind Share

The consumer market is shifting online, but consumers still expect a multichannel brand experience. In terms of scale, retail stores will remain dominant revenue generators for some time to come, and the importance of online channels depends on the product. However, customers don't think in channels; they just shop, and retailers, therefore, need to make the shopping experience as integrated and seamless as possible. T&SPs should build their multichannel operations around their business intelligence systems in order to understand the voice of the customer, using business analytics to track the behavior of consumers across channels, reallocate resources and rebalance priorities as necessary.

Market Trend No. 9 — The Death of Complexity

The consumer market is becoming progressively less tolerant of complexity. Although consumers tend to buy products with ever-richer features, they often prefer those that are simple and intuitive. The ability to provide appealing and intuitive user interfaces has become a critical point of differentiation among competing technology providers. As technology becomes more complex, vendors need to invest more in keeping the user interface simple and intuitive. T&SPs therefore need to focus on simplifying technology, pricing, brand messaging, and feedback and interaction, and consider offering chargeable help services for consumers challenged by installing and configuring new equipment and services in their homes.

Market Trend No. 10 — The Destiny of Demographics and Rise of the Mainstream Middle Class

The focus of innovation and consumption is shifting to emerging economies. By 2030, China will have world's most rapidly aging population, aging faster than Germany or Japan and, by that time, India will be world's youngest in terms of population trajectory. Demographics clearly impact consumption patterns, but so, too, do consumer culture, values and attitudes, including consumer expectations. Class matters to brands because the middle classes tend to control a disproportionate share of the national income and make brand choices based on factors other than price. T&SPs need to increase engagement and exposure to emerging markets, in particular recruiting and building an understanding of local consumer needs and preferences, and applying those to the broader innovation process and strategy.

Additional analysis is available in the Gartner report "Market Trends: Consumer Macro Trends, Worldwide, 2012-2022." The report is available at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1945518.

Contacts:

Christy Pettey
Gartner
+1 408 468 8312
christy.pettey@gartner.com

Susan Moore
Gartner
+61 2 9459 4692
susan.moore@gartner.com


About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is a valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,500 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,500 associates, including 1,250 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

Citrix Acquires Podio

Citrix Acquires Podio

Collaborative Work Platform Empowers Teams to Move from Simply Talking about Work to Getting It Done. Podio to debut at Citrix Synergy in San Francisco, May 9–11.

Santa Clara, California » 4/11/2012 »

Citrix today announced it has completed the acquisition of Podio, an innovative, privately held company that offers a collaborative work platform which supports people and teams getting work done the way they want in a social setting. Podio’s unique apps concept adds structure and activity streams to any type of work and collaboration with teams, clients, in projects, and within functions such as sales, recruiting, marketing or any other area of business. A cloud service, Podio unifies the content, traditional business applications, and new mobile apps, as well as the real-time and asynchronous communications required to work in the post PC era. It is a natural extension of the Citrix collaboration business, providing today’s mobile and distributed workforce an easy, secure and social way to come together and work as teams. Podio will be part of the GoTo cloud services portfolio, which includes GoToMeeting. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Modern Work Styles Need Social Team Collaboration

The nature of work has changed; teams are global, dispersed, social, and mobile. Work now gets performed by distributed teams including employees, as well as contractors and partners outside the formal company. Combine these workforce changes with trends such as the consumerization of technology and Bring Your Own (Device, App and/or Service) and businesses must rethink the way work is carried out. A critical requirement is to empower teams to collaborate, create, manage and share with an increasingly mobile workforce who work outside of the traditional office environment. Early social collaboration tools and networks served as catalysts to improve engagement and visibility among distributed organizations, customers and partners by providing immediate comment and feedback on posted content. Podio builds on these initial approaches, offering a more robust cloud-based platform where people collaborate and do actual work utilizing social elements. For example, real-time status updates, or providing the ability to link to, share, manage tasks, comment and give feedback are now part of business processes. Teams are able to create new social workflows which can be simply captured as social-enabled apps, providing better ways of working, and improving productivity as a result.

Supporting the Way Teams Want to Work

Podio enables small and medium-sized businesses and teams within larger organizations to manage all types of business processes and associated workflows using pre-assembled apps from Podio’s free app market. In addition, its innovative technology empowers users to create their own preferred workflows and social collaboration activities that best suit their projects and the way they want to work. The collaborative work platform also integrates easily, or can be embedded, with other services that may be standard in their business. These include traditional enterprise or business solutions as well as today’s popular cloud-based data storage, online collaboration and content tools including Box, Campaign Monitor, Dropbox, Evernote, FreshBooks, Google Apps, Google Docs, Google Alerts, Instapaper and Zendesk.

Advancing Citrix Collaboration Strategy

Citrix GoTo cloud services are market-leading and award-winning products that help business move faster and more efficiently by powering today’s new and emerging work styles – enabling people to connect, share and collaborate regardless of location or device. Podio brings to Citrix a collaborative work platform for teams in a social setting; the ability to integrate with traditional applications and new apps; a robust, free app market; the means to extend and modify existing apps, or create new ones in support of contemporary work flows; and a talented team with the same values and passion for improving the way work is done in the cloud era.

Learn More about Podio by Attending Citrix Synergy in San Francisco

Citrix will reveal more of its plans for Podio and its collaboration strategy at Citrix Synergy™ San Francisco, May 9–11, 2012.

Quotes

“This acquisition represents an exciting new chapter in our collaboration business. Podio extends our ability to provide a simple, secure and ‘works for everyone’ collaborative work platform in this post-PC era,” said Brett Caine, SVP and GM for Citrix Online Services Division. “The Podio technology is a powerful and innovative solution that is a natural fit with the Citrix portfolio and will help foster amazing innovation in the workplace. We are also excited about having the Podio team as part of our organization. They are an extraordinarily talented and visionary group, who share our passion for improving the way work is done.”

“From the start, Podio has been focused on creating an experience that would be more than an online place to talk about work but a platform customers trust to actually help them work as teams to get work done – 24/7. The extraordinary adoption we saw in just one year validates the pent up demand for better ways for teams to collaborate,” said Tommy Ahlers, CEO of Podio. “With a shared vision and culture that is synergistic, Citrix can help us scale to meet demand at a speed that would not be possible otherwise.”

Related Links

Availability

Customers can continue to access Podio via www.podio.com.

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About Citrix

Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) transforms how businesses and IT work and people collaborate in the cloud era. With market-leading cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization technologies, Citrix powers mobile work styles and cloud services, making complex enterprise IT simpler and more accessible for 260,000 organizations. Citrix products touch 75 percent of Internet users each day and it partners with more than 10,000 companies in 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2011 was $2.21 billion. Learn more at www.citrix.com.

Citrix Online Services Division provides a portfolio of GoTo cloud services that enable people to work from anywhere with anyone by providing simple-to-use cloud-based collaboration, remote access and IT support solutions for every type of business. Whether using GoToMeeting to hold online meetings, GoToWebinar to conduct larger web events, GoToTraining to train customers or employees, GoToMyPC to access and work on a remote Mac® or PC, GoToAssist to provide IT support and management or ShareFile to securely share files, documents and data, businesses and individuals are increasing productivity, decreasing travel costs and improving sales, training and service on a global basis. For more information, visit www.citrixonline.com.

For Citrix Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release, which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements by the company and its executives concerning the acquisition of Podio; integration plans; capabilities of certain of its services; and management’s plans, objectives and strategies, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the reaction of customers of Citrix and Podio to the acquisition; Citrix timing and ability to successfully support and integrate Podio’s services, operations (including migration of Podio to Citrix systems and controls) and employees; the introduction of new products and services by competitors or the entry of new competitors into the markets for Citrix and Podio products and services; the failure by Citrix to retain key employees of Podio; failure to further develop and successfully market Podio’s technology and services, including failure to execute Citrix sales and marketing plans; failure to achieve or maintain anticipated revenues and operating performance contributions from Podio; the risks associated with securing data and maintaining security of customer files stored by the Podio services, including the impact of any actual or perceived data breach; failure to comply with federal, state and international regulations; the impact of the global economy and uncertainty in the IT spending environment, including Citrix European markets; the success and growth of the company's product lines; the company's product concentration and its ability to develop and commercialize new products and services while maintaining sales of its established products; disruptions due to changes in key personnel and succession risks; seasonal fluctuations in the company's business; the company's reliance on and the success of partners for the marketing and distribution of the company's products; the company's ability to maintain and expand its business in small sized and large enterprise accounts; the size, timing and recognition of revenue from significant orders; the success of investments in its product groups, foreign operations and vertical and geographic markets; the management of anticipated future growth; the recruitment and retention of qualified employees; risks in effectively controlling operating expenses, including failure to manage unexpected expenses; impairment of the value of the company's investments; the effect of new accounting pronouncements on revenue and expense recognition; litigation and disputes, including challenges to our intellectual property rights or allegations of infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties; the inability to further innovate our technology due to the intellectual property rights of third parties; changes in the company's pricing and licensing models, promotional programs and product mix, all of which may impact Citrix revenue recognition or those of its competitors; charges in the event of the impairment of assets acquired through business combinations and licenses; competition, international market readiness and execution risks; unanticipated changes in tax rates or exposure to additional tax liabilities; risks of political and social turmoil and other risks detailed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

The development, release and timing of any products, services, features or functionality described for our products or services remain at our sole discretion and are subject to change without notice or consultation. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.

###

Citrix®, Citrix Synergy™, GoToMeeting®, GoToWebinar®, GoToTraining®, GoToMyPC®, GoTo Assist®, ShareFile® and Podio™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Brocade and EMC Accelerate the Journey to Cloud Computing With EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure

Brocade and EMC Accelerate the Journey to Cloud Computing With EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure

Brocade Selected as a Networking Provider in an Industry-Leading Ecosystem to Deliver Customer Choice & Flexibility via Channel Partners

SAN JOSE, CA, Apr 12, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Brocade BRCD

 +1.09% today announced its participation in a new EMC initiative to deliver Proven Infrastructure solutions for customers looking to make the transition to virtualization and cloud. The new EMC(R) VSPEX(TM) Proven Infrastructure, available only through the EMC's Velocity(TM) Program channel partners, can combine Brocade cloud-optimized networking technologies with EMC unified storage and next generation backup architecture, while enabling customers to leverage their server and hypervisor of choice.

Increasing numbers of small organizations are making the transition toward virtualization and cloud, but many are grappling with the challenge of managing IT infrastructures and ensuring application availability. Further, many do not have the in-house technical expertise or resources available to larger enterprises to smoothly make this transition. To address this need, EMC VSPEX offers customers a simple efficient and flexible means of deploying virtualization and cloud technologies, without added layers of IT complexity or risk. In addition, EMC VSPEX is built upon best-in-class technologies that provide customers with an unprecedented level of flexibility and investment protection.

In any virtualization or cloud deployment, the network plays a critical foundational role in the delivery and migration of data between virtual machines (VMs). Brocade cloud-optimized networking technologies are designed to seamlessly integrate and extend virtual compute in multi-vendor environments to help enable increased network performance, utilization and resiliency in virtualized architectures. Pre-validated by EMC for interoperability and featured in EMC's new VSPEX Labs, EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure solutions provide customers with the ability to choose from the following Brocade networking products:

-- Brocade ICX Switches: Available for deployment in VSPEX solution bundles for up to 100 VMs, Brocade ICX switches deliver enterprise-class stackable switching at an entry-level price. Two models are included in VSPEX configurations, the ICX 6450 and the ICX 6610, providing up to 48 ports of 1 Gpbs and 10 Gbps Ethernet connectivity. -- Brocade VDX Switches: For integration with VSPEX virtualization and VDI solutions that scale up to 250 VMs and up to 2,000 virtual desktops, the award-winning Brocade VDX switch family enables businesses to build data center Ethernet fabrics, which provide an intelligent foundation for cloud-optimized architectures. The Brocade VDX 6720 is available in 1U and 2U models with up to 60 10 Gbps Ethernet ports. The Brocade VDX 6710 switch features 48 1 Gbps Ethernet ports and six 10 Gbps Ethernet ports in a 1 U design. -- Brocade 6510 Fibre Channel Switches: Providing customers with a choice to utilize high-performance Fibre Channel connectivity for VSPEX-based virtualization and VDI applications (also up to 250 VMs and up to 2,000 virtual desktops), the Brocade 6510 delivers maximum reliability and flexibility. It is configurable up to 48 ports and supports 2, 4, 8, 10, or 16 Gbps speeds in an efficiently designed 1U package.

"Brocade's decade-plus partnership with EMC has generated a solid relationship built upon the successes of mutual partners and customers, as well as the common belief that certain technology solutions should be offered on an open-standards basis," said Gregg Ambulos, senior vice president, global channel sales, at EMC Corporation. "Through the years, we've worked together to integrate best of breed products from across Brocade's vast networking portfolio with outstanding results, so we're very excited about the inclusion of Brocade technologies within VSPEX Proven Infrastructure to deliver flexibility and choice to customers."

The open approach of EMC VSPEX brings together best-in-class technologies from leading vendors to create a set of highly flexible IT solutions. Taking into account the range of variability among IT environments, VSPEX's modular design enables customers to specify their choice of server, network and virtualization technologies within a pre-validated framework.

Brocade has long subscribed to this open ecosystem philosophy, and has therefore established partnerships with a number of vendors within the VSPEX ecosystem. This deeper level of collaboration affords the customer with an additional level of assurance of interoperability between components of the EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.

"With its deep technology expertise and strong consultative nature, the channel is the logical point of integration for data center architecture design and private cloud deployments," said Barbara Spicek, vice president of Global Channels at Brocade. "EMC's move toward offering modular, pre-validated virtualization solutions fully aligns with Brocade's strategy and philosophy to enable its partners to create open, multi-vendor solutions that help customers make a smooth transition toward the cloud."

The Channel as the First Mile to the Cloud

The continual maturation of cloud technologies, coupled with customers' growing interest in integrating virtualization and cloud solutions into their IT environments, presents an opportunity for channel partners. The channel's unique position within the IT marketplace and proximity to the customer makes them a natural fit as the "go-to" party for consulting and deployment of advanced technologies. To leverage the channel's valuable expertise and technical know-how, VSPEX solutions will be integrated and available via authorized Brocade Alliance Partner Network (APN) and EMC's network of Velocity partners.

As part of its ongoing commitment to drive integrated solutions via the channel, Brocade has announced the availability of programs designed to assist and reward resellers in the selling of VSPEX solutions, specifically:

-- Significant discounts on demonstration units to assist partners in populating proof-of-concept labs and increase trial deployments -- Extra percentage points for deal registration to protect partner opportunities -- Specialized Brocade Rewards bonuses to further incentivize VAR sales representatives

These programs, in conjunction with EMC's efforts to drive end-to-end enablement through the channel, provide partners with an opportunity to both capitalize on these current industry trends, while establishing themselves as the trusted advisor to the end customer.

"With VSPEX, EMC is addressing a market need for simple, flexible and efficient virtualization infrastructure solutions that are easy to deploy," said Scott Look, vice president and general manager of the Technology Infrastructure Solutions Group at Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "When configured using Brocade networking technologies, Avnet partners will be able to offer IT solutions with scalable, high-performance networking capabilities already built in, enabling them to provide end customers with the ability to easily add additional functionality and grow their infrastructure according to business demands."

Additional Resources

-- Video - Brocade's Barbara Spicek and EMC's Fred Kohout on VSPEX's http://youtu.be/zrSOm5npu48

About Brocade Brocade BRCD +1.09% networking solutions help the world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. ( www.brocade.com )

Brocade, Brocade Assurance, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, MLX, SAN Health, VCS, and VDX are registered trademarks, and AnyIO, Brocade One, CloudPlex, Effortless Networking, ICX, NET Health, OpenScript, and The Effortless Network are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright 2012 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CONTACTS Brocade Media & Analyst Relations Emory Epperson Tel: 408.333.5755 eepperso@brocade.com Brocade Investor Relations Robert Eggers Tel: 408.333.8797 reggers@brocade.com

SOURCE: Brocade

Amazon Web Services Launches Amazon CloudSearch

Amazon Web Services Launches Amazon CloudSearch

A fully managed and highly scalable search service that businesses can easily integrate into websites and applications to deliver a fast search experience

Amazon Web Services LLC
 – 13 hours ago

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN - News), today introduced Amazon CloudSearch, a new service that allows customers to easily integrate a fast, fully managed and highly scalable search functionality into their applications. Developers simply create a search domain, upload the data they want searchable, and Amazon CloudSearch automatically provisions the technology resources required and deploys the highly tuned search indexes needed – as simple as that, the search functionality is up and running. Amazon CloudSearch seamlessly scales as the amount of searchable data increases or as the query rate changes, and businesses can change search parameters, fine tune search relevance and apply new settings at any time without having to upload the data again. Amazon CloudSearch offers low, pay-as-you-go pricing with no up-front expenses or long-term commitments. To get started with Amazon CloudSearch, visithttp://aws.amazon.com/cloudsearch.

Prior to today, building robust search capability required dedicated engineering teams who would spend weeks, or even months, provisioning, configuring and deploying costly search infrastructure and software. On top of that, companies had to hire search specialists to constantly monitor, manage and adjust the search solution as traffic volumes change. With Amazon CloudSearch, customers can now quickly make any data set searchable without the additional cost and complexity of managing and scaling their own search engine.

Amazon CloudSearch leverages the same A9 technology that powers search for Amazon.com and provides businesses with high throughput and low latency so they can deliver a fast search experience to their customers. The service provides a rich query language that enables businesses to search within particular fields, perform complex Boolean searches, retrieve facet information, and specify the data included in the search results. Setup and configuration is simple and easy to use as the service automatically detects and recommends the ideal search fields from a sample data set. Settings can also be easily customized from the AWS Management Console.

ex.fm is a social music discovery platform offering a large collection of free, legal music on the web. “Each day, ex.fm users add more than a hundred thousand new song links to the platform. Historically, it has been a challenge to provide our customers with a fast search experience that can scale on top of this always growing dataset,” said Lucas Hrabovsky, CTO, ex.fm. “With a small team of engineers, we can't afford to dedicate resources to manage our search infrastructure. Amazon CloudSearch takes care of everything for us – it scales beautifully and is consistently fast. And our customers have noticed. Since deploying CloudSearch in production, we’ve received very positive feedback from customers about our search speed and accuracy.”

Sage Bionetworks is a nonprofit biomedical research organization. “We have integrated Amazon CloudSearch in Synapse, our informatics platform for collaborative biological research that will serve as a public resource for the scientific community,” said Michael Kellen, Ph.D., Director of Technology and Software Development at Sage Bionetworks. “The search service built by CloudSearch will help scientists find and use relevant data from a broad set of scientific resources. We have been impressed with the power and flexibility of CloudSearch, and how quickly we were able to use it to get a new search system up and running – we had CloudSearch instances functional in less than an hour and fully integrated with our application and deployed to our users in less than a month.”

“For many organizations, search plays a major role in how their customers experience their product or service - businesses need a sophisticated search capability to help their customers find the right information quickly. Implementing rich search functionality has traditionally been very expensive and time consuming due to the complexity of the technology required,” said Adam Selipsky, Vice President, Amazon Web Services. “Amazon CloudSearch frees customers from worrying about all of these complexities so they can easily launch powerful search functionality and pay only for the resources they use.”

About Amazon Web Services

Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) began exposing key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services -- now widely known as cloud computing. The ultimate benefit of cloud computing, and AWS, is the ability to leverage a new business model and turn capital infrastructure expenses into variable costs. Businesses no longer need to plan and procure servers and other IT resources weeks or months in advance. Using AWS, businesses can take advantage of Amazon's expertise and economies of scale to access resources when their business needs them, delivering results faster and at a lower cost. Today, Amazon Web Services provides a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that powers hundreds of thousands of enterprise, government and startup customers businesses in 190 countries around the world. AWS offers over 28 different services, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS). AWS services are available to customers from data center locations in the U.S., Brazil, Europe, Japan and Singapore.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN - News), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes - still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon's new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.comwww.amazon.co.uk,www.amazon.dewww.amazon.co.jpwww.amazon.frwww.amazon.cawww.amazon.cn,www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Tablets & Ultrabooks to Drive Mobile Computing Shipments to Over 590 Million by 2016 Says Juniper Research

Tablets & Ultrabooks to Drive Mobile Computing Shipments to Over 590 Million by 2016 Says Juniper Research

Hampshire, UK – 12th April 2012: A new report from analyst firm Juniper Research forecasts that shipments of mobile computing devices – including tablets, Ultrabooks and other notebooks – will more than double over the next five years. Driving this growth will be tablets and devices from Intel’s new Ultrabook category, with combined shipments of these devices making up 73% of the total market by that time.

Consumerisation of IT

The ‘Ultrabooks & Mobile Computing’ report finds that the consumerisation of IT is making the traditional notebook seem like a museum piece, as thin, lightweight touchscreen tablets like Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab step out of the movie screen and into the home. Notebook vendors are flocking to Intel’s new category, one which will provide a tablet user experience in a notebook form-factor.

Technology Remains Key

At the heart of the user experience are technologies like SSD (Solid State Drives) which, along with other hardware and software enhancements, provide features such as instant-on and thinner designs. Juniper’s report finds that there are still many challenges for the industry and explores the strategies available to vendors with regards to technologies like SSD.

According to report author Daniel Ashdown: “solid state storage in tablets and in Ultrabooks is undoubtedly superior in terms of boot-time and ‘z’ height compared with HDDs, but this has to be balanced against other factors such as cost and storage capacity. Vendors need to explore a range of options, including cloud storage and hybrid solutions to make these products competitive."

Other key findings from the report include:

·         Ultrabook shipments will reach 178 million by 2016 – growing at three times the rate of tablets. However, tablet shipments will still be higher, reaching 253 million annually.

·         Windows 8 will play a pivotal role in driving Ultrabook adoption, with extended battery life, always-on-always-connected and other functionalities coming with Microsoft's next OS.

·         Netbooks shipments will comprise just a third of today's volumes by 2016, as tablets and low-cost, but superior performance notebooks continue to cannibalise this short-lived segment.

The Ultrabooks whitepaper is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full study.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

For further details please contact Jess Hanslip, Press Relations

T: +44(0)1256 830001     

E: jess.hanslip@juniperresearch.com

CSC Launches Unified Communications as a Service in Canada

 

CSC Launches Unified Communications as a Service in Canada

Cisco’s Collaboration Portfolio Provides Turnkey Managed Service for
Global Enterprises

FALLS CHURCH, Va., April 12 -- CSC (NYSE: CSC) today announced a
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offering based on Cisco’s
Hosted Collaboration Solution in the Canadian market. This offering is
the latest standard managed service addition to CSC’s unified
communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions suite.

Developed in close collaboration with Cisco, and complemented by
CSC’s multi-platform integration, CSC’s UCaaS solution enhances
clients’ productivity and accelerates business processes and decision
making while lowering costs. UCaaS builds on CSC’s existing capability
to provide custom, outsourced UCC solutions, serving as the underlying
platform for the full range of collaboration capabilities and services
offering clients communication and collaboration flexibility as their
businesses grow and change.

The hosted unified communications service allows businesses to bring
converged voice, mobile and data services to every desktop in their
organization. Companies that are tightly managing their capital
expenditure will be able to take a first step into converged
communications by consuming their telephony, voicemail, conferencing and
unified messaging technologies on a utility-based, per-user pricing
model.

CSC is providing this newly launched managed service to clients
globally via its unified communications service center. Leveraging a
flexible service delivery model, CSC can accommodate customer
premises-based, CSC-hosted and hybrid deployments. CSC will also provide
all hardware and software as part of the service or will manage
customer-owned equipment. Regardless of delivery model, services ar
e
supported at a per-seat, per-month fee and receive standard solution
design and 24/7 support globally.

UCaaS builds on CSC’s rich heritage of providing world-class
telephony and integration solutions to its clients - across industry
verticals. Currently, CSC is using UCaaS internally at two major CSC
customer call centers. Additionally, CSC has deployed its UCaaS solution
as the core voice and collaboration platform for federal government and
financial industry clients and has launched paid pilots with clients in
the manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and chemical, energy and
natural resources (CENR) verticals.

“CSC’s UCaaS offering delivers to our clients a cost-effective,
flexible and responsive suite of UC capabilities,” said Nimesh Shah,
vice president of global infrastructure services and solutions for CSC.
“Continued expansion of CSC’s as a service solutions in the Canada
market with Cisco’s Unified Communications platform allows our clients
to enjoy optimized organizational communication and business process
integration - driving competitive advantage.”

Mike Ansley, vice president, Partner Organization, Cisco Canada adds,
“We welcome CSC’s UCaaS offering to Canada and the opportunities
it presents to organizations looking to realize the benefits of a Hosted
Collaboration Solution. The combination of CSC and Cisco provides
clients with world-class collaboration services to meet the changing
needs in the workplace.”

About CSC

CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled business
solutions and services. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has
approximately 98,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.0 billion for
the 12 months ended December 30, 2011. For more information, visit the
company’s website at www.csc.com.

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that
transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco Canada
Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco, has offices across Canada
dedicated to customer support, sales and service. For ongoing news,
please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com/canada/.

-30-

Cisco, the Cisco logo and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or
trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United
States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in
this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of
the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco
and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.


Contact Information

Andrea Berry
StrategicAmpersand Inc. (for Cisco)
416-961-5595, Ext. 428
andberry@cisco.com

Karin Scott
Cisco
416-306-7164
kariscot@cisco.com