WatchGuard Adds Content Security to Virtualization Platform

WatchGuard Adds Content Security to Virtualization Platform

Award-Winning Line of Web Content, DLP and Messaging Security Appliances to Go Virtual

SAN FRANCISCO (RSA) – February 28, 2012 – WatchGuard® Technologies, a global leader in business security solutions, today announced that it is expanding its virtualization offerings to soon include its award-winning line of extensible content security (XCS) appliances. Designed for VMware virtualized environments, the new WatchGuard XCSv series of appliances provide unparalleled web content, data loss prevention (DLP), email and messaging security.

"There are many reasons and benefits for why businesses, large and small, are turning to virtualized IT solutions," said Roger Klorese, Director of Product Management at WatchGuard Technologies. "WatchGuard has already taken the lead in virtualizing its firewalls, and now the company moves security forward by expanding its virtualized offerings to soon include the full array of XCS appliances."

WatchGuard XCSv
Four editions of XCSv will soon be available to meet the needs of small, midsize and large-scale distributed environments. These virtual versions provide the same level of web content, DLP, email and messaging security offered by WatchGuard XCS hardware appliances, including advanced anti-spam and malware protection, zero-hour threat outbreak response and easy to use management and reporting features.

Because multiple instances of XCSv can run on a single vSphere hypervisor, the WatchGuard virtual appliance is ideal for managed security services providers (MSSPs), hosting providers, and larger IT organizations who wish to run separate logical XCS web security and content gateways on the same host system.

Furthermore, because the WatchGuard XCSv series can be deployed adjacent to messaging and web servers within the virtual infrastructure, and even across internal networks between virtual machines in the same cluster or on the same server, XCSv is well suited to implement web and messaging security policies between domains, applications, user communities or tenants. Even in small offices with a single server running consolidated workloads, an instance of XCSv can be run on the same server to provide web, DLP, email and messaging security.

WatchGuard XCSv will be initially supported on VMware vSphere versions 4.1 and 5.0. Pricing and availability are not being announced at this time; however, a limited beta will be offered within 30 days of this announcement. Parties interested in participating in the WatchGuard XCSv beta should register at: https://watchguard.wufoo.com/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchguard-xcsv-beta-program/

Klorese concludes, "By having both XTM and XCS product lines available as virtual solutions, businesses gain the benefits of complete protection for their entire network, their applications, data and users. No other vendor gives this level of depth and breadth of virtualized security solutions."

About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc. has been the advanced technology leader of business security solutions, providing mission-critical protection to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. The WatchGuard family of wired and wireless unified threat management appliances, messaging, content security and SSL VPN remote access solutions provide extensible network, application and data protection, as well as unparalleled network visibility, management and control. WatchGuard products are backed by WatchGuard LiveSecurity® Service, an innovative support, maintenance, and education program. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle and has offices serving North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit www.watchguard.com.

Oracle’s RightNow CX February 2012 Release Extends Capabilities of Leading Customer Experience Suite

Oracle’s RightNow CX February 2012 Release Extends Capabilities of Leading Customer Experience Suite

Redwood Shores, CA – February 29, 2012

News Facts

The February 2012 release of Oracle’s RightNow CX Suite, the customer experience suite, has been enhanced with several key new capabilities designed to power great customer experiences. Enhancements include a new Knowledge API, Multifactor Authentication, Facebook Conversation Access and improved Intent Guide functionality.

Knowledge as a Service Capabilities Powered by New Enhancements

Knowledge API allows businesses to enhance service quality and increase self-help opportunities by leveraging the RightNow Knowledge Foundation from any application, service or device, delivering Knowledge as a Service capabilities.

The Industry's Most Secure Cloud Environment Helps Increase Consumer Confidence

Multifactor Authentication (MFA) process strengthens authentication to help reduce the risk of data compromise. This feature is designed to build trust and increase confidence among consumers, further strengthening RightNow’s commitment to providing its customers with a secure cloud environment and to empowering companies with a high level of security.
Oracle’s RightNow CX suite has more compliance certifications than any other customer service cloud platform including: Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP); National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council information security standard defined by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI -DSS / PCI-SSC); Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996; Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) and Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE 16); and Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA).

New Social Tools Enhance Customer Service

Facebook Conversation Access, a component of the RightNow Social Experience, allows organizations to subscribe to a Facebook page or RSS feed from within Cloud Monitor, which is a social media monitoring tool that lets brands listen and join conversations that consumers are having about a company’s products and services.
This tool empowers brands to improve service quality by automatically retrieving relevant posts and providing a contextual view of conversations and comments from across the social network.
Targeted sentiment detection on comments helps agents to prioritize activities and elevate the most pressing customer inquiries.

Intent Directed Virtual Assistant Enriches Customer Interactions

Intent Guide Virtual Assistant provides enhanced web chat experiences with threaded chat interactions to gather critical information from consumers utilizing natural conversational language. This feature helps to better identify customer intent and improve company responsiveness, increase conversion rates, and reduce operating costs.

On January 25, 2012, RightNow was acquired by Oracle.

Supporting Resources

About Oracle

Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center. For more information about Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Reference herein to third party content, including analysis, opinions, predictions and statements, does not constitute or imply Oracle's endorsement of or concurrence with such content.

 

# # #

Contact Info

Susie Penner
Oracle
+1.650.506.1973
susanne.penner@oracle.com

Aaron Wessels
Blanc and Otus
+1.415.378.8090
awessels@blancandotus.com

HP Supports Patient Care at Runnymede Healthcare Centre in Canada

HP Supports Patient Care at Runnymede Healthcare Centre in Canada

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Feb. 29, 2012

HP today announced that Runnymede Healthcare Centre has chosen HP Converged Infrastructure to support patient care as well as reduce IT administration time and costs.

Toronto-based Runnymede, which provides specialized medical, therapeutic and outpatient services to people affected by long-term chronic conditions, was subjected to considerable network downtime with an outdated data infrastructure. This resulted in delays when hospital staff accessed applications supporting patient care and in unreliable communication between staff and patients.

Since implementing HP LeftHand Storage and HP ProLiant Servers at its new facility, Runnymede no longer experiences data center downtime, which has greatly improved IT staff productivity. In addition, the hospital can fulfill its strategic vision of implementing an electronic patient record.

“The time we spent maintaining and repairing our old data infrastructure was eating into the time we needed to focus on applications required by clinical staff to improve patient care,” said Angela Copeland, chief information officer and privacy officer, Runnymede Healthcare Centre. “With HP Converged Infrastructure solutions, we’re now able to focus on clinical applications since the only attention our data infrastructure requires is the short time it takes to add capacity.”

HP LeftHand Storage, part of the HP Converged Storage portfolio, fuses scale-out storage software with HP ProLiant server hardware. This physical and virtual IT solution ensures high availability to reduce the risk of downtime. Business continuity is ensured by replicating data across a cluster of storage nodes. This provides continuous data availability in the event of an outage.

HP LeftHand Storage deployed at Runnymede applies this innovative approach to eliminate single points of failure across the storage area network, reducing risk without driving up costs. HP LeftHand Storage also reduces costs by allowing Runnymede to purchase storage based on its current needs, with the flexibility to add more capacity and performance as needed without disruptions.

In addition to HP Converged Storage, the healthcare provider chose HP ProLiant rack-mount servers as part of its HP Converged Infrastructure. These physical HP servers are virtualized with VMware vSphere to increase IT flexibility to scale up as hospital requirements expand.

“Runnymede struggled with an unstable IT environment that hampered access to applications that aid in patient care, which is the lifeblood for healthcare providers,” said Jeff Wilson, national sales manager, Storage, HP Canada. “Now with reliable access to data, staff can concentrate on providing the best possible care with confidence that the Centre’s data needs will scale with HP Converged Infrastructure.”

HP Converged Infrastructure is a core component of an Instant-On Enterprise. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.

HP’s premier client event, HP Discover, takes place June 4-7 in Las Vegas.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

Symantec Report Finds New Wave of Cyber-attacks Impersonating Business Mediation and Arbitration Service and Volume of Spam Increases Around Valentine’s Day

Symantec Report Finds New Wave of Cyber-attacks Impersonating Business Mediation and Arbitration Service and Volume of Spam Increases Around Valentine’s Day  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – February 29, 2012 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the findings of its February Symantec Intelligence Report, which shows a new wave of cyber-attacks designed to impersonate a well-known business mediation and arbitration service in North America.


Businesses are being targeted with emails purporting to originate from the US Better Business Bureau, socially engineered to suggest that a complaint had been filed against the organization and the details of the complaint could be found in the file attachment, which would lead to a PDF file that contains an embedded executable or a URL that leads to the malware.


Click to Tweet: February intelligence report shows a new wave of cyber-attacks designed to impersonate the Better Business Bureau: http://bit.ly/y66wWv


“These attacks are reminiscent of similar incidents that were first reported in 2007, when C-level business executives were being targeted with emails that purported to originate from the US Better Business Bureau (BBB). The new wave of attacks bear similar social engineering techniques to the 2007 attacks, although recently the attackers are using considerably more advanced techniques, including server-side polymorphism, making them especially protean in nature,” said Paul Wood, cyber security intelligence manager, Symantec.


“Server-side polymorphism enables the attacker to generate a unique strain of malware for each use, in order to evade detection by traditional anti-virus security software. Scripts such as PHP are commonly used on the attacker’s Web site to generate the malicious code on-the-fly. Like the Greek sea-god, Proteus, the continually transforming nature of these attacks makes them very difficult to recognize and detect using more traditional signature-based defenses,” Wood said.


This month’s report also reveals that cyber criminals tapping into the zeitgeist was particularly noticeable in the week running-up to St. Valentine’s Day, as the volume of spam messages referencing the event rose by as much as three and a half times the daily average for that week. The volume started falling off again after February 14, with a late spike occurring on February 16, when almost 6 times the daily average volume of emails referencing the special day was recorded.


Other Report Highlights:

Spam: In February 2012, the global ratio of spam in email traffic fell by 1.0 percentage points since January 2011, to 68.0 percent (1 in 1.47 emails). This follows the continuing trend of global spam levels diminishing gradually since the latter part of 2011.


Phishing: In February, the global phishing rate increased by 0.01 percentage points, taking the global average rate to one in 358.1 emails (0.28 percent) that comprised some form of phishing attack.


E-mail-borne Threats: The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic was one in 274.0 emails (0.37 percent) in February, an increase of 0.03 percentage points since January 2011. In February, 27.4 percent of email-borne malware contained links to malicious Web sites, 1.6 percentage points lower than January 2011.


Web-based Malware Threats: In February, Symantec Intelligence identified an average of 2,305 Web sites each day harboring malware and other potentially unwanted programs including spyware and adware; an increase of 9.7 percent since January 2011.


Endpoint Threats: The most frequently blocked malware for the last month was WS.Trojan.H. WS.Trojan.H is generic cloud-based heuristic detection for files that posses characteristics of an as yet unclassified threat. Files detected by this heuristic are deemed by Symantec to pose a risk to users and are therefore blocked from accessing the computer.


Geographical Trends:

Spam

  • Saudi Arabia remained the most spammed geography in February; with a spam rate of 76.2 percent.
  • In the US, 68.9 percent of email was spam and 68.5 percent in Canada.
  • The spam level in the UK was 68.6 percent.
  • In The Netherlands, spam accounted for 70.0 percent of email traffic, 67.9 percent in Germany, 68.8 percent in Denmark.
  • In Australia 68.3 percent of email was blocked as spam, compared with 67.9 percent in Hong Kong, 67.0 percent in Singapore and 65.1 percent in Japan.
  • Spam accounted for 68.8 percent of email traffic in South Africa and 72.4 percent in Brazil.

Phishing

  • The Netherlands remained the country most targeted for phishing attacks in February, with one in 152.8 emails identified as phishing.
  • Phishing levels for the US reached one in 753.5 and one in 427.9 for Canada.
  • In Germany phishing levels were one in 700.9, one in 461.9 in Denmark.
  • In Australia, phishing activity accounted for one in 499.9 emails and one in 1,045 in Hong Kong; for Japan it was one in 4,762 and one in 689.9 for Singapore.
  • In Brazil one in 863.9 emails was blocked as phishing.

E-mail-borne Threats

  • Luxembourg became the geography with the highest ratio of malicious email activity in February, with one in 63.9 emails identified as malicious.
  • In the UK, one in 154.5 emails was identified as malicious, compared with South Africa, where one in 184.9 emails was blocked as malicious.
  • The virus rate for email-borne malware in the US was one in 436.5 and one in 294.0 in Canada.
  • In Germany virus activity reached one in 369.2 and one in 611.7 in Denmark.
  • In Australia, one in 387.6 emails was malicious. For Japan the rate was one in 1,167, compared with one in 452.8 in Singapore.
  • In Brazil, one in 534.7 emails in contained malicious content.

Vertical Trends:

  • The Automotive sector overtook Education to become the most spammed industry sector in February, with a spam rate of 70.9 percent; the spam rate for the Education sector was 70.6 percent.
  • The spam rate for the Chemical & Pharmaceutical sector was 68.9 percent, compared with 68.4 percent for IT Services, 68.6 percent for Retail, 68.5 percent for Public Sector and 68.0 percent for Finance.
  • The Public Sector remained the most targeted by phishing activity in February, with one in 84.1 emails comprising a phishing attack.
  • Phishing levels for the Chemical & Pharmaceutical sector reached one in 726.2 and one in 670.6 for the IT Services sector, one in 523.7 for Retail, one in 150.0 for Education and one in 328.6 for Finance.
  • With one in 71.2 emails being blocked as malicious, the Public Sector remained the most targeted industry in February.
  • The virus rate for the Chemical & Pharmaceutical sector reached one in 328.5and one in 405.4 for the IT Services sector; one in 364.7 for Retail, one in 124.1 for Education and one in 297.8 for Finance.

Market Trends:

  • The spam rate for small to medium-sized businesses (1-250) was 68.3 percent, compared with 68.9 percent for large enterprises (2500+).
  • Phishing attacks targeting small to medium-sized businesses (1-250) accounted for one in 265.7 emails, compared with one in 361.9 for large enterprises (2500+).
  • Malicious email-borne attacks destined for small to medium-sized businesses (1-250) accounted for one in 262.5 emails, compared with one in 261.7 for large enterprises (2500+).

The February Symantec Intelligence Report provides greater detail on all of the trends and figures noted above, as well as more detailed geographical and vertical trends.


Related

Connect with Symantec

About Symantec Intelligence Report

The Symantec Intelligence report provides the latest analysis of cyber security threats, trends and insights from the Symantec Intelligence team concerning malware, spam, and other potentially harmful business risks. The data used to compile the analysis for this combined report includes data from January and February 2012.


About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

Microsoft Outlines Evolved Security, Privacy and Reliability Strategies for Cloud and Big Data


Microsoft Outlines Evolved Security, Privacy and Reliability Strategies for Cloud and Big Data
Trustworthy Computing Next advocates for continued focus amid new computing inflection points.

SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 28, 2012 — Today at the RSA Conference 2012, Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, shared his vision for the road ahead as society and computing intersect in an increasingly interconnected world. In a new paper, “Trustworthy Computing (TwC) Next,” Charney encouraged industry and governments to develop more effective privacy principles focused on use and accountability, improve end-to-end reliability of cloud services through increased fault modeling and standards efforts, and adopt more holistic security strategies including improved hygiene and greater attention to detection and containment.

Ten years ago, the computing ecosystem was at a crossroads when Bill Gates introduced TwC and called for industry collaboration. Today, technology and society are more interconnected than ever. Big data’s strain on privacy protection, the shifting relationship between government and the Internet, and the evolving threat model all raise new challenges for industry and governments globally.

“We are at another inflection point, with expectations for better security, privacy and reliability growing at an exponential rate,” Charney said. “Now is the time for industry and governments to develop and adopt strategies and policies that balance business and societal needs with individuals’ choices.”

The Cloud and Big Data

The proliferation of devices and cloud services has resulted in a massive aggregation of global data, also known as big data. While offering many potential societal benefits, this collection of data poses unique challenges. From a security perspective, big data represents a valuable target for attackers. As the cloud and devices become more integrated with society, people also become increasingly dependent on the reliability and availability of data and services to function. Finally, the massive increase in the amount and types of data available for collection, analysis and dissemination has strained traditional rules to protect privacy.

One solution for the privacy challenge is for government, industry, academia and consumer groups to collaborate in updating current privacy principles to address the world of big data. These revised principles should place a greater focus on appropriate uses of data. They should also include an “accountability” principle to help ensure organizations use and protect data in ways consistent with individual and societal expectations. Together, these principles can help reduce the burden on the consumer and shift greater responsibility to the data collector.

“Microsoft has long been a contributor to the global debate and discussion on the future of privacy,” said Malcolm Crompton, managing director of Information Integrity Solutions Pty Ltd. “The global framework proposed by Scott Charney tackles head-on many of the difficult realities of today’s environment. It’s a great contribution to the dialogue.”

The Role of Government

The advent of big data has also been challenging for governments. Any transformative technological change that recasts the way people live will engender deeper government engagement. This is because governments’ relationship with the Internet is a complex one. In the TwC Next white paper, Charney said governments globally are simultaneously users of the Internet, protectors of individual users as well as the Internet itself, and exploiters that capitalize on the power of technology for a variety of purposes.

In times of need, governments may use online services to keep citizens informed, and first responders can react more effectively than those not using cloud-based services because they have GPS devices, mapping capabilities, street views, videoconferencing and other cloud-based services. Such benefits only materialize, however, if these systems meet reasonable expectations of overall service reliability.

Recognizing this fact, governments may play an increasingly active role in many aspects of the Internet. Some nations are looking at legislatively mandating the adoption of information risk-management plans for those managing information and computing systems.

The Evolving Threat Landscape

While the quality of code has improved and infection rates have declined for products developed under Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle, the threat landscape continues to evolve. Opportunistic threats have been supplemented by attacks that are more persistent and, in many cases, far more worrisome. While some of these attacks have been called “Advanced Persistent Threats,” that term is often a misnomer. Some are advanced, but many are not; attack vectors are often traditional and unsophisticated. What marks these attacks is that the adversary is willing to persist over time and is firmly resolved to penetrate a particular victim.

“The new security challenges today are to some extent the same as the old security challenges. They’ve just been magnified,” said Alan Levine, chief information security officer at Alcoa Inc. “An organization may be targeted by a determined adversary who has the time, skills and tenacity to prevail.”

Companies must improve their basic hygiene approach to counter the opportunistic threats and make even persistent and determined adversaries work harder. This can be accomplished by designing systems not just to prevent attacks and recover from them, but also to detect successful attackers quickly and contain them so that their unauthorized access or disruption is limited. This new paradigm of protect, detect, contain and recover can serve as a practical foundation for managing risk in the age of persistent and determined adversaries.

More information about Microsoft’s vision for TwC Next is at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/security.

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

Gartner Says Worldwide Server Revenue Grew 7.9 Percent and Shipments Increased 7 Percent in 2011

Gartner Says Worldwide Server Revenue Grew 7.9 Percent and Shipments Increased 7 Percent in 2011

STAMFORD, Conn., February 28, 2012— The worldwide server market ended 2011 with mixed results, as worldwide server revenue declined 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and server shipments increased 4.5 percent, according to Gartner, Inc. For the year, worldwide server revenue grew 7.9 percent (see Table 3), and server shipments increased 7 percent (see Table 4).

“The shortage of hard-disk drive (HDD) inventory because of the Thailand floods in October 2011 provided supply issues, and many providers could not meet the demand in the last weeks of 2011, said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. “We expect the negative impact of these drive supply issues to continue into 1Q12.”

From a geographic perspective, all regions grew year-on-year in shipments for the quarter, with the exception of Western Europe which fell 3.1 percent for the period. In vendor revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011, Asia/Pacific, Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East/Africa all posted mid-high-single-digit to low-double-digit year-on-year growth, while Canada, Latin America, USA and Western Europe all posted high-single-digit to low-double-digit declines.

IBM was the market leader in the worldwide server market based on revenue (see Table 1)--the company ended the year with $4.7 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 for a total share of 33.7 percent. IBM’s revenue was down 10.2 compared to the same quarter in 2010. IBM’s growth was fueled by its Power Systems product line.

Of the top five global vendors, Dell was the only vendor to experience a growth in worldwide server revenue with 7.3 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

 Table 1
Worldwide: Server Vendor Revenue Estimates, 4Q11 (U.S. Dollars)

Company

4Q11

Revenue

4Q11 Market Share (%)

4Q10

Revenue

4Q10 Market Share (%)

4Q11-4Q10 Growth (%)

IBM

4,682,403,526

33.7

5,213,930,594

35.4

-10.2

HP

3,744,672,592

26.9

4,457,791,867

30.3

-16.0

Dell

2,060,795,399

14.8

1,920,161,049

13.1

7.3

Oracle

735,403,237

5.3

805,582,264

5.5

-8.7

Fujitsu

496,164,699

3.6

560,391,957

3.8

-11.5

Other Vendors

2,192,866,498

15.8

1,753,824,781

11.9

25.0

Total

13,912,305,950

100.0

14,711,682,511

100.0

-5.4

Source: Gartner (February 2012)

In server shipments, HP remained the worldwide leader for the fourth quarter of 2011 (see Table 2). HP accounted for 28.1 percent of global shipments in the fourth quarter of 2011, despite a shipment decline of 8.1 percent.

Of the top 5 vendors in server shipments worldwide, Lenovo and Dell were the only vendors to post shipment increases. Lenovo’s shipments grew 51 percent, and Dell increased 11.2 percent compare to the fourth quarter of 2010.

The results for the quarter were centered around x86 server demand which increased in shipments by 5 percent and revenue by 2.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011.

 Table 2
Worldwide: Server Vendor Shipments Estimates, 4Q11 (Units)

Company

4Q11

Shipments

4Q11 Market Share (%)

4Q10

Shipments

4Q10 Market Share (%)

4Q11-4Q10 Growth (%)

HP

704,853

28.1

767,026

32.0

-8.1

Dell

573,125

22.9

515,274

21.5

11.2

IBM

329,232

13.1

332,254

13.9

-0.9

Fujitsu

69,918

2.8

75,716

3.2

-7.7

Lenovo

49,084

2.0

32,516

1.4

51.0

Other Vendors

777,971

31.1

674,338

28.1

15.4

Total

2,504,184

100.0

2,397,124

100.0

4.5

Source: Gartner (February 2012)

Full Year 2011 Server Market Results

In 2011, the server market was fueled primarily by x86 servers which are the predominant platform used for large scale data center build outs, particularly in North America while emerging regions like Asia Pacific and Latin America also added to the growth for the year.

“2011 was a year that saw worldwide server growth driven by mega data centers and the explosion of client devices such as smartphones and tablets accessing Web content,” Mr. Hewitt said. “We have definitely seen a more pronounced segmentation between hyper-scale data centers and the traditional enterprise and mid-sized customer.”

“Ongoing blade server and ‘skinless’ server growth in the x86 segment also helped push 2011 results in spite of ongoing constraints in other segments such as RISC/Itanium Unix platforms.” Mr. Hewitt said.

Blade servers posted a revenue increase of 14.5 percent and a shipment increase of 4.2 percent for the year. HP was the 2011 leader in blade servers accounting for 44 percent of shipments, with IBM being in second place at 21 percent. Cisco grew to an 8 percent shipment share in the form factor to end the year in fourth place, just behind Dell who had 9.3 percent.

Table 3
Worldwide: Server Vendor Revenue Estimates, 2011 (U.S. Dollars)

Company

2011

Revenue

2011 Market Share (%)

2010

Revenue

2010 Market Share (%)

2011-2010 Growth (%)

IBM

16,084,692,948

30.5

15,045,308,591

30.8

6.9

HP

15,320,675,791

29.0

15,332,765,040

31.3

-0.1

Dell

7,739,416,989

14.7

7,187,356,464

14.7

7.7

Oracle

3,233,735,150

6.1

3,095,981,831

6.3

4.4

Fujitsu

2,528,149,487

4.8

2,141,541,849

4.4

18.1

Other Vendors

7,886,618,272

14.9

6,121,005,750

12.5

28.8

Total

52,793,288,638

100.0

48,923,959,524

100.0

7.9

Source: Gartner (February 2012)

Table 4
Worldwide: Server Vendor Shipments Estimates, 2011 (Units)

Company

2011

Shipments

2011 Market Share (%)

2010

Shipments

2010 Market Share (%)

2011-2010 Growth (%)

HP

2,805,210

29.5

2,798,773

31.5

0.2

Dell

2,111,149

22.2

2,070,118

23.3

2.0

IBM

1,162,695

12.2

1,155,451

13.0

0.6

Fujitsu

297,486

3.1

289,782

3.3

2.7

Lenovo

159,725

1.7

100,528

1.1

58.9

Other Vendors

2,986,906

31.4

2,482,661

27.9

20.3

Total

9,523,171

100.0

8,897,313

100.0

7.0

Source: Gartner (February 2012)

“The outlook for 2012 suggests that growth will continue,” Mr. Hewitt said. “These increases continue to be buffered by the use of x86 server virtualization to consolidate physical machines as they are replaced, but the introduction of new processors from Intel and AMD is likely to help fuel and initiate a new round of server replacement cycles.”

Additional information is available to subscribers of Gartner’s Servers Quarterly Statistics Worldwide program. This program provides worldwide market size and share data by vendor revenue and unit shipments. Segments include: region, vendor, vendor brand, sub brand, CPU type, CPU group, Max CPU, platform, price band, operating systems and distribution channels.

 

Contact:

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

Symantec and VMware Partner to Deliver Extensive Protection for Virtual and Cloud Environments

Symantec and VMware Partner to Deliver Extensive Protection for Virtual and Cloud Environments
 
Symantec Provides Broad Security and Compliance Portfolio Integration with the VMware Cloud Infrastructure Suite 

 

SAN FRANCISCO – RSA Conference 2012 – February 28, 2012 – Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) and VMware (NYSE: VMW) today announced five new security integrations with the VMware cloud infrastructure suite, designed to deliver extensive protection for virtual and cloud environments along with operational cost savings. With new VMware integrations, Symantec enables joint customers to protect their virtual infrastructure and business-critical applications with data loss prevention, IT risk and compliance, data centre protection, security information and event management (SIEM) and endpoint protection solutions — delivering stronger security, scalability and cost reductions for rapid services delivery and enhanced business agility for the cloud.

 

Companies today face an increasingly toxic threat landscape.  True information protection is more than antivirus.  With our new VMware integrations, we're enabling customers to proactively protect their information whether it's in a physical or virtual environment,said Francis deSouza, group president, enterprise products and services, Symantec.  Together, Symantec and VMware are taking protection to the next level to give companies confidence to fully embrace virtualization and realize the cost savings and efficiency it brings.

 

“The unique security concerns of the cloud extend well beyond malware protection,” said Raghu Raghuram, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Infrastructure and Management, VMware. “The integration of Symantec products with the VMware cloud infrastructure suite will offer fundamentally new security capabilities to accelerate the ability of customers to quickly and safely realize the benefits of cloud computing.”

 

Symantec and VMware will continue to collaborate to ensure customers have both the security and compliance controls necessary for cloud deployments, both on- and off-premises. In addition to integration between Symantec endpoint security offerings with VMware vShield™ Endpoint expected to be available later in 2012, Symantec is introducing five new integrations with the VMware cloud infrastructure suite:

 

Orchestrated Data Loss Prevention

Symantec Data Loss Prevention, available now, addresses the growing challenge organizations face in finding and protecting their intellectual property wherever it resides.  Integration with VMware vShield App enables Symantec customers to more easily find and locate their most valuable information across their virtual environments. Symantec Data Loss Prevention makes it easier for customers to identify and remediate potential data loss in their virtual environments by automatically separating virtual machines that contain sensitive information from those that do not.

 

Reduced Compliance Deficiencies Across Converged Infrastructure

Symantec Control Compliance Suite, available now, uses centralized vulnerability and control assessments to provide seamless discovery of unknown or unauthorized virtual machines to reduce security risk in the physical and virtual infrastructure. Leveraging VMware-published security standards, Control Compliance Suite is also able to assess virtual settings to identify areas of risk and help prioritize remediation efforts. This helps prevent application failure or data corruption on virtual machines, while facilitating compliance with mandates such as PCI or HIPAA.  In addition, Control Compliance Suite can ensure that the VMware process guidelines are being followed with procedural questionnaires while automatically reporting on configuration changes, patch levels and critical policy violations on VMware vSphere®.

 

Protect Virtual Data Centers Against Advanced Threats

Symantec Critical System Protection currently protects ESX® guest and hypervisors with granular, policy-based controls. Symantec plans to add support for VMware vSphere 5 in Spring 2012, leveraging out-of-the-box VMware-prescribed server security policies for ESXi and VMware vCenter™ that will enable organizations to identify server compliance violations and suspicious activity in real-time, limit administrative control, restrict network communications and prevent file and configuration tampering of the virtual infrastructure. Because Symantec Critical System Protection is a non-signature, policy-based technology it also allows organizations to stop unauthorized services from running on servers and protect against zero-day attacks, without impacting system performance.

 

Integrated Threat Intelligence

Symantec Security Information Manager (SSIM), available in Summer 2012, will enable organizations to seamlessly identify and respond to security threats that impact business critical applications across both their physical and virtual infrastructures.  Through integration with the VMware vShield log management collector, SSIM will correlate virtual machine activity with events from the physical environment as well as the Symantec's global intelligence network to give a holistic view of an organization's security posture. Customers will be able to perform malicious activity assessments for their entire environment — physical and virtual — gaining immediate insight into malicious activity and threats inside their virtual infrastructure.

 

Symantec's Managed Security Service (MSS) will also offer a VMware vShield log management collector to allow customers who prefer a cloud-based service delivery model to benefit from a seamless view of security threats across both their physical and virtual environments.  The addition of the vShield log management collector to already broad array of devices and applications MSS monitors, will further extend MSS edge-to-endpoint visibility and when combined with global threat intelligence and 7x24 access to GIAC-certified Security Analysts will allow organizations to reduce exposure to threats and business disruption. The vShield log management collector is expected to be available in Summer 2012.

 

Optimized Endpoint Protection for High-density Virtual Environments

Symantec plans to leverage VMware vShield Endpoint with its endpoint security offerings to maximize performance in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and virtual server environments without sacrificing powerful security. Available in the second half of 2012, these solutions will offload critical security analysis from protected virtual machines to a dedicated security virtual appliance resulting in optimized scan performance, reduced resource utilization, and increased management visibility. Built upon Symantec Insight, these solutions will provide fast and effective endpoint security for VMware environments, offering unique protection against modern polymorphic malware, zero-day attacks and rootkits.

 

For More Information

·         Blog: Orchestration and Automation Enable Security in the Virtual Data Center

·         SlideShare: Symantec and VMware Partner to Deliver Extensive Protection for Virtual and Cloud Environments

·         Symantec Data Loss Prevention

·         Symantec Control Compliance Suite

·         Symantec Critical System Protection

·         Symantec Security Information Manager

·         Symantec's Managed Security Service

·         Symantec Insight

·         VMware Security and Compliance microsite

·         VMware vShield

 

Connect with Symantec

Connect with VMware

·         @VMware and @VMwareCanada on Twitter

·         Join VMware on Facebook

 

About Business Solutions from Symantec

Symantec helps organizations secure and manage their information-driven world with endpoint security, messaging security.

 

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

 

About VMware

VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of US$3.77 billion, VMware has more than 350,000 customers and 50,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com. VMware Canada is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, and can be found online at www.vmware.ca.

 

 

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NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.

 

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.  Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

 

VMware, VMware vSphere, VMware vCenter, VMware vShield and ESX are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding plans for the release of new products and their planned functionality and benefits to end users. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbour provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to (i) ongoing evaluations by Symantec and VMware; (ii) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (iii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iv) competitive factors, including but not limited to new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (v) our customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and desktop virtualization; (vi) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vii) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (viii) changes to product development timelines; (ix) our ability to protect its proprietary technology; and (x) our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees.. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware and Symantec assume no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

 

Any forward-looking indication of plans for products is preliminary and all future release dates are tentative and are subject to change. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality, or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by Symantec, and may or may not be implemented and should not be considered firm commitments by Symantec and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.

 

For more information please contact:

Cindy Watson / Claire McCorquodale

StrategicAmpersand Inc. (for VMware Canada)

(416) 961-5595 x433 / x447

cindy@stratamp.com / claire@stratamp.com

 
Pamela Reese
Symantec Corporation
 

Canadian Cloud Council Announces Final Agenda for Inaugural National Cloud Conference

Canadian Cloud Council Announces Final Agenda for Inaugural National Cloud Conference - "A Call to Action - Awakening Canada's Cloud Agenda"
-- Final agenda announced for Canadian Cloud Council's semi-annual national conference. --

    CALGARY, AB, February 26, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Robert Hart, President of the Canadian Cloud Council, announced the final agenda today for the council's semi-annual national conference titled "A Call to Action - Awakening Canada's Cloud Agenda" on March 12 and 13, 2012 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The event is one of the most comprehensive and expansive cloud conferences ever to be staged in Canada and will feature 30 North American cloud thought leaders.

The conference will bring together a diverse group of senior business and technical leaders to discuss the state of cloud computing in Canada and how innovative technologies and best practices can be applied to achieve business transformation and economic development. This initial conference will focus on four major key focus areas: Government Cloud Computing, Cloud Implementation Best Practices, Data Security and Privacy and Corporate Culture Change Management.

"Canada has been one of the slowest nations to adopt cloud computing and has not yet effectively leveraged local data center facilities to deliver value through shared technology services. As a result, the country is quickly losing its global competitive advantage to other nations that have more assertively invested in and commercialized cloud infrastructure and technology," noted Mr. Hart.

"We plan on tackling this critical issue head-on and leaving this conference with a clearly defined action plan related to the acceleration of Canadian cloud adoption," concluded Hart.

The keynote speakers listed below aim to provide practical solutions to attendees, along with the proper planning, deployment and support of critical cloud infrastructure to assist enterprises in dramatically improving their competitive advantage, operational continuity and corporate growth continuum.

A CALL TO ACTION - AWAKENING CANADA'S CLOUD AGENDA
Date: March 12 and 13, 2012
Location: Matrix Hotel Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Event Sponsors: VMware, Mitel, IBM, Bell, Dell, Microsoft, HP, Salesforce.com, Awarebase

For more information on the conference please visit: http://www.canadiancloudcouncil.ca
To register for the event please visit: http://www.regonline.ca/EdmontonMarch2012

AGENDA - MARCH 12, 2012
OPENING REMARKS - THE CANADIAN CLOUD ECOSYSTEM
- Brian Fry, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder - RackForce

SHARED SERVICES - THE CASE FOR GOVERNMENT CLOUD COMPUTING
Jirka Danek, Chief Technology Officer - Shared Services Canada
Rob Meikle, Chief Information Officer - City of Brampton
Vijai Karthigesu, Director Technology Planning - eHealth Ontario
John Cousens, Manager Public Sector Canada - Salesforce.com
Doug Hodgson, Chief Information and Technology Officer - City of Calgary

CLOUD IMPLEMENTATION BEST PRACTICES - REAL LIFE LESSONS LEARNED
Doug Jones, Senior Director Blackberry Cloud Infrastructure - RIM
Justin Webb, Vice President Western Canada - Bell Canada
Malcolm Smith, Cloud Business Development Executive - IBM
David Toonders, Director Systems Engineering - VMware Canada

AGENDA - MARCH 13, 2012
OPENING REMARKS - SHAPING CANADA'S DATA STRATEGY
- Perry Kinkaide, President - Alberta Council of Technologies

THE CLOUD PARADIGM - ENABLING ORGANIZATIONAL READINESS THROUGH CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
David Booth, Chief Information Officer - North American Construction Group
Robert Lam, President - Calgary Council for Advanced Technology
Leonard Hendricks, CEO - BlackBridge Networks
Robin Winsor, President - Cybera

CLOUD'S GREAT BARRIER - INFORMATION SECURITY AND PRIVACY
Ed Rebane, Senior Security Practice Lead - Bell Canada
Jeff MacMillan, Chief Executive Officer - Dark Matter Labs
Prashant, Manager IT Security and Compliance - The Brick
Liam Lynch, Chief Information Security Officer - Inkuru
Omkhar Arasaratnam, Global Lead Security Architect - IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+, IBM

CLOSING REMARKS
- Patrick Pushor, Canadian Regional Organizer - Cloud Camp and Founder - CloudChronicle.com

5:00 PM CLOUD CAMP - An "un-conference" for cloud developers

ABOUT THE CANADIAN CLOUD COUNCIL
The Canadian Cloud Council (www.canadiancloudcouncil.ca) was established in 2011 as an educational forum for Canada's cloud computing thought leaders and advocates.

Although cloud computing is widely recognized as one the most influential movements in the history of Information Technology, it has been slow to adopt in Canada. Our conferences will discuss how cloud computing technologies can be applied to achieve business transformation while mitigating barriers to entry.

While seeking to define intelligent and innovative methods of enterprise cloud design and service delivery, the Canadian Cloud Council aims to accelerate the speed of cloud adoption and utilization in Canada.

Media Contacts
Robert Hart, President and Chairman
(403) 360-3989
r.hart@canadiancloudcouncil.ca

Jaethen Reichel, VP, Marketing and Communications
(250) 682-0155
j.reichel@canadiancloudcouncil.ca

The Canadian Cloud Council was established in 2011 as an educational forum for Canada's cloud computing thought leaders and consumer advocates. Although cloud computing is widely recognized as one of the most influential movements in the history of IT, it has been slow to adopt in Canada. Our annual conferences will discuss how cloud computing technologies can be applied to achieve business transformation while mitigating proprietary barriers to entry. While seeking to define intelligent and innovative methods of enterprise cloud design and service delivery, the Canadian Cloud Council aims to accelerate the speed of cloud adoption and utilization in Canada.

Toronto's Redknee and Tech Mahindra to Launch Telco-in-a-Box Solution

Toronto's Redknee and Tech Mahindra to Launch Telco-in-a-Box Solution

TORONTO and BARCELONA, SPAIN--(Marketwire - February 28, 2012) - Redknee Solutions Inc. (TSX: RKN), a leading provider of business-critical billing and charging software and solutions for communications service providers, and Tech Mahindra (NSE: TECHM), a global systems integrator and business transformation consulting organization focused on the communications industry, are pleased to announce at Mobile World Congress the availability of Telco-in-a-Box, a solution that will provide MVNO/Es with a low-risk, flexible approach that can be launched to the market in weeks.

Telco-in-a-Box is a joint solution offered by Redknee and Tech Mahindra, a partnership that was established in 2011. Together, Redknee and Tech Mahindra deliver communication service providers across the world with an award-winning next generation billing and customer care solution with a faster deployment speed for service providers.

The pre-packaged end-to-end converged billing and IT solution is equipped with real-time billing tools and deep business intelligence that will enable MVNO/Es to target niche markets, launch differentiated offerings and create real-time, personalized promotions and campaigns in order to increase revenues and enhance customer experience. The open and flexible approach also supports MVNO/Es to increase their tight margins through its seamless integration with loyalty programs and 3rd party partnerships.

Available on-premise or as a cloud-based solution, Telco-in-a-Box offers a low-risk business model that enables MVNEs and Tier 1 wholesale platforms to stay versatile while growing their business and to minimize initial investments. With flexible deployment options, as well as pay-as-you-grow commercial models and multi-tenant capabilities, MVNO/Es have the agility and scalability to support new business models, such as onboarding and providing billing and customer care solutions for new MVNOs, on the same platform.

Lucas Skoczkowski, CEO, Redknee, commented:
"We are extremely pleased to announce the availability of this joint solution with Tech Mahindra. The development of Telco-in-a-Box is the latest example of how our growing partner ecosystem is creating innovative offerings that are focused on accelerating the growth strategies of our customers. At Redknee, we continue to invest in developing cloud-based and on-premise monetization solutions to enable service providers to increase revenues, improve the customer experience and grow profitability."

Pritam Parvatkar, Sr. Director - Global Alliances, Tech Mahindra, stated:
"The rich product portfolio of Redknee combines well with Tech Mahindra's deep domain expertise to offer unique value to our customers. Telco-in-a-Box is the culmination of both companies' strengths in providing MVNO/E solutions that accelerate their growth strategies and increase profitability. We are pleased to work with Redknee to deliver this joint solution, which testifies our proactive involvement in investing and growing with partners."

About Redknee:
Redknee is a leading global provider of innovative communication software products, solutions and services. Redknee's award-winning solutions enable operators to monetise the value of each subscriber transaction while personalising the subscriber experience to meet mainstream, niche and individual market segment requirements. Redknee's revenue generating solutions provide advanced converged billing, rating, charging and policy for voice, messaging and new generation data services to over 90 network operators in over 50 countries. Established in 1999, Redknee Solutions Inc. (TSX: RKN) is the parent of the wholly-owned operating subsidiary Redknee Inc. and its various subsidiaries. References to Redknee refer to the combined operations of those entities. For more information, visit www.redknee.com

Cisco Delivers Industry's First Standards-Based 'Small Cell' Solution to Leading Mobile Operators

Cisco Delivers Industry's First Standards-Based 'Small Cell' Solution to Leading Mobile Operators

Cisco Next-Generation Hotspot Technology Delivers Seamless Mobile Experiences, Enables Operators to Support Continuing Explosion in Mobile Traffic, Devices and New Services

BARCELONA – February 28, 2012 – At Mobile World Congress today, Cisco is introducing the industry's first carrier-grade, end-to-end Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver Next-Generation Hotspots (NGH).  The company also announced that it is working with several leading global service providers, including AT&T, BT, PCCW, Portugal Telecom, Shaw Communications, Smart and True, to deliver innovative mobile services with a new generation of intelligent "small cell" solutions utilizing licensed and unlicensed radio technology.

Cisco, which is now embedding Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA)-approved NGH technology within its service provider Wi-Fi portfolio, recently became the first to deploy NGH technology to enable cellular-like roaming for Wi-Fi networks.  The WBA's NGH initiative is based on the Hotspot 2.0 specification established by the Wi-Fi Alliance and is designed to provide mobile users with a seamless Wi-Fi experience.  Cisco has deployed over 12 million access points, the majority of which can now be upgraded to support NGH, giving the company the most experience delivering the widest range of Wi-Fi solutions, including in-flight Wi-Fi, retail hotspots, stadium and large venue coverage, and extensive data offload deployments.

Cisco's new Small Cell Gateway, based on the industry-leading Cisco ASR 5000 Series Mobile Multimedia Core Router, will enable operators to manage subscriber and service information while integrating 2G/3G/4G LTE and femtocell (licensed) networks with Wi-Fi (unlicensed) networks, to deliver seamless experiences across multiple heterogeneous access networks.  

"We are now entering the post-macrocell era, where small cells also will play a critical role in delivering the next-generation mobile Internet," said John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO.  "Existing mobile network infrastructures simply cannot sustain the growth we're seeing on their own. Tomorrow's mobile Internet must span multiple networks and deliver seamless and highly secure mobile experiences.  This requires an architectural approach powered by a cloud-intelligent network of networks.  Cisco and our service provider partners see tremendous opportunity as we together build out these networks and empower the mobile Internet generation."

Cisco's technology innovations, deployments and industry-first solutions in small cells are expected to help operators address capacity constraints from spectrum limitations; scale coverage effectively; deliver seamless experiences across heterogeneous access networks; save on capital and operational costs, and facilitate the continuing explosion in mobile traffic, devices and new services. 

News Overview

Mobile Traffic Growth

  • Concurrently, Wi-Fi connectivity is becoming more ubiquitous through devices like smart phones, tablets, televisions and even automobiles. Furthermore, when users are accessing mobile devices, 80 percent of the time they are inside buildings (source: Cisco IBSG).  Service providers continue to seek new ways to offload traditional cellular traffic, which would help ensure coverage and also alleviate capacity constraints due to the limited amount of available licensed spectrum.

Big Problem Solved with Small-Cell Solutions

  • Cisco and several leading service providers are working together to augment their existing network infrastructures with intelligent small cell technology. Small cells combine both licensed radio (low-powered indoor/outdoor base stations with limited range) and unlicensed radio (carrier-grade Wi-Fi) technologies that act as part of an integrated network offering.  Operators can now offer seamless user experiences across consumer and enterprise applications and mobile devices.
  • The following is a summary of  Cisco's small cell technology deployments:
    • AT&T has been deploying Cisco's femtocell solution since 2009 and now boasts the largest small cell network in the world, with over 90% of AT&T devices being self installed by customers without any need for direct support. 
    • BT is working with Cisco and using Cisco technology, through the WBA program, to trial the capabilities of NGH. 
    • PCCW, the mobile operating division of HKT, recently completed a commercial trial of the highly secure roaming provided by NGH via Cisco's service provider Wi-Fi solution in locations around Hong Kong.
    • Portugal Telecom is partnering with Cisco to design its next-generation mobile network to deliver advanced business and consumer services with the highest levels of quality and reliability.  The new IP-based infrastructure will enable PT to deliver compelling user experiences while meeting the challenge of mobile Internet traffic growth and accelerating the deployment of 4G and high-capacity Wi-Fi hotspots.
    • Shaw Communications and Cisco have an agreement to deploy an extensive and advanced Wi-Fi network in Western Canada to provide broadband wireless access. The next-generation network will allow Shaw customers to connect Wi-Fi enabled devices like tablets, mobile phones and computers to thousands of Wi-Fi access points in Shaw's communities.  Shaw will also conduct a technical trial of HotSpot 2.0 using Cisco's Service Provider Wi-Fi solution.
    • As Thailand's leader in both Wi-Fi and 3G technologies, TrueMove H is currently testing Cisco's WBA-approved NGH technologies in Thailand.  The Hotspot 2.0 public trials support True Group's convergence strategy to bring more convenience to consumers by empowering them through seamless and highly-secure mobile wireless broadband connectivity.
    • Smart, the sole member of the WBA in the Philippines, is working with Cisco to deliver NGH technologies to the country.               

Cisco Delivers Industry's First End-to-End Wi-Fi Solution

  • Cisco's Service Provider Wi-Fi solution is a carrier-grade, end-to-end platform that can scale to support exponential traffic growth and millions of users with a seamless mobile experience.   Cisco's Service Provider Wi-Fi solution is built on open standards and can be tailored to meet the coverage and capacity needs of global service providers.
  • Cisco has been working with leading global service providers and mobile device and technology companies to establish standards-based NGH specifications, which will enable mobile providers to introduce new revenue-generating applications and services. 

Strong Industry Support

  • "AT&T recognizes and appreciates the value small cells deliver to our network, and more importantly to our customers' wireless experiences," said Kris Rinne, senior vice president, architecture and planning, AT&T.  "With the AT&T Microcell, we are able to provide a quality mobile service in a flexible and cost-effective manner to customers who may not be able to receive quality macro coverage in their homes."
  • "Next Generation Hotspots allow smart phones and tablets to automatically roam from the mobile network on to Wi-Fi hotspots, increasing the coverage and capacity of both," said Chris Bruce, chair of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.  "These trials are unique because the key players from both the mobile operator community and the Wi-Fi ecosystem have supported each other in this industry-wide programme. The future is a great broadband experience across all sorts of different technologies."
  • "One of our goals at Google is to facilitate access to information," said Alan Norman, principal, Google Access Strategy.  "That is why we support Cisco's Next-Generation Hotspot program to enable a safe and seamless Wi-Fi roaming experience as we enter into the new era of the mobile Internet."
  • "We (Samsung) think that the work we've been doing with Cisco and others around Next Generation Hotspot, coupled with our enterprise-grade hardware and software, will allow us to shape the market," said Ken Daniels, senior director of strategic alliances at Samsung Mobile. "With huge implications for retail, healthcare, and education, Next Generation Hotspot will have a very lofty impact on everything we all do moving forward."
  • "The need for small cells as a capacity enhancement and data offload tool is well understood," said Peter Jarich, service director with Current Analysis.  "What is not as frequently discussed is the need for holistic small cell solutions including licensed spectrum and Wi-Fi assets along with common transport and control backed by deployment and business consulting insights.  Cisco's end-to-end, holistic approach to mobile networking will allow operators to deliver seamless experiences across heterogeneous access networks and save on capital and operational costs."
  • "Tier-one mobile operators are trialing small cell solutions to meet rapidly increasing end-user demand for improved coverage and performance," said Gabriel Brown, senior analyst at Heavy Reading. "There's tremendous potential to use small cell products that integrate Wi-Fi and cellular technologies to target high-value locations and deliver a superior customer experience that is difficult to achieve cost-effectively with classic macro network deployment models."

Editor's Note: On Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 4 p.m. (CET) at the Fira Barcelona, site of the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2012, Cisco will host a mobile Internet media and analyst event with several leading mobile operators.  To access a re-broadcast of the webcast visit: Cisco "Transforming the Mobile Internet" Media & Analyst Event.

Supporting Resources

Keywords: John Chambers, Cisco, Next-Generation Hotspot, small cells, Hotspot 2.0,  mobile internet, femtocell, macro radio, Wi-Fi, SP Wi-Fi, ASR 5000, AT&T, BT, PCCW, Shaw, Portugal Telecom, Wireless Broadband Alliance, Service Provider Wi-Fi.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com

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Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned 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.

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