Study shows confusion about collaboration software; highlights gender and age preferences

SMBs Seek More Collaborative Workplace to Improve Productivity

Study shows confusion about collaboration software; highlights gender and age preferences

CALGARY, Feb. 14, 2012 /CNW/ - According to a survey commissioned by Minigroup, www.minigroup.com, a developer of web-based collaboration software, small- and mid-sized company employees agree that tools such as a centralized web portal for storing and accessing documents, consolidated group task lists and the ability to edit documents jointly will increase workplace productivity. The study also found differences in employee preferences and styles in how they interact and do their work, based on gender, age and business size.

Key findings include:

·         Male and female respondents revealed some differences in what increases workplace productivity: 66 per cent of men vs. 55 per cent of women said consolidated group task lists would help them be more efficient

·         80 per cent of male respondents said they want the flexibility to work when and where they choose, while 60 per cent of female respondents said so

·         More men than women polled said instant notifications of new or updated information and documents would improve productivity - 66 per cent vs. 56 per cent

·         71 per cent of Millennials polled (aged 18 - 34) agreed that when working with colleagues, they would benefit from editing documents collaboratively vs. 47 per cent of Baby Boomers (55 and over)

·         69 per cent of Millennials polled agreed that a centralized web portal for documents and consolidated group task lists would increase workplace productivity

·         For Baby Boomers who responded, a centralized web portal and consolidated group tasks lists and were cited 50 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively

In addition, at organizations with 100 - 499 employees, 70 per cent of employees polled said a consolidated group task list would increase productivity, and 70 per cent or respondents at those with 10 - 99 employees said instant notifications would do so. But despite a belief that more effective collaboration with colleagues can increase efficiencies, respondents were confused about what collaboration software is and how it can help them.

·         While the majority of respondents say collaboration and project management tools such as consolidated task lists (60 per cent) would increase productivity, 62 per cent say that they don't feel it's applicable to their business - showing a lack of understanding about what it is

·         At small businesses with 1 - 9 employees, only 49 per cent of respondents have heard about collaboration software and have an idea of what it does

"It's essential for small and mid-sized businesses to combine forces with customers and partners in a way that brings out their best ideas and brightest opportunities," said Chris Nieckar, co-founder of Minigroup. "Great collaboration begins with great communication and this survey has emphasized our belief that an effective collaboration platform needs to be created around people and human communication needs - not focused on technology."

Minigroup has developed a web-based collaboration solution that is ultra-lightweight, portable by design, clutter-free, ad-free and cost-conscious for small and mid-sized businesses looking to compete with larger players in their industry.

About Minigroup

Minigroup provides online collaboration software to help organizations of all sizes manage projects, communicate with teams and clients, and easily share files without the hassle of email attachments. Minigroup users can centralize and streamline communication across different projects and groups from a single, easy web-based interface. The solution is private, secure and versatile.

Keep up with Minigroup at: blog.minigroup.com

Minigroup on Twitter: twitter.com/minigroupnews

Minigroup on Facebook: facebook.com/minigroupnews

About the survey

From January 27th to January 31st 2012, an online survey was conducted among a sample of 820 Canadians who are part-time or full-time employees in companies with 1 - 499 Employees, and who work in offices, and who are also Angus Reid Forum panel members. The margin of error — which measures sampling variability — is +/- 3.46%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.


For further information:

Natasha Beynon
Hill+Knowlton Strategies
natasha.beynon@hkstrategies.ca
416-413-4611

Teacher's Union Sends Warning against WiFi in Classrooms

Teacher's Union Sends Warning against WiFi in Classrooms

TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - A union representing 45,000 Ontario teachers is warning against WiFi in the classroom. 

The Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association studied the effects of microwave radiation from WiFi, and has published a report stating that classroom computers should only be hardwired. 

The union's provincial Health and Safety Committee recognized research that shows up to one million Canadians may have "severe and immediate" reactions to WiFi. That's three percent of the population. The symptoms can range from headaches to heart palpitations, including speeding heart rates.

The report suggests all new schools should be hardwired only, and WiFi should not be installed in any more classrooms. 

The union represents teachers at more than fourteen hundred Ontario Catholic schools.

For further information:

More information and contacts:   www.oecta.on.ca

GE, Microsoft Share Plans for New Joint Venture, Caradigm

GE, Microsoft Share Plans for New Joint Venture, Caradigm
50-50 joint venture will combine Microsoft’s deep platform expertise with GE Healthcare’s experience in clinical and administrative workflow solutions.

REDMOND, Wash., and BARRINGTON, Ill.— Feb. 13, 2012 — General Electric Co. (GE), through its healthcare IT business, and Microsoft Corp. today announced several developments for their planned 50-50 joint venture, including the intention to demonstrate future product capabilities at HIMSS12, the year’s largest healthcare IT trade show, later this month. The new company, to be named Caradigm, is expected to launch in the first half of 2012, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Caradigm will be aimed at driving a paradigm shift in the delivery of care by enabling health systems and professionals to use real-time, systemwide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience. Upon formation, the new company will develop and market an open, interoperable technology platform and collaborative clinical applications focused on enabling better population health management to improve outcomes and the economics of health and wellness.

Microsoft and GE Healthcare are also announcing several Caradigm leaders who will serve under CEO-designate Michael Simpson once the new company is formed. Named leaders are the following:

Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Product Strategy: Dr. Brandon Savage, currently chief medical officer, GE Healthcare IT

Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Engineering: Neal Singh, currently general manager of Microsoft Dynamics AX Global Financial Management

Chief Operating Officer: Nigel Mason, currently director, GE Healthcare Commercial Centre of Excellence

Chief People Officer: Tami Lamp, currently senior HR director, Microsoft

General Counsel and Vice President: Warren Ratliff, currently chief counsel, GE Healthcare IT Knowledge & Connectivity Solutions

Caradigm’s board of directors will include executives from GE Healthcare and Microsoft:

John Dineen, president and CEO, GE Healthcare

Jan de Witte, president and CEO, GE Healthcare IT and Performance Solutions

Kirill Tatarinov, president, Microsoft Business Solutions Division

Amy Hood, corporate vice president and CFO, Microsoft Business Division

“We have an exciting opportunity to transform healthcare globally with an established open platform and a new generation of applications focused on population health,” Simpson said. “Around the world, delivery system reforms and payment model changes are requiring healthcare providers to integrate data across silos of care delivery to enable better care coordination and performance improvement. We’re founding Caradigm to meet the changing needs of health and healthcare across the globe.”

The two parent companies bring complementary expertise to this new venture and will contribute intellectual property, including the following:

Microsoft Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform

Microsoft Vergence, a single sign-on and context management solution

Microsoft expreSSO, an enterprise single sign-on solution

GE Healthcare eHealth, a Health Information Exchange

GE Healthcare Qualibria, a clinical knowledge application environment being developed in cooperation with Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City) and the Mayo Clinic

GE Healthcare and Microsoft intend to demonstrate future product capabilities that will be available from Caradigm at this month’s HIMSS12 conference in Las Vegas. Demonstrations are being scheduled in both the GE Healthcare (No. 2635) and Microsoft (No. 1629) booths. In addition, Caradigm’s future leadership team will host media and analysts on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 6–7:30 p.m. in Room 101, Sands Expo Convention Center.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

About Microsoft in Health

Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. Over the past 16 years, Microsoft has steadily increased its investments in health, with a focus on addressing the challenges of health providers, health and social services organizations, payers, consumers and life sciences companies worldwide. Microsoft closely collaborates with a broad ecosystem of partners and develops its own powerful health solutions, such as Microsoft Amalga and Microsoft HealthVault. Together, Microsoft and its industry partners are working to deliver health solutions that enable better health outcomes for more people.

About Microsoft

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

For GE’s latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com. Follow GE on Twitter @GEHealthcareIT.

Nokia Siemens Networks marks major milestone in Packet Core for mobile broadband


Espoo, Finland – February 13, 2012
 
 
Nokia Siemens Networks marks major milestone in Packet Core for mobile broadband
First vendor to deploy one billion packet core subscriber licenses*; leads LTE-ready packet core deployments globally
 
Over 285 operators in more than 115 countries around the globe use Nokia Siemens Networks’ packet core offering* to serve the fast growing demand for mobile broadband. Of these, over 100 operators use the company’s Liquid Core based LTE-ready packet core**, and are equipping their networks to support LTE and substantially reduce overall core network cost of ownership. The company has deployed over 2000 packet core network elements*** worldwide, and is the number one provider of LTE-ready packet core for GSM/ EDGE, HSPA, LTE and Wi-Fi based mobile broadband networks.
 
“Mobile broadband data traffic is expected to grow nearly 2600% by 2015, and with consumer users set to outpace enterprise users, operators must be able to support typical consumer usage patterns such as video streaming, gaming and social networking,” said Thorsten Robrecht, head of Network Systems product management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Our packet core helps them to do this smoothly and cost-efficiently. Further, operators can easily evolve their traditional packet core to support LTE using their existing LTE-ready packet core, and manage all subscriber services. This helps maximize revenues while lowering cost of delivery of mobile broadband.”
 
Nokia Siemens Networks’ LTE-ready packet core offering is based on its Liquid Core architecture. This helps operators better manage unpredictable data traffic demand by flexibly allocating network resources, and channeling capacity where needed. Operators can enjoy tremendous hardware efficiency gains by reducing floor space by up to 80%, reap substantial core network savings for e.g. by lowering energy costs by up to 65%, and maintain the overall quality of subscriber experience.
 
The company’s LTE-ready packet core solution supports GSM/EDGE, HSPA/HSPA+ and Wi-Fi and LTE/LTE-Advanced. With this, operators can protect their network investments more easily by evolving their existing packet core networks to support the latest radio access technologies with a software upgrade. They can also evolve to a ‘cloud’ based core network architecture, pool resources such as processing power and share them among different core network applications such as applications of LTE-ready packet core, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Mobile Softswitching System.
 
 
About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is the world’s specialist in mobile broadband. From the first ever call on GSM, to the first call on a commercial LTE network, we operate at the forefront of each generation of mobile technology. Our global experts invent the new capabilities our customers need in their networks. We provide the world’s most efficient mobile networks, the intelligence to maximize the value of those networks, and the services to make it all work together seamlessly.
 
With headquarters in Espoo, Finland, we operate in over 150 countries and had revenues of over 14 billion euros in 2011. http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
 
 
Media Enquiries
 
Nokia Siemens Networks
Johanna Harjula
Media Relations
 
Media Relations
 
 
 
Notes:
*The number of subscriber licenses is not indicative of and cannot be correlated to number of served subscribers on the network as operators typically deploy more licenses than the actual number of mobile broadband subscribers on their network. This over dimensioning varies by operator, and is done to support roaming subscribers, and also have additional capacity for growth.
 
**Nokia Siemens Networks LTE-ready Packet Core or Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is part of the Liquid Core and a solution that manages mobile broadband connectivity for subscribers’ data services to Internet, operators’ own network or corporate networks. It is the evolution of packet core for all existing 3GPP mobile networks and plays an essential role in migrating to next-generation mobile broadband using LTE/LTE-Advanced and supporting complementary access technologies such as Wi-Fi.
 
The EPC solution consists of Flexi NS (Network Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway) and provides unique flexibility with 4D scaling. With convincing capacity in throughput, subscriber density and signaling, operators can manage the data traffic explosion and millions of smart devices. Combined with unparalleled service intelligence, operators can ensure superior end user experience and manage network resource usage to maximize their revenues.
 
***Nokia Siemens Networks’ Packet Core comprises of a mix of network elements, those initially deployed for supporting GSM/EDGE, as well as LTE-ready packet core network elements such as Flexi NS (Network Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway).

 

Nokia Siemens Networks
Media Relations
PO Box 1
FI-02022 Nokia Siemens Networks
 

Hitachi Data Systems Eliminates Downtime and Lowers Cost of Virtual Storage Migration with New Nondisruptive Migration Service

  Hitachi Data Systems Eliminates Downtime and Lowers Cost of Virtual Storage Migration

New Nondisruptive Migration Service Enables Simplified Management and Reduce Effort by 90% when Migrating to Hitachi VSP

 

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — February 13, 2012 — Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT/ TSE: 6501), today introduced a nondisruptive migration service capability that migrates from Hitachi enterprise storage to Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) and is the industry’s first storage migration solution that eliminates host and application downtime. Nondisruptive migration by Hitachi allows organizations to significantly reduce risk, eliminate business disruption, and more efficiently manage migration processes across multivendor storage systems, resulting in 90 percent less effort compared to industry averages.

 

According to a survey on migrating to new technologies by TechValidate, an independent market research firm, 70 percent of businesses reported schedule overruns and 64 percent reported budget overruns. With overall storage migration costs exceeding US$15,000 per terabyte, organizations are under increasing pressure to identify and adopt best practices to lower their IT operating expenses and redirect savings in support of new investments. Leveraging proven Hitachi migration methodologies, nondisruptive migration uniquely enables host-transparent storage migration that allows IT organizations to mitigate the outage window due to data migrations and reduce risk and expenditures. 

 

“In today’s business climate, organizations need to accelerate innovation and reduce operational expenses to increase their competitiveness,” said Hu Yoshida, vice president and CTO, Hitachi Data Systems. “Only HDS provides the migration capabilities to eliminate downtime while dramatically reducing the risks and costs associated with adopting new technologies. The key to achieving this capability is that virtualization, specifically our proven Hitachi controller-based storage virtualization, is at the core of our new service and gives us distinct advantages in efficiency and cost effectiveness. By leveraging our new nondisruptive migration service capabilities, organizations can more efficiently manage migration processes to meet business requirements through a comprehensive methodology that addresses the people, process and technology involved in the transition.”

 

“ViON delivers hardware and software as on-demand, capacity services to federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense, and at the core of our private cloud offering is Hitachi controller-based storage virtualization,” said Tom Frana, president and CEO, ViON Corporation. “After testing and validating the nondisruptive migration for Hitachi VSP, we believe the service is superior to other migration services in that we will be able to execute a technology refresh to Hitachi VSP in days and eliminate host and application downtime. The nondisruptive migration service by Hitachi addresses the requirements of our most demanding enterprise customers; no other virtualization technology vendors come close to Hitachi storage virtualization.”

 

Nondisruptive Migration by Hitachi

By offering best-in-class performance, capacity and open, multivendor storage virtualization for large businesses and enterprises, Hitachi VSP helps organizations build massive scalability with virtualized server environments and pave the way for cloud deployments. The core technology of nondisruptive migration is a new feature of Hitachi VSP, built on the foundation of near-instantaneous failover and recovery capabilities of Hitachi clustering.

 

For organizations seeking a greater return on their enterprise IT assets, Hitachi Global Services migration consultants leverage nondisruptive migration to conduct technology refreshes to Hitachi VSP in a matter of days. It jumps ahead of other migration approaches:

 

-          Enables host transparent migration with no performance impact, ensuring minimum downtime and maximum business continuity

-          Eliminates host path management dependencies through its support of native multipath I/O and third party multipathing products that support standard industry failover

-          Supports host clustering configurations by synchronizing persistent group reserves on source volumes and keeping the host cluster operational

-          Reduces staging effort with automated configuration transfer, greatly lowering data migration risk and effort

-          Supports parallel migration of up to eight source systems to one Hitachi VSP

 

Hitachi Global Services: Proven Methodologies for Lowering Migration Cost and Risk

Migration Services from Hitachi Data Systems offer organizations the most cost-effective, risk-mitigating approaches to data migration, ensuring minimum downtime, maximum business continuity. With thousands of successful local and remote data migrations and experienced migration consultants, Hitachi Data Systems migration methodology is proven and comprises multiple migration techniques for heterogeneous storage environments. The Hitachi Data Systems Global Services portfolio offers a broad spectrum of offerings that includes assessment and consulting, planning and design, implementation, health checks, ongoing management and operations, and education and support services to help organizations meet defined goals.

 

Web Resources

-       Read what Hu Yoshida has to say about Hitachi nondisruptive migration service capability

-       Learn more about Hitachi Data Systems Global Services   

-       Follow us on Twitter

-       Connect with us on LinkedIn

-       Friend us on Facebook

 

About Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems provides best-in-class information technologies, services and solutions that deliver compelling customer ROI, unmatched return on assets (ROA) and demonstrable business impact. With a vision that IT must be virtualized, automated, cloud-ready and sustainable, Hitachi Data Systems offers solutions that improve IT costs and agility. With more than 5,400 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Hitachi Data Systems products, services and solutions are trusted by the world’s leading enterprises, including more than 70 percent of the Fortune 100 and more than 80 percent of the Fortune Global 100. Hitachi Data Systems believes that data drives our world – and information is the new currency. To learn more, visit: http://www.hds.com.

 

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2010 (ended March 31, 2011) consolidated revenues totaled 9,315 billion yen ($112.2 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

 

 

 

 

CGI Continues to Grow in Quebec City and Will Remain in Existing Downtown Office

 

CGI Continues to Grow in Quebec City and Will Remain in Existing Downtown Office

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Feb. 10, 2012) - CGI Group Inc., (TSX:GIB.A)(NYSE:GIB), a leading provider of information technology and business process services, today announced that its Quebec City office will remain on Charest Boulevard in the St-Roch district.

CGI was founded in Quebec City in 1976 and in 2002 became the first large company to establish itself in St-Roch. During the decade since then, the CGI management team and the 1,100 professionals in the growing office have actively participated in the economic revival of this downtown area and are pleased to be a part of the community's dynamism.

"We are delighted to renew our commitment to downtown Quebec City and in doing so to contribute to the expansion of this district, affirmed Bernard Labelle, Senior Vice-President, Quebec, for CGI. "Our location here is optimal. It is cost-effective for our clients and professionals alike. It is accessible, and we all benefit from a vibrant local network of merchants and services."

CGI offers its clients a wide range of high-quality IT services that contribute to the success of their business. Clients appreciate the commitment of the professionals at CGI and since the beginning of the fiscal year have awarded the Quebec City business unit new contracts worth more than $109 million. This growth, which has translated into the creation of jobs, offers appealing prospects to professionals and graduates seeking to work in a stimulating and innovative environment.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 31,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices and centres of excellence in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. As at December 31, 2011, CGI's annualized revenue was approximately $4.1 billion and its order backlog was approximately $13.6 billion. CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index. Website: www.cgi.com.

www.cgi.com/newsroom

ClevrU First to Graduate from HUB

ClevrU First to Graduate from HUB

ClevrU Corporation was the first company to begin work at the Digital Media HUB in Kitchener Ontario and is now the first to leave the Digital Media HUB for a permanent and expanded residence in Waterloo. The expanded ClevrU team will be moving closer to the University of Waterloo and other high tech companies like Research in Motion and Open Text.

Waterloo, Ontario (PRWEB) February 10, 2012

“Our experience at the HUB was magical. Everyday brought opportunity to network and leverage the communities collective wisdom. ClevrU Corporation shares the need for a team of skilled enthusiastic programmers with many other companies like RIM, Open Text and Sybase. Establishing ClevrU’s corporate headquarters in the heart of Waterloo gives us access to strategic partners like Communitech, Canada’s Technology Triangle as well as students and technology leaders from the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College,” said Dana Fox, President and CEO of ClevrU Corporation. “Waterloo’s Mayor Brenda Halloran was very convincing as we explored options for expanding. We believe ClevrU is situated in the best environment for creating world class technology and implementing it. There is no other place like this in the world.”

About ClevrU Corporation

ClevrU is focused on WEB 3.0 applications that intelligently leverage Cloud Computing in a mobile environment. ClevrU has developed an e-teaching content delivery platform with advanced tools to assist in interactive teaching and student/instructor collaboration. This application uses an intelligent engine to adapt course content to users personal needs in a mobile environment. ClevrU is initially focused on international education markets. ClevrU's technology combines video e-teaching with semantic based intelligent social network tools for educational institutions universities and colleges, cellular phone/ tablet computer manufacturers and cellular carriers to deliver course content to students anywhere, anytime. The product is branded ClevrU EDU and registered a patent pending on its Intelligent Collaborative Platform Technology.

Canadians Face Challenges When Working from Home

Canadians Face Challenges When Working from Home

  • Close to half (49%) of employed Canadians work from home at least occasionally
  • Only 2 in 10 (22%) Canadians who work from home like the fact that their home office set-up is efficient and functional
  • Basic office technology is lacking in many home workspaces

DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX, QC, Feb. 10, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Almost half of employed Canadians work from home at least occasionally, but their home offices may be impeding their productivity. New research from Ipsos Reid and Brother Canada reveals that one quarter (26%) of employed Canadians work from home at least once a week, with another quarter (23%) doing so on occasion.

However, despite the popularity of working from home, many home offices have room for improvement. According to the study, only two in 10 Canadians (22%) who work from home like the fact that their home office set-up is efficient and functional. Only three in 10 (28%) like the fact that their home office has resources that are equivalent to those at an outside office. And, not surprisingly, this has a negative impact on productivity: only two in 10 (23%) respondents say they like the fact that they are more productive from home.

According to Marc Ruel, Home Office Expert at Brother Canada, the survey results are proof positive that most Canadians are not taking the right approach to working from home. "Being productive when working from home is a direct result of being organized," he said. "The right workspace is essential. Your home office does not need to be decked out with all of the latest bells and whistles, but it does need to be properly equipped and carefully planned. Most important, people who work from home must treat their home office like it's their real office - no pyjamas, no folded laundry, and no distractions."

When it comes to home office technology, the study indicates that many home offices are not up to par. When questioned about what they would expect to find in a home office, most respondents listed a high-powered computer or laptop (79%) while seven in ten (72%) would expect to have a printer. However, only 65% of respondents actually have a printer in their home office, and only six in ten (60%) have a high-powered computer or laptop.

Other things that working Canadians would expect to have in a home office include a quiet room (64%, just 43% have one), a scanner (61%, just 45% have one), home office products with wireless capabilities (57%, just 31% have one), a fax machine (52%, just 28% have one), and a smartphone (36%, just 24% have one).

According to Marc Ruel, the right home office equipment depends entirely on the worker:  "There is no set rule for the technology that's required in a home office, although it's worth noting that recent innovations have brought us affordable all-in-one machines that can perform multiple tasks and save on both money and space. If you're just starting out, make a list of your daily tasks and consult with a professional at your local office supply store to find out what machine is best for you."

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between September 30 and October 4 2011, on behalf of Brother. For this survey, a sample of 1,025 working Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and political composition to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of working adults in Canada been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About Brother Canada:
Brother Canada celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. The company was established in Montreal in 1960 and is part of a worldwide network of companies belonging to Brother Industries Ltd, of which the corporate headquarters is situated in Nagoya, Japan. Active in over 100 countries, Brother markets a wide range of business machines and home appliances known for their reliability, ease of use and versatility at affordable prices. Numerous Brother products have been awarded significant honours. Recent awards for the company include: the PC Mag Reader's Choice Award 2011 for the quality and reliability of Brother B&W and colour laser printers and all-in-ones, as well as the internationally recognized iF Product Design Award 2011, commending seven Brother products for their innovation and quality of design. Brother Industries Ltd. is a 6 billion-dollar (USD) company employing more than 29,000 people operating in 44 countries and regions around the globe. www.brother.ca

About Ipsos Reid:
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada—including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country—all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group. To learn more, visit www.ipsos.ca

For further information:

Kristin Gable
Citoyen Optimum
514-282-4841 / kristin.gable@citoyenoptimum.com

Oracle swoops to swallow Taleo

http://www.businesscloud9.com/content/oracle-swoops-swallow-taleo/7821

Three’s a trend, right? If so, then we can confidently say that there’s a consolidation movement underway in the Cloud apps space – and it’s looking increasingly HCM in flavour for now.

Today Oracle has swooped to swallow Taleo in what can only be seen as a counterstrike to SAP’s takeover of SuccessFactors and further recognition of the nervousness the firm feels about the onset of start-up Workday. It comes only a week after Oracle closed its last Cloud takeover in the shape of RightNow.

Oracle’s ready to pay $1.9 billion for loss-making Taleo, a substantial mark-up on the acquired firm’s closing stock price last night. Thomas Kurian, executive vice president of Oracle Development, reckons it’s worth it:   

 Human capital management has become a strategic initiative for organizations. Taleo's industry leading talent management Cloud is an important addition to the Oracle Public Cloud.

Taleo was running at a loss, but has some impressive clients. Last week it named Intercontinental Hotels Group as its latest client. The hotel chain plans to hire 400,000 people over the next 4 years and plans to use Taleo’s talent management funcationality to manage this process.

Oracle has skin in the HCM market of course, most notably with its PeopleSoft applications (acquired several years ago in a very hostile takeover) and its own next generation Fusion applications, the first tranche of which are HCM-focused.

But the market has become considerably more complicated. While PeopleSoft has long been the most prevalent HCM software, many organisations around the globe are reaching a systems refresh point – and many of them in turn are looking at the new breed of Cloud Computing applications firms.

In December last year, SAP shocked the market by agreeing a takeover bid for Cloud firm SuccessFactors, a bid which seems now to be in its final stages of completion to beef up its Cloud functionality, while Cloud pureplay Workday (from the people who originally brought you PeopleSoft) is gearing up for an eagerly anticipated stock market floatation later this year. Salesforce.com has also moved into the HCM orbit with its own acquisition of Canadian firm Rypple.

Now Oracle has ramped up its own Cloud credentials. The firm’s CEO Larry Ellison has been notoriously sceptical about the concept of the Cloud, openly mocking it as a marketing fad. But in recent months, the firm has learned to love the Cloud, taking over RightNow and now Taleo. Tim Jennings, chief analyst with research firm Ovum, commented:   

These acquisitions indicate the increasing enterprise acceptance of the Software-as-a-Service (Saas) model, with HCM following in the footsteps of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as the next SaaS battleground. It also emphasizes the urgency that the major enterprise application vendors attach to establishing a strong position in Cloud-based software.”

Jennings added:   

Both Oracle and SAP have existing on-premise HCM solutions, but both have been prepared to pay out large sums on Cloud-based equivalents, rather than simply transitioning their existing solutions to the Cloud. Taleo will further advance Oracle’s Public Cloud strategy, joining the recently closed acquisition of RightNow for customer service management, Oracle’s Social Network for collaboration, and Oracle’s own Fusion applications.

Inevitably attention will now shift towards 'who's next?'.  A number of Cloud stocks were on the rise immediately following Oracle's announcement, including NetSuite and Saba. Only Salesforce.com seems safe from speculation - its market valuation is so high as to make it seemingly impervious from hostile attentions for now.

SOA Software Announces Ready-to-Use SOA Governance for Microsoft

SOA Software Announces Ready-to-Use SOA Governance for Microsoft

New Product Provides Pre-Built Use Cases for Many Common Microsoft SOA Deployment Scenarios

LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb 08, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- SOA Software, a leading provider of SOA governance, cloud and enterprise API Management products and a Microsoft Gold Partner, today announced a new product for Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) 6.1. With the goal of helping customers govern a wide range of Microsoft Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) use cases, SOA Software has loaded this product with prebuilt, pretested, and governance-ready WCF services, clients, tools, policy, and documentation.

"This is a ready-to-use Microsoft SOA toolset, designed for nearly instant deployment," said Alistair Farquharson, CTO of SOA Software. "With a simple startup experience, the WCF 6.1 Agent ready-to-use governance package becomes the foundation for education, training, and best practices -- ultimately a springboard for complete governance of a Microsoft SOA infrastructure."

SOA Software's product ships with 18 fully-tested use cases. These use cases include areas such as Kerberos, NET.TCP, NTLM, X.509 security, and WsHttpBinding. The Agent also includes support for; governing Microsoft BizTalk applications exposed as WCF services; native NET.TCP binding support in SOA Software Policy Manager; automated certificate provisioning; an enhanced logging framework; and improved operational alerts. The Agent now supports Oracle database connectivity for Windows Server-based Web services. For more information about ready-to-use SOA Governance for Microsoft see www.soa.com/microsoft .

In addition, SOA Software recently announced that Repository Manager 6.4 contains updated integrations with Microsoft leading development tools including Visual Studio 2008 and 2010 and Team Foundation Server 2005, 2008 and 2010. This deep integration both enables .NET developers to search for, investigate and consume services directly from their IDE and to automatically populate services managed within Team Foundation Server into SOA Software's industry-leading service repository and governance platform.

SOA Software has earned the Gold Independent Software Vendor (ISV)/Software Solutions Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network. The company provides Ready-to-use SOA Governance Automation for Microsoft's Enterprise SOA platform. This solution approach allows Microsoft customers to have confidence that they are governing Microsoft SOA elements either on their own or as part of a heterogeneous enterprise SOA environment. SOA Software Unified SOA Governance Automation also makes services exposed from applications running on WCF, BizTalk, and ASP.NET visible to and compliant with enterprise policies defined, enforced and audited across other platforms. Services from SAP, IBM, and others become visible to and compliant with enterprise policies defined and enforced across your ASP.NET, BizTalk, and WCF applications.

About SOA Software

SOA Software is a leading provider of unified SOA governance, cloud and enterprise API Management products that enable organizations to plan, build, and run enterprise services and open APIs. The world's largest companies including Bank of America, Pfizer, and Verizon use SOA Software solutions to transform their business. Gartner placed SOA Software in the Leaders Quadrant for the 2011 "Magic Quadrant for SOA Governance Technologies." The company is also recognized as a "Leader" by the Forrester Research Waves for Integrated SOA Governance and SOA Life Cycle Management. For more information, please visit http://www.soa.com .

SOA Software, Atmosphere, atmos.phe.re, Policy Manager, Portfolio Manager, Repository Manager, Service Manager, and SOLA are trademarks of SOA Software, Inc. Microsoft Windows(R), Windows Server(R), Windows Communication Framework, BizTalk Server(R), and ASP.NET(R) are all trademarks of Microsoft, Inc.

For more information, please contact: SOA Software Email Contact

SOURCE: SOA Software