Intel Begins Shipping New Intel(R) Atom™ Processors; New Features, Great Battery Life on Tap

Systems Using New Intel® Atom™ Processor Available in Early 2012

 

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

  • Third-generation Intel Atom processor-based platform introduces several new features for low-power designs such as netbooks, retail and healthcare IT devices.
  • Platform’s power management features provide the potential to improve performance and battery life by 20 percent compared to previous generation.
  • Netbooks based on this platform offer up to 10 hours of battery life, weeks of standby and full 1080p high-definition video.
  • Systems using new Intel Atom processor-based platform from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba will debut in early 2012.

 

 

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 28, 2011 – Intel Corporation today announced the availability of the latest mobile Intel Atom processor-based platform, formerly codenamed “Cedar Trail.” Designed to provide small, compact, on-the-go computing with great battery life at an affordable price, the latest platform adds several new features to netbook computers made popular by students, families, and those looking for light productivity and Internet browsing. These devices will be available in early 2012 from major OEMs including: Acer*, Asus*, HP*, Lenovo*, Samsung*, and Toshiba*.

 

The new design’s dedicated media engine enables full 1080p high-definition playback of videos and Blu-Ray content and includes additional digital display and output options including HDMI and DisplayPort. The integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650 combined with the integrated memory controller provides enhanced performance and system responsiveness, including an improvement in graphics performance up to 2X compared to the previous generation platform.

 

Systems based on the new Intel Atom processors may have up to 10 hours of battery life and weeks of standby, allowing for all-day use between charges. Additionally, Intel increased processor and overall system performance while reducing power consumption up to 20 percent compared to the previous platform.

 

Based on Intel’s leading-edge 32nm process technology, Intel incorporated several new features into the platform such as Intel® Wireless Display and Intel® Wireless Music. With these new features and wireless enabled devices, people can share videos or photos wirelessly from their netbooks to a television, or stream music through their home stereo speakers.

 

Additional features such as Intel® Smart Connect Technology allows users to have an instant Internet connection as soon as they open their netbook, and have email, Twitter* and RSS feeds automatically updated even in sleep mode. Intel® Rapid Start Technology enables fast resume from standby mode and helps conserve battery life.

 

The dual-core Intel Atom processor N2600 and Intel Atom processor N2800 are paired with the Intel® NM10 Express Chipset and feature a small form factor package size that saves system board real estate and enables thinner netbook designs. In addition to the mobile processors, Intel offers the Intel Atom processor D2500 and D2700 for entry-level desktop and all-in-one designs, as well as intelligent system solutions. The platform supports a range of operating systems including: Windows*, MeeGo*, and Tizen*.

 

New Features, Lower Power Have Broad Appeal
The new Intel Atom processors provide a lower thermal design power (TDP) and power management features such as Intel® Deeper Sleep and Intel® SpeedStep Technology that enable lower power designs, making it especially attractive for netbooks as well as intelligent systems including: healthcare equipment, retail systems and entry-level digital signage.

 

In health care settings, the improved battery life and enhanced graphics means medical professionals can enhance patient care and bring infotainment services to a patient’s bedside. ARBOR* technology will release a new patient infotainment bedside terminal, based on the Intel Atom processor N2800 that helps clinicians improve workflow management and work efficiency, reduce human error, and enhance healthcare quality. Patients can also enjoy access to plenty of multi-media entertainment, hospital information and communication services on the system.

 

The always on, always connected capabilities are also ideal for entry-level point-of-sale systems with the ability to boot up instantly to serve customer’s at a moment’s notice. Point-of-sale terminals based on the Intel Atom processor D2700 and manufactured by NCR Corporation* will be installed in restaurant and retail locations throughout the U.S. beginning in the first quarter of 2012.

 

Intelligent system designs are offered 7-year lifecycle support, as well as support for Windows Embedded Standard 7*, Windows XP and XPe*, Windows Embedded Compact*, Yocto Project* and Wind River VxWorks* operating systems.

 

For more information, video, and photos visit www.intel.com/newsroom/atom and the Intel Atom Processor-based Platform for Mobile Computing press kit.

 

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

Cantech Letter Names MOSAID Canadian Technology Stock of the Year

Cantech Letter Names MOSAID Canadian Technology Stock of the Year

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 22, 2011) - MOSAID Technologies Inc. (TSX:MSD) announced today that the Cantech Letter (www.cantechletter.com) has named MOSAID as Canadian Tech Stock of the Year.

MOSAID was selected for the award by a panel of five judges, consisting of Tom Liston, Director of Research for Versant Partners, Barry Richards, Managing Director of Research for Paradigm Capital, Tom Astle, Managing Director, Research Technology for Byron Capital, Byron Berry, Equity Research Strategist Byron Capital, Ron Shuttleworth, Technology Analyst, M Partners, and by the readers of the Cantech Letter.

"This award recognizes MOSAID's success as an intellectual property management and innovation company, and the value that has been achieved for shareholders," said Carl P. Schlachte, Chairman of MOSAID's Board of Directors. "The Board congratulates the management team and employees of MOSAID on a job well done."

About MOSAID

MOSAID Technologies Inc. is one of the world's leading intellectual property management companies. MOSAID monetizes patented intellectual property in the areas of semiconductors and communications, and develops semiconductor memory technology. MOSAID counts many of the world's largest technology companies among its licensees. Founded in 1975, MOSAID has offices in Ottawa, Ontario, Plano, Texas and Luxembourg. For more information, please visit www.mosaid.com and http://InvestorChannel.mosaid.com

Etelesolv Signs Telecom Expense Management Contract with Energy Company

Etelesolv Signs Telecom Expense Management Contract with Energy Company

MONTREAL, Dec. 22, 2011 /CNW/ - Etelesolv (www.etelesolv.com), Canada's leading provider of Telecom Expense Management (TEM), has announced that it has signed a TEM deal with a major Canadian company in the energy sector.

Etelesolv's Telemanager tracks and manages telecom devices and services within the company. The system achieves greater accountability within business units to coordinate more efficient and transparent cost allocation.

Telemanager was able to identify multiple blind spots in data collection, which in turn led to finding other process discrepancies. 

"Telecom Expense Management systems need to constantly be updated, specifically to handle carrier, region and technology changes," said Christopher Thierry, President of Etelesolv. "When legacy systems are no longer relevant, they need to be replaced in order to accurately provide the telecom intelligence companies need."  

Etelesolv is pleased to be involved with this Canadian energy company and is proud to offer Canada's leading telecom expense management software.

About Etelesolv:
Etelesolv, based in Montreal, Quebec, is Canada's leading provider of telecom expense management (TEM) for large Canadian multinational corporations. Etelesolv's software platform, TeleManager, consolidates both business intelligence and operational processes around telecom and IT services while helping clients manage multiple suppliers. In bridging this gap between our clients and telecom suppliers, TeleManager provides the critical tools needed to control telecom spending and optimize processes within enterprises. For more information visit www.etelesolv.com.

Contact:
Caroline Le Brun
Marketing Manager
Etelesolv
514-949-4418
clebrun@etelesolv.com

SOURCE Etelesolv

For further information:

http://www.etelesolv.com

Top-15 North American Bank Selects March Networks for $2.2 Million Video Surveillance Expansion

Top-15 North American Bank Selects March Networks for $2.2 Million Video Surveillance Expansion

OTTAWA, Dec. 22, 2011 /CNW/ - March Networks® (TSX: MN), a global provider of intelligent IP video solutions, today announced it has received orders totaling more than $2 million from a financial institution ranked among the top 15 largest in North America. The orders extend the bank's current March Networks installation to more than 1,000 retail banking branches and include hybrid 4000 C Series NVRs and Visual Intelligence software.

The bank continues to deploy the financial solution to ensure the efficient centralized management of its extensive video surveillance network and to more effectively reduce losses from ATM skimming and other fraudulent activity.

"We are pleased to announce new business with this leading financial customer, and look forward to providing the scalable software and business intelligence applications it requires to achieve a significant return on its investment," said Peter Strom, President and CEO, March Networks.

The financial institution plans to pilot the company's Searchlight banking analytics software. The applications layer additional fraud detection and investigation capabilities onto the surveillance systems to significantly cut losses from ATM skimming, cash harvesting and other theft. The March Networks Searchlight portfolio includes Financial Transaction Investigation, which synchronizes ATM and teller transaction records with high-quality video to streamline case management and investigator performance. It also includes powerful Skimming Detection, Image Tracker and License Plate Tracker applications that enable banks to proactively detect fraudulent activity at ATMs and strengthen case evidence quickly by correlating facial images, transaction information and license plate data.

More than 450 banks and credit unions worldwide currently use March Networks' Financial Solutions to improve security, fraud investigation and operational efficiency. The company is the #1 provider of banking video surveillance systems in the Americas, according to a recent industry report by IMS Research.

About March Networks
March Networks® (TSX:MN) is a leading provider of intelligent IP video solutions. For more than a decade, the company has helped some of the world's largest commercial and government organizations transition from traditional CCTV to advanced surveillance technologies used for security, loss prevention, risk mitigation and operational efficiency. Its highly scalable and easy to use Command video management platform incorporates a web-based client interface to enable rapid system deployment and complete system control. It is complemented by the company's portfolio of high-definition IP cameras, encoders, video analytics and hybrid recorders, as well as outstanding professional and managed services. March Networks systems are delivered through an extensive distribution and partner network in more than 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.marchnetworks.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking information, including expectations of future business. This information is based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions that are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that may be beyond March Networks' control. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements due to factors such as customer demand and timing of purchasing decisions, increased levels of competition, technological changes and the successful development of new products, dependence on third-party manufacturers, risks relating to intellectual property infringement claims, and other risks and factors identified in March Networks' public filings with regulatory authorities in Canada. March Networks assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

*MARCH NETWORKS, March Networks Command, March Networks Searchlight and the MARCH NETWORKS logo are trademarks of March Networks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

For further information:

MEDIA INQUIRIES: 
Erica Miskew
March Networks
+1 613.591.8228 x5760
emiskew@marchnetworks.com
          INVESTOR INQUIRIES: 
Ken Taylor
March Networks
+1 613.591.8181
ktaylor@marchnetworks.com

 

WatchGuard Enhances Security for Virtualized and Cloud Infrastructures

WatchGuard Enhances Security for Virtualized and Cloud Infrastructures

XTMv Line of Virtualized Firewalls Now Shipping to Beta Customers

SEATTLE – December 21, 2011. WatchGuard® Technologies, a global leader in business security solutions, today announced the beta version of its leading next-generation security UTM product as a virtual appliance named XTMv. The new WatchGuard XTMv series of virtual firewalls provides unparalleled network security and advanced protection of applications and data.

"The powerful firewall, integrated threat management and application control, and bundled easy-to-use business-focused management suite that define WatchGuard XTM have helped hundreds of thousands of organizations run their businesses securely. Now, WatchGuard will enable those companies to leverage the consolidation savings and business agility of virtualization and private clouds with the same level of confidence," said Roger Klorese, Director of Product Management at WatchGuard Technologies. "The response to the extension of WatchGuard XTM security to virtual infrastructures has far exceeded our expectations, with hundreds of partners and customers requesting early access."

WatchGuard XTMv
XTMv is now available in beta version to meet the needs of small, midsize and large-scale distributed environments. XTMv provides the same type of high security offered by WatchGuard XTM series hardware appliances, including Application Control, Reputation Enabled Defense, intrusion prevention, gateway anti-virus, web blocking traffic shaping, and more. "WatchGuard has been a vital component of our enterprise infrastructure for over 12 years now," says James Bender, Director of Technical Services, MCA. "Their offering application layer capabilities in the late 90's sealed our decision to market their firewall to our customers as our security appliance solution. Being a customer first, I appreciated the ease of management, friendly interface, and bundled features on the box that other vendors charge an arm and a leg for. This beta release has me very excited. The virtualized XTM solution allows us to spin up virtualized firewalls that leverage our high performance and highly available, x86/x64 infrastructure. XTMv provides us with scalable access control solutions to protect specific virtual machines and make our cloud offerings a reality."

WatchGuard XTMv series can manage traffic passing within the virtual infrastructure and across internal networks between virtual machines in the same cluster or on the same server; thus XTMv is well suited to implement security policies between applications, user communities or tenants. WatchGuard XTMv will be initially supported on VMware vSphere.

Additional beta testers will be added to the program in January 2012. Users may request access through this application: https://watchguard.wufoo.com/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchguard-xtmv-beta-program/

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.

CommVault Launches New Enterprise Consulting Services Practice

CommVault Launches New Enterprise Consulting Services Practice

—New Practice Helps Global Enterprises Define Strategic Roadmap for Modern Data Management to Maximize the Value of Simpana Software Deployments—

 

CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) — OCEANPORT, NJ — December 20, 2011

Large enterprises migrating from a legacy backup to a modern data management approach often lack the time, resources or capabilities to ensure they are maximizing the value of their IT investments. In order to optimize these clients' data management practices in alignment with business and operational requirements, CommVault is launching a new Enterprise Consulting Services practice to accelerate the adoption of a modern data management strategy.

News Facts

  • CommVault today announced the formation of a new Enterprise Consulting Services (ECS) practice within its Global Services organization.
  • The ECS practice is designed to help global enterprises define a transformation roadmap that sets out the path to achieve modern data management and maximize investment in CommVault® Simpana® software.
  • Drawing on the expertise of the most talented professionals in CommVault's Global Services organization, ECS engineers have deep domain knowledge and years of experience delivering capabilities in the areas of data management and virtualization protection strategies, backup and recovery architecture design and legacy platform migrations.
  • ECS engineers will work with customers to assess their current data management environment, outline an optimum execution path for modernization and deliver the project on time and at the lowest possible cost.
  • With the ECS practice, CommVault strengthens its position as a trusted advisor to its customers looking to leverage modern data management approaches and further drive bottom-line value back to the business.

Enterprise Consulting Services Lay Foundation for Accelerating Value of Simpana® Software

  • CommVault's ECS engagement begins with a solution planning workshop that establishes critical success factors and priorities for the re-architecture project.
  • The ECS architecture team analyzes the customer's environment and proposes a modern data management design that meets their current requirements and future business objectives.
  • The ECS architecture team outlines a lifecycle plan for the implementation, training and support of the solution.
  • Finally, ECS engineers work with stakeholders to design and implement a new architecture to ensure that business processes are aligned to optimize day-to-day IT operations.

Supporting Quote

  • Robert Brower, Vice President of Global Customer Support and Services, CommVault
    "Increasingly, IT organizations are being asked to do more with less and deliver value back to the business. The mission of CommVault's Enterprise Consulting Services practice is to help customers transition from legacy backup to a modern data management approach that better supports their overall business strategy. Our new ECS practice leverage best practices to provide enterprises with a comprehensive plan that enables them to modernize current architectures or build agile IT environments from the ground up, so they can gain the full value of their Simpana software deployment in as short a time as possible."

ECS Availability

CommVault's Enterprise Consulting Services are available today through the CommVault Global Services group. To learn more about CommVault Enterprise Consulting Services, visit http://services.commvault.com/enterprise-consulting-services.asp#t-0


Resources

Get Involved:

About CommVault
A singular vision – a belief in a better way to address current and future data management needs – guides CommVault in the development of Singular Information Management® solutions for high-performance data protection, universal availability and simplified management of data on complex storage networks. CommVault's exclusive single-platform architecture gives companies unprecedented control over data growth, costs and risk. CommVault's Simpana® software suite of products was designed to work together seamlessly from the ground up, sharing a single code and common function set, to deliver superlative Data Protection, Archive, Replication, Search and Resource Management capabilities. More companies every day join those who have discovered the unparalleled efficiency, performance, reliability, and control only CommVault can offer. Information about CommVault is available at www.commvault.com. CommVault's corporate headquarters is located in Oceanport, New Jersey in the United States.

Seagate Completes Acquisition of Samsung’s Hard Disk Drive Business

Seagate Completes Acquisition of Samsung’s Hard Disk Drive Business
Strategic Agreement Including Extensive Supply and Cross-Licensing Arrangements Now Fully Operational

CUPERTINO, Calif. - December 19, 2011 - Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX), a world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, today announced the closing of the transaction to acquire the hard disk drive (HDD) business of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology.

Under the terms of the transaction, Seagate has gained select elements of Samsung's HDD business, including assets, infrastructure and employees that enable Seagate to drive scale and innovation. These assets include Samsung's leading M8 product line of high-capacity, 2.5-inch HDDs. Samsung employees joining Seagate include a number of senior managers and design-engineering employees from Samsung's Korea facility, who will focus on development of small form-factor products for the mobile compute market. N.Y. Park, senior vice president and general manager, will oversee Seagate's product development activities in Korea and serve as country manager of the Korea design center, reporting to Bob Whitmore, Seagate's executive vice president and CTO.

"Together, Seagate and Samsung have aligned our current and future product development efforts and roadmaps in order to accelerate time-to-market efficiency for new products and position us to better address the increasing demands for storage," said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. "It is an exciting time in the industry with rapidly evolving opportunities in many markets including mobile computing, cloud computing, and solid state storage."

This transaction was announced in April 2011 along with a series of other agreements between Seagate and Samsung. Seagate is supplying disk drives to Samsung for PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics devices. Samsung is supplying its market-leading semiconductor products for use in Seagate's enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid-state hybrid drives and other products. The companies have also extended and enhanced their existing patent cross-license agreement and have expanded cooperation to co-develop enterprise storage solutions.

"The strategic relationship will open new opportunities for the two companies by mutually complementing each other's creative technology solutions for a broad diversity of IT applications," said Oh-Hyun Kwon, vice chairman of Device Solutions of Samsung Electronics.

The transactions and agreements substantially expand Seagate's customer access in China, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Germany and the Russian Federation. Seagate and Samsung also have been working together to ensure that customers continue to receive a high level of service, support and innovation, including activities to align the two companies' supply bases and delivery infrastructure. To ease the transition of products and technologies, Seagate will retain certain Samsung HDD products under the Samsung brand name for 12 months, and maintain or establish a number of independent operations including sales staff, key production lines and R&D. Customers can find more information at www.seagate.com/samsung.

The combined value of these transactions and agreements is approximately US $1.4 billion, consisting of 45,239,490 Seagate Ordinary Shares and the remaining balance settled in cash. In addition, Samsung will designate a nominee to join Seagate's Board of Directors.

Seagate does not presently expect significant restructuring costs and expects to achieve considerable reductions in overall operating expenses for the combined business while minimizing the integration costs. As previously stated, Seagate expects that the transactions and agreements will be meaningfully accretive to non-GAAP diluted earnings per share and cash flow in the first full year following the closing. Seagate will provide additional financial information for the combined company on its fiscal second quarter conference call in late January.

About Seagate

Seagate is a world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company consists of nine independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Only 9% of Canadian businesses deploy round-the-clock solutions to deal with fraud

 

Few companies fully harnessing technology to prevent fraud

despite 4 in 5 Canadian executives saying it’s a business priority

 

Less than 1 in 10 executives said their organization has fraud prevention software running around the clock

 

TORONTO (December 20, 2011) – While the vast majority (83 per cent) of Canadian executives said that fraud prevention and detection is a priority at their organization, only 9 per cent of those surveyed said they have business analytics software designed to help detect fraud running all the time. These are just some of the findings in a SAS / Leger survey of 1,033 Canadian executives at mid-sized and large organizations conducted earlier this year.

 

“Fraud is a 24/7 business, one that has tremendous impact on the Canadian economy,” said Wes Gill, Executive Lead and Head, Governance, Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance, SAS Canada. “Running business analytics continuously helps companies reduce the economic impact of fraud by closing the doors on fraudsters.”

 

Fraud prevention business analytics software helps companies quickly identify unseen relationships between participants in criminal rings, a major problem in the auto insurance industry; create predictive models that can help indicate when and where fraud may occur; and identify seemingly insignificant activities that may indicate an occurrence of fraud.

 

While it is no surprise that financial executives say fraud prevention is a priority (only one executive surveyed, out of more than 100, said it was not a priority), less than 80 per cent of executives in education (76 per cent) and health (78 per cent) cited fraud prevention and detection as a priority.

 

The vast majority of executives (8 in 10) said their organization has been impacted by fraud attempts, with external attempts being slightly more prevalent than internal. Thirty-two per cent said external fraud attempts (customers, vendors, etc.) are more common, 24 per cent said internal attempts (employees, subcontractors, etc.) are more common, while 23 per cent said internal and external fraud attempts occur equally.

 

“For most companies, fraud does not usually come from one direction, rather all points of the compass,” Gill said. “Anti-fraud software can help cover all 360 degrees.”

 

Ten per cent of those affected by customer fraud said this costs their organization $1 million or more annually. The most impacted sectors were banking/finance (21 per cent) and government (17 per cent). When it came to internal/employee fraud, half as many (five per cent) of those affected by employee fraud said their organization loses $1 million or more annually. The financial sector was tops with 16 per cent saying their organization loses $1million or more annually to internal/employee fraud.

 

 

About the Survey

The survey was completed online from May 31st, 2011 to June 12th, 2011 using Leger Marketing’s online panel, LegerWeb, with a sample of 1033 Canadian executives (senior management level or higher) at mid to large size organizations.  A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/-3.05%, 19 times out of 20.

 

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.

 

The Canadian subsidiary of SAS has been in operation for 23 years. Headquartered in Toronto, SAS employs 263 people across the country at its Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montréal and offices. www.sas.com

 

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.  Copyright © 2011 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

 

 

Kiel Hume

Consultant

khume@environicspr.com

Direct: 416.969.2807

Mobile: 416.908.3604

 

Environics Communications

33 Bloor Street East, Suite 900

Toronto, ON M4W 3H1

Environics Communications | Thanks Augie Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn

 

 

 

Softchoice Study: Win7 adoption surging as Win8 set to make its debut

 
Softchoice Study Finds ‘Floodgates’ Opening on Corporate Windows 7 Deployments
Analysis of 1.6 million corporate PCs indicates majority of organizations now moving quickly to deploy Windows 7
Toronto, November 28, 2011 – A new study from Softchoice Corporation (TSX: SO) indicates that the adoption of Microsoft Windows 7 has reached a tipping point - with installations of the operating system (OS) in corporate environments nearly tripling since the start of 2011.
An analysis of 1.6 million PCs representing more than 300 distinct organizations suggests that after a slow start in 2010, IT departments are now moving quickly to deploy the Microsoft OS. In January of 2011, roughly one in 10 PCs in the average environment had Windows 7 installed compared to almost one in three by the end of August. To put these findings into perspective, in the first two years of its launch, Vista was only deployed to three percent of total corporate PCs, compared to 18 percent and counting for Windows 7.
“In the span of less than a year we’ve seen organizations move from a cautious ‘wait and see’ mentality to rolling out Windows 7 pretty rapidly,” said Dean Williams, Manager of Assessment Services Development for Softchoice. “Given the activity of the past few quarters we’ve clearly reached a tipping point. This is a completely different picture than what we saw with the adoption of Vista.”
Although in the average environment 28 percent of corporate PCs have Windows 7 installed, only 10 percent of organizations are past the half-way point in rolling out the OS across their entire fleet.  Analysis indicates that a full 60 percent of organizations are actively testing, if not in the process of deploying the OS. This suggests the rapid uptick in installations seen over the course of 2011 will continue to accelerate over the coming quarters.
“While only a handful of organizations may have reached the finish line in terms of full-scale deployments, most are well underway,” added Mr. Williams. “The momentum is clearly there.”
The findings are based on actual inventory data collected from 1.6 million corporate PCs between January and August of 2011. The sample consists of 306 unique organizations, representing a wide range of industries from across North America, including financial, health care, manufacturing and education.
The data collection for the study was made possible as a result of Softchoice’s award-winning IT assessment services. To provide comprehensive IT asset management services, including licensing gap analysis, hardware lifecycle and IT policy management, Softchoice receives IT inventory data from customer environments. A portion of this data was analyzed in aggregate to produce the findings pertaining to Windows 7 adoption among North American organizations.
About Softchoice
As a leading North American provider of technology solutions and services, Softchoice combines the efficiency and reliability of a national IT supplier with the personal touch and technical expertise of a local solutions provider. Softchoice’s holistic approach to technology includes solution design, implementation and asset management services, as well as providing access to one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective technology distribution networks in North America. With more than 950 employees located in more than 40 branch offices, Softchoice manages the technology needs of almost 15,000 corporate and public sector organizations across the United States and Canada.
Softchoice stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the trading symbol “SO.” The common shares of Softchoice are not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and are not publicly traded in the United States.
 
 

 
 

SAP HANA™ Opens Up to Wider Industry and Partner Adoption

SAP HANA™ Opens Up to Wider Industry and Partner Adoption

Growing Customer and Partner Successes Illustrate the Openness and
Impact of SAP HANA™ Across Enterprise Software

BOSTON - December 13, 2011 - Since introducing SAP HANA™, the game-changing in-memory platform, on December 1, 2010, customer and partner demand for this breakthrough technology from SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has surged. Today, Dr. Vishal Sikka, member of the SAP Executive Board, Technology & Innovation, announced that leading independent software vendors are adopting the open SAP HANA platform for their existing products and building completely new applications. The company also unveiled that SAP HANA is at the core of its platform roadmap, powering both renewed applications without disruption as well as unprecedented new applications. The announcement was made at the SAP Influencer Summit 2011, being held in Boston from December 13-14.

SAP also showcased the latest customers to experience the power of SAP HANA across industries, giving them instant access to massive amounts of information and the ability to make real-time decisions, in the process achieving breakthrough performance improvement by factors of thousands, even ten of thousands, compared to existing systems in their landscapes.

Attracting a Growing Ecosystem to Power Their Solutions With the Open SAP HANA Platform
"SAP HANA is bringing unbelievable performance improvements to leading customers around the world and becoming a foundation of the SAP platform for both renewed and new products," said Dr. Hasso Plattner, chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board. "And now ISVs and leading enterprise software companies are adopting the open SAP HANA platform to power their solutions and bring many innovations to their customers."

UFIDA to Power Real-Time Enterprise Applications With SAP HANA
In addition to the upcoming SAP® Business One application, powered by SAP HANA, SAP plans to work with UFIDA to bring next generation real-time applications to market.

"UFIDA, as Asia Pacific's largest local management software vendor believes that business analytics is an important aspect of real-time enterprise applications," said Li You, executive president, UFIDA. "We pay close attention to SAP HANA technology development, and have an interest in further cooperation with SAP."

TIBCO to Power Real-Time Collaboration And Analytics
TIBCO and SAP bring unique and powerful credentials to real-time business processing in the enterprise. Recently, SAP has been working with TIBCO on real-time collaboration and analytics solutions, tibbr and TIBCOSpotfire on the open SAP HANA platform. The two companies are leveraging the speed of SAP HANA to reduce the latency to process, collaborate and act on the information as it happens, and access even more data in shorter periods of time.

Tableau Software to Power Real-Time Visualization
In addition to tools from the SAP® BusinessObjects™ portfolio, SAP is working with Tableau Software to bring real-time visualization to business information. SAP HANA powers exploratory and investigative analysis with no pre-built queries and materialized views at accelerated speed for businesses to have a conversation with their data.

"SAP HANA provides amazing analytic speed for an organization's most critical data", said Chris Stolte, chief development officer and co-founder, Tableau Software. "Tableau's new connection to SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse, powered by SAP HANA, and our partnership with SAP will make available flexible, rapid-fire visual analytics on top of the high performance in-memory capabilities of SAP HANA. Customers will gain unprecedented analytic value. The Tableau connector to SAP HANA was built very quickly, demonstrating the openness of the SAP solutions."

SAP® BusinessObjects™ BI OnDemand Solution, Powered by SAP HANA, Brings Real-Time Analytics to On-Demand Software Applications such as Salesforce.com
Simba provides connectivity between Salesforce.com and the SAP® BusinessObjects™ BI OnDemand solution, powered by SAP HANA. With data in SAP HANA from Salesforce.com, SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand can run interactive analysis on any question a business user may have with no tuning, delivering unmatched simplification and powerful real-time analytics in the cloud.

SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand provides Cars.com the analytics they need to show its 16,000-strong dealer network the value of the Cars.com services - ultimately demonstrating how Cars.com can drive additional visitors and sales to dealers.Cars.com creates packaged offers for its dealers and SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand is able to help the company to determine which packages were most effective for each dealer and provide additional value and insight during the sales cycle to maximize the effectiveness of Cars.com offers.

"This solution eliminates traditional integration tasks, and provides lower cost of implementation and ownership as customers do not need to invest in designing workarounds to improve reporting performance," said Amyn Rajan, president and CEO, Simba Technologies. "As their data grows, they can continue to add more reporting scenarios flexibly without significant investment in IT."

Jive Software to Power Next Generation Enterprise Social Collaboration Analytics
Next-generation enterprise social collaboration requires real-time social analysis that SAP HANA is uniquely positioned to achieve.

"Jive is currently running on SAP HANA as a native database in a production environment." said Christopher Morace, senior vice president, Business Development, Jive Software. "Jive is testing this with SAP and hopes to officially support the SAP HANA platform for its customers as a part of its strategic roadmap long term. Jive firmly believes in the importance of in-memory processing as a technique for analytics on enterprise social data at scale and has plans to take full advantage of these technologies."

Delivering Real-Time Business for Customers in all Industries: SAP HANA Continues to Grow in its Application Across Various Industries
"We see CIOs partnering with their business counterparts to rethink their business with SAP HANA," said Sikka. "From real-time customer segmentation in telecom, to profitability analysis in animal nutrition to faster genome analysis in life sciences, we see SAP HANA eliminating layers of complexity and converting batch processes into real-time business.This provides a platform to build real-time applications and renew existing ones to help transform businesses."

SAP also announced a competition for customers to achieve 100,000 times performance improvement in their business processes.

Telecom: T-Mobile Uncovers Customer Insights in Minutes
Leading wireless provider T-Mobile turned to SAP HANA when the company set out to implement an aggressive marketing initiative. The goal was to deliver highly targeted offers to more than 21 million customers via channels such as retail stores, customer care centers and eventually SMS. Such a campaign would require rapid analytical capability so that offers could be fine-tuned on the fly for improved customer adoption, profitability and retention.

"We recognized that being able to respond to the needs of our customers in real time would give us an incredible competitive advantage and improve the quality of the customer experience," said Jeff Wiggin, vice president, Enterprise Information Technology, T-Mobile USA, Inc. "In order to deliver that kind of experience, we needed an underlying platform behind our sales and marketing efforts, allowing us to uncover customer insights and then act on those insights in minutes, not weeks. SAP HANA delivered exactly that."

In just three months, T-Mobile shifted 2 billion customer records to an automated system built on top of SAP HANA and integrated into an existing platform of SAP BusinessObjects technology. This allowed the company to run the necessary reports with an average response time of just five seconds. Additionally, the wireless provider is now able to scan 24 months of customer records up dramatically from only three months previously, providing a much larger sample and a more accurate picture of how customers respond to incentives.

Animal Nutrition Leader Provimi Accelerates Profitability Analysis With a Fast Implementation
Provimi, a world leader in animal nutrition solutions, implemented SAP® CO-PA Accelerator software, powered by SAP HANA and deployed it to its business in exactly 16 days. Leaders in finance and other business users access over 10 million records from controlling - profitabilityaAnalysis reports in real time with the freedom to interact with the data and analyze across any dimension and any level of granularity. Provimi is on the path to transform to a "Sense and Respond" organization making quick and insightful decisions. Now Provimi can run a report on its cost and performance in less than three seconds, a performance increase of more than 1,500 times.

"Within the first week, we found EUR 500,000 in open orders delivering immediate business value," said Rogier Jacobs, CIO of Provimi. "The speed of implementation and the fact that no upgrades were necessary proved the point that SAP CO-PA Accelerator on SAP HANA is really a non-disruptive offering and a no-brainer."

Healthcare and Life Sciences: MITSUI KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY (MKI) Powers Genome Sequencing and Data Analysis in Drug Discovery
Fast and cost-effective analysis of genome sequences is essential for life sciences companies to win the fight against cancer. Next-generation genetic sequencers need to rapidly compare cancer cells to normal cells across a number of attributes to make the research more efficient and fundamentally improve the odds of finding a cure. MKI worked with SAP to test SAP HANA, delivering results in most cases for analysis that was not possible before or took more than a month to render a single report. With SAP HANA, researchers accelerated their complex query results. In addition, SAP HANA is also being utilized for improving the drug discovery process. By rapidly analyzing a very large library of compounds with specific disease models, researchers can better predict the compound's potential as a drug.

For additional information regarding SAP HANA and in-memory computing technology, visit the Experience SAP HANA page. Participate in the conversation on Twitter by using the #HANA hashtag and follow @SAPInMemory. For more information, visit the Technology and Platform newsroom.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device - SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 176,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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