EMC Honoured For Global Services Excellence and Innovation by TSIA

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EMC Honoured For Global Services Excellence and Innovation by TSIA

Joins Elite Level of TSIA Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement

News Highlights:

* EMC honoured by Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) with
three Fall 2011 STAR Awards for excellence and innovation in
professional services, field support and education services
* With 16 STAR Awards, EMC joins only two other vendors in reaching
elite status within the TSIA Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement
* TSIA STAR Awards are one of the highest honours in the technology
services industry

Full Story:

HOPKINTON, Mass. – November 9, 2011 – EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC)
today announced it has been named the winner of three Fall 2011
Technology Services Industry Association (http://www.tsia.com/)(TSIA)
STAR Awards for Overall Operational Excellence in Technology
Professional Services, Overall Excellence in Field Services Delivery and
Overall Operational Excellence in Education Services. With 16 STAR
awards to date, EMC becomes the third company ever to achieve this elite
status in the TSIA Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement. The STAR
Awards recognize technology companies that display exceptional
leadership, innovation, and commitment in developing and implementing
best practices. The awards were announced October 26 at the Technology
Services World (http://www.technologyservicesworld.com/)(TSW) conference
in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The award for Overall Operational Excellence in Technology Professional
Services recognizes EMC’s global organization specializing in the
development, management and delivery of the company’s portfolio of
services. EMC’s professional services embody best practices and
expertise to help customers build a resilient, virtual infrastructure
that maximizes the value and return on investment of EMC technology,
while accelerating their journey to the cloud.

EMC was also recognized for Overall Excellence in Field Services
Delivery for its superior customer focus and industry-leading customer
satisfaction. EMC demonstrated its commitment to investing in the areas
that matter most to its customers. With its broad portfolio of support
services offerings, innovative use of service-enhancing technologies,
and a relentless focus on communication and account management, EMC is
successfully enabling customers to transform their businesses through
cloud computing. EMC’s priorities, initiatives, and benchmarking
throughout the support organization are driven by feedback and an
advanced data-analytics approach to measure the total customer
experience.

The third award EMC received is for Overall Operational Excellence in
Education Services for its industry-leading IT education, technical
certification, and professional and leadership development programs. By
creating a world-class learning culture and curricula that provides
demonstrated business impact, EMC drives increased loyalty with
customers, partners and employees. TSIA recognized EMC for its
leadership in developing education solutions that help businesses, and
the industry at large, transform and develop critical IT skills,
including those for cloud computing, required for today’s IT
environment.

Companies seeking the STAR Award undergo a rigorous evaluation process,
with the winners selected by TSIA’s service discipline advisory board
members. Since 1990, the STAR Awards have become one of the highest
honours in the technology services industry, acknowledging the
contribution of companies of all sizes to the continuous improvement of
service and support practices industry-wide. For information on the STAR
Awards, go to www.tsia.com/awards_and_certifications/star_awards.html.

TSIA Quote:

J.B. Wood, president and CEO of TSIA

“The STAR Awards program is a long-standing honour in the technology
services industry, recognizing organizations that demonstrate excellence
in innovation and an unmatch
ed dedication to professionalism in their
business operations. EMC has clearly demonstrated its high-level
commitment to delivering world-class results in the areas of
Professional, Education and Field Service, and it was an honour to
recognize the company in these three categories at our TSW event.”

Executive Quote:

Howard Elias, President and Chief Operating Officer, EMC Information
Infrastructure and Cloud Services

“EMC prides itself on developing and delivering innovative services
and support including knowledge transfer to provide the industry's best
total customer experience. We view our dedicated Global Services team as
a key enabler for our customers to adopt best practices and training
that accelerate the potential of cloud computing and Big Data. TSIA’s
Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award is an honour, and an
acknowledgement of our commitment to service excellence.”

Additional Resources

* Read insights (http://infocus.emc.com/) from EMC Global Services
practitioners on technology, industry and business topics
* Read Chuck’s Blog
(http://chucksblog.emc.com/chucks_blog/2011/11/no-compromise-and-it-vendor-services.html):
"No Compromise" – And Why It's Important When It Comes To IT Vendor
Services
* Read about The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA)
(http://www.tsia.com/)
* View EMC’s Mary Cay Kosten’s take on the significance of the STAR
Awards
(http://infocus.emc.com/marycay_kosten/celebrating-star-award-success/)
* View Education Services
(https://education.emc.com/default_guest.aspx) white papers,
course catalogue and overviews of offerings
* Watch a video about EMC’s evolving Global Services support model
(http://www.emc.com/collateral/demos/microsites/support/service-changing-world/index.htm)
* Connect with EMC via Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/EMCcorp),
Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/EMC-Corporation/101802689880042#!/emccorp),
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/emccorp), and LinkedIn
(http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=44934&trk=anet_ug_grppro)

About TSIA

The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is the leading
association dedicated to advancing the business of technology services.
Technology services organizations large and small look to TSIA for
world-class benchmarking and research, exceptional peer networking and
learning opportunities, and high-profile certification and awards
programs. Find TSIA online at www.tsia.com.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service
providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service.
Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through
innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud
computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze
their most valuable asset – information – in a more agile, trusted
and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at
www.EMC.com.

EMC Canada (www.EMC2.ca), headquartered in Toronto with nine offices
from coast to coast, is a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation.

- 30 -

For more information contact:
Mike Martin/Michelle Chang
StrategicAmpersand
416-961-5595
mike@stratamp.com
michelle@stratamp.com


EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States
and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.


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reply to this e-mail with "remove" in the subject header.

ViewSonic PJD6 Series Projectors Deliver Campus-Wide Network Management and Smart ECO™ Technology

ViewSonic PJD6 Series Projectors Deliver Campus-Wide Network Management and Smart ECO™ Technology

ViewSonic’s new PJD6253, PJD6223 and PJD6553w networkable DLP® projectors deliver power performance for classrooms and corporations

Monday, November 7th, 2011

WALNUT, Calif. – ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today announced its industry-leading PJD6 Series DLP projector line, comprised of the PJD6253, PJD6223 and PJD6553w, are Crestron and AMX certified, and all specifically designed for both classroom and corporate environments.

ViewSonic's PJD6 Series projectors are equipped with Crestron RoomView® network management software that enables centralized control for up to 250 projectors. With Crestron RoomView®, users have an advanced, real-time alert system that sends status updates regarding power, lamp life and unit presence to simplify maintenance efforts. The projectors are also the first ViewSonic projectors to be AMX certified, as a result of the company's acceptance into the AMX InConcert Program.

With ViewSonic's Smart ECO™ technology, PJD6 Series users can always present their content with the appropriate lighting to capture audience focus by dimming an image as needed, while enjoying an automatic energy savings of up to 70 percent[1]. Furthermore, the PJD6 Series' ECO mode delivers a longer lamp life of up to 6,000 hours for greater energy and cost savings, along with the added bonus of noise reduction. When it comes to lamp maintenance, the Series' top slide door design makes the task easier than ever.

The 120Hz/3D-ready PJD6 Series is packed with useful features, such as versatile connectivity options, including HDMI and multiple PC and video inputs, a Dynamic Movie mode for amazing image contrast, Digital Keystone Correction and a 10-watt integrated speaker. Teamed with 3500 lumens (2700 lumens on the PJD6223) and BrilliantColor™ tech­nology, these projectors deliver a clear and vivid image in most any lighting environment, while maintaining a low total cost of ownership.
The PJD6253 and PJD6223 are both advanced, networkable XGA 1024×768 projectors, perfect for any lighting environment. For those that desire a widescreen format projector, the PJD6553w has a WXGA 1280×800 native resolution, and is ideal for 720p HD viewing in the classroom, living room or boardroom. LAN connectivity also enables remote network management for easy device management.
The ViewSonic PJD6253 and PJD6223 are available now in North America and Latin America, and the PJD6553w will be available in mid-November, with an industry-leading three-year limited part and labor warranty, and a one-year lamp warranty, for respective ESPs of $559, $709 and $749.
For more information on ViewSonic products, please visit ViewSonic.com or follow ViewSonic on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
 Share

    * Share

Quotes

"Customized for teachers, professional trainers and consultants, the new PJD6 DLP projector Series offers many exclusive and valuable functions. This includes real-time monitoring and remote management for up to 250 networked projectors, along with versatile connectivity options," said Roger Chien, projector product manager for ViewSonic. "The technology leveraged was specifically designed to deliver a bright and vivid image, making these advanced DLP projectors a cost-effective solution for multimedia enjoyment and effective presentation execution. We are also very pleased to be a partner of AMX InConcert Program. It demonstrates ViewSonic's commitment to the education and enterprise markets as going forward, all our new projectors will be certified with AMX."
About ViewSonic

ViewSonic® Corporation is a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions. ViewSonic develops, markets and supports a broad range of innovative products, including LCD TVs, computers, LCD monitors, projectors, digital photo frames, digital signage displays and digital media players. For further information, please contact ViewSonic Corporation at 800.888.8583 or 909.444.8888; or visit ViewSonic.com .


Baxter Corporation and Medbuy First Trading Partners in Canada to Synchronize Medical-Surgical Product Data

Baxter Corporation and Medbuy First Trading Partners in Canada to Synchronize Medical-Surgical Product Data

Organizations use GHX Health ConneXion(SM) data pool as single source of accurate product data to improve operational efficiency for customers

TORONTO, Nov. 7, 2011 /CNW/ -- To improve the accuracy and efficiency of the healthcare supply chain for the customers they serve, Baxter Corporation, the Canadian subsidiary of Baxter International Inc., and Medbuy, a Canadian national group purchasing organization (GPO), are leveraging the GHX Health ConneXion(SM) data pool to synchronize GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for product identification through the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN®). This marks the first time that medical-surgical trading partners in Canada have leveraged the GDSN to establish a single source of product data for supply chain business transactions.

Currently, healthcare trading partners often identify the same products in different ways as they transact business with one another. This leads to inefficiency, increased errors, labor and costs and ultimately can jeopardize patient safety. As trading partners look for new ways to both improve operational performance and enhance patient care, there is growing recognition of the value of standardizing product identification using global data standards, such as GTINs. As this information is shared with trading partners through the GDSN, healthcare suppliers can establish a single source of truth for their products that can be accessed by providers, GPOs and other business partners so all parties are transacting with the same set of accurate product data throughout the globe.

"Baxter endorses and strongly supports the GS1 standards for healthcare. We believe that industry wide adoption of these standards will improve patient safety and will drive increased efficiency and integrity within the healthcare system," said Michael Oliver, general manager, Baxter Corporation. "We are taking a lead in global data standards adoption in the Canadian marketplace because we believe that improving efficiency and reducing waste in the healthcare supply chain through global data standards ultimately helps advance the state of healthcare for providers and the patients that they serve."

.

Over the past two years, Baxter has been actively implementing GS1 standards to meet customer and regulatory requirements globally. Baxter is already synchronizing data through a GDSN data pool in several countries.

Baxter now has published product data, including GS1 GTINs, for a portion of its Canadian product catalogue to the GDSN via the GHX Health ConneXion data pool, a healthcare-focused data pool certified by the GDSN. Medbuy, Canada's longest-standing national GPO, can now access this product data to standardize product identification for these Baxter Corporation products within its own catalogues, thereby enabling its provider members to order products from Baxter Corporation using GTINs in place of proprietary product numbers. Baxter Corporation, Medbuy and GHX are now working to publish GTINs for additional Baxter Corporation product lines to the GDSN so that Canadian healthcare providers can have access to standardized product data for Baxter Corporation's entire Canadian product line.

"Global data standards adoption holds tremendous potential to improve the healthcare supply chain and we are extremely pleased to be leading this effort in the Canadian marketplace," said DJ Robins, Chief Information Officer, Medbuy. "This is one of a number of initiatives we've undertaken to harness the power of data and, in particular, being able to provide our members with standardized and synchronized product data, we are helping them procure the right products at the right prices at the right times to enhance patient safety and achieve operational excellence."

"The work between Baxter Corporation and Medbuy represents a major milestone in global data standards adoption in Canada and we are proud to serve as a trusted partner in this effort," said Nils Clausen, general manager, GHX Canada. "Understanding that healthcare manufacturers use more than one data standard today, GHX offers suppliers an established infrastructure through which they can synchronize and share their supply chain data, making it easy and economical for them to meet market and regulatory demands for data standards in Canada and abroad."

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) makes healthcare more efficient by delivering software and services that enable both healthcare providers and suppliers to increase efficiency, lower costs and provide better patient care. With the largest footprint in healthcare supply chain management, GHX connects more than 80 percent of licensed hospital beds at U.S. hospitals, as well as providers in Canada and Europe, with the suppliers from which they purchase the majority of their medical-surgical supplies. GHX is transforming today's linear healthcare supply chain into the industry's only Healthcare Supply Cloud(SM), providing 360-degree visibility into areas affecting both clinical and financial performance. Working with GHX, organizations can improve business processes, automate supply chain systems and collaborate to solve the tough challenges facing healthcare today. GHX is owned by members of the healthcare industry, including Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B. Braun Medical Inc.; BD; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc. For more information, visit www.ghx.com. Follow GHX on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.

About Medbuy

As Canada's longest standing national healthcare group purchasing organization, Medbuy partners with healthcare organizations - from hospitals, health authorities and shared services organizations to other publicly accountable health service providers - to deliver the best medical supplies, services and pharmaceuticals for the best possible price. Since 1989, we have saved the health system hundreds of millions of dollars.

With more than two decades of strategic sourcing experience and first-in-class technologies, we simplify your decisions, and ultimately, help you make the best choices for your patients.

About Baxter

As the Canadian subsidiary of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), Baxter Corporation manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people living with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.

For further information: Judy Stowell, +1-720-887-7631, jstowell@ghx.com, or Kara Della Vecchia, +1-508-314-3127 (cell), kara@kdvcommunications.com, both for Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC Web Site: http://www.ghx.com

Gartner Says Consumerization Will Drive At Least Four Mobile Management Styles

Gartner Says Consumerization Will Drive At Least Four Mobile Management Styles

Analysts Discuss the Rapidly Changing Face of Corporate Mobility at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2011, 7-10 November, in Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain, November 8, 2011— 

Consumerization is now the primary driver of the mobile universe, and CIOs must be ready to embrace a range of more-flexible approaches to their mobile strategy, according to Gartner, Inc. At least four new mobile management styles will emerge as leaders because different groups of staff will demand different approaches.

Gartner analysts today discussed the future of corporate mobility and the impact that it will have on the CIO’s mobile strategy at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2011, taking place through 10 November.

“The landscape of devices and user needs is changing, “said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “CIOs are facing mass-mobility, and it is expected to grow rapidly.”

Gartner predicts sales of smartphones to end users will reach 461.5 million in 2011 and rise to 645 million in 2012. In 2011, sales of smartphones will overtake shipments of PCs (364 million). Combined sales of smartphones and tablets will be 44 percent bigger than the PC market in 2011. More of these devices will find their way into enterprises as employees entering the organization will expect to be allowed to use them.

Consumerization, app stores and mobile ecosystems are causing a proliferation of new applications and services in the enterprise. Employees increasingly seek to take full advantage of better browsers and innovative applications from app stores.Gartner estimates that 18 billion apps will be downloaded in 2011, up 114.5 percent from 2010 and will rise to 31 billion in 2012.

This array of mobile devices and applications leads to changes in society. Employees are behaving more like consumers, demanding a wider choice of devices, exploiting consumer devices and applications from app stores, and adopting new strategies such as ‘bring your own’ (BYO) IT, where employees use personally-owned tablets and smartphones for work. As a result, the distinctions between a person's role as an employee and as a consumer are more blurred than ever.

“CIOs need to explore new ways to provide, fund, and manage mobile devices to allow employees more choice and support BYO programs,” said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

Gartner expects several new mobile management styles to include:

Control-oriented. The primary consideration is to guarantee quality of service, security, support and cost. To assure functionality, service levels, performance and security, the organization provides and strictly manages devices, contracts and applications. All aspects of the device and its applications are controlled and supported by corporate IT.

Choice-oriented. The primary goal is user satisfaction, typically in cases where users demand a greater choice of devices, but have relatively undemanding application and service needs. Undemanding needs are a necessary consequence of greater choice, because it's usually prohibitively expensive to support complex requirements on a wide range of platforms. User satisfaction cannot imply excessive risk, so the business won't abandon all management responsibility, but will exert lightweight control over devices and the service portfolio, often by limiting the range of services provided and choosing inherently safe architectures, such as a thin client. Such control tends to be more in the cloud than on the device, and support is typically much more limited than in the control-oriented regime.

Innovation-oriented. The goal is to empower users who want substantial autonomy and are often in roles over which IT has little or no control. Users want to experiment with applications and services, and develop new techniques and processes. They are in charge, and no reasonable device, application or service request can be refused. The IT organization won't abandon responsibility for critical issues such as data privacy and corporate risk; however, the controls will likely be more policy-oriented than technology-oriented. Typical users are independent, often technically sophisticated, and may not want support (even where it can be provided), but may accept advice and training.

Hands-off. The goal is to take the minimum level of responsibility for mobile devices and services, typically by not providing them. This regime is not about avoiding responsibility, but finding approaches that mean it's not necessary to take responsibility. It includes concepts such as employee-owned devices and BYO IT. Typically, IT has little or no support responsibility for devices, and may relinquish responsibility for many services (for example, by requiring users to provide their own mobile e-mail or by adopting hosted services). Any controls that are necessary will be applied in the cloud, in applications or by policies.

“CIOs must be ready for the BYO programs sooner than they realize,” said Mr. Jones. “BYO is a principle that most organizations will adopt and organizations must prepare for this change.”

At the same time, global businesses should be prepared to support at least three smartphone platforms by 2012, and some will expect to support four or even five. The decision will vary depending on the geography and whether the applications are business to employee (B2E) or business to consumer (B2C).

Gartner estimates that Android will remain the No. 1 platform for several years, and Apple’s iOS will take the No. 2 position in 2012 until 2014. If the Nokia/Microsoft alliance executes well, Windows Phone should grow to take the No. 2 position by 2015 displacing iOS. RIM will move to No. 4 position in 2013.

“Regardless of your current approach, the reality is that consumerisation is here to stay and will have an enormous impact on the management of corporate mobility for many years to come,” said Ms. Milanesi.

About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world's most important gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective content with the authority and weight of the world's leading IT research and advisory organization, and provides access to the latest solutions from key technology providers. The event also features an ITxpo show floor, which offers exclusive access to some of the world's leading technology and service providers. With 95 IT exhibitors demonstrating their solutions at the event, the ITxpo show floor provides a unique opportunity for attendees to assess the vendor landscape and engage face to face with exhibitors while away from the distractions of the office. Additional information on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2011 in Barcelona, 7-10 November, is available at www.gartner.com/eu/symposium.

More exclusive content and multimedia coverage, including Twitter feeds and comments from the Gartner Blog Network, will be available at Gartner's SymLive at http://blogs.gartner.com/symposium-live-barcelona/.

Follow Gartner Symposium/ITxpo
Follow news, photos and video coming from Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/GartnerSym, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc and using #GartnerSym, on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27772229@N07/.

Contacts:

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

Holly Stevens
Gartner
+44 0 1784 267412
holly.stevens@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.

Microsoft Announces Partnerships to Inspire and Support Educators Around the World

News Press Release
Microsoft Announces Partnerships to Inspire and Support Educators Around the World
Educators from more than 70 countries gather at the Partners in Learning Global Forum to celebrate innovative uses of technology in the classroom.

WASHINGTON — Nov. 8, 2011 — At the Microsoft 2011 Partners in Learning Global Forum, the Microsoft Corp. today announced new and continuing collaborations with the U.S. Department of Education, the British Council and the Smithsonian Institution to engage educators from their initial desire to enter the profession to successfully inspiring students in their classrooms. Microsoft believes that well-prepared educators can help today’s youth overcome the emerging opportunity divide and can help put students on a path toward the education, skills and opportunities they need to prosper in the 21st century.

The Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum is the culmination of a year’s worth of country and regional events honoring teachers and school leaders who are creatively and effectively using technology in their curriculum. The event provides these exceptional educators with an opportunity to compete and gain recognition at the global level and to share and collaborate on best practices, key learnings and how to implement creative ideas.

“The Partners in Learning program is one of the many investments Microsoft is making to help educators more effectively prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of education at Microsoft Corp. “At Microsoft, we believe that magic happens when business needs merge with social responsibility, and in an increasingly competitive global economy, bringing together organizations that are equally passionate about education can be a successful formula for preparing the next generation of leaders.”

Talented educators are critical to ensuring that students are better prepared to compete for the higher-skilled jobs demanded by today’s economy. To help fulfill the growing need for educators in the United States, Salcito announced in today’s keynote that Microsoft will collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education to support a campaign aimed at inspiring and recruiting young people to enter the teaching profession. As part of this, Microsoft is assuming overall management of the TEACH website. In the coming months, Microsoft will be taking the lead in developing a coalition of private-sector companies and other key organizations to further support the campaign and will be moving the site to teach.org.

Microsoft also announced a new, five-year partnership with the British Council, an international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations, to increase quality and access in education and training around the world. This partnership will combine the assets of Microsoft and the British Council to nurture the use of information communications technology for innovative practice in teaching and learning in order to equip millions of students with the knowledge and skills they need for life and work in the 21st century. Microsoft and the British Council have each committed $1 million (U.S.) to the partnership’s first project, which will build 80 digital hubs at schools across Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda using Windows MultiPoint Server. The project is expected to train more than 20,000 school leaders and teachers and provide more than 100,000 learners and communities with digital access, while promoting literacy throughout the region. The project was inspired by similar work already underway in Africa by the British Council and by a commitment that Microsoft and other partners made at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2010 to build labs powered by Windows MultiPoint Server in 40 “lighthouse” schools in Haiti, serving 24,000 students.

“I welcome our new partnership with Microsoft, which will enable us to create opportunities for millions of educators and students around the world,” said Martin Davidson, chief executive, British Council. “By working together to harness technology for education and training, we can make a powerful contribution to preparing young people throughout the world for life and work in the 21st century.”

Microsoft Partners in Learning, the Smithsonian Institution and TakingITGlobal are continuing to expand the Shout program, which was announced at last year’s Global Forum in South Africa. The partnership harnesses the power of technology to connect research and education resources with teachers and their students so they can act as a driving force for significant, positive contributions to the environment. This year’s program will focus on water quality and quantity, to ensure that water is safe for both people and the environment, as well as managing the crises of too much water and not enough water.

The 2011 Partners in Learning Global Forum is being held in Washington, D.C., Nov. 7–10. Winners of the 18 Global Forum Educator Awards will be announced, and 18 new Mentor Schools will be recognized at a gala dinner at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. More information about the event can be found at http://bit.ly/pu4GSO or https://www.facebook.com/partnersinlearning and by following #PILGF on Twitter.

About Partners in Learning

Partners in Learning is a 10-year, nearly $500 million commitment by Microsoft to help education systems around the world. Since its inception in 2003, the Partners in Learning program has reached more than 196 million teachers and students in 114 countries. Supporting the program is the online Partners in Learning Network, one of the world’s largest global professional networks for educators, connecting millions of teachers and school leaders around the world in a community of professional development.

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 more news and images from the event in Washington, D.C., visit the Worldwide Public Sector Virtual Press Kit at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/wwpublicsector/Default.aspx.

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

GENBAND and CounterPath Extend A2 Unified Communication Services to Mobile and Tablet Subscribers

GENBAND and CounterPath Extend A2 Unified Communication Services to Mobile and Tablet Subscribers

FRISCO, TX and VANCOUVER, Nov. 8, 2011 /CNW/ - GENBAND, a leading developer of IP infrastructure and application solutions, and CounterPath Corporation (TSX-V: CCV) (OTCBB: CPAH), an award-winning provider of innovative desktop and mobile VoIP software products and solutions, today announced that they have entered into a strategic, long-term agreement to provide mobile client solutions for GENBAND's A2™ Communications Application Server. The scope of the relationship includes joint development and marketing of enhanced unified communications capabilities that extend voice, messaging, presence and video services to mobile and tablet devices.

"By tightly integrating our A2 Communications Application Server with CounterPath's leading Bria softphone client, we are further unleashing the A2's promise of delivering rich, unified communications anytime, on any device and from any place," said Charlie Vogt, President and CEO GENBAND. "This new alliance allows our customers to achieve significant cost savings, add new revenue generating services and increase revenue per subscriber by extending all of the benefits that customers enjoy on their desktops to any device - creating a premium user experience."

With the massive growth of smartphones and tablets nearing a 6 billion mobile subscriber base, consumers have moved past the "always on" requirement and are demanding services across all types of devices. Together, CounterPath and GENBAND are addressing this services device shift to enable a universal and unique user experience for A2 customers, ranging from common address books accessible from any device, to IM and presence federation, to the ability to choose the most effective use of 3G or VoIP routing. GENBAND customers will have the ability to easily introduce bundled services in any business or consumer plan and further customize mobile clients with their logos.

"With millions of end points deployed, we are extremely pleased to expand the Bria softphone experience to millions more across GENBAND's A2 platform," said Donovan Jones, President and CEO, CounterPath. "GENBAND understands the evolving needs and requirements of subscribers and we look forward to bringing the innovation behind Bria into the A2 roadmap to drive the next generation of unified multimedia communication services."

GENBAND's A2 platform is a full-featured telephony and multimedia applications server, currently servicing approximately 200 mobile, VoIP and IMS networks worldwide. The A2 provides consumer and business services, SIP trunking and unified communications for Mobile, Fixed, Broadband and Cable Operators.

CounterPath's Bria is a carrier-grade, next generation softphone application that enables users to manage communications easily and efficiently - all from an easy-to-use interface. Replacing or complementing a hard phone, Bria allows users to make VoIP and Video calls over IP, see when your contacts are available, send Instant Messages and transfer files with ease and efficiency.

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About CounterPath
CounterPath Corporation is an award-winning provider of innovative desktop and mobile VoIP software products and solutions. The Company's product suite includes SIP-based softphones, server applications and Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to cost-effectively integrate voice, video, presence and Instant Messaging (IM) applications into their VoIP offerings and extend functionality across both fixed and mobile networks.

CounterPath's customers include some of the world's largest telecommunications service providers and network equipment providers including AT&T, Verizon, BT (British Telecommunications PLC), mobilkom Austria, Avaya, Cisco Systems and Mitel.

For more information please visit www.counterpath.com.

Disclaimer: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About GENBAND
GENBAND is a global leader of IP infrastructure and service solutions, enabling enterprise, service and content providers around the world to evolve communications networks through IP innovation. The Company offers market-leading Switching, Applications, Networking and Service solutions, with products deployed in over 600 customer networks spanning more than 80 countries. GENBAND is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has operations in 50 countries. To learn more, visit us on the web at www.genband.com.

GENBAND, the GENBAND logo and icon are trademarks of GENBAND.

For further information:

Contacts:

GENBAND Media Relations
Kim Lee
+1.972.265.3766
kim.lee@genband.com     
            CounterPath Media/Analyst Relations
Andrea Parker
+1.858.205.3439
andreap@comunicano.com

 

Allstream partners with Cisco to provide industry leading integrated IP service

Allstream partners with Cisco to provide industry leading integrated IP service


New capability simplifies the customer experience through integration and single-point-of-contact service

TORONTO, Nov. 7, 2011 /CNW/ - Allstream continues to be a Canadian leader in Internet Protocol (IP) communications with the launch of Integrated Service Management (ISM) - a fully managed, end-to-end voice and data infrastructure for connectivity, IP Telephony, and other Cisco Unified Communications (UC) applications.

Using Cisco's Call Manager, IP PBX, Allstream offers its Managed Business IP services in combination with its Managed UC services, making Allstream the first national network provider to bring this seamlessly integrated service to market.

"ISM is about giving customers what they want - an integrated service that will increase the efficiency of their IT operations," said Dean Prevost, President, Allstream. "Allstream's new service is designed and built to operate UC and IP network solutions together, simplifying the customer experience"

Allstream is the single and only point of contact for the customer, for both MPLS connectivity and UC components, and provides 24/7 network monitoring, saving the customer money on in-house tech support and reducing downtime. ISM is also interoperable and flexible, allowing for adjustments in bandwidth, prioritization of voice and data traffic, infrastructure upgrades and the implementation of new applications.

"We congratulate Allstream on the launch of its ISM service. Allstream's investment in Cisco's Master Managed Services  Certification ranks Allstream among an elite group of channel partners who have the resources to deploy, manage and support services for multiple technologies," said Mike Ansley, Vice President, Partner Organization, Cisco Canada.

As a certified Cisco Managed Services Master Partner, Allstream's has been authorized to sell and deliver Cisco-based managed services via Cisco's ISRG2 product line, while receiving Cisco's support through enhanced management and shared best practices.

For more information on Allstream's ISM capability, visit: www.allstream.com/ism.

Uniserv and SAND Technology Forge an OEM Partnership

Uniserv and SAND Technology Forge an OEM Partnership

MONTREAL, Nov. 8, 2011 /CNW/ -- SAND Technology Inc. (OTCBB: SNDTF.OB), provider of the world's most advanced column store database, today announced that Uniserv GmbH, the largest specialized supplier of data quality solutions in Europe, have forged an OEM partnership. Uniserv is now integrating SAND's progressive, column-oriented analytic database technology into its data management products. Initially Uniserv is incorporating the technology into Data Quality Explorer, Uniserv's new product for data profiling. With DQ Explorer customers search data interactively and trace problems or discover faulty data reliably and completely.

"Uniserv is recognized by Gartner as one of the leaders in their space," said Mike Pilcher, President and COO of SAND. "We are proud to be a part of their solution and believe this is the beginning of a partnership which will delight our customers and bring our organizations much closer together."

"Thanks to SAND, our customers can perform the most complex data analysis interactively in the shortest possible time - even with databases which contain several million datasets," says Wilfried Eickholz, Product Management Manager at Uniserv. "With the high performing DQ Explorer we have now implemented a further important component for Uniserv's comprehensive data management concept, the Data Quality Service Hub."

SAND's database technology drives complex analytics on Big Data delivering insight from information. SAND uses innovative approaches to data storage to extract the value from Big Data.

"Thanks to the integration of the column-oriented database technology into our Data Quality Explorer, we enable our users to interactively search the content and quality of even the largest databases flexibly and dynamically," said Eickholz, describing the benefit of this technology for data profiling. "This lets them realistically plan and successfully implement their projects in the areas of data migration, data integration and data synchronization."

About UniservUniserv is the largest specialized supplier of data quality solutions in Europe, with a portfolio of software products which can be applied internationally, and with all the services for data management. Data management combines the elements of data quality assurance and data integration. With its product solutions Uniserv supports its customers in projects for data quality as well as for data integration, data migration, data consolidation and data synchronization, for example in the environment of CRM applications, eBusiness, direct marketing and database marketing, CDI/MDM applications, data warehousing and business intelligence. With several thousand installations worldwide, Uniserv serves the expectations of a holistic solution for all business data over the entire data life cycle. At its headquarters in Pforzheim and its subsidiary in Paris in France, the company employs over 110 staff members and counts among its customers many well known international companies across all sectors such as Allianz, Amazon, Dell, Deutsche Bank, eBay, EDEKA, E.ON, France Telecom, Johnson & Johnson, Lufthansa, Otto, Siemens, Time Warner, TUI and VOLKSWAGEN. Further information can be found at www.uniserv.com

About SAND TechnologySAND is the world's most advanced analytic database, managing massive amounts of big data, driving unparalleled performance, and deploying information to tens of thousands of concurrent users across the enterprise. With industry-leading software solutions for CRM and Loyalty, SAND delivers best-of-breed analytic performance to over 600 customers around the world. SAND has offices in the United States, Canada, Western and Central Europe, and Australia and can be reached online at www.sand.com.

For further information: Media and Investor Relations, Mike Pilcher of SAND Technology, mike.pilcher@sand.com Web Site: http://www.uniserv.com http://www.sand.com

Tech Mahindra to Participate in the Launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Tech Mahindra to Participate in the Launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2012
 

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Mahindra, a leading supplier of software solutions for the telecommunications industry, will participate in the launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (formerly code named Denali).

Tech Mahindra, a Gold Certified Microsoft partner, works with Microsoft to develop and bring to market innovative offerings for the telecommunications industry.

Tech Mahindra's dedicated Microsoft competency solutions team works with Microsoft to provide best-in-class services to customers through solutions in the areas of business intelligence, customer sales and support, service delivery platforms, cloud services, portals, media room, and  mobile number portability solutions.

Pritam Parvatkar, Director of Global Alliances, Tech Mahindra, said, "We are delighted to be working with Microsoft and are excited about the opportunity to participate in commercial launch of SQL Server 2012. Our strong relationship with Microsoft has deepened over the last year, and we will continue our effort to reinforce the relationship by winning together in the marketplace."

The strong relationship between Tech Mahindra and Microsoft will usher in the next-generation technologies that will serve the future needs of communication providers globally.

"We are very pleased with Tech Mahindra's decision to extend their relationship with Microsoft and participate in the commercial launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2012," said Phyllis Harris, General Manager of Worldwide Communications and Media at Microsoft. "Large numbers of connected devices and the growth of M2M will require increasing business intelligence capabilities in the telecommunications industry.  By taking advantage of Microsoft's Business Intelligence platform, network operators will enjoy the industry-leading capabilities and built in enhanced functionality of this release of SQL Server to provide breakthrough insights aided by pervasive data and people-ready tools and interfaces across their organizations." 

About Tech Mahindra  
Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc.

Tech Mahindra serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators worldwide and their proven delivery models, distinctive IT skills and decades of domain expertise enable clients to maximize returns on their IT investment.  Tech Mahindra registered revenue of USD 1,126.6 million in the year ended March 31, 2011 and is ably supported by 38,300 professionals who provide a unique blend of culture, domain expertise and in-depth technology skill-sets.

A SEI-CMMi Level 5 organization, Tech Mahindra's development centers are ISO 9001:2008 & BS7799 certified. Tech Mahindra has principal offices in the UK, United States, Germany, UAE, Egypt, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada & Australia. Tech Mahindra Ltd is part of the US $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The Group's interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail.

For further information, visit: www.techmahindra.com

For more details please contact:  

Prasenjit Ghosh Roy  
corporate.communications@techmahindra.com  

David Baum
Ricochet Public Relations
dbaum@ricochetpr.com

SOURCE Tech Mahindra

WatServ to provide free environments for Dynamics AX 2012 upgrades

WatServ to provide free environments for Dynamics AX 2012 upgrades

Low cost Development and Test environments enable low risk upgrades for customers.

WATERLOO, ON, Nov. 7, 2011 /CNW/ - Waterloo Managed Software Services USA Inc (WatServ) announced today that it will be providing free managed pre-production environments to Microsoft Dynamics AX customers and partners for the development and testing of their upgrade to Dynamics 2012.

"This special offer will help our partners and customers to test the upgrade to Dynamics AX in a low cost, low risk manner without having to buy any infrastructure or support software," said John Robb, WatServ's Director of Strategic Alliances.  "WatServ will manage the Development and Test environments in WatServ's Private Cloud infrastructure according to IT best practices so that customers and partners can focus on the quality of the upgrade", he added.

"WatServ is pleased to help our partners and customers with this special offer, reported Tom Doerner, president of WatServ. "We will be providing all required infrastructure as a service, support software as a service, facilities as a service and managed IT operations that are bundled into a simple, per-user-per-month, subscription price.  Additional customer benefits include guaranteed system reliability at lower cost and lower risk than running on-premise."

About WatServ

WatServ is one of North America's largest, most experience providers of Cloud Computing services for hosted Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions. WatServ provides enterprise class computing solutions in a simple, subscription-based model that are 30-50% lower cost than running Dynamics on-premise or with traditional collocation hosting providers.  For more information, please visit www.watserv.com or email info@watserv.com or call 1-866-531-2598

For further information:

CONTACT: John Robb
Telephone:   1-866-531-2598 x2311
Mobile:        1-519-222-8510
Email:        jrobb@watserv.com