Gartner Predicts That Refusing to Communicate by Social Media Will Be as Harmful to Companies as Ignoring Phone Calls or Emails Is Today

Gartner Predicts That Refusing to Communicate by Social Media Will Be as Harmful to Companies as Ignoring Phone Calls or Emails Is Today

Analysts to Explore the Risks and Benefits of Social Engagement, and How to Turn Information Into Insight, at the Gartner Portals, Content & Collaboration Summit 2012,

EGHAM, U.K., August 1, 2012—

As familiarity with social media grows, customers' expectations about how organizations will use these channels are evolving, according to Gartner, Inc. By 2014, organizations that refuse to communicate with customers by social media will face the same level of wrath from customers as those that ignore today's basic expectation that they will respond to emails and phone calls. For organizations that use social media to promote their products, responding to inquiries via social media channels will be the new minimum level of response expected.

“The dissatisfaction stemming from failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15 percent increase in churn rate for existing customers,” said Carol Rozwell, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “It’s crucial that organizations implement approaches to handling social media now. The effort involved in addressing social media commentary is not good cause to ignore relevant comments or solvable issues.”

However, not all comments on the social web are aimed directly at organizations. Gartner recommends that organizations develop a framework to deal with social media commentary on relevant topics. The framework must complement how an organization deals with a direct enquiry received through social channels and should address whether a response is warranted, who should respond if it is, and what action is necessary following any response.

To respond or not?

Social media leaders must develop a process for deciding whether to respond to public or client-prompted social engagements. A person or team needs to have the power to decide whether a comment is relevant and whether the issue presented is solvable, or whether there are positive dimensions to what is being said that should be recorded. 

It’s also important to accept that it’s impracticable and counterproductive to respond to everything. For example, if a comment is clearly inflammatory and unsolvable, it is usually best not to respond at all. However, if a person is an existing customer logging a harsh but legitimate complaint, the issue must be addressed publicly, promptly and within the same media it was made.

“Generally the best practice is to acknowledge the issue on social media, but to move attempts to resolve the issue offline,” said Ms. Rozwell.

Who should respond?

Every organization needs a set of rules to define who should deal with different kinds of comment, and a process for deciding how a response will be posted to social media. If no one has been identified to determine this set of rules, that is the first action to take. Then the designated social media leader or team must decide how to categorize comments. For example, some comments about a general issue may simply require monitoring and assessment before a general response is issued, whereas others may require an immediate and personal response and further monitoring. 

It’s not enough simply to decide which people responds to what — the act of responding must be made part of their day job or it will be overlooked. It can be challenging to promote this shift in mindset, and it could require changes to performance metrics and job roles.

We’ve responded, now what?

Some organizations have implemented the first stages of a social media engagement process, but they make the mistake of treating engagements as ad hoc. While over half of organizations monitor social media, only 23 percent collect and analyze data. This means that most organizations do not keep records of interactions occurring on social media and do not keep social profiles for people they have engaged with.

“It’s important not only to keep records of individual conversations, but constantly to analyze the interactions to see what insights can be gleaned from them,” said Ms. Rozwell.

To ensure they are not discarding the valuable information being generated through social media, organizations must create processes for perpetuating customer engagements and for sharing social knowledge throughout the organization. Developing a means for acting on social data will provide a competitive advantage by providing exceptional customer experience through increasingly significant social channels.

“We urge organizations to do three things. Firstly, participate — it’s important that organizations don’t let a fear of someone saying something bad about them stop them from participating in social media,” said Ms. Rozwell. “Secondly, don’t assume all comments require the same level of attention — develop an appropriate response for the different types of interaction your business faces. Thirdly, plan for an increase in social commentary and adapt communications practices to cope — this will require changes to job descriptions, performance metrics and business processes.”

Ms. Rozwell (http://twitter.com/CRozwell) will present on the risks and benefits of social engagement, and debut a social maturity model, at the Gartner Portals, Content & Collaboration Summit 2012, taking place from September 19-20 in London. For more information about the Summit, please visit http://gartner.com/eu/pcc. To register for the Summit, the media can contact Rob van der Meulen on + 44 1784 26 7738 or at rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com. Information from the event will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc using #GartnerPCC.

About Gartner Portals, Content & Collaboration Summit 2012

At the Gartner Portals, Content & Collaboration Summit 2012 Gartner analysts will help IT and business leaders harness the benefits and overcome the challenges of a mobile, always-on workplace, exploit social engagement to drive innovation, and plan for the future workplace and next-generation social intranets.

Contacts:

Rob van der Meulen
Gartner
+44 0 1784 267892
rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com

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


About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in 12,000 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 5,000 associates, including 1,280 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, www.gartner.com.

McAfee Offers Partners New Revenue Opportunity with Expanded Managed Service Provider Program

McAfee Offers Partners New Revenue Opportunity with Expanded Managed Service Provider Program

New Program Addresses SMB Customer Demand for Flexible Cloud-based and On-Premise Security Services

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – July 25, 2012 – McAfee today announced its Managed Service Provider (MSP) program, providing partners with the tools, training and resources to build a successful managed security services business. Whether it is on premise or cloud based, McAfee provides a scalable and consistent “pay-as-you-go” monthly subscription security services program that addresses nearly any customer requirement, especially that of the small to medium sized business.

“We are seeing tremendous growth in the managed service market fueled by customer demand for reduced IT complexity and lower cost,” said Gavin Struthers, senior vice president of worldwide channels at McAfee. “McAfee has been in the managed services business for more than a decade. Our new MSP program leverages our extensive managed services experience, and provides partners access to the industry’s broadest portfolio of cloud-based and on-premise managed security services via a globally consistent and scalable program.”

The McAfee Managed Service Provider program offers protection for endpoints, servers/networks, virtual environments and mobile devices, in addition to the industry’s broadest security SaaS portfolio, which can all be managed centrally through either McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator™ or the McAfee SaaS management console. The simplicity of centralized security management allows for remote administration of McAfee software and SaaS solutions which meet the needs of SMBs who often have limited resources.

SMB Growth Opportunity
According to AMI Partners, the worldwide market for security solutions in the Small and Mid-sized business segment is about $5.1B growing at a CAGR of about 9% annually. SMBs are in a unique situation when it comes to defending themselves against the rising tide of cyber threats that cover the business and technology landscape. They can’t afford high-priced IT and security talent on site nor can they afford a breach that threatens their very existence. SMBs require a partner that can manage their security needs and offer flexible solutions and choice.

McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner Program Evolution
The McAfee Managed Service Provider program is an expansion of the McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner program and is a major step in the development of a holistic partner ecosystem that addresses the diverse security needs of today’s customers by offering three distinct program categories, including resale, services and technology.

Availability
The McAfee Managed Service Provider program is available through authorized distributors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Nordics, UK, and U.S. and will be expanded to other counties and distributors throughout 2012. For more information on the program visit, http://www.mcafee.com/us/partners/mssp/index.aspx.

About McAfee
McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

Note: McAfee is a trademark or registered trademark of McAfee, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

McAfee
Erica Coleman, 408-346-5624
erica_coleman@mcafee.com
or
H3O Communications
Heather Edell, 415-618-8814
heather@h3ocommunications.com

LENOVO AND EMC TEAM UP IN STRATEGIC WORLDWIDE PARTNERSHIP

LENOVO AND EMC TEAM UP IN STRATEGIC WORLDWIDE PARTNERSHIP

A solid step in Lenovo’s aspiration to be a player in industry standard servers and networked storage with EMC’s leading technology

EMC further strengthens ability to serve customers’ storage solutions needs in China and other emerging markets

 Companies agree to form SMB-focused storage joint venture

Category:

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 10:18 pm EDT

Dateline:

HONG KONG
"Today’s announcement with industry leader EMC is another solid step in our journey to build on our foundation in PCs and become a leader in the new PC-plus era..."

BEIJING, China – August 1, 2012 – Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) and EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced a broad partnership that enhances Lenovo’s position in industry standard servers and networked storage solutions, while significantly expanding EMC’s reach in China and other key, high-growth markets.  The new partnership is expected to spark innovation and additional R&D in the server and storage markets by maximizing the product development talents and resources at both companies, while driving scale and efficiency in the partners' respective supply chains.

The partnership is a strong strategic fit, leveraging the two leading companies’ respective strengths, across three main areas:

 ·         First, Lenovo and EMC have formed a server technology development program that will accelerate and extend Lenovo’s capabilities in the x86 industry-standard server segment. These servers will be brought to market by Lenovo and embedded into selected EMC storage systems over time.

 ·         Second, the companies have forged an OEM and reseller relationship in which Lenovo will provide EMC’s industry-leading networked storage solutions to its customers, initially in China and expanding into other global markets in step with the ongoing development of its server business.

 ·         Finally, EMC and Lenovo plan to bring certain assets and resources from EMC’s Iomega business into a new joint venture which will provide Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems to small/medium businesses (SMB) and distributed enterprise sites.

“Today’s announcement with industry leader EMC is another solid step in our journey to build on our foundation in PCs and become a leader in the new PC-plus era,” said Yuanqing Yang, Lenovo chairman and CEO. “This partnership will help us fully deliver on our PC-plus strategy by giving us strong back-end capabilities and business foundation in servers and storage, in addition to our already strong position in devices. EMC is the perfect partner to help us fully realize the PC-plus opportunity in the long term.”

Joe Tucci, chairman and CEO of EMC, said, “The relationship with Lenovo represents a powerful opportunity for EMC to significantly expand our presence in China, a vibrant and very important market, and extend it to other parts of the world over time. Lenovo has clearly demonstrated its ability to apply its considerable resources and expertise not only to enter, but to lead major market segments. We’re excited to partner with Lenovo as we focus our combined energies serving a broader range of customers with industry-leading storage and server solutions.”

In the joint venture, Lenovo will contribute cash, while EMC will contribute certain assets and resources of Iomega. Upon closing, Lenovo will hold a majority interest in the new joint venture. During and after the transition from independent operations to the joint venture, customers will experience continuity of service, product delivery and warranty fulfillment.  The joint venture is subject to customary closing procedures including regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of 2012.

The partnership described here is not considered material to either company’s current fiscal year earnings.

 ###

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US30 billion personal technology company and the world’s second largest PC company, serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the Company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information, see www.lenovo.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.

Contact:

Penny Chu | chuxp1@lenovo.com | 86 10 588 62651

Cerner, Centre of Addiction and Mental Health Sign Agreement to Implement Clinical Information System

Cerner, Centre of Addiction and Mental Health Sign Agreement to Implement Clinical Information System

July 30, 2012

Cerner, Centre of Addiction and Mental Health Sign Agreement to Implement Clinical Information System

TORONTO — July 30, 2012 —The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and Cerner (Nasdaq: CERN) have signed a landmark agreement to automate clinical information processes throughout the entire hospital. Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health, CAMH will use the Cerner Millennium® architecture, a unified health IT computing platform, to enable CAMH health professionals to prioritize safety, efficiency and evidence-based best practice, while maintaining client/patient privacy as a priority.

“Cerner Canada is a leader in this market, and we share a vision to move CAMH to the forefront in adoption of advanced clinical systems technology,” says Tracey MacArthur, CAMH’s Vice President, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Privacy Officer. “Our new system will replicate the best elements of our existing flow of clinical care, and consolidate, streamline and standardize our clinical processes and tools. This will improve the quality of information available to our staff and create new opportunities for collaboration. Most importantly, it will also support safe and quality care for CAMH clients.”

Cerner®solutions will automate clinical processes and provide instant access to clinical information and integrated workflow through an electronic health record (EHR). The solutions digitize registration and scheduling, clinical team communication, clinician documentation, pharmacy, laboratory operations and the emergency department. Clinicians at CAMH will also be able to document care and place medication and other orders directly in the EHR.

Implementing Cerner solutions will benefit CAMH in a number of ways including:

  • Providing a clinical record for all CAMH clients: Whether an individual is treated in an ambulatory setting, inpatient setting, at home, or in the community, the information will be captured and stored in the individual’s electronic clinical record.
  • Ensuring the highest standard of quality care: The use of standardized treatment guidelines promotes evidence-based care for every client while enabling quality improvement and operational efficiency.
  • Reducing the potential for errors: Handwritten paper orders and other documentation errors are reduced through the use of electronic order entry.
  • Improving access to information: Clinicians have immediate access to a unified EHR that has up-to-the-minute information including visit history, clinical documentation and medical test results.

“Cerner is very excited to be working together with CAMH in its quest for highest quality, safe effective care for all of its clients,” said Jim Shave, president of Cerner Canada. “When this automation is complete, CAMH clients can expect to receive improved performance in care coordination and their care providers will be equipped with better, timely access to relevant personal and clinical information in a safe and protected environment.”

About the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

CAMH is Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues. Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, CAMH is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

About Cerner

Cerner is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we’ve learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.

Cerner® solutions are licensed by approximately 9,300 facilities around the world, including more than 2,650 hospitals; 3,750 physician practices; 40,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 40 employer sites and 1,600 retail pharmacies.

Certain trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the “Marks”) set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. All other non-Cerner Marks are the property of their respective owners. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Cerner Canada Media Contact: Dina Tewfik, +1 514-967-8880, dina.tewfik@cerner.com

Cerner Investors Contact: Allan Kells, (816) 201-2445, akells@cerner.com

CAMH Media Contact: Michael Torres, (416) 595-6015, michael.torres@camh.ca

###

NEC Enhances Automation and Scalability of OpenFlow based Software Defined Network Fabric

NEC Enhances Automation and Scalability of OpenFlow based Software Defined Network Fabric

*** For immediate use August 1, 2012


Tokyo, August 1, 2012 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced enhancements to its software defined networking product family, ProgrammableFlow.  These enhancements allow enterprises and cloud operators to automate provisioning of high performance network services. Included in the announcement is the release of UNIVERGE PF Series ProgrammableFlow Controller 3.0, the industry's only OpenFlow controller that enables end-to-end quality of service (QoS) design and network management capabilities that support multiple software defined networks from a single console or application programming interface (API).

With version 3.0, NEC is redefining the role of the network from focusing primarily on connectivity to an intelligent, unified, and open fabric that enables dynamic service provisioning and scalable cloud solutions within a multilayer high performance fabric.

"These enhancements to NEC's UNIVERGE PF Series meet the growing need for virtual networks using OpenFlow technologies in support of cloud data centers and business networks," said Hiroyuki Watanabe, General Manager, Global Solutions, NEC. "Additionally, they satisfy the demand for lower installation and operational costs while providing greater security and higher quality."

By utilizing new UNIVERGE PF Series with integrated API capabilities, network operators can focus on strategic projects by offloading configuration work.   The API framework allows third party applications, such as network management or orchestration systems to directly interact with the network through a well-defined functional approach. Third party systems can make on-demand calls to the API to create, edit, and delete virtual networks, as well as to add and remove policies.  This new model allows network administrators to focus on new services as opposed to the time consuming tasks like QoS provisioning and provisioning network isolation.

ProgrammableFlow 3.0 expands the scalability of the ProgrammableFlow physical and virtual network fabric, allowing organizations to buy only the network capacity they need now and to scale over time.  With this release, the number of switches that can be controlled is greatly expanded and operators can build networks with more than 4,096 virtual LAN (VLAN) ID configurations.

The enhanced UNIVERGE PF6800 ProgrammableFlow Controller was already adopted by NTT Communications as part of its new "BizHosting Enterprise Cloud" service platform. BizHosting uses OpenFlow technologies to provide borderless cloud services that enable integrated operations of numerous data centers both domestically and internationally. This global scale ICT infrastructure is flexibly controlled and takes only a few minutes to remotely complete connections between data centers that conventionally took several days.

Learn more about ProgrammableFlow:

***


About ProgrammableFlow
NEC's ProgrammableFlow network suite was the first commercially available SDN solution to leverage the OpenFlow protocol enabling complete network virtualization, allowing customers to easily deploy, control, monitor, and manage multi-tenant network infrastructure. This architecture delivers better utilization of all IT assets, and helps provide ongoing investment protection as customers add functionality or upgrade their networks. NEC's approach simplifies network administration and provides a programmable interface for unifying the deployment and management of network services with the rest of IT infrastructure.
 
About OpenFlow and the ONF
The OpenFlow protocol is being standardized by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). Founded in 2011 by Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Verizon and Yahoo!, the ONF is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to rethink networking and quickly and collaboratively bring to market standards and solutions. The ONF will accelerate the delivery and use of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) standards and foster a vibrant market of products, services, applications, customers and users. The foundation includes 70 member companies.

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society.  For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.


NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. (C)2012 NEC Corporation.


NEC Press Contacts (Japan)

Takehiko Kato
NEC Corporation
+81-3-3798-6511
E-Mail:t-kato@cj.jp.nec.com

Joseph Jasper
NEC Corporation
+81-3-3798-6511
E-Mail:j-jasper@ax.jp.nec.com






































































HP Helps Enterprises Enhance Customer Satisfaction, Increase Revenue by Optimizing the Contact Center

HP Helps Enterprises Enhance Customer Satisfaction, Increase Revenue by Optimizing the Contact Center

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 1, 2012

HP Enterprise Services today announced new services designed to help clients enhance customer satisfaction and increase revenue by optimizing the operating efficiency of their contact centers.

The ways organizations can serve and engage customers are evolving due to the rapid adoption of social media. To meet the needs of customers, enterprises need to transform their contact centers into hubs for customer relationship management (CRM) and provide meaningful, insightful data collection.

The new HP Transformation Services – Customer Engagement Management (CEM) are designed to help enterprises deliver great customer experiences across all channels, such as smartphones, social media and email, to enhance competitive advantage. These services aid clients in improving service levels by measuring how easy or difficult the customer rates the transaction experience or how likely the customer will promote the products or services to their peers.

With HP Transformation Services – CEM, HP can assist clients in their efforts to enhance their bottom line by increasing revenue per transaction as calculated by contacts handled, products sold or revenue earned per agent. Additionally, clients can benefit from increasing the percentage of calls where higher-margin “add on” features are offered to, and purchased by, the customer.

“Contact centers must transform to meet the needs of customers who expect a personalized and customized experience,” said Danila Meirlaen, vice president, Business Process Outsourcing, HP. “HP consultants help drive this transformation based on our deep heritage of contact-center operations, industry experience and global presence, assisting clients so they can increase revenues and customer satisfaction.”

To assess the quality and effectiveness of a client’s contact-center operations, HP consultants analyze the current environment against industry benchmarks. After gathering data, HP identifies areas for improvement, such as appropriate use of staff, processes, standards and the overall technology environment.

Based on the findings of the analysis, HP prepares a roadmap with the plan, approach and milestones to implement the business process changes. The roadmap includes initiatives intended to close the gaps between current and future states of the contact center while balancing investment, benefit, timing and risk.

HP also provides mentoring and support services designed to help clients get the most out of their implementation. For example, “How Do We Implement …” workshops that leverage HP’s library of best practices focus on providing solutions that are tailored to meet the client’s resource, time commitment and budget constraints. Using a collaborative effort can help improve the speed and precision of achieving benefits, with the goal of shortening the learning and implementation process.

A transformed contact center enables clients to optimize operating efficiency by increasing agent utilization and increasing the percentage of calls resolved at the first point of contact without transfer or escalation.

Pricing and availability

Part of the HP Customer Relationship Management services, HP Transformation Services – CEM are now available worldwide and priced according to customer engagement.

Additional information is available at www.hp.com/go/transformationservices-cem.

HP’s premier Europe, Middle East and Africa client event, HP Discover, takes place Dec. 4-6 in Frankfurt, Germany.

About HP

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


This news advisory contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance, market share or competitive performance relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the protection of HP's intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the hiring and retention of key employees; assumptions related to pension and other post-retirement costs and retirement programs; the execution, timing and results of restructuring plans, including estimates and assumptions related to the cost and the anticipated benefits of implementing those plans; expectations and assumptions relating to the execution and timing of cost reduction programs and restructuring and integration plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2012 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2011. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Introducing Outlook.com - Modern Email for the Next Billion Mailboxes

Introducing Outlook.com - Modern Email for the Next Billion Mailboxes

Recently, we talked about how we've reimagined cloud services for Windows 8 and Windows Phone. And we described new apps for Windows 8, updates to SkyDrive, and how cloud services power the new Office Preview, We've also been hard at work on a mission to reimagine personal email - from the datacenter all the way to the user experience. Today, we're starting to deliver on that goal with a preview of the new Outlook.com - modern email designed for the next billion mailboxes.

Webmail was first introduced with HoTMaiL in 1996. Back then, it was novel to have a personal email address you could keep for life - one that was totally independent from your business or internet service provider. Eight years later, Google introduced Gmail, which included 1 GB of storage and inbox search. And while Gmail and other webmail services like Hotmail have added some features since then, not much has fundamentally changed in webmail over the last 8 years - though yesterday's frustrations about the small size of inboxes are now things of the past. At the same time, email is becoming less and less useful as inboxes become cluttered with newsletters and social updates, and people increasingly keep up their personal connections in social networks instead of their email address books. All of this has led many to hope for a better solution so you don't have to settle for today's webmail.

It's Time for a Change

 

We think the time is right to reimagine email. So today, we're introducing a preview of Outlook.com. We realized that we needed to take a bold step, break from the past and build you a brand new service from the ground up. You already know Outlook via the Outlook desktop application-for PCs and Macs-as the world's most popular application for reading email, managing a calendar, and connecting to people. And you may have used the Outlook Web App connected to Exchange Server in your organization. Now, in addition to a desktop application and a service for businesses, we're offering Outlook as a personal email service - Outlook.com.

Modern experience for modern browsers and devices. Email isn't just about the browser anymore. In fact, email represents 20% of the time we spend on smartphones, and is used extensively on tablets as well as PCs. Outlook is designed cloud first, so all of your mail is always available wherever you are. Its fresh, clean user interface gets the clutter out of your way-the header has 60% fewer pixels and there are 30% more messages visible in your inbox than the webmail most people are used to. And there are no display ads or large search boxes that take up extra space. Outlook.com also uses Exchange ActiveSync, so it powers your mail, calendar and people experience on your smartphone, tablet, and the new Outlook 2013 Preview.

 

 

 

Connected to friends and co-workers, wherever they are. Over the last several years, social networks have become an incredibly popular place to share and communicate with friends and co-workers. At the same time, email use among people who use social networks actively has continued to increase. We saw an opportunity to make email better by using your connections on social networks to enrich your email experience. And so with the Outlook.com preview, we are giving you the first email service that is connected to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and soon, Skype, to bring relevant context and communications to your email.

In the Outlook.com inbox, your personal email comes alive with photos of your friends, recent status updates and Tweets that your friend has shared with you, the ability to chat and video call - all powered by an always up-to-date contact list that is connected to your social networks. And, of course, you are in control of your experience - what you share, the networks you connect to, and your personal information.  

 

 

 

Smart and powerful. Today's inbox is about more than just exchanging mail with the people you know -50% of the email in a typical inbox is newsletters and another 20% is social network updates. This is part of the reason our inboxes are overloaded and we often feel it's a chore to "do email." Outlook.com automatically sorts your messages from contacts, newsletters, shipping updates, and social updates, and with our Sweep features you can move, delete and set up powerful rules in a few, simple clicks so you can more quickly get to the email you really want.

People also use email to share photos and work together on documents. So we included free Office Web Apps -- Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote - which let you view and edit attachments without leaving your inbox. And Outlook.com comes with SkyDrive, so if you're sending photos, documents, or just about any other file, you can now put them on SkyDrive and stop worrying about attachment limits.

 

 

Putting you in control. Email is private and confidential, and most folks we've talked to want to keep it that way. So we keep your personal email personal. We don't scan your email content or attachments and sell this information to advertisers or any other company, and we don't show ads in personal conversations. We let you decide whether to connect your account to social networks, and which ones you want to use - and you're in control of who you friend or follow. And, if you're a power user who wants to really fine tune your inbox, we let you create your own categories, folders, and rules to tailor Outlook.com to your preferences.

And of course Outlook.com comes with the features you'd expect from any email service. Building on our past work with Exchange and Hotmail, we provide an inbox with virtually unlimited storage, industry leading spam protection, and rock solid account protection powered by your Microsoft account. Outlook.com also works great with the Outlook desktop application, and as you'd expect from a personal email service, it's free.

Get Started Today at Outlook.com

While today's preview is just the start, Outlook.com is ready now to become your primary email service. We're expecting millions of people to try it out. Starting today, you can get an @Outlook.com email address, and we've also made it easy to get started with your current email address if you want to.  

  • If you're a Hotmail customer and want to upgrade to the Outlook.com preview, just click "Upgrade" in the options menu of Hotmail. Your email address, password, contacts, old email, and rules will remain unchanged, and you can send/receive email from your @hotmail.com or @msn.com or @live.com address. You'll experience it all in the new Outlook.com preview user interface. You can also add an @Outlook.com email address to your account if you want.
  • Using Gmail, Yahoo, or another email service? No problem - it's easy to try the preview by going to http://www.outlook.com/. If you have a Microsoft account, just log in and get started. If you don't, it's easy to create a new account with an @Outlook.com email address. Then you can set up Gmail or your other email service to forward your mail to Outlook.com and import your contacts and messages by following these instructions . This will let you use both services for now, but we think that over time, most people will prefer Outlook.com.
  • Don't have an email address? Go to Outlook.com and create a new one and you'll be up and running.

Once you're using Outlook.com, you can also set it up on your phone (Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or other phone), tablet (Windows 8, iPad, and Android), in the new Outlook 2013 Preview, or in other mail apps you might use. And because Outlook.com supports Exchange ActiveSync, you can set it up just like you would your Exchange or Hotmail account.  Have more questions? See our step-by- step guide to setting up Outlook.com on your phone.

Join the Preview and Join the Conversation

Today is the start of our preview, which represents an opportunity to learn together as we roll out and scale this new service. We know your email is important and you need a service that puts you in control, and we're looking forward to your feedback. Once you're using the service, just click Feedback in the Outlook.com Options menu and let us know what you think. If you have questions about this post, feel free to leave a comment here on our blog, or join us on Reddit later today where we're hosting an "Ask me anything" at 11am PST. We have a lot more we'll be sharing on this blog, and we look forward to continuing this conversation with you.

A lot has changed in the last eight years, and we think it' time for a fresh look at email - modern, connected, smart, powerful, and in control. So try out the preview at Outlook.com. We think you'll like what you see.

Chris Jones

IBM Introduces New Class of Network Security Appliance to Help Control Social Media and Web Browsing Risks

IBM Introduces New Class of Network Security Appliance to Help Control Social Media and Web Browsing Risks

Advanced threats, rapid adoption of social media, and Web applications drive need for new, intelligent approach to security

ARMONK, N.Y. - 31 Jul 2012: As employee access to the Web has become ubiquitous, enterprises are struggling with massive increases in malware as well as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), which can compromise proprietary data. Many of today's security solutions often offer limited visibility and control over network activity, which can put the company at risk.

To help clients proactively protect against evolving security threats, including those posed by social media sites and malicious websites, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new class of network security appliance that delivers a more granular view of a company’s security posture and a simplified security management interface. This new next-generation intrusion prevention appliance helps clients address advanced attacks targeting their organization, providing visibility into exactly what applications are being used on the network, where users are going on the Web, with the ability to monitor and control this activity, which can result in improved security and reduced operational costs. 

Unprecedented Application Visibility

Many enterprises today, armed with legacy tools to protect themselves, are often not prepared to face the continuously evolving threat landscape. IBM Security Network Protection XGS 5000 is a next-generation intrusion protection system specifically designed to address the constantly evolving, increasingly sophisticated threats that organizations face today. It builds on the proven, core security features found in IBM Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, including helping protect against “zero-day” exploits, by adding new levels of visibility and control over the network, applications, data and users to help improve security by helping prevent misuse and identify previously undetectable threats.  

IBM Security Network Protection incorporates global threat intelligence from X-Force, including a Web filter database of over 15 billion URLs – capable of monitoring and categorizing millions of Web servers and applications each day to provide superior protection against the changing threat landscape. Once organizations are aware of the nature of activity on their network, the new application control features enable clients to have granular control over what is happening on their network; this means granular user and group-level control over which applications and Websites are permitted, and how they are used down to individual actions or activities within these applications and sites. 

With IBM Security Network Protection, clients can:

·     Immediately discover which applications and Web sites are being accessed

·     Identify misuse by application, Website, and user

·     Enforce security policies with granular, intelligent application-level controls 

This visibility is greatly increased via integration with IBM’s Advanced Threat Protection Platform, which utilizes anomaly detection and event correlation capabilities to better address more complex attacks such as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). IBM Security customers can also choose tightly integrated solutions that use optimized security products and Security Intelligence tools, including analytics. In addition, IBM's Managed Security Services can provide constant monitoring and management of a customer's IT environment to augment or replace in-house expertise.  

"IBM Security Network Protection gives us a better view of our security posture and what is taking place on our network,” said Peter Param, Manager of Network and Security, from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Australia. “With more than 1,000 distinct users, as well as sizable traffic from streaming video and social media sites, knowing which employees are authorized to access particular sites throughout the day, as well as knowing which applications are being used on our network, is critical in optimizing it as well as increasing our security posture.” 

The IBM Security Network Protection XGS 5000 is the newest addition to IBM’s Advanced Threat Protection Platform, one of the most comprehensive, integrated threat protection systems on the market. The solution helps protect against network-based threats masked in common network traffic, and prevents attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities at the network, host and application layers.

“The escalation of targeted attacks and rapid adoption of mobility, cloud and social media requires companies to take a new approach to securing the enterprise," said Brendan Hannigan, General Manager, IBM Security Systems Division. "IBM is uniquely positioned to help our customers address these challenges with our new Advanced Threat Protection Platform that combines total security intelligence from within the enterprise, exhaustive external threat intelligence and the new XGS appliance that delivers fine-grained activity detection and control.”

IBM Security’s Advanced Threat Protection Platform helps clients by providing the following features and capabilities: 

·     Proven security to help protect against zero-day threats: enables preemptive protection against a full spectrum of advanced threats, including Web application attacks and exploits hidden in files. IBM’s protection engine is built upon years of security intelligence gathered by X-Force Research, and can stop entire classes of attacks – including new and unknown threats – without updates; most solutions available today match individual protection signatures - a process that can be too slow to stop evolving threats and can result in higher rates of false positives and false negatives.  

·     Visibility and insight: provides application awareness, monitoring and control, with high level dashboards for drilling down into events and reporting. Also provides deep insight into the nature of activities on the network through broad application awareness and flow data analysis. Integrates with QRadar Security Intelligence Platform to provide even greater levels of insight including anomaly detection and event correlation. 

·     Control: utilizes intelligence related to Web applications, Websites, and non-Web applications, including Web application and Web site coverage with over 15 Billion URLs across 68 categories and support for 1000+ applications and actions. 

Availability

IBM Security Network Protection XGS 5000 is available 3Q12. 

About IBM Security

IBM's security portfolio provides the security intelligence to help organizations holistically protect their people, data, applications and infrastructure. IBM offers solutions for identity and access management, security information and event management, database security, application development, risk management, endpoint management, next-generation intrusion protection and more. IBM operates one of the world's broadest security research and development, and delivery organizations. This comprises nine security operations centers, nine IBM Research centers, 11 software security development labs and an Institute for Advanced Security with chapters in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. IBM monitors 15 billion security events per day in more than 130 countries and holds more than 3,000 security patents.

For more information on IBM security, please visit: www.ibm.com/security.

Contact(s) information

Nicole Trager
IBM Media Relations
1 (978) 621-3076
ntrager@us.ibm.com

Tod Freeman
IBM Media Relations
1 (415) 320-5893
tefreema@us.ibm.com

Lexmark Canada Names Todd Hamblin President

Lexmark Canada Names Todd Hamblin President

RICHMOND HILL, ON--(Marketwire - Jul 31, 2012) - Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) today announced that Todd Hamblin was recently appointed as President of Lexmark Canada. In this role, Hamblin will be responsible for developing and implementing business strategies to further drive Lexmark Canada towards profitable growth in the enterprise, government and SMB market segments.

Previously, Hamblin was a vice president and general manager of worldwide sales and marketing for Lexmark's former Imaging Services Division (ISD), responsible for strategy, brand development and worldwide sales growth. Before that he served as the company's vice president and general manager of North America for ISD.

Under Hamblin, Lexmark Canada's key areas of focus include:

  • Emphasizing managed print services (MPS), a mixture of software tools, services and custom solutions and strategies that provide significant ROI for enterprises.
  • Continuing the company's evolution into an end-to-end provider of business process solutions.
  • Helping small and midsize businesses (SMBs) innovate by supplying a compelling alternative between low cost out-of-the-box offerings and highly customized solutions.
  • Strengthening Lexmark's Canadian customer relationships and maintaining the company's mission of "Customers for Life."

"Lexmark's evolution from a printer company to a software and solutions company is unlocking a tremendous amount of opportunity for our customers," said Hamblin. "From cutting edge software solutions to industry-leading managed print services, our team is uniquely positioned to help our customers reduce costs and increase efficiency -- no matter the size of their business. 2012 is proving to be an exciting year for Lexmark Canada and I'm honored to be a part of it."

A Lexmark veteran, Hamblin joined the company in 1999 as a marketing manager in ISD worldwide marketing. He has also served as general manager, consumer sales and marketing for ISD in Lexmark's Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Prior to his work with Lexmark, Hamblin was a global business development manager at Micron Technology.

About Lexmark
Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) provides businesses of all sizes with a broad range of printing and imaging products, software, solutions and services that help customers to print less and save more. Perceptive Software, a stand-alone software business within Lexmark, is a leading provider of enterprise content management software that helps organizations easily manage the entire lifecycle of their documents and content, simplifying their business processes, and fueling greater operational efficiency. In 2011, Lexmark sold products in more than 170 countries and reported more than $4 billion in revenue.

To learn more about Lexmark, please visit www.lexmark.com. For more information on Perceptive Software, please visit www.perceptivesoftware.com.

For more information on Lexmark, see the Lexmark Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

For more information about Perceptive Software, please visit the company's Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact Information

Kate Finigan
617-226-8840
Email Contact

Vancouver-based Radiant Introduces Cloud-Based Network Monitoring Service

Radiant Introduces Cloud-Based Network Monitoring Service

New cloud-based monitoring service provides enhanced visibility and quick resolution.

VANCOUVER, July 31, 2012 /CNW/ - Radiant Communications Corp. ("Radiant") (TSX-V:RCN), a leading provider of managed network and cloud hosting solutions for medium-size enterprises, today announced the availability of its cloud-based Network Monitoring Service for business networks in Canada and the United States. The new service provides users with enhanced visibility to their network status and performance and enables quick problem resolution to ensure maximum network availability across any North American network footprint.

With Radiant's Network Monitoring service, customers can have their network proactively monitored and issues tracked and followed through to resolution by Radiant's team of experts, regardless of the network provider. "Our intelligent monitoring systems and strong relationships with all major ISPs across Canada, enables our team to be extremely efficient" said Radiant President and CEO Paul Healey. "With over 15 years successfully monitoring and managing network connections for some of Canada's most recognized multi-location businesses, we have the expertise to improve operational efficiencies, so customers can concentrate on their core business requirements."

Customers now have a flexible solution for managing their entire network including monitoring, ticketing and proactive response for all their existing network systems. Network management is simplified with Radiant as the customer's central point of contact with their network vendors. Full visibility to network status and performance is always available 24x7, through a secure Customer Portal with real-time Google-mapTM views, for both primary and secondary network services.

With intelligent monitoring providing automatic detection of severity, regional outage identification, traffic and router statistics, plus trouble ticketing and notification systems, along with an integrated network vendor support program, Radiant's Network Monitoring Service is one of the industry's first.

Working with your existing network, Radiant's Network Monitoring Service is easily implemented, provides full visibility and control and keeps mission critical networks operating efficiently to ensure customers have maximum network availability, at all times.

About Radiant

Radiant Communications is a leading provider of managed network and cloud hosting solutions for medium-size enterprises. Leveraging one of the largest Internet footprints across Canada, Radiant offers a comprehensive portfolio of reliable, secure and scalable IT infrastructure services, simplified under a single point of contact. For over 15 years, many of Canada's most recognized brand names have been relying on Radiant to support their mission-critical business operations.

All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of the respective owners.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance of Radiant, which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties may cause Radiant's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, among others, competitive pressures, the growth rate of the Internet and telecommunications concerns, constantly changing technology and market acceptance of Radiant's products and services. Investors are also directed to consider the other risks and uncertainties discussed in Radiant's required financial statements and filings. All other companies and products listed herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Radiant Communications, Inc.

For further information:

Investors: Chuck Leighton, CFO, 604.692.4531, cleighton@radiant.net

Media: Janice Keay, Senior Director of Marketing, (416) 646-9416, jkeay@radiant.net