CIRA to act as a catalyst for a faster, better performing Internet

CIRA to act as a catalyst for a faster, better performing Internet

Efforts underway to create more domestic Internet Exchange Points

OTTAWA, June 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (www.CIRA.ca), the organization that manages the .CA Internet domain, is embarking on a new initiative to help create a more robust and economical domestic Internet for all Canadians by facilitating the development of more Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) across the country.

Many Canadians probably don't realize that much of Canada's domestic Internet traffic flows outside of the country before eventually reaching its destination. This is in part because Canada needs more IXPs, large data switches that allow Internet users in the same area, usually a large city, to connect directly with each other. An IXP allows local network traffic to take shorter, faster paths between member networks, improving traffic flow on major Internet backbones, improving performance and helping to reduce network costs.

There are about 350 IXPs around the world and they have proven to be integral to the Internet infrastructure of many nations. The U.S. has about 85. In Canada, there are only two, notably OTTIX in Ottawa and TORIX in Toronto.

"Canada is not keeping pace with other OECD countries," said Byron Holland, president and CEO of CIRA. "For a country such as Canada that was once a leader in the global digital economy, this is not acceptable."

From CIRA's perspective, stakeholders in Canada's digital economy, including network operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and others from the public and private sectors, should work together to create a national IXP fabric and make the necessary infrastructure investments.

As a not-for-profit and neutral player in Canada's Internet ecosystem, CIRA is committed to helping make this vision a reality. CIRA's objective is to be a catalyst that facilitates the development of a national IXP fabric. In order to engage with interested community members, CIRA has initiated dialogue in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax to help them establish or support the expansion of six key nodes for an IXP infrastructure. These discussions will continue in the months to come.

"We have much to gain from an improved Internet in Canada and a stronger digital economy," Holland added. "This is about improving security, speed and network resilience, while maximizing the amount of traffic that stays within Canada for the benefit of all Canadians."

To view a video explaining IXPs, please visit .

For more information on IXPs: http://cira.ca/news/ixp.

About CIRA

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the Member-driven organization that manages Canada's .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally.

For further information:

Tanya O'Callaghan
Communications Manager, Canadian Internet Registration Authority
(613) 237-5335 ext. 262
tanya.ocallaghan@cira.ca

Leo Valiquette
inmedia Public Relations
(613) 769-9479
lvaliquette@inmedia.com












































































Microsoft Office 365: A Big Year in Review

Microsoft Office 365: A Big Year in Review
June 27, 2012
The cloud service turns one, launches Office 365 for education, wins new customers and expands global footprint.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 27, 2012 — One year ago in New York City, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Office 365. Ballmer predicted that Office 365 would give businesses an edge, and that has been true for companies all over the globe.


“Office 365 is a hit with big and small companies alike,” said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Office Division. “I’m delighted to welcome Lowe’s, Burger King, Japan Airlines and others that have chosen Office 365.”

Now Students Can Get the Edge

Today, the benefits of Office 365 are available for free to students, teachers and faculty with the launch of Office 365 for education. Office 365 for education brings all the familiarity of Office — Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — and combines it with Microsoft Lync, SharePoint and Exchange to deliver a world-class solution for communication and collaboration.

With the release, leading schools and universities are picking Office 365 for education:

  • Dartmouth College. The unified communications and collaboration capabilities in Office 365 are helping improve secure and reliable collaboration across departments, institutions and global regions. The college will move about 13,500 faculty, student and staff mailboxes to the cloud.

  • Cornell University. Cornell will begin onboarding approximately 7,000 faculty and staff to Office 365 in the fall of 2012, taking advantage of the cloud-based email and calendar support.

  • Gonzaga University: By leveraging SharePoint Online and Lync Online, Gonzaga will be able to provide its Distant Learning Population with seamless access to its online resources portal and anytime collaboration tools. Office 365 will support 8,000 students and 1,200 faculty and staff.

These new customers come on the heels of recent announcements that the Catholic International Education Office, the Scottish government for education and the All India Council for Technical Education are committing to Office 365 for education. In total, these new customers demonstrate that over 12.5 million more students worldwide will now have Office 365 for education.

Big and small companies explain how Office 365 frees them to focus on what they do best with more flexibility.

“Getting the world’s best technology in the hands of our students and teachers is critical to improving educational outcomes and making sure students are prepared for college and career,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Education for Microsoft. “With schools’ ever-tightening budgets, Office 365 for education enables them to deliver new and innovative technology in the cloud that will modernize teaching and learning practices, at no cost.”

Students, along with faculty and teachers, need to connect and work with others on school projects. Office 365 for education’s shared workspaces, synchronized notebooks, instant messaging, and audio- and videoconferencing makes this a reality.

Special features in Office 365 for education include:

  • Classrooms without walls. PC or tablet, online or offline, Office 365 for education helps people stay in touch, easily share resources, jointly develop and use curricula, and communicate in ways that work for them.

  • Prepare students for the workforce. Office 365 includes familiar Office tools that connect with the way people work today: in social groups.

  • Privacy and security. The service delivers a secure, school-managed environment that keeps student information safe. Microsoft has a comprehensive approach to cloud privacy and security in the industry, and in the past year Office 365 has added support for the most rigorous global and regional standards, including ISO 27001, SAS70 Type II, EU Safe Harbor, EU Model Clauses, the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and more.

Businesses Continue to Get the Edge, Too

The biggest global brands continue to flock to Office 365. They are doing so because Office 365 enables new ways to share information and connect with customers and partners. This year, JetBlue, Campbell Soup, WellPoint, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Patagonia joined DuPont, Starbucks and major cities like New York and San Francisco in using Microsoft’s cloud productivity services. And today, Lowe’s, Origin Energy and The Hilti Group, Hallmark Cards, Japan Airlines, Burger King and Renner are the latest to join the Office 365 family.

Lowe’s has signed an agreement with Microsoft to implement Microsoft Office 365 across more than 1,745 stores, 200,000 employees, and its corporate offices in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Office 365 will help the home improvement retailer improve customer service by providing collaboration tools to increase communication among its stores and employees. Learn more about Lowe’s and Office 365 here.

Hallmark Cards, the largest creator of greeting cards in the United States, recently deployed Office 365 to over 9,500 people across the company. With this move, Hallmark receives the latest in productivity from Microsoft and realizes the economic benefits of the cloud. The company chose Microsoft due to Office 365’s ability to integrate seamlessly with Hallmark’s existing investments in other Microsoft technologies, such as SharePoint.

“The decision to move to Office 365 is part of a broader strategy to provide an integrated, unified platform to increase productivity and connect our employees across the globe,” said Tony Marshall, director of Enterprise Architecture at Hallmark.

Burger King was founded in 1954 and is the second-largest fast food hamburger chain in the world. According to Mike Capote, chief privacy officer and senior director of IT at Burger King, “With Office 365, we have a unified platform for communication and collaboration, helping save us money and gain efficiency.”

The Hilti Group is founded and based in Liechtenstein and supplies the worldwide construction industry with technologically leading products, systems and services. The company has a large mobile workforce, including sales teams and field engineers spread around the world. Hilti looked at competitive cloud offerings and chose Microsoft for its mobile collaboration and communication capabilities. With approximately 22,000 employees, Office 365’s SharePoint and Lync capabilities will mean cost savings and more effective business execution. In addition, Hilti saw Microsoft as the company whose integration capabilities into the existing IT landscape are very good.

“Hilti is a global brand with the challenges of a global company — distributed workers and finite resources,” said Tobias Roelz, head of IT Workplace and Application Services at Hilti Group. “With Office 365, we will have the latest collaboration technology always up-to-date for use by almost 22,000 employees around the world. This will make us more connected and, in the end, more competitive.”

Japan Airlines is bringing Office 365 to its 20,000 users to unify its communication and collaboration experience. It chose Office 365 because its employees are familiar with Office’s productivity tools, and it believes Microsoft’s expertise in supporting large enterprises in the cloud is the right choice for its business.

Origin Energy, the largest retail energy generation business in Australia and New Zealand with over 4.4 million customers, is moving to Office 365 to ensure its employees stay connected. Office 365 will give Origin a single, trusted platform that unites its vast operations and disparate employees.

“Office 365 is a key cornerstone in our strategy to take advantage of public cloud services. With Office 365, we get the benefits of Microsoft’s latest versions of software and achieve greater efficiencies as a result. We will be utilizing all the Office 365 services — Exchange for email, Lync for videoconferencing, and SharePoint for collaboration. With the new Office 365 service model, we get the best global service for the best possible value,” said Geoff Wenborn, group manager, IT Strategy and Governance at Origin Energy.

Renner, the second-largest clothing department store chain in Brazil, employs 14,000 in 202 stores. To manage the whole infrastructure, the company needed a technology partner with a strategic vision. “This was Microsoft´s big advantage: It was the only company that proposed a solution that met all our business needs,” said Leandro Balbinot, CIO at Renner S/A.

The company is also going through a period of rapid growth, so it required a technological environment that not only supports but promotes this expansion. “Microsoft offered the most complete solution, including simple system administration via the cloud; a flexible price structure — important when the user is paying for the service; and integration into our physical systems, such as mobile devices. We found that the competition couldn’t deliver all our requirements to the same level as that offered by Microsoft,” explained Balbinot.

Doubled Global Footprint and Continuous Updates

To mark the anniversary of Office 365, Koenigsbauer revealed that people in 46 new markets can now get Office 365 for the first time. In addition, the service is adding support for 11 new languages. With this, Office 365 is now offered in 88 markets and 32 languages and reaches over 4 billion people around the globe.

All these markets can take advantage of the continuous improvements to the service. Microsoft has introduced more than 50 new capabilities to the service in the past year, an average of one update per week. These updates — like password reset and enhanced storage for SharePoint Online — make people more productive and IT professionals more efficient.

“Whether small or large, local or global, educational or entrepreneurial, there is an Office 365 right for everybody,” said Koenigsbauer. “The magic of the service is in its flexibility, familiarity and breadth of options.”

For more information on Office 365, visit http://www.office365.com.

Small and Midsize Companies Look to Make Big Gains With “Big Data,” According to Recent Poll Conducted on Behalf of SAP

Small and Midsize Companies Look to Make Big Gains With “Big Data,” According to Recent Poll Conducted on Behalf of SAP

WALLDORF — Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) are realizing the competitive advantages of using and managing “big data” faster than their larger competitors, according to a recent online poll conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of SAP. The survey was conducted within the U.S. between April 10-23, 2012, among 154 C-suite executives at international companies across a range of industries. Additional findings of the survey show that only 25 percent of respondents agree on a similar definition of big data; however, nearly 76 percent viewed big data as an opportunity.

Across the survey, definitions of big data varied widely, with 28 percent defining it as the massive growth in transaction data. Twenty-four percent described it as new technologies that address the volume, variety and velocity challenges of big data; 19 percent said big data refers to requirements to store and archive data for regulatory compliance; and 18 percent saw big data as the rise in new data sources, such as social media, mobile device and machine-generated devices.

While the study showed diverse definitions of what big data is, SMEs are more readily identifying its benefits. More than 60 percent of the respondents manage companies with US$500 million or less in annual revenue. Top competitive advantages gained by using big data include more efficient business operations (59 percent); boosting sales (54 percent); lowering IT costs (50 percent); becoming more agile (48 percent); and attracting and retaining customers (46 percent). In large part because of these advantages, 70 percent of those surveyed said they would expect a return on their big data investments within one year.

“Every company should be thinking about their big data strategy whether they are big or small,” said Steve Lucas, executive vice president and general manager, Database & Technology, SAP. “Big data is the unprecedented growth and convergence of social, device, equipment and corporate data. There is an incredible amount of noise being created and without a strategy, companies will get lost in the noise. Big data is instant access to data and with instant insight, companies can be agile, act on emerging trends, engage with their customer base and also expose potential risks.”

Expansion in Cloud Strategies

Cloud technologies will likely play a role in managing big data. A majority (64 percent) of the executives polled by Harris Interactive said their companies use cloud technology to some extent. Of that, 38 percent said their companies use only cloud technology to store and manage big data, 27 percent cited private clouds or off-premise server farms and 11 percent said they store big data in a public cloud. More than a quarter (26 percent) said their companies use a hybrid of data warehousing and cloud technologies. One-third of the C-suite executives surveyed said they only use a data warehouse solution.

Importance of Instant Access

Sales of tablet computers this year are projected to almost double, to 118.9 million units, according to a recent study by Gartner Research.1 According to Gartner, enterprises will either purchase many of those tablets themselves or allow employees to access company information from their personal mobile devices.

As enterprise computing goes mobile, so too will big data analysis and visualization. When asked to describe the importance of instant access to big data from their mobile computers, 90 percent of the Harris executive respondents called it somewhat important — of which 57 percent deemed instant access either absolutely essential or very important. Industries that place instant access at or near the top of their wish list include aerospace and defense, automotive, banking, chemicals, defense and security, and engineering and construction.

Such timeliness is key. “Collecting and analyzing the data is not enough — it must be presented in a timely fashion so that decisions are made as a direct consequence that have a material impact on the productivity, profitability or efficiency of the organization,” Gartner wrote in its November 2011 report, “Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2012 and Beyond: Control Slips Away.” 

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of SAP between April 10-23, 2012, among 154 C-suite executives at multinational companies across a range of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, banking, chemicals, consumer products, engineering and construction, healthcare, high tech, insurance, manufacturing and professional services. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom.

[1]Forecast: Media Tablets by Operating System, Worldwide, 2010-2016, 1Q12 Update.

For more information, press only:
Samantha Finnegan, +1 (650) 276-9350, samantha.finnegan@sap.com, PDT
Jeff Neal, +1 (925) 236-5035, jeff.neal@sap.com, PDT
SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EDT; press@sap.com







































































Two-Thirds of Study Respondents See an Average of $250,000 in Annual Value from Executive Dashboard Usage

Two-Thirds of Study Respondents See an Average of $250,000 in Annual Value from Executive Dashboard Usage

CA Technologies-sponsored Study Reveals How IT and Business Leaders Use Executive Dashboards to Support Effective Service Delivery and Drive Business Growth

ISLANDIA, N.Y., June 27, 2012 – CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) today announced the results of sponsored research that shows a strong relationship between use of an executive dashboard and the revenue growth of the overall business. The study, Making Your Investment in an Executive Dashboard Count: What to Look for and Why, revealed how IT and business leaders are using executive dashboards to support effective IT service delivery and ultimately drive business growth.

A full two-thirds of the 250 respondents surveyed claim to have seen clear financial benefits from their dashboards by improving operational efficiency (64 percent), uptime for critical services (51 percent) and company productivity (44 percent). The average estimated  bottom-line contribution of their executive dashboard (without subtracting costs for ROI) was approximately $250,000 over a 12 month period, while about 25 percent claimed to have seen more than $500,000 in value from their dashboard. An executive dashboard is a tool that provides information regarding business impact and overall performance of IT services in support of more effective IT service delivery.

“Given trends such as cloud, the growth of IT business ecosystems, cost pressures to outperform, and business pressures to deliver increasing value, the right executive dashboard can become one of the most positive and catalytic investments a company can make,” said Dennis Drogseth, vice president, EMA. “If chosen well, an executive dashboard will promote awareness and communication, and provide the flexibility needed to assimilate the information resources most relevant to an organization without sacrificing easy access and without requiring high administrative overhead.”

The research also showed data that supports the importance of correlating IT service performance and IT activities with desired business outcomes, thus improving service delivery and business-IT alignment. Chief among these data are: 

  • A viable tool: A significant percentage of IT and line of business (LOB) executives today leverage executive dashboards for information about business impact and overall IT performance. Nearly 80 percent of IT executives and 70 percent of LOB executives use executive dashboards two or more times per week.
  • Most important benefits: Respondents cited better alignment of IT resources to the business (48 percent) and good communication between IT and the LOB (34 percent) as the top benefits expected from executive dashboards.
  • Main drivers of purchase decision: Difficulty sharing IT metrics more broadly across IT and with business stakeholders and lack of real-time awareness of service health and performance were cited as two of the primary pain points that drive the purchase of executive dashboards.

“Information-overloaded executives aren’t interested in every detailed metric and they don’t want to be bombarded by information that isn’t directly relevant to their concerns,” said Mike Sargent, general manager, Enterprise Management, CA Technologies. “They want to know about the performance of critical services that directly impact business value – such as end-user experience, brand reputation, and opportunities to drive revenue and profit. They want to be able to consume this information easily, whenever or wherever they are working, and in a format that’s focused, interactive and supports their rapid decision-making.

CA Executive Insight for Service Assurance enables IT to be a more strategic partner to the lines of business. By providing visibility into real time performance metrics and gaining a better understanding which metrics are most important to the business, IT can better align resources with business priorities and help drive bottom-line impact. Access to early warning signs of success or failure help the lines of business minimize risks and pursue opportunities.”

About the Study

Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) conducted the study on behalf of CA Technologies. EMA surveyed 250 active users of executive dashboards in North America. Strict priorities were placed on achieving a truly executive mix among respondents, which included 60% C-level, VP or Director-level respondents within IT, and 15% line-of-business executives, managers and strategists. A targeted balance between IT and non-IT respondents helped ensure that a meaningful population came from business rather than IT sectors. Top verticals were Financial Services, Manufacturing and Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals, which represented 53% of the respondent base.

For additional information about CA Executive Insight, visit:

About CA Technologies

CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is an IT management software and solutions company with expertise across all IT environments – from mainframe and distributed, to virtual and cloud. CA Technologies manages and secures IT environments and enables customers to deliver more flexible IT services. CA Technologies innovative products and services provide the insight and control essential for IT organizations to power business agility. The majority of the Global Fortune 500 relies on CA Technologies to manage evolving IT ecosystems. For additional information, visit CA Technologies at www.ca.com.

Dell Helps Small and Mid-size Businesses Grow Sales and Revenue with Marketing Automation Software from Pardot

Dell Helps Small and Mid-size Businesses Grow Sales and Revenue with Marketing Automation Software from Pardot

     
    • Dell is collaborating with Pardot to deliver an end-to-end marketing solution to help small and mid-size businesses generate more revenue through cost-effective, measurable demand-generation programs
    • Solution includes pre-built integrations into commonly deployed CRM systems and popular social media marketing applications
    • Includes productized implementation services designed to get marketing campaigns up and running quickly

    Dell today announced it is delivering marketing automation software from Pardot as a service to help businesses execute cost effective demand generation programs that are easy to track and measure. The new offering strengthens Dell’s growing portfolio of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions that help small and mid-size organizations manage and grow their businesses.

    “Pardot has developed and delivered a marketing automation solution proven to help small and mid-size businesses grow revenue while reducing costs,” said Paulette Altmaier, vice president and general manager, Dell Cloud Business Software. “Adding Pardot to the Dell Cloud Business Applications family of trusted SaaS applications helps our customers execute cost-effective, measurable marketing programs and campaigns.”

    The Dell marketing automation solution comes with productized services designed to help get marketing organizations up and running quickly, and includes services for setting up email campaigns, developing web site forms, and integrating Google AdWords and CRM systems. As with all Dell Cloud Business Applications, this new solution includes pre-packaged implementation services that are designed to speed adoption and time to value.

    Dell’s marketing automation solution enables marketing professionals to:

    • Identify and generate more highly qualified sales prospects
    • Convert more sales leads into paying customers
    • Demonstrate the revenue return from marketing investments

    “With Pardot, Dell is delivering an end-to-end marketing automation solution to small and mid-size businesses,” said David Cummings, chief executive officer, Pardot. “Our solution enables companies to more effectively grow their customer base while tightly managing overall marketing spend. Pardot is easy to use right from the start, and clients will very quickly see increased efficiency and returns across the marketing and sales departments.”

    The new marketing automation solution reinforces Dell’s strategy to help organizations use cloud-based applications and services to transform their business, accelerate growth, empower their workforce and invest in innovation. Delivering Pardot’s software as a service helps Dell’s clients take a pragmatic approach to cloud that allows them to leverage new and existing resources.

    “Pardot is a great solution for SMB customers and a thoughtful next addition to Dell Cloud Business Applications,” states Laurie McCabe, principal and founder of SMB Group. “Its ease of use, built-in integrations to key applications like CRM, lead generation, analytics and social media make it easier for organizations to leverage the latest marketing automation technology to speed their growth.”

    Pricing and Availability
    Dell Marketing Automation pricing starts at $1,000 per month for unlimited users. All editions come with basic Dell Implementation services to assist customers’ executing their initial marketing campaigns. Pricing for additional fixed-fee, fixed-scope implementation services starts at $2,500. A free 30-day trial is available from the Dell Cloud Business Applications website. The solution is immediately available in the U.S. from Dell by calling 877-857-2364.

    For more information about Pardot, visit www.pardot.com

    About Dell Cloud Business Applications
    Dell Cloud Business Applications offers a family of integrated cloud applications and services that enable business to drive increased revenue while lowering costs. Dell’s portfolio of cloud software solutions are uniquely packaged to meet the needs of growing companies, delivering trusted applications, integrations, turnkey Dell services, and support. For more information, visit www.dellcloudapplications.com

    About Dell
    Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. For more information, visit www.dell.com.

    Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.















































    Oracle Announces the Oracle Customer Experience Summit @ OpenWorld in San Francisco During Oracle OpenWorld 2012

    Oracle Announces the Oracle Customer Experience Summit @ OpenWorld in San Francisco During Oracle OpenWorld 2012

    Leaders and Experts to Showcase Trends, Innovations and Best Practices to Succeed in the Experience Revolution

    Redwood Shores, CA – June 26, 2012

    News Facts

    Today, Oracle announced the Oracle Customer Experience Summit @ OpenWorld, which will take place in San Francisco October 3 – 5, 2012 during Oracle OpenWorld 2012.
    Combining keynotes, working group sessions and networking opportunities, the summit will bring together leading brands and experts to share insights, success stories and lessons learned to succeed in the Experience Revolution—the new era of the empowered consumer.
    Oracle executives will present Oracle’s strategy and complete suite of customer experience solutions intended to help businesses deliver connected, consistent and personalized customer experiences.
    The Oracle Customer Experience Summit is designed to complement Oracle OpenWorld by identifying the most pressing problems that customers and partners need to solve to achieve organizational support, helping them take the customer experience to the next level.
    Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities for the Oracle Customer Experience Summit are available on the event website at: http://www.oracle.com/events/us/en/cxsummit/exhibit-sponsor/index.html
    Registration for the Oracle Customer Experience Summit is now open. Early Bird Registration, which offers the deepest discount, is available until July 13, 2012.

    Supporting Quote

    "The Oracle Customer Experience Summit @ OpenWorld will help executives identify and learn about the latest trends, innovations and best practices to fuel successful customer experience strategies,” said Anthony Lye, senior vice president, CRM, Oracle. “Attendees will share ideas in interactive sessions that are designed to power brands to meet the customer experience challenge, which has quickly emerged as one of the most important and defensible differentiators and drivers of business value.”

    Supporting Resources

    About Oracle

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

    Trademarks

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

    Contact Info

    Danielle Cormier-Smith
    Oracle
    +1.610.766.3463
    danielle.cormier@oracle.com

    Christine Randle
    Oracle
    +1.571.455.0415
    christine.randle@oracle.com

    Avaya Enhances Customer Experience Interaction Management Portfolio

    Avaya Enhances Customer Experience Interaction Management Portfolio

    For Immediate Release:27 Jun 2012

    • Avaya focuses on Customer Experience Interaction Management for next-generation contact centers
    • Avaya delivers new and expanded applications for Mobile, Video and Social Media Interaction
    • Doubles the performance and capacity of the market-leading contact center solution for increased productivity and efficiency
    BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Avaya today announced the next step in the evolution of customer service technology with new and enhanced products for its Customer Experience Interaction Management portfolio. Avaya Customer Experience Interaction Management solutions enable companies to serve more customers through more channels while providing a streamlined, orchestrated experience for customers, agents and managers.
     
    Customer Experience Interaction Management is at the heart of Avaya's next-generation contact center strategy, extending beyond the traditional contact center to include branch, retail, remote employees and back-office environments, providing a comprehensive approach to creating a differentiated, quality customer experience. The portfolio helps companies prudently balance objectives for top line revenue and cost reduction with improving the customer experience across every interaction and every touch point – including the growing number of methods and devices available for customer interaction and consumers' decreasing tolerance for unsatisfactory service.
     
    Today, Avaya adds the following enhancements to its Customer Experience Interaction Management portfolio:
    • Mobile:  Avaya Customer Connections Mobile enables a customer to navigate dynamic smartphone menus which guide them through self driven inquiries and tasks. If further assistance is needed, the customer can make a request to be connected to an available expert. An estimated wait time is provided if no agent is immediately available; customers can choose to wait, request an immediate return call or schedule one for a more convenient time. All customer information from the start of the activity is carried throughout the entire interaction – from self service through assisted – for a seamless service experience that eliminates the need for the customer to repeatedly provide the same information.
    • Social Media: Avaya continues its focus on enabling companies to efficiently encompass social media within the contact center. Avaya Social Media Manager adds support for additional languages and integration with more social media sites, including Google Alerts, RSS and YouTube in addition to FB and Twitter.
    • Web Video: Avaya One Touch Video helps enable faster, richer customer collaboration and resolution to build better relationships. A simple hyperlink embedded on web page or sent via email enables voice and video collaboration between agents, experts or other enterprise employees and end users outside of the enterprise who have access to any Internet-connected device with a browser.
    • Routing Optimization: Avaya Aura Call Center Elite – the gold standard in contact center call routing and distribution -- delivers significant increases in performance, consolidates and simplifies administration and reduces hardware, upgrade and maintenance costs. Call Center Elite 6.2 can now help customers handle up to twice the calls in any given time period over previous versions of the product. In addition, new Avaya 96x1phones are tailored to contact center agent needs, enabling fast access to common agent features and embedded agent greetings. Companies can buy these new phones as SIP or as H.323 and later convert them to SIP endpoints for investment protection as their needs evolve.
    Avaya Customer Experience Management solutions are enabled by Avaya Aura®, a flexible, centralized architecture from which companies can cost-effectively support multiple locations and services - including local, remote and home agents - with streamlined, simplified management. Avaya Customer Experience Interaction Management solutions are also supported by Avaya CS1000 in standalone environments or integrated with Avaya Aura.
     
    Avaya has a full continuum of consulting, professional, support and managed services that can help customers plan, design, implement and operate their Customer Experience Interaction Management solutions. These services help customers align business goals with technology, business processes and people, enabling faster adoption and performance optimization.
     
    Quotes:
    "Social Media Manager will allow the Minnesota Wild to stay more closely connected to its fans. As we migrate away from a social media strategy that was dominated by monologue, we can now more successfully execute a dialogue strategy that will foster more nimble and efficient communication between the Minnesota Wild, the Xcel Energy Center and its fans."
    Jim Ibister, vice president, Facility Administration, Minnesota Wild and GM, St. Paul RiverCentre
     
    "Avaya's Customer Connection Mobile is an innovative solution that provides our customers with a unique ability for smart phones that can increase satisfaction while reducing costs. Most of our customers are seeking ways to increase self service and improve the customer experience. Avaya Customer Connections Mobile will help them meet both of those goals while enabling the customer to connect with a live agent just at the point they need. We're very excited about bringing best-in-class solutions such as this to our enterprise customers."
    Doug Wilson, vice president, Sales, DDV
     
    "As a provider of business and technology services for approximately 60 healthcare practices and over 200 practice sites across the U.S., Integrated Medical Partners needs to bring customers online as quickly and efficiently as possible. Prior to implementing Avaya Call Center Elite, it was a major project to bring new customers online, taking as long as several weeks. Now, from the communications perspective, it's about 10 minutes. We have the flexibility to balance workloads among our centers; this is a big plus for optimizing resources and improving business continuity when a center might be closed due to weather, for instance. Most importantly, we've reduced costs by over 50 percent while increasing our service levels. Technology like this allows us to reduce costs to our healthcare clients, allowing them to shift resources to focus on patient care."
    Steve Goodman, CIO, Integrated Medical Partners
     
    Supporting Facts:
    • Avaya leads the worldwide contact center market for 2011 with 36 percent share in terms of revenue and 37 percent in terms of shipments.
    • Avaya has more than two dozen patents/patents pending for social media in contact center technologies.
    Additional Resources:
    Avaya Customer Connections Mobile Fact Sheet
    Avaya One Touch Video Fact Sheet
    How Mobile Devices are Driving Innovations in Contact Centers White Paper
    An Architecture for Mobile Communications Innovation in the Contact Center White Paper
    Social Media Manager demo
     
    Tags: Avaya, customer service, contact center, mobile customer service, call center, web service, call routing, video

    About Avaya
    Avaya is a global leader in business communications and collaboration, providing unified communications, contact centers, data solutions and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

    Symantec Survey Reveals Digital Information Costs Businesses $1.1Trillion

    Symantec Survey Reveals Digital Information Costs Businesses $1.1Trillion

    Yet Businesses Still Struggle To Protect Information Efficiently

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – June 26, 2012 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that information costs businesses worldwide $1.1 trillion annually, according to its first ever State of Information Survey [hyperlink]. From confidential customer information, to intellectual property, to financial transactions, organizations possess massive amounts of information that not only enable them to be competitive and efficient – but also stay in business. In fact, the survey revealed that digital information makes up 49 percent of an organization’s total value.


    Read more detailed blog post: State of Information


    “The vast amount of information that organizations produce today can help them better serve their customers and increase productivity. However, the same information can also become a major liability if it is not properly protected. Companies that effectively use their information will have a major competitive advantage over those who cannot, and in some cases it can be the difference between success and failure,” said Francis deSouza, group president, Enterprise Products and Services, Symantec Corp. “With its increasing value and rising cost, successful companies will find ways to more effectively protect their information and unleash the productivity it can bring.”


    Click to Tweet: Digital information costs businesses $1.1 trillion. Is the money being spent wisely? http://bit.ly/LjaIvn


    Information is Skyrocketing and It’s Expensive

    Businesses of all sizes are dealing with enormous amounts of data. The total size of information stored today by all businesses is 2.2 zettabytes. Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) on average have 563 terabytes of data, compared with the average enterprise that has 100,000 terabytes. The survey also reveals that information is expected to grow 67 percent over the next year for enterprises and 178 percent for SMBs.


    On average, enterprises spend $38 million annually on information, while SMBs spend $332,000. However, the yearly cost per employee for SMBs is a lot higher at $3,670, versus $3,297 for enterprise. For example, a typical 50-employee small business spends $183,500 on information management, whereas a typical large enterprise with 2,500 employees would spend $8.2 million.


    The Business Impact of Lost Information

    The consequences of losing business information would be disastrous. “We would have to fold our operations for at least a couple of years before we’d come back again,” noted an IT manager at a large engineering firm when asked about the consequences of losing the enterprise’s information. Respondents highlighted the impact of data loss to their business, including lost customers (49 percent), damage to reputation and brand (47 percent), decreased revenue (41 percent), increased expenses (39 percent) and a tumbling stock price (20 percent).


    Protection Measures are Falling Short

    With so much at stake, protecting information should be a top priority, yet businesses are still struggling. In the last year, 69 percent of businesses experienced some form of information loss for a variety of reasons, such as human error, hardware failure, security breach, or lost and stolen devices. In addition, 69 percent have had confidential information exposed outside of the company, and 31 percent have experienced compliance failures related to information. Another challenge is the amount of duplicate information businesses are storing – an average of 42 percent of data is duplicated. Storage utilization is also low, at only 31 percent within the firewall and 18 percent outside.


    All these risks and inefficiencies result in businesses spending more than necessary on storing and protecting their information. A key issue identified by 30 percent of businesses is information sprawl – the overwhelming growth of information that is unorganized, difficult to access and often duplicated elsewhere.


    Businesses Need to Put the “I” Back in “IT”

    To help businesses more effectively protect their information, Symantec has the following recommendations:

    • Focus on the information, not the device or data center: With BYOD and cloud, information is no longer within the four walls of a company. Protection must focus on the information, not the device or data center.
    • Not all information is equal: Business must be able to separate useless data from valuable business information and protect it accordingly.
    • Be efficient: Deduplication and archiving help companies protect more, but store less to keep pace with exponential data growth.
    • Consistency is key: It is important to set consistent policies for information that can be enforced wherever it’s located...physical, virtual and cloud environments.
    • Stay agile: Plan for your future information needs by implementing a flexible infrastructure to support continued growth.

    About Symantec

    Symantec protects the world’s information, and is the global leader in security, backup and availability solutions. Our innovative products and services protect people and information in any environment – from the smallest mobile device, to the enterprise data center, to cloud-based systems. Our industry-leading expertise in protecting data, identities and interactions gives our customers confidence in a connected world. More information is available at www.symantec.com or by connecting with Symantec at: go.symantec.com/socialmedia.

    Microsoft to Acquire Yammer

    Microsoft to Acquire Yammer
    June 25, 2012
    Microsoft extends cloud services with best-in-class enterprise social networking.

    iREDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO — June 25, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. and Yammer Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Yammer, a leading provider of enterprise social networks, for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will join the Microsoft Office Division, led by division President Kurt DelBene, and the team will continue to report to current CEO David Sacks.

    “The acquisition of Yammer underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft. “Yammer adds a best-in-class enterprise social networking service to Microsoft’s growing portfolio of complementary cloud services.”

    Launched in 2008, Yammer now has more than 5 million corporate users, including employees at 85 percent of the Fortune 500. The service allows employees to join a secure, private social network for free and then makes it easy for companies to convert a grassroots movement into companywide strategic initiative.

    Yammer will continue to develop its standalone service and maintain its commitment to simplicity, innovation and cross-platform experiences. Moving forward, Microsoft plans to accelerate Yammer’s adoption alongside complementary offerings from Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics and Skype.

    “When we started Yammer four years ago, we set out to do something big,” Sacks said. “We had a vision for how social networking could change the way we work. Joining Microsoft will accelerate that vision and give us access to the technologies, expertise and resources we’ll need to scale and innovate.”

    The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

    About Yammer

    Yammer (www.yammer.com) is a leading provider of enterprise social networks with over 5 million verified corporate users including employees of more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500. The basic version of Yammer is free, and customers can pay to upgrade their network to receive advanced administrative and security controls, integrations with enterprise applications, priority customer service and a designated customer success manager.

    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.

    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.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are any predictions, projections or other statements about future events. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements because of a variety of risks and uncertainties about our business, which we describe in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statement.


    CIRA Partners With Ottawa's MediaSmarts for Landmark Research Study

    CIRA Partners With MediaSmarts for Landmark Research Study

       

    OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 06/25/12 -- MediaSmarts (formerly known as Media Awareness Network) is pleased to announce it has partnered with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) for the third phase of its landmark research study, Young Canadians in a Wired World.

    "We are thrilled with CIRA's support of our work and their commitment to helping us gain a better understanding of how young Canadians are using and benefiting from the Internet," said Jane Tallim, Co-Executive Director of MediaSmarts. "The data we've collected over the last 12 years through the Young Canadians study has given us profound insight into the online lives of young people. This funding allows us to move forward with the next phase of the research."

    "We are proud to support the work of MediaSmarts and their ongoing Young Canadians in a Wired World (YCWW) study," said David Fowler, CIRA's Director of Marketing and Communications. "The next generation of Canadian Internet users will undoubtly have an impact on the future of the Internet in Canada. The Internet has become a large part of the daily lives of young Canadians. Understanding their online behaviour is critical to helping them develop good habits and stay safe in their online interactions."

    CIRA's partnership supports a national survey of close 6,000 students, delving into topics affecting young people's online lives such as cyberbullying and surveillance. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is also providing funding for the national survey.

    Young Canadians in a Wired World is the most comprehensive investigation into the role of the Internet in the lives of Canadian children and teens. Past reports can be viewed at www.mediasmarts.ca.

    MediaSmarts (formerly known as Media Awareness Network) is a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. Its vision is that young people have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. MediaSmarts' programs are supported by: TELUS, CIRA, Google, Bell, Shaw, Bell Media, and the National Film Board of Canada. www.mediasmarts.ca

    CIRA is the member-driven organization that manages Canada's .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally. www.cira.ca

    Contacts:
    Maya Shoucair
    Communications Officer, MediaSmarts
    613-224-7721, ext. 231
    mshoucair@mediasmarts.ca
    www.twitter.com/MediaSmarts

    Tanya O'Callaghan
    Communications Manager, CIRA
    613-237-5335 ext. 262
    tanya.ocallaghan@cira.ca
    www.twitter.com/ciraNEWS