Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 Globally Available

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 Globally Available

June 21, 2012

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Team

Red Hat is proud to announce the global availability of the next minor release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3. The rich array of features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 originates from many sources including Red Hat engineers, partners, and customers, as well as the open source community. Through the innovation harnessed through a strong and vibrant ecosystem, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 provides enterprises with mature, stable technology supported by its award-winning worldwide support organization.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux continues to reinforce its position as a leading operating system within hybrid environments – where customers expect consistency, stability, yet flexibility – to create standard infrastructure patterns across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. This is demonstrated by features including secure disk wiping, and live volume re-sizing of virtual guests. They represent the marriage of key capabilities, such as security and storage resource management, with next-generation architectures including cloud and virtualization.

With minor releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, enhancements are made to take advantage of the most recent advancement from hardware OEMs. This includes updated device drivers for a multitude of peripherals, and also various features like compiler optimization for the Intel Xeon E5 processor family.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 includes enhancements and new capabilities providing rich functionality particularly in the areas of developer tools, virtualization, security, scalability, file systems, and storage. Highlighted below is a small subset of the new features and enhancements in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3.

Developer Tools: In addition to OpenJDK6 support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the newly introduced OpenJDK7 allows customers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 to develop and test with the latest version of open source Java. The Red Hat Developer Day is scheduled for June 26th at the 2012 Red Hat Summit & JBoss World. More about this and other capabilities will be presented, including the Red Hat Enterprise Linux toolset (updated GCC), performance optimization, thread programming and NUMA. For more information about developer day, please visit here.

Virtualization: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 helps smooth migration to a virtualized environment. This is achieved with the help of new Virt-P2V tools that can easily convert a Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Microsoft Windows system running on physical hardware to run as KVM guests. This release implements a more robust mechanism to protect data associated with defunct virtual machines. The method by which virtual disk images are securely wiped has been enhanced to allow greater security and stronger compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).

Security: Users can now use two-factor authentication for securely accessing their Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment. This type of authentication mechanism is more secure than simple password based authentication. Two-factor authentication is being adopted into enterprise environments and is often referenced in industry standards. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 also includes advanced encryption capabilities so data blocks can be encrypted in parallel by taking advantage of underlying multi-processor capabilities. This is supported by the introduction of AES-CTR (Advanced Encryption Standard Counter Mode) cipher for OpenSSH. AES-CTR is well suited for high-speed networking environments.

Scalability: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 continues to test the outer bounds of scalability for an operating system platform by increasing the maximum number of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) per guest to 160 from 64. This is significantly higher than the 32 vCPU per guest limit for VMware ESX 5.0. The maximum supported memory configuration for KVM guests has also been increased from 512GB to 2TB.

File Systems: File system improvements include O_DIRECT support in FUSE (File system in user space). When enabled, all FUSE reads and writes go directly to storage, bypassing the server cache. This capability can lead to more consistent response times and predictable access to data by multiple accessors for certain use-cases, including database writes and deduplication. GFS2 (shared storage file system) can now read and write data to the disks faster than in previous releases for certain use-cases. In addition, file system check utilities for GFS2 can now be used to check the integrity of the older GFS1 file system.

Storage: The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) now provides support for RAID levels 4, 5, and 6 to simplify overall storage administration by consolidating all management functions, such as creating and re-sizing volumes, deploying RAID, and taking snapshots into a single interface. It is now possible to deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 as a FCoE based storage target server providing the high level of reliability and performance available with native Fibre Channel but at a significantly lower cost. This feature complements the FCoE Initiator support that was delivered in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0.

Subscription Management: With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3, by default customers can use Red Hat Subscription Management (SAM), an enhanced subscription management capability using X.509 certificates that allows customers to effectively manage subscriptions locally and report on subscription distribution and utilization. This helps facilitate compliance, upgrades, and long-term planning. Customers register their systems using Red Hat Subscription Manager to the Red Hat award-winning customer portal or an instance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux SAM. Customers who used RHN Classic subscription management with prior releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, can continue to use it or migrate to Red Hat Subscription Management.

More information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 can be found here.

Avaya Advances on List of Top 300 U.S. Patent Holders

Avaya Advances on List of Top 300 U.S. Patent Holders

For Immediate Release:20 Jun 2012

  • Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Association Top 300 US patent holders list ranks Avaya 114th, up 18.3% over the previous year.
  • Avaya Labs continues to innovate with 246 patents awarded in 2011.
BASKING RIDGE, NJ – Avaya Inc. today continues its steady three-year rise on the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) list, "Top 300 Organizations Granted U.S. Patents in 2011." In 2011, Avaya ranked 114th on the list after being granted 246 patents, an increase of 18.3 percent over the previous year when Avaya ranked 128th.
 
Avaya Labs has a history of delivering communications solutions that meet the business needs of today and anticipate future ways of working. The patents awarded to Avaya in 2011 focus primarily on changing the ways people communicate and collaborate, ensuring that people – not technologies – are at the heart of the experience. Avaya's communications solutions help improve customer service, worker productivity, and business efficiency across the enterprise, while accounting for network and infrastructure control when needed.
 
Highlights from Avaya's 2011 patents include:
  • Automatic customer satisfaction monitoring through social media: A method of obtaining more accurate and honest customer feedback through social media. Automated customer feedback surveys incorporate monitoring social media channels and aggregating, filtering and analyzing content to determine a customer's likely response to a specific product or service.
  • Agent assisted response to social media interactions: A collaboration tool that enables quick and consistent response to social media work items. The method allows agents to view historical responses that might be relevant to a newly received work item. The relevant historical responses can be used to suggest a response to new work items.
  • Context aware office space locator: A streamlined system for scheduling office space at a site based on communications and relationships between meeting attendees. The system ensures office space is centrally located and convenient for meeting and working.
  • Contact center expert identification: A system to evaluate contact center callers for possible employment. Evaluations and ratings occur while the caller waits in a contact center queue. Candidates who receive positive evaluations and are interested in the position may be hired or provided incentives to assist the contact center.
  • Single-Sided Speech Quality Measurement: A non-intrusive speech quality estimation technique based on statistical probability models. The technique provides high quality estimates relative to known techniques while having lower computational complexity.
Quotes
"We have a world-class development team of technical talent and innovators at Avaya Labs. Our people are developing exciting, yet practical innovations that enable streamlined communications experiences in a world of bring-your-own-device, consumerization of IT and cloud applications."
KEVIN KENNEDY, PRESIDENT AND CEO
AVAYA

 
"As a life-long entrepreneur, the caliber and throughput of innovation at Avaya inspire me. We are building on our heritage of advanced hardware-based solutions and evolving with our customers into applications-based, people-based solutions."
BRETT SHOCKLEY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, APPLICATIONS AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
AVAYA

 
Additional Resources Tags
Avaya, unified communications, patents, innovation, labs, technical talent
 
About Avaya
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

HP Empowers Small and Medium-size Businesses to Thrive in a Mobile World

HP Empowers Small and Medium-size Businesses to Thrive in a Mobile World

New solutions, services and programs simplify, secure and optimize IT to support a growing mobile workforce

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 20, 2012

HP today announced new offerings to help small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) prepare their technology infrastructures for a growing mobile workforce.

With more than 1.1 billion mobile appliances in use worldwide, organizations of all sizes are challenged by the need to access, manage and secure mobile devices and the data generated by them. HP Converged Infrastructure provides the ideal platform for secure continuous access to data and applications. With partner solutions from Citrix, Microsoft and VMware, HP also delivers improved employee accessibility and productivity as the requirements for mobility continue to grow.

New offerings from HP include technology solutions and services, as well as financing and training programs that enable resource-challenged SMBs to simplify IT while enhancing collaboration in an increasingly mobile world.

Predefined solutions secure, simplify mobile access
According to Gartner research, by 2016, at least 50 percent of business email users will rely primarily on a tablet or mobile client instead of a traditional desktop. The trend to use devices to access email and other business data requires SMBs to prepare their infrastructures to support increased mobility.

New HP solutions and services enable organizations to:

  • Improve security with HP Client Virtualization SMB virtual desktop solution. The solution includes reference architectures—such as HP ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) servers and client virtualization software from Citrix, Microsoft or VMware—that protects company data by storing user profiles and data on a centralized server. This enables SMBs to provide secure access to applications from thin clients, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Information remains protected on the server even if the device is lost.
  • Reduce risk and complexity of client virtualization projects with HP Client Virtualization, Analysis and Modeling, a prepackaged service that analyzes the existing IT environment to simplify and speed deployment of virtualization for medium-size organizations and help them embrace mobile technology.
  • Simplify adoption of mobile technology with HP Transformation Experience Workshop for Mobility, a service that aligns business and IT stakeholders to ensure employees have access to data while upholding security requirements.
  • Increase uptime for a growing mobile workforce with HP Business Protection Solutions, preconfigured reference architectures based on HP Converged Infrastructure and best practices in data protection, network security and disaster recovery. These customized solutions guide SMBs in the design of a risk-mitigation program to ensure continued accessibility to company data from a mobile device .

Collaboration tools improve productivity for mobile workforce
To support the acceleration of mobile devices, HP and its partners are helping SMBs improve employee productivity and drive business efficiency.

  • Improves collaboration with HP Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C) Solutions with Microsoft Lync, an integrated hardware and software solution that enables SMBs to securely video conference, share information on desktops and collaborate to improve productivity. The comprehensive UC&C solution includes Microsoft Lync software, HP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, HP networking and HP ProLiant Gen8 servers, storage and services.

Simplified infrastructure for SMBs embracing mobility
Small and medium-size organizations need simple, reliable and economical computing to support growing data and new applications across wired and wireless environments. New solutions based on HP Converged Infrastructure help companies to:

  • Simplify network management with the expanded HP Multi-Service Router (MSR) Series, an all-in-one, customizable platform that allows clients to streamline deployment of networks by integrating security and wired and wireless networking features into one device.
  • Reduce power costs with the HP 1910 8G Switch Series, which features energy-saving Power over Internet (PoE) technology to deliver simple, reliable and cost-effective network access for rich-media applications, such as voice and video.
  • Address the explosion of unstructured data from a growing mobile workforce with increased capacity and simplified management featured with HP X5000 Storage. This highly available clustered network attached storage (NAS) platform reduces IT administration time for SMBs by ensuring users have access to file data from their mobile devices.

Increased support for SMBs and channel partners
HP provides SMBs and channel partners with a broad range of programs to drive growth, create new revenue streams and ensure collaboration. Enhanced programs provide:

  • Favorable financing options with the HP Even Better Than Zero program, which allows companies to lease HP equipment at a less-than-zero implicit lease rate while offering a fair-market-value purchase option, available through HP Financial Services.
  • Improved business skills for small-business owners through HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) e-Learning. The new cloud-based platform, hosted on HP Converged Cloud infrastructure, offers free information and courses to help SMBs establish or grow their businesses. HP LIFE has helped establish or expand more than 19,700 businesses and helped create 43,000 jobs worldwide since 2007.(3)

Availability
The HP Client Virtualization SMB Reference Architecture for Microsoft VDI is scheduled to be available in September. All other solutions and services are available now through HP and worldwide channel partners.

Additional information about HP’s new SMB offerings is available at
http://www.hp.com/go/whatsnewforsmb.

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.

CHECK POINT SURVEY REVEALS A GENERATION GAP IN COMPUTER SECURITY

  CHECK POINT SURVEY REVEALS A GENERATION GAP IN COMPUTER SECURITY

Gen Y Reported More Security Issues than Baby Boomers but Less Concern

TORONTO- June 20, 2012 -  Check Point <http://www.checkpoint.com/> R
Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing
the Internet, today announced the results of a new ZoneAlarm
<http://www.zonealarm.com/>  report revealing differences in the use of
computer security between Gen Y and Baby Boomers. The report, The Generation
Gap in Computer Security
<http://www.zonealarm.com/products/downloads/whitepapers/generation_gap_rese
arch_2012.pdf
> , found that Gen Y is more confident in its security
knowledge than Baby Boomers. However, 50 per cent of Gen Y respondents have
had security issues in the past two years compared to less-than-half of Baby
Boomers.

The broad adoption of digital media and social networking, combined with the
increasing amount of sensitive data that is stored online, is making
personal computer security more important than ever before. Yet the
ZoneAlarm study reveals that 78 per cent of Gen Y respondents do not follow
security best practices while cybercriminals are launching new and more
sophisticated attacks on consumers every day. In comparison, Baby Boomers
are more concerned about security and privacy and twice more likely to
protect their computers with additional security software.

"Growing up in the digital age, Gen Y may appear to be a more tech-savvy
generation, but that does not translate into safer computer and online
practices," said Paul Comessotti, Canadian Regional Director, Check Point
Software Technologies. "The ZoneAlarm Study reveals that the most at risk
group, and prone to cyber attacks, is Gen Y. That makes this group even more
vulnerable to online security threats."

"Gen Y tends to prioritize entertainment and community over security,
perhaps due to overconfidence in their security knowledge. For example,
they're more concerned about gaming or other social activities than their
online security. They also have less sophisticated security software, and
hence, have reported more security problems than other groups, such as Baby
Boomers."

Key Findings from the Report:

Computer Security Increases in Priority with Age - Only 31 per cent of Gen Y
rank security as the most important consideration when making decision about
their computers in comparison to 58 per cent of Baby Boomers. Gen Y
prioritizes entertainment and community above security.

Gen Y is Overconfident in its Security Knowledge - Gen Y (63 per cent)
claims to be more knowledgeable about security when compared to Baby Boomers
(59 per cent). However, half of Gen Y respondents have had security issues
in the past two years in comparison to less than half (42 per cent) of Baby
Boomers.

Gen Y has Less Sophisticated Security Due to Cost and Technical Barriers -
Gen Y respondents are less likely to use paid antivirus, 3rd-party
firewalls, or integrated security suites than Baby Boomers. Gen Y (45 per
cent) view security software as too expensive in comparison to Baby Boomers
(37 per cent).

Sensitive Data is Stored on Computers, Yet Most Do Not Follow Security Best
Practices - 84 per cent  of people keep sensitive data, such as tax records,
financial info, and passwords, on their computers. However, most users (71
per cent), especially Gen Y (78 per cent), do not follow security best
practices.

"Financial fraud is one of the main driving factors for cybercriminals these
days. They are targeting consumers and not just looking to hack into one
computer. They seek to use their victims' PCs to spread attacks and
infiltrate a whole community, including family, friends and work," said Bari
Abdul, VP and Head of Check Point's Consumer Business, ZoneAlarm. "Online
attacks spread rapidly now that we're connected more than ever before
through social media. It is imperative that consumers, especially Gen Y,
adopt security best practices, and protect their computers with adequate
security, which includes at a minimum antivirus and a two-way firewall."

Check Point protects millions of consumers from viruses, hackers, and
identity theft through its award-winning ZoneAlarm
<http://www.zonealarm.com/>  solutions. Most recently, Check Point launched
ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall
<http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-free-antivirus-firewall.h
tm
> , the most complete free Internet security solution for consumers.
ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall combines the world's No.1 firewall with
award-winning antivirus into one easy-to-use product that protects consumers
against online attacks.

The study, The Generation Gap in Computer Security, surveyed 1,245 PC users
across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia.
All respondents who completed the survey had responsibility for purchasing
and maintaining their personal desktop or laptop computer. Gen Y is defined
as 18- to 25- year olds, and Baby Boomers refers to 56- to 65- year olds. To
access the full report, click here
<http://www.zonealarm.com/products/downloads/whitepapers/generation_gap_rese
arch_2012.pdf
> .

For the latest updates, follow ZoneAlarm on
<http://www.facebook.com/ZoneAlarmFirewall?sk=wall> Facebook and
<http://twitter.com/#!/zonealarm> Twitter. For security tips on protecting
against the latest social networking risks, visit the ZoneAlarm blog at:
http://blog.zonealarm.com.

- 30 -

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com
<http://www.checkpoint.com/> ), the worldwide leader in securing the
Internet, provides customers with uncompromised protection against all types
of threats, reduces security complexity and lowers total cost of ownership.
Check Point first pioneered the industry with FireWall-1 and its patented
stateful inspection technology. Today, Check Point continues to develop new
innovations based on the Software Blade Architecture, providing customers
with flexible and simple solutions that can be fully customized to meet the
exact security needs of any organization. Check Point is the only vendor to
go beyond technology and define security as a business process. Check Point
3D Security uniquely combines policy, people and enforcement for greater
protection of information assets and helps organizations implement a
blueprint for security that aligns with business needs. Customers include
tens of thousands of organizations of all sizes, including all Fortune and
Global 100 companies. Check Point's award-winning ZoneAlarm solutions
protect millions of consumers from hackers, spyware and identity theft.

C2012 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.

Equifax Canada Bolsters Its Enterprise Fraud Management Solution

Equifax Canada Bolsters Its Enterprise Fraud Management Solution

    

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 06/21/12 -- Equifax Canada, a leader in fraud prevention and identity verification solutions, announced the launch of Citadel 3.0, the latest version of its premier Enterprise Fraud Management solution.

Enhancements include real-time transaction processing, a multi-sector data model, automated linkage analysis tools, and a proprietary fraud score.

"Over the past few decades, Equifax has helped Canadian organizations save millions of dollars in potential fraud losses," says Tara Zecevic, Vice President, Technology & Analytical Services, Equifax Canada. "Fraud patterns are an ever moving target. Our clients' fraud prevention efforts need to be dynamic to keep up with fraudsters' ever-shifting tactics."

Citadel 3.0 employs a flexible architecture, when combined with a consortium data model and real-time processing, allows the tool to be used by multiple sectors such as Financial, Telecommunications and Insurance. The fraud score, which leverages rich proprietary data, provides an effective risk ranking tool, enabling investigators to focus their efforts on high risk fraud alerts. The linkage analysis tools provide a holistic and dynamic approach to the detection of organized fraud rings.

"Citadel 3.0 is the latest agile technology that enables our clients to accurately and reliably identify potential fraud threats," adds Ms. Zecevic. "This empowers our clients to dedicate more of their resources to business growth."

About Equifax

Equifax is a global leader in consumer and commercial information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 17 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.ca/reducefraud.

Contacts:
Equifax Canada
Tom Carroll
Media Relations
(416) 227-5290
MediaRelationsCanada@equifax.com
www.equifax.ca

For Equifax media inquiries only, please contact:
Hunter LaVigne Communications Inc.
Mark LaVigne, APR, FCPRS
905-841-2017 (office)
416-884-2018 (cell)
mark.lavigne@hunterlavigne.com

Gartner Says Worldwide Spending on Enterprise Application Software to Increase 4.5 Percent in 2012

Gartner Says Worldwide Spending on Enterprise Application Software to Increase 4.5 Percent in 2012

Analysts to Reveal Latest Global IT Spending Forecast on June 28

STAMFORD, Conn., June 20, 2012—

Worldwide spending on enterprise application software will total $120.4 billion in 2012, a 4.5 percent increase from 2011 spending of $115.2 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. With only limited signs of improvement in the near term, the growth projection for 2012 has been adjusted downward from 5 percent in the previous forecast in 1Q12.

"The global marketplace is still experiencing a series of conflicting and contrasting economic news reports, and the full impact of the economic uncertainty on the enterprise software markets may not be readily assessable until the end of the first half of 2012," said Tom Eid, research vice president at Gartner. "Spending in 2012 is anticipated to focus on industry-specific applications; upgrades to established, mission-critical software; integrating and securing established systems and infrastructure; and software as a service (SaaS) deployments representing extensions to, or replacement of, existing applications and new solutions."

The key enterprise application software market segments in 2012 include business intelligence (BI); content, communications and collaboration; customer relationship management (CRM); digital content creation (DCC); enterprise resource planning (ERP); office suites and personal productivity; project and portfolio management (PPM); and supply chain management (SCM).

ERP is the largest enterprise application software market with revenue projected to reach $24.9 billion in 2012, followed by office suites at $16.5 billion. BI revenue is forecast to reach $13.0 billion, and CRM is on pace to exceed $13.0 billion this year.

Gartner analysts said that cost optimization and shifts in spending from "megasuites" to the automation of processes, will continue to benefit alternative software acquisition models as organizations look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditure to operating expenditure. Because of this, vendors offering SaaS, IT asset management and virtualization capabilities will continue to benefit from organizations looking to shift upfront capital expenses to operational expenses.

An increasing number of organizations are demanding software functionality as a service (infrastructure as a service [IaaS], platform as a service [PaaS] and SaaS) or via cloud-based services rather than on-premises. As a result, vendors are offering more technology as subscription-based solutions and "pay as you go" offerings, positioning them as more cost-effective and as a way to counter the effects of economic belt tightening. SaaS and cloud-based services help vendors to expand revenue growth by making it easier for end users to test and evaluate new types of software, provision new users to current technologies, and migrate users off older versions to newer versions of software.

"After more than a decade of SaaS and cloud service use, adoption continues to grow and evolve within the enterprise application markets. This is occurring as tighter capital budgets demand leaner alternatives, popularity and familiarity with the model increase, and interest in SaaS and cloud computing grows," said Mr. Eid. "Adoption varies between and within markets. Although use is expanding to a wider range of applications and solutions, the most widespread use is still characterized by horizontal applications with common processes, among distributed virtual workforce teams and within Web 2.0 initiatives."

Mr. Eid said that the increase reflects overall market demand, with more buyers evaluating their options during the current technology refresh cycle, and returning buyer confidence for enterprise software as the market slowly recovers and organizations resume investing in technology. SaaS and cloud-based services are forecast to grow in usage, expanding from 11 percent of enterprise application spending in 2010 to 16 percent in 2015.

Additional information is available in the Special Report “Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2011-2016, 2Q12 Update which is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=2054422.

Gartner analysts will provide more detailed analysis regarding the overall IT market during the Gartner webinar "IT Spending Forecast, 2Q11 Update" on July 10 at 11 a.m. EDT. To register for this complimentary webinar, please visit http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=2036215&ref=Webinar-Calendar.

Contacts:

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

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

Red Hat Addresses Enterprises' Need to Better Manage Massive Amounts of Data with Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6

Red Hat Addresses Enterprises' Need to Better Manage Massive Amounts of Data with Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6

New In-Memory Data Grid Mitigates the Costs and Complexity of Scaling Applications

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the general availability of Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6, an in-memory data grid solution. Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 provides several new features designed to help enterprises reduce the need for relational databases and scale application development for better big data management.

“Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

The challenge of managing massive amounts of data is one that enterprises are facing on a greater scale than ever before. That challenge will continue to evolve, with industry research indicating that by 2015, global Internet traffic will reach the zettabyte threshold, up four times from 2010.1 And while this traffic explosion is driving an increase in the number of data-driven applications, capturing, retaining and using all of this data can be costly for organizations to scale and manage. Traditional structured and relational data management technologies now present economic and technical hurdles for organizations to extract the true value from their increasing data.

Based on the popular JBoss Community project Infinispan and including components from JBoss Enterprise Application Platform and JBoss Operations Network, Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 is an integrated product that enables enterprises to more easily implement large, transactionally aware data grids. Red Hat JBoss Data Grid provides an open approach to data grids by providing support for both Java and non-Java applications, as well as support for multiple client access points including REST, memcached and Apache Hot Rod. This approach provides enterprises with the ability to more easily implement NoSQL benefits for a wide range of existing applications.

Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 offers several key advantages for enterprises, including:

  • A non-intrusive approach to NoSQL - Through its fast, intuitive in memory key-value store, Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 makes it easier for organizations to add NoSQL capabilities to their development kits.
  • Putting big data to work - Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 supports high-volume workloads with low-latency and optional transactional support, providing support for real-time application use cases such as trading, logistics and e-commerce.
  • Better application scaling with reduced cost - Red Hat JBoss Data Grid can serve as a seamless cache between applications and existing data tiers, allowing enterprises to better scale applications while significantly reducing the cost and complexity associated with scaling traditional relational databases.
  • Flexible application integration - Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 includes several new features designed to provide enterprises with a number of different access options. Features such as support for open APIs such as REST, memcached and Apache Hot Rod allow developers to easily take advantage of Red Hat JBoss Data Grid from a number of development languages (e.g., Java, .NET, Python).
  • Highly available and fault tolerant - Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 is designed to be highly available, elastic and scalable. Data is automatically distributed as nodes are added or removed from the grid, which can be configured to operate across physical or virtual datacenters.

Availability

Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 is available now.

Supporting Quotes

Craig Muzilla, vice president and general manager, Middleware, Red Hat
“The massive proliferation of data places new demands upon enterprise applications. As such, traditional approaches to scaling the data tier can be very time and cost intensive and sometimes may not even work. Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6 brings a new approach to solving this issue, enabling enterprises to move with agility and with more flexibility than other proprietary approaches.”

Charlotte Dunlap, senior analyst, application platforms, Current Analysis
“One of the biggest challenges facing today's organizations is enabling applications to meet the demands of big data. This issue will only become more prevalent as the influx of information, derived from an increasingly wide range of potential data streams, continues to rise. Red Hat recognizes the need to provide customers with modern and simplified methods to scale their data tiers.”

Press Conference and JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Virtual Experience

To learn more about this announcement and to hear from Red Hat executives, partners and customers about Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6, join Red Hat for a virtual event and live press conference at 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. To join, visit www.redhat.com/virtual.

For attendees located in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or Asia, Red Hat is hosting a second virtual event and live press conference at 10:00 a.m. CEST on Thursday, June 21, 2012.

The keynote and presentations will also be available on demand following the live event at www.redhat.com/virtual.

Additional Resources

Connect with Red Hat

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software solutions, taking a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the ability of the Company to compete effectively; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company's growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Red Hat and JBoss are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

1 Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2010-2015, available at http://bit.ly/JhkSJe.

Contacts

Red Hat, Inc.
Kerri Catallozzi, 919-754-4268
kcatallo@redhat.com








































IBM Puts Business Content in Motion for Mobile Workforce, Speeds Access to Big Data through Mobile Devices

IBM Puts Business Content in Motion for Mobile Workforce, Speeds Access to Big Data through Mobile Devices

ARMONK, N.Y. - 20 Jun 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today introduced new software that helps employees tap into the broadest range of business information to do their jobs more effectively from their desktops, mobile phones and tablets.  The new offering allows traditional and mobile workers to securely access, manage and gain insight from structured and unstructured content such as emails, documents, images, Web data and collaboration tools to improve productivity.

Last year, smart phone shipments beat those of PCs for the first time ever, with 73 million more units being sold. With the proliferation of tablets, smart phones and social business applications, organizations are seeking an enterprise content management (ECM) solution that can help extend their employees’ ability to access and share business content to speed workflow.  In IBM's 2011 Global CIO Study of more than 3,000 CIOs, 75 percent of respondents identified mobility solutions as one of their top priorities. 

IBM is responding to these trends with IBM Content Navigator, new software that gives employees access to a broad range of documents, records, images and other relevant content to do their jobs more effectively.  

Built on open standards like HTML5 and CMIS, the new software provides a consistent user experience across a variety of mobile devices, operating systems and content sources, allowing employees across all lines of businesses to access, manage, contribute and share content any time, from any location. Whether they need to conduct everyday business while on the road or in a client’s office, IBM is arming them with the access to the right data, anytime, anywhere.  For example, a human resources manager who is traveling to meet employees can now access a range of documents such as employee records, compensation, benefits and evaluations without the need for a PC.  

Similarly, an insurance claims adjuster who spends her day inspecting damaged property or vehicles can now use her iPad to take a picture, document the incident and automatically upload it in the client’s claim file.  The document can be found immediately by colleagues in the main office using Content Navigator’s integrated search and analytics to speed-up claims processing. 

In addition to the collaboration and mobile capabilities IBM Content Navigator delivers, the underlying platform was built for easy customization; employees can set up document collaboration areas themselves with minimal help from the IT department.  This self-provisioning capability allows departments such as sales, human resources, finance or legal to customize the solution for their specific business needs.    

For example, a government agency could use the software to provide large numbers of employees with access to enterprise content based on an individual’s job role without having to devote IT resources to setting up the interface for each user.  In the State of North Dakota, 22 agencies and more than 2,000 state employees – including the Departments of Commerce, Taxation, Transportation, Human Services, and Secretary of State – already use IBM’s Enterprise Content Management software to manage a wide variety of citizen records and information, ranging from unemployment applications and vehicle registrations to tax filings and flexible benefit records.  

“The self-provisioning capability IBM is offering will make it easy to set up a team space for collaboration without the help of our IT department,” said Chuck Picard, enterprise electronic document management system coordinator for the State of North Dakota. “As additional state agencies and county governments start using the system, we will be able to instantly share critical information at both the state and local levels. This software provides significant economies of scale, which is a critical requirement for a state operating on a limited budget.” 

Aon Risk Solutions – an early adopter of electronic document management technology – sees the opportunity mobile access can offer its employees who need to access enterprise content on the go. “With IBM’s help, we could reduce the need for customization and boost productivity by opening our enterprise content management system to mobile devices,” said Stuart Williams, IT global product director, Aon Services Group.    

Analytics and Search for Big Data  

To gather the facts needed to make the right businesses decisions, organizations must have the ability to uncover trends, patterns, and relationships from both their structured and unstructured enterprise content. With IBM Content Analytics with Enterprise Search v3.0, IBM is integrating content analytics software with enterprise search capabilities into a unified platform. In fact, content analytics and enterprise search capabilities are an integral part of the IBM Content Navigator experience, enabling users to quickly locate content across IBM and third-party repositories, with thumbnails, facets, summaries and term highlighting. Through its capabilities in natural language processing, semantic search, and sentiment analysis, this solution provides richer, more accurate, and relevant insights from content such as documents, reports, e-mails, Web content, surveys and enterprise applications.

IBM has also integrated its content analytics software with a component of IBM’s big data platform, InfoSphere BigInsights, which allows clients to derive greater insights in a cost-efficient manner from the ever-increasing volumes of unstructured information flowing both within and outside the enterprise. This helps clients overcome processing limitations and indexing constraints to analyze petabytes of information to support decisions in areas such as crime intelligence, healthcare, insurance claims and customer care. 

“IBM is continuing to lead the way in helping organizations manage the content they rely upon for everyday operations,” said IBM Enterprise Content Management Leader Doug Hunt.   Today we are enabling clients to make content available in any context to help them deal with the information sprawl of big data.  “It’s key that clients can now drive business insights from enterprise content and share collaboration content with others who need it.”  

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 61,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United 

About IBM

For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/software/ecm/value.html

  

Contact(s) information

Nancy Kaplan
IBM Media Relations
914-714-2299
nkaplan@us.ibm.com

Microsoft Announces Surface: New Family of PCs for Windows

Microsoft Announces Surface: New Family of PCs for Windows
June 18, 2012
Microsoft-made hardware to be available starting with release of Windows 8 and Windows RT.
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LOS ANGELES — June 18, 2012 — Today at an event in Hollywood, Microsoft unveiled Surface: PCs built to be the ultimate stage for Windows. Company executives showed two Windows tablets and accessories that feature significant advances in industrial design and attention to detail. Surface is designed to seamlessly transition between consumption and creation, without compromise. It delivers the power of amazing software with Windows and the feel of premium hardware in one exciting experience.

Conceived, designed and engineered entirely by Microsoft employees, and building on the company’s 30-year history manufacturing hardware, Surface is designed to seamlessly transition between consumption and creation, without compromise.
Surface: A New Family of PCs for Windows
June 19, 2012
Conceived, designed and engineered entirely by Microsoft employees, and building on the company’s 30-year history manufacturing hardware, Surface is designed to seamlessly transition between consumption and creation, without compromise.
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See also: Surface Website

Advances in Industrial Design

Conceived, designed and engineered entirely by Microsoft employees, and building on the company’s 30-year history manufacturing hardware, Surface represents a unique vision for the seamless expression of entertainment and creativity. Extensive investment in industrial design and real user experience includes the following highlights:

  • Software takes center stage: Surface sports a full-sized USB port and a 16:9 aspect ratio – the industry standard for HD. It has edges angled at 22 degrees, a natural position for the PC at rest or in active use, letting the hardware fade into the background and the software stand out.

  • VaporMg: The casing of Surface is created using a unique approach called VaporMg (pronounced Vapor-Mag), a combination of material selection and process to mold metal and deposit particles that creates a finish akin to a luxury watch. Starting with magnesium, parts can be molded as thin as .65 mm, thinner than the typical credit card, to create a product that is thin, light and rigid/strong.

  • Integrated Kickstand: The unique VaporMg approach also enables a built-in kickstand that lets you transition Surface from active use to passive consumption – watching a movie or even using the HD front- or rear-facing video cameras. The kickstand is there when needed, and disappears when not in use, with no extra weight or thickness.

  • Touch Cover: The 3 mm Touch Cover represents a step forward in human-computer interface. Using a unique pressure-sensitive technology, Touch Cover senses keystrokes as gestures, enabling you to touch type significantly faster than with an on-screen keyboard. It will be available in a selection of vibrant colors. Touch Cover clicks into Surface via a built-in magnetic connector, forming a natural spine like you find on a book, and works as a protective cover. You can also click in a 5 mm-thin Type Cover that adds moving keys for a more traditional typing feel.

An Amazing Windows Experience

Two models of Surface will be available: one running an ARM processor featuring Windows RT, and one with a third-generation Intel Core processor featuring Windows 8 Pro. From the fast and fluid interface, to the ease of connecting you to the people, information and apps that users care about most, Surface will be a premium way to experience all that Windows has to offer. Surface for Windows RT will release with the general availability of Windows 8, and the Windows 8 Pro model will be available about 90 days later. Both will be sold in the Microsoft Store locations in the U.S. and available through select online Microsoft Stores.

Contributing to an Expanded Ecosystem

One of the strengths of Windows is its extensive ecosystem of software and hardware partners, delivering selection and choice that makes a customer’s Windows experience uniquely their own. This continues with Surface. Microsoft is delivering a unique contribution to an already strong and growing ecosystem of functional and stylish devices delivered by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to bring the experience of Windows to consumers and businesses around the globe.

Additional Product Information

Surface for Windows RT

  • OS: Windows RT

  • Light(1): 676 g

  • Thin(2): 9.3 mm

  • Clear: 10.6” ClearType HD Display

  • Energized: 31.5 W-h

  • Connected: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae

  • Productive: Office ‘15’ Apps, Touch Cover, Type Cover

  • Practical: VaporMg Case & Stand

  • Configurable: 32 GB, 64 GB

Surface for Windows 8 Pro

  • OS: Windows 8 Pro

  • Light(1): 903 g

  • Thin(2): 13.5 mm

  • Clear: 10.6” ClearType Full HD Display

  • Energized: 42 W-h

  • Connected: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae

  • Productive: Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block

  • Practical: VaporMg Case & Stand

  • Configurable: 64 GB, 128 GB

(1), (2). Actual size and weight of the device may vary due to configuration and manufacturing process.

Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to availability and is expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC. OEMs will have cost and feature parity on Windows 8 and Windows RT.

For more information about Surface, visit http://www.surface.com.

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

Some information relates to a prerelease product, which may be substantially modified before it is commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

For broadcast download:

Visit http://www.microsoft.com/news for broll clips

Cogeco Data Services Brings New Data Centre to the Heart of Toronto's Business District

Cogeco Data Services Brings New Data Centre to the Heart of Toronto's Business District

Cogeco Data Services Brings New Data Centre to the Heart of Toronto's Business District

Speed gives Canadian businesses an edge, and having data close helps

TORONTO, June 19, 2012 /CNW/ - Cogeco Data Services is opening its new state-of-the-art data centre in the heart of Toronto's business district. This new centre will serve local customers as well as organizations requiring easy access and low latency connections to Canada's largest business and financial institutions.

The new data centre incorporates the most sophisticated technological, environmental and operational developments into a facility that is literally metres away from many of Canada's most important institutions.

"The trend has been to move data centres outside the downtown core because real estate is at a premium in major economic hubs like Toronto," said Tony Ciciretto, President of Cogeco Data Services. "But Canada's largest business district has unique needs including access to unparalleled speed and the ability to access facilities quickly for maintenance activities or in the event of an emergency. Even brief delays for a financial or business transaction can mean the difference of millions of dollars and that means that customers of our downtown facility will have a distinct advantage in meeting and exceeding the extreme latency and proximity requirements of the business sector."

Cogeco Data has built its business on the strength of its wholly owned, all optical network, its sophisticated data centres, private cloud services and the suite of managed IT and professional services it offers its clients.

The features of the Cogeco Data facility provide customers with improved efficiencies, reliability, security and management of their IT environments:

  • Significant power capacity to support the most demanding IT infrastructure requirements
  • Two onsite uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to protect against power interference and power fluctuations, and two, innovative emergency generators to safeguard against power interruptions
  • Advanced overhead and close-coupled cooling systems that efficiently meet the demands of today's high density equipment
  • 100% uptime backed by industry leading Service Level Agreements and 24/7/365 onsite monitoring of all environmental, operational and security systems
  • Advanced, multi-level security system including biometric access controls and advanced video surveillance monitoring
  • Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA), eco-friendly gas and pre-action dry pipe suppression systems
  • Access and direct private connections to Cogeco Data Services' advanced all optical, wholly-owned network with connections up to 10 Gbps and beyond
  • Access to Cogeco Data Services' high availability internet core network
  • Secure, managed meet-me-room with multiple physically diverse entrance points, providing a carrier agnostic environment

Disaster recovery and redundancy are also integral to the success of Canada's leading businesses.  The new downtown facility will complement Cogeco Data's existing facilities in Toronto west and its soon to be constructed facility in Barrie - enhanced with remote backup, business continuity and disaster recovery services. Organizations often require both local and remote facilities depending on their business goals and regulatory parameters. The investment was made because of the growing demand for Cogeco Data's dedicated high speed low latency network, managed IT and professional services, as more organizations move from on-site environments to cloud computing and hybrid service models.

"Most Canadians felt proud when they learned that our economy had weathered the global economic crisis better than most other countries," said Mr. Ciciretto. "With this new data centre in the heart Canada's biggest business and financial district, we're helping Canadian organizations cement their status among the world's best, most reliable, and nimble institutions."

Cogeco Data Services
With its suite of Business Communication Solutions (Data Centre hosting, Managed IT, Professional Services, Voice and Connectivity), Cogeco Data Services supplies its customers with the fast, reliable and secure ability to access, manage, move and store large amounts of data worldwide. The Company's wholly-owned, all optical, redundant network and secure, 'always on', tier 3 quality data centres provide some of Canada's largest companies and public sector organizations with near limitless bandwidth and secure facilities for hosting and storing mission critical data.

For more information about Cogeco Data Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Cable Inc., visit cogecodata.com.

Video with caption: "Cogeco Data Services Brings New Data Centre to the Heart of Toronto's Business District". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20120619_C2151_VIDEO_EN_15265.mp4&posterurl=http://photos.newswire.ca/images/20120619_C2151_PHOTO_EN_15265.jpg&clientName=Cogeco%20Data%20Services&caption=Cogeco%20Data%20Services%20Brings%20New%20Data%20Centre%20to%20the%20Heart%20of%20Toronto%27s%20Business%20District&title=COGECO%20DATA%20SERVICES%20%2D%20Cogeco%20Data%20Services%20Brings%20New%20Data%20Centre%20to%20the%20Heart%20of%20Toronto%27s%20Business%20District&headline=Cogeco%20Data%20Services%20Brings%20New%20Data%20Centre%20to%20the%20Heart%20of%20Toronto%27s%20Business%20District

For further information:

Contacts:
Virginia Brailey
Cogeco Data Services
416.840.8742
virginia.brailey@cogecodata.com

Jennifer Atkinson
Ketchum Public Relations
416.355.7407
jennifer.atkinson@ketchum.com