InfoVista, a leading service-centric performance management software company, has announced a comprehensive technology integration and cross-marketing and selling agreement with EMC. Through the agreement, the companies have combined intelligent, automated fault management capabilities of EMC Smarts software with the performance management expertise of InfoVista.  This combination will enable customers to take a highly proactive, cost-effective approach to service assurance.

"As companies drive towards achieving more effective service delivery models, being able to monitor, predict, and isolate IT infrastructure problems is essential," said Bill Nelson, senior vice president, EMC Software. "By pairing the patented root cause analysis and correlation technology of EMC Smarts with the sophisticated performance data collection and trend analysis of InfoVista, our joint customers will benefit from an integrated fault and performance management value chain, ensuring optimal service delivery across their IT infrastructure."

The combined discovery, fault and performance management solution offers powerful capabilities including predictive performance and capacity alerts; real-time, historical and forward-looking visibility; insightful service level reporting; targeted troubleshooting and end-to-end service level management.  Joint customers can conduct proactive capacity planning, receive early warnings of performance problems and gain powerful insight to prevent potential SLA violations.

"Under this agreement, we will have a single source for all of our service management needs," said Neil McRae, Director of Network Architecture at COLT, a leading European provider of business communications. "By having access to this extensive portfolio of service assurance solutions, we're able to better manage service delivery and increase operational effectiveness."

"The agreement with EMC further demonstrates our commitment to providing enterprise and service providers with solutions that address their needs for superior service delivery and monitoring," said Jean-Luc Valente, senior vice president of Global Marketing and Strategic Alliances for InfoVista.  "With EMC Smarts, users gain complete operational workflow and planning views into the health of IT services and supporting infrastructure - allowing them to proactively predict, identify and resolve service problems before those problems impact the business."

The InfoVista-EMC agreement includes; joint marketing, cross-reference selling, and cross-training of sales teams, and a continued commitment to R&D integration to deliver new products to market. The joint solution will be available by the end of the year.

Centralized management and monitoring with CyberGuard's Global Command Center Version 3.0

CyberGuard, a global provider of security solutions that protect the critical components of the largest and most complex information networks for Global 2000 enterprises and government organizations, has announced that the German Commerzbank has standardized on TSP Release 6.2, the newest version of CyberGuard's Total Stream Protection (TSP) firewall technology.  In addition, Commerzbank has selected CyberGuard's Global Command Center as the management platform for its firewall infrastructure.

Commerzbank has been using CyberGuard technology for nearly ten years and will now upgrade the firewalls in the company's Frankfurt headquarters to version 6.2 of TSP software, with firewall systems in other locations in Europe to follow. The higher performance and security levels provided by CyberGuard's firewall and the hardened CG Linux operating system were the main reasons for the transition to CyberGuard TSP.  Also, with CyberGuard's Global Command Center, Commerzbank can securely monitor and manage all firewalls at all times from any web browser.

"At Commerzbank, the security of the IT infrastructure is essential, and thus the protection of all external connections. We have been using CyberGuard firewalls for almost ten years and see them as powerful security solutions that completely fulfill our needs. By migrating to TSP 6.2, we benefit from CyberGuard's Linux strategy and achieve even better performance, security and user-friendliness," said Thomas Matzen, Head of Network Security at Commerzbank. "We are convinced that Global Command Center will make managing our global firewalls much easier and more cost-effective."

"The practice of network security has become so sophisticated that the ability to efficiently and uniformly manage the security infrastructure is as important as the capabilities of the appliances themselves," said Pat Clawson, the CyberGuard CEO.  "Commerzbank's "rock solid" approach to security is an outstanding example of what can be achieved though the intelligent application of defense-in-depth firewall technology and integrated management."

CyberGuard's TSP Firewall/VPN appliance running Release 6.2 delivers application-layer protection at gigabit speeds for large complex corporate networks, like that of  Commerzbank. TSP's "adaptive response" function provides intelligent, automatic rule activation based on current network activity and status as defined by a system administration. This allows for real-time network monitoring and proactive security. 

Further, by using Global Command Center, Commerzbank can establish consistent security policies company-wide and keep them up-to-date. These security configurations consist of hundreds of policies which are installed on all Commerzbank firewall systems across Europe. Global Command Center 3.0 implements every policy change throughout the environment in real-time, dramatically reducing administration efforts.

A mobile sales assistant solution puts customer information in the hands of salespeople at Danish manufacturer, KiMs

Microsoft has revealed details of a pilot project it is conducting with KiMs A/S, a Danish snack and chips manufacturer that has been exploring the benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in combination with Microsoft since 2003.

The pilot project is said to draw on the capabilities of mobile technology and the innovations of a full lineup of Microsoft products to grant KiMs' 70-person sales force access to critical customer information regardless of their physical location. The pilot project and the solution, which adds the flexibility of mobile technology to the benefits of bar-code and RFID innovations KiMs was already experiencing, is called mobile sales assistant and reflects the Microsoft Dynamics strategy to deliver role-based technologies and services that accommodate the way people in midsize companies work. Mobile sales assistant was successfully rolled out to the KiMs sales team in August and September, and the team is already seeing the benefits.

At the heart of the mobile sales assistant pilot project is the need to leverage KiMs' existing IT investment, consisting of the Microsoft Windows platform and the Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta business management suite, now part of Microsoft Dynamics. With a clear focus on role-based needs, Microsoft is extending KiMs' existing investment with powerful mobile technology to help ensure a successful end-to-end sales process. The new solution combines key supply chain and customer relationship management features in Microsoft Axapta with the flexibility of a mobile solution.

For the sales team at KiMs, the benefits are said to be considerable; the pilot solution gives the mobile sales force access to data within Microsoft Axapta, such as current inventory levels and historical information about the individual customers' purchasing habits. The salesperson can also use the customer's most recent point-of-sale data on the device, which gives a full picture of that customer's profile, provides insight into which promotional campaigns are best suited to that store, and enables the salesperson to advise the customer on how to maximize sales accordingly.

The mobile sales assistant also lets the sales team reduce the number of devices required to serve customers. Previously, a salesperson needed a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a laptop computer and a pager to complete orders. As a result of the pilot project, salespeople can now use a single mobile device that includes a phone, a calendar, contacts and programs such as Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office PowerPoint. The mobile sales assistant also lets the sales team connect remotely via GPRS, hot spots or other wireless means to immediately send data, such as customer orders, and receive updates, such as inventory levels and customer-specific campaign information, directly from Microsoft Axapta.

The pilot project has been met with enthusiasm at KiMs. "Our business depends on our ability to offer consistently superior customer service," said Jesper Toubol, technology manager with KiMs. "We needed a truly innovative solution to give our sales force better access to customer information so that they could in turn provide better customer service, drive better sales thanks to greater visibility of inventory levels, and reduce the amount of time they needed to complete administrative tasks. We now have a solution that addresses our unique needs, and we are very pleased with the results."

KiMs is projecting that the solution will have a very positive impact on the company's bottom line. The anticipated savings start with a 75 percent reduction in inventory losses. Beyond better inventory control, the solution eliminates the need to re-key inaccurate or lost orders into the ERP system, which Toubol expects to boost productivity in back-office administration by 20 percent. By eliminating the need for drivers to make multiple trips to a customer to deliver orders placed through phone, fax and automated channels, KiMs expects to reduce delivery costs at least 15 percent.

"The mobile sales assistant pilot is a prime example of how Microsoft is working closely with its customers and partners to develop solutions that help businesses amplify the impact of their employees," said Satya Nadella, corporate vice president, Microsoft Dynamics. "It also demonstrates our commitment to delivering on the promise of the Microsoft Dynamics road map to deliver role-based solutions that are easy to use and integrated with familiar Microsoft solutions. This integration enabled the development and deployment teams to leverage the benefits of several Microsoft technologies with the end result of delivering a solution that helps maximize KiMs' existing investments."

With the successful launch of the pilot project at KiMs, Microsoft is looking ahead to further enhancements to the solution. "Our goal is to leverage this successful customized KiMs pilot to identify which elements of the solution can be standardized to provide a foundational mobile sales force solution, helping to reduce costs and development times for our partners to customize for their specific customers' requirements," Nadella said. "We anticipate that the final product will include the most highly requested features, as well as some additional functionality we are considering such as location-aware capabilities and integration with Microsoft MapPoint."

Built with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and based on the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, the project is also said to demonstrate the significant role that Microsoft's partners play in delivering innovative solutions to their joint customers. Mobile sales assistant was developed in close collaboration with HandStep, Knudsen Consulting Aps, Symbol Technologies Inc., TDC Mobil and Tectura Corp.

Cyber-Ark Software, the information security company which invented and markets Vaulting Technology, has announced that Belgacom NSI has selected Cyber-Ark's Network Vault with Central Password Manager (CPM) to digitally secure and store all their critical passwords including administrative, root and application passwords.

Cyber-Ark's Network Vault was purchased after a thorough research process to find a product that could meet the demanding security criteria required by Belgacom NSI's system administrators and security officers.  The pilot phase lasted just two months and the product is now up and running with a phased roll out to import all existing passwords into the Vault during October.

Bernard Philippe - Belgacom Server Product Manager said "Since we manage servers for our customers, the security to access the information is crucial.  Cyber-Ark's product was the only product on the market that met all our security requirements and we quickly realised it was the key to significantly improving our password management process. Thanks to Cyber-Ark we are now able to guarantee secure access to administrative passwords for system administrators, service desk personnel and on-guard personnel. The audit trails are giving us valuable traces of who accessed which server. Using the paradigm of vaults, safes and documents gives an intuitive view of our real-life password management situation. With Cyber-Ark's Replicator utility we found the right solution to secure our critical data over two separate sites. In the future, we will extend the use of the product to manage the password of our customers and secure documents."

Calum Macleod - European Director for Cyber-Ark said "It's taken Belgacom NSI just two months to trial our product and get it up and running, quickly sorting out the limitations they had with managing and securing passwords. We are sure that as with many of our other clients once they use this product for their passwords they will quickly see the advantages of how it can be used to store and manage other critical and sensitive data within the organisation such as personnel records, accounts, marketing plans and legal documents.  Our Inter-Business Vault can also allow organisations to securely share information with their business partners and customers."

Cyber-Ark's Network Vault solution for passwords provides a "safe haven" within the enterprise where all administrative passwords can be archived, transferred and shared among IT staff and both on-call administrators and those in the field. The end-to-end solution protects passwords during transmission and at rest with multiple layers of integrated security, granular access control mechanisms and graphical auditing solutions to thoroughly track every password's whereabouts.

Marconi continues to add value to its microwave radio product portfolio

Marconi has announced it has signed a non-exclusive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreement with SIAE Microlettronica S.p.A. Under the terms of the deal, Marconi will add SIAE's Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) radio solutions to its microwave radio product portfolio.

"Marconi is a recognised and leading telecom provider, and we are glad it has chosen our new competitive PDH product line to add to its portfolio," said Adriano Mauri, director of OEM sales for SIAE.
 
Marconi is pleased to welcome another high-quality vendor to its technology partnerships programme. “We are always looking to add value into the portfolio and deliver highly reliable services and complete solutions to our customer base,” said Alex Marshall, vice president of product marketing at Marconi. “Adding SIAE’s PDH radio to our line-up serves to add a further element to Marconi’s fixed wireless solutions.  This further increases our reach and capability in the fiercely competitive world market.”

Orange Mail will be 'Powered by Intellisync' for France Telecom Group's subsidiary, Orange Netherlands and its 1.8 Million customers

Intellisync, a leader in platform-independent wireless messaging and mobile software, has today announced that it has been selected as the mobility platform of choice for Orange Netherlands, part of Orange group, one of the world's largest mobile communications companies and a subsidiary of the France Telecom group.

Orange Mail in the Netherlands, now 'powered by Intellisync,' makes it possible to automatically send and receive email from a smartphone or PDA without manual synchronization. Email attachments in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Acrobat Reader, can also be viewed, processed and forwarded directly to a smartphone. In addition, agenda, contacts, tasks and notes are 'synced' automatically and pushed to a user's wireless device.

Intellisync's Wireless Email platform allows Orange Mail users to enjoy a fully synchronized, real-time email, calendar and contacts experience on their mobile devices. The solution has the flexibility to enable carriers to provide automatic wireless email and PIM (Personal Information Management) synchronization solutions for both small and large organizations. Orange Mail's high level of end-to-end server to device security, provided by Intellisync, meets the strict security requirements for sensitive company data which are transferred during communication via mobile devices.

"The Intellisync carrier-grade wireless email platform continues to help carriers provide secure and simple-to-install-and-use wireless email to business users using virtually any enabled device on any operating system," said Korak Mitra, senior vice president of worldwide carrier operations at Intellisync. "We believe the flexibility, scalability, reliability and security provided by the Intellisync platform along with professional services and customer support, make us a very compelling choice for carriers all over the world. We intend to continue to focus on providing superior solutions that will help carriers drive activations and increase ARPU (average revenue per user)."

The Orange Mail service, powered by Intellisync, is said to be very simple to use. It can be downloaded from the Orange website, and works in combination with common email programs, such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.

Based on the need and size of an organization, customers of Orange Mail have the opportunity to choose from three options: receive wireless push email from a PC (one user); receive wireless push email from a computer with Orange Mail workgroup software (one to 20 users); and receive wireless push email from the Orange Mail server (20 to 5000+ users).

Office expands geographical reach into Spanish and Portuguese markets

cVidya Networks, a leading provider of next generation Revenue Assurance solutions, announced today that it has recently opened an office in Lisbon, Portugal, expanding it's geographical and international reach. The office will serve as the contact point for customers in Southern Europe and will cater to telecommunication providers in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. The Lisbon office adds to cVidya's growing network of offices in Europe, APAC and Israel.

"The Lisbon office gives us better proximity to our customers in Southern Europe, allowing us to strengthen our existing relationships and build new ones," said Alon Aginsky, CEO of cVidya.
 
Filipe Monteiro will head up the Lisbon operations, having over twenty years of experience in business and sales development in the telecom market. Monteiro brings with him local and international expertise, including operations in South America. Most recently, Monteiro served as the Portuguese Country Manager for major OSS/BSS company, Convergys.
 

Streamezzo’s technology providing the interactivity consumers require for increased penetration of Mobile TV

Streamezzo and Cognacq-Jay Image (TDF Group) have today announced a partnership with the development of the first platform enabling operators, broadcasters and content providers to host and deploy Rich Media Mobile TV applications. With Streamezzo’s technology, Cognacq-Jay Image is said to offer a first set of applications giving Mobile TV users the interactivity they need.

“Cognacq-Jay Image is a reference in audio-video production, said Olivier Avaro, Vice President – Business Development for Streamezzo.  “This partnership represents a terrific acknowledgement of Streamezzo’s superior technology for providing interactive Mobile TV services in real time.  With Streamezzo, Cognacq-Jay Image can better fulfil its customers’ needs and provide an end-to-end solution. Operators, broadcasters and content providers can customize this solution to add the services that will give end-users the interactivity they require. With this platform, end-users will enjoy the ultimate TV viewing experience in any mobile situation.”
 
The integration of Streamezzo’s technology into Cognacq-Jay Image’s platform enables operators and broadcasters to integrate value-added services such as electronic program guides, catalogues, menus and text banners to their Mobile TV offers.
 
These services provide consumers with an added level of interactivity, enabling to adapt TV content to mobile-life usage and situations: for example, it enables users to browse the content they want to watch, switch easily and rapidly between channels and view a program while a text banner displays stock quotes simultaneously.  Interactivity represents the next necessary step to make Mobile TV compelling for consumers and to increase its penetration on the market.
 
“Cognacq-Jay Image has selected Streamezzo rich media technology for the development of a new concept of mobile applications on its live TV platform. This technology enables successful rollout of innovative and interactive services. Streamezzo technology is a key component of our VOD and live TV platform facilitating the development and provision of interactive services to the mobile and broadcast communities”, said Grégory Samson, Business Development for Cognacq-Jay Image.