All posts by Richard

General, Job Fair, Webinar/Webcast/Presentation

Global Industry Leaders to Discuss Latest Technology Trends at Santa Clara Technical Symposium 2012

The Technical Symposium today announced that speakers from industry leaders like Sony, Google, VMWARE, eBay, IBM, Microsoft, 3VR , Lightspeed Ventures and others will participate in a one-day event Monday, October 29 at the Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Attendees will hear global technology thought leaders on various areas of technology including Cloud Computing, Big Data, Mobile, Information Security and BYOD, among others. The keynote address, “Enterprise Trifecta: Data, Security, and Mobility. Which combination are you playing?” by Bipul Sinha, Partner, Lightspeed Ventures will focus on how emerging opportunities can be leveraged to build the technology giants of tomorrow.

More than 2000 candidates are expected to attend the event with more than 50 leading companies of the Valley participating. This will be the fifth Global Career Fair with Technical Symposium event, with the most recent having attracted more than 1500 attendees.

Prestigious companies like Google, Microsoft, eBay, Infosys, Sony, IBM, WIPRO, Tech Mahindra, Scopus, SPhata, eGrabber, 3VR, Seclore, Skytree, Appdynamics, 2600hz, Mapr, Bitzer Mobile, Couchbase, Reliable Coders, NewzSocial, Syfx Tekworks, Vilynx, Appception, Gushcloud, Pintrips, PapayaMobile, Mutu, Verbble, TotalCoach, SportYourself, Rendewoo, Offerbus, Visual Stager and Streetline are exhibiting their products, speaking or hiring at the event.

Highlights of the Events

  • Scott Collison of Salesforce.com will discuss “Doing Deals in the
    Cloud Ecosystem” and how companies on both sides of any partnership or
    transaction now expect “light and fast” deals and also, what is the
    optimal path to productive partnerships, and are traditional venture
    capital deals still relevant?
  • Vishal Gupta, CEO, Seclore will discuss, “Information Security in the
    Social, BYOD World?” and share how companies can bring much needed
    security in an increasingly BYOD, social and collaboration driven
    world. With Seclore technology, not just emails but any document or
    presentation can be remote controlled so it cannot be copied,
    replicated, or shared without permission.
  • In his session “Big Data: from Big Picture to Reality”, Al Shipp, CEO
    of 3VR, will discuss how video intelligence tied to big data analytics
    will be the game changer across industries from retail to banking, to
    crime prevention.
  • Jack Norris of MapR will talk about “Thinking Big with Hadoop” and how
    the combination of scale, efficiency, and analytic flexibility creates
    the power to expand the applications for Hadoop and can transform
    companies.
  • Anil Vasudeva of IMEXResearch will discuss, “State of the Industry –
    Big Data Infrastructure” and where the industry is heading as a whole.

For more information, please click on the links below:

For a full list of speakers, please click here.

For Global Career Fair registration, please click here.

For Technical Symposium registration, please click here.


Research, Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics: SMBs Run on Business Clouds

Keep it simple, scalable and secure is the approach of small and medium businesses in adopting business clouds according to the Strategy Analytics Business Cloud Strategies (BCS) service report, “SMBs Run on Business Clouds According to 2012 Global Survey.” It describes the extent to which SMBs have embraced public clouds for applications more than any other cloud option.

Unlike larger organizations that have invested in both public and private clouds for applications and infrastructure, SMBs prefer public Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings that are easy to use, manage and integrate with other infrastructure and applications. Security remains a concern shared with larger firms.

“Many SMBs have moved nearly all of the applications that they can to public SaaS clouds,” commented Mark Levitt, Director of Business Cloud Strategies research at Strategy Analytics. “In the next 12-24 months, SMBs will explore how to move their remaining applications to run on public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds.”

“To compete with larger competitors, SMBs recognize that they must tap the vast resources available in business clouds to act nimbly and quickly in response to business and market needs,” said Andrew Brown, Director of Enterprise Research at Strategy Analytics.


Business Processes, Enterprise resource planning, ERP, Manned mission to Mars, Mars, Mars Science Laboratory, Red Planet, SYSPRO

Beyond Cloud Computing: ERP Helps to Land Curiosity Rover on Mars

SYSPRO, a devoper of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for on-premise and cloud-based utilization, announced today that Windings, a manufacturer of custom electric motor and generator components and a user of SYSPRO ERP since 1998, is the producer of a key component of the sky crane’s braking system that safely lowered Curiosity to the Red Planet for the rover’s explanatory journey of the Mars landscape.

While smaller rovers of past Mars mission have utilized airbag landing systems, the size of Curiosity necessitated the utilization of a special landing system to provide a soft landing for the huge vehicle.

According to Windings President and CEO Jerry Kauffman, this was not the first time that a Windings-built component has been instrumental in assisting in the exploration of planets, as well as the earth’s nearest neighbor, the moon. However, he did indicate that the Curiosity mission is the first time a Windings component has been utilized in the braking system of a device to safely land a large, mobile instrument package on the surface of a planet.

Windings, which is based in New Ulm, MN, has utilized SYSPRO Enterprise Resource Planning software since 1998. Prior to that time, Windings had been utilizing an IBM System 36, which lacked the flexibility to deal with the mixed-mode manufacturing operations utilized by Windings to produce both standard and custom electromagnetic motors, generators and sub-assemblies for numerous industrial uses, including factory automation, renewable energy, automotive, medical, defense and aerospace.


Consulting, Free, Hanu, Tools

Hanu Software Offers Cloud Application Assessment Tool

Hanu Software has launched the “Cloud Application Assessment” Portal as a free service to help Enterprises, Small/Medium Businesses (SMBs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) chart a cloud strategy. The online service delivers a recommendation report based on the answers to a series of twenty-four diagnostic questions developed through Hanu’s work with clients who have successfully adopted cloud.

As consumers and businesses demand cloud-based applications, developers must re-write the underlying code to make legacy applications cloud ready. In addition, they must select the best cloud deployment model for their application, which depends on many factors, including application data, usage patterns, compliance and security. Hanu created the Cloud Application Assessment Portal to simplify the initial decision process for application developers.

“We want to demystify the cloud and make it extremely easy for Clients to assess whether their application is a good fit for the Cloud in 10 minutes or less,” said Anil Singh, founder and CEO of Hanu Software. “It’s the first step in a systematic process. Based on the results from the online assessment, Enterprises, SMBs and ISVs can determine their best course of action.” As a Microsoft Azure Circle partner, Hanu works closely with the Microsoft Azure team to develop best practice recommendations for cloud deployment of applications. The Cloud Assessment is an outgrowth of that work, resulting in a decision tree based on application characteristics, current infrastructure, data foundation, integration and security requirements.

Through the Hanu Cloud Assessment, business or technical users answer the series of twenty-four questions based on their application’s unique characteristics. Results are tabulated and a report presented with recommendations that include:

  • Whether or not the application is a good fit for the cloud.
  • Which deployment model — Public, Private or Hybrid — is most appropriate.
  • Whether IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service) should be considered.

“We are pleased that we’ve been able to fill a void for Clients looking for a straightforward way to get started with the cloud,” added Anil.

“It is a daunting prospect for Clients to choose the best path to the cloud because there are so many factors playing into the decision. By applying the lessons we’ve learned, we hope to make the journey a bit easier for CIOs/CTOs just getting started with cloud deployment.” In response to the growing cloud development needs of Microsoft’s extensive partner network, Hanu helps Clients with Cloud Awareness, Cloud Assessment and Cloud Adoption. Our network of Microsoft Cloud Architects brings Clients the Azure expertise they need for net new Cloud application development as well as for migrating existing applications to the Cloud. After taking the online assessment, users can sign up for the one day, onsite comprehensive Cloud Strategy Assessment followed by Architecture Design Session and Proof-of-Concept programs. For more information on the Hanu Cloud Services, visit: www.hanusoftware.com/services/cloud-services/.


Backup, Disaster Recovery, Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity, Hardware, IceWEB, NovaStor, Partnerships, Storage

IceWEB Adding NovaStor Backup to Storage Appliances

IceWEB Inc., today announced they will bundle NovaSTOR’s Advanced Backup software with IceWEB’s Unified Storage Appliances.

“NovaSTOR is an excellent companion product for our IceWEB appliances because of its broad set of market applications,” said Rob Howe, IceWEB, CEO. “Their products span the same market spaces as ours—small, medium, large and cloud-based enterprises. They cover Windows, Linux, VMWare and Unix servers and clients in a myriad of configurations, mirroring our model. Because it is not always possible or cost-effective for companies to enable total unified storage protocols everywhere in their enterprise, we are providing significant additional value to our customers by enabling them to utilize NovaStor to target an IceWEB appliance in their network in order to satisfy their backup and disaster recovery needs for every location. Enabling them to have the ability to utilize a world-class product like NovaSTOR is yet another area in which IceWEB brings them excellent value when they purchase IceWEB products,” Howe concluded.


Apache Hadoop, Big Data, Business Intelligence, Hadoop, Kitenga, Open Source, Quest, Unstructured data

Quest Software Announces Hadoop-Centric Software Analytics

 

Image representing Hadoop as depicted in Crunc...Quest Software, Inc. (now part of Dell) announced three significant product releases today aimed at helping customers more quickly adopt Hadoop and exploit their Big Data:

  • Kitenga Analytics ? Based on the recent acquisition of Kitenga,
    Quest Software now enables customers to analyze structured,
    semi-structured and unstructured data stored in Hadoop. Available
    immediately, Kitenga Analytics delivers sophisticated capabilities,
    including text search, machine learning, and advanced visualizations,
    all from an easy-to-use interface that does not require understanding
    of complex programming or the Hadoop stack itself. With Kitenga
    Analytics and the Quest Toad®
    Business Intelligence Suite, an organization has a complete
    self-service analysis environment that empowers business and systems
    analysts across a variety of backgrounds and job roles.
  • Toad for Hadoop ? Quest Software expands support for Hadoop in
    the upcoming release of Toad® for Hadoop. With more than two million
    users, and ranked No. 1 in Database Development and Optimization for
    three consecutive years by IDC [1], Toad has been enhanced to help
    database developers and DBAs bridge the gap between what they already
    know about relational database management systems and the new world of
    Hadoop. Toad will provide query and data management functionality for
    Hadoop, as well as an interface to perform data transfers using the
    Quest Hadoop Connector. Like Toad for any other platform, Toad for
    Hadoop makes the lives of developers, DBAs, and analysts easier and
    more productive.
  • SharePlex with Hadoop Capabilities ? Quest Software adds Hadoop
    capabilities to the next release of SharePlex® for Oracle,
    its robust, high-performance Oracle-to-Oracle database replication
    technology. For enterprise mission-critical systems that must always
    be available, the new release will seamlessly create multiple copies
    of Oracle data for movement simultaneously to both another Oracle
    environment and Hadoop, with no downtime. Customers can choose how
    they optimize Oracle and Hadoop environments based on data
    requirements, such as high availability; analytics and reporting;
    image and text processing; and general archiving. The architecture
    allows for scalable data distribution on-premise, in the cloud, and
    across multiple data centers without a single point of failure.


Libelium, Machine to Machine (M2M), Mobile, Sensor, Sensor node, Wireless sensor network

Libelium Launches Waspmote Plug & Sense

Libelium, a wireless sensor networks platform provider for Smart Cities solutions, today launched Waspmote Plug & Sense!, a new line of Libelium encapsulated wireless sensor devices allowing system integrators to implement scalable, modular wireless sensor networks and reduce installation time from days to hours.

Waspmote Plug & Sense! models are pre-configured to create such widely applicable services as Smart Cities, Smart Parking, Smart Agriculture, Air Quality, Smart Security, Ambient Control and, Radiation Control, out of the box. Unlike other platforms, Waspmote Plug & Sense! sensor nodes are ready for deployment anywhere in the world, in terms of available radio frequencies (2.4GHz, 868/900Mhz) and certification (CE, FCC, IC). Plug & Sense are set to send information to Meshlium, the sensor gateway that uploads data to the Cloud, making the data accessible from anywhere and easy to integrate into third-party applications.

Ready to install and easy to deploy, each Waspmote Plug & Sense! mote is equipped with six connectors to which sensor probes can be attached directly, allowing services to be scalable and sustainable. The Waspmote Plug & Sense! Platform may be solar powered to allow energy harvesting and years of autonomy. Once installed, Waspmote Plug & Sense! sensor nodes can be programmed wirelessly thanks to an over the air programming (OTAP) feature. Sensors can be replaced or added without having to uninstall the mote itself, keeping maintenance costs to a minimum. For example, a network with CO2 probe sensors may easily add a noise sensor by simply attaching it, thereby extending the service.

“In the context of Smart Cities, the Waspmote Plug & Sense! platform makes adding a new sensor so easy that municipalities will not need to reinstall the network,” said David Gascon, CTO of Libelium. “We have reduced the complexity of installation with a solution that provides low-cost maintenance and a high degree of scalability, ensuring the shortest time to market for system integrators and end users.”


Cloud Block Storage, Open Source, OpenStack, Rackspace, Rackspace Cloud, Rackspace Cloud Block Storage, Solid-state drive, Standards, Storage

Rackspace Launches High Performance OpenStack Cloud Block Storage

Today, Rackspace Hosting announced the unlimited availability of Cloud Block Storage, powered by OpenStack®. This solution provides a superior approach to attached storage in the Cloud by addressing customer demand for consistent and affordable performance for file systems, databases and other input/output (I/O) intensive applications. Rackspace Cloud Block Storage offers a standard volume option for everyday storage with performance that has been tested to be at least 30 percent less variable than that of alternatives1. The new product’s Solid State Drive (SSD) volume option has also been tested to deliver even higher performance, 5x to 6x faster than competing solutions1. Both options feature a transparent, flat pricing structure with no charge for I/O, and are now available for Cloud Servers powered by OpenStack.

“The Rackspace Cloud Block Storage solution is a crucial piece of our product portfolio,” said John Engates, CTO of Rackspace. “The explosion of data over the past few years has placed greater demands on our customers, presenting them with a variety of new storage related challenges. We developed Cloud Block Storage to deliver consistent performance in the cloud, with a very simple pricing model that gives customers the flexibility they require to meet their unique business needs.”

With Rackspace Cloud Block Storage, customers get:

A Full-Featured Attachable Storage Solution

  • Attach multiple volumes of up to 1 Terabyte each of block storage to
    Cloud Servers
  • Detach and re-attach storage between compute nodes in seconds
  • Choice of Standard Performance or SSD-based High-Performance storage

Enhanced Performance

  • SSD-based solution is more than 10 times faster than Standard drive
    performance1.
  • Rackspace’s Cloud Block Storage Standard drive delivers consistent
    performance with less variability than standard drive solutions
    offered by leading competitors1.
  • High performance can be achieved without the need to RAID0 (stripe)
    volumes together, providing significant savings in cost and complexity.
  • There is no cap on I/O and users do not have to specify IOPS numbers,
    as they do with competing solutions.

A Simple Pricing Model

  • Standard – $0.15 per gigabyte per month; SSD – $0.70 per gigabyte per
    month
  • $.10 per gigabyte per month for snapshot data stored
  • Competitive pricing structure also features I/O at no additional
    charge, no additional per-instance fee, no minimum instance size, and
    consistent pricing in all U.S. regions

No Vendor Lock-In

  • Using the OpenStack Cinder APIs will allow customers to avoid
    proprietary implementation
    Rackspace Cloud Block Storage

Standard volumes are aimed at customers that typically require large amounts of everyday storage. These customers can leverage the product for a broad range of applications, including those that require standard performance or those needing to scale storage without scaling compute nodes. In addition, the product provides dependable storage for archiving solutions, companies that access large quantities of large files, and small to medium size websites.

Rackspace Cloud Block Storage SSD volumes are ideally suited for customers that require even higher levels of performance than what is normally experienced with standard drives. With a faster and more reliable SSD-based storage solution, customers can be better equipped to use applications that are crucial to their business, such as self-managed MySQL databases, MongoDB, Cassandra, and Web caching and indexing, among others.

“Based on our internal benchmarks, we’ve been impressed with the ability of Rackspace Cloud Block Storage to steadily perform at a high level,” said Greg Arnette, CTO at Sonian Inc. “For our customers, the capacity to effectively archive large amounts of email data is critical to their business. As a result, we look for storage solutions that give us maximum agility, scalability and enterprise readiness. We are excited that Rackspace is now providing a new block storage alternative service for running our large scale email archiving deployments.”

Cloud Block Storage joins Cloud Databases as a key solution in Rackspace’s expanding portfolio of storage products. Rackspace Cloud Block Storage is now available in the U.S. and UK. For more information, visit http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/public/blockstorage/

1 The data provided results from performance benchmarking tests that were commissioned by Rackspace. More information is available at: http://www.rackspace.com/blog/cloud-block-storage/.


Internet Protocol Address Management, Internet Technology, IP address, Networking

6Connect Launches Cloud-Based Network Automation Suite for Next-Gen IP Networks

6connect, Inc. today announced at Interop in New York City, their new automated, cloud control suite architected from the ground-up for a new era of IPv6 migration, rampant device and IP address proliferation, and widespread adoption of virtualization and cloud computing.

Delivered locally or through the cloud, the 6connect ProVision™ Suite offers Service Providers and Enterprises a future-ready, unified SaaS platform for provisioning and managing networks in today’s integrated IPv4 and IPv6 world. ProVision provides dramatic time and cost efficiencies over old spreadsheet-dependent and costly appliance solutions for IPAM, DNS, DHCP and asset management. The Service Provider Edition also incorporates peering management and SWIP automation.

“With the number of connected devices and virtual machines growing exponentially and regional internet registries for Europe and Asia already out of IPv4 space, network architectures are undergoing fundamental change,” said Bill Bien, CEO of 6connect.  “Legacy DDI and automation solutions are no longer efficient. We’ve designed ProVision as a disruptive, next-generation platform for automated management control of complex IP address zones, virtual machines, mobile devices, and all types of corporate assets.”

The ProVision Suite comes with RESTful APIs that integrate through connector apps with existing business software, such as CRM, ERP and BPM.  It provides easy access to portals and templates that provide better control and faster access to fully automated tools.

6connect’s cloud-based provisioning software is already used by leading service providers and enterprises around the world. With the launch of ProVision, 6connect now provides a single, integrated and vendor neutral platform for network discovery, planning, provisioning and management of IP resources and devices.

“6connect has helped us become much more efficient,” said Alex Latzko, Senior Architect, Lightower Fiber Networks. “We no longer use multiple incompatible systems, it’s unified now.”

With the Internet running out of IPv4 space, service providers and enterprise network operators need to manage the remaining inventory more closely than ever before, while they migrate to IPv6. 6connect makes managing these changes easy, scalable, and secure. With ProVision Suite, RIR (regional internet registry) and LIR (local internet registry) resource allocations are also integrated with the platform.


Business Processes, Property management

PropertyVista Lowers Cheque Processing Costs for Property Management Industry

Property Vista Software Inc. today announced that its cloud-based property management service can save property management companies up to 30 percent on the cost of processing rent and related payments, currently being made by cheque. Unlike other property management solutions, PropertyVista’s software provides unmatched CRM capabilities at a fraction of the cost, helping property managers streamline their operations, from 1 to 500 units, along with REITS and larger property & condo management firms. The service provides property managers with a personalized website and online tenant portal that they can administer without IT support.

According to independent research, the cost to process cheques can range from $15 to $25 for each cheque issued. This includes both hard and soft costs, such as clerical, cheque requisitioning, authorization, reconciliation, tracing and more. PropertyVista allows property managers to eliminate many of these costs by automatically accepting payments online 24/7, via cheque, credit, debit or direct payment. The cost to process payments is included with the PropertyVista monthly subscription, plus an additional fee, which varies depending on payment type and number of transactions.

According to research from the Canadian Banker’s Association, 51 percent of Canadians reported that they bank primarily online, while 38 percent use Automated Banking Machines. In addition, CBA reports that 46 percent of Canadians use online bill payment as their primary tool for paying bills.

“The demand by tenants to conduct transactions online continues to increase – whether it’s the need to pay online, make a maintenance request, or pursue a rental-related inquiry,” said Leonard Drimmer, CEO and Founder of Property Vista. “PropertyVista addresses the online shift in consumer and tenant behaviour, while providing property managers with the tools to more effectively operate in the internet and mobile age.”

PropertyVista Service Overview

  • Integrated payment system; centralized maintenance and
    tenant service requests     – results in more efficient customer
    service; timelier processing of rental payments and faster closings &
    renewals. Accepts payments online and by mobile device, 24/7, via
    cheque, credit, debit or direct payment.
  • Scalable and Customizable – easy to add applications,
    buildings, and property details as required. Customize reports and
    websites; provide information in whatever format preferred.
  • Point-and-click technology – Cloud-based, simple to use,
    available online and on mobile devices, 24/7. No hardware or IT
    support required.
  • Bank-grade security – PCI-compliant with token-based
    security ensures secure data and transactions.
  • Multi-lingual Support – Includes support for English, French,
    Spanish, and Traditional and Simplified Mandarin
  • Minimal up-front investment – service available on
    month-to-month basis. No long-term contract required.