All posts by Richard

.NET Framework, ADO.NET, ADO.NET Entity Framework, Internet Technology, Microsoft Visual Studio, Tools

Progress Introduces DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET R4.0

Progress Software Corporation today introduced the new Progress DataDirect Connect® for ADO.NET 4.0, the latest version of its suite of ADO.NET (ActiveX Data Objects for .NET) data providers that eliminates the need for database client libraries with a managed, wire protocol architecture. This new release includes Microsoft Entity Framework support, Visual Studio LightSwitch support and expanded enterprise capabilities that enable developers to rapidly create, deploy and manage high-performance, mission-critical desktop and Cloud applications with ease.

Tatsuro Hayashi, Corporate Development Office Manager for MapQuest Corporation in Japan, noted: “Using the DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.0 data provider, we can develop high performing, reliable ADO.NET applications that offer bulk load functionality, application failover, and top of the line security for our customers. Because managed code runs in the Common Language Runtime (CLR) environment, it reduces risks such as memory leaks and closes security holes that unmanaged code leaves exposed. This means our programmers and developers have secure, reliable and versatile deployment options available in either application or client-server environments. Additionally, our software developers and programmers can avoid the versioning headaches associated with other .NET providers as well as multiple versions of client libraries and databases used across our company.”

As more .NET applications move to the Cloud, high performance and efficiency become even more important. The Progress DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.0 data providers are a critical component to delivering on that goal, while significantly lowering operating costs for Cloud applications by using less memory and CPU cycles. The DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET 4.0 data providers deliver top performance, as well as significantly higher levels of security and authentication, reliability and failover, connection pool management and multi-database consistency not found in other drivers. This enables developers to create higher performing applications with greater uptime and better security.


Assay Depot, AstraZeneca, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, Medical, Partnerships, Research

Assay Depot, AstraZeneca Launch Virtual Research Laboratory for Drug Researchers

Assay Depot Inc. today announced the launch of a virtual research laboratory. Developed in partnership with AstraZeneca, the virtual laboratory is a vendor relationship management (VRM) system that gives researchers easy access to a distributed network of thousands of research service providers located inside and outside the company.

“We brought together features of today’s favorite consumer websites to create a virtual laboratory that empowers scientists,” stated Kevin Lustig, Assay Depot’s CEO. “A small group of talented scientists can now run an entire drug discovery program, from concept to clinic, from a laptop computer.”

The private virtual laboratory (aka Research Exchange) enables researchers to search for research services and vendors, communicate with experts, purchase services, and rate and review services. In one simple and intuitive interface, scientists identify experts, initiate research collaborations, and track entire projects to completion.

Researchers can access the virtual laboratory from anywhere they access the Internet, including tablets and mobile devices. They can view their colleagues’ ratings and reviews, view past transactions and determine at a glance which vendors have current legal agreements.

“The virtual drug discovery era has arrived,” said Chris Petersen, Assay Depot’s CIO. “Enabling research scientists to access any service and any expert in just a few mouse clicks can dramatically improve productivity, reduce costs and promote innovation.”

A private virtual laboratory enables complete transparency across global research operations while retaining local control over research sourcing decisions. It simplifies legal and compliance verification, standardizes sourcing governance and serves as a versatile all-in-one platform that benefits the entire chain of pharmaceutical stakeholders, including discovery research, supply chain and consumer health.


Astute Networks, EMC Corporation, Microsoft, MSC Software, People in the News

Cloud People in the News This Week (July 27, 2012)

Velti Names Former Microsoft Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer

Velti announced the addition of Harry Patz as Chief Revenue Officer to the Velti Executive team. Patz joins Velti after 20 years of experience at Microsoft Corporation, where he most recently served as Vice President of the Communications Sector North America for Mobile, Media Video, Cloud and Enterprise. As CRO at Velti, Patz will be responsible for driving the revenue strategy and operations in North America.

GraphOn Corporation Appoints Sam M. Auriemma to the Board of Directors

GraphOn Corporation announced that the company has appointed Sam M. Auriemma to its board of directors. Auriemma is a financial executive with over 30 years of senior-level experience at a variety of technology companies. He has been responsible for over 25 acquisitions and divestitures with combined cash considerations in excess of $1.5 billion. Most recently he held the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer at MSC Software.

Alert Logic Names Paul Marvin Chief Financial Officer

Alert Logic announced the appointment of Paul Marvin as the company’s new chief financial officer (CFO). In this position, Marvin will be responsible for all of the company’s financial, accounting and human resources operations.

DataCore Software Appoints Steve Houck to Newly Created Chief Operating Officer Role

DataCore Software announced the appointment of its first Chief Operating Officer (COO), Steve Houck. The new position was created to organize and drive DataCore’s rapid growth and market leadership in storage virtualization. Houck is a highly regarded veteran in virtualization, flash storage, cloud computing and data center technologies. His previous roles included vice president of worldwide channels for VMware, along with various global sales leadership posts at EMC Corporation. Houck has also held executive posts for global field sales and go-to-market strategy development at start-up ventures focused on cloud computing and flash storage, with the most recent executive role at Astute Networks, an innovative SSD technology company.


Citrix Systems, Collaboration, Google Apps Marketplace, Podio, Project management

Citrix Podio Enables Do-It-Yourself Apps for Project Management Your Way

Citrix today announced that Citrix Podio, the cloud-based collaborative work platform, has launched three new “do-it-yourself” project management apps in the Podio App Market, created by leading project management experts Gantthead, ProjectsAtWork and Brad Egeland. Also available today through Podio’s Project Management listing in the Google Apps Marketplace™, the new apps can be modified and customized (without any technical expertise required) using the Podio App Builder to fit the way any team works. Because building Podio apps is as easy as creating a spreadsheet, even more teams and small businesses can now leverage best practices from Podio’s project management apps, customize them, or create their own apps from scratch, to streamline workflows, manage business processes and become more efficient and productive within any project.

According to Gartner Research, “citizen developers”—workers who operate outside the scope of the IT department and create or assemble new business applications for use by their peers— will build at least a quarter of new business applications themselves by 2014, permanently replacing complex legacy project management software that no longer fits the way modern teams collaborate and work together. Podio is the first place to find, create and modify hundreds of different “citizen-developed” apps to support team-based projects across today’s dispersed, cloud-driven and mobile businesses. Podio has been designed with a fundamental belief that forcing workers to fit their projects and tasks into a set process or structure is like forcing a square peg into a round hole, and that a project management tool should fit the way people work, instead of the other way around.

Using the Podio platform, teams can set up workspaces where they can connect with each other, work across different organizations and collaborate socially to be more effective. To customize their workspaces, people can access and modify more than 700 free apps from the Podio App Market, or create new apps to support their preferred workflows. Getting started is free for up to 5 employees.

Google Apps customers can also now take advantage of Podio’s customizable project management apps and collaborative work platform by installing Podio from the Google Apps Marketplace, Google’s online storefront for Google Apps™ business products and services. Google Apps customers can now use Podio project management apps to turn any email into a task, bring any Google Doc into their project workflow and track project deadlines on their Google Calendar.

 


M&A Activity, Penta Capital, Surrey, Venture Funding

Six Degrees Group Announces New Funding, Cloud Hosting Acquisition

Image representing Penta Capital as depicted i...

Six Degrees Group today announces it has raised £8 million in new funding from Penta Capital and that it has completed the acquisition of Cloud Computing Centre (CCC), a Surrey-based managed cloud hosting expert established in 1999.

CCC focuses on the cloud market and brings over 100 mid-market hosting customers who spend an average of £36,000 pa. The acquisition takes Six Degrees Group’s run-rate position to £50m revenue and £12m EBITDA. CCC’s cloud platform is highly complementary to the existing Six Degrees technology and they are also a Microsoft Gold Partner and Silver Hosting Partner, bringing incremental skillsets for Microsoft Hyper-V to the Group.

Commenting on the acquisition, Alastair Mills, CEO of Six Degrees Group, stated:

“I am delighted to welcome Cloud Computing Centre to Six Degrees Group. This is a significant acquisition for us as it reinforces our mid-market focus, strengthens our managed cloud hosting team and brings outstanding technical capabilities to the Group.”

In response, Keith Bates, CEO of Cloud Computing Centre, stated:

“This is an exciting day in the evolution of Cloud Computing Centre. We felt that the time was right to join forces with one of the fastest-growing managed data service providers in the sector, especially when we have so much in common. Joining Six Degrees Group will significantly strengthen our ability to win mid-market and corporate cloud hosting contracts and to deliver new services to our existing clients.”


Amazon AWS, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Google, Google Compute Engine, Transcoding, Video, Zencoder

Google Compute Engine and Cloud Video Transcoding — How Does it Compare?

Zencoder performed some initial comparison tests of Google Compute Engine versus Amazon EC2 for transfering and transcoding video.

“On EC2, we use Cluster Compute instances, which are fast dual-CPU machines in two sizes: 4XL and 8XL. We compared these with the fastest GCE instance type, which is currently a single-CPU 8-core server.”

Here’s one of their resulting charts:

Read the full post for details.