Piston Cloud Computing, the start-up peddling an OpenStack distribution for enterprise private clouds, is co-operating with VMware of all people to develop a Cloud Provider Interface (CPI) that integrates OpenStack cloud infrastructure with Cloud Foundry, VMware’s open source Platform-as-a-Service.
Piston means to distribute and support this new integrated capability in a future release of its Piston Enterprise OS (pentOS), explaining that it takes advantage of Cloud Foundry BOSH, the recently announced open source tool chain for release engineering, deployment and lifecycle management of very large-scale instances of Cloud Foundry. BOSH currently works with VMware’s own vSphere and Amazon Web Services.
SoftLayer Gives Next Generation of Entrepreneurs a Foundation for Success
SoftLayer Technologies is giving budding entrepreneurs a strong foundation for success as one of the leading national sponsors of TechStars, an elite mentorship-driven start-up accelerator that was recently recognized as the number one accelerator program in the world. Through its own technology mentorship initiative – the SoftLayer Catalyst Program – SoftLayer is providing financial support while being a Platinum sponsor of TechStars. In addition, SoftLayer will give qualifying TechStars participants $1,500 a month toward dedicated, cloud and hybrid infrastructure resources and engage its executives as mentors.
“In today’s competitive environment, entrepreneurs deserve the best resources they can receive. Those entrepreneurs are finding the support of an accelerator program like TechStars helps them get their companies off the ground and running well because of the vast resources available to them,” said David Cohen founder and CEO of TechStars. “It is critical we work with sponsors, such as SoftLayer, that can help new entrepreneurs offset their costs, minimize risks and provide the wise advice from the perspective of someone who was once in their shoes.”
New Mobile Cloud Technology and Analytics Revitalize Next-Generation ERP Implementations
VAI, an ERP software provider, unveiled two new white papers — authored by renowned IT consultant Michael Dortch — that provide top-line guidance on how to maximize the value of existing ERP implementations with new innovations in mobile cloud technology, analytics and business intelligence. The papers, exclusively available from VAI at www.vai.net, outline specific steps that both business and IT professionals should take to add new functionality and value to ERP deployments while leveraging existing investments with minimal user disruption.
Dortch, long recognized as an ERP implementation expert for the past 25 years from his post at DortchOnIT.com, offers his advice to business leaders in the IT + “ERP3” = More Business Value paper and to IT staff in the “ERP 3” = From Enterprise Resource Planning to Enabling Rock Solid Processes. Both papers can be downloaded here at the VAI news page.
Among the key highlights of both papers is a look at how key industries will be transformed by adding new mobile cloud technology to their ERP implementations. Below is a quick snapshot of how five industries will benefit:
- Distribution: workers at any point in the value chain will
access real-time inventory information, uncover slow-moving or
out-of-stock items, and improve order fill rates, inventory turns and
responses to customer demands - Food Service: workers will hasten production and lower
operational costs by replacing manual, error-prone paperwork with
integrated solutions for tablet sand smartphones - Manufacturing: mobile networked devices and on-demand software
will enable seamless integration, tracking and optimization of tasks
from inventory, shop floor and warehouse management to capacity and
materials planning and product quality control - Retail: automation of tasks and processes will improve
inventory, purchasing, warehouse management and customer relationship
management at point of sale, both in-store and online - Service: improved integration of customer interaction and
product-related information will ease and hasten superior service and
repair, increasing customer satisfaction dramatically
“Mobile cloud technology will improve cost and operational efficiencies while expanding collaboration with customers, vendors and partners,” said Dortch. “That, coupled with new innovations from IBM’s Websphere portal and Cognos Business Intelligence, can ignite existing ERP implementations with graphically rich personalized dashboards and easy-to-use yet highly functional e-commerce applications.”
In both papers, Dortch offers specific guidance on how to get started with adding new functionality to ERP implementations such as:
- Embrace Customization as a way to reinvigorate existing ERP
investments - Conduct an Audit to examine your organization’s readiness to
add mobile cloud functionality - Develop Specific Criteria for upgrading ERP systems based on
detailed feedback from both IT and business stakeholders - Create an ERP Playbook that outlines ERP goals, processes and
supporting IT resources that will be embraced by both IT and business
teams.
Why Big Data Applications Adoption is Accelerating
Big Data applications have gained new momentum in the marketplace, as the benefits of working with larger and larger data sets enables analysts to spot key business-related trends. International Data Corporation (IDC) released a worldwide forecast of Big Data opportunities, noting that the market is expected to grow from $3.2 billion in 2010 to $16.9 billion in 2015.
Behind Every Cloud Is a Data Center in Disguise
We are living in a world of unprecedented growth in the digital universe. In just over a decade, the Internet and the creation and utilization of digital data has gone from nascent to a vital part of everyday life. This is why electronic data is growing at rates that make Moore’s Law appear tame, with a forty-four fold increase expected in data between now and 2020. That would put the total amount of electronic data somewhere in excess of 35 zettabytes, according to IDC.
To manage and store all this data, we are also seeing an unprecedented global build out of massive data centers. From co-location providers like Savvis to Internet giants Google and Facebook to enterprises across industries, billions of dollars are being spent to increase the data center footprint and house this tsunami of data. In fact, Industry leaders estimate that nearly 450 billion dollars is being spent annually on new data center facilities.
CDC Software Launches Ross 7.0, Its Next Generation Suite of ERP Applications
CDC Software, an enterprise software provider of on-premise and cloud technologies, today announced the general availability of Ross ERP 7.0, the major release of its next generation of ERP applications offering improved interoperability, increased collaborative capabilities, enhanced usability, new mobility features and more advanced traceability that can lead to higher productivity, faster decision-making, and reduced costs and risk – all with a low total cost of ownership.
Ross ERP 7.0 takes ERP to the next level in enterprise visibility, collaboration, reporting, mobility and social manufacturing with new functionality featured in Enterprise Viewer, Document Connect, Event Management Framework, and Ross Mobile 2.0. Advanced collaborative techniques found in Facebook and Google were incorporated into Ross Enterprise Viewer and EMF. For example, utilizing “Subscribe and Follow” techniques, Enterprise Viewer allows sales reps to subscribe to a sales “widget” then follow the sales of their own customers on their dashboards. As another example, EMF delivers real-time alerts to the sales rep whenever one of their customers exceeds certain credit limits. Continuing Ross’ focus on vertical-industry needs for the process manufacturer, Ross 7.0 offers deeper functionality in traceability, pricing, product costing and quality control.
We are very excited to launch our next generation of Ross Enterprise that was designed in partnership with our customers and various industry associations,” said Sherri Rodriguez, president of Ross Systems, a business unit of CDC Software. “Ross ERP 7.0 takes an intuitive, social networking, collaborative and proactive approach to information management that can transform a process manufacturer into an agile business with broad visibility into its operations. Notably, with the new, extensive enhancements in the core modules, Ross 7.0 also offers one of the market’s most comprehensive and feature rich quality management application available today.“
Highlights of Ross ERP 7.0:
- Enterprise Viewer. This new user interface employs “widgets” to push
relevant, real-time information to users. A “widget” displays specific
information about customers and products, such as “Orders Due To Ship
Today” and “Inventory Availability.” After subscribing to a given
“widget,” a user can then follow their selected customers or products,
with the ability to execute drill downs and key commands directly from
the widget, helping to increase user productivity and customer service
levels. - New Document Connect. This new feature allows users to drag and drop
documents, including videos, directly into Ross ERP screens from their
desktops, then later access these same documents from the screens,
eliminating the need to manually store and retrieve documents on one’s
file server. The feature automatically stores and indexes
transactional documents in a preconfigured SharePoint file structure. - Event Management Framework’s (EMF) alert engine. This new feature
delivers real-time, actionable alert messages to users’ dashboards,
emails and mobile devices. In addition to exception conditions, users
can be alerted to non-events, such as no response to a purchase order
or an overdue delivery. - Ross Mobile 2.0. This new native mobile application offers access to
customer, sales, inventory and other key enterprise information on
iPhone and Android devices, helping to expedite one’s decision-making
and improving customer service. - Enhanced TraceExpress. New enhancements included in Ross ERP 7.0
reduce the number of product trace paths and allow users to review the
details of a Lot Trace within a certain Date Range, helping to
expedite product recall notifications and facilitate compliance even
further. - Ross Reporting Services. Based upon Microsoft’s SQL Server Reporting
Services, this new feature offers embedded graphical objects and
transactional links within its report templates to generate
interactive reports in a variety of formats across the ERP modules.
Cloud VDI: Leveraging the Full Potential of the Cloud at Cloud Expo NY
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has been a hot topic in the IT community for years but delivery models have limited its use. Today there are real options for using the technology to truly replace the existing desktop infrastructure to realize tangible benefits. Today’s cloud-sourced VDI offers the enterprise new opportunities for security, centralization, mobility, and business continuity while avoiding much of the upfront investment of traditional in-house deployments. Utilizing cloud-based VDI to centralize application deployment, secure corporate property, or scale the IT enterprise brings flexibility and a layer of abstraction that was not previously available. There are many different delivery strategies on the market with different benefits, nuances, and use-cases. While most agree that IT’s consumption of infrastructure is changing drastically, how do you choose which is the right model for your business?
New CloudCache CDN to speed up e-commerce
1st May 2012
US-based CDN provider, NetDNA, has announced the launch of CloudCache.com, a new content delivery network (CDN) solution for web and e-commerce site owners who want cost-effective content download acceleration, without technical hassles.
SchoolMessenger Awarded Patent for Highly Available Notifications
SchoolMessenger, provider of communication solutions for education, today announced it has been awarded a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,269) for a voice message delivery system and method which uses a highly distributed architecture to deliver extremely large volumes of mass notifications originating from many locations nearly instantaneously. The geo-dispersion technology allows the industry-leading hosted notification solution to achieve near-infinite scalability and an unmatched level of redundancy and performance.
“When an emergency or threat happens on a school campus, our customers must be absolutely certain their message gets to parents as quickly as possible,” said Howard Wood, SchoolMessenger’s co-founder, chief technology officer and one of four inventors named in the patent. “Our patented technology not only delivers the highest degree of fault tolerance available today, but also supports near linear scalability of end-to-end capacity to allow for continued growth and expansion. Our customers know that platform size and scale matter when it comes to delivering uninterrupted service, and have trusted us for more than a decade to continually innovate and lead the K-12 market in fast, secure and reliable notification services.”
The patented technology in SchoolMessenger’s hosted notification system prepares voice messages and delivers them in mass, to a single recipient or to a particular group or household, more quickly and with a higher degree of redundancy than earlier generation architectures. It also provides the intelligence necessary to effectively allocate those messages across its highly distributed nationwide infrastructure, increasing the overall redundancy and resiliency of the system.
Even in today’s budget-conscious environment, demand for notification systems continues to grow. Over the last 10 years, SchoolMessenger has delivered billions of messages for thousands of educational facilities in all 50 states.
SchoolMessenger Awarded Patent for Highly Available Notifications
SchoolMessenger, provider of communication solutions for education, today announced it has been awarded a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,269) for a voice message delivery system and method which uses a highly distributed architecture to deliver extremely large volumes of mass notifications originating from many locations nearly instantaneously. The geo-dispersion technology allows the industry-leading hosted notification solution to achieve near-infinite scalability and an unmatched level of redundancy and performance.
“When an emergency or threat happens on a school campus, our customers must be absolutely certain their message gets to parents as quickly as possible,” said Howard Wood, SchoolMessenger’s co-founder, chief technology officer and one of four inventors named in the patent. “Our patented technology not only delivers the highest degree of fault tolerance available today, but also supports near linear scalability of end-to-end capacity to allow for continued growth and expansion. Our customers know that platform size and scale matter when it comes to delivering uninterrupted service, and have trusted us for more than a decade to continually innovate and lead the K-12 market in fast, secure and reliable notification services.”
The patented technology in SchoolMessenger’s hosted notification system prepares voice messages and delivers them in mass, to a single recipient or to a particular group or household, more quickly and with a higher degree of redundancy than earlier generation architectures. It also provides the intelligence necessary to effectively allocate those messages across its highly distributed nationwide infrastructure, increasing the overall redundancy and resiliency of the system.
Even in today’s budget-conscious environment, demand for notification systems continues to grow. Over the last 10 years, SchoolMessenger has delivered billions of messages for thousands of educational facilities in all 50 states.