Subbu Murthy, Ph.D., Time Warper, Inc.
Subbu is CEO of Time Warper, a company that enables organizations to make better decisions. Time Warper’s flagship product is Quick Look, which, at the macro level, supports intelligent decision-making by providing a canvas of a company’s process, product, people, customers and suppliers, integrated as a collection of decision nodes that enable the company to map out alternatives in developing its strategy. At the micro level, Quick Look evaluates multiple vendor proposals, multiple technology platforms, the optimal portfolio for organizations, helps make sourcing decisions, all to suggest the best fit. The micro models integrate automatically with the macro to provide a better alignment of technology to the business. With a Ph.D. in Information Systems, 15 years as a C-level executive and 10 years in application development experience, Subbu has produced successful, high-quality software applications and products that span the supply side, as well as ERP and customer-facing applications built on data warehouses, EAI and analytics. Previously, as a CIO, Subbu gained hands-on experience in general and technical management, marketing, strategic/tactical planning, business/product development, operations management and Fortune 500 contract/joint venture negotiations. Subbu has joined the 210 Corridor Technology Executives Round Table.

NetworkD:  Celebrates a Decade in Business
Congratulations to NetworkD, where Ashley Leonard is CEO, on the celebration of its 10th anniversary! The company began operations in January 1996 in Newport Beach. Over the past 10 years, it has expanded globally, establishing presence throughout the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Germany. Today, NetworkD has more than 2,500 clients and has been honored with over 75 awards. >>


Line 6:  New Award, New Partnership, New Products
Congratulations to Line 6 Inc., where Mike Muench is CEO, on winning a "2006 Editor’s Choice" award from Electronic Musician magazine for its PODxt Live. The awards are given annually to the best new products of the 12 previous months.  Meanwhile, Berklee College of Music has equipped its guitar classrooms, lesson studios, and labs with guitar technology equipment from Line 6.  Also, Line 6 has recently launched its Lowdown family of bass amplifiers, as well as modular ToneCore stompboxes. >>

Mitratech:  Adds Dashboard to TeamConnect Legal Suite
Mitratech, where Afshin Behnia is CEO, recently debuted its TeamConnect Legal Executive Dashboard, which delivers critical legal, financial, and compliance data directly to the management level. Through speedometers, graphs, and tables, Executive Dashboard transforms such data into actionable information in easy-to understand visuals. It also allows users to obtain further details and to interact with generated results. >>

Primal Solutions' Richardson Addresses "Triple Play"
Bob Richardson, Executive VP of Operations at Primal Solutions, recently served as an expert panelist at Technology Marketing Corporation's Internet Telephony Conference, the world’s largest and best-attended VoIP trade show, in a session titled "The Current State of Triple Play." "Internet protocol, convergence, competition, fundamental changes in network technologies, and new business models are driving dramatic transformations in the structure and economics of communications and the delivery of new media," said Bob. "The increasing popularity of IP-based services and Triple Play offerings creates complex transactions and drives this growing need for comprehensive IP transaction management." >>

QuickStart:  Offers Targeted Seminars
QuickStart Intelligence, where Hicham Semaan is CEO, has added a new QS Seminar format to its extensive IT curriculum -- affordable one and two-day seminars that offer participants the opportunity to learn about specific technologies and applications that augment existing QuickStart courses. >>

Roland DGA:  Expands East Coast Presence
In response to record sales growth for its line of wide-format inkjet printers and integrated printer/cutters, Roland DGA Corp., where Bob Curtis is CEO, has strengthened its East Coast operations with a new product demonstration and training facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and a new supplies and accessories distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee. >>

Spinitar:  Ranks Among Top Nationwide Integrators
Congratulations to Spinitar, where Gary Hallgren is a senior executive, on achieving the #13 ranking in Systems Contractor News’ "Top 50 Systems Integrators" national listing for 2005. In 2004, Spinitar was #26. The ranking of systems integrators was accomplished by sorting each companies’ estimated revenue from commercial audiovisual installations for 2005 and then by total revenue. >>

Telelogic:  Teams to Meet Demand for Enterprise Architects
Telelogic, where Scott Raskin is COO, is collaborating with Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Software Research International to deliver a new program of training with certification in enterprise architecture, to be offered worldwide. The program addresses the challenges and benefits of enterprise architecture and provides participants with a practical approach to successfully implement and use EA within their organizations. >>

Wonderware:  Achieves New Certification, New Award
Wonderware, where Mike Bradley is CEO, announced that its Enterprise Integration Application 2.0 has completed certification as part of the SAP's "Interoperability Certification" program, which recognizes applications that integrate industry standards such as ISA-95. Market adoption of this standard is rapidly increasing as companies focus on achieving manufacturing-to-enterprise integration.  Also, Control Engineering magazine has given a 2005 "Editors' Choice Award" to Wonderware's eCompliance Solution, which enables food companies to meet the reporting and record-keeping rules required by the FDA. >>

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Consumers Buy More Electronics
Consumers spent 8% more on consumer electronics and IT gear in 2005 than in 2004, according to The NPD Group. Overall, spending reached $76.9 billion in 2005, compared with $71.2 billion in 2004. The biggest movers were LCD and plasma televisions, and MP3 players, all of which grew in unit sales by more than 100% year-to-year. Notebook and desktop computer unit sales also grew, though desktop revenues actually fell because average prices for these units were down 8%, resulting in total dollar volume falling by 3%. Data from Vertis indicates that 2006 will also be a good year for the computer and TV industries. Above 2004, about 32% of U.S. adult consumers surveyed said they plan to buy a notebook, laptop or desktop computer in 2006, and 17% said they plan to buy a large screen or HDTV. (eMarketer Daily, 2/1/06)

Reports Detail 2005 Venture Capital Activity
Venture capitalists invested a total of $22.13 billion in 2,239 deals, according to an Ernst & Young LLP and VentureOne/VentureSource report. There was a 2% increase over 2004 in capital invested, led by medical device companies and consumer and business-service companies. However, the report also found that IT investments had a 4% decrease in capital and 8% decrease in deal flow. In terms of venture deals, Southern California ranked as the third most active region of the country, with the report tracking 203 deals and a total of $2.09 billion invested. The Bay Area had 731 deals and $7.59 billion invested, and New England had 272 deals and $2.83 billion invested. (socalTECH.com TechNews, 1/24/06)  Meanwhile, the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree Survey found that first-time deals have hit four-year highs, and that there was $21.7 billion invested in 2,939 deals in 2005. The total for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $5.1 billion. The most active sectors were wireless investments and life sciences. On the flip side, software investments slipped 10% last year, although the software industry had the most first-time activity. Networking firms hit an eight-year low. (socalTECH.com TechNews, 1/25/06)

Microsoft Boosts Chinese R&D
Microsoft Corp. will invest more than $100 million annually on research and development during the next three to five years in China, signaling the company's intent to compete aggressively with Google Inc. and Yahoo! Microsoft's plans include hiring about 3,000 people by the end of 2008 as part of their heightened R&D drive. "The Internet is the focus of the total investment as we can't neglect the booming Internet population in China," said Yaqin Zhang, Microsoft's VP and the center's President. (UPI, 1/19/06)

Internet-Only Reality Show Coming to AOL
Reality show producer Mark Burnett (The Apprentice, Survivor, etc.) has struck a deal with America Online to produce a new online-only broadband video reality series with extensive marketer integration within the show itself. Called "Gold Rush," the show will follow the exploits of contestants pursuing stashes of "hidden treasure" across the U.S. Clues to the whereabouts of treasure will be seeded around the AOL network as digital ads and product placements. Burnett said in a statement that the Internet is about to become the next broadcast network, and that it could become the new primetime. (ClickZ News & socalTECH.com TechNews, 1/31/06)

Firms Must Develop New Risk-Management Strategies
An ongoing Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu study of business leaders has uncovered four considerations that are top of mind, as they review and upgrade security and risk management, including:
*Fostering a holistic and integrated risk management culture that features a chief security officer;
*Imagining the unimaginable, and incorporating into risk positions the potential impact of low probability events; 
*Appreciating the significance of anti-western sentiments; and
*Identifying best practices as they emerge and putting in place the resources necessary for their implementation. (PRNewswire-AsiaNet, 1/24/06)

Apple Alums Seek $100M to Buy a Convergence Company
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, former CEO Gilbert Amelio, and Ellen Hancock, Apple’s technology chief under Amelio, have formed a "blank check" company, Acquicor Technology Inc., in Newport Beach. They are looking to raise more than $100 million through an IPO, then use proceeds to buy a technology company that sells products or services in the area of "convergence" of computers and consumer electronics. (Orange County Business Journal, 1/30/06)

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