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Snap-on Completes Acquisition of Business
Solutions
Snap-on, Inc. has completed its acquisition of
ProQuest Business Solutions and named Ujj Nath Regional VP of Snap-on
Business Solutions.
The division's
products are aimed at
helping OEMs and their dealers enhance service operations.
ProQuest had acquired Ujj's company, Syncata, in February 2005.
Alvaka's Thordarson Describes Paradox of Sales
Success
Oli Thordarson, CEO of Alvaka Networks,
recently wrote a magazine column, sharing a lesson he has learned in his
MSP career: "...the
clients I thought I could help the most I could not help. I learned that
the clients who needed me the least hired me like clockwork. I learned
that the clients who had the most problems did not need me. The clients
whose systems ran great kept me in high demand." Oli expands upon this
paradox with an anecdote from Bob Kelley, CEO of ABL:
>>
(CRN Tech, 3/26/07)
Microsemi Introduces Two "Firsts"
Microsemi Corporation, where Jim Peterson is CEO,
has announced the
industry's first pre-standard IEEE802.3at power over Ethernet integrated
solution family, delivering 36 watts of power for devices ranging from
video screen phones and WiMAX transmitters to pan-tilt-zoom cameras,
thin-clients and laptop computers.
Also, Microsemi has
launched its first high performance Ultra Fast FREDFETs to its latest
generation POWER MOS 8 product line.
>>
Primal Solutions Teams with NeuStar
Primal Solutions Inc., a leading provider of IP
transaction management platforms,
where Joe Simrell is CEO and Bob Richardson is COO, recently
demonstrated the interoperability of its settlement services with NeuStar’s SIP-IX network peering and interworking
services suite.
>>
Roland's New Desktop Mills Come with
High-Precision Tech
The Advanced Solutions Divison of Roland DGA,
where Bob Curtis is CEO, has
introduced the MDX-540S and MDX-540SA - specialty desktop mills
that offer enhanced precision and repeat accuracy for machining small lot
production of intricate metal parts, snap-fit prototypes and custom
jewelry. With new high-precision ball screws and
larger motors, the MDX-540S and 540SA can also produce extremely complex
functional prototypes and verify accuracy for complicated assemblies.
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Sypris Data Partners with RMGI to Meet Worldwide
Demand
Sypris Data Systems, Inc., where Darrell Robertson is
President, and Recordable
Media Group International B.V. have announced a partnership to
manufacture and distribute magnetic tape to support the instrumentation
tape recording community worldwide. The pairing will unite RMGI’s expertise in
manufacturing magnetic tapes with Sypris Data’s instrumentation market
knowledge along with the distribution channels necessary to fill the
demand.
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Telelogic Optimizes
Requirements Definition & Management
Telelogic, where
Jesper Christensen is EVP, Product Division, Software Assets Management,
has announced Telelogic DOORS Fastrak, a new Web-based solution that provides requirements definition and
management for collaborative development projects with short delivery
timelines. And,
Telelogic
signed an agreement with a leading automotive manufacturer, worth
$580,000, that includes licenses and maintenance for DOORS.
>>
Vision Solutions Enhances ORION's Capabilities
Vision Solutions, where
Alan Arnold is CTO & EVP, has announced ORION 2.1, an upgrade that
includes performance and automation enhancements that add speed and
robust replication environment controls to role swap and other critical
high availability functions.
Targeted at the enterprise market, Orion 2.1 has completed beta testing
and is now installed at selected customers in advance of the expected
May 4th general
availability date.
>>
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Offshore Cost Advantage to Last for
20 Years
India and China will retain their low-cost labor advantage
and dominate the offshore IT and business process
outsourcing services market for another 20 years, says
management consultancy AT Kearney, adding that while wages
in offshore locations have started to rise, they will remain
cheaper than 'onshore' alternatives for the "foreseeable
future" - even taking into account the most aggressive
projections of wage inflation in developing economies. The
AT Kearney study lists
the top 50 global outsourcing destinations based on
cost, people skills and availability, and business
environment. In this year's list, India again comes out on
top, with a diminishing but still large lead over China in
second place. India's dominance is due to an "unbeatable
mix" of low costs, deep technical and language skills,
mature vendors and supportive government policies. Also,
wage inflation has been matched by corresponding increases
in the supply and quality of skills. Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are all in the
top 20. Significant declines in telecom costs are cited as
being one of the key drivers for the rise of those
countries. Brazil, Chile and Mexico in Latin America have
also grown in importance as 'near-shore' outsourcing
locations to North America. Bulgaria and Romania are the
rising stars of the Eastern European 'near-shore' bloc of
countries, but a weak business environment is responsible
for Russia and the Ukraine being low down in the rankings.
African countries such as Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal and
Tunisia are also rising, utilizing their French-speaking
population to provide services for Francophone markets. (KenRadio's
Daily Tech News Clicks, 3/20/07)
Angel Investments, Web 2.0
Funding Up in 2006
Angel investors increased their investments in new companies
by 10.8% in 2006, for a total of $25.6 billion invested,
according to a new study by the Center for Venture Research
at the University of New Hampshire. There were 51,000
entrepreneurial ventures receiving angel funding in 2006,
and 234,000 individuals that were active angel investors.
Among the industries funded were healthcare services,
medical devices and equipment, at 21% of total angel
investments, followed by software and biotech, both with 18%
of deals. Angel investments were a significant contributor
to job growth, with 201,400 new jobs created in 2006 due to
angel investments. (socaltech.com TechNews, 3/21/07)
Also,
Web 2.0 investments doubled from investments in 2005, to
$844.4 million, with almost twice as many deals, according
to a
new study from Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne. The
study, which classified Web 2.0 firms as using user-created
content, podcasting, blogging, social networking, or using
AJAX and other rich Internet applications, found 167 Web 2.0
deals last year. The busiest region for Web 2.0 deals was
the San Francisco Bay Area, however Southern California, New
York, and New England also saw growth in deal flow and
investments. (socaltech.com TechNews, 3/21/07)
"Don't Rush into Vista," Experts
Advise
For businesses eager to take advantage of Microsoft Windows
Vista operating system, some Bay Area experts advise to wait
at least three to six months, saying the third-party
software isn't ready yet. For instance, Sonicwall remote
access software isn't yet Vista-compatible, the COO of
Endsight noted. Also, a common Hewlett-Packard printer he
purchased less than a year ago still isn't supported in
Vista. HP says it has created drivers for the majority of
its printers and is working to complete the rest soon.
Several major applications - including those in Adobe
Systems' creative suite, Symantec security software and the
Firefox Web browser - have yet to appear on Microsoft's list
of software compatible with or certified for Vista.
Microsoft has released Application Compatibility Toolkit
5.0, which can help companies determine whether their
applications are compatible with Vista before deploying it.
Also, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 can assess the
hardware readiness of a company's computers.
(East Bay Business Times, 3/9/07)
VoIP Victory: No State Taxes
A federal appeals court handed more than 600 U.S. VoIP
providers a crucial victory recently when it upheld a U.S.
FCC ruling that bars states from imposing tariffs and taxes
on VoIP providers. Since VoIP service providers largely
compete on price, state-imposed taxes would have placed
additional strain on these companies’ already-thin margins,
because they offer more features for less money than regular
phone companies. The court’s decision will lend much-needed
stability to the VoIP market and even prompt a wave of
market consolidation, said a Yankee Group analyst. The
decision hinged on the court’s opinion that it would be
“impractical if not impossible" for states to separate
interstate VoIP calls from intrastate calls. (KenRadio's
Daily Tech News Clicks, 3/23/07)
Meanwhile,
experts
are warning of a new piece of malware spreading via the
Skype VoIP application. The Trojan is a variant of the
Warezov/Stration code which arrived at the end of last
month. Skype users receive a message from a contact
suggesting they check out a URL. When the page is visited
they are asked to download and install a file containing the
Trojan. "Once the Trojan is installed in a system, it tries
to connect to a Yahoo mail server to send an SMTP message,"
said web monitoring firm Websense. "However, that server
does not seem to be operative and the communication fails.
This is probably an attempt to notify the attacker that a
certain machine has been infected." The Trojan also accesses
the user's Skype account and sends a similar message to all
contacts. The code does not install any vulnerability in the
Skype code itself. (KenRadio's Daily Tech News Clicks,
3/23/07)
Streamers Watch 7 Billion
Videos a Month
Nearly 123
million people in the U.S. viewed 7.2 billion videos online
in January 2007 alone, according to
comScore. The average streamer watches
about two videos every day, for a total of 151 minutes per
month. Video streaming is 60% greater than average between 5
and 8 p.m. on weekdays. (eMarketer Daily, 3/26/07)
IT Leaders Establish New
Managed Services Alliance
MSP Partners, an alliance established by Intel, Ingram
Micro, LPI Level Platforms, Microsoft and other leading IT
manufacturers, has launched to provide solution providers
with a comprehensive and collaborative online education
source dedicated to managed services. The program addresses
the following objectives: *Educating IT solution providers
about benefits and implementation
strategies for successful managed services;
*Assisting solution providers in taking the first step into managed
services while providing new growth strategies for those that have
already begun the transition;
*Providing industry best practices for successful managed services
featuring vendors' products and services. (PRNewswire,
3/21/07)
Game Consoles Aren't Just for
Kids Anymore
Game consoles are becoming an integral part of America's
home entertainment system. 36.5% of U.S. adults own a game
console, and 15.9% own a portable one, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
71% of console owners are married, and 66% have at least one
child in the household. Video game technology will only
benefit other media, since what makes a video game fun and
exciting brings life to movies and music as well. Companies
that can leverage these new technologies across a number of
products will have a distinct advantage in the competitive
marketplace. (Kenradio.com,
3/22/07)
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