ABL TECHNOLOGY ONLINE  
FEBRUARY 7, 2012
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SYSPRO Profiled as Agile & Innovative
A Technology Evaluation Centers Analyst has authored SYSPRO - Taking a Quantum Leap or Simply Becoming Smarter?, a recent article and interview with SYSPRO USA executives, which notes that SYSPRO's single DNA product focus and .NET base enables solutions to be tailored to customers' specific needs. (Brian Stein, Orange County)

QuickStart Offers New Courses on "Denali"
Microsoft SQL Server 2012, the next-generation relational database (aka Denali), is scheduled for general release during the first half of 2012, and to help database professionals better prepare for it, QuickStart Intelligence has introduced a series of two new SQL Server 2012 Courses and three Advanced SQL Server Courses, covering the key aspects of implementation, utilization, and support from data warehouse implementation to modeling and reporting, analysis and integration. (Hicham Semaan, Orange County)

OEwaves Announces Laser Module
A new Laser Module containing OEwave's Ultra-Narrow Linewidth Laser Source has been introduced. It also houses the low noise laser driver, TEC driver, controller, and proprietary algorithm for enhanced performance and stability, all in a small form factor that enhances commercial and military fiber optic systems for a variety of applications where high resolution, high precision, and absolute accuracy are required. (Lute Maleki, San Gabriel Valley)

Microsemi & TRINAMIC Deliver Dual Motor Control Kit
A new motor control kit is now available that includes Microsemi's SmartFusion evaluation kit and TRINAMIC's motor control daughter board kit, allowing designers to lower product-development costs and bring products to market quickly. (Russ Garcia, Orange County)

Line 6 Wins Top Awards at Winter NAMM
At the recent Winter NAMM 2012 show, Line 6's new StageScape M20d smart mixing system won “Best in Show” Awards from both ProSoundNetwork and Music Inc., while Line 6's Relay G90 digital guitar wireless system received a Readers’ Choice Award. And, both ProSoundNetwork and Music Inc. named Line 6 as one of the top “Companies to Watch.” (Mike Muench, West Los Angeles)

ATEN's New Switches: 3D-Enabled & Secure
The industry’s first 3D-enabled KVM switches have debuted from ATEN, which support the transmission of 3D video signals from various sources to a 3D-capable 120Hz LCD monitor, and feature a USB 2.0 hub for flexible extension of peripherals.  Meanwhile, ATEN launched new security-reinforced desktop KVM switches designed specifically for government and military environments where security is paramount. (James Hsieh, Orange County)

INSIGHTS FOR ADAPTIVE BUSINESS LEADERS

Jason Ciment blogs on:  Testimonials & "Home"
In Customer Testimonials Make a Case for Your Brand Quality, LADezign's Jason Ciment discusses how to display detailed and thoughtfully written customer testimonials to offer users evidence of your brand’s value and relevance, and to strengthen the credibility behind your products and services. And, in Always Offer Your Users a Simple Way "Home", Jason details the benefits of providing your users with an accessible Home tab to save them browsing time and guide their navigation to your richest and most informative content. (Jason Ciment, West Los Angeles)

Dave Berkus blogs on:  Negotiating
In Learn the science – practice the art of negotiation, Dave implores entrepreneurs to read You Can Negotiate Anything, by Herb Cohn, and "internalize the three crucial variables, the many styles of negotiation, and the fourteen powers you can call upon or recognize when used by others in a negotiation." (Dave Berkus, San Gabriel Valley & West L.A.)

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

2/10 - West Los Angeles Round Table
3/1 - Orange County Round Table
3/2 - San Gabriel Valley Round Table

Digirad Gets CE Mark, Expands Network
The Conformitee Europeene Mark has been granted to Digirad Corporation for its Cardius X-ACT imaging system, which is designed to increase diagnostic accuracy and make earlier detection of disease possible. This enables Digirad to market and manufacture the advanced, solid-state camera system in the European Union. Digirad also signed a distribution agreement with Epsilon Elektronik in Turkey. (Todd Clyde, San Diego)

HeartMath's EmWave2 Featured in Fortune
Fortune magazine has included the EmWave2 from HeartMath in its feature, 12 Health Gadgets Vying to be Big in 2012, which includes: "In a society where stress is the norm, HeartMath has made a business of analyzing the physiological effects of overwhelming emotions. Early this month, the company debuted its emWave2 'inner fitness' device, designed to track and display your heart rhythm patterns and show users how their body reacts to stress."

Kaiser EHRs Securely Available on Mobile Devices
9 million Kaiser Permanente patients can now easily access their medical information on the KP health record system from anywhere in the world through a mobile-optimized version of kp.org and via Kaiser's new app for Android devices. An additional app for iPhone will be released in the coming months.  Also, KP is sharing its toolkit of clinical best practices, provider and patient education materials, mentoring, training, and health IT expertise in its challenge to other healthcare providers to increase the number of HIV-positive people getting effective treatment. (Dan Edmonds-Waters, San Francisco, and Chris Boyd, Silicon Valley)

QSI's NextGen Chosen by IASIS
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, a subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc., has entered into an agreement with IASIS Healthcare for the deployment of NextGen Practice Management and its full-service revenue cycle management offering, NextGen Practice Solutions. IASIS will deploy these services across its network of 19 hospitals in seven states to drive best practice processes. (Steve Plochocki, Orange County)

Soon-Shiong's Medical Supercomputer Featured
The Arizona Republic newspaper featured Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, in a recent article - Medical-research cache in works - which discusses Patrick's project to utilize a supercomputer, housed in Phoenix, as a one-stop shop of medical information, storing clinical-research reports, medical records, and the decoded genetic makeup of millions of patients and their cancers. (Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, Los Angeles)

Startling Numbers We Now Know About Facebook
Now that Facebook has filed its paperwork to go public, we're getting our first real glimpse at the inner workings of the world's largest social networking website. Facebook has 845 million monthly active users, and 483M daily active users. In other words, more than half of Facebook's users are on the website in any given day. While active monthly users have climbed by 39% over the past year, daily active users have increased by 48%. There are 100 billion friendship connections on the website. Facebook generated $3.7B last year, with net income of $1B in 2011, and has been profitable in each of the past three years. Divide $1B into $3.7B and you get net margins of 27%. Facebook had $3.9B in cash at the end of 2011. (The Motley Fool, 2/2/12)  Meanwhile, as Facebook unveiled plans for the biggest-ever Internet IPO that could raise as much as $10B billion, it made it clear CEO Mark Zuckerberg will exercise almost complete control over the company - with 56.9% of the voting shares, leaving investors with little say. The 27-year-old's ownership position means Facebook will not need to appoint a majority of independent directors or set up board committees to oversee compensation and other matters. Facebook could make its market debut in the middle of the year based on the usual timetable of IPOs. (huffingtonpost.com, 2/2/12)

Tech Job Cuts Moving in the Right Direction
This chart is from international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., which tracks hirings and firings. (ocregister.com, 1/24/12)

U.S. Mayors Form New Innovation & Tech Task Force
The formation of a Technology and Innovation Task Force was announced at the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors that will demonstrate how cities can support growth of technology and new economy jobs and foster innovation in local governments through technology and transparency. The Task Force, to be led by San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, is designed to identify and define mayoral innovation and technology priorities and to inform and advise the work of Congress and the Administration. Areas of focus will include Tax Reform; CEO Engagement; A New Economy Apprenticeship Program; Access to Public Data; and Maintaining a Tech-Friendly Ecosystem. (sfmayor.org, 1/19/12)

U.S. Chief Tech Officer to Step Down
The White House said that Aneesh Chopra, the first chief technology officer of the U.S. and an assistant to President Barack Obama, will step down. Chopra was appointed CTO in 2009 and has also served as associate director for technology within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. (modernhealthcare.com, 1/27/12)

SoCal IT Exits Surge in 2011
A new report tallies up $7.7 billion in information technology exits in 2011, the highest since 2000, for Southern California IT firms. The report, compiled by Ocean Road Partners, included both venture-backed and self-financed IT companies. It found an increase of 296% over exits in 2010, when $2.6B in liquidity was generated in the sector. Both years were well above 2009, which had a low of $475 million in exits. The analysis identified 73 exits by companies during 2011 - including Cornerstone OnDemand - with an average value of approximately $106M. (socaltech.com, 2/7/12)