LENOVO REJIGS INDIAN CONSUMER PC MARKET WITH 7 NEW PRODUCTS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 30 :
LENOVO on Tuesday unveiled plan to lead the transformation in the Indian consumer PC market by launching 7 new products in multiple segments.

The ambitious product line-up caters to a broad segment of consumers – from Lenovo C300, the ultra-sleek, affordable, All-in-One PC, to the trendy, thin and light Lenovo IdeaPad U350, Y450 and Y550 notebooks that are loaded with cutting-edge features that defy size, to the aggressively priced Lenovo G Series notebooks for value conscious consumers, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 netbook – the new range has it all!

Lenovo’s new products for the consumer segment emphasize thoughtful designs and new form factors. The products launched include Lenovo C300: Attractive, ultra-sleek, single-unit desktop PC that does not have a separate CPU. It has a 20” slim monitor and an in-built TV-tuner too! Small in space, BIG on features ; Lenovo IdeaPad U350: Fashionable, ultra-thin and ultra-light 13” notebook with rich performance and stunning entertainment features.

Small in size, BIG on performance Lenovo IdeaPad Y450 and Y550: Multimedia-ready 14” and 15” notebooks with 16:9 glossy, widescreen panels and NVIDIA GFX graphics for gaming and smooth HD video playback. Small in size, BIG on entertainment ; Lenovo G430 and G550: Thinner, lighter and affordable entry-level 14” and 15” notebooks with DVD burner and optional HDMI ports. Small on the wallet, BIG on value ; Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2: Feature-packed 10” netbook with larger touchpad, and additional ports for better connectivity. Small in size, BIG on connectivity.

"With trendsetting design, exceptional engineering, cutting-edge capabilities and great price range in our new product line-up, Lenovo takes a giant step in the Indian consumer PC market today. We’re proud to be the leaders in All-in-One PCs, a brand new category we created with the launch of the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 and consolidating that lead with today’s launch of the Lenovo C300. Besides the All-in-One, the new range has something for everyone combined with the trusted and reliable Lenovo service and support tag, making it an irresistible buy," said Amar Babu, Managing Director, Lenovo India, during the launch.

On Lenovo’s India focus, Amar Babu added, “A significant part of our business focus will be on growing consumers in critical markets such as India. Our priority is to streamline operations to drive down cost, improve time-to-market, and offer consumers innovative and affordable PCs across a full range portfolio from value to mainstream and premium.”

Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft India, said, “Microsoft’s Windows strategy focuses on enhancing the user experience through productivity, ease and optimization. Lenovo, with its brand equity, partner community and product range is a key partner in delivering this promise to the Indian customer. We are delighted to partner with Lenovo to support the expansion of their product line up. Now, a vast range of customers across segments will able to experience the combined value of Lenovo’s brand promise with Microsoft’s software prowess.”

According to Prakash Bagri, Director – Marketing, Intel South Asia, “When we introduced Intel Centrino six years ago, Intel changed the computing landscape with our mobile innovations. Now, simply said, we have improved virtually all aspects of Intel-based notebooks, making it the most popular and fastest growing computing market segment in the world. The various new notebooks and desktops from Lenovo, based on Intel platforms, span virtually every category of mobile computing, offering consumers a greater choice than even before.”

At multi-product launch, the company also indicated collective strategic actions it will implement to enable further growth in India. Backed by a new global structure that focuses on both emerging markets and mature markets to serve its customers better, the company's go-to-market strategy has also been streamlined to extend its reach into tier-2, tier-3 and tier-4 cities, leverage its retail network more effectively in major cities and empower its business partners. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

TRANSCEND UNVEILS NEW DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME PF 730 IN INDIA

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 25 :
TRANSCEND Information, Inc. (Transcend), a global storage and multimedia products major , recently introduced a stunning new 7-inch Digital Photo Frame, the PF730. This elegant photo frame not only displays photos brilliantly, but also contains a wealth of useful functions that add extra convenience to any digital lifestyle.

Mr. Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, said, "You can add a personal touch of elegant fashion to your living room, bedroom, and even your office and show off the pictures of your precious family, friends and special moments with Transcend's new digital photo frame, PF730, which offers exceptional quality, features and value."


The company's new 7-inch PF730 Digital Photo Frame claims a gently contoured shape with a simple yet elegant embossed pattern that makes it a perfect addition to any office, bedroom or living room décor. Aside from its pleasing appearance, the PF730 is adept at displaying photos and is able to read high-resolution JPG images taken with any digital camera at virtually any resolution-no resizing or adjustment is necessary.

Users can choose to view photos one at time, in customizable slideshows, or in a convenient tiled thumbnail view. Additionally, the PF730 has a bright, high-resolution (800x600) photo-friendly 4:3 screen, advanced NaturaTone user-selectable color modes, and an Automatic Orientation Sensor (AOS), all of which enhances the viewing experience and guarantees photos look their best.

With a full 2GB of internal flash memory, users can preload their entire photo collection onto the PF730 for sharing precious moments with friends or family. The PF730 supports most mainstream memory cards including SD™, SDHC™, MMC, and MS, plus it also features a conveniently-located USB port for plugging-in USB flash drives. Slideshows can be customized with variable image sorting, transition effects, attractive frame borders and fun animation themes that capture the attention of viewers and create a lasting impression.

The PF730 is much more than just a standard picture frame. Designed from the ground up as a true multimedia device, it functions as a full-featured MP3 player which allows users listen to music while viewing photos at the same time, and can also be used as an alarm clock. The PF730 is fully equipped to play back movies and video clips, and supports full-motion 30fps video playback. For extra convenience, the photo frame includes an attractive clock and calendar with options to mark important days-such as a loved one's birthday-with helpful reminders.

With a simple and classic exterior design, 7-inch ultra-bright screen, and a host of value-added functions, Transcend's new PF730 Digital Photo Frame is an ideal device for showing-off photos and videos. Not only it is a great way to add a bit of fun and contemporary fashion to any room or office, but it also makes an elegant gift for friends or loved ones. For further peace of mind, Transcend's digital photo frames are all backed by a two-year warranty along with the comprehensive support of its industry-leading global service network. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

BSNL PARTNERS WITH MICROSOFT INDIA FOR MANAGED SAAS FORAY

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 23 :
BHARAT Sanchar Nigam , India's telecommunications major on Tuesday entered into a long term partnership with global technology leader Microsoft to launch BSNL Managed SaaS (Software as a Service) in India. This partnership will enable BSNL to offer hosted solutions on core productivity, collaboration and line of business applications to business customers. BSNL also launched 'BSNL Managed Business Mail' - the first offer resulting from this partnership.

Based on Microsoft Exchange platform, BSNL Managed Business Mail moves beyond conventional email options to empower businesses with tools to increase productivity, mobility and collaboration at an affordable monthly fee. This will provide a range of services for businesses across enterprise, SMBs and public sector segments to enhance communication coordination by enabling them to share email messages, contacts, calendars, task lists and documents from any device (PC or mobile phone).

The partnership and launch marks BSNL's foray into managed business solutions based on the SaaS model. Since this service will be delivered via the internet - users will save on upfront costs related to hardware, licenses and installation for their IT infrastructure. Business owners will also be able to focus on their core business tasks - without any disruptions and distractions pertaining to IT headaches like security patches, software updates, monitoring and backups. In turn, this will eliminate need for in-house IT management manpower.

According to Mr. Kuldeep Goyal (Chairman & Managing Director, BSNL), "We are proud to announce a long term partnership with Microsoft India to offer a wide range of Managed services based on the SaaS model and are confident of the value that this will deliver to our customers. We are equally proud to launch BSNL Managed Business Mail as our first SaaS based managed service, and the first under this partnership. Managed Business Mail is an innovative messaging and collaboration service for Indian businesses that will provide enterprises and SMBs with rich enterprise-class email applications that deliver 24X7 access and significant productivity benefits - all at an affordable price". BSNL Managed Business Mail will be available in four editions at affordable prices starting from Rs. 420/- per month.

The unique feature of BSNL's Managed Business Mail will be its availability from the mobile platform. This implies that the service will be accessible on smartphones of any service provider. This unique facility will seamlessly extend the best in class experience benefits of the service to end consumers on the move", added Mr. Goyal.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Microsoft India) said, "Customers find value in a combination of software plus services delivered via the internet, thus making owning and managing IT more affordable and convenient. We believe that BSNL's foray into the S+S model will provide ample value to businesses looking to leverage technology to maximize productivity while ensuring lower spends - especially in today's cost controlled environment. We are excited about our partnership with BSNL for their managed services business and look forward to further strengthening our association". (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

KOBIAN GEARS UP FOR H2 2009 , NEW PARTNER STRATEGY

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 22 :
AFTER launching an array of new products including IXA Bags & Accessories , Mercury Mice , ViewCam and Espial Range of Surveillance products in the H1 2009, the Singapore based IT manufacturer, Kobian, is geared up for H2 2009 to bring out newer innovative products along with a new partner strategy and stronger marketing activities.

Discussing the strategy for the H2 '09, Ms. Sushmita Das, Country Manager , Kobian, said, "This is what we had promised our channel partners early this year !. Our focus for H1, 2009 was launching the new product range for our channel partners enabling them to have a better margin and ROI in their business. Mercury has always focused on the profitability and growth of the channel partners and thus the new product range opens a new market and customer base for our partners."

IXA Bags and Accessories cater to the Lifestyle and Mobile Essential business segment. Mercury Mice and ViewCam are addition to the existing Mercury Peripherals range which includes Motherboards, Casings, TFTs, Speakers, etc. Espial is the range of Surveillance products, which are designed for security requirements of SOHO & Corporate users.

" The market depression in late 2008 had effected all businesses. We had conciously decided not to push newer inventory into the channel as that only fuels the price cutting and profitability of all channel partners" said Ms Das. "As its said "The mind is best trained in adversity", the last few months has been utilised by all companies to re-structure themselves internally and plan a better business. We have improved our human resources and also our product offering. We are very excited with the response on the new products and that gives us the motivation to keep innovating and offering newer products and technology to the users."

ommenting on the plans for H2 '09, she highlighted, " This quarter has witnessed a positive growth in business and thus now we shall be increasing our shipments to India making the product available consistently across country. We shall be stressing on moving away from the age old practices of inventory dumping and month-end price cutting. Our channel programmes are been designed to provide a long tem gain for every Mercury partner .With our new Distribution Alliances we are confident in reaching to a larger partner base and bring value to all Mercury users. Our target is to grow all product categories and reach the deeper pockets in the channel."

After the success of H1 2009 in terms of launching new products in the market and making the Kobian a ONE STOP SHOP for the channel partners, Kobian now looks at increasing its sales and service strength to cater to the larger channel base in the H2. Kobian plans to beef up its marketing activities with more POS, IN-SHOP Promo, street shows and channel schemes, etc. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

MIDC GOES THE ERP WAY ; SIGNS PACT WITH MICROSOFT INDIA

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

MUMBAI, JUNE 20 :
MAHARASHTRA Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), the Government of Maharashtra, has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation India . to computerize multiple functions across the organization. MIDC will deploy Microsoft's ERP software to streamline processes in the corporation. MIDC and Microsoft India signed the agreement in the presence of Mr Narayan Rane, Minister, Industries, Government of Maharashtra.

A front runner in adopting IT, MIDC has already computerized its water billing system, land management system, accounting, building proposal automation system and file tracking system. The adoption of the Microsoft ERP Package, at an estimate of Rs 14 crore, is the next step in the corporations IT implementation strategy. Microsoft Consulting Services will be directly implementing the ERP package in the next 18 months; and will be responsible for maintaining it for five years thereafter.

Dr Kshatrapati Shivaji, CEO, MIDC, said, "We aim at maintaining Maharashtra's leadership position in industrialisation in India . This can only be achieved by adopting cutting edge technology to facilitate our customers and improve the productivity of our employees. The adoption of Microsoft ERP should go a long way in helping us achieve our goal, and I am confident that in partnership with Microsoft we can transform the functioning of MIDC." The decision to computerise the MIDC processes was taken during the first board meeting chaired by Mr Narayan Rane , Minister, Industries, Government of Maharashtra, during which he reiterated his support to IT adoption by the corporation.

Karan Bajwa, General Manager, Public Sector, Microsoft India, added, "We believe the role of IT is to help deliver a world-class experience, to help organizations and individuals both achieve their potential. We are delighted to be a part of the Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation's plans to computerize and enhance their services. As part of the commitment to the state of Maharashtra, Microsoft Consulting Services will be directly implementing the ERP package."

According to the agreement, MIDC will use the Microsoft ERP package, to computerize the multiple functions that the organization is responsible for. This will result in delivering better and faster services to the investor community through a single window system, a better customer complaint redressal system, faster decision making and higher employee productivity. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

NORTEL ROLLS OUT NEW SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS PROCESS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 19 :
NORTEL continues to drive the integration of communications and business processes with advanced services and software-based solutions that expand the array of applications and capabilities available to enterprises, while supporting more multi-vendor environments. The company is announcing enhancements to its Agile Communication Environment and Media Processing Server, in addition to the upcoming global availability of Contact Center 7.0.

The announcements today reflect Nortel's continued dedication and drive to taking customers to the next level of business performance," said Ravi Chauhan, general manager of Communications Enabled Business Solutions, Nortel. "We understand that in today's environment customers are seeking the highest possible value in their investments to deliver tangible, financial returns on an in-year basis. Nortel's solutions can deliver those financial benefits and lay the foundation for a business' future success."

Nortel's Agile Communication Environment (ACE) is a next-generation software platform aimed at fueling business agility and productivity. With ACE, communications functionality like instant messaging, voice, video, location, and presence can be quickly accessed via open Web Service interfaces. These capabilities can then be easily blended with business processes and tools such as customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, GPS or WiFi asset tracking, and video monitoring to create powerful new applications.

Building on ACE's leading capabilities, Nortel is rolling out Release 2.0, which includes a Hot Desking application to provide single number access to employees on any type of phone in any location. Employers can use Hot Desking to lower real estate costs by as much as 25 percent, reduce telecommunications costs for mobile employees by over 10 percent, improve customer care, increase worker productivity, and better prepare for emergencies. This solution is ideal for enterprises with multi-vendor telecom environments, as it integrates with a variety of third-party PBX systems.

A simple web browser interface enables users to hot desk to any phone with a couple of clicks and a phone call. There is no need to log into a secure, corporate VPN first or to remember complex PBX remote call forwarding commands. Hot Desking is also not reliant on a VoIP-quality network, making it a low-cost alternative to a PC soft client. Employees also win as higher morale associated with flexible working options is often cited in workplace surveys.

ACE Release 2.0 also introduces a new global architecture to further enhance integration with IBM Lotus Sametime 8.0.2, broadening the application coverage of previously announced IBM Sametime integration for click-to-conference and enhanced presence capabilities. Additionally, Release 2.0 delivers support for the Microsoft Windows Server operating system and remote call control features for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (R2 Standard and Enterprise Editions).

ACE continues to extend its purpose-built integration with third-party telephony vendors such as Cisco and Tandberg and now includes support for Avaya. Support for Siemens will be part of a future release. This latest release of ACE also brings a set of desktop tools for Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer to increase worker productivity. In the coming months, Nortel will roll out a variety of new applications, telecom infrastructure adapters and platform features, including additional mobility support and IBM Lotus Notes integration.

ACE was recently named a TMC 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year** for excellence in the advancement of voice, data, and video applications. Internet Telephony also crowned the ACE with a 2008 Product of the Year award for outstanding innovation.

As part of today's announcement Nortel is also introducing Release v3.5 of its Media Processing Server (MPS), a Web-centric, IVR self-service system engineered for power and flexibility to meet the needs of diverse call center environments. This release signals the ongoing commitment to the Nortel MPS self-service platform, which is completely open, protected and scalable.

Release v3.5 builds upon MPS' rich natural language capabilities with support of the latest IBM and Nuance speech engines; VoiceXML, to provide an environment for accelerating application development; and expanded third-party integration support into Avaya AES. MPS supports TDM or IP networks without costly re-engineering of existing data and telephony infrastructure. MPS v3.5 can be installed in current MPS 3.0 environments with a simple software upgrade.

In addition to the ACE and MPS enhancements, Nortel is also announcing global availability of Contact Center 7.0 on June 30.

Contact Center 7.0 is a native SIP-based solution with tightly integrated unified communications capabilities and hundreds of new features to help businesses drive efficiencies, reduce operating expenses, and provide better customer service. It leverages a Service Oriented Architecture and includes features such as open interfaces, predictive outbound dialing, and a service creation environment drag-and-drop graphical user interface for quickly orchestrating contact center workflows. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

IBM TO INVEST US$100 MILLION IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH OVER 5 YEARS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 :
IBM unveiled that it plans to shift US$100 million investment over the next five years into a major research effort which aims to advance mobile services and capabilities for businesses and consumers worldwide.

IBM is investing to create technology in its labs that bring simple, easy-to-use services to the millions of people who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing the Internet, and instead use their mobile devices for managing large forces of enterprise field workers, conducting financial transactions, entertainment, shopping, and more.

Through this effort, IBM is aiming to drive new intelligence into the underpinnings of the mobile web to create new efficiencies in business operations and people’s daily lives. The three focus areas for IBM’s research investment are: emerging market mobility, mobile enterprise enablement, and enterprise end-user mobile experiences. Analytics, security, privacy and user interface, and navigation will be concentrated on across the Research effort.

“In today’s interconnected world, mobile device are gradually becoming ubiquitous and helping us transcend many boundaries – geographical, economic, and social, among others," says Dr. Guruduth Banavar, director of IBM Research - India and global leader of the IBM Research mobile communication initiative. "With high penetration, simple user interface, and significant cost advantage for end users, mobile telephony holds the future of communication and exchange of information for the enterprise.”

For the 83 percent of the world that does not have easy access to the Web since via PCs, IBM is helping mobile phone users become more productive. In these locations, there is a dearth of skills, such as technological and language literacy; a lack of infrastructure, such as reliable electrical power; as well as limited availability of smartphones.

In one such project, IBM Research – India has established a pilot program that allows people, including farmers, repairmen, small business owners, and consumers, to post, retrieve or exchange timely information via voice on cellphones. Content – such as weather and ocean conditions, grain prices, advertisements, bus schedules, news, class schedules, product catalogues, health information and available services appointments – is created and updated by entrepreneurs and municipalities.

Low cost, high bandwidth, wireless access, and PC-like information processing power are accelerating the promise of the mobile phone as a compelling platform for accessing information services. Mobile phones now outnumber traditional telephones, and the opportunities for growth in mobility are enormous. According to IBM's Institute for Business Value, the number of mobile users will have grown by 191 percent from 2006 to 2011 to reach approximately one billion users.

A glimpse of the possibilities of mobility can be found in a recent pilot performed as part of IBM’s first-of-a-kind (FOAK) program which used a technology titled “BlueStar” to develop automated mobile devices and application management services for insurance claims processing. The pilot enabled an insurance enterprise to significantly reduce the amount of time required to process claims by leveraging mobile technology to locate and dispatch the most appropriate and available claims adjusters for each case. IBM’s FOAK program pairs IBM's scientists with clients to explore how emerging technologies can solve real world business problems.

“Mobility and the associated analytics will change virtually every enterprise business process,” said Paul Bloom, chief technology officer, IBM Telecom Research. “It will change the relationship between enterprises and their customers, their employees and their partners.”

One example of how mobility will change the relationship between enterprises and the end user can be found in a project at IBM’s Haifa Research Laboratory with Taiwan Mobile, the second largest telecommunication company in Taiwan. Here IBM is analyzing customer information to get manageable business intelligence based on evolving user preferences, users context and transaction history.

IBM Research comprises approximately 3,000 scientists in eight major laboratories around the globe. IBM also has more than 20,000 software developers in 75 development labs in 18 countries. IBM has earned the most U.S. patents for 16 consecutive years, and five of its researchers have been the recipients of the Nobel Prize. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

TRANSCEND UNVEILS MP680 DIGITAL MUSIC PLAYER IN INDIA

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 :
TRANSCEND Information, Inc. (Transcend), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, has unveiled its new MP860 digital music player in the Indian market. Equipped with a high-contrast 2.4-inch full color screen and a multitude of powerful features, the MP860 offers a brand new portable entertainment experience.

Mr. Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, said, "Indian people have an insatiable appetite for music and they want it to be available to them all the time. As such, Transcend, keeps improving upon its digital music players range and we have launched our new MP860 player in the Indian market. The new MP860 player features an elegant design with a carefully crafted shape and a smooth finish making it look real stylish. It is comfortable to hold and has a pleasant tactile feel. Currently available in two capacities, 4GB (Black) and 8GB (White), Transcend's versatile MP860 is a definite must-have digital music player and can fulfill the portable entertainment needs of consumers in all segments."

Transcend's MP860 digital music player features superb sound quality, with support for newer file formats such as FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and OGG, as well as MP3, WMA, WAV, and even WMA-DRM10 protected music files.

In addition, the MP860's advanced equalizer effects, including SRS WOW HD and user-customizable options, allow sound output to be tailored to match specific music tastes and styles. Thanks to the player's large built-in speaker, users can listen to great sounding music without headphones and easily share their favorite songs with relatives and friends.

More than just a music player, the MP860 is also designed for playing MPEG4 SP(XVID) and FLV movies with excellent audio and video quality on its bright and colorful 2.4-inch high-resolution screen. For storing videos, music and photos, the MP860 comes with up to 8GB of built-in memory, and also features a convenient microSD™/microSDHC™ expansion slot for virtually unlimited digital entertainment- anytime, anywhere.

Aside from its portable entertainment prowess, the versatile MP860 also offers an impressive collection of value-added functions. For instance, the player's line-in feature can be used to record music from an external source such as a CD player, and its A-B repeat and variable track playback speeds are indispensable tools for language learning.

The player also includes an FM radio, a voice recorder, a page-by-page text file reader, and karaoke-style synchronized lyrics display with support for 13 different languages. All of the MP860's functions can easily be accessed via its specially designed intuitive interface and navigation buttons. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

CONSUMER ONLINE SPEND IN ASIA PACIFIC SET TO HOLD STEADY

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12 :
UNFAZED by challenging economic conditions, online spending as reported by consumers in Asia Pacific in the last quarter of 2008 held stt year (ended December 2008). This figure is close to the reported aeady as compared with the previous two quarters, according to the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor.

According to the survey, online shoppers from Singapore (US$4,018), Hong Kong (US$3,791) and India (US$3,442) reported to have spent the most in the 12 months ended December 2008. Online spending in these countries and territories also saw the largest quarter-on-quarter increases. Those from Hong Kong said they spent more than double what they had spent in the previous survey period while spending in India and Singapore rose by 42 percent and 34 percent respectively .

Uttam Nayak, country manager, South Asia, Visa said: “Our survey shows that online shopping appears to be resilient in the uncertain economy. As consumers are expected to keep a close eye on their finances, the ability to browse a wide range of retail offerings to compare prices and seek cheaper buys on the internet seems to be leading budget conscious consumers to shop online.”

Among the categories surveyed, the top three biggest online spend areas were all travel related services. According to the survey, the highest areas of spending in the past 12 months were airline/airline tickets (US$970), online travel agents (US$647) and travel accommodation (US$527).

Uttam Nayak said ,“The internet has strong appeal to Asia Pacific consumers with wanderlust. From securing cost-saving internet deals to making accommodation reservations, armchair consumers are tuned to the convenience of shopping for travel services online.”

Cross-border transactions over the internet were reported to have risen in all the countries and territories surveyed. According to the average spend per transaction as reported by respondents taking the survey, cross-border online spending rose by nearly 40 percent – from US$263 in Q3 2008 to US$368 in Q4 2008.

On average, respondents said they spent US$316 in the past 12 months on cross-border transactions. Respondents from Japan (US$517) said they spent the most on cross-border purchases, followed by Singapore (US$372) and India (US$350).

The trend to shop online looks set to continue with 81 percent of respondents stating they were likely to shop online again in the next 12 months with respondents from Korea (96 percent), Japan (90 percent) and Australia (83 percent) the most likely to make purchases online in the region.

Uttam Nayak added, “With four in five respondents (81 per cent) indicating that they would shop online in the next 12 months, our Visa survey gives some guidance to online retailers who would like to attract and retain customers. Whether it is to showcase their best deals online or to instill confidence in their customers by displaying signs of good website security, such tactics should be considered by online retailers looking to increase their e-commerce volumes.” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

COMMUNICATIONS, IT MINISTRY TO SET UP TASK FORCE TO MAKE INDIA A HARDWARE HUB : RAJA

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 :
THE Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. A. Raja disclosed here that his Ministry would shortly set up a task force with IT & Telecom experts from ASSOCHAM & NASSCOM including Senior government officials to assess cost effectiveness of telecom devices and services so that India emerges a lead hardware and software manufacturing hub.

Addressing a 20 members delegation of ASSOCHAM under leadership of Managing Director, Intel , Mr. C. S. Rao, Mr. Raja disclosed that the task force will assist the Ministry of Communication and IT in making future projections of India's IT and software potential.

The other responsibility of the task force would be to suggest to the government as to how India could become self reliant in hardware and beat country China in hardware manufacturing and establish India's supremacy in telecom and IT, hinted Mr. Raja.

The other members of the ASSOCHAM delegation comprised its Secretary General Mr. D. S. Rawat, Senior Executives of Reliance Communications, Huawei, Sistema, Tulip Telecom, AUSPI etc.
The Minister also hinted that the further reduction in the telephone tariffs both domestic and international are being looked at by the new government.

"Local mobile call prices may tumble to 10 paisa a minute (the current average tariff is 60 paisa) and national long distance call prices to 25 paisa a minute (from Re 1 now)" said Mr. Raja.

Mr. Raja further said that the Ministry will now have a comprehensive look of both the Communications and Information Technology Sectors in India including the cost of the equipments, custom duties and other taxes.

The ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee urged the Ministry to relook the tax structure on the services and the components. They also requested the Ministry to consider the growth of the mobile phone sector as a basis and make such policies to also broadbase the Broadband in India.

Earlier in the day the ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee met in the ASSOCHAM house to discuss the modalities of organising their flagship program "5th ASSOCHAM Global Telecom summit" in July this year.

More then 20 companies including the telecom associations like COAI, AUSPI, ITU/APT foundation, TEMA were represented. The members deliberated on various issues including the slow growth of broadband, cost of terminals and other equipments, infrastructure, performance, rural telephony etc. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

GLOBAL IT MAJORS BAND TOGETHER ; UNVEIL ENERGY SAVING INITIATIVE

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 08 :
THE climate savers computing initiative, a global programme driven by major IT companies including CSC, Dell, Google, HP, Intel, Lenovo, and Microsoft, has launched its India chapter. Started in the United States in 2007, CSCI is a non-profit group of eco-conscious consumers, businesses and conservation organizations promoting adoption of smart technologies in everyday business and personal computing which can improve the efficiency of a computer's power delivery and reduce the energy consumed when the computer is in an inactive state.

It is estimated that there are currently more than 1 billion desktop and notebook computers in use globally. It is projected this number will increase to 2.25 billion by 2015. In a typical desktop PC, more than half of the power is wasted as heat and it never reaches the processor, memory, disks, or other components.

Even servers, which are typically more efficient than desktops, still waste 30 to 40 percent of the power utilised. Most of today's desktop PCs are capable of automatically transitioning to a sleep or hibernate mode when inactive for a sustained duration, however, in about 90 percent of systems this functionality has been disabled. This results in higher energy consumption and an increase in electricity usage.

According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker for 4Q08, there will be 4.1 million more desktop PCs and 2.4 million more notebook PCs in use in India in 2009. By 2010, the country's installed base of PCs will reach 47 million units. Today, IT users generally lack awareness about the power-saving features already built into present-day machines. All in all, this adds up to tremendous waste of energy every day.

The launch of India's climate savers computing chapter is led by Intel, Dell, HP, Google and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

"Ours being a part of this industry movement in India will help abate climate change. Computers have helped India transform into an efficient emerging economy, with increased productivity from online transactions, reduced travel and more," said Rahul Bedi, Director of Corporate Affairs, Intel South Asia, one of the prime movers behind the initiative's expansion. "With the right user behaviour and latest energy-efficient technologies now easily available to us, we can continue to drive power reduction with the usage of energy efficient computers."

India is the sixth largest producer and consumer of energy in the world. It is projected that with growing computer penetration, especially in the smaller markets, energy usage will increase. The India chapter of Climate Savers Computing and its constituents will encourage the development of more energy efficient computing devices by manufacturers and at the same time educate organizations and individuals in smart practices of power management.

"Apart from power saving modes and features available on current PCs, not many users realize that about 50 per cent of the machine's power consumption is heat loss not contributing to the operation of the machines," said Lorie Wigle, president of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

"So, as we expand our efforts with a new team based in India, we are pleased to have leading hardware manufacturers on board who can help drive a holistic combination of energy efficient, ENERGY STAR compliant product deployment alongside driving changes in user behaviour," he added.

Globally, climate savers computing was started in the spirit of WWF's Climate Savers program which has mobilized over a dozen companies since 1999 to cut carbon dioxide emissions, demonstrating that reducing emissions is good business.

According to the "PC Energy Report 2009" published by the Alliance to Save Energy (a coalition of business, governmental, environment and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide), US organizations waste $2.8 billion every year powering 108 million unused PCs. In 2009, these unused PCs are expected to emit approximately 20 million tons of CO2 emissions which are roughly equivalent to the impact of 4 million cars.

Beyond simply doing something proactive and positive for the environment by reducing CO2 emissions, Climate Savers Computing participating organizations have benefited through substantial savings in reduced energy costs.

In India, a power deficit country, the social cost of similar savings would in itself be manifold as energy saved could be put to more productive use in manufacturing or agriculture. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

MAPINFO PROFESSIONAL v10.0 FOR COST SAVINGS AND OPERATIONAL E FFICIENCIES

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 08 :
PITNEY Bowes Business Insight, the global provider of location and communication intelligence solutions, has unveiled MapInfo Professional® v10.0, the latest version of the company's flagship application for business mapping and analysis.

With more than 80 percent of corporate data including a location component, MapInfo Professional provides organizations with the ability to visualize and analyze information to secure valuable insights and tremendous advantages over their competitors, which is critical in today's economic environment.

A powerful and user-friendly mapping and location analysis application, MapInfo Professional 10.0 now includes a redesigned intuitive user interface, access to PostGIS, an open source database, and a built-in support for Layered PDF generation.

The end result is a cost-effective solution that enables organizations to gain optimal value from their data when making decisions about managing inventory, allocating resources and communicating with customers.

"MapInfo Professional is a powerful solution that enables multiple departments throughout our organization to access and analyze data relating to a myriad of town services," said Mike Mull, applications manager, Technology Services, Cary, N.C.

"The newest version provides greater ease of use, enabling users, regardless of their IT skill level, to more quickly create desired maps for improved decision-making and public consumption. The ability to customize the user interface also gives our employees greater flexibility when creating maps."

"Location-based information offers a springboard to a wealth of important geographic analytics such as customer buying patterns, demographic and lifestyle information, routing directions, traffic patterns and more," said Mark Smith, CEO & executive vice president of research, Ventana Research.

"The advancements in usability in MapInfo Professional 10.0 reduces the time it takes to perform simple to complex location related tasks and projects. This significant improvement benefits organizations when they are evaluating their competition, examining potential customer opportunities, aligning resources across geographies to maximize and predict market potential for improving operational and financial performance."

Benefits of MapInfo Professional 10.0 include:
" Greater Ease of Use - A more intuitive user interface and data sharing via layered PDF enables organizations to more easily and efficiently create and share customized maps, resulting in greater efficiency and time savings.
" Cost Savings - MapInfo Professional 10.0 supports PostGIS, an open-source database, providing users with a cost-effective, open source alternative.
" Enhanced Data Access - Organizations can tap into even more data including Microsoft SQL Server® 2008, giving organizations even greater flexibility and continuing access to multiple forms of data.

"As we celebrate a major milestone with the release of MapInfo Professional 10.0, Pitney Bowes Business Insight remains committed to helping organizations gain the most value from their data when making business critical decisions. We solicited direct input from hundreds of customers to ensure that MapInfo Professional 10.0 best meets our customers' needs," said Michael Hickey, president, Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

"In today's challenging economic conditions, it's vital that organizations have the necessary tools when making decisions about allocating resources, managing inventory or aligning strategies with their customers. MapInfo Professional 10.0 provides a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution that can help organizations make forward-thinking decisions and remain competitive in today's world. MapInfo Professional v10.0 will commence shipping at the end of June 2009," he added. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES SURPASS 180 MILLION IN Q1 ' 09

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 06 :
THE Internet now encompasses more than 180 million domain names, according to the first quarter 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, Inc , the provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.

The first quarter of 2009 ended with a total base of nearly 183 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs). This represents a three percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 12 percent increase over the same quarter from last year. Total base of domain names in India was 1.4 million as of March 31, 2009, with approximately 800,000 .com and .net domain names.

Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs) rose to 74.1 million domain names globally during the first quarter, a four percent jump from the previous quarter and an 18 percent increase year over year.. Gauged by total registrations, .com remains the most popular TLD category, followed by .cn (China), .de (Germany) and .net. This composition remains unchanged from Q4 2008.

The first quarter is historically strong for registrations in the domain name industry, and Q1 2009 was no exception, with an average of 2.4 million new .com and .net registrations added each month. During the quarter, the overall base of .com and .net domain names grew to 92.4 million domain names. That total represents a two percent increase from Q4 2008, a jump of nine percent over the same quarter of the previous year, and an increase of 34 percent over the first quarter of 2007.

During the quarter, VeriSign continued its 11-year track record of providing 100 percent uptime for DNS queries. VeriSign's daily DNS query load averaged 38 billion during the first quarter of 2009, resulting in hundreds of millions of Internet users accessing websites or sending email. This is an increase from the 35 billion queries in fourth quarter 2008.

The latest VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief also spotlights VeriSign's analysis of DNS queries and DNS resolution. In addition to provisioning domain names, a domain name registry operator enables users to actually reach those domain names by resolving the domain names to an Internet address that serves the content users seek.

VeriSign's analysis reveals how the most queried .com domain names - sites like Google.com and Yahoo.com - are not necessarily the only domain names Internet users rely upon. Rather, there are infrastructure oriented domain names that support DNS servers, hosting farms or even advertising platforms and the number of DNS queries the infrastructure domain names receive can be in the same range as the many popular end user-oriented domain names with more familiar and recognized domain names. .

"As the authoritative registry for .com and .net domain names, VeriSign has a unique view into the pulse of the Internet," said Jill Corso McNabb, vice president, Naming Services at VeriSign. "DNS resolution truly comprises the backbone of what makes the Internet operate across the globe. DNS becomes even more critical to the overall infrastructure of the Internet not only as Internet usage grows but also as innovative products and services related to the DNS proliferate."

VeriSign publishes the domain name industry brief to provide Internet users throughout the world with significant statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry and the Internet as a whole. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

PORTAL FOR CHILDREN'S HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT UNVEILED

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI: JUNE 05 :
WITH a view to provide the platform for the healthy growth of the children with a perfect blend of studies and recreation chuckkle.com, a website aimed at children’s holistic development was launched here recently..

The website is a platform to free the kids from the shackles of psychological, physical, moral and mental stress. The portal has been designed by RIT International to help the kids in the age group of 10 to 15 years. It aims at not only helping them with their studies, but will also try to hone their social skills, increase their general knowledge and give them a place to express their creativity, be it literary, artistic or musical.

For the healthy development of a child, a perfect blend of study and recreation is crucial. The target viewers are children aged 10 to 15 years since they are neither too small to access the net nor have they really stepped into adulthood.

It is this transition period that even psychologists find quite vulnerable age group. Chuckkle.com, therefore, fills this vacuum since it will be an interactive website where kids can open up as per their convenience.

Chuckkle.com will not only hone the creative skills of the children, it is also providing a platform for the teachers and parents to understand their ward, and how is he doing and his psychological needs.

The website will be closely watched and monitored by the educationists, child psychologists and parenting experts who will constantly help the children and provide solution to their woes. They will also suggest measures to improve the website with more and more value additions on a regular basis. Schools will also be roped into this venture to make chuckle.com more interactive and lead towards a holistic and inclusive growth of the kids.

The brainchild of educationist and counsellor, Chitra Awasthi, chuckle.com has earlier conceptualized and designed two other custom-made website, themightypen.com and mahavigyan.com. On the new venture, Chitra Awasthi, Managing Director, RIT International says, “For me this is not a business venture rather something that is very close to my heart. Children are our future, and unless their development- psychological, physical, moral and mental is stressed upon, our future would be very bleak indeed. Children are the spine of any society. As a matter of fact, all our previous websites too are borne out of my desire to give something back to the society.”

She added that "this website will bring together various child rights organizations and give them an opportunity to work together." The Home Page of the website itself claims that children are easily bored with monotony and are always interested in new things. It is important to provide them with education that suits their delicate brains. Here one can get to play new games and participate in competitions and shop.

The website would be popularised among the target audience through posters in the schools and SMS. Besides this, there will be off line activities to promote the website and connect with the target audience where children will participate and win prizes.

The Brand Ambassador for chuckle.com is a child prodigy itself. Saloni, who shot into limelight after she won the 2009 comedy reality show Chhote Miyan Bade Miyan on Colors TV, as the youngest contestant, 7 years old, is the face of the website.

Speaking at the website launch Chitra Awasthi said children want content that is entertaining, funny, colorful, and uses multimedia effects. However, for homepage design and navigation systems, the user interface should be unobtrusive and let kids get to the content as simply as possible. Children enjoy exploration and games, but it should not be a challenge to operate the website itself. The content should be cool, but the design must offer high usability or kids will go elsewhere. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

EASTERN SOFTWARE BAGS CONTRACT FROM AIMA

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 05 :
EASTERN Software System (ESS), a premier ERP company offering cutting edge technology solutions and services to clients worldwide, has won and currently executing a contract from All India Management Association (AIMA) for upgradation of its eBizFrame ERP, which is being used by the organization for managing its back-end operations for the past several years.
 
According to Mr. Anil Bakht, Managing Director, Eastern Software Systems, “Till recently, the usage of eBizFrame at AIMA was primarily restricted to the Accounts module and some limited functionality from other modules.

However, AIMA has now decided to upgrade to the latest version of eBizFrame ERP which has more advanced features than the previous versions and will enable them to manage their operations more effectively and efficiently.”
 
Under the upgrade contract AIMA will start using some of the other modules of eBizFrame more intensively like the Inventory, Purchase and HR/Payroll modules. AIMA also plans to use ebizframe’s Corporate Portal which will be deployed on AIMA’s intranet and help them automate internal workflow within the organization. The Portal will cut down the operational inefficiencies by moving a lot of existing paper based workflow to online workflow.
 
The latest version of ESS’ eBizFrame ERP is built on the latest Oracle Database technologies. The entire upgrade process along with the implementation of the other modules is expected to be complete within 6 months. During the upgrade process, the existing operations will not be disturbed.

The company claims that has time and again outbid international majors for prestigious ERP implementation and customized web applications development projects both in terms of price and features. ESS also ranks amidst top 10 home-grown software product brands from India. 

The company has also been able to make their presence felt overseas because of their indigenously developed flagship product - eBizframe, India's leading ERP in the mid-market space. It has implemented eBizframe for clients in more than 15 verticals in 25 countries and 6 different languages.  

The company also claims to have formidable presence in the overseas markets including Africa, Saudi Arabia and Mauritius. eBizframe has already been implemented in several government and semi-government organizations across various parts of the globe including Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Riyadh etc.  Apart from this, eBizframe has also been established as the leading Indian ERP for the private sector in several developing economies across the globe.

The company has recently won an ERP implementation contract from The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), a Ghana Government Agency, an e-Governance contract from the Road Fund Administration (RFA), a Government Agency from Namibia. It also won a contract from Al Faisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to implement its flagship ERP product, ebizframe, for comprehensive automation of the University’s organizational functions.

The company also won a contract for implementation of back office systems across the entire Ministry of Local Government [MLG] in Mauritius. In India, the company won the ERP implementation contract from Haeir India and Indo-NISSIN, manufacturers of Top Ramen instant noodles in 2008. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

STRONTIUM TO RAMP UP SHARE IN INDIAN MEMORY MARKET

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 05 :
GIVEN the growing market opportunity in India, Strontium Technology, the Singapore-based memory brand , has embarked upon a drive to grow market share in India. The company is expecting to grow 15 per cent to 18 per cent in the branded memory module segment.

The core speciality of the company lies in DRAM and provides composite services on DRAM inventory management to customers and channel partners. Mr. Anshuman Gupta, Co-Founder & Director, Strontium Singapore, said "Profitability of our business partners is our top priority and we are fully committed to help our partners make smart decisions about inventory levels. If our consumers are happy and our channel partners are profitable, Strontium would be successful"

Currently, Strontium India is headed by Mr. Ajay Kogta. The company's in-depth understanding of the memory market coupled with a wide reach of its distributors and dealers provides competitive advantage in the marketplace. "Greatest strength of the company is the product quality and reliability. Even if we have one malfunction in ten thousand of products used by our consumers, but that one piece makes a user's - (may be a university student's) PC down, our endeavour is not to happen that also. The company's motto and philosophy is not to let its consumers down. Therefore, we position ourselves as the vendor of product that 'Never Lets You Down," Kogta added.

Speaking on channel strategy, Kogta said, "Strontium is functioning on regional distribution model to have better geographical coverage. We have opted for regional distribution representation i.e. we have 2-3 RDs in every major IT hub of India depending on marketplace, size and RDs strength in that province. We are regularly expanding our reach to new segments and to new regions. Indian market is quite important and very wide. Therefore channel expansion is an ongoing exercise."

On the channel front, the company's focus is to become first choice of small IT retailers and PC Assemblers in Indian market, who are the real demand generators.

He added, "For 2009, the company wants to increase awareness of Strontium products, Quality, After Sales Support amongst Tier 1, Tier 2 Resellers, Retail Partners, and System Integrators in the form of Trainings, Seminars, Road Shows and various benefits programs."

The company is also sending a weekly bulletin to its channel partners to keep them updated with newest market situations and to help them to manage inventory optimally and profitably. On the channels' side the company is going to keep working with our distribution partners to make the products available throughout the length and breadth of the country. That apart the company is also running various brand promotion campaigns in various trade media across India.

Mr. Anshuman Gupta added, "The Indian market is one of the most vibrant markets. Every technology segment from the bleeding edge to the far trailing edge can be seen in the Indian market. Market participants - the dealers and consumers - are very knowledgeable. They understand quality and total cost of ownership and not just go after the lowest priced product." Strontium memory solutions are built using 100% tested and highest quality 'Major Brand' components on world class highly automated production lines in Singapore." (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

ARUBA ASIA PACIFIC SEMINARS ON NEW VIRTUAL BRANCH NETWORK SOLUTION FOR BRANCH OFFICES, TELEWORKERS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

BANGALORE, India JUNE 04 :
ARUBA Networks, Inc. , a global player in wireless LANs and secure mobility solutions, has unveiled a series of seminars throughout the Asia Pacific region to introduce its new Virtual Branch Network (VBN) solution.

The VBN solution transparently and securely connects remote users with enterprise applications and resources, greatly simplifying the management of branch offices, clinics, home offices, and teleworkers while significantly lowering networking costs.

The solution is also designed for rapidly-deploying business continuity services associated with disaster and pandemic recovery. The seminar series will introduce Aruba's new VBN software for data center-based Aruba Controllers, three new families of wired and wireless Remote Access Points (RAPs) and Branch Office Controllers , and four VBN deployment scenarios: instant branch office, virtual call center, virtual workforce, and business continuity.

Traditional remote networking solutions replicate routing, switching, firewall, and other services at each remote location. The equipment required is expensive and the services are complex to set-up and manage. Instead of replicating complexity at each remote location, Aruba's VBN solution virtualizes complex tasks at data center controllers and pushes them to inexpensive RAPs and BOCs for execution. A centrally controlled, policy enforcement firewall in the data center controller governs user access to the network and its resources by pushing policies to dissolvable firewall agents in every RAP and BOC. These agents automatically enforce the policies for every user and service.

Since all of the complex tasks are centrally managed and automatically disseminated, RAP and BOC set-up is quick and easy. Secure one-click installation allows a non-technical person to provision a branch office in minutes, with no intervention or assistance by IT. RAPs and BOCs are transport-independent, and work with virtually any wide-area network - including 3G cellular - for instant connectivity. A RAP can literally be mailed to a remote user, connected to power and the WAN, and be fully commissioned following a single data entry.

The three new families of RAPs and BOCs feature policy-based local and remote packet forwarding, and Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology for optimized Wi-Fi operation. A diagnostics feature displays status on a simple user interface, and provides one-button debugging and one-button reset to factory defaults. Other key features of the new product families include:

RAP-2 Family: No larger than a deck of playing cards and designed for use by 1 to 5 users, the RAP-2 is ideal for teleworkers, micro-branches, and SOHO applications. An 802.11b/g Wi-Fi radio and two Ethernet ports for use with wired devices, such as VoIP phones, are provided;

RAP-5 Family: The stylish, book-sized RAP-5 includes 5 high-speed Ethernet ports, a USB port for a broadband 3G cellular modem, hardware accelerated encryption, and, optionally, an 802.11n Wi-Fi radio with integrated antennas. The RAP-5 is designed for micro-branches with up to 50 users;

600 Branch Office Controller Family: Designed to be a "branch-in-a-box" for offices with up to 256 users, the 600 family offers a broad range of WAN connectivity, network-attached storage, gigabit Ethernet, power-over-Ethernet (PoE), Express Card, and USB options. An integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi radio option rounds out the package. The 600 controllers were recently awarded a Best of Interop 2009 Award.

A single Aruba 6000 Multi-Service Controller equipped with VBN software will support up to 8,000 RAP or 600 series devices, and up to 32,000 users.

"VBN is focused on reducing the cost and complexity of branch office networking, and is one of three Aruba initiatives focused on lowering IT expenses," said Albert Tay, ASEAN and India General Manager, Aruba Network, Inc. "Another initiative, network rightsizing, targets overbuilt wired LANs by showing users how to lower expenses by using wireless LANs everywhere possible and wired LANs only where they're needed. The third initiative leverages Aruba's AirWave Management Platform to extend the life of existing wireless LANs by providing detailed management, diagnostics, compliance, and Help Desk support missing from proprietary management tools. Our seminar series will discuss all three initiatives in detail." (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

CRANES SOFTWATRE EXCEEDS CLIENT'S EXPECTATIONS ON PSEPHOLOGY PROJECTIONS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

BANGALORE , JUNE 03 :
DR Rajeeva Karandikar, Executive VP at Cranes and his team has been associated with CNN-IBN for all election forecasts over the past three years.

Presenting live on CNN-IBN, on May 16, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, IBN Network said,"Someone who must claim victory today is our resident psephologist or really a statistician, Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar, EVP of Cranes Software, (who) kept saying the UPA would be on the higher side, final figures on CNN-IBN were 210 to 225, they are likely to end up in that range, maybe a little above that Rajeev. and I was the one who was being conservative telling you keep it lower let us not go over the board."

Speaking live post declaration of counting results on the same day, Sagarika Ghosh, Sr. editor, IBN Network said,"Rajeeva Karandikar (EVP Cranes Software), Yogendra Yadav (CSDS) they really are the men of the match and they have got the projections spot on honestly."

Cranes Software has been a strategic partner to CNN IBN in analyzing exit and opinion poll data for the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The exercise is an example of the company's strong capabilities in the field of predictive analysis. It has also leveraged its deep domain expertise in statistics and graphics, and used the analytically intelligent tools - SYSTAT and SigmaPlot, in providing back end data analysis for the on screen graphics.

Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar, a well regarded probabilist and statistician and Executive VP at Cranes and his team has been associated with the news channel for all election forecasts over the past three years.

Talking about how he went about getting it right, Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar, explained,"The opinion polls that predict the composition of Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha have attracted a lot of attention over the past 20 years. While these polls provide fodder for debate across media channels; one cannot ignore questions such as 'how can surveying a small fraction of people give insight into how the country is going to vote?'

We could try discussing the situation and process through a set of examples.

In 2009, the total electorate in India was 67crore and an estimated 32 crore voters exercised their power to vote. Our sample of about 30,000 constituted a minuscule fraction of this total. Is this small sample a fair representation of the total number of voters, and can these people provide accurate insight into how the entire nation is likely to vote?

The answer to this is: a carefully chosen sample using stratification and randomization is most of the time, representative of the population and thus can be used as the basis for a broad judgment about the behavior of the entire country.

For the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, a survey was conducted by Center for Studies in developing societies (CSDS) as National Election Study (NES). CSDS has conducted election surveys for several decades. CSDS provided state wise estimates of vote shares for major parties along with other information to the television network CNN-IBN.

However, the interest of a common man is in seat projections and not in vote share projection. How do we go from votes to seats? One option could be to borrow methods used in the United Kingdom since their political system is close to one followed in India. However, in UK the voting intention is fairly stable from one election to the other (if we define ? to be the proportion of voters who voted for a different party this time than they did vote for in the previous election, then in the assessment of experts as well as empirical evidence based on surveys, ? is fairly small for UK). On the other hand, in India voting intentions are volatile and are believed to be fairly high. In a nationwide survey done in 1998 by CSDS, ? was estimated to be around 30% over a period of four weeks."

In the current engagement of Cranes Software with CNN-IBN, the role of Cranes and in particular, the role of Rajeeva Karandikar was to project seats in the next parliament, based on the state wise vote shares estimated by CSDS. Dr Karandikar has been an advisor to CSDS on their survey work in the past, including the 1998 survey referenced above.

Continuing his explanation, Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar said,"A simple mental exercise would convince the reader that in a first past the poll system (where the candidate getting the highest votes in a constituency wins the seat) practiced in India, there is no simple rule to translate vote shares to seat shares.

Hypothetically, if there are two parties 'ABC' and 'XYZ' in an assembly of 100 seats, with 'ABC' getting 50.1per cent votes and 'XYZ' getting 49.9 per cent votes, it is possible for 'ABC' to win all the seats- this would happen if in every constituency it wins 50.1 per cent votes.

On the other hand even 'XYZ' with 49.9 per cent votes could win all but one seat- in 99 seats it could have say 50.1per cent votes and in the 100th seat it could have very few votes (0.3 per cent). This example depicts that to get from predicted vote share to predicted seat share, one needs to know the distribution of votes of each of the parties across the entire state or nation.

The use of raw data is not sufficient, domain knowledge is important. Using the domain knowledge, one needs to model the votes of each major party across each constituency and then estimate the parameters used in the model keeping the objective in mind.

Here the objective is to project seats of major parties in the house (Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha). In this context, the following model has been found to be suitable: within a state, the 'distribution' of votes for a major party does not change much from one election to the next or to put it differently, the change of votes (also called swing) from one election to the next for a given party is uniform across a state. This model is fairly robust.

Using this model, one can estimate the vote shares of major parties in each constituency by using the history data along with measuring statewide vote share of each party. It should be noted that even in election for Lok Sabha, the swing can be modeled as uniform only across a state. Also, for a large state like Uttar Pradesh or Maharashtra, we divide the state in geographical regions and model the swing to be uniform across a region.

Now we need to convert these vote estimate into seat estimates for major parties. We have developed a model for this task. The model takes into account the political realities on one hand and out expertise in mathematical modeling. This technique is called Probabilistic count method and it gives good estimate of likely composition of the parliament."

This method of converting estimated vote share into seats has been proven to be fairly good and seems to be the best among feasible approaches. The Cranes Software team led by Dr Karandikar has been working with CNN-IBN for the last three years on such psephology related projects. The projections made by the team with the algorithms, etc developed using the IPs of Cranes, for various assembly elections and the recent Lok Sabha elections have proved to be very accurate for most of the elections.

The analytics team at Cranes Software is a pioneer in providing statistical modeling and solutions proof of concept and delivery. The group focuses on target markets of pharmaceuticals, environmental science, social science, telecom, and BFSI. The Company has successfully accumulated a portfolio of proprietary products in all elements of the analytics value creation process.

In doing so, Cranes has built a library of reusable components be it statistical graphing engines, computational algorithms, or data integration interfaces. These reusable components help the group of consultants do quick prototypes of customized solutions to clients and provide enterprise class decision support systems. Some products within the portfolio of Analytics domain include SYSTAT, AISN Data Visualization Software Suite, Sigma Products Suite, iCapella, InventXePM and the recently acquired Cubeware and Dunn Solutions Group. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

TEDINDIA SEEKS APPLICATIONS FROM INDIAN TRAILBLALZERS FOR TED FELLOWS PROGRAMME

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 02 :
'THE future beckons' is being held in India for the first time ever from 4-7 November 2009, at the Infosys Campus in Mysore.
What makes TEDIndia extra-special is that the TED Fellows program will include a group of 100 innovators from India and South Asia who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage. These young world-changers will get the opportunity to become a part of the TED community which will help amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Lakshmi Pratury, Co-Host of TEDIndia 2009, considers the TED Fellows program to be an intrinsic part of the spirit of TEDIndia. She states,"There is a tremendous surge of innovation at the grassroots in India. People are redefining culture, economy, society, technology and the intersection of these is creating new and empowering models of growth. TEDIndia Fellows program seeks to support Indian innovators who, in Gandhiji's words, arebeing the change they want to see in the world."

The TED Fellows program will draw insights from many disciplines that reflect the diversity of TED's mission: technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, the humanities, the arts, NGOs, business and more. The gamut of activities that a TEDIndia Fellow could be involved in include, access to education via the internet in rural areas: mobile rural healthcare networks;
low cost solar power; preservers of Indian's living heritage - across art, language, wildlife and nature; empowering underprivileged youth through education that helps them excel at competitive exams; financial literacy and business training for underprivileged women, social enterprise etc. Many more still remain to be explored!

The TEDIndia Fellows program seeks next-gen innovators who have demonstrated remarkable accomplishments and outstanding potential to positively be the change in the world. The profiles of the next-gen innovators sought by TED Fellows include those who are notably curious, passionate, open-minded and have done something fascinating for their community. They're people who have
created an idea that can change the lives of millions.

The deadline for applications for TEDIndia Fellows is June 15, 2009. The application form for TED Fellowship is available on the TED site ( <http://www.ted.com/fellows/apply > http://www.ted.com/fellows/apply).

TEDIndia Fellows program hopes to represent the diverse and exciting nature of innovation from the frontlines of change in India. The TED Fellows program is made possible by the support of Sherpalo Ventures. With such founding support, TEDFellows program invites the future leaders to apply soon and be a part of the TEDsters attending TEDIndia! (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

IBM TO BUILD GREEN DATA CENTRES , TARGETS 20% ENERGY SAVINGS FOR SISTEMA

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, JUNE 2 :
IBM has entered into an IT services agreement with MTS India, the mobile telephony services brand of Sistema Shyam TeleServices , a joint venture company between Sistema of Russia and Shyam Group of India.

As part of the agreement, IBM will design and build two green data centers - one each in Chennai and Gurgaon. The move is integral to supporting SSTL's pan India expansion plans for offering telephony services. The green data centers will help SSTL achieve 20 per ccent energy savings.

Speaking on the need to adopt energy-efficient IT infrastructure in an enterprise, Mr. Vsevolod Rozanov, President and CEO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices said, "As a global telecom player with ambitious expansion plans for the Indian market, we are aware of the advantage of adopting energy-efficient operational measures and in the process will work proactively to reduce global energy emissions. We are glad to partner with a technology leader like IBM in making our IT infrastructure - Green Friendly."

The data centre solution being deployed by IBM provides the facility to scale power and cooling automatically depending on the load. IBM will also build a Network Operations Centre (NOC) to help the SSTL team monitor and manage applications and network in a 24/7 environment.

SSTL is currently in an expansion phase with plans to launch Pan-India telecom services in the coming months. The scalability and dynamic nature of the solution being provided by IBM will ensure that SSTL's expansion plan are well-supported by a robust, resilient and Green IT infrastructure.

Shanker Annaswamy, Managing Director of IBM India . said, "IBM's "association with Sistema Shyam TeleServices is aimed at helping our client take advantage of leading IT infrastructure solutions and assets that IBM has built especially for telecom companies. Moreover, SSTL's adoption of green and energy-efficient technologies can help them optimize their resources while serving their growing customer base across India."

The Chennai site will serve as the main data centre for SSTL, while the data centre in Gurgaon will serve as the disaster recovery site. IBM has deployed cooling solution at these data centers, which will result in substantial operational savings for SSTL.

SSTL is already providing telecom services in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and has acquired licenses and spectrum to provide mobile telephony services in all the 22 circles across the country under its MTS brand name, recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands in the world. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

NOVATIUM PLANS MEGA EXPANSION ; EXPECTS 200,000 USERS BY '10

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 23 :
NOVATIUM Solutions , a managed computing services provider, has unveiled aggressive plans to expand in Indian market. For this the company has partnered with BSNL, MTNL and Tata Teleservices. The company expects to close the financial year with more than two lakh subscribers.

The company has come a long way since they launched the $100
PC- the netPC- in partnership with MTNL. Apart from various variants of the netPC, Novatium had also launched world's first platform independent device, Nova Navigator, few months back.

Novatium provides always powerful, zero maintenance computing services at affordable value for money prices starting from Rs 2999 for the netPC with monthly charges starting from Rs. 175 across India. The services include comprehensive computing experience with special emphasis on Internet, gaming, digital entertainment, online education, telephony and business productivity.

Mr. Alok Singh, CEO, Novatium Solutions aid, "India is on the verge of witnessing a computing revolution and we hope to be its engine. Our products netPC and navigators coupled with our unique business model has the potential to revolutionize the entire computing market. We are getting encouraging responses from subscribers and expect tremendous growth in the
current fiscal." (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

INTERNET RETAILERS STAND TO BENEFIT FROM ENSURING CONSUMER CONFIDENCE IN ONLINE PAYMENT SECURITY

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 22 :
WITH 82 per cent of Asia Pacific Internet users likely to make online purchases in the next six months, the uncertain economic climate has not dampened the region’s appetite for online shopping, according to the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor.

While consumers in the region say they are still using their virtual shopping carts, the survey also found that 61 percent of online shoppers in Asia Pacific are satisfied with the present level of online payment security. The top three ways in which consumers determine whether a website offers them confidence to make online transactions are through the evidence of good security on a website (76 percent), the availability of a merchant-sponsored return policy (74 percent) and proof of consumer protection from online fraud (74 percent).

Uttam Nayak, country manager, South Asia, Visa said: “With online sales in Asia Pacific expected to reach in excess of US$71 billion by 2012[2], the emphasis on providing secure online payment for the increasing volumes of internet transactions remains a priority for Visa. One of the ways Visa facilitates safe online transactions is through Verified by Visa. This is an authentication platform that gives merchants protection from fraudulent transactions. For consumers, the knowledge that Verified by Visa protects their data gives them the confidence to spend with their payment cards.”

Despite the stated confidence among respondents to shop online, merchants can do more to assure online consumers that secure payment measures are in place to guard against fraud. The top concerns among the surveyed consumers when making online payment are - the misuse of payment card details by retailers and disclosure of their personal information (49 percent each), disclosure of their payment card number (47 percent) and unauthorized access/hacking of retailer databases (46 percent).

Uttam Nayak added,“It does not require complicated procedures or heavy investment in security to help boost consumer confidence in online shopping. Our findings from this survey show that simple measures like displaying the logo of the type of secure payment platform online merchants offer, such as Verified by Visa, can translate into greater confidence for consumers to spend on their website.”

The security of online payments will be discussed at the Visa Asia Pacific Security Summit 2009 in Kuala Lumpur from 27 to 29 May 2009. The summit will bring together leading industry experts in payment security to share trends and solutions in securing e-commerce transactions.

The Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor found that in the past 12 months, there was a regional average online consumer spending of US$3,109 and the Visa Security Summit will be an important industry platform to address ways to boost confidence in e-commerce.

Asia Pacific internet users say online payment security is a shared effort among merchants and payment processing service providers. Nearly half (48 percent) of the surveyed consumers feel that the best way to boost e-commerce consumer confidence is for a bank to guarantee the online transaction, followed by the transaction being guaranteed by the payment card company (45 percent) and for the website to state that they have a secure payment method (43 percent).

Uttam Nayak said ,“Preventing cardholder data compromise is indeed a shared responsibility between merchants and payment processing service providers.

As part of secure payment strategy, Visa recommends merchants adopt a multi-layered approach to online security which includes being compliant with the PCI Data Security Standard, to help make consumers feel more confident in using their payment cards online. Besides offering liability protection through Visa’s zero-liability program, incorporating secure payment platforms such as Two Factor Authentication[3] can further protect consumers by making it harder for criminals to conduct unauthorized transactions.”

In 2008, more online consumers in Asia Pacific (42 percent) said they had tried Verified by Visa than any other payment verification system. More respondents have also used Visa credit and debit cards (59 percent) for online payments during the same period. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

TRANSCEND NAMED NO 1 USB FLASH DRIVE , PORTAL MEDIA PLAYER BRAND IN TAIWAN

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 20 :
TRANSCEND Information, Inc. (Transcend), a global manufacturer of flash memory products, has been named the number one USB flash drive and portal media player brand in Taiwan, based on a recently released 2008 retail market report by German research firm, GfK Group.

Mr. Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC and APAC, Transcend, said,“We are extremely proud to have received this recognition and would like to extend our gratitude to our customers who have placed their trust in our brand and have bought our products. We are confident that we can manage this remarkable feat time and again as Transcend is continuously winning new customers because of our consistent quality and value-for-money products range.”

In the Asia Pacific region, GfK's "No.1" awards were presented to each participating country's top-selling brands in different product categories according to GfK retail audit data. The awards are based on total unit sales from January 2008 to December 2008. To receive an award, the brand must be in general distribution in the country to which the award is related, and also be number one in unit sales.

Transcend has recently made great strides in the areas of channel management and brand development, and now enjoys a worldwide leading position in the NAND Flash market. Already a global leader in the manufacture of DRAM and flash memory products, Transcend will continue to move forward, utilizing its ability to develop advanced technology to provide comprehensive product and service solutions to its customers around the world.

The GfK Group is one of the largest market research companies in the world. Founded in 1934, the group employs a staff of about 10,000 people working in 115 operating companies to deliver knowledge on markets and sectors that cover more than 100 countries across the world. Its research activities are divided into five business divisions: Custom Research, Retail and Technology, Consumer Tracking, Media and HealthCare. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

MICROSOFT, POLYCOM EXPAND RELATIONSHIP TO ENHANCE UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, COLLABORATION SOLUTIONS

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 20 :
POLYCOM , Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are strengthening their strategic relationship to deliver one of the broadest and most powerful sets of voice and video solutions for unified communications and collaboration.

As part of Microsoft’s vision to broaden the availability of Microsoft RoundTable, Polycom has licensed the right to distribute RoundTable, effective immediately. The product, renamed as Polycom® CX5000 Unified Conference Station, will be available through Polycom and its extensive channel network.

Known respectively for innovative collaboration solutions, Microsoft and Polycom are working together to help customers enhance team communication and collaboration with voice and video conferencing. As a leader in telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, Polycom continues to expand the market for visual communication with a range of new solutions that will put video conferencing and collaboration capabilities into general purpose, point-to-point, and multipoint environments.

The CX5000 adds to Polycom’s broad portfolio and enables it to address the video collaboration needs of organisations that rely on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Live Meeting service.

Originally launched by Microsoft in October 2007, the CX5000 is a plug-and-play device that connects to a PC through a USB connection and does not require any extra provisioning or configuration – the user can walk into a conference room, plug in a laptop, and start a meeting.

The CX5000 is designed for enterprises that use Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 or Office Communications Server 2007 and want a simple way to add audio and visual communication to an Office Live Meeting or Office Communications Server 2007 session. When used with Office Live Meeting service, or as part of Office Communications Server 2007, the CX5000 combines content, a panoramic 360-degree view of the entire meeting room, and a separate view of the active speaker for a unique and engaging voice and video experience.

“Microsoft and Polycom share a long-standing, strategic relationship in the unified communications space, and we are confident in Polycom’s depth of experience and customer support in the conferencing market,” said Sanjay Manchanda, Director, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft India . “Our vision to make RoundTable available to more people in more countries has been realised with the introduction of the Polycom CX5000 Unified Conferencing Station, and shows further evidence of Microsoft’s commitment to a software platform that enables device innovation.”

“Our collaboration with Microsoft is a key component of Polycom’s vision to provide our customers with high quality unified communications endpoints that support the way people work today,” said Paul Newell, Director of Technical & Strategic Sales, Asia Pacific Polycom and Country Manager, Polycom India."

“With our expertise in enterprise collaboration, and our broad distribution network, it makes perfect sense for us to incorporate the CX5000 into our family of devices optimised for Microsoft UC solutions. We look forward to our continued relationship with Microsoft and the benefits this will bring our joint customers ," he added.

“IDC’s 2009 Top 10 list for Enterprise Networking includes the prediction that 2009 will become the year of the great enterprise video experiment which will help businesses do more with less,” said Nora Freedman, Senior Analyst, Unified Communications Infrastructure, IDC. “The ability for partners to cross-sell video and voice solutions, as well as leverage their respective distribution channels, can help to lower the barriers to entry in an enterprise, which is especially advantageous in this economy.”

Polycom offers a full suite of devices that integrate with Office Communications Server 2007. Polycom’s series of CX phones optimised for Office Communications Server 2007 includes the CX700 IP telephone, CX200 desktop USB phone and CX100 personal speakerphone. These phones deliver crystal-clear, wideband audio and provide full, convenient access to the advanced presence-enabled features of Office Communications Server 2007.

For versatile video communications, Polycom’s HDX video endpoints register, authenticate and share presence information with Office Communications Server 2007, making it simple for users to launch video calls by clicking on presence-enabled contacts to see the availability status of Polycom video and telepresence users.

Additionally, Polycom’s RMX 2000™ real-time media conferencing platform works with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R 2, allowing users to launch on-demand voice, video and unified (voice and video) conferences with other standards-based video and voice endpoints. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

INDIAN SMBs LEAD INVESTMENT IN ENERGY EFFICIENT IT

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 19 :
ACCORDING to a global study jointly released by IBM and InfoTech Research Group, even in a very difficult economic environment, Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are eager to actively invest in initiatives that reduce the environmental impact of their information technology.

The study is based on a survey of more than 1,000 information technology executives at companies with between 100 and 1,000 employees across industries and in a dozen countries including the India, United States,Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The findings show that more than 55 percent of Indian companies are going to, or have already commissioned third-party environmental audits, purchased emission credits, or have made improvements in their supply chain efficiency to reduce energy consumption. 63 percent of Indian IT enterprises have completed a retrofit of existing server rooms to increase energy efficiency, or have a pilot project underway.

Almost two-thirds of all companies globally are currently, or are planning within the next 12 months, to add virtualization technology to their servers, consolidate storage systems, or retrofit their server rooms.

"Businesses around the world have discovered that going green isn't just good for the planet; it's good for their bottom line," said Ramesh Narasimhan, Director, General Business, IBM India/South Asia. "Green IT strategies are leading to savings in operational expenditure; lower space and power and higher ROI. The findings in this report highlight how mid-size companies are realizing significant cost savings when they adopt Green IT initiatives."

Significantly, there are compelling business benefits associated with "going green" and reducing the negative impact on the environment is a welcome addition. The driving factor pushing companies to adopt Green IT to reduce their costs while reducing the negative impact on the environment is an obvious additional benefit.

The study found companies typically fall into one of four IT personalities; green advocates, smart spenders, green observers and green seekers. Green advocates, companies that integrate environmental considerations into all areas of their business, makes up about 25 percent of the companies surveyed.

Smart spenders make up 38 percent of the survey group and are defined as SMBs willing to make upfront investments to achieve a long-term cost reduction. Green observers, who make up 30 percent of the survey group, do not have specific environmental goals and need management support for initiatives to improve energy efficiency. Green seekers, at 7 percent, are interested in adopting energy efficient technology but are unsure of where to start and how to quantify results.

Saving electricity requires the measurement of IT electrical consumption, something many companies cannot do. However, the survey finds that more than 50 percent of companies have implemented some form of energy measurement for their information technology infrastructure, and about one-quarter plan to do so in the year ahead.

About 60 per cent of the total respondents weigh the importance placed on business benefits against environmental benefits, suggesting that IT initiatives to help improve energy efficiency must yield financial returns in order to get the green light.

Countries with some of the highest fuel prices in the world have not, up to this point, turned to remote conferencing and telecommuting initiatives to reduce both cost and energy consumption. The survey found while 50 to 60 percent of Indian, Brazilian, North American and British businesses are up and running with telecommuting and virtual conferencing Nordic countries have been slower to adopt these technologies.

Initiatives intended to reduce travel are clearly receiving the most attention from geographically "big" countries over the next 12 months. From Brazil to Canada, more than 30 percent of businesses will aggressively pursue remote conferencing and telecommuting strategies.

Virtualization is also being perceived as a major step in help achieving energy efficient business operation. The rate of server virtualization across most regions (with an average implementation rate of 48 percent) is evidence that initiatives with a business case comprised of clear cost savings and environmental benefits will win first. For new initiatives to gain acceptance from stakeholders who may be skeptical, a clear case for cost containment, savings or other business benefits must be made first.

Data indicates that IT equipment recycling has shown good progress. Overall, 56 percent of the companies surveyed have either completed or are implementing outdated hardware recycling programs. Approximately 23 percent of IT departments report plans to adopt IT equipment recycling and energy measurement practices within the next 12 months. 65 percent of all implementations, the study found organizations' initial goals for these projects are met or exceeded.

The Indian marketplace boasts of more than 35 million small and medium businesses and is now competing globally. They will need to gain a competitive edge to win amidst global competition and technology provides them this edge. IBM offers services, research, hardware and software specifically tailored for the SME market in India that can help midsize companies to be both greener and leaner.(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
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KASPERSKY TO SUPPORT MICROSOFT FOREFRONT "STIRLING"

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 27 :
KASPERSKY Lab, a developer of secure content management solutions, has announced that its antivirus solutions will support Microsoft Forefront codename "Stirling."

Currently in public beta, Forefront 'Stirling'is an integrated security suite that delivers comprehensive protection across end point, application servers and edge solutions with a central management console for easy administration and enterprise-wide multi product visibility.

It enables software, hardware, and services vendors to share and use security event information across the 'Stirling' environment and the broader partner ecosystem. As a result, partners can enhance the effectiveness of their security technologies and better protect customer IT environments.

The company said that future versions of Kaspersky Antivirus for Lotus Domino will detect anomalous behavior and provide security assessments based on settings established by a system administrator in Microsoft Forefront codename "Stirling" Beta 2. This usage scenario will enable the administrator to be proactively notified of potentially dangerous threats, and flag corrective actions that should be taken to eliminate the spread of potentially malicious code.

Key areas of potential interaction between Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Lotus Notes/Domino and Forefront "Stirling" were also taken into consideration by Microsoft. The ability to tightly integrate previously disparate security systems will greatly enhance the security posture of organizations deploying the combined solution.

"There's a huge emphasis on the development of innovative technology at Kaspersky Lab. Our cutting-edge technologies are currently used by over 80 IT vendors worldwide, and we are particularly pleased to see such a respected name as Microsoft among those companies. It goes without saying that we intend to continue our innovative research and maintain our position as technological leader of the antivirus industry," says Petr Merkulov, vice president, ISV & IHV Alliances, Kaspersky Lab.

The latest Kaspersky Lab technology, in particular, the new antivirus engine that was first introduced in Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009, is used in the server components of Microsoft Forefront products to provide protection for corporate email and web traffic. Embedded technology ensures the immediate detection and blocking of all types of malware, spam and unwanted content in incoming email messages and traffic from other Internet channels.

"Microsoft is working with Kaspersky to develop interoperability between Forefront 'Stirling' and their solutions, in order to give our customers more comprehensive and responsive security across the enterprise," said John Chirapurath, director in the identity and security business group at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft has geared up to collaborate with top industry vendors and provide solutions that help organizations more effectively achieve their business goals. We call this 'business-ready security.'"

The company has announced their All-India Toll Free Number for Kaspersky Suppport for the 1st time in India. This initiative by Kaspersky is an effort to reach new heights in customer friendliness & care.
The TOLL FREE number is 1-800-425-0052. This number will provide Kaspersky customers a 24/7 access to Kaspersky technical support personnel, 365 days a year.

The company said that Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 has received yet another VB100 award from the authoritative British magazine Virus Bulletin.

In a comparative test published in Virus Bulletin's April issue, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 demonstrated one of the best results for malware detection. 39 popular antivirus products participated in the test that was conducted on a Windows XP Service Pack 3 platform.

While running in "on-demand scanning" and "real-time protection" modes, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 neutralized 100 per cent of the viruses from the Wildlist collection as well as from a collection of worms/bots and polymorphic viruses. The Wildlist collection, created prior to 20 February 2009, included several variants of the widespread Kido (Conficker) malicious program.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 finished among the top three products following RAP (Reactive and Proactive) testing, a new format introduced by Virus Bulletin to show how products perform against the latest malware that has emerged around the world. With a score of 92.2%, the Kaspersky Lab solution performed significantly better than the vast majority of software being tested. The company's product also came out on top in terms of proactive detection of unknown threats. Throughout testing, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 did not produce a single false positive.

"Kaspersky's latest product version has a number of added layers of security beyond the standard anti-malware tested here," Virus Bulletin's article states. "The new design is very usable as well as visually appealing, and provides plenty of options for fine-tuning the protection levels to suit the individual user. Detection rates were superb."

The authors of the review also stressed the high performance levels of Kaspersky Lab's solution while running in "on-demand scanning" and "real-time protection" modes.

" Virus Bulletin is actively developing its antivirus testing methods and introducing new test formats. The RAP test, performed for the first time this year, is much closer to the real-life conditions that antivirus solutions have to work in and gives a clearer picture of a product's strong points, which wasn't always possible with the standard VB100 test," said Alexander Gostev, the Head of Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab.

"A comparison of the products' reactive and proactive detection capabilities clearly reflects the amount of attention vendors are paying to heuristic detection methods and response time. I am glad to see that the results of the latest RAP test confirm Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009's leading role in these areas," Gostev concludes.

The company has announced comprehensive protection against Internet threats for Windows 7 Beta users with Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7.Kaspersky Lab released its technical antivirus prototype providing greater efficiency and complex antivirus protection at the beginning of January 2009 together with launch of beta test version of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system

" Kaspersky Lab will provide Windows 7 users with a security option that is easy-to-manage, and helps protect their valuable data without slowing them down," said Alexey Kalgin, Director, Product Marketing, Corporate Business Division, Kaspersky Lab. "Our technical prototype was installed by more than 300,000 people over two and a half months. Thanks to collaboration with Microsoft, we have received an exceptional amount of valuable feedback from testers that will enable us to ensure that our products are fully compatible with Windows 7 upon final release."

"We are working with with Kaspersky Lab as they develop and test their suite of offerings for Windows 7," said Michael Angiulo, General Manager of Windows Planning and PC Ecosystem at Microsoft Corp. "Our mutual end goal is to deliver to customers increased productivity, manageability and mobility for highly secure, reliable data access."

Based on the recent beta evaluations, Kaspersky Lab has received positive feedback regarding the speed, reliability and stability of Windows 7 protection. Kaspersky Lab's suite of security offerings will be available to Windows 7 users immediately following the launch of the new operating system. Through its collaboration with Microsoft, Kaspersky Lab is committed to providing premium Internet threat protection to users of Windows 7, the new generation of the world's most popular PC operating system. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

SEAGATE ZEROES IN ON BUILDING LIQUIDITY ; REPORTS $2.1 BILLION REVENUE

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 27 :
SEAGATE Technology reported results for the quarter ended April 3, 2009 of 38 million disk drive unit shipments, revenue of $2.1 billion, a net loss of $273 million and net loss per share of $0.56. Net loss and net loss per share for the quarter include $18 million of purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions, and restructuring and related accelerated depreciation charges of $36 million.

The aggregate impact of these items is a $54 million loss or approximately $0.11 per share loss. Of the $36 million for restructuring and related accelerated depreciation charges, $11 million was for accelerated depreciation charges recorded in product development expense and $25 million was restructuring and substantially relates to global headcount reductions.

For the nine months ended April 3, 2009 the company reported results of disk drive unit shipments of 123 million, revenue of $7.5 billion, a net loss of $3.0 billion, and net loss per share of $6.17. Net loss and net loss per share include $56 million of purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions, charges related to restructuring activities of $181 million, a charge of $271 million that reflects an unfavorable adjustment to the valuation allowance related to the company's deferred tax assets and a $2.3 billion charge relating to the write-off of goodwill and other long-lived assets.

The aggregate impact of these items is a $2.8 billion reduction in earnings, or a decrease of approximately $5.75 per share. Of the $181 million in restructuring related charges, $55 million was for accelerated depreciation charges, with $30 million recorded in cost of revenue and $25 million in product development expense. The majority of the remaining balance of the restructuring charges relate to global headcount reductions.

"We are improving our operational performance," said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman and chief executive officer. "As a result, assuming a relatively stable business environment, we believe we can improve margins and reach profitability within fiscal year 2010."

While there are signs of improved visibility, the ongoing uncertainty in global economic conditions makes it difficult to predict product demand and other related matters, which makes it more likely that Seagate's actual results could differ materially from current expectations.

For the June quarter, in light of the company's view of the current market environment, the company is planning for the overall demand for disk drives to be relatively flat as compared to the March quarter. Consequently, the company expects revenue to be approximately $1.9 - $2.2 billion and gross margin as a percent of revenue to improve by 300-400 basis points as compared to the March quarter. Product development and marketing/administrative costs are expected to decrease to approximately $340 million while other income and expense is expected to be an expense of approximately $40 million. Net loss per share is expected to be between $0.37 - $0.47, which includes approximately $41 million or $0.08 per share for restructuring, purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions.

The fiscal fourth quarter 2009 outlook does not include the impact of any future mergers, acquisitions, dispositions or other business combinations, financing or potential new restructuring activities the company may undertake.

As part of the company's ongoing cost structure alignment, additional restructuring actions are currently being addressed. The company believes opportunities exist to reduce operating costs in product development, marketing/administrative and manufacturing areas to target a cost structure that generates positive cash flow and earnings within its fiscal year 2010. Consequently, the company expects to incur restructuring charges in the June quarter of an undetermined amount.

The company remains focused on building liquidity and strengthening its balance sheet over the long-term. To that end, Seagate has taken actions and obtained sources of liquidity to support the business while the current negative economic condition persists. The results of these decisions and actions include:

· On April 3, 2009, Seagate entered into a Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement the purpose of which is to increase the company's flexibility in meeting its obligations under its existing credit agreement, executed on September 19, 2006.

· On April 16, 2009, Seagate priced $430 million of 10% senior secured second-priority notes due 2014. The net proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment or repurchase of all or some of the company's $300 million aggregate principal amount of floating rate senior notes due October 1, 2009 and other indebtedness.

· Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments increased $172 million quarter-over-quarter, to $1.5 billion.

· Compared to the prior quarter, days sales outstanding (DSO) was down five days to 37 days, days payable outstanding (DPO) decreased by one day to 63 days and days of inventory outstanding (DIO) decreased by 11 days to 26. In aggregate, our cash conversion cycle decreased by 15 days to zero. Improvement in DSO reflects the linearity of shipments during the quarter, while the improvement in DIO is a result of reducing inventory by roughly 28%.

· Investment in capital equipment during the March quarter was $59 million and for the first nine months of the company's fiscal year 2009 was approximately $553 million. The company currently expects fiscal 2009 investment in capital equipment to be approximately $650 million. Based on the company's current macroeconomic view it expects fiscal year 2010 capital investment to be approximately $450 million.

· Management has recommended and the board has adopted a policy of not paying a quarterly dividend. This action coupled with the reduction of the dividend in January 2009 reduces cash obligations by about $230 million annually. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)

SAP EXPANDS GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM WITH SAP CO-INNOVATION LAB IN BANGALORE

Thesynergyonline Infotech Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 26 :
SAP AG has opened the third SAP Co-Innovation Lab, at SAP Labs India in Bangalore, which joins existing labs in Palo Alto, California, and Tokyo, Japan. In operation since October 2008, the SAP Co-Innovation Lab Bangalore offers a hands-on environment for SAP, independent software vendors (ISVs), system integrators (SIs) and technology partners to work together with customers on current and future technologies to showcase how companies can increase competitive advantage and improve efficiencies.

The co-innovation lab network was established by SAP to provide a physical environment for SAP, customers and partners to collaborate on solutions and offerings that will help solve and address today's most pressing business challenges and opportunities. Expansion of the lab network around the globe broadens the pool of talent working on solutions and brings a wide array of expertise and knowledge to the
table.

Initially, the SAP Co-Innovation Lab Bangalore will closely engage with the following partners: Arteria Technologies, Cisco, Cognizant, F5 Networks, Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corp., Intelligroup, KLG Systel ., Larson & Toubro Infotech , MindTree , MobileOne I.P, NetApp and Wipro Technologies. Asian Paints, India's major paint company with operations in 21 countries, is actively co-innovating with SAP and partners in the lab as a marquee customer.

"At SAP, we believe in the philosophy that collaborative innovation can make a bigger impact to the industry," said Kush Desai, managing director, SAP Labs India. "Working in synergy with our partners and customers and starting early in the development cycle helps us in building future products that address technology needs in a comprehensive manner. These products not only help our customers empower their employees with decision-making tools that streamline their processes, but they also enable companies to respond quickly to the ever-changing needs of their customers. With the launch of the SAP Co-Innovation Lab in Bangalore, we are delighted to broaden the reach of the network of SAP Co-Innovation Labs directly to our Indian ecosystem."

With its ever-growing base of engineers and developers, coupled with new generations being raised with an increased focus on software and technology, India is a logical choice to serve as host of a new SAP Co-Innovation Lab. Members of the lab in Bangalore identify opportunities to address pressing business needs and actively engage with experienced SAP partners and other customers to help drive adoption of service-oriented architecture (SOA).

The SAP Co-Innovation Lab hosts a simulated heterogeneous datacenter integrating hardware and infrastructure software from SAP and participating sponsors. SAP Co-Innovation Lab members have a hands-on environment where they can work on proof-of-concepts and build and test new business processes and SOA solutions. The lab also promotes new and innovative applications and technology solutions to SAP customers through joint seminars, community discussions and events.

In addition, the lab provides onsite and online demo theaters and landscapes to address a broader variety of topics, best practices and solution maps.

Wipro Technologies, an SAP global services partner and one of India's best-established technology firms, was one of the first to benefit from the secure, creative environment of the SAP Co-Innovation Lab. Wipro developed its Insurance Claims Analytics solution by working on a platform specially developed in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, combining its experience in business intelligence (BI) and strong global insurance domain expertise with SAP(r) BusinessObjects(tm) XI 3.1 solutions.

The collaborating in the secure environment of the lab, Wipro and SAP were able to create a solution that will have a tremendous impact on the industry's future profitability, competitiveness and compliance levels, as it targets property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers.

"Insurance Claims Analytics is a perfect illustration of the kind of breakthrough innovations that will be developed at the SAP Co-Innovation Lab and introduced in the market," explained K. R. Sanjiv, vice president, Business Technologies Services, Wipro Technologies. "The environment is ideal for exploration within the different solution sets, and by being a member and partner of the global network of SAP Co-Innovation Labs, we can continue to develop solutions that are
insightful and proactive."

The SAP Co-Innovation Lab equips partners with the ability to explore new ideas and propositions that address customer needs, increasing the value to the customer at a more rapid pace. Arteria Technologies, an SAP partner that specializes in enterprise application services, has worked in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab on both mobile- and Adobe-based solutions, with incredible results.

"In collaborating with SAP in a co-innovation lab secure workspace, we have achieved faster development cycles and ramped up the go-to-market strategy for our solutions," said Parag Jain, CTO, Arteria Technologies. "We will greatly benefit in terms of accelerated sales with the solution built in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab and offered via SAP EcoHub - the premier online marketplace for SAP customers."

Asian Paints ., a longtime SAP customer, has been actively engaged with the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, which has helped it to address several key business challenges. The management of Asian Paints Ltd. was becoming increasingly concerned about incorporating mobility into its systems as a key factor in conducting smart business.

To address this,an innovation scenario piloted at the lab leveraged the mobile capabilities in SAP NetWeaver with partner solutions built on the hand-held devices commonly used by its sales force. The solution helps empower its business users to make instant, critical decisions in the field. As an active customer in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, Asian Paints experienced the rapid build of innovative solutions by collaborating with MobileOne and SAP to evaluate mobile client solutions and mobile technology infrastructure, giving the company an invaluable way to manage business and information on the go.

Another business scenario linked Asian Paint's existing shop floor control systems with SAP's flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, SAP(r) ERP , to enable better reporting and effective decision-making. Asian Paints worked with SAP and KLG Systel to connect its batch control system with the production planning and plant information functionality in the SAP landscape using the SAP(r) Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence application (SAP MII). The pilot developments were in the area of tank farm management, modeling shop floor execution rules and KPI reporting, which helped the company develop the information architecture for its manufacturing operations.

"The SAP Co-Innovation Lab is a unique project-based innovation environment that enabled active collaboration among SAP experts, SAP partners and Asian Paints to successfully pilot solutions that addressed some of our critical pain-points," said Aashish Kshetry, general manager, Systems, Asian Paints Ltd. " What has impressed us most is the fact that we have been able to manage these projects remotely using the lab's sophisticated landscape provisioning and its collaboration workspace framework for private project-based collaboration."

"The expansion of our co-innovation lab network serves to accelerate collaborative innovation and create a thrust on market-oriented
technology solutions," said Satyajit Singh Mecker, senior vice president, Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP AG. "SAP partners will gain strategic insights into our technology road map and our customers' needs. As a result, they will be able to align a competitive go-to-market strategy for their offerings internationally."

More than 10,000 customers, partners and industry experts are convening at SAPPHIRE(r) 2009 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that help today's best-run businesses achieve clarity in every area of their operations. SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion each year where senior executives, business managers and decision-makerscan come together to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE 2009 will be held in Orlando,Florida, May 11-14. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)