MUMBAI,
MARCH 11 : WITH over 33 major languages and 1652 dialects, India is a nation
of diverse cultures and languages. About 95 percent of the nation’s population
prefers working in their regional language – while just about five percent
conducts its business in English.
It
is obvious that the disparity in language usage contributes to the digital divide.
Since 1998, when Microsoft India identified localization as a key catalyst for
effecting ushering in an IT revolution, the company has been working on overcoming
the language barrier to computing since.
Today,
Microsoft India showcased a host of custom made solutions for the Indian market
under its ongoing effort of making technology accessible by localizing its flagship
products. The solutions and tools include:
The
Indic Language Input tool is a set of tools that help users enter Indian language
text into computers easily and quickly. For example, one can type, For example,
one can type “bhaarat mein anek bhaashaein bolee jati hain” for obtaining
2
The
Indic Language Input tool is available in two versions; the desktop version enables
the user to enter Indian language text directly into any application running on
Windows, such as Microsoft Word or Outlook.
The
web version allows the user to enter text on any web page – such as Live
mail or Windows Live Messenger - without requiring software download. The Language
Input tool’s visual keyboard enables users to visually select and directly
enter Indian language characters. The beta version of the project is available
for free download and currently supports ten languages – Hindi, Bengali,
Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Oriya and Punjabi.
Windows 7 Hindi language interface pack (LiP) which allows users to experience
the latest operating system and its features; Windows Taskbar (Go-to spot for
launching programs and switching windows), Aero Shake (Click a window pane and
shake your mouse to minimize all other open windows), Peek, Snap (Drag an open
window to your screen’s border to automatically re-size it.
Snap
two different windows to the left and right borders for a perfect comparison),
Jump Lists, Multitouch (Interact with your PC with a touch-screen monitor, using
your fingers and multi-touch gestures, and Remote Media Streaming (Enables highly
secure, remote Internet access to home-based digital media libraries from another
Windows 7-based PC outside the home) in Hindi.
MSN Yuva – One stop online Hindi channel for the globally connected youth
of India. It offers a window into every aspect that interests Gen X, from sports,
to entertainment, to career counseling, to the latest news. It offers features
like Dosti – a social networking site in Hindi, Dil Se – An online confession
box help that helps finding solutions to one’s most intimate/personal problems
with the choice of keeping or revealing one’s identity and Fun Tadka –
The fun quotient which provides Bollywood’s latest gossip, film reviews,
tips on love & romance etc.
Internet Explorer 8 in 18 additional languages on Windows Vista/Windows Server
2008 Language Packs which will allow users to access like InPrivate Browsing,
Web Slices, Accelerators and Visual Search in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada,
Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Language Interface Packs (LIPs) in 12 Indian languages – Assamese, Bengali,
Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil
and Telugu - for MS Office and Windows. A total of 45 additional soft (virtual)
keyboards, which are free to download, are also available in these 12 languages.
Windows Live, which includes e-mail, Instant Messenger, online storage, photo
gallery, social networking, calendar, online storage, personal home page, and
more, in seven Indian languages. The languages are Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam,
Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.
In Microsoft’s most significant initiative to reach out to Indic developers,
the Captions Language Interface Pack (or CLIP) has been launched for Hindi, Malayalam,
Oriya, and Tamil. CLIP is a tool that uses a tooltip caption to display translations
for user interface items in Visual Studio 2008. This is the first tool specifically
designed to help students and beginner developers in India use the product in
their own language.
IL-POST (an annotation framework for Indian languages), wikiBABEL (a community-oriented
multilingual content creation portal) and MINT (an algorithm for mining multilingual
news corpora) developed by Microsoft Research India aimed at creating resources
to enable computational linguistics research in Indian languages.
Microsoft has been working on language computing in India since 1998, since the
first India visit of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. The idea was to usher in the
IT revolution in the country in a phased manner – and localization was identified
as the key catalyst for effecting this development.
In
2003, Microsoft India launched Project Bhasha, a cohesive effort to bring together
governments, the academia and research institutions, the local ISVs and developers
and the industry associations on a common ground for promoting local language
usage in IT. The www.bhashaindia.com portal is India’s leading community
for Indian language computing. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, MARCH 07 : THE external controller-based (ECB) disk storage market
was profoundly impacted by the global economic downturn in 2009 and experienced
an 8.6 percent year-over-year decline from $18 billion in 2008 to $16.3 billion
in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first annual decline for the market
since 2002. All regions experienced a drop in revenue in 2009; the most acutely
affected regions were Japan, Latin America, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The
external controller- based storage market in India experienced a significant year
-over-year decline of 18.6 percent from $229.7 million in 2008 to $187.1 million
in 2009 in revenue. The economic down turn impacted India during 4Q08 and lasted
till 3Q09.
"The
severity of the impact was different for different verticals. For E.g. Investments
within the telecom segment continued unabated. The ITES segment, the second largest
vertical for storage made very few investments. Storage efficiency and better
utilization of existing infrastructure were critical priority areas for a number
of CIO's, says Aman Munglani, Principal Analyst at Gartner.
"The
large monolithic/frame-based disk array market declined 21.1 percent, and for
the first time since Gartner has been reporting on the ECB disk storage market,
this segment represented less than 30 percent of the total market," said
Roger Cox, research vice president at Gartner. "This result, in part, reflects
the advancements that the lower-cost modular disk array systems have made in performance
and capacity scalability, as well as robust data services associated with local
and remote replication."
Reflecting
the increase in unstructured data and file sharing consolidation, the network-attached
storage (NAS) market segment increased 1.4 percent in 2009, while the block-access
modular ECB disk storage segment declined 2.8 percent and the special purpose
disk archiving system segment fell 31.6 percent in revenue. Year-over-year raw
terabyte shipments grew only 39.1 percent in 2009, and the price per terabyte
decreased 34.3 percent, well within historic trends.
EMC
retained the top spot in 2009, in part because of its leadership in the monolithic/frame-based,
block access modular disk array and special-purpose disk archiving storage systems
markets and the acquisition of Data Domain . (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, MARCH 05 : DELL has introduced two new initiatives designed to promote
a green approach towards technology adoption for consumers in India - discount
coupons and the Dell Go Green Challenge. These initiatives are the latest in Dell's
mission to make "being green" easy and cost-effective for customers.
Recycling
Discount Coupon - To encourage PC recycling among its consumers, consumers in
India who send their old systems to Dell for free recycling will be eligible for
special discount coupons toward the purchase of their next Dell system. This coupon,
offering a discount of Rs. 1000, may be used toward the purchase of any Dell system
purchased directly from Dell for any of its product lines. Available globally,
Dell has now extended its free recycling program for consumers in India to accept
computers from any vendor.
Dell
Go Green Challenge - Dell has launched the 'Dell Go Green Challenge' in an effort
to raise awareness and community involvement in green initiatives in India. The
challenge invites users to share photographs, videos and other innovative depictions
of key issues, concerns or thoughts on green technology at www.dellgogreen.com.
The contest will run for two months, during which the community will vote for
their favourite entries. Additionally, the forum will offer a platform for the
green enthusiasts to gather in the virtual space and share ideas, thoughts and
visions on the issue. The 20 entries receiving the most votes from the community
will be recognized online and through small gifts while a panel of judges, selected
for their longstanding commitment to environmental concerns, will decide the three
winning entries. Panelists include:
--
Mike H. Pandey - Filmmaker and conservationist -- Ravi Agarwal - Toxiclinks
(non-governmental organization) -- Sudhanshu - British Council Library --
Mohan Kannan - Lead singer of the band Agnee
The
winning entry will receive a Dell Inspiron 14" laptop, the first runner up
will receive a Dell Mini and the second runner up, the Dell Inspiron Zino. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, MARCH 01 : IN the fourth quarter of 2009, worldwide server shipments
grew 4.5 per cent year-on-year, while revenue fell 3.2 per cent, according to
Gartner, Inc.
“The
recovery that began in the third quarter of 2009 based on x86 servers extended
into the fourth quarter,” said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice resident at
Gartner. “However, it is important to put this into context. The fourth quarter
of 2008 was quite weak, so the fourth quarter of 2009 did not have to produce
huge x86 server numbers to result in an increase. At the same time, other segments
like RISC/Itanium Unix and mainframes remained constrained and that exerted downward
pressure on overall vendor revenue results.”
"Blade servers
pushed ahead with growth of 11.1 per cent in shipments and 22.1 per cent in vendor
revenue for the period. RISC/Itanium Unix servers, on the other hand, dropped
30.5 per cent in shipments and fell 20 per cent in revenue in the fourth quarter,"
Mr Hewitt said.
Regions
that grew in shipments were Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and the
US, at 19.6, 13.4, and 9.0 per cent, respectively. Canada, Eastern Europe, Japan,
Latin America and Western Europe had shipment declines of 9.4, 13.3, 1.7, 6.8,
and 4.0 per cent, respectively. Regions that grew in vendor revenue were Asia/Pacific,
Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa at 9.1, 22.1, and 9.4 per cent,
respectively. Canada, Eastern Europe, Japan, the US and Western Europe had sales
declines of 1.7, 26.2, 6.7, 5.1, and 9.2 per cent, respectively.
IBM continued
to lead the worldwide server market based on revenue (see Table 1). In the fourth
quarter of 2009, IBM's server revenue was about $4.1 billion, reflecting a 5.9
per cent year-on-year decline. IBM's market share was 32.7 per cent, a 1 percentage
point decline. System x grew, while System p and System z posted declines for
the quarter.
Of the top five global vendors, HP, Dell and Fujitsu grew in revenue for the quarter
while IBM and Sun posted declines.
In
server shipments, HP remained the worldwide leader for the fourth quarter of 2009
with a year-on-year shipment increase of 3.8 per cent (see Table 2). The ProLiant
brand showed growth in shipments while all of its other brands fell in the fourth
quarter of 2009 compared with the fourth quarter of 2008.
Of the top 10 vendors in server shipments worldwide, all but NEC and Sun had shipment
increases for the period.
The
results for the quarter were centred around demand for x86 servers which increased
in shipments by 6.3 per cent and in revenue by 14.3 per cent for the fourth quarter
of 2009.
2009
was highly challenging for the worldwide server space. Worldwide server shipments
declined 16.6 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008, while 2009 server revenue declined
18.3 per cent from 2008.
Blade servers posted a revenue increase of 1.3 per cent and a shipment decrease
of 11.4 per cent for the year. HP was the 2009 leader with blade servers at 46.8
per cent shipment share. IBM was in the No.2 position at 28.2 per cent. These
two vendors continued to dominate this form factor.
The outlook for 2010 suggests a return to shipment growth in the middle or high
single digits and revenue growth at a slightly lower level. These increases are
being buffered by the use of x86 server virtualisation to consolidate physical
machines as they are replaced.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), server shipments surpassed 676,000
units in the fourth quarter of 2009, a decline of 4 per cent from the same period
last year (see Table 4). Server revenue totalled $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter
of 2009, a decline of 9.8 per cent from the same quarter last year (see Table
3).
“The
EMEA server shipment market exhibited a single-digit decline in the fourth quarter
of 2009, which is an improvement from the double-digit decline registered in the
third quarter of 2009,” said Errol Rasit, senior analyst at Gartner. “It
also exhibited sequential growth from the third quarter of 2009. These recent
market results indicate that levels of demand are starting to steadily recover,
however customers remain relatively cautious.”
In
the x86 market, total volumes in EMEA declined 2.6 per cent compared to the fourth
quarter of 2008.”This is a marked improvement from the 22 per cent decline
seen in the third quarter of 2009. However, the fourth quarter’s growth is
compared to a weaker 2008 result,” said Mr Rasit.
In
the fourth quarter of 2009, HP held the No. 1 position exhibiting a marginal decline
of 0.5 per cent and further extended its market share lead. Dell in the No. 2
spot declined 6.5 per cent in shipments and 8.7 per cent in revenue in the fourth
quarter of 2009.
IBM,
ranked No. 3, was the only one of the top five vendors to exhibit growth, with
a 6 per cent increase in the fourth quarter of 2009. Its performance was primarily
driven by its rack-optimised and blade business. Of the top five vendors, Fujitsu
exhibited the weakest performance with a decline of 13 per cent, although Fujitsu
grew x86 revenues as a result of improved sales with richer configurations and
a new blade product.
RISC and Itanium UNIX revenues declined 22 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Sun led the segment in the fourth quarter despite a decline of 28 per cent and
a loss of 2 per cent revenue share year-on-year. HP, ranked No. 2, exhibited a
revenue decline of 31 per cent year-on-year, while IBM in the No. 3 position saw
its revenue decline 9 per cent.
For
these three vendors, the slower recovery of RISC IPF UNIX compared to x86 in EMEA
is similar to global trends. IBM and HP will release major platform refreshes
in 2010, which will ultimately delay purchases among some customers in anticipation
of the new systems.
The
acquisition of Sun by Oracle which was not complete in the fourth quarter of 2009
made some customers hold back investment in anticipation of news following the
completion of the acquisition. Bull held the No. 4 position and grew revenue by
13 per cent as a result of strong investment in France. Fujitsu, which ranked
No. 5 in this segment, declined revenue by 45 per cent in the fourth quarter of
2009 as a result of increased focus on x86 sales. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, India FEB 25 : THE worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2010 is forecast
to reach $276 billion in 2010, a 19.9 per cent increase from 2009 revenue of $231
billion, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc.
"We
have seen clear evidence that the semiconductor industry is poised for strong
growth in 2010," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner. "While
the semiconductor market declined 9.6 per cent in 2009, sequential quarterly revenue
growth was very strong through the last three quarters of 2009. After the gloom
early in the year, PC unit production growth actually turned out to be positive
in 2009 and is expected to grow close to 20 per cent in 2010, fuelling strength
in semiconductors.
Given
the sales momentum and earlier cutbacks in capital spending, semiconductor foundry
and packaging utilisation rates are approaching constraints and most regions and
applications are seeing increased orders. The key question now is: will the recovery
continue at its current rate, or will we see a correction?"
Gartner
is closely tracking the balance of electronic system sales versus semiconductor
sales and inventory in past downturns and the current one, and believes that a
minor correction in semiconductor sales is needed in the near future to re-balance
chip sales with system sales.
The
third quarter is generally the strongest quarter for semiconductor sales with
sequential growth of 9 per cent as system companies build product for back-to-school
and the holiday season. Gartner's new semiconductor forecast shows a 7 per cent
rise in third-quarter sales followed by a relatively flat fourth-quarter, which
will better align semiconductor sales with system sales.
PCs
and memory are the primary drivers for semiconductor revenue growth in 2010. "Rising
DRAM prices coupled with strong PC demand will lead to over 55 per cent DRAM revenue
growth in 2010, making DRAM the fastest growing device type by far," Mr Lewis
said.
Gartner
analysts expect the semiconductor industry to show continued growth through its
forecast period in 2014. The market is on track to surpass the $300 billion mark
in 2012 when the market is forecast to total $304 billion. (editor@thesynergyonline.com
NEW
DELHI, India, FEB 25 : TRANSCEND Information, Inc. (Transcend), a worldwide
leader in storage and multimedia products, has launched its new RDP7 multi-card
reader that features an integrated USB hub.
With
the addition of USB 2.0 ports, this high-speed 3-slot card reader can accommodate
up to three USB peripherals in addition to reading most memory card formats available
on the market.
The
new RDP7 multi-card reader sports a stylish, handy design with clearly labeled
slots and a bright LED for indicating card insertion and data transfer. Measuring
just 88mm X 54mm X 10.6mm, the RDP7 takes up relatively little desk space and
is extremely easy to carry around.
Mr.
Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, said, "All
Transcend card readers come with a free download of Photo Recovery Tool, and the
RDP7 is no exception. This useful software features a quick and easy user interface
that shows thumbnail previews of recoverable data. With Transcend's Photo Recovery
Tool, lost, deleted or formatted files are just a click away! Currently available
in black or white, the RDP7 is the ideal choice for accessing data stored on memory
cards as well as USB devices."
Combining
a versatile multi-card reader with a useful 3-port USB hub, the dual-purpose RDP7
not only bridges the gap between PCs and memory card-equipped electronic gadgets
like mobile phones, digital cameras or MP3 players, but also allows users to connect
multiple peripherals, such as a USB mouse, flash drive, webcam or printer to their
computer. Fully hot-pluggable and USB powered, the RDP7 requires no external power
source and features a built-in USB cable that snaps conveniently into its chassis
for extra portable convenience.
Fully
USB 2.0 compliant, the RDP7 guarantees incredible speed and compatibility even
when reading high-speed memory cards. The multi-card reader accepts today's most
popular memory cards, including SD, SDHC, microSDHC, microSD, TransFlash, MMC,
MMCplus, RS-MMC, MMCmobile, MS, MS PRO, MS Duo, MS PRO Duo, MS PRO-HG Duo and
M2. With an adapter, the RDP7 can also support MMCmicro, miniSD and miniSDHC cards.
The product is priced at Rs.1025 with two years warranty. (editor@thesynergyonline.com
NEW
DELHI, FEB 20 : THE combined printer, copier and multifunctional product market
in India totalled nearly 0.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, which
represents 34.7 per cent growth over the fourth quarter of 2008 and 18 per cent
growth compared to the third quarter in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc.
"This
strong growth is the result of improving buyer confidence in the market,"
said Mr. Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Smaller
towns and cities outside of the major metropolitan cities, and small and medium
businesses, were the growth drivers."
Most
vendors experienced significant growth in shipments year-on-year in the fourth
quarter of 2009. Canon led with a 120 per cent increase, followed by Samsung with
55 per cent and HP with 29 per cent growth (see Table 1). Other than Toshiba and
Xerox, all others vendors registered growth in the Indian Market in the fourth
quarter of 2009.
Canon,
with 23 per cent market share, again emerged as the No.1 in Page A3 Flatbed Copier/MFP
in the fourth quarter of 2009, followed by Ricoh with 18 per cent market share.
HP
with 35 percent market share, was the leader in Page A4 Flatbed category followed
by Samsung, with 28 per cent market share
Sales
of page printers grew 53 per cent year-on-year. Canon experienced 182 per cent
growth year-on-year. Samsung experienced 51 per cent growth year-on-year in the
fourth quarter of 2009 and HP with 28 percent increase in shipments contributed
to this healthy growth of single function page devices. HP's market share declined
from 56 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 47 percent in the fourth
quarter of 2009. Canon's market share grew from 18 percent in the fourth quarter
of 2008 to 33 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
In
serial Inkjet, HP grew 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 in comparison
to the fourth quarter of 2008. However, HP lost its market share by 2 points from
73 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 71 percent in the fourth quarter of
2009. Canon recorded 79 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 as compared
to the fourth quarter of 2008, and its market share grew from 12 percent in the
fourth quarter of 2008 to 17 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The
serial dot matrix segment increased 12 percent year on year with Epson being the
leader in the India market with 44 percent market share followed by TVSE with
39 percent and WEP with 16 percent.
CSI
UNVEILS ROADMAP
FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ECOSYSTEM FOR IT PROFESSIONALS
Thesynergyonline
Infotech Bureau
NEW DELHI, FEB 17 : COMPUTER
Society of India (CSI), the major association of IT professionals in India has
unveiled its roadmap for a professional development ecosystem to groom and nurture
talent in IT. Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for IT & Communications
launched the CSI Knowledge Management Portal.
The
Indian IT industry - both domestic and software exports - is carving its next
phase of growth. With renewed value proposition to customers globally, Indian
IT is estimated to clock double digit growth going forward. This optimism is further
fuelled by increased Government spending in IT. This creates tremendous opportunities
for both IT professionals and entrepreneurs in IT.
Besides
driving economic growth, technology has become entrenched in our modern lifestyle
enabling every aspect of commerce, government, education, communications and entertainment.
Increased penetration of IT and Communication technologies is playing a key role
in closing the urban-rural divide. Indian IT professionals are working in areas
that have far reaching impact on the society.
"The
IT sector is playing a predominant role in driving economic growth. It is an imperative
to raise professional standards to meet this growth. The roadmap would be a key
driver of individual excellence and talent development in Indian IT's future growth
charter and the government's vision of better governance," said S. Mahalingam,
President, CSI.
CSI's
roadmap for the Professional Development Ecosystem for IT professionals include:
*
Enlarge the pool of employable IT professionals through focused industry-driven
training programmes * Build international alliances to drive talent exchange
programmes * Use the power of IT to build local language interfaces and connect
with and reach rural citizens * Assist Government through IT System for better
Governance * Expand the domestic use of IT in business * Facilitate and
promote research and development to drive larger societal impact
The
CSI Knowledge Management Portal would be the repository of intellectual capital
for IT professionals. The portal allows professionals to discuss, debate and exchange
information on technical and management issues enabling competency development.
"I would urge professionals to leverage this opportunity to pursue individual
growth. We would also like to attract students and work closely with them to enhance
the suitability of aspiring IT professionals and help meet the talent needs of
tomorrow," added S Mahalingam. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW DELHI,
FEB 16 : KAIZEN
, a technical support provider, has has made its two branches operational at Ranchi
and Bhubaneswar.
The
recently launched unique concept "UP-COUNTRY DIRECT" allowing upcountry
customers to directly log on to www.kaizeninfoserve.com or by calling Toll free
number 1800 425 4234 and register the product with problem has a good reception,
further refinement is on the anvil, in the coming months automated authorization
would be sent by E-mail / SMS, to the Customers, Said Murali Krishnan of Kaizen.
"AOC
has been closely working with Kaizen Infoserve. in South India for more than a
year. Their support for our AOC monitors sold in channel market has been good
and showed month on month improvement in performance. What impressed us is the
involvement of Kaizen's top management in monitoring the day to day affairs and
ensuring prompt service to all AOC customers.
For
PC-monitors, AOC gives 3 years on-site warranty all across India - be it in a
city or town or panchayat. This is possible only when we have dedicated partners
like Kaizen who can expand their operations in short notice to cover maximum possible
geography. Its a pleasure to know that Kaizen is expanding their reach in East
India and we wish Murali and his team all the best in delivering prompt service
for all its customers." Commented AOC's Spokesperson.
"With
Upcountry Direct, even the remotest of customers of Corsair can now enjoy the
same warranty services enjoyed by those in major cities." commented Shane
Dennison.
"Direct
presence and UP-COUNTRY DIRECT are two different flavours of service , as "Keeping
up our commitments to clients West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Direct presence
is an ideal RMA solution eliminating typical warranty problems by reducing courier
costs, TAT.
"Kobian" feels it is important to reward our best performing partners
using "Mercury" so new branches are in direct response to the considerable
increase in the market share in these states, which provide the required Vitamin
to the upcountry market sales with UP-COUNTRY DIRECT." commented Sushmita
Das of Kobian . (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, FEB 15 : FOURSOFT , a global player offering software solutions for
transportation and logistics, has recently signed a contract with Len Lothian
, to implement its warehouse management system - 4S eLog across its locations.
Family
- owned and operated company Len Lothian has been in the storage business for
over 45 years offering 3PL logistics services to industry clients and self storage
services to the general public from its five sites located over the cities of
Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In
addition to traditional pallet storage, Len Lothian also provides archive storage
and document management as one of its services. As the demand for this service
has increased, real time visibility and tracking of items from pallet through
to single policy documents, has become increasing difficult without a best of
breed management system in place.
After
reviewing several software vendors Four Soft’s WMS, 4S eLog, was selected
due to its flexible nature, simple user interface and easy to use web login access
for Len Lothian’s customers to book stock in, place orders and have instant
access to KPI’s and stock levels from anywhere in the world with an internet
connection.
4S
eLog built on the modern technology platform - J2EE, covers all aspects of warehouse
management including multiple w ar ehouses and clients being managed from within
a single database environment. 4S eLog has full RF capabilities and offers web
visibility to clients, their customers and their suppliers. With KPI reporting,
dashboard tools and extensive interfacing capabilities into business systems such
as Sage, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle, 4S eLog will help manufacturing, distribution
and 3PL companies move their products more efficiently through their w ar ehouse
facilities to their customers’ locations.
Douglas
Lothian, Director, Len Lothian, commented, “Our previous warehouse system
provided us with enough functionality for our current client base but we needed
a WMS system which would expand our service offering and keep us ahead of our
competition for years to come. After reviewing a number of suppliers we felt Four
Soft understood what we were trying to achieve and being able to handle both document
storage and traditional pallet storage on one platform is a huge advantage for
us.”
Simon
Shore, Vice President, European sales, Four Soft, commented, “We are really
pleased to welcome Len Lothian as our latest WMS customer and are proud to see
the rate at which our web centric WMS customer base continues to expand. With
this implementation, Len Lothian will now have a powerful tool to support their
expanding warehousing operations and be able to improve operational efficiency
and visibility with the same resources in place” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, FEB 14 : SEAGATE has launched worldwide shipments of its Savvio®
10K.4 hard disk drive (HDD), as the company claims, the world’s highest-capacity
and most reliable 2.5-inch enterprise-class drive.
Built
for the demands of enterprise servers and to enable new levels of data density
in external storage arrays, Savvio 10K.4 doubles the capacity of its nearest competitor
to 600GB. It is also the first HDD to achieve an unprecedented 2 million hours
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) reliability rating.
As
the industry’s only fourth generation, field-proven, 2.5-inch HDD designed
for the enterprise, Savvio 10K.4 also features Protection Information for enhanced
protection of data-in-flight, a self-encrypting drive (SED) option for the ultimate
protection of sensitive data-at-rest and PowerChoice™, which allows the Savvio
10K.4 hard drive to deliver improved power savings during idle.
“Our
customers face challenging storage needs requiring the most efficient use of space
and power while maintaining the highest performance possible,” said Howard
Shoobe, senior manager, Dell Storage Product Management. “The new 2.5-inch
10K-rpm 600GB capacity point allows a doubling of capacity within the same rack
space of current 3.5-inch 15K 600GB drives while increasing overall system-level
performance and decreasing power usage.”
The
combined features of Savvio 10K.4 deliver greater overall value and can reduce
the total cost of ownership to IT organizations and administrators eager to optimize
their data center’s power and performance efficiency. Leveraging the enterprise
2.5-inch small form factor as its platform, Savvio 10K.4 serves as a powerful
storage building block when compared to 3.5-inch based systems.
“A
transition to 2.5-inch enterprise-class HDDs by server and storage system OEMs
is building momentum,” said John Rydning, IDC’s research director for
hard disk drives. “There continues to be nearly insatiable demand for digital
content accessed via numerous applications and devices, content that is increasingly
delivered from storage systems equipped with high capacity enterprise-class HDDs
such as Seagate’s Savvio® 10K.4.” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
(From
L-R) Hilmi Quraishi - The Fellow, Solomon JP, Country Director, India, Pradip
Sarmah, Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director, Portland, Oregon, Beverly Shwartz,
VP, Global Marketing at a media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday .
NEW
DELHI, FEB 09 : TODAY Ashoka and the Lemelson Foundation organized a media
briefing in the Capital as a part of their Tech4Society initiative to recognize
and showcase the innovations of two remarkable inventor-entrepreneurs- Hilmi Quraishi
and Pradip Sarmah.
The
agenda of the briefing was The Indian Inventor Entrepreneurs and their contribution
towards Sustainable
Development.
The
initiative with support from Microsoft® strives to bring greater attention
to the importance of technological innovation in driving global development and
highlight effective strategies for cultivating the next generation of inventor-entrepreneurs
and scaling their world-changing ideas. The media briefing saw them discussing
best practices, demonstrating their inventions and sharing their vision for the
future, driven by the combination of invention and innovation.
Hilmi
Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah have been chosen for their unique and cutting edge
uses of technology, education, capital and support as tools for community development,
policy setting and poverty alleviation.
Hilmi
Quraishi demonstrated the mobile technology which can bring important public messages
to the masses. It is the technology for the future-to combat various health and
other critical social problems by delivering useful knowledge products in the
form of games. He envisages the widest and deepest reach through the mobile phone,
the computer, and the internet-the technology tools of the future.
Pradip
Sarmah presented his innovation on safer rickshaws with improved ergonomic design
and also talked about his program designed to provide a means of self-employment
for members of the poor and marginalized rickshaw community who live in urban
slums. The Rickshaw Bank" issues an asset-based loan to a rickshaw puller,
who can repay the debt in daily installments over 18 months. Now, the rickshaw
puller not only gains the economic advantage from owning the rickshaw for a lifetime,
but also has the ability to access accident & life insurance.
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
MUMBAI,
FEB 09 : NASSCOM will further enhance its focus on ‘e-Governance’
during the year. The initiatives cover the areas of e-Governance and other Mission
Mode Government IT projects at both Central and State Governments.
The
domestic sector in the past year has witnessed rapid growth, largely led by government
spending on IT. NASSCOM has been a keen proponent of e-Governance which has become
a top priority for the government. Recognizing the importance for technology adoption/up-gradation
across various government departments and the growing need to rapidly bridge the
digital divide, the government has been implementing and measuring the efficacy
of various e-Governance projects across the country. The absorption and enactment
of e-Governance policies will create an inherent need and large opportunity for
the IT industry to create an effective partnership that can help the country leapfrog
digital inclusion.
Speaking
on the occasion, Som Mittal, President of NASSCOM, said “The last year has
witnessed all leading companies foray into the India market with special thrust
on government projects. We believe that a focused initiative through NASSCOM can
help the government to realise the objectives of inclusive growth by leveraging
Information and Communication Technology (ICT). NASSCOM has earlier created sectoral
partnerships to promote IT adoption in the India market through ACMA (Auto), APDRP
(Power) and NMCC (Manufacturing).”
“We
have appointed Rama Vedashree as vice president, NASSCOM. Her rich experience
in software consulting, training, sales, e-Governance and several infrastructure
projects will be of great value to NASSCOM and the industry. We are also looking
to further our efforts towards creating an ecosystem to enable small & medium
solution and service providers to also participate more actively in e-Governance
projects,” added Mr Mittal.
NASSCOM along with ILFS; Department of
Information Technology, GOI; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions,
GOI and Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Meghalaya as stakeholders,
had also set up a National Institute of Smart Government (NISG), a not-for-profit
organization to become a Centre of Excellence in e-Governance. With Sanjiv Mital
as its CEO Designate, NISG is working on enabling successful implementation of
major e-governance projects by working closely with all stakeholders, helping
project formulation and management, capacity building and research to provide
an interface for public private partnership. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
REDMOND,
Washington, FEB 05 : MICROSOFT Corp today released its global SMB IT and Hosted
IT Index 2010,1 which investigates how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) across
multiple segments fared during the recession and how they use technology.
The
research finds that businesses that value IT as an enabler for better business
productivity and effectiveness and those that use hosted services performed better
fiscally than those that do not. Despite the global recession, more SMBs surveyed
in 2010 reported an increase in revenue than in 2008. Those that reported growth
in their respective segments view IT as critical to their business success.
"
In the past 12 months, 52 per cent of SMBs reported an increase in revenue, up
from 39 per cent in 2008.2
"
Increasing 20 points since 2008, 55 per cent of SMBs view IT as critical to their
business.
"
Of the SMBs that view IT as critical, 60 per cent saw revenues grow over the past
12 months. In contrast, among SMBs that stated IT is not important, less than
29 per cent saw revenue increase.3
The 2010 index indicates SMBs are beginning
to see the benefits of cloud computing; more than 40 per cent of the respondents
that use hosted or cloud technology reported revenue rises of 30 per cent or more
compared with 90 per cent of respondents not using hosted technology that saw
decreases in revenue. The advantages of hosted or cloud technology are viewed
as reduced cost and IT management and maintenance, as well as increased business
value, productivity and competitiveness.
"
Awareness of hosted services is increasing with 65 per cent of SMBs using hosted
software to some extent, while 73 per cent of the remainder have considered it,
compared with only 44 per cent in the 2008 Index. " SMBs are beginning
to understand the value of "renting" IT as a service - 36 per cent said
a pay-as-you-go model would be attractive.
Cloud computing has become
a watchword for the IT industry as software and services such as e-mail, websites
and e-commerce are increasingly available in an on-premises, off-premises or hybrid
model depending on business need.
"Over
the last five years, we have seen nearly 40 per cent growth in usage of hosted
services," said Michael Korbacher, director of EMEA Software plus Services
in the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "Using pay-as-you-go cloud technologies,
small and midsize businesses can now afford and easily have access to enterprise-class,
secure services across any platform."
The
findings from the research were concluded by analyst firm Freeform Dynamics Ltd,
which independently assessed the SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010 to ascertain
to what degree IT adoption is driving revenue growth specifically within the SMB
community.
The
SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010 commissioned by Microsoft researched 3,193 SMBs
in a cross section of private industries in 15 countries. Overall, the findings
show greater awareness of the benefits of IT among SMBs and a high reliance on
IT across all industries and geographies. The findings indicate a clear path towards
better financial performance than for those not currently taking advantage of
IT advances such as hosted services.
"Our
assessment of the report tells us that an increased focus on IT correlates with
good performance in all of the size categories surveyed," said Dale Vile,
research director of Freeform Dynamics. "This whole picture corroborates
the notion that technology and hosted services can provide tangible business advantage,
even for smaller companies, and it's not surprising to see that investment in
IT and hosting goes hand in hand with good financial performance."
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 05 : CISCO ® today entered into collaboration with the National
Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to introduce the ICT curriculum in 6 selected
Accredited Vocational Institutes (AVIs).
These
institutes as a Cisco Local Academy will provide IT Essentials: PC hardware and
networking information technology course to around 100 students each year as a
part of their offerings. The course prepares students for networking and IT-related
careers in the public and private sectors, as well as for higher education in
engineering, computer science and related fields. The selected AVIs are located
at Ambala, Bhopal, Balangir (Orissa), Delhi, Mumbai and Shillong and several more
NIOS AVI's are envisaged to start this course.
Cisco
has imparted training to nine instructors from the above AVIs on IT Essentials:
PC Hardware and Software at the Centre for Electronic Governance, Jaipur from
January 18-23, 2010. As a part of this initiative, Cisco will provide its free
web based curriculum, online course material of the Networking Academy and 24x7
technical support to the institutes.
Commenting
on the announcement, Mr. Lokesh Mehra, Regional Manager, Corporate Responsibility,
Cisco - South Asia said, 'At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of the
youth at the grassroot level so as to enable them to harness the enormous opportunities
in the ICT domain.
Forging
strong industry-academia partnerships is the cornerstone of our strategy aimed
at bridging the existing skills gap in IT networking. We are proud to collaborate
with NIOS in its efforts to bring world-class networking education to students
at various centres across the country.'
Dr.
S.S. Jena, Chairman of NIOS said, "Through the Networking Academy program,
students of accredited vocational institutions across India will receive the benefit
of Internet and networking education. This will not only help students tap opportunities
in the IT world but also help meet the Prime Minister's vision of a knowledge-based
economy by 2020."
Commenting
on the training Dr. Anita Priyadarshini, Director, Vocational Education, NIOS
said "Jobs of the future will go where there is an educated workforce, an
infrastructure and a supportive government. We strongly believe that by working
with industry leaders such as Cisco, we can provide the appropriate training to
students to provide talent needed to support the IT industry in the region."
NIOS
will introduce the IT Essentials course intended for students in upper secondary
schools, technical and vocational schools, who want to pursue careers in IT and
gain working knowledge of how computers work, how to assemble computers, and how
to troubleshoot hardware and software issues. In addition to networking and IT
skills, the curricula also reinforces 21st century skills, IT literacy, problem-solving,
communication and working with others from different backgrounds. Students receive
the same quality of education through e-learning curricula, labs and online assessments,
as well as consistency of certifications.
The
Networking Academy's blended learning model integrates face-to-face teaching with
a challenging web-based curriculum, hands-on lab exercises, and Internet-based
assessment. Worldwide, there are 10,000 Networking Academy institutions and more
than 1.6 million students in over 150 countries. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 03 : GLACIALTECH Inc, a diversified provider of cooling, power
supply, PC enclosure solutions for consumer and industrial applications, will
showcase a full range of its thermal and other IT solutions that reflects GlacialTech's
leading edge technology at CeBIT Hannover, 2010, March 2 - 6, 2010.
The
products line up will include Glacialtech's award winning CPU cooling solutions,
switch mode power supplies and LED lighting entertainment solutions. The entire
product line-up will be displayed at CeBIT Hannover Hall # 17, Booth # C60 - 15.
CeBIT
is a world's majof trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions
for home and work environments. The key target groups are users from industry,
the wholesale /retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government
agencies, science and all users passionate about technology. CeBIT offers an international
platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and product
presentations.
CeBIT
Hannover is the perfect platform for GlacialTech to showcase their award-winning
product range and new technology innovations. The highlight of the GlacialTech
products showcase will include cutting-edge thermal solutions under GlacialTech
brand name, Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) solutions is under GlacialPower,
LED Lighting solutions is under GlacialLight and CPU coolers, case fan, NB cooler
and thermal compound, etc under GlacialStars brand name.
Positioned
as 'quiet', cost effective, efficient cooling solutions for high frequency and
high I/O processors, GlacialTech's IGLOO range of silent heat sinks not only cools
the CPU but also enhances system performance. The range is designed for the latest
Socket of Intel and AMD processors. IGLOO CPU cooling solutions not only allow
heat to be dissipated at a faster rate, but also decrease the vibration buildup
around fan blades to minimize noise output. The company will also showcase the
F101 range of coolers, which are aligned for the gaming and enthusiast platforms.
The extreme levels of performance and innovative design combine into something
out of this world.
The
company will also showcase its newly launched product Ice Therm I & Ice Therm
II, thermal compounds in CPU cooler products. IceTherm I & IceTherm II compounds
in combination with GlacialTech cooler products promote good thermal conductivity,
non-electrical conductivity, non-corrosive, low bleed characteristics and high
temperature stability and delivers the great thermal performance for overclockers.
The
company will also showcase its 3rd generation silent blade case fans. The fans
have three series: goes to 8025, 9225 and 12025. This series of Silent Blade Case
Fans is a solution to using for all different bearing types to PC User to build
at lower noise by optimizing.
GlacialStars,
a brand the new subdivision of GlacialTech Inc., will showcase The GlacialStars
range of light weight CPU coolers, Case Fan, Cooling pad and other components
are very conducive for the environment because of the low noise and high performance.
With GlacialStars products, the consumer PCs can be low in weight but high in
performance.
Taking
this aspect into consideration, GlacialStars' objective is to offer the consumers
a better solution. Compatible with Intel and AMD CPU systems, GlacialStars series
products are designed especially for creative features and solid products. GlacialStars
IceHut series not only cost-effective and reliable but also offers quality and
affordability. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 02 : GARTNER , Inc. has revealed its key predictions on the use
of social software and collaboration in the enterprise. These predictions focus
on offerings ranging from team collaboration to dynamic social networking applications
that offer rich profiles and activity streams.
"A
lot has happened in a year within the social software and collaboration space.
The growing use of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook by business users has
resulted in serious enterprise dialogue about procuring social software platforms
for the business," said Mark R. Gilbert, research vice president at Gartner
and co-chair of the Portals, Content and Collaboration (PCC) Summit.
"Success
in social software and collaboration will be characterized by a concerted and
collaborative effort between IT and the business." Gartner offers five
key predictions for social software:
By
2014, social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for
interpersonal communications for 20 percent of business users.
Greater
availability of social networking services both inside and outside the firewall,
coupled with changing demographics and work styles will lead 20 percent of users
to make a social network the hub of their business communications.
During
the next several years, most companies will be building out internal social networks
and/or allowing business use of personal social network accounts. Social networking
will prove to be more effective than e-mail for certain business activities such
as status updates and expertise location.
"The
rigid distinction between e-mail and social networks will erode. E-mail will take
on many social attributes, such as contact brokering while social networks will
develop richer e-mail capabilities," said Matt Cain, research vice president
at Gartner. "While e-mail is already almost fully penetrated in the corporate
space, we expect to see steep growth rates for sales of premises- and cloud-based
social networking services. "
Gartner
recommends that organizations develop a long-term strategy for provisioning and
consuming a rich set of collaboration and social software services, and develop
policies governing the use of consumer services for business purposes. Companies
should also solicit input from the business community on what collaboration tools
would be most helpful.
By
2012, over 50 percent of enterprises will use activity streams that include microblogging,
but stand-alone enterprise microblogging will have less than 5 percent penetration.
The
huge popularity of the consumer-microblogging service Twitter, has led many organizations
to look for an "enterprise Twitter," that provides microblogging functionality
with more control and security features to support internal use between employees.
Enterprise users want to use microblogging for many of the same reasons that consumers
do to share quick insights, to keep up with what colleagues are doing, to get
quick answers to questions and so on.
"However,
it will be very difficult for microblogging as a stand-alone function to achieve
widespread adoption within the enterprise. Twitter's scale is one of the reasons
for its popularity," said Jeffrey Mann, research vice president for Gartner.
"When limited to a single enterprise, that same scale is unachievable, reducing
the number of users who will find it valuable. Mainstream enterprises are unlikely
to adopt standalone, single-purpose microblogging products."
Through
2012, over 70 percent of IT-dominated social media initiatives will fail. When
it comes to collaboration, IT organizations are accustomed to providing a technology
platform (such as, e-mail, IM, Web conferencing) rather than delivering a social
solution that targets specific business value. Through 2013, IT organizations
will struggle with shifting from providing a platform to delivering a solution.
This will result in over a 70 percent failure rate in IT-driven social media initiatives.
Fifty percent of business-led social media initiatives will succeed, versus 20
percent of IT-driven initiatives.
Enterprises
will need to develop entirely new skill sets around designing and delivering social
media solutions. Until this happens, failure rates will remain high. A dearth
of methods, technologies and tools will impede the design and delivery of social
media solutions in the near term. But long term, enterprises will realize that
social media is not a "hit or miss" activity naturally prone to high
failure rates, and that a calculated approach to social media solution delivery
must be an IT competency. At that point, post 2012, the social software market
growth will accelerate as will the overall impact of social media on business
and society.
Within
five years, 70 percent of collaboration and communications applications designed
on PCs will be modeled after user experience lessons from smartphone collaboration
applications.
As
we move toward 3 billion phones in the world serving the main purpose of providing
communications and collaboration anytime anywhere, Gartner expects more end users
to spend significant time experiencing the collaborative tools on these devices.
For
some of the world, these will be the first or the only applications they use.
The experience with these tools for all who use them will enable the user to handle
far more conversations within a given amount of time than their PCs simply because
they are easier to use. Just as the iPhone impacted user interface design on the
desktop, the lessons in the mobile phone collaboration space will dramatically
affect PC applications, many of which are derivatives of decades-old platforms
based on the PBX or other older collaboration paradigm.
"IT
organizations should continue to procure leading-edge smartphones for testing
and to accumulate knowledge on how the collaboration applications on such devices
accomplish business tasks," said Ken Dulaney, vice president and distinguished
analyst at Gartner. "As more organizations consider replacing deskphones
with cell phones, they may wish to anchor their collaboration tools also on the
cell phone."
Through
2015, only 25 percent of enterprises will routinely utilize social network analysis
to improve performance and productivity.
Social
network analysis is a useful methodology for examining the interaction patterns
and information flows that occur among the people and groups in an organization,
as well as among business partners and customers. However, when surveys are used
for data collection, users may be reluctant to provide accurate responses. When
automated tools perform the analysis, users may resent knowing that software is
analyzing their behavior. For these reasons, social network analysis will remain
an untapped source of insight in most organizations.
Before
undertaking a social network analysis, Gartner recommends that the organization
ensure that it has the trust and buy-in of the people it hopes to include in the
analysis in advance. Issues of privacy and confidentiality must be addressed and
a determination needs to be made regarding how the information will be used and
communicated. Establishing the ground rules upfront will encourage more open and
honest participation and reduce the resistance to ongoing relationship monitoring.
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 02 : EDUMAGIK , a start-up online education firm that strives to
bring about a radical change in the learning experience of Indian students, today
launched Vocabmagik.com, an online vocabulary building course that uses animated
cartoons and associations to make building vocabulary a lot more fun for the aspirants
of CAT, GRE, SAT, GMAT etc.
The
course also caters to senior school students and anyone else who is interested
in building their vocabulary. Vocabmagik.com uses mnemonics, animations &
witty associations to help make building vocabulary much more interesting.
Vocabmagik.com
makes learning easier by linking difficult words with a witty animation and a
similar sounding link word and this helps students to remember difficult words
and their usage in a fun yet efficient manner.
Building
vocabulary is supposed to be a difficult task for students taking competitive
exams like CAT, GRE, SAT, GMAT etc. All these competitive exams test the student's
English language vocabulary. Currently, the students use various traditional rote
methods of building vocabulary. Vocabmagik's technique of using associations,
memory aids and animated cartoons is a unique, unconventional method, which makes
the learning a lot more fun and effective.
On
the occasion of launch of vocabmagik.com, Ms. Gunjan Lalchandani, co-founder of
Edumagik, said, "As a student it became evident that the traditional method
of rote would not help anybody to become a better professional and we decided
to be a part of the solution rather than crib about the problem."
Ms.
Poonam Jain, co-founder of Edumagik added, "Edumagik puts the traditional
serious rote method to shame." She further said, "We aim to bring innovations
in the learning system and make the overall learning fun, interesting and application
based and propose to launch new and innovative products in subjects like maths,
history, biology, geography etc." (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 02 : NET4INDIA , a network and application services provider, has
announced the financial results for the quarter ended December 31 , 2009.
The
total consolidated income for the 3rd quarter stood at Rs. 51.15 crore as compared
to Rs.33.79 corer. reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year,
a growth of 51.35 percent. The net profit for the same quarter posted a 28 percent
rise at Rs. 3.21 crore as against the net profit of Rs. 2.50 crore for the corresponding
period last year.
The standalone income for the third quarter stood
at Rs. 30.16 crore. as compared to Rs.21.44 crore. reported in the corresponding
quarter of the previous year, a growth of 40.67 percent.The net profit for the
same quarter posted a 15 percent rise at Rs. 2.16 crore as against the net profit
of Rs. 1.88 crore for the corresponding period last year.
Commenting
on the results, Jasjit Sawhney, CMD Net4 India Ltd said,” We are glad to
get back to the levels of growth we have long made our internal benchmarks. With
two consecutive quarters of record profits and now our highest ever quarterly
revenues, we can firmly establish that this reversal is not just pent up demand
that may have come in the last quarter, but a real and lasting trend.”
Net4
focuses on providing services to businesses (small, medium and large) and its
offerings include Internet Bandwidth Services, Data Centre Solutions, VoIP Solutions,
and Enterprise Messaging & Hosting Solutions.
Net4 has a PAN
India presence with offices in 11 major business cities & an ever-growing
clientele which includes 750 Leased Line Customers, 800 Corporate Data Center
Customers, 2800 Business VoIP customers, 75,000 hosted websites, 870,000 corporate
e-mail accounts & 250,000 registered domain names. Net4 is amongst the largest
provider of hosted email, web hosting and domain name registration in the Asia-Pacific
region.
The company’s client base includes the likes of CNBC
TV18, Essar, Godrej, Hutch, ITC, L&T, Lufthansa, NIIT, ONGC, Proctor &
Gamble, Reliance, Sahara, SBI, Siemens and TCS.
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 01 : A survey of more than 5,000 active Internet users across 10
cities in India suggests that users are becoming increasingly concerned about
online security. Ninety one percent of the respondent Internet users have experienced
some case of cyber fraud, such as phishing, key logging, identity theft and account
takeover. Despite the exposure to cyber fraud, a majority of respondents were
unaware of ways to combat it.
The
survey, commissioned by VeriSign and conducted by IMRB highlighted that 60% of
respondents access the Internet frequently - at least four to six times a week-and
44% shop online with 53% engaging with user generated content (e.g., social networks
and blogs).
Despite
the Internet-savvy of the respondents, the survey further revealed:
38 percent of survey respondents use the same passwords for multiple log-ins
11 percent look out for the authenticity of the Web site by looking at the security
provider 32 percent create a secret question that only they can answer
83 percent do not look for secure Web sites (https:)
Additionally,
an overwhelming 84 percent would like to use two factor authentication (2FA) to
secure their online transactions. 2FA is a verification process in which an additional
dynamic password is generated at the log in stage by a device such as a credit-card
form factor, token or mobile phone in addition to the user name and password.
"As
we move more of our lives online, fraud threats follow closely behind," said
Dr. Shekhar Kirani, Country Manager, VeriSign India. "This study clearly
indicates that while users may be unaware of how to protect themselves online,
their desire to be safe is high. The key is to keep one step ahead by knowing
how to protect ourselves online, embracing best practices and using the latest
technologies."
Awareness
and knowledge are the keys to combating cyber fraud. To this end, VeriSign has
compiled five tips to follow for a safer online experience. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, FEB 01 : THOUGHT leadership marketing (TLM) can be a powerful tool
for improved marketing success in IT services, according to Gartner, Inc. While
thought leadership has been used by consulting firms for a long time - often accounting
for as much as 20 percent of marketing expenditure - an organized discipline of
TLM is only now emerging, allowing marketers to use this as a manageable tool
to drive business.
Gartner
defines TLM as the giving - for free or at a nominal charge - of information or
advice that a client will value so as to create awareness of the outcome that
a company's product or service can deliver, in order to position and differentiate
that offering and stimulate demand for it.
"The
principle of TLM is simple enough: You give away a little valuable intellectual
property to establish your potential usefulness to the client, in the expectation
that the client will use your expertise and services," said Rolf Jester,
vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Its essence is to show,
rather than tell what a company can do, and to do so in a way that positions and
differentiates that company's offering for the chosen target audience."
Mr.
Jester cited some examples of leading IT services organizations that use TLM:
Under the heading "Capgemini Point of View - the way we see it," Capgemini
publishes future-oriented "TechnoVision" documents for vertical industries.
Deloitte's many activities in this category include a series of debates published
on its website and publicized via e-mail, drawing out opposing views on current
key business issues and highlighting considerations that executives need to take
into account.
IBM, among its many other activities, maintains a substantial "Institute
of Business Value" to publish business research.
Gartner's
review of the TLM activities of IT services providers has shown three types of
program. These are not mutually exclusive but will often be combined:
Opportunistic. This type of program tends to be short-term and promotional-campaign
focused. It boosts interest in and therefore sales of a specific offering.
Door-opening. This type of program can help establish or expand permission to
play and is ongoing, although it evolves as acceptance grows to build visibility
and credibility in the market.
Brand support. This is the most sustained type of TLM program and is used to reinforce
the brand promise and image.
Regardless
of the programs employed, Gartner analysts said that the company's brand and positioning
must form the basis for the development of TLM strategy, and that strategy must
be kept in alignment with the evolving direction and capability of the service
firm.
"A
clear business plan, driven by the brand and positioning strategy, and accepted
widely by multiple levels of leadership, is the essential starting point,"
said Christine Adams, managing vice president at Gartner. "External intelligence
on competitive activity is critical, as is a good understanding of what is already
being done in your company and why." (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
DAVOS,
JAN 30 : THE World Economic Forum is underway and companies from across the
world have converged to discuss and debate global issues related to technology,
health and environment amongst others.
Strengthening the case of cloud computing is Sachin Dev Duggal, President and
CEO of Nivio, who is vouching his support to one of the most important technologies
of current times.
Speaking
at the forum, Sachin said “We are constantly innovating at Nivio and keep
finding ways to deliver a rich experience at low cost. Nivio is also set to introduce
a host of products and services in the year ahead, promising to change the way
users compute using the cloud.”
Nivio,
which won the technology pioneer award last year conferred by the forum, has been
offering unique solutions with the help of cloud computing and tying up with numerous
vendors to give its users a wide range of applications to choose from.
Sachin
was part of the panel which discussed “Do You Trust Your Data?” along
with other eminent leaders like Michael T. Fries, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Liberty Global, USA ; Pablos Holman, Hacker, Intellectual Ventures Lab,
USA; Mark Palmer, Chief Executive Officer, StreamBase Systems, USA ; Carlo Ratti,
Director, SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT - Departments of Urban Studies and Planning,
USA and Lynn St Amour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Internet Society
(ISOC), Switzerland.
Sachin,
who made history last year by being the youngest Indian attendee at the summit
has recently also been appointed Youth Leader of the National Computer and Electronics
Committee of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM).
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, JAN 25 : INDIA Infoline has informed the exchanges that it has acquired
Orient Global's stake in two of the company's unlisted subsidiaries India Infoline
Investment Services (IIISL) and India Infoline Marketing Services (IIMSL).
On
closure of the transaction, the company would acquire from Orient Global : 1.
5,283,870 shares of IIISL, representing 22.28percent of IIISL's equity for a cash
consideration of US$72 million ; 2. 2,000,000 shares of IIMSL, representing 10.44
percent of IIMSL's equity, for a cash consideration of US$8 million.
On
the basis of this the company's stake in IIISL and IIMSL will increase to 99.02
percent and 99.16 percent of the equity capital of the respective companies.
Earlier,
Orient Global had acquired 5,283,870 shares of IIISL in November 2007 and February
2008 for a total consideration of Rs 438.2mn and 2,000,000 shares of IIMSL in
January 2008 for a total consideration of Rs 196.9 million. At the time of the
investment, these were valued at US$ 110 mn and US$ 50 million respectively.(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
Mr
B.S. Parshira, IAS, Secretary, Official Language Department, Ministry of Home
Affairs, Govt. of India launching Official Language Implementation Committee’s
Website of Delhi Bank. Also seen are Mr R.K. Dubey and Mr V. Srinivasan, General
Manager of PNB alongwith other officials.
NEW
DELHI, India, JAN 22 : LENOVO today unveiled an aggressive business strategy
to pursue the significant growth opportunity in the Small and Medium Business
(SMB) segment in India's PC market.
After
having sold over 51 million ThinkPad PCs globally and establishing it as an ultimate
business tool, Lenovo now extends the ThinkPad brand promise to SMB users through
its "ThinkPad Edge Series" laptops, which combine the solid reliability
of the ThinkPad with style and affordability.
It
also declared its go-to-market strategy for the SMB segment in India, focusing
on Value Added Resellers (VAR), System Integrators (SI) and Retail, covering 150
cities initially.
The
company also extended the New Year cheer to business users with the "ThinkPad
X100e", identifying an opportunity in a whole new category of entry-level,
ultraportable laptops designed for business users. Together, Lenovo's new ThinkPad
products signify the company's intent to offer exceptionally engineered PCs and
herald the new decade on a positive note for business users.
"After
fortifying our leadership position in the large enterprise PC segment and building
our presence in the consumer PC segment, we are now expanding the scope of growth
in our India business with our renewed strategy for the important SMB segment",
said Amar Babu, Managing Director, Lenovo India. "As a recognized leader
in business computing, the ThinkPad brand gives us the leverage to reach out to
the premium SMB customers. Now, with the new ThinkPad Edge Series and the ThinkPad
X100e, we are targeting the mainstream segment in SMB as well", he added.
The
SMB segment offers one of the most significant opportunities in India's PC market.
According to IDC, the SMB PC spending in India was estimated to be Rs. 5,275 crore
in 2009 and is expected to touch Rs. 5,515 crore in 2010. As per IDC, PC spends
accounted for 30.74 per cent of the total spends on IT by SMBs in India in 2009,
with total SMB IT spending estimated to be Rs. 17,160 crore. An SMB enterprise
is defined as an organization that employs between 1 to 499 workers. As per
Lenovo's market understanding an SMB user is cost sensitive, expects quality and
reliability in his PC, values the product features and cares about PC aesthetics.
"Our
strategy for the SMB segment aims at closing the gap between the ThinkPad and
the SMB users. We understand that SMB customers want PCs with bold, sleek, professional
designs, simplistic experience and reliable tools, yet fitting within their budgets.
The ThinkPad Edge Series is designed keeping all these needs in mind. We see a
hyper growth opportunity in this space", said Alex Li, Vice President, Transaction
Sales, Lenovo. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, JAN 21 : A slow but steady improvement in the macroeconomic environment
in 2010 should support a return to modest growth in overall IT spending, according
to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide IT spending will reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 4.6
percent increase from 2009.
Although
modest, this projected growth represents a significant improvement from 2009,
when worldwide IT spending declined 4.6 percent. All major segments (computing
hardware, software, IT services, telecom, and telecom services) are expected to
grow in 2010 (see Table 1).
"Last
quarter, we did not expect to see IT spending levels recover to 2008 levels until
2011, however, now, with the upward revision to the current dollar forecast, we
are projecting that global IT spending this year will approach the level seen
in 2008," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. "Our
updated forecast for IT spending to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010 is actually a
year earlier than we expected leveling our previous forecast update, and reflecting
a bounce back in underlying IT spending from the sharp drop in 2009."
"While,
this forecast might seem bullish at first, it's important to factor in the impact
that exchange rates will have on the markets," Mr. Gordon said. "Much
of the increase in our revised 2010 forecast can be attributed to a projected
decline in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to 2009."
From
a regional perspective, Gartner's IT spending forecast reflects the economic situation
in each region and country with the emerging regions leading the way in terms
of growth both in the short and longer term. However, because of the scale of
IT spending in North America and Western Europe, these regions weigh heavily in
the global IT spending growth rate overall.
IT
spending growth in emerging markets (with the exception of central and eastern
Europe and some of the Gulf states) is expected to lead the way, with spending
forecast to grow 9.3 percent in Latin America, 7.7 percent in the Middle East
and Africa and 7 percent in Asia/Pacific. Recovery in Western Europe, the United
States and Japan will start more slowly, with Western Europe increasing 5.2 percent,
the U.S. growing 2.5 percent, and Japan increasing 1.8 percent.
"As
we begin 2010, multiple factors are conspiring to shape IT spending patterns in
years to come," said Mr. Gordon. "Although recovery will be slow, over
the next 12 to 18 months, gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to increase,
consumer confidence is expected to improve, and the availability of credit should
increase. At the same time, pent-up demand for new technologies will be released
as enterprises focus on new growth opportunities and increase spending plans.
IT vendors and service providers must ensure that they are poised to take advantage
of this improving landscape."
Gartner
Executive Programs (EXP) recently published the survey results for the 2010 CIO
Agenda. The survey of 1,586 CIOs, representing more than $126 billion in corporate
and public-sector IT spending, showed worldwide IT budgets in 2010 increasing
by a weighted global average of 1.3 percent in nominal terms compared to 2009.
Gartner analysts use the input from the survey as fundamental assumptions that
shape the global IT spending forecast.
The
growth rates in the IT spending forecast differ from the CIO survey expectations
because the IT spending forecast includes consumer, as well as enterprise spending,
and because the forecast is affected by exchange rates. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, JAN 21 : EASTERN Software System (ESS), an ERP company offering total
IT outsourcing (TITO) and cutting edge technology solutions and services to SMBs
and enterprises has implemented an economical and secure VPN (virtual private
network) for Bangalore-based Wadpack , a corrugated box packaging manufactures
in India.
Wadpack
has been running the web-enabled ebizframe, the flagship ERP solution from ESS
for almost a decade now. Wadpack has also outsourced their entire IT to ESS.
According
to Mr. Anil Bakht, Chairman & Managing Director, ESS, “Wadpack was looking
for linking its two major locations (the head office at Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore
and factory at Doddaballapur, Bangalore) and roaming users through a secured connectivity.
We have implemented a unified threat management (UTM)- based secured VPN providing
Wadpack secure VPN connectivity between multiple locations while running the
ebizframe ERP through centralized live server. This, in fact, worked out to be
extremely cost-effective as well.”
The
UTM was sourced from Watchguard, one of the leading security products and solutions
company, and implemented by ESS in association with Medley Marketing, one
of the largest Watchguard Secure Partners in India, based at New Delhi. Medley
Marketing has an exhaustive experience of about three decades and has rich expertise
in IP-based security solutions like UTM.
For
the uninitiated, the term UTM denotes network firewalls that contain multiple
security features like e-mail spam filtering, an intrusion prevention system,
anti-virus capability and Internet filtering in addition to the functions of a
traditional firewall, all in a single box.
All
these security features otherwise would require 2 or 3 boxes and therefore, it
reducing system complexity and cuts down on costs and time overheads for an enterprise.
Besides the ease of maintenance, training and support also comes from a single
vendor who’s supplied the UTM box. A single window solution helps reduce
the hassles associated with managing multi vendor security systems.(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
MicroStar
unveiling product line-ups for laptops in 14 new models across 5 series in New
Delhi.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 20 : MICRO Star International has further expanded product line-ups
for laptops in India with the launch 14 new models across 5 series.
The
laptops cover the G-series gaming notebooks, the elegantly styled Classic series,
the visually-stunning E-series entertainment notebooks, the extra-lightweight
and fashionable X-Slim series and the ultra-thin, ultra-stylish U-series Wind
Netbooks.
“As
today’s digital lifestyles grow, portable computing is becoming ubiquitous
in all facets of life,” said Tony Yang, newly appointed Managing Director
of MSI India. “Consumers are looking for products that suit their professional
and personal work needs yet reflect their individual style. Our 2010 notebook
line-up is based on feedback from users world-wide and backed by MSI’s strong
R&D. With our 14 new models, we are able to provide Indian consumers, a notebook
suited for every need.”
The
ultra powerful MSI G-series GT640 and GT740 notebooks feature the Intel Calpella
flat-screen 15.4-inch and 17-inch monitors and pack the latest Intel C i7 Quad-Core
processors, combined with NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 3D discrete graphics making
them the most formidable gaming notebooks in the world today.
These notebooks are equipped with the world’s best multimedia entertainment
interface – and flaunt their own style with frequently used WASD keys highlighted
in easy-to-locate red, a super thin brushed aluminum alloy case, lava red trim,
polished metal 3D speakers, and a high-tech luminescent, touch activated interface
board. These two notebooks are optimized for use with Microsoft Windows 7. The
G-Series notebooks from MSI are priced at Rs 88,000 upwards, depending on configuration.
The
Company’s Entertainment notebook line got a boost with the introduction of
the MSI EX465 notebook. With a 15” LED backlit display and Intel Core Duo
processor, the EX645 is so compact it just weight 2kg, including a high-capacity
6-cell battery. The clean, minimalist lines are a stylist’s delight.
Breathtakingly real visual effects enabled by a Radeon HD4330 discrete 3D graphics
card in 16:9 high-definition cinema display. This offers significantly larger
screen real-estate compared to conventional 16:10 aspect screens. Customer comfort
is kept in mind with MSI’s unique EDS ergonomic keyboard curved to fit the
finger tips and 51% larger to reduce load on fingers and wrists. Moreover, MSI’s
proprietary ECO Engine technology incorporated in the EX460 provides LED backlighting
for the LCD screen to deliver outstanding energy savings. The EX 465 from MSI
is priced at Rs. 38,999 onwards, depending on configuration.
MSI’s
all-new Classic Series notebooks adopt Intel’s latest-generation Core i5
CPU and are made all the more elegant with the latest fashionable Color Print
Film exterior coating. The CR420, CX420 and CR620 in the Classic series boast
performance enhancement by 20 percent over the previous generation and an operating
speed enhancement up to 30 percent. Moreover, the innovative approach of MSI’s
design team finds expression in the.
Chrome
treatment, the light-touch tactile Chiclet keyboard, LED lights, special brushed
metal touchpad buttons, and Color Film Print technology. Much thinner and lighter
than previously, these notebooks also incorporate the Intel Calpella platform
for beautiful image processing capability of up to 1080p high-definition and offer
flawless audio and video experience.
And,
with high-speed wireless connectivity, you are never far away from your work.
The MSI Classic series exterior design features the utmost in styling with 45-degree
angled design, slimmer profile and clean, minimalist lines. Prices for the Classic
Series of notebooks from MSI start at Rs. 38,000 and depend on configuration.
The
outstanding good looks of MSI’s extra-lightweight, very thin X-Slim series
notebooks hide a power-performer with the Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra-Voltage)
energy saving platform, and Intel Core2 Duo processor – the ultimate marriage
of high-technology and fashion.
The
MSI X350, X420, X620 and X430 comprise the new additions to the X-Slim series.
Common across the series is 3D Boost Technology for excellent 3D computing, chrome
treatment, the tactile chiclet keyboard and Color Film Print technology, SRS premium
sound and extra-long battery life enabled by LED that is only 70% of traditional
panel.
The
X-slim is less than 1-inch at its thickest point and much lighter than regular
notebooks, giving it the zero-size profile. The featherweight profile, cappuccino-brown
Color Print Film exterior, the pearl luster and textured pattern make it the defining
statement for laptop style.
The
MSI X-Slim X620 performance and stylized silver borders is already creating waves
in the design community – it has been awarded the 2010 German iF Product
Design Award. The X-Slim series of notebooks from MSI are priced at Rs. 45,000
onwards, depending on configuration.
The
MSI Wind U130 and U135 – dazzling special edition with exceptional stylish
character. The outer shell is coated with Color Film Print and features flowing
silver lines and rippling water designs, The U135 comes in four colors –
refined silver, wind-dancer black, trendy blue and cherry red, while the U130
comes in two all-new standard colors – angelic white and wind-dancer black.
The
company's focus on detail and providing consumers with a comfortable user experience
despite the extremely compact size is evidenced by the tactile feels of the exclusive
chiclet keyboard, and a 20% larger surface area on the wide touchpad.
The
Wind U135 and U130 both use Intel’s newest ATOM N450 processor with low battery
consumption. And MSI’s ECO engine technology is even more capable of bringing
the ATOM N450 processor’s special qualities into play effectively increasing
battery life. The netbooks carry International WiMAX Forum Certification –
the first netbook products based on the ATOM N450 to achieve this certification.
Prices for the Wind U130 and U135 netbooks from MSI are Rs. 19,000 and Rs 21,000
respectively.
The
MSI Wind U210 and U230 are the first netbooks in 12-inch display size. Featuring
AMD’s second generation Ultrathin Platform, a dual core processor, they retain
the ultra-thin mobility while offering an expansive viewing experience.
The
dula-core processor architecture provides consumers a performance experience on
par with standard notebooks. Supporting HD video output, and DirectX10 technology
for stunning Audio and Video entertainment on a 16:9 lifelike display, they even
incorporate HDMI output ports to easily connect to large-screen TV or other multimedia
devices.
The
hallmark of the MSI netbook line - stylish looks with glossy, crystal-like appearance,
EDS (Ergonomic De-Stress) keyboard, Color Film Print coating on outer shell and
resistance to dust and scratches are present in these too. Prices for the Wind
U210 and U230 netbooks from MSI are Rs. 23,000 and Rs 28,000 respectively. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
HYDERABAD,
JAN 19 : FOUR Soft , India , a global leader offering software solutions for
transportation and logistics, is bringing top players of the logistics industry
on a single platform to form a strategic initiative - FFIFA(Freight Forwarding
Industry & Four Soft Alliance).
The
objective of FFIFA is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas where the resultant
“Industry best practices” will save the industry time, energy and money
in providing better services to its customers.
Freight
forwarding and logistics industry over the years has been struggling with lack
of unified and standard business processes/ metrics resulting in very high operating
costs and making them less competitive.
FFIFA
members will collaborate to help the evolution of unified and standard business
practices across multiple tiers and geographies. Major benefits include access
to all information, standards and metrics, better understanding of changing business
dynamics and understanding of tangible and intangible benefits of IT in Logistics.
DHL,
Geodis Wilson, CEVA, Agility, FedEx and Continental Group representing six of
the largest logistic players in the world, have come together for the first time
to drive efficiencies in the logistic software deployment’.
The
members will collaborate and will collectively suggest the adoption of best practices
across the industry. This process will not only help in bringing down their operating
expenditure but would also provide a platform for the largest logistic companies
to work together towards the betterment of the logistics industry.
Kieren Ring, CEO, Global Institute of Logistics, commented,” I am thrilled
to be part of this Global initiative from Four soft. I have been observing the
growth of four soft from the past few years and they have the acquaintance with
the global logistics players which makes them ideal partner to hold this initiative.
I am sure this will help the Logistics & Transportation industry to achieve
next level of maturity in their business processes.”
Palem Srikanth, Chairman, Four soft ,” Logistics and transportation industry
has been facing serious problems due to lack of standardized business processes.
It has made them less competitive and led to lack of control on their IT budgets.
We believe this is the right time for leading players of the industry to come
together and adopt a collaborative approach to the common industry problems. Four
soft is proud to be a part of this consortium as we are rightly equipped to provide
valuable solutions to our customers.
Rajshekhar
Roy, CEO, Four Soft, ” FFIFA will kick start much needed collaboration and
defining common industry standards, resulting in lowering the communication costs
among various players and using IT as a tool of competitive advantage. Four soft
has established market leadership position in the 3PL and the transportation segments
and this association will provide a great opportunity to work with industry leaders
which enables us to better serve our customer base with enterprise-class software
solutions.” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, JAN 14 : ISACA, a global association of 86,000 IT audit, risk, governance
and security professionals, is responding to market demand by introducing a new
risk-related certification. The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control
(CRISC) designation is for IT professionals who identify and manage risks through
the development, implementation and maintenance of information systems (IS) controls.
These
professionals help enterprises accomplish business objectives such as effective
and efficient operations, reliable financial reporting, and compliance with regulatory
requirements.
A grandfathering program, through which experienced
professionals can earn the certification without passing an exam, will open in
April. The first CRISC exam will be administered in 2011.
ISACA established
CRISC (pronounced “see risk”) to recognize IT professionals with skills
and abilities related to: ·
Risk identification, assessment and evaluation ·
Risk response · Risk
monitoring · IS control
design and implementation ·
IS control monitoring and maintenance
“The CRISC designation
will demonstrate to employers that the certification holder is able to identify
and evaluate the risks unique to their specific organization and help the enterprise
accomplish its business objectives by designing, implementing, monitoring and
maintaining risk-based, efficient and effective IS controls,” said Urs Fischer,
chair of ISACA’s CRISC Task Force. “We conducted an extensive amount
of research globally and found that enterprises are becoming more risk-aware and
are looking to identify professionals who possess the skills to help them protect
their assets and enhance their businesses. CRISC fills a gap that currently exists
in the marketplace.”
CRISC complements ISACA’s three existing
certifications: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), established in 1978
and earned by more than 70,000 professionals since its inception; Certified Information
Security Manager (CISM), earned by more than 12,000 professionals since it was
launched in 2002; and the newer Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT),
earned by more than 4,000 professionals since it was developed in 2006: ·
CISA is designed for IT professionals who perform independent reviews of control
design and operational effectiveness; CRISC is for IT and business professionals
who design, implement and maintain IS controls. ·
CISM is for individuals who manage, design, oversee and/or assess an enterprise’s
information security, including the identification and management of information
security risks; CRISC is for IT professionals whose roles also encompass operational
and compliance considerations. ·
CGEIT is for IT and business professionals who have a significant management,
advisory or assurance role relating to the governance of IT, including risk management;
CRISC is for IT and business professionals who are engaged at an operational level
to mitigate risk.
ISACA is also hosting the Asia-Pacific Computer
Audit, Control and Security (CACS) Conference in Mumbai on 22-23 February 2010.
Asia-Pacific CACS is a trusted educational forum where like-minded professionals
collaborate and connect to discuss the need of IT governance, assurance and risk
management within an enterprise.
The
conference will feature internationally recognised speakers from leading companies
like CA Inc., Chevron, eBay, The World Bank Group, Deloitte and Citigroup Inc.
Additional information is available at www.isaca.org/asiacacs.
“Risk
management professionals can learn more about CRISC, the new Risk IT framework
and the latest risk management best practices at Asia-Pacific CACS in Mumbai,”
said Anand Shenoy, president of ISACA’s Mumbai Chapter. “It is an excellent
opportunity for IT professionals to network with one another and learn the latest
guidance related to governance concerns for ERP, how to make IT audit more relevant,
wireless network security, cloud computing and many other topics.” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 14 : WORLDWIDE PC shipments surpassed 90 million units in the fourth
quarter of 2009, a 22.1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008, according
to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. It was the strongest quarter over quarter
growth rate the worldwide PC market has experienced in the last seven years. It
should be noted that these numbers are compared to a very weak quarter a year
ago due to the economic downturn at that time.
“These
preliminary results indicate the recovery of the PC market on a global level,”
said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “The U.S. and Asia/Pacific
had already shown positive indicators last quarter, however the fourth quarter
2009 results were more concrete evidence of the recovery.
The
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region entered the economic downturn later
than the U.S. and Asia/Pacific, so it has been slower to recover. The EMEA region
returned to positive shipment growth for the first time in three quarters, and
Latin America and Japan also recorded shipment increases.”
“Shipment
growth was largely driven by low-priced consumer mobile PCs, both in regular notebooks
and mini-notebooks. As economic weakness continued, buyers became extremely price
sensitive. Low-priced PCs were good enough for many average consumers,” Ms.
Kitagawa said. ”Windows 7 was launched during the fourth quarter of 2009.
Though the new operating system launch did not create additional PC demand, the
launch was a good market tool during holiday sales.”
HP
maintained the top position in worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of
2009, as it grew slightly higher than the industry average. Gartner analysts said
HP did very well in the U.S. market, and it regained the No. 1 position in the
U.S. and EMEA.
Acer
established itself as a leader of the sub-$500 consumer mobile PC segment in key
regions. Acer’s improved branding strategies also helped it to work better
with channel partners. Dell grew below the worldwide average in the fourth quarter.
The company did not fully benefit from strong holiday sales. Dell was not as aggressive
on pricing as its competitors in order to protect profits.
In
the U.S., PC shipments totaled 19.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009,
a 26.5 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 . Similar to worldwide
trends, this was the highest quarter over quarter growth rate in the U.S. in the
last seven years.
“Aggressive
promotion by PC vendors and channels stimulated consumer PC demand,” Ms.
Kitagawa said. “However, some vendors made damaging price cuts to increase
market share.”
HP
surpassed Dell as the No. 1 vendor in the U.S. based on PC shipments in the fourth
quarter of 2009. HP became more competitive on pricing, and teamed up successfully
with large retailers. Dell struggled to retain its share in the consumer market.
Dell could not win the severe price battle in the retail space, and its ongoing
weakness in the large enterprise market also affected its growth rate.
In
the fourth quarter of 2009, PC shipments in EMEA totaled 29.7 million units, a
3.6 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008. The professional market
continued to be weak, but there are indications of optimism as organizations were
able to use remaining budgets to purchase PCs at the end of 2009.
The
mobile consumer market kept the Western Europe market going through the increased
volume of mini-notebooks, with total mini-notebook shipments representing over
20 percent of the total EMEA mobile PC market.
In
Asia/Pacific, PC shipments surpassed 27.1 million units, a 44.4 percent increase
from the fourth quarter of 2008. China was key to the region’s performance,
as the country accounted for more than 61 percent of all PCs shipped in the region.
Overall in the region, enterprise demand for PCs continued to be discretionary,
but there was some spending to finish budgets. Companies still remain cautious
in their spending rather than embark on large PC deployment projects.
The
PC market in Latin America grew 42.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. This
growth rate is partly so high because of the uncharacteristically low shipments
in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Mini-notebook
prices continue to decrease as these devices increase their share of the PC market.
Recently rising commodity prices will likely spur some PC purchases among certain
verticals in Latin America, as well as purchases in the home market.
PC
shipments in Japan grew 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, as shipments
reached 3.6 million units. The professional market grew faster than expected due
to higher shipment volume in the quarter for the School New Deal project (one
of the economic measures by the government to stimulate PC penetration in the
education sector).
For
the year, worldwide PC shipments totaled 306 million units (see Table 3), a 5.2
percent increase from 2008. PC shipment growth was driven by the consumer mobile
PC market with acceleration of average selling prices (ASPs). HP defended its
top position, while Dell was replaced by Acer as the No. 2 vendor based on shipments.
HP, Acer and Toshiba all benefited from strong consumer demand.
These
results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of
Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers
a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product
planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key
issues and their future implications around the globe. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 13 : GARTNER Inc. has highlighted the key predictions that herald
long-term changes in approach for IT organizations and the people they serve for
2010 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions for 2010 showcase the trends and events
that will change the nature of business today and beyond.
These
predictions were selected from across Gartner’s research areas as the most
compelling and critical predictions. The trends and topics they address this year
speak to the changing balance of power and focus in IT.
Gartner
analysts said last year's themes of shifting ownership and revenue flows continue,
becoming more pronounced and more sharply focused. As the macro-economic environment
adjusts to a new balance between supply, consumer demand and regulation, the focus
of this year's top predictions has expanded to encompass shifts in the way that
users interact with IT.
"As
organizations make plans to navigate the economic recovery and prepare for the
return to growth, our predictions for 2010 focus on the impact of critical changes
in the balance of control and power in IT," said Brian Gammage, vice president
and research fellow at Gartner. "With greater financial and regulatory oversight
for all IT investment decisions, few organizations will be unaffected."
"For
many organizations, the economic and budgetary challenges of 2009 drove important
changes in the general governance of IT investment decisions, accelerating the
trend toward greater accountability and transparency," said Daryl Plummer,
managing vice president and chief Gartner fellow.
"With
a strong emphasis on business-case justifications, chief financial officers (CFOs)
assumed a more active role. Although most organizations enter 2010 preparing for
a return to growth, this financial oversight is unlikely to be lifted anytime
soon. For IT leaders, greater fluency in the language of business has become a
requirement."
Gartner’s
top predictions are intended to compel readers to action and to position themselves
to take advantage of coming changes, not to be damaged by them. Gartner’s
top predictions for 2010 and beyond include:
By
2012, 20 percent of businesses will own no IT assets. Several interrelated trends
are driving the movement toward decreased IT hardware assets, such as virtualization,
cloud-enabled services, and employees running personal desktops and notebook systems
on corporate networks.
The
need for computing hardware, either in a data center or on an employee's desk,
will not go away. However, if the ownership of hardware shifts to third parties,
then there will be major shifts throughout every facet of the IT hardware industry.
For
example, enterprise IT budgets will either be shrunk or reallocated to more-strategic
projects; enterprise IT staff will either be reduced or reskilled to meet new
requirements, and/or hardware distribution will have to change radically to meet
the requirements of the new IT hardware buying points.
By
2012, India-centric IT services companies will represent 20 percent of the leading
cloud aggregators in the market (through cloud service offerings). Gartner is
seeing India-centric IT services companies leveraging established market positions
and levels of trust to explore nonlinear revenue growth models (which are not
directly correlated to labor-based growth) and working on interesting research
and development (R&D) efforts, especially in the area of cloud computing.
The collective work from India-centric vendors represents an important segment
of the market's cloud aggregators, which will offer cloud-enabled outsourcing
options (also known as cloud services).
By
2012, Facebook will become the hub for social network integration and Web socialization.
Through Facebook Connect and other similar mechanisms, Facebook will support and
take a leading role in developing the distributed, interoperable social Web. As
Facebook continues to grow and outnumber other social networks, this interoperability
will become critical to the success and survival of other social networks, communication
channels and media sites.
Other
social networks (including Twitter) will continue to develop, seeking further
adoption and specializations with communication or content areas, but Facebook
will represent a common denominator for all of them.
By
2014, most IT business cases will include carbon remediation costs. Today, server
vitalization and desktop power management demonstrate substantial savings in energy
costs, and those savings can help justify projects. Incorporating carbon costs
into business cases provides a further measure of savings, and prepares the organization
for increased scrutiny of its carbon impact.
Economic
and political pressure to demonstrate responsibility for carbon dioxide emissions
will force more businesses to quantify carbon costs in business cases. Vendors
will have to provide carbon life cycle statistics for their products or face market
share erosion.
Incorporating carbon costs in business cases will only slightly accelerate replacement
cycles. A reasonable estimate for the cost of carbon in typical IT operations
is an incremental one or two percentage points of overall costs. Therefore, carbon
accounting will more likely shift market share than market size.
In
2012, 60 percent of a new PC's total life greenhouse gas emissions will have occurred
before the user first turns the machine on. Progress toward reducing the power
needed to build a PC has been slow.
Over
the course of its entire lifetime, a typical PC consumes 10 times its own weight
in fossil fuels, but around 80 percent of a PC's total energy usage still happens
during production and transportation.
Greater
awareness among buyers and those that influence buying, greater pressure from
eco-labels, increasing cost pressures and social pressure have awoken the IT industry
to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.
Requests
for proposal (RFPs) now frequently look for environment-related criteria of both
product and vendor. Environmental awareness and legislative tightening will increase
recognition of production as well as usage-related carbon dioxide emissions. Technology
providers should expect that they will be required to provide carbon dioxide emission
data to a growing number of customers.
Internet
marketing will be regulated by 2015, controlling more than $250 billion in Internet
marketing spending worldwide. Despite international efforts to eliminate "spam,"
marketing "clutter" is abundant in every marketing channel.
Pressure
for greater accountability means the backlash from annoyed consumers will eventually
drive legislation to regulate Internet marketing. Companies that focus primarily
on the Internet for marketing purposes could find themselves unable to market
effectively to customers, putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage when
new regulations take effect.
Although experiencing high growth, vendors who focus solely on, and sell predominately
to, Internet marketing solutions could find themselves faced with a declining
market, as companies shift marketing funds to other channels to compensate.
By
2014, over 3 billion of the world's adult population will be able to transact
electronically via mobile or Internet technology. Emerging economies will see
rapidly rising mobile and Internet adoption through 2014.
At
the same time, advances in mobile payment, commerce and banking are making it
easier to electronically transact via mobile or PC Internet. Combining these two
trends creates a situation in which a significant majority of the world's adult
population will be able to electronically transact by 2014.
Gartner
research predicts that by 2014, there will be a 90% mobile penetration rate and
6.5 billion mobile connections. Penetration will not be uniform, as continents
like Asia (excluding Japan) will see a 68% penetration and Africa will see a 56
percent mobile penetration. Although not every individual with a mobile phone
or Internet access will transact electronically, each will have the ability to
do so. Cash transactions will remain dominant in emerging markets by 2014, but
the foundation for electronic transactions will be well under way for much of
the adult world.
By
2015, context will be as influential to mobile consumer services and relationships
as search engines are to the Web. Whereas search provides the "key"
to organizing information and services for the Web, context will provide the "key"
to delivering hyperpersonalized experiences across smartphones and any session
or experience an end user has with information technology.
Search
centered on creating content that drew attention and could be analyzed. Context
will center on observing patterns, particularly location, presence and social
interactions. Furthermore, whereas search was based on a "pull" of information
from the Web, context-enriched services will, in many cases, prepopulate or push
information to users.
The
most powerful position in the context business model will be a context provider.
Web, device, social platforms, telecom service providers, enterprise software
vendors and communication infrastructure vendors will compete to become significant
context providers during the next three years.
Any
Web vendor that does not become a context provider risks handing over effective
customer ownership to a context provider, which would impact the vendor's mobile
and classic Web businesses.
By
2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide.
According to Gartner's PC installed base forecast, the total number of PCs in
use will reach 1.78 billion units in 2013. By 2013, the combined installed base
of smartphones and browser-equipped enhanced phones will exceed 1.82 billion units
and will be greater than the installed base for PCs thereafter.
Mobile
Web users are typically prepared to make fewer clicks on a website than users
accessing sites from a PC. Although a growing number of websites and Web-based
applications offer support for small-form-factor mobile devices, many still do
not.
Websites
not optimized for the smaller-screen formats will become a market barrier for
their owners — much content and many sites will need to be reformatted/rebuilt.
(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 13 : TRANSCEND Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage
and multimedia products, is proud to announce the launch of its Ultimate Class
10 SDHC™ cards.
Part
of Transcend’s “Ultimate” line of powerful high-speed memory cards,
the new Class 10 SDHC ™ cards easily outperform current Class 6 cards, with
enhanced transfer speeds of 20 MB/s and massive storage capacity of up to 16GB.
Mr.
Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, said, “As
high-tech gadgets become increasingly advanced with ever-improving video and audio
quality, memory card write speed plays an important role in taking high-megapixel
pictures and shooting high-definition videos.
Featuring the top-of-the-line Class 10 speed rating introduced by the SD™
Card Association this year as part of its new SD™ 3.0 specification, Transcend’s
new Ultimate series SDHC™ cards provide blazing fast performance tailored
specifically for high-speed consecutive shooting as well as smooth HD video recording.”
Compared
to Class 2 cards that only guarantee write speeds of 2MB/s, or Class 6 versions
that start at 6MB/s, the new Class 10 SDHC™ cards boast 16MB/s write and
20MB/s read speeds that help process data quickly and prevent lag when recording
1920x1080 Full HD videos at 60fps. Transcend Ultimate Class 10 SDHC™ cards
offer impressive data transfer rates, giving users the ability to unlock the full
capabilities of their DSLR cameras.
To
meet the requirements of high-megapixel DSLRs that can fill memory cards quickly,
Transcend Ultimate SDHC™ cards are available in high-capacity sizes ranging
from 4GB to 16GB. The 16GB SDHC™ card can store up to 6552 pictures (based
on 5 megapixel JPEG compression format), over 88 hours of standard quality video
(MPEG-4 video at 384 Kbps), or 240 minutes of HD video (AVCHD at 9 Mbps), providing
photography enthusiasts with sufficient space for their high-resolution digital
masterpieces. Currently offered in 4GB, 8GB to 16GB versions, Transcend’s
new Ultimate series Class 10 SDHC™ cards are highly recommended for entry
to mid-level digital camera or camcorder users. With lifetime warranty the cards
are priced (MRP) as TS4GSDHC10 (4GB) - Rs 1100, TS8GSDHC10 (8GB) - Rs 2200, TS16GSDHC10
(16GB) - Rs 4500. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
BANGALORE
JAN 09 : WIPRO Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited
, has been awarded the Most Outstanding Alliance Partner of the Year Award from
the Software and Solutions group at HP during HP's annual Asia-Pacific & Japan
Partners @World Cup, held recently in Guangzhou City, China.
The
HP Software and Solutions Most Outstanding Alliance Partner of the Year award
for Asia-Pacific and Japan recognizes one partner for its success in helping HP's
customers optimize the business outcomes of IT. Wipro has delivered strong performance
in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. Wipro's delivery capability and close collaboration
with HP has helped them bag the largest Quality Control software deal in Japan
and the largest Software as a Service (SaaS) deal in the Asia-Pacific and Japan
region.
This
is the third time in the last five years that Wipro Technologies has been recognized
by HP Software and Solutions.
Speaking
on this occasion, senior vice president and Global head for Wipro Testing services
Gangadharaiah C.P said, "We are excited to receive this award from HP Software
and Solutions for 2009. This award validates the fact that alliance with HP is
successfully delivering collaborative innovation through best-of-breed solutions
and addressing the evolving customer's needs by positioning new SaaS Models in
the Industry today."
"Customers
benefit from faster time to market as a result of the HP and Wipro combination,"
said Brad Kern, vice president, Worldwide Alliances, Software and Solutions, HP.
"Wipro's vast number of trained testing services professionals combined with
HP applications testing products helps deliver this advantage."
Wipro
and HP Software & Solutions are global partners for more than 5 years now.
Wipro Testing Services has been working strategically with HP around its entire
portfolio of Test Lifecycle Management Tools, which also includes developing new
Solutions for Joint Go-To-Market and delivering enhanced customer value through
newer business models like SaaS. HP's testing tools have further strengthened
Wipro's Testing-As-A-Service (TaaS) offering.(editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI , JAN 06 : MICRO Star International has come out with the availability
in India, of the Wind U130 and Wind U135, the company’s first netbooks based
on Intel’s Pine Trail platform.
With
the just announced Intel ATOM N450 processor and the new generation NM10 single
chipset architecture that provides extremely low consumption of 5.5 watts, increasing
battery life by 15 percent and overall performance by 10 percent over existing
models, the ultra-thin MSI Wind U130 and Wind U135 are convenient, highly portable.
Weighing only 1.2 kilograms including the battery and smaller than A4-size sheet
they can be easily carried in a handbag.
The
Wind U135 comes with a unique Chiclet keyboard, an independent key design for
more stable and quiet operation providing comfort to users. The Chiclet keyboard
also gives U135 more exquisite and artistic exterior. The company has specially
designed a wider touch pad for Wind U130 and Wind U135 that have 20 percent larger
surface area for easier finger movement.
With
its eco engine technology, the battery life of the Wind U130 and U135 are pushed
to the edge to provide you with an extended power supply and user can choose from
five power supply modes - gaming, movie, presentation, document and turbo battery
to customize the power supply based on user requirements. This flexible allocation
of power during use extends endurance to its limits and gives the U135 and U130
all-day, uninterrupted, ultra-long battery life.
The
outer shell of the Wind U130 and Wind U135 is coated with MSI's exclusive Color
Film Print and features flowing silver lines and rippling water designs. The U135
comes in four dazzling colors – refined silver, wind dancer black, trendy
blue and cherry red – while the U130 comes in two all-new standard colors
– angelic white and wind dancer black.
Due
to its stylish look and portability, the MSI Wind U130 and U135 are targeted at
fashion seekers and mobile users. They are most suited to those who need extreme
mobility and need to carry their information wherever they travel – such
as salespersons always on the move, or students on vast campuses. Prices of the
products start at Rs. 23,000 for Wind U130 and Rs. 25,000 for U135 for the basic
configuration. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 06 : CONTINUING its commitment to helping people preserve, protect
and enjoy their digital content, Seagate introduced a new backup appliance that
completely eliminates the need to manually learn, manage, or dedicate any time
to the backup process.
Unlike
most backup utilities, the new Seagate® Replica™ backup appliance is
a complete PC backup system, which automatically and continuously stores up-to-date
copies of everything on a PC, including installed applications, operating system,
e-mail, pictures, music, movies, Internet bookmarks and settings.
“The
computer continues to become an indispensable family tool for homework, e-mail,
storing digital photos and downloading Internet videos,” said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst, Parks Associates. “As consumers today
continue to amass increasing volumes of digital content, having an easy, time-efficient
way to backup computers in the home will become an imperative.”
Protecting
digital assets and memories is important, but life is also increasingly busy.
Research by Parks Associates indicates that one-third of consumers do not currently
backup the content on their PCs, and of those that do backup, do so rarely because
of the daunting, labor-and time-intensive task of burning CDs/DVDs or manually
dragging-and-dropping individual files to flash drives. Some people simply don’t
remember to backup their digital content.
The
Seagate Replica backup appliance breaks down these barriers by eliminating the
effort – no lengthy installation, scheduling or drag-and-drop is required.
With the Seagate Replica solution there is no need to spend time rifling through
countless files, photos and folders to determine what has been or still needs
to be saved; simply connect a single USB cable, click OK to the software license
and the entire PC is backed up not just individual files and folders.
After
this simple action of accepting the software license, the Replica Backup System
continues to run behind-the-scenes, so that no further interaction with the application
is required. Additionally, when the Replica backup appliance is left connected
to the computer, it will perform a continuous and complete backup of everything
so the computer is not left vulnerable between backup events as it would be with
scheduled software.
“While
people continue to amass digital content, many still don’t understand the
importance of backing up their libraries of personal memories, or they don’t
take the time,” s said Rajesh Khurana, country manager of India and SAARC
countries, Seagate Technology. “Our goal is to deliver solutions that provide
thorough backup protection yet are easy to use, time-efficient and simple to understand,
and the Seagate Replica is about as easy as it gets.” (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, JAN 06 : GIVEN burgeoning needs in the local market Unistal Systems,
a developer of software solutions across industry verticals and globally reputed
providers of data care, data recovery, anti-virus and Internet security products,
services, and training today unveiled BitDefender™ Internet Security 2010
and BitDefender™ Antivirus 2010.
According
to Mr. Alok Gupta, Managing Director, Unistal Systems , “BitDefender Internet
Security 2010 and BitDefender Antivirus 2010 are products which surpass customers’
expectations with the advent of optimized scanning and active virus control functionalities.
These
products would usher in a new beginning in the field of security products market
in India. Indian user requirements are unique and we are delighted that BitDefender
has taken a cognizance of this fact and launched a tailor-made edition for the
Indian market through us.”
BitDefender
Internet Security 2010 keeps Internet-connected family safe, without slowing down
their PCs. It locks out viruses, hackers and spam, while providing parental control
and firewall protection. The new edition provides enhanced protection as many
of today's stealth viruses are designed to avoid antivirus detection by initially
laying dormant only to attack your PC when it is most vulnerable.
BitDefender
2010 features a cutting-edge security system, Active Virus Control, which constantly
monitors all of the processes on your PC, 24/7, blocking any malicious behavior
before it can cause any damage.
Besides,
the abundance of new viruses calls for faster ways to detect them. BitDefender's
optimized scanning avoids the scanning of files that are known to be safe. As
a result, BitDefender 2010 scans your PC in half the time needed by previous versions,
while using fewer resources. What’s more it is easy to use as well. Whether
you're a security expert or a novice, with the new BitDefender User Profiles one
can easily manage PC's security.
The
product interface adapts to the chosen profile and provides quick access to the
main security functionalities one is most likely to need (Parental Controls for
parents or Gamer Mode for gamers). BitDefender 2010 also features three dashboard
views – Novice, Intermediate, and Expert - to better accommodate users with
different levels of PC knowledge.
Even
the parental control is better than earlier versions. The Parental Control module
features a newly added reporting system allowing parents to view what websites
their children visit. Moreover, parents can set specific time intervals in which
their children are allowed to access the Internet or use certain applications.
Not
to forget the new improved intrusion detection. BitDefender detects and blocks
attempts to change critical system files or registry entries on your PC and warns
you about attacks performed by code injection (DLL injection).
BitDefender
Antivirus 2010 provides advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware,
phishing attacks and identity theft, without slowing down PC. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
BANGALORE,
JAN 05 : PERFIOS .COM , a growing web- based personal fnance software is a
unique service in India because for the first time, users can aggregate their
financial data from more than 100 financial institutions automatically and get
a 360 degree view of their financial affairs in an instant. Perfios has launched
this service a year back and it's FREE for all users.
Perfios
is for anyone who wishes to solve the problem of managing wealth distributed among
various asset classes and various institutions. If you have bank accounts, credit
cards, Mutual Funds, Equity etc with multiple institutions, how often have you
felt - 'What if ALL of this could be accessed at one place?' Perfios addresses
exactly this aspect and provides access across asset classes, Loans, Insurance
and Credit cards on one platform.
What
exactly does Perfios do?
(1)
Perfios automatically updates the portfolio of a user from financial institutions
(like Citibank, Sharekhan, Karvy etc) using patent pending security architecture.
Currently, it supports about hundred odd institutions.
(2)
It gives a 360 degree view of the finances. It supports almost all of the asset/liability
classes like: Savings Banks, Credit Cards, Mutual Funds, Equities, Fixed Deposit,
Small Savings, Real Estate, Misc. assets, Cash register, Insurance etc.
(3)
Also computes capital gains,
(4)
Automatically categorizes the transactions,
(5)
Provides various Quick reports for deeper analysis,
(6)
Tracks movement of money between accounts using transfer categories,
(7)
Gives a neat Dashboard view of your financial health,
(8)
Also provides a safe and secure electronic vault to keep all your documents!
(9)
Share accounts with other Perfios users (family and or Tax Consultant)
People
behind Perfios?
Perfios
is created by individuals who are backed by extensive years of experience in the
software domain and are further backed by financial domain experts from various
financial institutions. The members of the Perfios think-tank have had long, successful
stints at organizations leveraging the best-of-the-breed technologies to build
intuitive, secure software applications for the Banking and Financial Services
(BFS) sector.
The
founding team members have served as C-level executives in several multinational
organizations and have been instrumental in setting up and managing global delivery
teams. The members have also successfully transformed several start-up software
companies into large, profit-making enterprises.
NEW
DELHI, DEC 29 : FLY Mobile, a dual SIM phone in Europe and a brand owned
by the Meridian Group, headquartered in the UK, today announced the launch and
availability of its latest 800MHz CDMA mobile phone model, C-250 in the Indian
market. Fly Mobile shall be selling the all new C-250 CDMA phone model at customer
price of Rs. 4490 through its nationwide network of channel partners in top 100
cities.
According
to Mr. Prem Kumar, Chief Executive Officer (India Operations), Fly Mobile, “It
is our constant endeavor to capture not just the requirements but also the aspirations
of the users through continuous consumer research. These inputs are then incorporated
into our products as features. This is possible only because we have our very
own design and development facilities involved in incessant innovation enabling
us to come up with superior products at unbelievably affordable prices. Of course,
it also sets us apart from brands that are merely traders in cheap imports."
The
all new C-250 has QC1110 chipset. Fly Mobile is in fact the first mobile handset
brand in the country to introduce this advanced chipset which gives C250 buyers
an impressive talk time of 8 hours owing to better power management.
It
is a BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) capable phone which essentially
means that it supports the application development platform created by Qualcomm
that can download and run small programmes for playing games, sending messages,
sharing photos, etc., enhancing the user experience further.
It
is a candy bar phone with 2” QVGA screen that offers 65K colours with display
resolution of 176x200 pixels. It also has a 2 mega pixel camera with image capture
resolution of 1600x1200 pixels, digital zoom and self-timer. The phone can be
charged with the help of USB cable and the USB connectivity also allows the users
to use it as a flash drive for data storage as and when required.
The
expandable memory with the help of mini-SD card is 4GB. It also has Bluetooth
connectivity for which allows users to share files, put on the Bluetooth headset
for conversation and enjoy stereophonic music sound while on the move. The integrated
modem enables users to connect the phone to a computer and access Internet.
In
terms of messaging, C-250 supports SMS with predictive / intuitive editor, long
message and multi-recipient features. When it comes to sound settings, the phone
supports polyphonic and true ring tones in MP3, MIDI, AMR, AAC and AAC+ format
Fly Mobile C-250 supports a media player which is capable of audio and video recording
as well as playback.
The
one touch access to audio player (on press of the down key) and the side keys
for volume control make C250 an ideal buy for the music aficionados. It has a
full track MP3 player with play, pause, stop, back, mute etc. functions. Using
the media player functionality, users can edit pictures as well.
The
C250 allows users to indulge in conference call i.e. connect and speak to multiple
people simultaneously. The standby battery life is 7 days while the talk time
is 8 hours, long enough for users to enjoy uninterrupted usage. What’s more,
it has an additional capability which enables users to blacklist unwanted numbers.
For
the busy traveller the C-250 CDMA phone from Fly Mobile is loaded with utilities
like FM Radio, calendar, alarms, world clock, voice recorder, speed dial, network
information & time zone, currency converter etc. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
NEW
DELHI, DEC 27 : AMAR Raja Batteries, a manufacturer of lead acid storage batteries
for industrial and automotive applications in India, has selected IBM to implement
a hardware platform to support their SAP implementation. Amara Raja Batteries
chose IBM System Power6 570 servers with virtualisation, DS 4700 Storage and Tivoli
middleware for their server and storage requirements.
Amara
Raja Batteries needed a cost- effective yet highly available solution at both
the server and storage levels and has selected IBM’s hardware platform to
run their SAP application. Apart from superior performance per core and the legendary
reliability of the POWER based solution, it is the flexibility attribute that
compelled Amara Raja Batteries to select IBM.
Amara Raja Batteries has chosen to deploy the SAP environment in a consolidated
footprint wherein the company will use virtualization to define flexible server
environments for different modules including Test and Development.
The
ability to move about resources based on business needs dynamically, would give
them the benefits of greater Return on Investment and utilization. All these result
in tangible cost benefits to the business. In addition, adopting the platform
will improve our operational excellence and IBM hardware and software would help
enhance efficiency by incorporating automation elements for better manageability.
“Amara
Raja Batteries is after latest generation technologies by developing and manufacturing
globally competitive, customer focused products of world class quality and introducing
these products into relevant markets," said Jayakumar C, IT - Head, Amara
Raja Batteries."
"We
aim at giving our customers the benefits of newer technologies, without losing
focus on our core business. We wanted to partner with the best technology advisor
in the industry in order to leverage their expertise to lay the way for our future
growth, while streamlining our operational costs”, he added.
“Amara
Raja Batteries recognized and realized that they needed to build a robust infrastructure
to address their current and future expansion plans. IBM POWER6™ processor-based
servers are designed to help clients implement a dynamic infrastructure,"
said Rahul Bindal, VP – Power Systems, Systems and Technology Group, IBM
India/ South Asia.
"We
will be able to provide Amara Raja Batteries with a combination of leadership
performance, energy efficiency and flexible virtualization features that are designed
to reduce cost, improve service and reduce risk – especially for mission
critical applications and highly virtualized, consolidated operating environments.”
he said.
The
combination of more performance per core and more I/O and memory capacity and
bandwidth per core of P570 servers helps clients to reduce the number of servers
or the number of cores per server. Also, Power 570 servers are twice as efficient
as competitive offerings. This has a major impact on reducing cost of server acquisition
and total cost of ownership for the clients IT environment. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, DEC 26 : SEAGATE , the worldwide player in hard disk drives and storage
solutions, has unveiled its new FreeAgent Theater+™ [Plus] HD media player,
the next generation home theater solution designed to instantly and easily connect
your digital media library to your home entertainment system.
The
FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player leverages a docking system unique to Seagate
FreeAgent Go™ portable drives and accessories, providing a quick and easy
way to connect your external hard drive to your television or home entertainment
center. After loading the drive with your favorite movies, videos, music and pictures
from the home PC, simply slide it into the FreeAgent Theater+ dock to get instant
access to your digital media library.
With
the FreeAgent Theater+ player, one can just sit back, relax, point, click and
enjoy as digitally captured memories and your favorite movies come to life in
1080p HD video, DTS™ 2.0 + Digital Out, or Dolby Digital technology. The
interface is easily navigated with the included remote control, and you can choose
from video, photos or music with the up/down arrows on the remote to make your
selection.
The
Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player includes two additional USB ports for
connecting other USB attached storage devices. Also incorporated into FreeAgent
Theater+ is an Ethernet port for network connectivity, which allows access to
digital media through your home network. Enjoy it all, with the included new and
improved remote control, from the comfort of your couch.
“There
is so much media that is now being captured and created through various methods
and stored on the PC, yet the computer is not the ideal way to enjoy these photos
and videos,” said Rajesh Khurana, country manager of India and SAARC countries,
Seagate Technology.
“The
FreeAgent Theater provides the easiest way to view and enjoy video and photos
on your HDTV. Simply load up a Seagate FreeAgent Go™ hard drive and drop
it into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player dock. It’s a behavior we’ve
all been familiar with for years with VHS and DVDs, but now with digital HD enjoyment,"
he adds. (editor@thesynergyonline.com)
.
NEW
DELHI, FEB 03 : 
DAVOS,
JAN 30 : 
NEW
DELHI , JAN 06 :