Acorn Networks :: Articles

Phishing threat highlights need for IT security support

2007-01-18T00:26:00.000Z

A fresh reminder has emerged of the importance that firms must place on obtaining IT security support.
Security outfit RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Center has warned that a new phishing device could be set to target businesses in the UK.
The Universal Man-in-the-Middle Phishing Kit allows criminals to entice users in to communicating with a real website via a fraudulent URL.
The kit has been designed to allow non-IT experts the ability to engage in phishing attacks.
Marc Gaffan, director of marketing for consumer solutions at RSA, commented: "As institutions put additional online security measures in place, the fraudsters are looking at new ways of duping innocent victims and stealing information and assets.
"While these types of attacks are still considered 'next generation', we expect them to become more widespread over the course of the next 12 to 18 months."
It is thought the package is readily available for purchase on the internet and firms are being advised to be on the guard and enlist specialist IT support.

Poorly managed IT 'can damage business credibility'

2007-01-18T00:25:00.000Z

Poorly managed IT services can damage a business's credibility and lose it customers, an expert has claimed.
President of Strasburg Technology, Byron Miller, claimed that in today's technologically-driven business world, successful companies knew how important it was to get IT systems and solutions right.
As well as driving profits and creating business growth, well-managed IT services made the day-to-day running of a firm more efficient and cost-effective, he explained, something which smaller businesses were increasingly recognising.
Mr Miller said that managed IT support services were a valuable asset as providers could take a 360-degree view of a firm's technology requirements and create solutions tailored to individual needs.
He said: "Tailoring IT solutions to the specific needs of a business is like giving away the keys to its future success.
"But you must work with a managed IT services provider who believes in building trust and forming a close working relationship - and who is willing to go that extra mile for a client."
Good business IT network support can be essential for a well-functioning company, something which Mr Miller agrees with, claiming that IT solutions can form a "rock solid foundation" for the success of a firm.

VanguardMS and igxglobal, inc. Team to Launch PCI-COMPLY Services to Help Retail Industry Comply with PCI Data Security Standards

2007-01-18T00:24:00.000Z

MANSFIELD, Mass., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Although deadlines set by the major credit card issuers have passed, many retail merchants and service providers are still struggling with how to safeguard credit card information and ensure their own compliance with data security standards established by the industry's PCI Security Standards Council. Vanguard Managed Solutions (VanguardMS(TM)), the nation's largest independent provider of managed network and security services, announces it has teamed with igxglobal, a leader in information security services and a certified QSA (Qualified Security Assessor) and ASV (Approved Scanning Vendor), to provide PCI-COMPLY, a comprehensive portfolio of services to assist businesses in achieving and maintaining PCI standards compliance. "The pressure on retailers and service providers to demonstrate full compliance with credit card security standards is mounting," notes Karen Ayotte, Director of Marketing. "Not only are card issuers requiring stronger safeguards for cardholder data and the networks that carry this information, but today's more educated consumers are also demanding their information be better protected."
According to Barry Johnson, Director of Risk Mitigation at igxglobal, PCI compliance is a multi-step process. "The industry's security standards are quite complex, involving issues like updating security patches, ensuring non- default settings and passwords, and protection of resources that transmit, store or process credit card data. Compliance is applicable to a host of network components that includes firewalls, switchers, routers, wireless access points, and other network and security appliances. Few retailers are adequately prepared to address all this on their own."
The PCI-COMPLY portfolio from VanguardMS and igxglobal includes the following eight services:
- PCI Gap Analysis: An initial review of systems, security methodologies, processes, to identify compliance gaps and provide preliminary recommendations. - PCI Audit and Assessment Services: A comprehensive, annual compliance audit and assessment tailored to a merchants' category/transaction level, from a certified QSA (Qualified Security Assessor). - PCI External Vulnerability/Exploitation Assessment: A quarterly network scan to enable merchants and service providers to identify security vulnerabilities in their Internet access points, from a certified ASV (Approved Scanning Vendor). - Forensics and Litigation Support Services: A complete solution for investigating and documenting cyber crimes, providing evidence and critical data analysis that can be used in legal proceedings. - Change Management and Compliance Reporting Services: A comprehensive network security package that helps ensure a secure network; stringent access control measures; routine monitoring and testing of network-wide components; ongoing maintenance of an established information security policy; and the ability to accurately track and report on numerous required compliance standards. - SecureGuard Monitor & Alert/Incident Response: An important service that allows merchants to monitor, report, audit and alert on access to all system components that process, store or transmit cardholder information. - Remote Access: The distribution, setup and on-going maintenance of keys used for remote worker access including revocation of old or invalid keys, such as RSA keys. - Radius Authentication Service: A service that tracks access to management systems with critical client information, and ensures that data available on a networking device, including routers and firewalls, is accessible in an authorized manner only.
The PCI-COMPLY portfolio of services is available now from VanguardMS and igxglobal. The PCI Gap Analysis, Audit/Assessment, Vulnerability/Exploitation Assessment and Forensics/Litigation Services are priced on a per project basis, depending upon the scope of work. The Change Management, SecureGuard Monitor & Alert/Incident Response and Remote Access services are priced as a recurring monthly fee.

NTRsupport Adds Simultaneous Remote-Control and Support Sessions Between Computers Running Mac OS, Windows, and Linux

2007-01-18T00:22:00.000Z

NTRglobal, a provider of highly secure remote support and access software, today announced that its NTRsupport product now offers simultaneous remote control and support sessions for computers running the Mac OS, Windows or Linux operating systems.
Dallas (PRWeb) January 10, 2007 -- NTRglobal, a provider of highly secure remote support and access software, today announced that its NTRsupport product now offers simultaneous remote control and support sessions for computers running the Mac OS, Windows or Linux operating systems.
NTRsupport is one of the fastest, easiest and most secure on-demand remote support solutions on the market. The software allows support professionals to create an immediate and secure connection between the support agent's computer and a user's PC or Mac, so the support staff can actually see what's on the user's screen in real time. This approach to providing IT support saves time and travel, and improves the customer service experience by delivering instant, personalized help. More than 7,500 companies around the world are already benefiting from NTRsupport. NTRsupport is immediately available for a free, 15-day evaluation at www.ntrsupport.com.
With NTRsupport, companies are able to solve the vast majority of their internal or external customers' technical support issues remotely, regardless of their operating system. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) model allows all support operations to be 100 percent Web-based, removing the need for pre-installation and requiring only a Web browser and Internet connection. The platform is available to more than 10,000 NTRsupport operators who already use the product.
"The expanded cross-platform capability complements NTRsupport's high level of flexibility, providing customers with a powerful solution that can be adapted to any user platform," said Andre Angel, president and CEO of NTRglobal North America.
NTRglobal is able to deliver this level of cross-platform support because of NTRsupport's compatibility with Firefox, the second most widely-used Web browser and the only browser guaranteed to be fully compatible with Mac OS, Windows and Linux. NTRsupport is also fully compatible with both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs.
NTR Labs, the research arm of NTRglobal, is working to extend the cross-platform capabilities of NTRsupport with the addition of supplementary support functionality, such as VoIP telephony, videoconferencing and an installable remote control (IRC) function. These additions will permit an unattended computer to be controlled remotely without user intervention.

Should You Pay for Premium Tech Support?

2007-01-11T05:03:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. What are the benefits and risks of having a contract for third-party tech support and what small businesses should expect to pay.
When your computer conks out, there's no bigger priority for a small business owner than getting it fixed. It's not such a problem if there is an IT professional on staff. However, for many small and mid-sized businesses it's not realistic to be able to hire a full-time IT person -- at a cost of at least $4,500 or more per month.
Is the solution to pay for premium tech support? Is having a contract for third-party tech support worth it?
The trick is to answer such questions before the next IT crisis in your business. "For businesses that lack the internal skills to be able to support their IT infrastructure, having a support services contract ensures that they will be able to recover from IT problems that occur," says Matt Healey, a senior research analyst for IDC Corp., a Framingham, Mass. research group.
Different levels of premium tech support
Generally, for very small businesses, with fewer than 99 employees, the higher-priced premium tech support offerings may be more overkill for their IT needs. However, a lower-priced package that provides extended basic coverage will often ensure the required level of service, says Healey. He adds that organizations with between 100 and 999 employees may want to evaluate the business processes that are most important to their company and invest in the premium services for the IT systems that supports those processes.
Without having an IT service, the small business owner can find himself, or his employees (who should be focused on other tasks) hanging on the phone with the hardware or software manufacturers' tech support provided for in a warranty. Or they may have to spend valued work hours hauling their machine into the small neighborhood computer shop and waiting while it's serviced.
Not all third party premium tech services are alike, though. Some firms guarantee a 30-minute response rate and you have to determine whether time is so valuable to your business that you are willing to pay extra for swift service. But some small businesses may be interested in ways to troubleshoot their problems for a lower monthly expense. In that case, some IT support firms provide access to recorded tutorials, downloads and quick FAQs before you are connected with a live person.
Lower costs for remote tech support
Another way to save money and yet to have the benefits of IT help is to go for one that works remotely. British Columbia-based Transparen Corp., which provides tech support remotely to clients all around Canada and the U.S., offers plans for as little as unlimited help for $30 and proactive support – including checking your computer at night for spyware – for $45 per computer.
Here are some of the things that tech support can do remotely: take care of software issues, excise viruses, and put in patches and new software.
Transparen president Case Jones says that his group has three people assigned to every client and that allows the firm to really get to know each client's needs and make sure that all the systems are uniform. They can detect, for example, if one person at a company has downloaded Skype and another one's anti-virus software isn't up to snuff. Of course, Jones acknowledges that there are some situations that can't be fixed remotely and requires that someone be called in on site to correct a problem.
But in general, Jones describes the remote premium tech service this way: "It's like having Medicare. You have to have a doctor look once in while to make sure that you're not doing something wrong."

Spelsberg TK Enclosures ‘Tough it Out’ in the Classroom

2007-01-09T05:01:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Spelsberg TK enclosures are being used to house an innovative laptop charging systems and connectivity hubs used for classrooms around the world. Designed and built by Hillbrow (UK) Ltd in the UK the Desktop Power Management Chargers and Hubs are distributed by market leader Bretford Mfg Ltd as part of a wide range of classroom IT support products that are proven to survive the rigours of working in schools for up to ten years.
Spelsberg tough polycarbonate TK enclosures provide robust protection for the wiring, plug sockets and overload protection circuits, while remaining pleasing to the eye and having no sharp edges. Spelsberg pre-drill and machine the enclosures to close tolerances ready for Hillbrow to assemble the units, cutting assembly time and production costs significantly. Several machining operations are carried out to accommodate sockets, switches and warning lights etc.
Stephen Rolph, MD of Hillbrow (UK) Ltd comments, 'Working with Spelsberg UK has been very easy, the staff are positive and knowledgeable and our being able to subcontract the machining is a real bonus for us, reducing the pressure on our own manufacturing resources. Full safety certification is readily available from them and Spelsberg UK is sufficiently forward looking that we had no difficulties in complying with the new RoHS Directive. This is especially important when manufacturing product which will be used by children and teachers alike’.
Graham Fox, Spelsberg UK MD adds, ‘The use of polycarbonate in this environment is ideal, as the units have to last up to ten years of ‘normal’ use; the material is impact resistant, will not corrode and won’t become brittle due to UV exposure, it is also inert. The unit features 16 top-mounted IEC sockets with Y-leads for connection to the laptops power pack. During development the aperture positions were tested in order to populate the lid fully but make sure that there was enough material to support the socket blocks when a number of attempts were made to force plugs in the wrong way.’
Computers are now an essential feature of most children’s education at school and laptops are a popular choice as they can be cleared away easily when they are not being used. In order to ensure a smooth running lesson they also have to work reliably, and since battery life can be variable equipment that can accommodate and power for up to 16 laptops and charge them at the same time is very useful.
The Desktop Power Management Charger ensures the laptops also remain charged ready for the next class. From a safety point of view they reduce the amount of cables running across the floor and incorporate a power management system that regulates the amount of current being drawn from the building circuits providing secondary overload protection. Each unit is fully tested and certified to BS6396: 2002 & EN60950: 2002.
A typical laptop unit when connected to the mains supply can have an inrush current of around 14 Amperes for 2 milliseconds. Therefore an accessory unit for charging 16 units has a potential inrush current of 224.0 amperes. This is sufficient to trip a circuit breaker in the mains wiring of the building and can cause much disruption if an entire floor or wing is without electricity.
To help schools minimise these difficulties an electronic module has been developed to restrict the inrush current until it settles. Diagnostic lights are also fitted to show correct operation or fault conditions plus the fuses that protect the IEC sockets have a 'fuse fail' indicator which shows red should a fuse fail thus helping a school get the best from the equipment.

El Pollo Loco Selects MegaPath’s Managed IP Services to Securely Connect Locations Throughout North America

2007-01-08T04:59:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. MegaPath, the leading provider of Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions and other managed IP services to businesses nationwide, today announced that El Pollo Loco, the nation’s leading quick-service restaurant chain specializing in flame-grilled chicken, is deploying MegaPath’s Store Connect VPN service to cost effectively support data communications between its restaurants and centralized corporate resources.
“As El Pollo Loco continues to expand across the nation, we look for technology providers that can help us increase restaurant productivity and deliver exceptional guest service,” said Tom Giannetti, Vice President of Information Technology at El Pollo Loco. “MegaPath’s fully managed secure connectivity services provide our restaurants access to the corporate resources they require, while allowing our headquarters staff to focus on providing tools that our crewmembers can use to build revenues and exceed our guests’ expectations.”
MegaPath is providing El Pollo Loco with the VPN support and data network connectivity required for several critical processes within its restaurants. In addition to delivering the performance and security for sub-second credit and gift card authorization processing, MegaPath provides near real time uploading of store-level transaction data to the central corporate data warehouse. By providing each location with the highest performance network access in its geographic region, MegaPath is allowing headquarters to better support in-store marketing efforts with point-of-sale system downloads for new marketing promotions and price changes.
As a fully managed network solution, MegaPath handles all router hardware installation and configurations. Outsourcing this activity reduces the internal staffing required to support a 200+ location network that is continuing to expand nationally. It also enables internal El Pollo Loco Information Technology staff to increase levels of IT support and security for its restaurants by making it possible for headquarters to remotely access and control store computer and video surveillance systems. The MegaPath network also allows El Pollo Loco to perform real-time network monitoring of servers, terminals and other critical “in store” network components.
“MegaPath’s managed IP and security services enable many leading retail and restaurant chains to gain competitive advantages by efficiently increasing productivity and customer satisfaction,” said Jim Cragg, President and Chief Operating Officer of MegaPath. “By connecting its headquarters and restaurants using MegaPath’s secure high-performance network services, El Pollo Loco is ensuring that its locations receive the best support available for mission critical applications, including point-of-sale and credit card processing. This is key to supporting the company’s long term growth and success.”

Rural Outsourcing Firm Onshore Technology Services Attains Gold Certified Partner Status in Microsoft Partner Program

2007-01-07T04:55:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Onshore Technology Services today announced it has attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program in three competencies - Custom Development Solutions, Business Process & Integration and Mobility Solutions--recognizing Onshore's expertise and impact in the technology marketplace. As a Gold Certified Partner, Onshore Technology Services has demonstrated expertise with Microsoft technologies and proven its ability to meet customers' needs. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training and support, giving them a competitive advantage in the channel.
Founded in March, 2005, Onshore Technology Services is a rural outsourcing company providing web development, application integration, IT support services and IT education services as a cost-effective, yet risk-adverse alternative to offshore outsourcing. In 2006, the Company nearly doubled the size of its technology workforce (Onshore now employs almost 20 Microsoft-Certified Application Developers).
"We are extremely pleased to have attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program. This allows us to clearly promote our expertise and relationship with Microsoft to our customers, " said Shane Mayes, President/CEO of Onshore Technology Services. "The benefits provided through our Gold Certified Partner status will allow us to continue to enhance the offerings we provide our customers."
"Customers are looking for partner companies that can bridge the gap between their business demands and technology capabilities," said Allison Watson, vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. "They need to trust in a company that can act as an expert adviser for their long-term strategic technology plans. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, which have certified expertise and direct training and support from Microsoft, can build a positive customer experience with our technologies. Today, Microsoft recognizes Onshore Technology Services as a new Gold Certified Partner for demonstrating its expertise providing customer satisfaction using Microsoft products and technology."

LG Electronics Showcases Latest Wireless Industry Innovations at CES 2007

2007-01-05T04:51:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. In addition to its 2007 product lineup that integrates the latest wireless technologies with style and function for the U.S. market, LG Mobile Phones is also emphasizing its global reach, showcasing several handsets available outside the U.S.
The strong presence for LG Mobile Phones at CES reflects the company's growing U.S. market share, which climbed to 16.1 percent in the third quarter of 2006. Third-quarter shipments catapulted LG Mobile Phones to the number two spot across all mobile phone manufacturers, while maintaining the largest share of the U.S. CDMA mobile handset market. Building on its well-known leadership in the CDMA market, LG Mobile Phones has continued its impressive growth in the GSM category as a result of innovative handsets such as the CU500, which features ultra-fast HSDPA technology, the first of its kind on Cingular's network.
In addition to participating in the Digital Experience and CES Unveiled pre-show events, as well as demonstrating the latest handset technologies at the LG Electronics booth, LG Mobile Phones was been honored with five 2007 CES "Innovations" Awards. LG Mobile Phones award winners include the smooth and stylish Chocolate by LG, the FUSIC mobile music handset, and two awards for the cutting edge HBS-110 Bluetooth Stereo headset. LG earned an additional award in collaboration with Digit Wireless for the LG AX490 Fastap phone. All of the award-winning handsets will be on display at the LG booth.
Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics MobileComm USA Inc., said, "Over the past year, LG Mobile Phones has focused on creating handsets that incorporate the latest entertainment features. Our current lineup includes products that continue to combine the latest mobile in style and functionality."
LG Mobile Phones is showcasing a robust lineup of handsets and wireless accessories at CES 2007. Devices available internationally show video telephony and 5 mega-pixel camera capability among other cutting-edge functionality. Style is exhibited with several innovative designs and accessories that accentuate the mobile phone users' experience. Fun will take the spotlight with handsets capable of mobile music and the ultimate in 3-D mobile gaming. Other handsets will give consumers a glimpse into the future of U.S. mobile phone technology by including handsets that double as televisions and accessories that make listening to music on-the-go easier than ever.
Featured LG Handsets at CES 2007 Include:
enV by LG
The enV was built to represent the ultimate convergence of advanced wireless capabilities and the latest developments in mobile entertainment. This handset is a complete multimedia experience, offering music, video, data and all the latest mobile handset innovations, including a beautiful large internal color screen, integrated QWERTY keypad and duel stereo sound.
Equipped with LG's first ever 2.0 mega-pixel camera with auto focus as well as Bluetooth Stereo support, the enV boasts features that stack-up with any other handset available in the US. With a full set of mobile entertainment features the enV makes it easier than ever to stay connected while enjoying music, videos and email in one slim package. Users can now watch streaming video on the crystal clear internal LCD, rock out to MP3s on their Bluetooth Stereo headset, or catch up on IMs or email with the full sized QWERTY keyboard.
Chocolate by LG
Featuring a super-slim style for sophisticated palettes, consumers can indulge in the luxury and innovation of Chocolate by LG. A work of art, both in looks and features, the Chocolate demonstrates looks aren't everything by including a full compliment of advanced features that make it one of the most innovative mobile devices in the world, inside and out. With the availability of new colors in white, wine red and mint green, the Chocolate is sure to appeal to the tastes of a wide variety of mobile users.
The Chocolate's sleek, ultra thin minimalist style and silky-smooth slide design is perfectly complemented by its glowing red touch keypad. The keypad is the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. and can be used to navigate phone menus as well as the integrated MP3 player.
LG VX8600
The LG VX8600 was designed to be a statement of beauty inside and out. At first glance, the phone garners attention with its glossy piano black finish and innovative glowing red touch front display keys for easy MP3 control. In addition to being the slimmest and lightest handset ever produced by LG, the VX8600 offers a 1.3 mega-pixel camera to capture every moment and amazing video capabilities allowing users to shoot up to one hour of video right from their handset.
The VX8600 also offers advanced music playback capability allowing users the ability to browse, preview, download and play high-quality digital music directly from their phone. Other music-centric features include a microSD memory slot that supports 2GB cards that hold up to 1,000 songs, Stereo Bluetooth capability, customizable effect/equalizer and player themes, a powerful speaker and dedicated music keys for easy access.
LG CU400
The CU400 is the latest handset from LG to showcase a wide array of features that is sure to offer something for everyone. With convenient Push- to-Talk (PTT) technology, users can connect to family and friends instantly with the push of a button. The CU400 offers the latest in PTT advancements, including PTT call conversion and PTT over Bluetooth.
With multitasking capability, high speed 3G network support, Music ID service and MobiTV, the CU400 is packed with the latest in multimedia goodies to keep users entertained while on the go. Additionally, the CU400 has a quad-band frequency, meaning users can take it across the globe and never have to worry about missing a call.
The CU400 includes additional progressive features like Bluetooth, integrated VGA Camera, one touch speakerphone and a full set of messaging functions.
LG CU500v
The LG CU500v was built and designed for speed. To meet the needs of more and more users downloading online content, the CU500 was outfitted with HSDPA technology. Now equipped with broadband like speeds at their fingertips, users will be able to use the CU500v to download the latest online content in a fraction of the time compared to conventional mobile web devices.
Another breakthrough feature on the CU500v is that consumers will be able to enjoy one-way video on their phones. Users can call a friend and send live (or pre-recorded) video to other users so they can see and hear you
simultaneously. LG is thrilled to be the first mobile handset manufacturer to offer this service in the U.S.
LG HBS-110
Talk or listen to music hands free with the Bluetooth Stereo headset from LG. This headset really rocks featuring Bluetooth connectivity, stereo sound and music control. The Bluetooth Stereo Headset is comfortable, easy-to-use and provides high quality stereo sound for up to six hours of music play. When connected to your Bluetooth enabled device, it offers three-way calling, nine hours of talk time, caller ID display and last number redial. This Bluetooth headset was designed specifically to appeal to mobile tech addicts as well as trend-setters that will embrace its sleek and stylish look.
FUSIC by LG
The FUSIC by LG is a mobile phone designed with the music lover in mind. A cool, thin phone, the FUSIC looks, feels and plays like a portable music player and proves to be the ideal device for on-the-go users seeking a fully featured phone with unprecedented music playing capability. LG Mobile ventured beyond the ordinary by making the FUSIC the first mobile phone in the U.S. to feature an FM Transmitter for listening to music through a radio or car stereo. Now users can listen to their saved MP3s wherever there is radio access. Another unique feature to the FUSIC is the internal Music Composer. With this application, users can record custom ring tones by humming a tune into the phone's microphone or composing a tune in Keyboard or Score mode. Users can further customize their ring tone experience by adding various instrument accompaniment, rhythm, tempos and styles.

BEA Systems' Guardian offers pre-emptive support

2007-01-04T04:50:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. BEA Systems Inc. plans to release its BEA Guardian evaluation version in January followed by a February general availability release. Guardian represents a departure from the traditional support model employed by the enterprise software industry and is designed to reduce the cost of reactive and proactive support services for organizations, officials said.
Guardian takes support services from a traditional break-fix model to a pre-emptive model, designed to help customers running business critical applications, given high availability is no longer a strategic goal but a tactical necessity in the modern world.
Stuart Charlton, head enterprise architect for BEA Systems Canada, said his company is offering pre-emptive support as a means of analyzing the customer's computing environment and comparing it to BEA's knowledge base. The end result is Guardian is designed to detect problems before they occur and in turn help lower daily IT operational costs.
"Guardian is kind of like an anti-virus for servers only it looks for potential problems of all varieties across the computing environment," he said. "It plugs directly into WebLogic server and it sits as a standalone application on the desktop.
"This is yet another opportunity to demonstrate the value of BEA infrastructure."
As a value-added support offering for the BEA WebLogic, AquaLogic and SIP servers, and BEA RFID product family, Guardian is designed to automate the process of diagnosing domains for potential problems and can recommend solutions, including updates or maintenance packs. By finding problems before they occur, customers can reduce unplanned downtime and improve IT support staff productivity.
Guardian is also designed to enhance productivity by identifying troublesome bottlenecks in the network, detecting security risks addressed by updates or maintenance packs, supplying key information needed to expedite the troubleshooting of cases and providing direct links to detailed information in BEA's knowledge base. Guardian is designed to help IT operations professionals roll-out complex deployments smoothly and on time, as well as to protect investments in BEA WebLogic Server, Charlton explained.
BEA Guardian uses a repository of signature patterns assembled from a comprehensive body of engineering and industry-wide support knowledge. Signature patterns can describe a set of parameters, thresholds, settings, coding practices and/or symptoms and their interdependencies. They also include a series of steps for problem resolution and they are designed to be updated regularly so that Guardian can identify new potential conflicts or trouble areas.
"We're seeing a drive to reduce the diagnosis and time to resolution costs in the enterprise data centre," he said. "This is another way of capturing knowledge in a machine-readable form and help resolve issues before they become problems."
Pricing for Guardian is to be announced in the coming weeks, officials said.

Rhema now adds IT training to its broad range of consultancy and training via strategic link with Enliten

2007-01-03T04:44:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Rhema Group has linked with Enliten Training Solutions in a strategic partnership which brings together two well-established and respected providers in the field of HR development.
Each organisation has over 20 years of experience and knowledge in its particular area. Rhema has an enviable reputation as a UK-based, globally operating, human resource development company and a provider of customised and blended solutions involving business consultancy, training, coaching, software and E-learning.
Enliten IT is a vendor independent IT training services business and is a Microsoft Registered Partner delivering courses covering not only Microsoft but also Adobe (Macromedia), Lotus, Quark, AutoDesk, Corel, Business Objects, CheckPoint and Oracle among others. The aim of the company is to provide a wide range of quality, value-for-money, training solutions to enable businesses to become more efficient and competitive. This involves the creation of clearly designed, relevant and focused tailored training solutions that meet the specific needs of both customers and partners.
"This strategic partnership has the significant effect of enabling us to include full IT training in our packages for our clients," said Rhema MD Jeremy Francis. "Rhema never relaxes in its efforts to keep its tailored solutions in line with the needs and expectations of organisations which want to offer fully tailored training packages to their management and staff. We are already bringing Enliten into our client offering and look forward to that continuing in future, and vice versa."
Recognising that staff training and skills development are fundamental to the growth and development of businesses, Enliten takes a flexible training approach using customised solutions. The four core areas pursued by the company are IT Training for end-users; technical network support staff and developers; design of Access databases, Web sites and Microsoft Office templates; Consultancy & Support for Network and Infrastructure services; and Soft Skills, within HR development programmes.
Enliten MD Marko Jergic said: "We have been providing ad-hoc soft skills services to our clients for some time, both at corporate level and for SMEs. This strategic partnership now allows us access to a far greater portfolio of services that can only be of benefit to our clients. Rhema is a like-minded organisation and we look forward to working closely with them."
Enliten IT http://www.enliten-it.com/ prides itself on providing quality value for money solutions, via very high quality trainers and consultants who are technically adept within their areas of expertise as well as being versed in educational methodologies - thereby ensuring that clients' staff get the most out of their training experience. The trainers are members of the Institute of IT Training (IITT) - the main standards body for IT Trainers in the UK covering all aspects of training, development and delivery. All are fully vendor authorised, having passed their trainer assessments e.g. MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer); MOS Master Instructor (Microsoft Office Specialist); CLI (Certified Lotus Instructor) as well as their product exams. Each trainer has a combination of certifications depending upon their skill sets, and additionally has practical knowledge of real life scenarios which adds value to the classroom experience. Enliten IT has trained customers throughout the UK, in Switzerland and Hong Kong. It provides a wide range of on-site technical training courses which can dramatically cut down on time spent away from the office and on money spent in travelling and overnight expenses. On-site services include migrations and rollout training, based around Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia, Lotus and bespoke in-house systems.

Legal Alert: DOL Opinion Letter Finds IT Support Specialist Not Exempt from FLSA's Requirements

2007-01-02T04:43:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an opinion letter addressing an issue that many employers have faced - whether an employee who provides computer help desk support is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In this opinion letter (FLSA 2006-42, dated October 26, 2006), the DOL stated that, based upon the information submitted by the employer requesting the opinion, the position does not qualify for the administrative or computer employee exemption. The FLSA requires employers to pay nonexempt employees a minimum wage for all hours worked and an overtime premium equal to at least one and one half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty in one week. The "white collar" exemptions provide complete minimum wage and overtime pay exemptions for any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity as those terms are defined in 29 C.F.R. Part 541. To qualify for the exemptions, the employee must meet all of the tests relating to duties and salary for a particular exemption. In this case, the employer requested guidance regarding whether the position of IT Support Specialist would be exempt under either the administrative employee exemption or the computer employee exemption. According to the employer, the IT Support Specialist (a newly created position, formerly called Help Desk Support Specialist) is responsible for diagnosis of computer related problems as requested by employees, physicians and contractors of the employer. The IT Support Specialist conducts problem analysis and research, troubleshoots, and resolves complex problems. According to information provided by the employer, the majority of the employee's time (55%) involves analyzing, troubleshooting, and resolving complex problems with business applications, networking, and hardware. The job requires a high school diploma or GED, although an associate degree is preferred. Administrative Employee Exemption An employee meets the administrative exemption if he or she is compensated on a salary or fee basis of at least $455 per week and has, as his or her primary duty, the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers. Additionally, the employee's primary duty must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with regard to matters of significance. The DOL stated that the IT Support Specialist position does not qualify for the administrative employee exemption because it does not involve the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. The DOL noted that the exercise of discretion and independent judgment must involve more than the use of skill in applying well-established techniques, procedures or specific standards described in manuals or other sources. The DOL also noted that the fact that work is complex or highly specialized along technical lines or that the employer will suffer significant consequences or losses if the employee does not perform the job properly does not automatically mean the work is significant to the management or general business operation of an employer. Thus, even though the upkeep of the computer system is essential to the employer's business, the focus of the analysis must be on the nature of the employee's work, not the consequences of the employee's performance. Here, the DOL found that the IT Support Specialist's duties of maintaining a computer system and testing to see that a particular piece of equipment or an application is working properly according to specifications designed by others lacks the required exercise of independent judgment and discretion to qualify for the administrative employee exemption. Computer Employee Exemption Under Sections 13(a)(1) and13(a)(17) of the FLSA, computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers in the computer field who meet certain tests regarding their job duties are eligible for exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay as professionals. To qualify for this exemption, the employee must be paid on either a salary or fee basis of not less than $455 per week or, if paid on an hourly basis, not less than $27.63 per hour. Additionally, this exemption only applies to employees whose primary duties consist of the application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications; the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing, or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications; the design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems; or a combination of these duties. Examples of employees who qualify for these duties include computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers. The DOL noted, however, that job title alone does not determine the employee's exempt status. In this case, the DOL found that the IT Support Specialist position did not qualify for the computer employee exemption because the job's primary duties of installing, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting computer applications, networks, and hardware did not involve the application of systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications. Nor does the IT Support Specialist position involve the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs related to user or system design specifications or machine operating systems. Accordingly, the position did not qualify for the computer employee exemption.Employers' Bottom Line:Although DOL opinion letters are not binding and are based upon the specific facts submitted to the agency, the guidance provided in this opinion is useful because it demonstrates the factors the DOL considers in determining whether jobs involving computer-related duties will be considered exempt. Generally, to qualify for the computer employee exemption, the job must involve more than the application of programs or specifications developed by someone else. This is becoming an increasingly important issue for employers as workplace reliance on computers and computer networks increases and the number of employees responsible for supporting and maintaining computer systems and networks increases. Improperly classifying such employees as exempt has resulted in administrative fines and litigation, including an increasing number of class action claims.

CA unifies Dubai Holding's IT infrastructure

2006-12-29T04:41:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. In today's Middle East business community too many organisations are suffering from 'technology regression' over complex technology systems are actually making our business life harder, not easier, to work productively.
CA, one of the world's largest IT management software companies, today announced the successful implementation of its Unicenter range of products for Dubai Holding, across the Group.
The CA products installed, manage the entire network, servers and databases, and include the Unicenter service desk, desktop management tools as well as the Unicenter network and system management products.
Dubai Holding was created to consolidate the various large scale infrastructure and investment projects that contribute towards Dubai's economic, social and industrial developments, including Technology, Communication, Energy, Health and Education, Tourism, Real Estate, Finance, Hospitality, Biotechnology and Industrial manufacturing sectors.
CA's portfolio of enterprise IT management solutions has helped unify and simplify the varied IT infrastructure of Dubai Holding, which recently consolidated its IT departments from over 30 geographically dispersed end-user communities under one roof, known as the Chief Information Office (CIO).
One of the primary challenges faced by Dubai Holding was the need to deliver quick solutions and rapid response time for internal IT problems, while simultaneously providing seamless IT support throughout the organisation. Reducing costs with increased efficiency in IT deliverables was also among its priority.
CA's Unicenter Service Desk addressed these challenges by offering immediate solutions to common issues in significantly shortened response times. IT Service Desk, the system which replaced the old help desk, introduced incident management tools which can categorise and prioritise incidents, as well as manage all its end user IT issues centrally. Unicenter tools further assisted Dubai Holding realise its return on investment by aligning its IT operations into a well managed system. A drastic improvement in the incident resolution rates means that Dubai Holding can offer both its end users and customers a superior level of service.
CA's extensive post sales support, local technical staff as well as the ability to amalgamate solutions onto a single operating platform, was one of the main criteria in gaining the confidence and the business of the region's leading corporation. CA's desk top management tools were integrated into the IT Service desk solutions and provided software delivery, asset management and remote control facilities. With these technical enhancements Dubai Holding was able to incorporate a complete end user management solution.

Betwixt and between ODF, OO-XML, and Google, Corel discusses Wordperfect roadmap

2006-12-26T04:40:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Until very recently, if you or your company wanted to buy a "productivity suite" — a package of software that includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, Powerpoint-like presentations, and a few other helpful utilities — there were relatively few choices and none of them played well together. In other words, while you may have been able to open documents that were saved in one suite using another suite, that "interoperability" was never quite perfect. Not only that, the vendors who made these suites have had a limited amount of incentive to fix the problem. When you're a vendor, interoperability is often a bad thing. It gives end users what the deserve. The power to switch.
If you're a vendor and you can addict your customers to your proprietary (vendor-specific) formats, that's a good thing. The more documents your customers create in with your suite of software, the more addicted to that software your customers will become — eventually relying on it to the exclusion of everything else to create, open, save, or edit their documents.
But then, in 2005, if you were a user of such suites, the productivity suite interoperability landscape took a turn for the better when a group of vendors including IBM and Sun got together to create a common way for saving and retrieving documents known as the OpenDocument Format or ODF. Although ODF has risen in status to an international standard, having recently been ratified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there is one small wrinkle: Microsoft, the maker of the most popular suite — Microsoft Office — has so far shown limited interes in getting its productivity suite to work with ODF. Instead (still more good news for end users), in the name of the same interoperability that ODF was created for, Microsoft has released a different "open" format known as the Office Open XML format or OO-XML and it too is headed to the ISO for ratification (although no one can say for sure whether or not it will get it). Say what you will about Microsoft coming out with an additional standard rather than just supporting ODF, the bottom line is that the world is better off with open formats rather than the closed ones that existed just a year or two ago.

EMPLOYMENT LAW: IT support specialists would be non-exempt

2006-12-23T04:38:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. In response to an employer that was in the process of creating a new IT Support Specialist position, the Wage & Hour Administrator issued an opinion letter advising that the new position, as described, would not qualify for the administrative or computer employee exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act under the revised white-collar exemption rules (W & H Opinion Letter No 2538 (FLSA2006-42)).
The employer plans to have shifts of IT Support Specialists working or on-call 24 hours a day. According to the job description provided to the agency, the IT Support Specialist (renamed from Help Desk Support Specialist) would be responsible for the diagnosis of computer-related problems as requested by employees, physicians, and contractors. The IT Support Specialist conducts problem analysis and research, troubleshoots, and resolves complex problems either in person or by using remote software. The position requires a high school diploma or GED, although an associate degree is preferred.
Administrative exemption. The Wage and Hour Administrator concluded, based on the information provided by the employer, that the IT Support Specialist position did not qualify for the administrative exemption under Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA. Although minor aspects of the work reportedly include participating in the design of client configurations and analyzing and selecting new technology, the tasks performed and the decisions made by an IT Support Specialist does not demonstrate that their primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance to management or general business operations of the employer. To qualify for the administrative exemption, however, such a showing is necessary.
"The primary duty of the IT Support Specialist you describe consists of installing, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting computer applications, networks, and hardware. Maintaining a computer system and testing by various systematic routines to see that a particular piece of computer equipment or computer application is working properly according to the specifications designed by others are examples of work that lacks the requisite exercise of discretion and independent judgment within the meaning of the administrative exemption," the Wage and Hour Administrator wrote. "Employees performing such activities are using skills and procedures or techniques acquired by special training or experience. Their duties do not involve, with respect to matters of significance, the comparison and the evaluation of possible courses of conduct, and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered as required by [the white-collar exemption rules]."
Computer employee exemption. The Wage and Hour Administrator also concluded that the primary duty of the IT Support Specialist does not consist of duties similar to those discussed in the computer employee exemption regulations, and as such, the position does not qualify for the computer professional exemption under FLSA sections 13(a)(1) and 13(a)(17).
The white-collar exemption rules list employees who qualify for this exemption as including computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers in the computer field. As explained in the preamble to the final rule, such job titles alone, however, are not the determining factor for exemption. An exempt computer employee's primary duty must consist of those duties discussed in 29 C.F.R. 541.400(b). These duties include:
the "application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications";
"[t]he design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications";
"[t]he design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems"; or
"[a] combination of these duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills."
The primary duty of the IT Support Specialist position as described, however, involved none of these roles. Thus, the computer exemption was inapplicable. The position, as delineated, would be nonexempt, the Wage and Hour Administrator advised.

Nationwide SIP Network

2006-12-20T03:22:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. AccessLine Communications completed a multi-year migration of its telecommunications network to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard. Through leveraging its highly flexible SBC technology and sophisticated internal signaling, AccessLine can normalize complex SIP interoperation nuances and offer unified access to multiple VoIP domains via a single interconnection with AccessLine. The company is one of the first nationwide VoIP application service providers to invest in – and complete – nationwide network support for the SIP standard.
SIP is an open application-layer signaling control standard for establishing and terminating calls over a VoIP network. It delivers more architectural freedom to VoIP developers, allowing them to more easily and quickly develop network modifications for specific customers or specific applications.
“Each network service provider presents a different combination and permutation of the myriad options and capabilities that can be supported over a SIP interface,” said Jerry Knight, Chief Technology Officer for AccessLine. “AccessLine's customers can reap all the benefits in reach, availability, features and cost of multiple carrier interconnections via a single interconnection with AccessLine. This can save the customer years in time to market and technical effort that can be re-deployed on other more valuable initiatives. This is of particular importance to customers with large call volumes, where redundancy and availability are primary concerns.”
In addition to the unique “normalization function” that is inherent to AccessLine's SIP Network, AccessLine is able to deploy a much larger number of SBCs (Session Border Controllers) at a much lower cost than most other carriers. This simultaneously gives AccessLine both a cost and quality advantage. For customers of AccessLine’s hosted SmartVoice Service for business, this means that the benefits of advanced business telephone service are delivered at a fraction of the cost of competing services. AccessLine’s investment in its network migration to SIP means increased call quality, high availability and improved traffic efficiency.

BT Global outsources network support to Alcatel-Lucent for $US350m

2006-12-19T03:19:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Just days after its formation Alcatel-Lucent has announced its first major contract: a $US350 million contract to take over responsibility for the maintenance of BT Global Services' global network for the next eight years.
Alcatel-Lucent’s Services will assume responsibility for the majority of BT Global Services’ equipment maintenance and spares management contracts. The contract covers first line maintenance, second, third and fourth line support. BT say it expects to derive cost savings in excess of $US100 million over the lifetime of the contract.
“By moving to a single-point-of-contact supplier, we will be able to benefit from having one primary interface for support services rather than having to manage a large number of service vendors, while service level agreements will remain at the current high level, or be improved where needed," said Roel Louwhoff, president of customer service and network operation in BT Global Services.

One-click BackUp for WinRAR Makes Daily Backups Easy

2006-12-16T03:16:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Acritum Software has released One-click BackUp for WinRAR 2.16, a handy file backup utility for Windows. The product is available as freeware for home users and non-commercial organizations. Professional version with network support is available for corporate and advanced users at a small price.
It's important to have backup copies of all important documents, so you can restore your information if accidentally erase it, or if you have a hardware malfunction or virus attack. Because creating daily backups is boring, most people don't do it. One-click BackUp makes your life safer by automatically doing your backups, without fail.
The program acts as an easy-to-use backup shell for WinRAR archiver thus providing higher compression and safety of your documents in comparison with ordinary ZIP backups. OCB supports three backup formats - RAR, ZIP and self extracting EXE container.
OCB gives you full access to all key features of WinRAR - compression levels, volumes, password protection, recovery record, etc. You can easily run backup tasks manually or using the backup scheduler or the shell notifier which can run a backup process when the content of a certain folder changes. OCB can hide itself and create backup archives with a low process priority to let you proceed with your daily work without any inconvenience.
Having created an archive, OCB can store it to a local or removable drive, copy it to a network folder, write it to a CD/DVD disc, upload it to a FTP server or send it to your e-mail. You don't have to remember about your backups until you finally need them. Just set the number of backup copies you want to have and OCB will keep only recent archives and automatically delete old redundant ones. This is quite a useful feature when backing up to FTP servers where the available space it often limited. When backing up to CD/DVD discs, OCB can automatically erase them when there isn't enough room to write a new archive. The minimum of manual work - this is the main conception of One-click BackUp.
System administrators will also enjoy such advanced features as command line support, remote control of backup processes via Internet or LAN, error notification to e-mail and anti-hooligan protection.

The Journal Newspapers Selects Red Level Networks

2006-12-13T03:15:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. LIVONIA — The Journal Newspapers, which publishes eight weekly newspapers covering communities in western Wayne County, Mich., has selected Red Level Networks (Red Level) to maintain and support the company’s information technology (IT) infrastructure. Red Level is a full service IT solutions company that designs, installs and provides ongoing network support for nearly 200 small and medium-sized businesses across Southeast Michigan.
“Based off strong referrals we chose to partner with Red Level, as handling our own IT needs in-house became more and more time consuming,” said Douglas Willet, general manager of The Journal Newspapers. “Our organization is continuously on tight deadlines, and Red Level’s responsiveness, ability to quickly step in and understand our technology is essential for our business.”
Servicing 40 desktops and four servers, Red Level will provide IT and professional services to The Journal Newspapers, including support for email, security, remote access and Intranet systems. Partnering with Red Level to handle important technology issues will improve efficiencies and allow more time for The Journal Newspapers management staff to focus elsewhere throughout the organization.
“As companies continue to expand, outsourcing their IT management is very often the most viable, cost effective solution,” said David King, president of Red Level Networks. “By working with us, The Journal Newspapers will now be able to focus completely on growing their business and less time looking after their IT investments.”
Emerging and rapidly growing businesses form the core of Red Level Networks’ client community. In 2005, the company posted corporate revenue of just over $1 million, a 225-percent increase over 2004 sales, and its customer base grew 110 percent.

Gizmo Partners with AAPT to Smooth the Way for WiFi Adoption in Australia

2006-12-10T03:13:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Sydney, NSW – 05 December, 2006 – Gizmo, the support service designed to help Australians get the most out of their computer and digital lifestyle gadgets, today announced a service partnership with AAPT to provide in-home tech support for AAPT’s new WiFi modem customers. The partnership comes on the heels of Gizmo’s expansion from Sydney into Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra metropolitan areas as the company brings home tech support services to more people across the nation.
Gizmo, the support service designed to help Australians get the most out of their computer and digital lifestyle gadgets, today announced a service partnership with AAPT to provide in-home tech support for AAPT’s new WiFi modem customers. The partnership comes on the heels of Gizmo’s expansion from Sydney into Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra metropolitan areas as the company brings home tech support services to more people across the nation.
Gizmo will be offering a specialised home network support bundle to complement the rollout of AAPT’s new WiFi service, due for launch in early December. Gizmo’s support bundle will include help with setting up AAPT’s WiFi modem and connecting it to home peripherals; ensuring that the new home network is secure and protected; and also includes basic hints and tips on how to maximise the performance of the new set-up.

Wireless networks give people the freedom to share music, files and printers as well as connect to the internet from anywhere in the home.

"Through our partnership with AAPT, Gizmo is helping Australians get the most out of their new digital lifestyle investments," said Brett Chenoweth, Gizmo’s CEO. "As more people adopt services like AAPT’s WiFi modem offer, Gizmo will be on hand to ensure it runs smoothly, securely and trouble-free."

Greg Armstrong, Head of Marketing, Consumer and Small Enterprise, AAPT said, "The AAPT home WiFi modem offer presents great value for those consumers who are looking for a cost effective wireless network solution for the home. We understand that customers want to get the most out of WiFi services by being able to link up more than one PC or even how they can link WiFi to other home products such as house alarms, stereo systems, air conditioners etc. The addition of Gizmo’s installation services makes the digital wireless home a lot more achievable."
The AAPT and Gizmo WiFi network bundle will be available for $199, which includes the AAPT WiFi modem and a home visit to set-up the new WiFi home network.

Gizmo also has a wide list of additional service packages designed specifically to address the diverse needs of home technology and digital devices. Home service visits are priced at a flat rate1 and range from $120 to $240 depending on the service required while over the phone service is a flat $60 (support that requires less than ten minutes costs only $20). Additionally, Gizmo offers a ‘no fix, no fee’ guarantee2.

Siemens’ New OpenStage™ Family of SIP Phones Provide Personal Fixed Mobile Convenience with Style

2006-12-07T03:12:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Siemens Communications, Inc., today announced OpenStage™, a new line of stylish IP telephones that bring an open communications hardware platform to the desktop for the first time. With four different models ranging from basic to advanced, OpenStage phones feature a revolutionary new design that combines ease-of-use with PC functionality – the biggest change in the telephone interface since the pushbutton phone replaced the rotary dialer. In addition, OpenStage phones utilize Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to integrate wired, wireless and IP communications to invoke new conferencing and call features such as “push to conference,” desktop call management, “presence” based calling, and more. The phones also support compatible third-party applications through standards-based technology such as Java, HTML, WML and XML so that they can become a key interface for everyday enterprise business applications.
OpenStage introduces a touch sensitive wheel, called TouchGuide™ that allows easy access to the menu-driven user interface. The TouchSlider™ controls the volume of the handset, ringer and speaker phone, and there are touch sensitive pre-set and programmable keys that provide easy access to frequently used applications and features, such as address books, voicemail, conferencing, and speed dial. OpenStage also lets you dial using hands-free voice commands or a conventional keypad. It also features a high-quality speaker phone that has been specially designed for conference calls, and can operate multiple connections from the same desktop.
“End-users in business environments are faced with an ever-increasing variety of communications capabilities, devices, interfaces and modes. Efforts to streamline and integrate these capabilities, and to make the most of the latest in navigation techniques, are welcome and will get the attention of buyers,” said Jerry Caron, Vice President, Current Analysis. “Innovative systems, such as the Siemens Enterprise Communications Open Stage portfolio, make access to sophisticated capabilities easier and more intuitive, thus inherently raising the relevance of the capabilities themselves.”
Built-in Bluetooth support also lets you use a Bluetooth headset with the OpenStage deskphone for hands-free operation. A V.Card exchange even allows you to transfer contacts between compatible mobile phones and the desk phone. A USB port is available to backup data, such as personal contacts, as well as to connect to a wireless LAN using a WLAN dongle. With network support, you can readily access a corporate phone directory using an LDAP client, or gain public phone directory access using XML to look up new contacts.
“OpenStage is the missing link that integrates cellular, the Internet and the wired desktop,” said Thomas Zimmermann, Chief Operating Officer of Siemens Enterprise Communications. “We designed OpenStage to deliver mobile convenience in a fixed device, providing instant access that is always available and easy to drive. And this line of IP telephones offer a new, rich communications experience that combines style elements with the convenience of a mobile phone.”
OpenStage is designed to help organizations improve productivity and streamline workflow by integrating system-wide communications into the most-used office device, the telephone handset. Since it is an open application platform, OpenStage gives IS departments and third party developers more flexibility to write and deploy a wide range of value-added applications that can make the phone a key interface for enterprise applications and that can speed communications and workflow.
For example, Java applications that run on a PC, mobile phone, or PDA can now be readily ported to run on the OpenStage phone. Using HTML, the phones can be used as an interface for hosted applications, such as timesheets, calendars, or public phone books. WML support makes it compatible with applications developed for mobile phones, such as access to traffic news. Support for XML also makes it easy to customize OpenStage for any number of users, such as interfaces for building control systems, responses to incoming calls or to create "tell me when" applications that monitor for specific conditions. OpenStage is part of LifeWorks, Siemens’ vision for open communications and seamless collaboration across multiple protocols, networks, and devices.
OpenStage phones will retail starting at $295. They will be offered through Siemens Alliance partners.

Loves Linux, Runs Windows

2006-12-05T03:06:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. PARIS -- European governments have long complained about their dependence on Microsoft's software, but their rhetoric has not turned into a mass migration away from Windows.
During the past few years, Europe's elected officials have made a lot of noise about ambitious projects to switch to open source software, including big migrations of government PCs in France, Germany, Spain and Norway.
These plans are often heralded as major inroads against Microsoft's Windows hegemony in the old country -- where Microsoft has been fined close to $1 billion in antitrust violations by the European Commission.
Yet the actual migrations have been negligible. More than 95 percent of all PCs used by European government workers still run on Windows, according to the market research firm IDC.
"No one has come out and said 'we are migrating every desktop or laptop on Linux,'" said IDC analyst Massimiliano Claps.
In Norway, a project known as eNorway 2009 was begun in 2005 to convert Norway's public sector to open source software.
The goal was for all government institutions to begin replacing Windows with non-proprietary, open source software by the end of this year, but the project has stalled, with few if any Linux PC installations, according to Geir Nøklebye, an IT consultant and open source activist.
Even the most ambitious open source initiative in Europe to date -- a massive project begun several years ago by the local government in the Extremadura region of Spain -- has seen only mixed success.
The project has managed to convert more than 75,000 PCs to run on Linux, but the migration has not been total. Even some of the computers in the project's administrative office still run Windows, one anonymous employee told Wired News.
The Extremadura government has saved 30 million euro in licensing fees by adopting gnuLinEx for an investment of 125,000 euro, according to local officials.
"Extremadura's project is the biggest and the most ambitious in Europe because of the political clout behind it," said Luis Millán Vazquez de Miguel, regional minister of infrastructures and technological development for Junta Extremadura, in an e-mail.
Despite the massive shift, compatibility issues necessitate the use of Windows PCs for some applications, such as for CAD drawing or for graphics design programs, said project employees contacted by Wired News.
It's the same story across Europe. Switching to open source can cause compatibility issues with Microsoft's file formats, which are proprietary -- and still used by the vast majority of other computer users. There can be conflicts with MS Exchange servers, commonly used for e-mail and calendaring. And there's the problem of educating government IT departments about the ways of Linux.
Elected officials might make public proclamations about how their government's PCs will no longer be captive to Microsoft's oppression, but getting the IT department to carry out the noble plan and to do the necessary grunt work is far from easy.
"If the technicians say 'no,' it's not going to happen," Nøklebye said.
Still, Europe's elected officials continue to drive toward open source. In the next few months, lawmakers in France's National Assembly will begin to use PCs equipped with Linux, Sun's OpenOffice software and the Firefox browser.
Benoît Sibaud, the president of April, a French nonprofit free software organization, said the French government's push away from Microsoft platforms is largely driven by concerns about industrial espionage and security in "the economic war between Europe and the United States."
France's police and tax departments are two branches of the public sector that have sought to adopt open source platforms. But in the case of the Gendarmes, for example, the PCs made available to its 100,000-member police force run almost exclusively on Windows, a spokeswoman said.
Still, the Gendarmes unit plans to equip 5,000 of its PCs with Linux next year under a pilot project, with plans for full integration of the operating system by 2010. The French police unit has also shifted its users to OpenOffice and Firefox while dumping Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Many of its servers run on Linux-based platforms.
A Gendarme contacted by Wired News who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that while he was optimistic about the prospects of the Linux operating system and noted how his unit had a capable IT support staff, he was not too happy with OpenOffice. He said he missed MS Office, even though it is designed by a company run by people he considers to be "thieves."
"(OpenOffice) is complicated. It is atrocious," the Gendarme said. "We save money but the advantages of its use are not terribly clear."
Ironically, the French Gendarmes will probably still have to pay a U.S. company licensing fees for the Linux distribution it uses on its PCs.

Outsourcing's Next Phase has Begun

2006-12-02T03:02:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. "Outsourcing in India has reached a near term peak and meaningful expansion from this point forward will result in higher costs and lower quality delivery." Business Leaders in Asia have been saying this to each other for months now. Today, we are seeing deliberate action to move capacity from India to next step destinations like Philippines, China and Vietnam.
Even major business publications have picked up on the evolving situation. Both Forbes (India: Good Help is Hard to Find) and BusinessWeek (India's IT Challenge) recently published feature articles that directly address the growing problems in India and the viability of the next step destination countries.
Looking at current events in Philippines, we can get a better idea what is going on. Sykes, a large US-based contact center and IT support organization, has operations in both India and Philippines. The company said it would shift much of its Indian capacity to Philippines where it already has 7000 employees. "We moved calls to other facilities in Asia to get a higher rate of return," was the official statement from Dan Hernandez, Sykes's vice-president for global strategies. But knowledgeable observers in the region say that the rate of return differential must be large for a company of Sykes' size and prominence to forgo India after already putting capacity in place.
Ambergris Solutions is another large contact center organization with operations in Philippines. The company just received a $43.5M investment through Telus International, a Canadian-based global IT Solutions provider. Jim Evans, who played the key local role in coordinating the deal, says his company wanted a "strategic investment" in the outsourcing industry in Asia and Philippines offered the best long-term opportunity given all the options including India.
As Asia Pacific VP for global B2B services provider GXS, Victor Lee oversees the professional & customer services operations in the region. His company made the decision to direct functions with a strong customer component to Philippines because of better economics and results there. His company's analysis also indicated that costs were increasing disproportionately in India unlike Philippines. As well, Victor feels that "having product development in India and professional & customer services in Philippines reduces risks."
More outspoken than most, Rick McGonegal is clear that India will not be part of his company's plans for the foreseeable future. He is the Managing Director of RCG Information Technology, another good-sized IT solutions provider. The company already has a strong offshore presence in Philippines and has assessed the Asia Pacific region for future expansion. India, he feels, is already too crowded with numerous companies all scrambling to hire from each other. The result is destructively high staff turnover rates, mounting salary costs and poorer English communications skills compared to that which is available in Philippines. He also cited overstretched infrastructure in India as a further reason RCG would not consider this destination at present. According to Rick, his company has its "radar set on Vietnam and China" should their current best option of Philippines give way.
Others that appear to be moving work to Philippines include: Hewitt, which has just started hiring staff for its newly commissioned BPO facility, and HSBC, the global banking organization, which got their BPO underway a few months ago. I am currently meeting with numerous early stage entrants to Philippines - more than at anytime during the past 3 years. As another anecdote, I spoke recently to the Texas-based Global Recruitment Manager of a multinational technology company who needed help attracting Indians living in the US and Canada to jobs back in India. This is no surprise since there is strong demand for returnee management talent. Except that this fellow was not looking for managers, he was looking for individual contributors with 3 years of Java/C++ experience - a core skill that was once available in seemingly infinite quantities. He described, with great exasperation, the challenges his company faced hiring such people within India these days.
Long Live the King!
No one is saying that the King of Outsourcing will lose its dominance or its long-term attractiveness as an outsourcing destination. India created the offshore outsourcing model and it will continue driving the industry forward because of its huge size and the remarkable competence of its managers.
If India does experience slower growth because of constrained resources in the near term, it is only because of its tremendous success over the past few years. India's recent hiring growth has been roughly double that of the crazy dotcom boom times in North America. So, current alleged constraints are not indicative of weakness but of great success.
And besides, rising costs may be a big deal to business leaders who have to somehow budget for them. But for individual workers, who see their paychecks rise by 30% from a well timed job change, "rising costs" probably don't warrant the same degree of concern.
If countries like Philippines and Vietnam are better options today, it is only because they have been less successful at developing and attracting quality outsourcing employers in the past. The pioneering accomplishments made by India have now opened the door for these countries to receive their share of the blessings. And as for India, we can be sure they will soon be back stronger than ever.

Civica teams with BT for Edinburgh contract

2006-11-29T03:01:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Software and services VAR Civica has landed a share of a £10m deal for the technology transformation programme of The City of Edinburgh Council.
Civica is working in affiliation with telco giant BT on the two-year technology transformation scheme called Service Redesign.
The programme forms part of The City of Edinburgh Council’s new agenda, which is putting new IT technologies at the heart of local services.
Service Redesign comprises a centralised service infrastructure based on Microsoft Active Directory and Short Message Service (SMS) with a managed desktop environment for 6,000 departmental users across all the council’s sites.
Steve Reynolds, managing director of Civica Services, said: “Civica has the proven track record and expertise to support infrastructure programmes of this type. We will be helping BT Global Services and The City of Edinburgh Council to simplify software management and compliance and help to drive costs out of the overall IT budget.”
Hayden Edwards, Service Redesign project manager at BT, said: “Civica is helping to bring about reduced software support costs on a large scale project. Too often, organisations neglect software licensing when they could actively manage it.”
Councillor Donald Wilson for The City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I am extremely pleased with the Service Redesign programme. It has given the council an opportunity to take a massive step forward in modernising the services we deliver.
“It will allow us to work more efficiently across different parts of our organisation. It means that our IT partner provides us with a faster and more responsive IT support service that is crucial in today’s fast-moving environment where delivering customer services means systems must keep running around the clock.”

Microsoft Vista Already Ratcheting Up IT Support Costs at Tech Companies

2006-11-27T02:59:00.000Z

.: Acorn Networks :. Most technology companies have started preparations for supporting Vista, the new operating system by Microsoft, according to a market study by the Service Excellence Research Group. ServiceXRG surveyed more than 80 tech hardware, software and services companies on their Vista support plans. Most expect Vista preparations to cost an equivalent of 20.6 hours per IT support individual, with more than 70 percent of this time allocated to training. The analysts said the release of a major new operating system by Microsoft inevitably raises crucial support questions. Will the OS work well with existing systems and applications? How much time and effort are needed for support engineers to learn the features, functions and limitations of a complex new system. What impact with this have on support demand?
"The majority -- 60.2 percent -- of companies surveyed indicate that they have begun some formal preparations to support Vista," said Ladd Bodem, principal and co-founder, ServiceXRG.
Additional highlights from the report include:
Respondents currently preparing for Vista indicate that, on average, 66.5% of all the support cases they handle involve a product that runs on or with a Windows operating environment.The majority (63.2%) of respondents expect that the release of Vista will result in an increase in their overall support demand by an average of 13.7%.on average, the tech companies surveyed expect to devote 175 person hours updating knowledge bases with information relevant to Vista.