Latest News from ITSG News Desk

11 Questions Every CIO Should Ask Their IT Manager

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:15:00 EST

Making the right choices around technology is critical to the success of your business. Finding out becomes a lot easier when you know the right questions to ask. This brief provides tips to get you started and how Red Hat can help.

Switch-On at Europe's Largest Onshore Windfarm Powering 180,000 Homes

Wed, 20 May 2009 05:47:00 EDT

Scottish Power's Chairman Ignacio Galán was joined today by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond MSP to celebrate the completion of ScottishPower Renewables' Whitelee Windfarm, Europe's largest onshore wind power project. The initial 140 turbines situated across the 55 km squared site will be capable of producing up to 322MW of electricity - enough to power over 180,000 homes and the equivalent of displacing 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. A proposal to extend this by another 130 MW has today been approved by the Scottish Government, thus powering an additional 70,000 homes. In addition, the company is also carrying out scoping work on a potential second extension, which could add a further 140MW. It is anticipated that an official planning application will be submitted for this later in the summer. This would mean a total capacity of near 600 MW.

WebVisible Partners with PC Mall to Offer Internet Marketing Services

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT

WebVisible has announced its partnership with PC Mall to bring the advantages of online advertising campaigns to local businesses through PC Mall's MyBusinessMVP, a one-stop destination site for business services. The WebVisible programs offered through MyBusinessMVP give local businesses a strong Internet presence, enabling them to more effectively compete with larger organizations and be found on search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN to attract new customers.

Cassatt and PlateSpin Team on Products, Services to Reduce Cost and Complexity, Make IT More Responsive

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:00:00 EDT

Cassatt and PlateSpin, have announced a new technology and business relationship to accelerate the move of large enterprises to consolidate their servers and implement automated data center management, with the goal of making IT more responsive to business needs. Cassatt is an emerging leader in software for automating the management of large, diverse data centers for more efficient and dynamic utility computing. PlateSpin's software analyzes resources and provides operating-system portability between physical and virtual environments.

Intel, VMware Expand Virtualization Capabilities to More Server Vendors Around the World

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:00:00 EST

Intel has announced that it is now providing VMware certified virtualization solutions for some of the company?s server platform and motherboard products. For the first time, server vendors from around the world which participate in the Intel Enabled Server Acceleration Alliance (ESAA) program will have an opportunity to adopt and market VMware?s popular products to their IT customers.

IBM Announces New Updates

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:45:00 EST

IBM has announced new updates to of all kinds its Netcool/Precision and Netcool/Proviso software, bringing service providers performance management and availability management for MPLS networks. MPLS enables 'Quality of Service,' bringing high-priority handling for voice and other traffic types while reducing network costs by consolidating network traffic.

IBM Previews a Powerful New BladeCenter HT System that Delivers Superior Performance and High-Speed Connectivity

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 01:00:00 EST

IBM has previewed a powerful new BladeCenter HT system that delivers superior performance and high-speed connectivity for network bandwidth up to 10 times greater than previously possible, to help telecommunications network providers unleash next-generation applications for consumers based on the convergence of voice, data and video networks.

SAMSUNG Receives 12 CES Innovation Awards For 2007

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 01:00:00 EST

Samsung Electronics has won 12 International CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Showcase Awards. Samsung's award-winners include three handheld cellular phones, two Plasma HDTVs, two digital audio players, two Home Theater in a Box systems, a multifunction color laser printer, an ultra-Mobile PC, and a cutting edge washing machine. All of Samsung's Innovations Awards-winning products will be on display during the 2007 International CES, January 8-11, in the Samsung booth 11033 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as in the Innovations Pavilion.

Nortel, SECI to Establish Southeast Europe Joint Venture

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:00:00 EST

Nortel and Southeast European Communications and Investments Inc. (SECI) today announced their intent to establish a joint venture in southeast Europe. The creation of the joint venture with SECI - a company that is actively involved with providing advisory services in telecommunications, energy and various infrastructure projects in southeast Europe - will allow Nortel to reach this rapidly growing regional market.

Epicor Announces Support for the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Windows Vista

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 EST

Epicor Software has announced continued commitment to leverage the latest technology from Microsoft including the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista to provide its customers with enterprise software solutions that boost productivity and collaboration.

HP Announces Enhancements to Its Identity and Access Management Software Suite

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST

HP has announced enhancements to its identity and access management software suite to help customers increase agility, reduce risk and cut costs in the area of security and compliance management. Introduced at the Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit, the new integration initiatives and improved features of the HP Identity and Access Management (IdM) portfolio better automate changes to users' rights, their access to services and the enforcement of business policies.

Monash University Selects IBM Lotus Software

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:00:00 EST

Monash University has selected IBM Lotus software to improve collaboration for its 60,000 staff, students and researchers around the world. Monash University required a comprehensive solution that reflected its desire to use information technology to support new ways of collaborating could be integrated with existing records and document management systems, and run across a variety of operating systems and supported mobile devices.

TCS - EducationWorld Teachers Awards to Promote Innovation Attracts 25000 Entries across the Nation

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:15:00 EST

The second edition of the Tata Consultancy Services-EducationWorld Teachers Awards attracted an overwhelming response of 25,000 nominations from across the country including the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Teachers award acknowledges excellence in teaching by recognizing teachers with exceptional attributes and teaching innovations.

Somerfield Signs 7-year, $65 Million Deal with Tata Consultancy Services to Reorganize its IT Services

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:00:00 EST

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed a seven year agreement to provide a full range of managed IT services to Somerfield, a leading UK-based small-format food retailer, building on an existing eight-year relationship between TCS and Somerfield.

SAMSUNG Opens 'Digital Gallery' at ASPIRE Building for Doha 2006

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 05:00:00 EST

Two days before the opening of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006, Samsung, a Prestige Partner of the Games, officially opened the doors to its Digital Gallery by hosting a ceremony for related officials and guests. Housed in the ASPIRE building, the Samsung Digital Gallery provides all spectators of the Asian Games the opportunity to explore and experience Samsung's latest product offerings.

University of the East Enhances Campus Network with Nortel Ethernet Solution

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 03:00:00 EST

The University of the East, one of the largest universities in the Philippines, is expanding online learning capabilities, enabling new applications, and improving administrative functionality at its Manila campus with an Ethernet networking solution from Nortel.

HP Announces Dynamic Smart Cooling to Bridge the Gap between Facilities and IT

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 02:00:00 EST

HP has announced a new energy management system and key initiatives to bridge the gap between facilities and IT to help customers dramatically reduce data center operating costs. Based on work from the past four years by HP Labs, the new energy management system, called HP Dynamic Smart Cooling, is designed to deliver 20 to 45 percent savings in cooling energy costs or allow additional equipment to be added to the data center while keeping net power costs constant.

HP Unveils Mercury Project and Portfolio Management Center 7.0

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 01:00:00 EST

HP has unveiled new project and portfolio management software that gives customers real-time visibility and control over the entire IT portfolio to help reduce the business risk of IT project failure. Available immediately, Mercury Project and Portfolio Management Center 7.0 provides chief information officers and other IT executives with sophisticated project, demand and portfolio management as well as an integrated approach to managing projects across their lifecycles.

IBM Highlights The Science Behind The Latest Videogames

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 01:00:00 EST

IBM highlighted the deep science behind the latest video games and encouraged middle school students to pursue careers in math and science at an open house at the company's $3 billion East Fishkill, New York, microchip manufacturing center, which produces the chips that power the latest systems from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Rhodia, IBM and ADP Sign Strategic Agreement

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST

Rhodia, IBM and ADP have signed a 7-year strategic worldwide agreement to optimize Rhodia's Human Resources organization by outsourcing the administrative and support areas of key HR processes. The partnership with IBM and with ADP will allow Rhodia to focus on strategic HR issues, while increasing the flexibility of the organization to better manage variations in its business scope and development in fast growing regions. The agreement is expected to reduce costs of the related HR processes by 30%.

Texas DIR Awards IBM a Contract for State Data Center Services That Offers Significant Benefits to the State

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:45:00 EST

A newly signed agreement between the Texas Department of Information Resources and IBM delivers expanded services and lower costs for data center services. The seven-year contract is valued at $863 million with three optional one-year extensions. After taking all new and retained costs into account this will save Texas $25 million in 2008-2009 and $159 million over the base contract period.

Grundfos Group Chooses IBM Information Server to Deliver Customer, Material and Supplier Information on Demand

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:30:00 EST

IBM has announced that Grundfos, one of the world's leading pump manufacturers for industrial purposes, heating, water supply and wastewater, has selected IBM Information Integration Solutions to create an integrated information management environment that delivers precise and trusted customer, material and supplier information to its business processes and SAP applications.

Sony Creates Environmentally-Friendly FeliCa Card Using Vegetable-Based Plastic

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:00:00 EST

Sony has succeeded in creating a contactless IC card made from vegetable-based plastic (vegetable-based plastics are derived from biomass). Such cards are based on Sony's contactless IC card technology 'FeliCa' 2 and can run applications like the Edy pre-paid e-money service, or function as ID access cards for companies and organizations, says the company.

HP Named No. 1 in Telecom Service Management by Leading Analyst Firm

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:00:00 EST

HP has been named the overall market leader in telecom service management, according to an in-depth report by OSS Observer, a leading analyst firm. The Illinois-based company cited HP Software products as well as HP's strengths in business consulting, service modeling, active service-level agreement (SLA) management, SLA reporting, active probe testing, availability status and problem resolution metrics.

Microsoft and 10 Partners Empower Seattle to Get Net Safe

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:00:00 EST

Microsoft's Get Net Safe tour, a 12-city initiative to help keep Internet users of all ages safe online, will visit Seattle for three days, running from Nov. 28 to Nov. 30. Microsoft and its partners will sponsor 10 educational events in Washington - in Seattle, Redmond, Everett and Tacoma - with specialized content to empower children, teens, parents, business owners and people over 50 to better protect themselves, their families and their PCs while on the Internet. All sessions are free to attendees. For those who cannot attend a particular event, tips and techniques are provided at http://www.staysafe.org.

Novell Enhances Business Value of Working with Novell in PartnerNet 2007

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:00:00 EST

Novell has unveiled enhancements to its PartnerNet program designed to make it easier, more strategic, and more profitable for partners to work with Novell. PartnerNet 2007 introduces several key new benefits, including technology specializations to enhance partner expertise and visibility in specific markets, a new, integrated partner portal that will make it easy to work with Novell and optimize business opportunities, and new partner tracks to ensure partners get the right attention from Novell for their specific business model.

Wipro BPO Appoints Ramit Sethi as Senior Vice President

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:00:00 EST

Wipro BPO, the BPO arm of Wipro Limited, announced the appointment of Ramit Sethi as Senior Vice President - Knowledge Services and Capital Markets. Ramit Sethi's focus would be to consolidate and grow Wipro BPO's Captal Markets & Knowledge Services business.

TCS Unveils 'Science-To-Software' Transformation Program

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:00:00 EST

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global IT services and consulting organization, unveiled its latest initiative to enlarge and develop the suitable talent pool available to the IT industry. The TCS Talent Transformation (TCS T2) aims to transform science graduates into global software professionals and is the first scalable program undertaken to draw graduates from disciplines other than engineering into the global technology services industry.

Microsoft Joins TCS China as Strategic Investor

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:00:00 EST

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and its Chinese partners, supported by the National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) announced that Microsoft had signed a tripartite investment agreement to be a strategic investor in TCS China, with the TCS and the and Chinese Parties, which are national software export bases located in Beijing and Tianjin and nominees of the NDRC. Microsoft will hold a minority stake in TCS China.

HP Announces Technology Grant Opportunity for U.S. Colleges and Universities

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:00:00 EST

HP has announced an initiative that will award grants totaling $2.8 million in cash and HP equipment to two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico. The 2007 HP Technology for Teaching Grant initiative supports the redesign of math, science and engineering courses, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of students graduating with high-tech degrees.

Iowa Health System Collaborates With IBM to Improve Access to Medical Data

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:00:00 EST

Iowa Health System (IHS) has announced it will utilize IBM Grid Medical Archive Solution (GMAS) to allow cardiology, radiology and other digital images to be shared across multiple sites and securely stored for years to help improve patient care, advance research and reduce administrative costs.

IBM Signs Agreement to Open New Global Delivery Center in Chengdu to Service Global Clients

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:00:00 EST

IBM has signed an agreement with the Chengdu High-Tech Zone, to establish a Global Delivery Center within the Chengdu Tianfu Software Park. Scheduled to be operational by February 2007, this new center will provide multi-lingual application development and maintenance services to clients globally in English, Japanese and Chinese, and to the IBM Global Procurement Center, recently located to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

ProCurve Networking by HP Climbs to No. 2 in Enterprise Networking Revenue and Ports

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST

ProCurve Networking by HP is now the world's second largest global enterprise networking vendor in revenue, ports and Power over Ethernet (PoE), according to a recent report by market research firm Dell'Oro Group. For the third calendar quarter of 2006, ProCurve grew its revenue share by 15.5 percent quarter-over-quarter and increased its overall port shipments by 20.4 percent sequentially. Both figures are higher than industry growth rates for the respective areas.

New IP-based Telephone System from IBM Improves Parent-Teacher Communication

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:00:00 EST

A new IP-based telephone system from IBM is improving parent-teacher communication in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District, while lowering maintenance requirements and costs. IBM designed and implemented the new Cisco telephone system at Pitt Meadows Secondary School in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.

TIBCO Customer Takes First Place in 2006 Process Innovation Awards

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 07:00:00 EST

TIBCO Software, a business integration and process management software company that enables real-time business, has announced that its customer, Geisinger Health System, has won a first place award in the 2006 Process Innovation Awards for its use of TIBCO's business process management (BPM) software, TIBCO iProcess Suite, to drive greater efficiencies in clinical, business and financial processes across its organization.

DARPA Selects IBM for Supercomputing Grand Challenge

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:00:00 EST

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded IBM a four-year $244 million award to develop a machine that provides 100 times the sustained performance of today's general purpose supercomputers and is dramatically simpler to program, administer and use. IBM expects the project to support DARPA's goals of increasing productivity and enabling the United States to achieve long-term technological leadership while opening up the complex world of supercomputing to a broader audience of scientists and businesses.

New IBM Service Products Address Technology Investment Challenges

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:00:00 EST

IBM has introduced service products designed to help clients better align IT investments and infrastructure requirements with business goals. Five of the new service products are available immediately from IBM IT Strategy and Architecture Services group and can help companies create a more innovative, manageable, adaptive and cost-effective IT infrastructure that enables business growth.

IBM and Pay By Touch Team to Deliver Secure, Convenient and Cost-Effective Payment Service for Supermarket Retailers

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:45:00 EST

IBM has announced that Thriftway Supermarket in Seattle, Washington is the first retailer to install a new point-of-sale application that provides a turnkey solution for Pay By Touch, a biometric payment service that lets shoppers make purchases with the touch of a finger. The new IBM SurePOS ACE application was implemented in 13 checkout lanes in a matter of hours. It enables Thriftway to handle biometric payments faster, enhancing customer service.

IBM to Manage Key IT Application Development at HypoVereinsbank

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:30:00 EST

HypoVereinsbank and IBM, have signed a 3-year agreement for IBM to take over key areas of the bank's IT application development. From January 2007, IBM Global Services will manage the modernization, standardization and ongoing development of the bank's credit applications and will work with HVB on strategic projects, developing future-proof solutions.

IBM to Manage Critical Apps Hosting for Achieve Healthcare Technologies

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:30:00 EST

IBM will manage hosted applications for Achieve Healthcare Technologies, which provides clinical and financial software systems to the eldercare industry. Last quarter, Achieve picked IBM to manage hosting for their end-to-end applications and improve reliability, flexibility and increase system access for its clients.

Banco Sabadell Signs IBM for 7-Million Euro, 9-Year Agreement

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:15:00 EST

Banco Sabadell, one of Spain's largest banking groups, and IBM have announced a 7-million euro, 9-year contract for IBM to manage the bank's electronic e-mail platform. The agreement is part of PROTEO, Banco Sabadell's IT renovation program, which aims to position the bank as a leading innovator in the European financial services industry through IT. Banco Sabadell will benefit from a guaranteed quality of service and a flexible IT infrastructure geared toward future growth.

IBM's Advanced Analytics to Tackle Property & Casualty Insurance Claim Fraud

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 02:00:00 EST

IBM has announced that it is putting advanced analytics to work zeroing in on fraudulent and abusive claims in the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry. The IBM Loss Analysis and Warning Solution is designed to help protect P&C insurance companies from illegal, unethical, or undesirable activities by policyholders, service providers and employees. This is accomplished through a combination of data mining technology, data visualization techniques and a powerful scoring and anomaly discovery engine.

IBM Completes the Acquisition of Palisades Technology Partners

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:30:00 EST

IBM has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Palisades Technology Partners, a privately held company based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The acquisition builds upon IBM's ongoing strategy to leverage business consulting, IT services and software to develop integrated, replicable solutions that help clients optimize and transform their businesses. It will also enable IBM to deliver enhanced solutions to its clients in the finance and banking sectors. IBM had announced a definitive agreement to acquire Palisades Technology Partners on October 20th.

Microsoft And Industry Leaders Establish Interoperability Alliance

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:30:00 EST

Today at Microsoft Tech Ed: IT Forum 2006, Microsoft has announced the formation of the Interop Vendor Alliance, a global, cross-industry group of software and hardware vendors that will work together to identify opportunities for enhancing interoperability with Microsoft systems on behalf of their customers. Customers are telling Microsoft that interoperability is as important to them as security and reliability.

IBM Invests $100 Million in Collaborative Innovation Ideas

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:30:00 EST

IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samuel J. Palmisano has announced that the company will invest $100 million over the next two years to pursue ten new businesses generated by InnovationJam, an unprecedented experiment in collaborative innovation held earlier this year.

IBM Internet Security Systems Shields Customers from Critical Microsoft Vulnerabilities

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:30:00 EST

IBM has announced its Internet Security Systems division is keeping customers ahead of threats posed by the most recent Microsoft vulnerabilities. Earlier this month, IBM Internet Security Systems discovered active exploitation of a vulnerability in Microsoft's XML HTTP request handling through Internet Explorer, which Microsoft provided a patch for today. The vulnerability makes it possible for attackers to remotely execute malicious code on a victim's machine, leading to compromise of corporate networks and confidential information.

IBM Opens New IBM Innovation Center to Fuel Entrepreneurship in Spain and Portugal

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:00:00 EST

IBM has announced it will open a new IBM Innovation Center to help start-up companies, software developers, and independent software vendors (ISVs) create new software applications and services. Located in Barcelona, and serving companies throughout Spain and Portugal, the IBM Innovation Center provides the region with technical support and expertise for helping local businesses test, build and optimize applications based on open platforms.

Sun Microsystems Expands Relationship With NEC

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:00:00 EST

At Supercomputing 2006, Sun Microsystems has announced an expanded relationship with NEC that will combine Sun's systems innovation strengths with NEC's worldwide systems integration expertise, delivering more advanced high performance computing (HPC) solutions to Sun customers. As part of the agreement, NEC will develop HPC solutions integrating Sun Fire servers and share resources with the Sun Solution Center for HPC in Hillsboro, Ore.

U.S. Department of Energy and IBM to Collaborate in Advancing Supercomputing Technology

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:45:00 EST

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its Office of Science, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and IBM will share the cost of a five-year, $58 million research and development (R&D) effort to further enhance the capabilities of the fastest computer in existence. Under the agreement, scientists from two of the DOE's national laboratories are teaming with IBM to further develop supercomputer technology to increase America's ability to deliver answers to scientific problems and to safeguard the nation's nuclear stockpile. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman congratulated Argonne and Livermore lab scientists at a meeting of DOE lab directors today.

IBM Introduces Maintenance and Support Service Product

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:45:00 EST

IBM has introduced a service product and managed support services to help businesses reduce downtime, optimize IT resources and simplify the management of their IT environments. The new service product, IBM Solution Support for Open Point-of-Sale, provides retail clients with a single point of contact for support services for their Open Point-of-Sale (POS) solution, which can comprise both IBM and non-IBM products.