IBM market
Intermec
iSeries news
Mexico
Op-Ed
RFID

IBM market

GST launches eCommerce site
GST, Inc. launched a comprehensive eCommerce Web site for IBM, Bull and GST solutions. The site includes the Internet’s most comprehensive set of IBM hardware and operating systems needed for new System p, System i, OpenPower, IntelliStation and Bull Escala solutions. GST Guides provide information to facilitate understanding the capabilities and differences of approximately 300 server models and 2,500 features on the site. GST’s eCommerce site boasts these unique features: comprehensive coverage of available IBM and Bull servers and features; all GST products; detailed reference guides; and highly competitive pricing.
Visit http://www.gstinc.com/store/index.aspx?SID=1&.
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Intermec

Intermec selected to supply RFID products to Microsoft Technology Centers
Intermec Inc. has been selected to supply RFID hardware to Microsoft Technology Centers throughout the United States. Microsoft Technology Centers allow enterprises and ISV (independent software vendor) customers to envision, architect, and evaluate technology solutions before buying and deploying them in their own IT environment. Intermec's CV60 vehicle-mounted computers, IV7 vehicle-mounted RFID readers and IA33E RFID antennas are available for use in real-world RFID scenarios at Microsoft Technology Centers in Austin, Reston, Chicago, Boston, Silicon Valley and New York. Microsoft selected Intermec for its RFID technology and thought leadership, its commitment to the Microsoft platform, and Intermec RFID hardware interoperability with the Microsoft BizTalk RFID platform.
Visit www.intermec.com or http://www.microsoft.com/business/services/mtc.asp.
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iSeries news

iSeries Web adventures call with iSafari
AdventureTech Group continues to gain customer wins with iSafari, its Web-enablement software for iSeries servers, and iConga, a two-way message management utility that offers capabilities unmatched by some larger competitors. iSafari is a sockets-based Web-enablement program for developing two-tier Web applications that push and pull data to and from back-end OS/400 servers. The product includes an RPG component that sits behind the firewall and responds to requests from the Web server for DB2/400 data, and a middle-tier layer, written in Perl, that sits on a Windows or Linux Web server and prepares the HTTP requests for the iSafari server. Web pages are developed in the user's choice of HTML tools, including FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or even JavaScript. The company's other product is iConga, a message queue monitor for iSeries servers introduced about two and a half years ago. iConga frees operators and administrators from their consoles by monitoring the important QSYSOPR message queue for them. If a message matching the user's filtering criteria hits the queue, iConga automatically e-mails the alert to the operator or administrator on call. iConga is two-way enabled; not only can the administrator or operator view the alert, he can also respond to it with a command.
Visit www.atgi.org.


Dental Associates to implement Captovation Web Capture
Captovation, a developer of document and check capture software, announced that Dental Associates will implement Captovation’s Web Capture product at each of its eight Wisconsin office locations. Dental Associates worked with SPSI (Systems and Programming Solutions, Inc.), a Captovation Value Added Reseller (VAR), to implement the electronic patient records solution. Web Capture’s browser-based capture solution will help usher in a streamlined process for storing and accessing patient records.  The product is a browser-based, thin-client document capture system that requires no manual software installation. This allows organizations to get remote capture sites up and running quickly and easily.
Visit www.captovation.com or www.spsinet.com.


Escalade Sports selects EXTOL to achieve business objectives
Escalade Sports, a prominent sporting goods products and equipment manufacturer and distributor, is utilizing Extol business integration software to help the company meet its long-standing initiatives of operational efficiency and order accuracy. Extol is a leading provider of B2B integration software applications for both internal and external collaboration.  Escalade began investigating business integration solutions because its legacy EDI system no longer met the requirements for modern business integration of transactions, processes and internal systems. They selected and implemented the EXTOL Integrator, which has allowed them to automate manual processes, eliminate custom coding for new processes or partners, and integrate EDI into back end systems. In addition, Extol's automated systems have freed-up resources to work on more strategic projects.
Visit www.EXTOL.com.
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Mexico

El Camino Resources announces end of year public funding of leases in Mexico
El Camino Resources, Ltd. reported that its subsidiary in Mexico on January 31, 2007 completed a public funding via the Mexican Bolsa of 250 million pesos in general obligation bonds. El Camino had previously announced that it had been recently audited by Fitch and Standard and Poor’s and had received an investment grade rating by each of them. The latest issuance sets a new standard in the Mexican leasing environment for funding in that market. El Camino Resources Mexico has raised, in the last twelve months, 350 million of peso-dominated bonds - the proceeds of which are used to finance equipment-leasing contracts in Mexico. El Camino Resources Mexico has delivered on financing of Mexican businesses and has been very instrumental in assisting in the growth of the Mexican businesses in general.
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Op-Ed

Is it realistic to expect 100% uptime for enterprise software applications?
A telecom network provider perspective

These days "software as a service" seems to be the industry’s new mantra – referring to the way companies such as Google or Salesforce.com deliver a service over the Internet that is powered by software running on their own servers. Thus companies are refocusing their efforts, even for critical enterprise applications, towards "online" services.  An interesting trend that is perhaps one additional demonstration is the continuous convergence between IT and Telecom. Everything becomes, in the end, communication-related: exchanging of bits regardless of what they are. Applications such as email, voicemail, voice systems, online databases, etc. are all IT, and all Communication simultaneously.

This poses a new focus on what companies should expect in terms of uptime for their applications. The rule used to be "You can’t expect 100% uptime." Under the old rules, applications, even if stored on several servers, run the risk of periodic downtime.  But under the new rules, companies can maintain, either directly or indirectly, hundreds or thousands of servers that "back-up" each other. (Google uses an estimated 450,000 servers.)  When a user needs to access an application, the company or its application provider(s) perform load balancing to allow the user to access applications or content most rapidly from the closest or highest performing server running the application.

That moves the pressure from the server (or the application itself), to the network. And that is why companies are "investing more and more in their global network," says Don Dengel, technical director at Vanco, the leading Virtual Network Operator.  "In recent years, many of our customers are investing in sizeable and efficient backup networks based on IPsec," says Dengel. "That enables them to expect 100% uptime for their applications." Instead of storing the application on only a few servers,  it is distributed onto multiple servers or delivered directly as a service by a third party provider, and it’s always available when needed.

That explains the surge of robust MPLS networks (the new standard for corporate WANs), backed up by cheap and efficient IPsec networks which directly impacts the people in charge of enterprise networks. Before, the attention was on "IT" thought in terms of application, software, servers etc. Now, everything is "network." If it’s not on a network, it isn’t anywhere. Are strong networks, core and backup, the answer to higher 100%-like uptimes? We believe so, and to achieve that goal, companies need to expand their communications and data network. 

Vanco is the world’s first Virtual Network Operator (VNO).
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RFID

BOS enters into agreement for sale of RFID tags to Environmental Solution Europe
B.O.S. Better Online Solutions Ltd. (BOS) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Odem Technologies 1992 Ltd. (Odem), has entered into an agreement with Environmental Solutions Europe Holdings B.V. (ESE) for the supply of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags for tagging garbage bins and collection containers. ESE is a major provider of waste management services in Europe. RFID tags identify the product to which they are attached using radio waves. Avidan Zelicovsky, Odem's CEO and the Head of BOS’s RFID and Electronic Division commented: “In Europe, the field of waste management has undergone many changes in recent years. The entire process is closely monitored and the garbage is sorted into various types already at the stage of collection from homes. The RFID tags serve to identify the type of garbage in the container. In the future, the tags are expected to provide additional data, such as the weight of the container, thus allowing billing in accordance with the amount of garbage produced.”
Visit www.boscorporate.com.
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