ASCDI Inside
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International
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ASCDI Inside

Out of Adversity, an Opportunity

As Jennifer VanDerHorst-Larson tells it, her son Cade Larson was a lively 15-month-old until he got vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella, influenza and chicken pox on Oct. 15, 2001. He wailed for a few moments, then slumped into a deep sleep that lasted 14 hours. When he woke up, she said, he was a different child. “He stopped looking at me,” Ms. VanDerHorst-Larson said. “He had lost his speech.” She believes he had a huge seizure that resulted in brain damage. In a heartbeat, her mission became healing her son. In that, she failed. On Valentine’s Day 2002, her school district told her that Cade had the severest case of autism it had ever seen. “This is my only child,” she said. “I can’t describe the pain.”

But Ms. VanDerHorst-Larson, 35, had a resource for fighting back that many parents do not: She was an entrepreneur. In 1996, she had opened a Pilates studio in Minneapolis. In 1998, she had started Vibrant Technologies, a buyer and seller of information technology hardware that now has 40 employees and expects revenue this year of $45 million, up from $37 million last year. In the five and a half years since Cade’s condition was diagnosed, Ms. VanDerHorst-Larson has thrown herself into the challenge of giving meaning to his life with all of the classic weapons of the entrepreneurial personality: superhuman energy, bottomless self-confidence, bulldog tenacity, a compulsion to be in control and a knack for spotting opportunities in even the most disheartening reversals of fortune. In effect, she has made caring for her son and for others like him her third business. Read her story at: www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/business/smallbusiness/13hunt.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.

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HP

HP closes Opsware acquisition
HP announced that it has completed its acquisition of Opsware Inc. The deal combines Opsware’s industry-leading IT automation offerings with HP Software’s business and IT service management capabilities to boost HP’s Business Technology Optimization portfolio of enterprise IT management software. BTO is a category of software and services that enable chief information officers to enhance the value and optimize business outcomes from their IT investments. “With Opsware, we have elevated HP’s relevance to CIOs with products and solutions to help them transform and drive the next generation of data centers,” said Thomas E. Hogan, senior vice president, Software, HP. “By reducing operational costs and improving efficiencies through IT automation, CIOs can invest in strategic growth initiatives to drive value and competitive advantage for their companies.”
Visit www.hp.com.
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IBM

Zandu Pharma heals with IBM iSeries
Zandu Pharmaceuticals has moved onto using IBM system I iSeries825. The solution provided the company with integrated online information. According to Pankaj Parikh, corporate IT manager of Zandu Pharmaceuticals, earlier data processing was carried out at 36 different locations, which was difficult to manage. At the same time, online information wasn't available until data were accumulated at the head office. Sometimes users received varied information from different sources because of the time lag in collecting, verifying and processing all the data. To keep up with the growing market and meeting needs of the people, the company needed to implement SAP. Hence, a better solution was needed to make this implementation process easier. The company zeroed in on IBM iSeries825, with virtually 5 servers installed in 1 box. It provides integrated online information and Data Base2 (DB2) is integrated with the Operating System (OS). The solution offers integration between the OS and database, scalability, and host of managing utilities that are integrated and easy to manage. Before the IBM Server, the company was using customized software on Novell Netware server.
Visit www.ibm.com.
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International

Symbio Technologies selected for Asia’s largest tech event
Symbio Technologies, Inc. has been selected by JETRO, the Japanese External Trade Organization, to participate in CEATAC Japan 2007, Asia’s largest technology industry event.  One of 12 North American companies it selected to participate, JETRO will facilitate pre-arranged meetings with Japanese distributors, government agencies and resellers. Symbio COO Roger Del Russo and Peter Tierney, managing director of World Technology Corporation of New York City, an export management and international business developer, will be on-site.  Mr. Del Russo said Symbio was chosen for its “expertise and innovation in secure, thin-client computing, including Symbiont Certified Network Terminals -- simple, stateless devices that connect to a network in place of complex PCs, and the Symbiont Boot Appliance, which powers, connects and manages the terminals.“
Visit www.symbio-technologies.com or www.jetro.org.
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Leasing

IBM Global reaches Rapid Online Financing milestone
IBM Global Financing (IGF) announced that it has funded $2 billion in financing deals for IBM Business Partners and resellers through its Rapid Online Financing (RoF) tool. RoF is an Internet-based funding system developed especially for resellers financing technology equipment and solutions priced in the $500,000 and under range. Since its launch in the U.S. last year and in Europe a few years prior, RoF has been used to qualify over $10 billion in equipment financing deals for the IBM channel. Today ROF is deployed in 32 countries and in 17 languages with almost 3500 IBM Business Partner companies and some 8000 users actively enabled on the platform. RoF provides a single, standard format for all financing requests and one, common entry point for all requestors. In addition, IBM Global Financing regularly turns to its channel partners for suggestions to continuously improve the system and develop even faster turnarounds on requests.
Visit www.ibm.com/financing.
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Market

IDG Research survey reveals top initiatives of IT investment
By ensuring high service levels, IT becomes a strategic business enabler, providing employees with the support they need so that they can better serve external customers, according to FrontRange Solutions.   A recent IDG Research survey, summarized in a Sept. 2007 CIO Magazine article and sponsored by FrontRange, says that it is equally critical that the IT group have the ability to align services with business goals. Doing so helps to increase velocity in today’s fast moving markets through speedier and more cost-efficient change management and more robust, automated workflows.  The survey reveals that the number one IT initiative today – and the top driver of IT investments – is aligning IT and business goals. The number two initiative: improving the efficiency of service delivery. At the same time, IT leaders view building and retaining customer loyalty as one of the top three challenges they face.  For many IT organizations, the desire to achieve this degree of partnership and alignment with the business is driving the adoption of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best-practices framework for IT service management processes – as well as solutions that support it and other processes, governance and compliance guidelines.
Visit <http://www.cio.com/white-paper/133101/ Transforming_Service_Delivery> or www.frontrange.com.
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Moves, adds & changes

Perficient acquires BoldTech Systems, Inc.
Perficient, Inc. announced it has acquired BoldTech Systems Inc., an approximately $20 million annual revenue IT consulting firm based in Denver with a CMMI (Level 4) certified global development center in China. The transaction is expected to increase Perficient’s annualized revenues to approximately $240 million – with about 1,400 consulting, technology, sales and support professionals in 18 offices in North America and two offshore development centers. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to cash earnings per share.  The acquisition is the 11th since 2004 for Perficient. In 2004, the company acquired Chicago-based Genisys Consulting, Inc.; Cincinnati-based Meritage Technologies, Inc.; and Houston-based ZettaWorks LLC. In 2005, Perficient acquired Houston-based iPath Solutions, Ltd. and Dallas-based Vivare, LP. In 2006, Perficient acquired San Francisco-based Bay Street Solutions, Inc.; Detroit-based Insolexen Corp.; and the Energy, Government and General (EGG) Business Division of Digital Consulting and Software Services with offices in Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans. Earlier this year, Perficient acquired Philadelphia-based E-Tech Solutions, Inc. and Denver-based Tier1 Innovation, LLC.   
Visit www.perficient.com.
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Printers

Xerox ready to rumble with HP in color printer market
Xerox continued its aggressive pace of new product rollouts this year, as it seeks to put color document production on a pricing par with black-and-white. The company unveiled a new lineup of Phaser and WorkCentre products, saying it was rolling out a "color-for-the-price of black and white" strategy that leverages its solid ink technology. Xerox said it would ship the Phaser 8860 color printer and Phaser 8860 multi-function printer priced at $2,499 and $3,999, respectively. The company said the products and the solid ink supplies would make it compare favorably on a total cost of ownership and cost of output basis with HP's color Laserjet 4700dn printer. Rivals including Lexmark announced a similar initiative about two years ago, though the Lexington, Kentucky-based printer maker has suffered a number of setbacks in its business overall since then. Hewlett-Packard has continued to dominate the printer market, after announcing its own scalable print technology also about two years ago. However, Xerox executives from Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy on down have been vocal this year about their technology edge with solid ink and how it compares against traditional ink and toner manufactured by rivals. And the company is also in the midst of developing a deeper business in the North American solution provider channel with added support and incentives for VARs.
Visit www.xerox.com or www.hp.com.
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Security

Sourcefire increases threat protection with industry’s first-ever adaptive IPS technology
Sourcefire, Inc. announced the availability of the Sourcefire 3D System version 4.7 release, affording customers with the industry’s first-ever Adaptive IPS. While traditional IPS vendors have subscribed to a “one size fits all” model, the 3D System 4.7 release sets Sourcefire apart, enabling customers to optimize the security and performance of their IPS systems based on the actual network assets they are protecting.  Sourcefire is also announcing the general availability of two other new products: Sourcefire RUA (Real-time User Awareness), which links user identity to security and compliance events; and Sourcefire NetFlow Analysis, which extends the reach of Sourcefire’s Network Behavior Analysis (NBA) solution to corners of the network where Sourcefire RNA (Real-time Network Awareness) Sensors do not exist. The 3D System 4.7 release encompasses over 30 new and improved capabilities. The Sourcefire 3D System 4.7 release, including Sourcefire RUA and Sourcefire NetFlow Analysis, is available now through Sourcefire or through Sourcefire Solutions Network channel partners, including Crossbeam, Nokia and Nortel.
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Software

TMW Systems Inc. acquires IDSC
TMW Systems, Inc., the largest provider of enterprise management software to the transportation industry in North America, announced that it had acquired Integrated Support Decision Corporation (IDSC). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.  IDSC is the leading independent provider of optimization-based decision support software for the trucking industry. Twenty-one of the Transport Topics Top 100 trucking companies utilize IDSC, whose software works with all major dispatch and operations software platforms. Its solutions are critical to carriers looking to achieve higher revenue per loaded mile, control the route and minimize fuel and out-of-route costs.   With IDSC’s proven decision support solutions and TMW's leading ERP and fleet maintenance applications, TMW can provide a seamless solution for the results-driven trucking company, or focused complementary solutions that address specific needs. In addition, IDSC’s TruckloadRate.com and FuelAdvice.com add significant strength to TMW’s broad portfolio of Internet based applications.   
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