Upcoming Meeting Notice

The Association of Service and Computer Dealers International (ASCDI) is a 30 year old, worldwide non-profit organization made up of companies who provide technology solutions, technical support or value added services to the business community.

Members and non-members are invited to learn how to grow your business, find new business opportunities, hear from industry representatives and enjoy some fabulous networking events at our conferences:


2010 WINTER CONFERENCE:
March 10 - 12, 2010
Orlando, FL - Walt Disney World Swan Resort


2010 EUROPEAN CONFERENCE:
June 23 - 25, 2010
Dublin, Ireland - Radisson Blu Royal Hotel


Click here for more information on ALL ASCDI MEETINGS, to view the agendas, lodging details, attendee lists and to REGISTER AT THE EARLY BIRD RATE.

HP
IBM
Power
Security
Storage
Sun
Year in review

HP

HP swooping in on Sun customers
Hewlett-Packard has certainly benefited from the uncertainty over Sun Microsystems' future, and now it's lined up a few partners to help win over more Sun customers. In light of Oracle's failure thus far to seal its takeover of Sun, HP announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft, Novell and Red Hat to offer further incentives to Sun customers. HP reported that during the 12 months ending October 31, it scooped up more than 350 customers from Sun with offers of specialized services and support, and financial incentives through its HP Complete Care program. Now, the company said, it has enhanced this program with the help of its new partners to give Sun customers what HP is selling as "peace of mind." HP said its new Complete Care program will offer such benefits as a 50 percent discount on Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Fundamentals training, 25 percent off Red Hat Global Training, and greater support through its Migration Competency Center in France. A recent IDC report showed that Sun had suffered a 35 percent drop in third-quarter sales year over year, compared with much smaller declines for rivals HP and IBM.
Visit www.hp.com.



HP products target hybrid cloud computing
HP introduced an updated version of its Operations Orchestration software, which can now extend the product's automated provisioning and de-provisioning capabilities into Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The software, sold as a license and deployed on customer premises, enables IT administrators to automate the process of provisioning virtual resources. HP executives say the added features will let companies using both internal and external clouds standardize on provisioning and de-provisioning workflows. Another extension of existing products from HP is Cloud Assure for Cost Control. This software-as-a-software application uses SiteScope technology HP acquired with Mercury Interactive in 2006. This service is designed to take on the challenge of monitoring application performance when the application doesn't run in the customer environment. The service, typically run when an application is first deployed, upgraded or undergoing other significant changes, tests the cloud provider's infrastructure to ensure the application is configured for optimal performance.
Visit www.hp.com.
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IBM

Leading VAR of iSeries services and servers offers a 61 day i6.1 upgrade test
Abacus Solutions announced that it will be offering a test migration package for the new i6.1 upgrade for the IBM iSeries product line. This virtual test is part of the company’s extensive iSeries services offering which ranges from system migrations and upgrades to backup recovery, performance tuning and security. The i6.1 test begins by uploading a replica of the customer’s current iSeries production environment onto a similarly configured server. The Abacus iSeries Engineers then execute the upgrade process and document the steps taken and the results. Once the test is completed, the customer then has the ability to test the upgrade remotely, plus they get a deliverable documenting all the steps/reactions of the migration. The Abacus engineers provide a host of iSeries services that deliver ready-to-implement, cost-effective results that meet each company’s unique business and budgetary needs.
Visit www.abacusllc.com.



Micro Focus emulation software brings Windows 7 support, new interface
The latest terminal emulation suite from Micro Focus was introduced last week with support for Microsoft Windows 7 being the showcased prize that comes with RUMBA 8. The popular software that connects PC-based users to applications running on IBM i-based Power Systems servers (AS/400, iSeries, and System i) is also being touted for its redesigned user interface and productivity upgrades. Along with the new RUMBA, Micro Focus announced the availability of Web-to-Host 6, its newest browser-based terminal emulator. When dealing with terminal emulation customers where processing speed is a priority, Windows 7 support will bring back-end diagnostics that will speed resolution of application hiccups.
Visit www.microfocus.com.^Back To Top

Power

Emerson Network Power unveils new compact UPS system
Emerson Network Power has introduced the Liebert GXT3, a true on-line uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that protects IT equipment from virtually all power disturbances due to blackouts, brownouts, sags, surges or noise interference. The product is available globally. Configurable as a tower or rack-mount model, the compact Liebert GXT3 UPS delivers continuous, high-quality AC power to connected equipment with no break when transferring to battery. It is available in 120V and 230V systems and in models from 500 VA to 3000 VA of capacity and battery backup in just 2U of rack space. Matching external battery cabinets in 2U height are also offered to achieve additional backup time. The Liebert GXT3 is designed to automatically detect input frequency of 60 or 50 Hz. It features hot-swappable, user-replaceable internal batteries that provide four to eight minutes of battery backup time at full load.
Visit www.liebert.com.
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Security

Bocada maintains lead in data protection market
Bocada Inc. announced that users, including numerous Fortune 500 companies, manage over 250,000 backup servers and clients with Bocada solutions. Bocada currently has the largest installed base footprint of any Data Protection Management vendor.  Bocada's Data Protection Service Management (DPSM) process is an ITSM-like model for improving data protection operations focused on business objectives and customer satisfaction goals.  Designed for MSPs, SaaS vendors and medium to large enterprise organizations with a focus on service delivery, the Bocada DPSM process outlines a multi-phased approach to assess the overall data protection delivery infrastructure effectiveness, improve the ability to deliver quality data protection and recovery services, publish the results to customers and continuously advance the effectiveness of data protection operations while lowering costs.
Visit www.bocada.com.
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Storage

OpSource and Mezeo team to bring flexible, secure storage to the cloud
Mezeo Software and OpSource announced that OpSource Cloud will offer the Mezeo Cloud Storage Platform, enabling OpSource Cloud users to enjoy online sign-up and immediate provisioning of cloud storage service, speeding enterprises' cloud deployment and offering flexible, secure storage options to help ISVs differentiate themselves. OpSource Cloud, which combines the availability, flexibility and community of the public cloud with the security, performance and control that the enterprise demands, is in public Beta and available for on-line purchase by the hour from www.OpsourceCloud.net. The Mezeo Cloud Storage Platform will be available to OpSource Cloud users in the first quarter of 2010.
Visit www.mezeo.com or www.opsource.net.
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Sun

Oracle makes concessions in Sun Microsystems bid
Oracle has agreed to a series of concessions to allay antitrust concerns that European regulators have regarding Oracle's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The European Commission said it was "optimistic" that the deal between the two California companies would no longer pose a threat to the European market for database software. The turnabout came after Oracle, the world’s largest vendor of database programs, agreed to preserve the viability of MySQL, a free, widely used open-source database application that it would acquire in the deal for Sun. The European competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said Oracle had made significant commitments to support MySQL, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times over the last decade. Ms. Kroes said Oracle, after it acquired Sun, would extend MySQL’s existing commercial licenses for up to five years. Oracle would also make binding guarantees to companies and individuals that already use MySQL that Oracle would not pursue intellectual property claims. In addition, Oracle would spend more than $72 million over the next three years in research and development to improve and refine MySQL, which Oracle said was more money than Sun had been spending on developing the program. In a statement, Ms. Kroes added that she believed the commission’s review would have "a satisfactory outcome."
Visit www.sun.com or www.oracle.com. ^Back To Top

Year in review

A long year for Sun--and tech in general
For tech companies, 2009 was a year that went from awful to getting just a bit better. Layoffs and reorganizations were commonplace across the enterprise sector. PC vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo all saw their sales and earnings plummet early in the year. Along with the torrent of layoffs, there was a paucity of new jobs throughout Silicon Valley and the tech sector. Popular sites such as Dice.com reported huge declines in the number of job listings.

As better results started to trickle in around the third quarter for more tech firms, corporate executives felt bullish enough to predict a sustained recovery in store for 2010. Research firms like Gartner and IDC also got into the act, seeing better times ahead for sectors from cell phones to servers and semiconductors.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the roller-coaster economy, tech companies also kept busy with the usual round of takeovers, many hoping to grab chunks of profitable new markets. IBM scooped up security firms left and right, Dell shelled out almost $4 billion for Perot Systems, and Cisco Systems had its eye on videoconferencing player Tandberg. But the biggest takeover of the year was Oracle's $7.4 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems, a deal still in regulatory limbo. With each day of uncertainty, Sun continued to hemorrhage money and lose customers to players such as IBM and HP.

Despite hard times, the tech industry still found the time and energy to promote its latest trends, with cloud computing one of 2009's hottest topics. As companies scaled back on internal staff and data center resources, vendors took advantage by beefing up their cloud-based services. In spite of fears over data security, cloud computing has proven a hit among companies eager to save cash. Major vendors such as AT&T and IBM opened up the clouds, hoping to convince customers of the cost-effectiveness of running their businesses online. Microsoft, too, continued to venture further into cloud computing, always with a wary eye on what Google is up to. Overall, the industry is certainly feeling more optimistic than it did a year ago.

For 2010, the tech sector, like the rest of us, is waiting for more profitable times ahead.
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