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

2010 SUMMER REGIONAL RECEPTION
July 14, 2010
Minneapolis, MN

2010 FALL CONFERENCE
October 6 - 8, 2010
San Francisco, CA

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.

Awards
Certifications
HP
IBM
Intermec
Legal
Storage

Awards

FIS wins IBM Beacon Award for Outstanding Enterprise Application Solution
FIS, one of the world's largest providers of banking and payments technology, announced that it was named winner of the award for "Outstanding Enterprise Application Solution by an ISV" in the annual IBM Beacon Awards competition. This honor is awarded each year to a select number of IBM Business Partners and recognizes technical excellence and innovative solutions based on IBM products and services. The Beacon Awards are an important component in IBM's PartnerWorld program highlighting the essential role that IBM Business Partners play in driving innovation for clients and making a difference in today's highly competitive marketplace. FIS was selected for the award based on its core Profile conversion for Government Savings Bank (GSB) in Thailand, the country's fourth largest bank. FIS teamed with IBM Global Services for the IBM System p and AIX implementation to help plan, implement and manage the dynamic FIS Profile infrastructure environment for GSB.
Visit www.ibm.com/partnerworld.
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Certifications

Pearson offers three video training options to certification candidates
Pearson announced three video training options to help certification candidates prepare for IT exams through Pearson IT Certification. Newly launched Video Courses are available from best-selling author and trainer Shon Harris, as well as self-study Cert Kits and enhanced versions of the popular Video Mentors.

• Video Mentor - available in DVD and instant download formats, the Video Mentor combines animations, screen casts, and audio instruction to help users bridge the gap between conceptual knowledge and hands-on application.

• Cert Kits - contain three proven self-study tools in one value-priced package: the Video Mentor in DVD format, an access code card for Cert Flash Cards Online, and a Quick Reference in both PDF and print format. The Kits retail for $59.99 and include approximately $130 of certification products.

• Video Courses - provide in-depth, foundational learning with dozens of hours of classroom learning videos. Comprehensive in topical coverage, the courses offer hands-on demonstrations and exam preparation training.

Users can save 40% on Video Mentor, Cert Kits and Video Course products by entering coupon code VIDEO40PC during checkout at pearsonitcertification.com.
Visit www.pearsonitcertification.com/video.
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HP

HP jumps on XenClient bandwagon
HP has added to its client virtualization offerings with new thin client devices plus the first systems designed to work with Citrix's XenClient technology, although the latter is not even available yet. Announced at Citrix's Synergy conference in San Francisco, the HP Compaq Elite 8000 desktop and HP EliteBook 8440p laptop are the first 'Citrix Ready' systems designed to support Citrix's XenClient technology, according to HP. However, HP would only say that the two systems are "expected" to be the first with XenClient support, as XenClient itself is not yet available. Citrix has released only XenClient Express, a free trial and evaluation kit, while the full product is now slated to appear later this year. XenClient uses virtualization to partition client systems up into a centrally managed corporate environment and a personal environment, both operating on the same device, with the corporate environment synchronized back to the data center. HP also introduced a new thin client designed for mobile workers, the HP 4320t. The 13.3in laptop-style device runs Windows Embedded Standard and features a brushed aluminum metal finish and weighs in at 1.95kg.
Visit www.hp.com.




HP, Alcatel offer UC, collaboration services
HP and Alcatel-Lucent have signed a contract to deliver and market new unified communications and collaboration services to clients. The HP services and Alcatel-Lucent products for UC&C work across all types of media and locations. The offerings include migration from multivendor and legacy PBX to an IP voice integration layer that uses Alcatel-Lucent's open IP telephony architecture for UC&C. HP will use the Genesys Customer Interaction management platform, UC connect products and the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch Instant Communication Suite and IP telephony offering OmniPCX Enterprise. HP will use Alcatel-Lucent's Advanced Communication Server to provide an enhanced, open UC&C integration layer across industry domains, including healthcare, financial services, utilities and government. HP and Genesys will also provide intelligent workload distribution for automated workflow and workload within business processes. These offerings are built on HP's UC&C consulting services. They may be implemented on a customer's premises or via an outsourced operating model.
Visit www.hp.com or www.alcatel-lucent.com.
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IBM

IBM extends its integration portfolio by acquiring Cast Iron Solutions
Banking on its estimate that the global cloud computing market will grow at a compounded annual rate of 28 percent until 2012, IBM has expanded its process and integration software portfolio by acquiring Cast Iron Systems. The acquisition - IBM's 55th since 2003 - will allow IBM to leverage Cast Iron's leadership in connecting SaaS applications to on-premise applications. This collaboration will allow IBM's clients to avoid complex and expensive hand-coding integration. Founded in 2001, Cast Iron Systems has thousands of deployed customer integrations across all industries. The California-based company says its clients benefit from the simplicity, speed and flexibility of the Cast Iron Integration Solution. The solution was designed to enable clients to integrate cloud-based and SaaS applications with the rest of the enterprise in a short period of time. Cast Iron Systems will be joining a proven business process and integration software portfolio under IBM - a portfolio which grew more than 20 percent in the first quarter of 2010. IBM's software profit revenue has grown at 11 percent year-to-year in the first quarter. The industry titan also generated $8 billion in software group profits in 2008 (up from $2.8 billion in 2000).
Visit www.ibm.com.
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Intermec

Intermec reduces deployment time and improves network connectivity with new PF8 desktop printers
Intermec Technologies announced enhancements to its PF8 desktop thermal printers - including internal Ethernet and Intermec PrintSet configuration support. The new features streamline printer deployment and minimize maintenance for light duty applications in transportation/courier, manufacturing, healthcare, in-store retail and office environments. Intermec PrintSet provides a simple mechanism for configuring printer and network settings, downloading fonts and graphics and upgrading firmware - saving time for both set-up and ongoing support. The PF8 printers, available in thermal transfer (PF8t) and direct thermal (PF8d) technology models, include flexible, industry standard connectivity - including parallel, serial, USB and optional internal Ethernet - enabling easy, drop-in installation in networked environments.
Visit www.intermec.com.
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Legal

Critics who warned Indiana on IBM deal find no solace
One day after the state of Indiana and IBM sued each other over the technology giant's canceled $1.37 billion deal to automate intake for Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits, critics of one of the costliest contracts in state history — along with clients who struggled to keep their benefits — said Gov. Mitch Daniels ignored warnings that outsourcing such a critical government function was fraught with risks. In its lawsuit, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration is seeking to recover $437.6 million it paid IBM through Jan. 31, plus the costs of any third-party lawsuits, federal penalties and state employee overtime incurred as a result of the deal. The state is seeking triple damages, or more than $1.3 billion. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM countered with its own lawsuit, asking for $52.8 million in deferred payments and equipment costs that it said the state still owes. IBM said it followed the state's instructions, but the contract designed by the Daniels administration didn't allow for the economic downturn that created tens of thousands of new welfare applications. Both lawsuits were filed in Marion County courts.
Visit www.ibm.com.
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Storage

iStor Networks launches industry’s easiest-to-use IP SAN
iStor Networks launched the iS105, a compact, five-drive desktop IP storage area network (SAN) solution designed for performance- and storage-hungry departmental work groups, creative agencies and small businesses. The iS105 is one of the easiest shared storage solutions on the market, and can be installed and configured out-of-the-box in just five mouse clicks. It is suitable for all departmental and small business server applications that demand a combination of high performance, ease of use and connectivity. A highly versatile storage solution, the iS105 can directly connect to up to four servers via four separate 1GbE connectors. It features five hot-swap caddies that can take the latest 2.5TB SATA drives, providing up to 12.5TB of raw data. The system provides full redundancy with support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5 and 10. The iS105 also features as standard many of the features offered in iStor’s enterprise IP SAN solutions including: virtualisation of the storage pool for easy capacity and volume creation; battery backed cache for extra protection; 1GB cache for performance; and compatibility for Microsoft Server 2008, FinalCut Pro, AJA and VMware.
Visit www.istor.com.
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