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:

2011 USA FALL RECEPTION
September 14, 2011
Boston, MA

2011 EUROPEAN FALL CONFERENCE
October 26 - 28, 2011
Hamburg, Germany

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.

Book review
Cisco
HP
IBM
Legal
Oracle
Paperless
Power
RFID

Book review

Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks (SWITCH)
Reviewed by Jeff Owen, Independent IT Consultant

Cisco has long conferred professional certifications to those who qualify via experience and demonstrated knowledge.  Their certification program comprises five levels (entry, associate, professional, expert, and architect) and includes multiple specialties, as well as general knowledge.  To be certified in each level and/or specialty requires the candidate to pass specific tests.

This book is designed as a learning guide for those preparing to take the Cisco SWITCH 642-813 certification test. Because the SWITCH 642-813 test is common to both Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) this book is equally valuable to those wishing to pursue either track.  It assumes the reader is either a CCNA or CCDA, is working in the field, and has taken (or is taking) an appropriate formal course on switched IP networks.  It is well laid out and fully covers the foundation topics required in the SWITCH 642-813 examination.  The addition of review questions at the end of each chapter helps to reinforce learning.  Cisco Networking Academy CCNP SWITCH course students use this book as their official textbook.

Jeff Owen is an independent consultant with 30+ years experience in telecommunications/networking and IT. He can be reached at [email protected].

Authors: Richard Froom, Balaji Sivasubramanian, and Erum Frahim
Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Cisco Press (June 2010)
ISBN – 10: 1-58705-884-7
ISBN – 13: 978-1-58705-884-4
List Price: $70.00; Amazon: $43.65
^Back To Top

Cisco

Cisco unveils a first-of-its-kind enterprise-class application and business tablet ecosystem for Cisco Cius
Cisco introduced AppHQ, an application ecosystem built specifically for Cisco Cius that provides new ways to create, manage and rapidly deploy tablet applications in the enterprise. Cisco Cius, an Android-based tablet created for the enterprise, combines voice, video, collaboration and virtualization capabilities unlike any other tablet on the market today. With Cisco Cius, organizations can now deliver an optimized tablet with enterprise-grade security, as a natural extension of the enterprise network. The device provides customers with mobility, centralized manageability, virtual content creation and computing capabilities, and a comprehensive suite of collaboration applications. AppHQ provides developers with tools and resources to create, test and market applications for Cisco Cius, and allows IT managers to control which applications can be used on the devices. Additionally, companies can create private, custom-branded application storefronts for their organizations where employees can find, publish and procure applications that complement their business environments. 
Visit www.cisco.com.
^Back To Top

HP

HP makes the grade with K-12 educational institutions
HP announced that three large school districts have chosen HP Networking solutions to improve network performance and keep pace with the demands of thousands of students and faculty. Thompson School District in Colorado, Westerly Public Schools in Rhode Island and Paso Robles School District in California evaluated networking solutions from HP as well as other vendors. Each district selected HP Networking products to address increased bandwidth consumption on their networks by laptops and mobile devices. In addition, growing student and faculty populations required IT departments to deliver on-demand services rapidly, securely and affordably. HP Networking solutions are part of the HP Converged Infrastructure portfolio, which integrates data center technologies into pools of interoperable resources to improve agility.
Visit www.hp.com.
^Back To Top

IBM

Flexera Software launches FlexNet Manager for IBM
Flexera Software, the leading provider of strategic Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and their customers, announced the launch of FlexNet Manager for IBM. This new product is a scalable Enterprise License Optimization solution built on the FlexNet Manager Platform, automating IBM license management and giving enterprises essential control over their software estates in order to slash license, maintenance and audit costs for IBM desktop and server software, and maintain continual software license compliance. FlexNet Manager for IBM allows organizations to discover over/under licensing situations via the easy import of purchase order (PO) data from popular procurement systems.  The need for an IBM software license management tool has never been greater, as illustrated in a recent industry research report which found that IBM, the second largest software provider with annual software revenues in excess of $23 billion and more than eight percent market share, has been one of the most aggressive vendors in initiating software audits. In that report, 41% of enterprises surveyed reported that IBM has audited them in the past year.
Visit www.ibm.com.


A wealth of IBM Power Systems white papers
MC Press’ IBM Power Systems (IBM i, AS/400, iSeries, System i, AIX and Linux) partners bring an in-depth selection of information-packed white papers that will make your job easier and more productive. MC Press has collected them all into one convenient location; the MC Webcast Center, MC White Paper Center, MC Security Center and MC Disaster Recovery Center are the resource when you're looking to bring it all together and get the big IT picture. For a limited time, enter to win a 27" HD Monitor. Link here to an extensive collection of free white papers: http://mcpressonline.com/white-papers.html.

^Back To Top

Legal

HP suing Oracle over chip dispute
Hewlett Packard is suing Oracle over a chip dispute in the latest clash between the two former allies. Relations between the two companies have deteriorated in the past year. HP's former boss, Mark Hurd, joined Oracle almost a year ago. HP had then threatened court action, claiming that Oracle would "exploit the knowledge of HP's strengths and weaknesses" as a result of hiring Mr Hurd. The current dispute is the result of a combination of factors.  It centers around the future of the Itanium chip manufactured by Intel and the growing rivalry between the two companies in the field of server hardware market.  In March, Oracle announced that upcoming versions of its database software would no longer support HP servers that use the chip. It said it had evidence that Intel was planning to phase out the product, hence it did not plan to provide software that supports the processor - something Intel has denied. But Oracle said in a statement that: "Intel's plans to end-of-life Itanium will be revealed in court".  HP says Oracle's real concern is to try to force customers to buy the Sun Microsystems servers manufactured by it.  HP said it had sent a legal notice to Oracle, but a lack of response from Oracle had left it with no choice but to take legal action against its former ally.
Visit www.hp.com and www.oracle.com.
^Back To Top

Oracle

Oracle announces new Oracle Exastack Program for ISV partners
Enabling Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and other members of Oracle Partner Network (OPN) to rapidly build and deliver faster, more reliable applications to end customers, Oracle introduced Oracle Exastack Ready, available now, and Oracle Exastack Optimized, available in fall 2011 through OPN. The Oracle Exastack Program focuses on helping ISVs run their solutions on Oracle Exadata Database Machine and Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud - integrated systems in which the software and hardware are engineered to work together. Leveraging the new Oracle Exastack Program in which applications can qualify as Oracle Exastack Ready or Oracle Exastack Optimized, partners can use available OPN resources to optimize their applications to run faster and more reliably – providing increased performance to their end users. By deploying their applications on Oracle Exadata Database Machine and Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud, ISVs can reduce the cost, time and support complexities typically associated with building and maintaining a disparate application infrastructure - enabling them to focus more on their core competencies, accelerating innovation and delivering superior value to customers.
Visit www.oracle.com.
^Back To Top

Paperless

IntelliChief LLC presents Infor IntelliChief Document Management
IntelliChief LLC, the leading provider of Paperless Process Management (PPM) solutions for the IBM I (System i, iSeries, AS/400) Enterprise will attend the 2011 Infor Channel Partner Summit and present the latest features and benefits of the Infor Document Management suite of products. Infor channel partners who attend will learn how they can offer Infor users a robust electronic document management solution that integrates directly with Infor ERP installations and allows for the complete elimination of paper from business processes. IntelliChief will discuss how this solution increases operational efficiency in areas such as purchasing, receiving, payables, human resources, customer service, and more.
Visit www.intellichief.com.
^Back To Top

Power

Emerson Network Power to offer SmartRow standalone data center infrastructure
Emerson Network Power announced the availability of its SmartRow offering with program discounts for channel partners through the Emerson Network Power Innovation Partnership Program in North America. SmartRow provides Emerson Network Power channel partners with a unique standalone data center solution that provides outstanding availability and efficiency in an easy-to-deploy package. SmartRow is an intelligent, integrated infrastructure solution designed to work in virtually any business environment. It supports up to 20kW of IT equipment in a multi-rack configuration with integrated power, cooling, infrastructure management and fire suppression. It leverages industry best practices to provide a solution that is efficient, economical, interoperable and controllable to address the challenges of efficiency, capacity and availability.
Visit http://partnerapp.emersonnetworkpower.com/questionnaire1.aspx.

^Back To Top

RFID

RF IDeas receives ISO 9001 Certification
RF IDeas, Inc., a leading provider of desktop and other proximity and contactless smart card reader solutions, announces its successful certification to ISO 9001:2008, the internationally recognized standard for quality management of business. To obtain ISO 9001 certification, a company must put in place the required quality management system processes and controls, monitor the performance of its processes, and demonstrate continuous improvement. RF IDeas designs, develops and manufactures card readers that support nearly every proximity, contactless smart card, and magnetic stripe card technology worldwide. RF IDeas readers come in many different form factors and are used in hundreds of applications and OEM solutions including: multi-function printers, kiosks, building and door access, point-of-sale, and computer logon. In addition to card readers, RF IDeas offers Wiegand converters and Software Developer Kits.
Visit www.rfideas.com and www.iso.org.
^Back To Top