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

2012 ASIA CONFERENCE
February 1 - 3, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2012 USA CONFERENCE
March 7 - 9, 2012
Clearwater Beach, Florida   USA

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.

ASCDI news
Cisco
Cloud
Deal data
HP
IBM
Oracle
Power
Security
Storage
UC
Virtualization

ASCDI news

ASCDI-NATD Boston Conference
The ASCDI-NATD Boston Conference, held on September 14, 2011 at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, was a huge success with 120 delegates attending.  The meeting began at 2:00 PM with a welcome address from Neil Vill, ASCDI Chairman and Jim Goebel, NATD President.  Neil gave an update on the ASCDI-NATD Anti Counterfeit Policy; this was followed by guest speaker Tony Callerone from AAA Components Test Lab, who spoke about Counterfeit Product Identification.  The meeting ended with a session on Avaya, Oracle, Cisco, and the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice presented by Robert Boyle, ASCDI-NATD Legal Counsel.  At 7:00 PM, attendees made their way over to Legal Sea Foods Park Square for a fabulous cocktail reception sponsored by Mosaic Technology and a scrumptious lobster dinner sponsored by Pyramid Technologies.  A great time was had by all!
Visit www.ascdi.org.
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Cisco

PAETEC achieves Cisco Master Managed Services Certification
PAETEC Holding Corp. announced that it has achieved the Cisco Master Managed Services Certification. This certification recognizes PAETEC’s investment in the ITIL processes, practices and tools necessary to provide high-quality managed services. As a Cisco Master Managed Services Certified Partner, PAETEC has demonstrated the ability to deliver sophisticated solutions, meet stringent requirements that reflect a depth of capabilities, and has undergone an independent audit by an objective third-party auditor. PAETEC also demonstrated multiple managed services using the resources and procedures necessary to deploy, manage and support Cisco solutions. In addition, PAETEC has achieved Cisco Powered managed services designations in Cisco Powered Managed Cisco TelePresence, Cisco Powered Managed Connectivity (MPLS VPN, Dynamic IP, SIP-IP Trunking), Cisco Powered Managed Security and Cisco Powered Managed Unified Communications.
Visit www.paetec.com and www.cisco.com.
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Cloud

TwilioCon sold out: inaugural conference for developers and entrepreneurs building the future of cloud communications
Twilio sold out their inaugural TwilioCon event, a new two-day conference created by the company. TwilioCon brought together the creators of Twilio-powered businesses, technology experts and business leaders for two days of intense learning and fun, including a hackathon, one-on-one access to Twilio product teams, fabulous food and drink from local San Francisco vendors, and of course the requisite conference after-party. Prominent industry dealmaker, Ron Conway, was a featured speaker, as well as angel investor Dave McClure. Other speakers and moderators on the agenda were former Pixar CTO Oren Jacob, reporters Jolie O’Dell of VentureBeat, Alastair Goldfisher of Thomson Reuters and Matt Rosoff of Business Insider, as well as up-and-coming developers such as Kevin Whinnery from Appcelerator and Ian Hunter from Zaarly. Twilio’s own CEO, Jeff Lawson, delivered a high-energy keynote presentation geared towards the inventive, curious, tech savvy audience in attendance.
Visit www.twilio.com/conference.
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Deal data

Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) to release new data on high tech industry deal terms and royalty rates
Recent bombshell deals like the Nortel auction and Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility have shined a white-hot spotlight on the power of intellectual property (IP) transactions. But specifics on high technology deals have not been available — until now. The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. & Canada), Inc. will release preliminary results from its inaugural High Technology Sector Royalty Rates and Deal Terms Survey during a special mini-plenary session at its Annual Meeting, October 16-18 in San Diego. For years, in this industry that relies on successful collaborations, alliances and deal-making, there have been major gaps in deal data to help inform, teach and guide professionals in future negotiations. LES (USA & Canada) has addressed this gap with a broad-reaching ‘Royalty Rate and Deal Terms Survey’ initiative that is gathering deal term data by industry sector. To date the society has completed similar surveys looking at deal term and royalty rate data in the life sciences/health care sector and the chemicals/energy/environmental and materials sector.
Visit www.lesusacanada.org.
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HP

HP ensures delivery and receipt of critical information for businesses with HP Exstream 8.0
HP introduced HP Exstream 8.0, the latest version of its top-ranked customer communication management solution, enabling global enterprises to build loyalty and form long-lasting customer relationships while saving millions of dollars annually and driving top-line revenue growth. Unveiled at the HP Exstream User’s Conference, HP Exstream 8.0 now enables assured delivery and receipt of on-demand documents, electronic signatures for accelerated transactions and expanded multichannel capabilities. HP Exstream 8.0 offers expanded HP Exstream Multichannel capabilities, delivering customer communications across multiple electronic channels including the web, SMS and email, while also providing personalized, real-time content for smartphone and tablet-based apps. This can generate new revenue opportunities, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.
Visit www.hp.com.


HP unveils expanded enterprise security solutions for the instant-on enterprise
HP announced its expanded Enterprise Security Solutions portfolio, designed to help enterprises establish and execute a comprehensive security strategy that addresses threats and potential liabilities resulting from the rise of mobility, cloud computing and social media. HP is now offering a one-day Enterprise Security Discovery Workshop based on the HP Enterprise Security Solutions framework, which enables clients to identify the interaction required between information management and security operations. In addition, HP released the HP Digital Vaccine Labs’ (DVLabs) Cyber Security Risks Report, which offers clients a detailed look at vulnerability, threat and attack data for the first half of 2011.

By combining market-leading capabilities from ArcSight, an HP company; Fortify, an HP company; and HP TippingPoint, HP has established a foundation for the unified approach to enterprise security. The HP Security Intelligence and Risk Management platform offers advanced correlation, application protection and network defense technology to protect applications and IT infrastructures from sophisticated cyberthreats. Supported by a wide network of partners, the platform helps organizations reduce risk from existing infrastructures, provide security testing and remediation for existing applications, and establish a foundation to deploy future systems within a secure environment.
Visit www.hp.com.
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IBM

Retailers generate high-volume sales with IBM solution for smarter commerce
IBM introduced an optimized hardware and software solution designed to help retailers quickly turn customer insight into action and increase sales revenues. The Smarter Commerce on Power Systems solution is the latest edition of IBM’s growing portfolio of solutions for Smarter Commerce. This solution focuses on tightly integrating systems based on IBM POWER7 processor technology and WebSphere Commerce software to provide high-volume retailers with the ability to personalize their customers’ online shopping experiences, handle online sales surges during peak shopping seasons without loss of performance and integrate customer buying information across all sales channels including online, mobile, in-store, POS and site kiosks. Power Systems are built to manage demanding applications that rely on processing an enormous number of concurrent transactions and data while analyzing information in real time. Retailers can quickly scale their systems to handle large volumes of online shoppers during times like the back-to-school shopping season, Cyber Monday or Black Friday, without impacting performance.
Visit www.ibm.com.


IBM expands Power licensing as leading developers eye new applications
IBM announced that it is broadening its Power architecture licensing program to include, for the first time, a multi-use agreement that gives developers access to the entire lineup of Power cores with a single license. Designers can now gain access to a blanket license for unlimited uses of the Power 470, Power 460 and Power 405 cores for a five-year period. IBM also announced a new “no-barriers” license for the Power 405 core which drops the standard access fee. IBM also said it would work with Synopsys to make Power a staple architecture in university research and teaching for engineers. IBM is making the synthesizable version of the Power 405 core available to qualified Synopsys University Program members at no charge. The expanded program is intended to foster innovation using the Power 405 core for new applications around embedded intelligent systems. IBM also announced a Value added Reseller (VAR) agreement with C*Core, China’s leading designer of embedded-processor solutions, to expand market channels for Power architecture in China.
Visit www.ibm.com and www.power.org/home.
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Oracle

Oracle achieves world record result
Showcasing the superior performance and scalability of Oracle’s software and hardware, Oracle announced that Oracle Database 11g Release 2 running on Oracle’s SPARC Enterprise M9000 Server set a new world record on the SAP Assemble-to-Order (ATO) standard application benchmark. This benchmark utilizes the Unicode version of the SAP enhancement package 4 for the SAP ERP 6.0 application that runs on top of Oracle Solaris and relies on Oracle Database 11g Release 2 for managing data. This record-breaking result demonstrates that Oracle’s integrated and consolidated solution based on a single SPARC Enterprise M9000 server is well suited for customers planning large deployments of SAP applications. The SAP ATO benchmark captures the process of creating a final assembly order for such products as PCs, pumps and cars across components of SAP Business Suite software. The benchmark assumes high-volume sales and short production times reflective of today’s production environments.
Visit www.oracle.com/benchmarks.


Oracle releases Oracle Solaris 10 8/11
Oracle announced immediate availability of Oracle Solaris 10 8/11, which provides enhancements to Oracle Solaris ZFS and Oracle Solaris install technologies, advanced support for the latest SPARC and x86 systems and Oracle Database 11g performance improvements. Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 features include:

• Advances in the Oracle Solaris ZFS provide customers with new tools that make it possible to standardize on ZFS as a root file system across all their Oracle Solaris 10 systems while delivering industry leading data management with unique built in features like de-duplication, snapshots and cloning.

• Ability to install a system from an Oracle Solaris ZFS Flash Archive, either on bare metal or with Oracle Solaris Live Upgrade, providing additional options for fast deployments and disaster recovery.

• Faster reboot for SPARC systems which can reduce system maintenance planned downtime.

• Significant improvements in Oracle Database 11g startup time and shutdown time for customers using large amounts of IMS (Intimate Shared Memory).

Visit www.oracle.com.
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Power

White paper outlines power considerations in business disaster planning
Para Systems, Inc., a leading provider of comprehensive power protection solutions sold under the Minuteman brand, released a white paper, “Powering Your Business Disaster Planning.”   The white paper describes key components of a comprehensive plan to prevent businesses and other organizations from suffering severe consequences as a result of a power outage, whether it’s a short-term loss of power or an extended outage. The white paper cites several different research studies and publications from various sources, including the U.S Department of Energy, J.D. Power and Associates, Frost and Sullivan and the Electric Power Research Institute.  “Our goal in the white paper was to have the reader contemplate and consider the costs and vulnerabilities associated with even the smallest power interruption,” said Bill Allen, director of marketing for Minuteman.  “In addition, we have outlined the real value that a comprehensive power backup plan can contribute to business continuity.” The white paper can be downloaded directly from the Minuteman website at: www.minutemanups.com/disasterplanning.
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Security

Cooper B-Line provides superior protection for network equipment
Cooper B-Line introduces its line of rack security products to help protect critical equipment and networks. Designed to be adaptable for a wide range of applications – from government to retail – the line of rack security devices from Cooper B-Line includes small and large server boots, server boots with extension rails, and patch panel protectors. These rack security products allow customers to protect their equipment without needing to secure an entire room or use an enclosed cabinet. Providing a first layer of security, Cooper B-Line’s rack security products were designed with hardware that attaches inside the enclosure and is not accessible when the door is locked. When access is necessary, only the key is required, eliminating the need for special equipment or passwords, saving time when access to the equipment is imperative. Additionally, Cooper B-Line’s rack security products were designed with mesh doors to provide visibility, allowing the equipment status to be easily checked with a simple visual inspection.
Visit www.cooperbline.com.


Vircom announces certification of modusGate 5.1 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Vircom Inc. announced the certification of modusGate 5.1 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. The "Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2" designation proves that modusGate 5.1 is fully compatible with Windows Server 2008 R2 and complies with Microsoft’s high standards of recommended practices. modusGate 5.1 is Vircom’s latest version of its email security and anti-spam gateway software that provides protection for Exchange/SMTP email servers from viruses, phishing, malware and data leakage. Optimized for small and medium-sized corporate and service provider environments, modusGate 5.1 runs on Windows 2003, 2008 and now 2008 R2, as well as Virtual Machines. Using directQuarantine, an Outlook add-on module for modusGate, users can also safely access quarantined emails directly from Outlook.
Visit www.vircom.com.
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Storage

HP extends converged storage leadership with new storage federation technology
HP expanded its Converged Storage portfolio with HP Peer Motion, new federated storage software that enables clients to transparently move application workloads between disk systems in virtualized and cloud computing environments. HP also introduced new HP P10000 3PAR Storage Systems with powerful features for the delivery of enterprise IT within public and private clouds, called IT-as-a-Service. These features include multitenancy for workload consolidation, expanded thin technologies for efficient capacity utilization and autonomic load rebalancing to drive enterprise agility. HP Peer Motion software, available for HP LeftHand and HP 3PAR Storage Systems, delivers the industry’s first peer-to-peer storage federation capabilities that span from a virtual storage area network (SAN) software appliance to midrange and high-end storage systems.
Visit www.hp.com.
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UC

Digium’s Switchvox wins “Best of Show” at ITEXPO West 2011
Digium Inc. announced that its Switchvox family of unified communications (UC) solutions has received the “Best of Show” award in the SMB category at ITEXPO West 2011. Switchvox is based on Asterisk, the world’s most widely adopted open source communications engine. Because Asterisk is at its core, Switchvox can offer a feature set that rivals those of the most expensive UC solutions, but at a price that small businesses can afford. Digium, the UC solution leader, imposes no licensing charges for advanced features, such as those that extend the power of the UC system to employees’ mobile devices with complete mobile integration through fixed mobile convergence (FMC). Business-enhancing features, such as Salesforce.com and SugarCRM integration, visual voicemail, call queues and an interactive dashboard, Switchboard, are available to every customer with every Switchvox SMB product.
Visit www.digium.com.
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Virtualization

Carousel Industries attains Enterprise Status in VMware Solution Provider Program
Carousel Industries and VMware Inc. announced that Carousel Industries has achieved Enterprise Status in the VMware Solution Provider Program. To achieve VMware Solution Provider Enterprise Status, VMware partners must demonstrate expert knowledge in infrastructure and virtualization, as well as meet minimum staffing requirements in both sales and technical VMware certifications. Since adding VMware to its portfolio just over one year ago, Carousel Industries has been able to achieve each certification leading up to Enterprise Status in a very short period of time. As part of its data center practice, Carousel maintains more than 10 certified engineers and more than 20 certified sales professionals on staff to serve its customers’ data center solutions needs. In designing data center solutions for customers, Carousel’s holistic approach takes into account designs for efficient power and cooling, optimized networks, best-of-class security, layers of storage, and virtualization technology on top of the entire stack.
Visit www.carouselindustries.com/solutions/virtualization and www.vmware.com.
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