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Showing posts with label businesses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label businesses. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

CUSTOMER WIN: Comverge Lights Up Business Performance with BMC Remedyforce

Press release:


CUSTOMER WIN: Comverge Lights Up Business Performance with BMC Remedyforce

BMC’s cloud service desk solution helps reduce costs and increase business efficiency

SAN FRANCISCO – SALESFORCE.COM DREAMFORCE – Sept. 18, 2012 – For intelligent energy management solutions provider Comverge, cutting costs and increasing efficiencies across its IT functions were important goals. The organization realized an opportunity to lower costs while enabling more efficient IT processes by replacing its existing IT service desk application with a more modern cloud based solution.
The company selected the Remedyforce Service Desk solution from BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC).
“The [cost structure] of the solution we previously had actually charged ’per user’,” said Danielle Bailey, Comverge IT Manager. “As we grew, that expense continued to grow, even though it wasn’t providing us the same ROI per person. One of the reasons we went with Remedyforce is that we wanted to be able to reduce that cost.”
Bailey added, “Because Remedyforce is web-based, everybody can access it. It’s great. The end-users say that Remedyforce is a lot easier for them to use and to share with others. We have been able to show where IT is actually starting to save money by increasing efficiency and productivity.”
The Challenge
In efforts to cut IT expenses while improving efficiency, Comverge needed a cost-effective service desk solution that would support new processes and enable superior communications at all levels of the organization.
The Solution
Comverge chose BMC to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enable better collaboration among service technicians and with upper management. BMC also provided better change management controls, allowing Comverge to more easily comply with industry regulations.
Benefits
BMC’s cloud-based solution offered Comverge improved mobile capabilities and change management tracking. It also provided robust collaboration among peers to help them resolve problems faster and improved communication with senior executives. Comverge has experienced a number of additional benefits by implementing the Remedyforce product, including:
  • Reduction of IT support costs by $50,000 annually through improved software cost structure to a subscription model versus a license model
  • Increased efficiency for field technicians through the use of mobile apps for ticket logging
  • Improved reporting and communication with senior managers related to incidents and ongoing resource needs
  • Enhanced Sarbanes-Oxley compliance related to improved change management tracking and workflows
At Dreamforce 2012
BMC will offer a preview of new product features to its Remedyforce Service Desk solution at Dreamforce 2012. New product features include major integrations with asset management features found in BMC FootPrints to help IT help desk technicians resolve end-user issues faster. New release management features to existing ITIL processes allow IT organizations greater visibility and control to manage multiple changes and tasks to enterprise-wide application updates for customers. Finally, over 50 customer-suggested enhancements focused on reducing time to value and improving overall end-user satisfaction have been added to the new release of Remedyforce.
The new features are expected to be available for customers later this calendar year, in the November timeframe.
Read a BMC blog for more detailed information about the new product updates.  
Danielle Bailey of Comverge will be speaking at Dreamforce 2012 in San Francisco with BMC Software. For more information at the event, visit BMC at Booth #613.
Tweet This: @Comverge streamlines business processes and reduces costs with @BMC_Remedyforce #ITSMhttp://zd.net/NQoMQm
For more information about Comverge and their implementation of the BMC Remedyforce Service Desk solution please visit:
 
 
Business Runs on IT. IT Runs on BMC Software.
Business runs better when IT runs at its best. That's why more than 20,000 IT organizations – from the Global 100 to the smallest businesses – in over 120 countries rely on BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC) to manage their business services and applications across distributed, mainframe, virtual and cloud environments. With the leading Business Service Management platform, Cloud Management, and the industry’s broadest choice of IT management solutions, BMC helps customers cut costs, reduce risk and achieve business objectives. For the four fiscal quarters ended June 30, 2012, BMC revenue was approximately $2.2 billion.

GE Working to Bring Air Traffic Management into “The Cloud”

Press release:

18 September 2012
GE Working to Bring Air Traffic Management into “The Cloud”
 

GE researchers working with NASA to enable NextGen air traffic management to be operated through cloud computing
Will transform the way air traffic is managed
Project part of GE’s global software initiative to build the “Industrial Internet”

NISKAYUNA, NY, September 18, 2012 – A global leader in avionics and software development, the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has embarked on an 18-month project with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to help bring NextGen air traffic management (ATM) technology into “The Cloud.” Cloud computing will enable airlines and air traffic controllers to perform their tasks by sharing not only real-time information but also data analysis and decision support tools to improve aircraft operations and airspace efficiency.
Cloud computing is computing that allows a user to tap into a remote location where data storage and computational capabilities are virtually limitless. It already is revolutionizing how information storage and business operations are managed on the ground but has been slower to progress in the aviation sector, especially in safety critical areas such as the ATM arena.
Today, homeowners can use cloud computing to store music, photos, videos and other files in a remote, secure place. If the hard drive on their home computers fails, the information stored in the cloud will not be compromised. Beyond common applications in the home, you are beginning to see more prevalent use of cloud computing in everyday business operations. For example, commercial airlines already are beginning to replace their data centers with cloud computing, which is saving them millions of dollars in capital and maintenance costs.

GE’s program with NASA will identify opportunities within ATM that can benefit from cloud computing.
Liling Ren, electrical engineer and project leader from GE Global Research, “Cloud computing has the potential to fundamentally change how air traffic management operates today. With the transition to it, airlines, pilots, and air traffic controllers will be able to achieve increased information exchange, sharing of decision support automation capabilities that tell them more accurately and reliably about a plane’s current position and future flight path. This will enable them to improve traffic flow and plan more preferable routes and altitudes, which ultimately means more predictable and efficient travel that is on-time for passengers.”
A key program objective is to explore how air traffic controllers, airlines and aircraft can interact more efficiently in a cloud computing environment. Today ATM functionalities and capabilities are developed and hosted separately by each of these entities. The expectation is that this project can help accelerate the transition of NextGen ATM technology, which traditionally would take years or even over a decade to complete.
The effort to bring cloud computing to air traffic management is part of GE’s efforts to build the Industrial Internet. The Industrial Internet represents the next evolution in product development, creating a living network of intelligent machines and systems that allows customers to realize new heights of efficiency and performance in their operations.
In November 2011, GE announced an aggressive expansion of its software programs to harness big data and take industrial product development to the next level. The company has opened a global software headquarters in San Ramon, California, which will employ 400 new software professionals to support these efforts across GE’s business portfolio.
GE researchers will combine its growing capabilities in software with deeply embedded experience in aviation and avionics to revolutionize air traffic management. GE is a key avionics integrator, offering Flight Management System (FMS) capabilities to the world’s most widely operated commercial fleets.
About GE Global Research
GE Global Research is the hub of technology development for all of GE's businesses. Our scientists and engineers redefine what’s possible, drive growth for our businesses and find answers to some of the world’s toughest problems.
We innovate 24 hours a day, with sites in Niskayuna, New York; San Ramon, California; Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; Munich, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Visit GE Global Research on the web atwww.ge.com/research. Connect with our technologists athttp://edisonsdesk.com and http://twitter.com/edisonsdesk.
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Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering

Press release:


September 18, 2012
Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering
 
Grants reflect Accenture’s Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative
 
TORONTO; September 18, 2012 – Accenture has awarded 12 grants totaling C$780,000 to help support Canadians who are seeking job skills to re-enter the workforce. In addition to the grants, Accenture employees are volunteering and donating pro bono consulting skills, reflecting the company’s Skills to Succeed initiative to equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.
 
“By working with these strong organizations and programs, Accenture hopes to help Canadians from coast to coast develop their skills and find new careers,” said Michael Denham, president and country managing director, Accenture.  “We share the commitment of these organizations to making a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities around the world.”
 
The charities were selected following an official call for proposals to all Accenture employees in Canada.  A panel of Accenture’s corporate citizenship team in Canada then decided to fund programs that include:
 
  • United Way (Ottawa) – assisting the Minwaashin Lodge’s Employment Readiness Program in efforts to help Aboriginal women find meaningful work and/or training to participate in the job market.
  • The Salvation Army’s Harbour Light ministry (Vancouver) – training disadvantaged people in Vancouver’s downtown eastside community, using technology programs to start businesses or find jobs.
  • Mixed Company (Toronto) – training at-risk young adults from diverse backgrounds and cultures in skills development, so they can gain employment and explore opportunities to develop their own creative ventures.
  • Centre for Addiction & Mental Health Foundation (Toronto) – supporting Employment Works!, a program that helps people with a history of mental health issues and/or addiction to successfully return to the workforce.
  • Hull Child and Family Services (Calgary) – partnering with organizations to assist young people, adults and families of people with significant developmental and behavioral challenges learn new skills to achieve success in their lives.
  • Green Skills Network (Niagara) – mentoring and providing skills training to young adults, so they understand pathways to careers in the renewable energy field.
  • Le Refuge des Jeunes de MontrĂ©al (Quebec) – developing a program to help disadvantaged young men in Quebec start a business or secure meaningful work.
 
Grants will also be given to Free The Children, The Canadian Centre for Diversity, Ability Online, ACCES Employment and Alberta Ecotrust.
 
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.
 
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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Bribery Settlements Under U.S. Law Are Mostly With Foreign Countries


The following is an excerpt from an article in 


The New York Times
Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Bribery Settlements Under U.S. Law Are Mostly With Foreign Countries

By LESLIE WAYNE

A law intended to prohibit the payment of bribes to foreign officials by United States businesses has produced more than $3 billion in settlements. But a list of the top companies making these settlements is notable in one respect: its lack of American names.

The companies that have reached the biggest settlements under the law, known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, include Siemens, the German engineering giant; Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles; Alcatel-Lucent, the French telecommunications company; and the JGC Corporation, a Japanese consulting company. The lone American company in the top 10 is KBR, the former Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the Texas oil services company. As a group, they have paid nearly $3.2 billion in settlements.

Since the law was enacted in 1977, the definition of “American” has expanded greatly to include foreign companies that are listed on United States stock exchanges, sell securities in the country or do business here. At the same time, foreign companies that turn to “facilitation payments” and other forms of under-the-table dealings with local officials in far-flung places have run afoul of the act, either because of cultural differences in business dealings or because of failure to recognize the breadth of the law.

“These big settlements are with sprawling, multinational companies,” said Andy Spalding, a law professor at the University of Richmond and a contributing editor to the F.C.P.A. Blog, which tracks the top settlements. “Yet they are based, in part, in the United States. A culture of compliance may be slower to take in other countries, and many are not aware of the rapid escalation of F.C.P.A. cases or its broad jurisdictional scope.”

The best-known case is that of Siemens, which paid $800 million to the United States and another $800 million to Germany to settle a corruption investigation. Even though the financial settlements took place in 2008, the criminal case against eight former executives continues. In December, they were charged with paying $100 million in bribes to Argentine officials, including former President Carlos Menem, to secure a $1 billion contract for Siemens. All eight executives live in Argentina, Germany or Switzerland, and none have been arrested or extradited — a long and complicated process.

The Siemens case is illustrative. The bribery took place in Argentina. The people offering the bribes were not American, and the people demanding them were Argentine officials. Siemens is a German company. The hook for the United States was that Siemens’s securities traded in the United States.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Obama & Romney Must Concentrate on SMEs

Clay Carter, Head of International Equities, Perennial Investment Partners believes the next president will have to focus on building up confidence amid SMEs in order to spur job creation.

Video from CNBC (4:26).

Obama & Romney Must Concentrate on SMEs

Thursday, August 30, 2012

VMware Attracts a Record 21,000 Registered Attendees to VMworld 2012, Introduces Industry’s Most Comprehensive Cloud Infrastructure and Management Solution

Press release from VMware:


VMware Attracts a Record 21,000 Registered Attendees to VMworld 2012, Introduces Industry’s Most Comprehensive Cloud Infrastructure and Management Solution

Key announcements, discussions and demonstrations of the solutions at the heart of the software-defined datacenter
VMworld Europe 2012 scheduled for October 9-11 in Barcelona

San Francisco, Calif., August 30, 2012 –VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the conclusion of its ninth annual VMworld conference, which was held from August 26-30 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. VMworld 2012 attracted a record 21,000 customers, partners, press and analysts, and 250 sponsors and exhibitors signifying major interest from the IT industry in cloud computing and the next generation of IT.
With the theme of, “Right Here, Right Now” VMworld 2012 featured more than 330 unique breakout sessions across ten tracks from companies and customers driving innovation in the virtualization and cloud industry.
VMware executives led two general session keynote presentations during the event detailing how VMware is helping customers and partners thrive in the cloud era. Replays of the keynote presentations are available athttp://www.vmworld.com/community/conference/us/learn/generalsessions.
Key highlights and announcements made during the event include:
  • VMware vCloud® Suite: The first solution for the software-defined datacenter, the VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 brings together the components customers need to build, operate and manage cloud infrastructure:
    • VMware vSphere® 5.1 – The proven platform for any application: The foundation of the VMware vCloud Suite is an updated version of the world’s most widely deployed virtualization platform, VMware vSphere 5.1, which includes more than 100 enhancements and new features to deliver the highest service levels for all applications.
    • VMware vCloud Director® 5.1 – Provision virtual datacenters in minutes: VMware vCloud Directororchestrates the provisioning of software-defined datacenter services to deliver complete virtual datacenters (VDCs) that can be ready for consumption in minutes.
    • VMware vCloud Networking and Security 5.1 – Redefine the network: VMware vCloud Networking and Securitywill enable the dynamic creation of virtual networks and services that are completely decoupled and independent from the physical network hardware. 
    • VMware vCenterTM Site Recovery Manager™ 5.1 – Automate disaster recovery for all applications:vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.1 simplifies disaster recovery planning and ensures predictable recovery through automated testing and plan execution.
  • Cloud Ops: New operating model for the cloud era featuring education, transformation and advisory services help unleash value of cloud through people, process and measurement.
  • Cloud OpsForum: A group of consulting and integration partners that will collaborate on further definition of the new cloud operating model. Launch members of the Cloud Ops Forum include Canopy, Capgemini, CGI, CSC, Dell, Deloitte, EMC, HP, Infosys, T-Systems and VMware.
  • First Look at VMware Horizon TM: an integrated platform for the Mobile Workforce: Onstage at VMworld, VMware demonstrated the alpha version of the VMware Horizon Suite, showcasing how it will help customers deliver the multi-device workspace and give end-users secure access to applications and data from anywhere.
More information from VMworld 2012 is available at www.vmworld.com
Additional media information is available at the VMworld 2012 Press Room www.vmware.com/go/vmworldmedia
VMworld Europe will take place in Barcelona on October 9-11, 2012. To register, please visit:http://www.vmworld.com/community/conference/europe
About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 400,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

IMATION MAP OF STATE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION LAWS SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR STORING AND PROTECTING SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Press release from Imation:


IMATION MAP OF STATE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION LAWS SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR STORING AND PROTECTING SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Compliance Heat Map Illustrates Similarities and Differences in State Laws, with Virginia’s Being Most Strict; Laws Hint at Myr...

Compliance Heat Map Illustrates Similarities and Differences in State Laws, with Virginia’s Being Most Strict; Laws Hint at Myriad of Data Compliance Challenges Facing Businesses of All Sizes
OAKDALE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2012-- Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN), a global scalable storage and data security company, today released results of research into state data breach notification laws and associated penalties. The analysis shows that current state data breach notification laws are strikingly similar but vary in compliance requirements for businesses, with all laws highlighting the need for companies to deploy methods for closely storing, protecting and controlling sensitive information. Imation used publicly available sites (including information obtained via the National Conference of State Legislatures) to analyze state compliance laws in the 46 U.S. states that have such laws, as well as in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Imation created a “Compliance Heat Map” to depict the strictness of data breach laws and resulting penalties for breaches. The Compliance Heat Map provides a visual snapshot of the strictness of regulations by state, using a color scale ranging from light yellow (less strict) to dark red (more strict). To view the compliance heat map, click here: www.imation.com/compliancemap.
“What the compliance heat map tells us is that data security needs to be at top of mind for all IT pros, as there are rules in place for nearly all states and territories and non-compliance could mean serious penalties,” saidDavid Duncan, software & security solutions marketing director, Imation. “Yet, companies also are challenged by explosive data growth and state and federal requirements that mandate active archiving, long-term retention and accessibility of that data. Businesses need resources to help navigate laws and develop secure and scalable infrastructures for data storage and protection.”
IT pros today are responsible for managing data, which includes ensuring security, business continuity and regulatory compliance. For small- to mid-sized businesses, the challenge is often to meet compliance requirements with limited resources, which leads to higher risk. In fact, the 2011 Verizon Data Breach report found that businesses with between 11 and 100 employees reported more than six times as many data breaches than businesses with between 101 and 1,000 employees, according to the online websiteBusinessNewsDaily. Further, the loss or theft of an unencrypted notebook, flash drive or removable hard disk drive can expose gigabytes, or even terabytes, of private information. IT professionals should implement strategies to protect their data through network security, data encryption and enforcement of information security policies, while staying well-informed of state compliance laws in the not-unlikely event that a data breach does occur.
Compliance Heat Map Findings
Imation’s research found most state data breach notification laws to offer similar definitions of personally identifiable information and requirements regarding the notification of affected parties. Among the research’s noteworthy findings:
  • Four states have yet to enact a data breach notification law: AlabamaKentuckyNew Mexico and South Dakota.
  • According to Imation’s analysis, Virginia has the most strict law in the nation. The law provides specific requirements on what is to be included in a breach notification, requires government and credit reporting agency notification, and includes a large financial penalty relative to other states.
  • A few states, including Virginia, require notification even if breached data is encrypted—if the encrypted data was stolen along with the encryption keys.
Compliance Heat Map Methodology
To conduct the research, Imation applied to the laws a series of questions, organized to evaluate the laws’ requirements regarding encryption, data that is within scope of the laws, notification of data loss and destruction of data, as well as penalties for non-compliance with the laws. Imation also considered other germane laws, such as those dictating data destruction or allowing for consumer freezing of credit report requests. Imation used publicly available information about the laws, including the legislation itself.
Imation does not intend for this research to constitute a legal review of the laws, and in no way are the results of this research intended to be legal advice. Companies should consult with their legal counsel before making any decisions regarding legal compliance.
For more information, please visit www.imation.com/compliancemap.
About Imation
Imation is a global scalable storage and data security company. Our portfolio includes tiered storage and security offerings for business, and products designed to manage audio and video information in the home.Imation reaches customers in more than 100 countries through a powerful global distribution network and well recognized brands. For more information please visit www.imation.com.

EMC VFCache First to Deduplicate Server Flash Cache


EMC Press Release
EMC VFCache First to Deduplicate Server Flash Cache
Drives New Levels of Efficiency with Deduplication; Interoperable with VMware vSphere vMotion; Builds Foundation for Integration with EMC VMAX
VMworld – San Francisco, CA - August 28, 2012

News Summary:

  • EMC VFCache™ solution delivers in-line deduplication of cached data—an industry first.
  • EMC VFCache is now interoperable with VMware™ vSphere® vMotion® technology.
  • EMC VFCache delivers new capabilities that form the foundation for integration with the EMC® VMAX® Family.
  • Significant VFCache hardware and software updates improve performance and capacity, including support for Cisco UCS Blade Servers.

Follow EMC at VMworld:

  • EMC Community Network: To view everything EMC at VMworld, visithttps://community.emc.com/go/vmworld
  • Twitter: For continuous news and event updates for EMC at VMworld, follow EMC on Twitter at@CloudEMC and @EMCCorp and join the conversations using #EMC and #VMworld
  • Facebook: To view highlight videos, interviews and more, like EMC on Facebook
  • Flickr: View photos of EMC at VMworld on Flickr and tag your VMworld photos with "EMC and VMworld"

Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) today at VMworld® 2012 set a new benchmark for enterprise Flash efficiency by delivering in-line cache deduplication on EMC® VFCache™, a server Flash caching solution that turbo-charges performance in mission-critical Oracle, Microsoft and SAP application environments—up to 3X in some cases. EMC also extended its leadership in VMware environments, with new interoperability between VFCache and VMware® vSphere® vMotion to enable seamless and flexible movement of virtual machines in environments accelerated by VFCache. EMC continues to invest in the industry's most comprehensive Flash portfolio, delivering all the performance benefits of Flash without sacrificing the benefits of network storage—high availability, disaster recovery, data integrity, and reliability. This unique approach is why EMC shipped a record amount of Flash capacity in the second quarter of 2012.

Technology Highlights:

  • More Efficient: EMC is leveraging its leadership in deduplication for backup environments and applying that expertise to caching. With the addition of in-line deduplication of cached data for a larger effective cache, the cache size of VFCache is significantly increased in environments with applications leveraging high deduplication gains. This capability delivers better cost per gigabyte and extends the life expectancy of the card.
  • Deeper Integration: VFCache is now more deeply integrated at the virtual, storage and server levels to maximize mission-critical application environments. VFCache now delivers:
    • Automation of VMware vSphere vMotion environments for efficient administration. VFCache interoperability with vSphere vMotion makes it faster and easier to achieve continuous up-time and fluid operations, complete environment maintenance, and enable seamless migrations—helping customers accelerate their journey to the cloud. Through the EMC VSI plug-in for VMware vCenter™, EMC enables VMware administrators to handle other priority tasks, and ensures business continuity with no system downtime when migrating operations.
    • Simplified management, more streamlined operations, and greater visibility into operational information. EMC VFCache contains the foundational capabilities to provide EMC VMAX storage administrators with more operational information, such as VFCache's relationships to specific LUNS, more performance statistics, and error condition reporting. These capabilities will support superior storage management relative to other solutions in the industry, and represent another key step toward EMC's vision of high performance automated tiered storage. Customers continue to benefit from VFCache's turbocharged performance with the protection for which EMC storage is trusted around the world. EMC is also committed to integrating VFCache with the rest of EMC's storage portfolio—including EMC VNX™—in 2013.
    • Support for Cisco's upcoming offering of LSI's customized PCIe Flash mezzanine cards for UCS B-Series Blade Servers (announced in May 2012).
  • Better Performance: The latest version of VFCache supports multiple PCIe cards per server and delivers more capacity options—with support for new 700GB PCIe cards—to cache larger working sets and offer greater performance to customers. In addition, EMC continues to optimize and advance the performance of demanding enterprise workloads by lowering latency through tuning of the VFCache caching algorithms.
In addition to VFCache, customers with mixed workloads can choose from EMC's hybrid arrays armed with EMC FAST™ (Fully Automated Storage Tiering) technology that automates the movement of "hot" data onto Flash drives and moves "cold" data to high-capacity drives. For VDI or test and development environments with 100% "hot" data, customers will be able to leverage all-Flash arrays that will deliver the raw performance required with innovative new technologies from "Project X" through EMC's acquisition of XtremIO (announced in May 2012). For persistent data stores with performance intensive workloads—including high-frequency trading or online gaming—EMC will offer "Project Thunder", a server network attached appliance built entirely of high-speed PCIe Flash (announced in February 2012).

Availability

Deduplication and other new VFCache enhancements are available today through EMC and its channel partners.

Customer Quotes:

Henrik Sørensen, SAP Operations Manager at L'Oréal Danmark SNS
"L'OrĂ©al has made cosmetics for a century—and we are the worldwide cosmetic leader. We manage 27 global brands that are distributed throughout 130 countries. Information is gold to us—and drives our ability to innovate. The benefits of Flash technology are a key piece of L'OrĂ©al SNS IT strategy. We use VFCache to boost the performance of our SAP application environment. With a powerful capability like deduplication—support for higher capacity drives—and VMware affinity, EMC is delivering L'OrĂ©al SNS with an even better, faster and simpler way to achieve peak performance results for our mission-critical applications."
Scott Heffner, Network Operations Manager, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
"Wentworth-Douglass Hospital has evolved and grown since its doors opened in 1906. We are now one of the largest acute care hospitals in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Data is central to delivering the best care possible to patients, which is why we rely on EMC technologies—including VMAX 10K, EMC RecoverPoint™, Avamar®, and Data Domain® solutions—in a VMware virtualized environment. With new VFCache support for Cisco UCS blade servers, we will use VFCache in our virtual EMC VMAX environment to achieve the performance required of our demanding IT needs. One thing hasn't changed since 1906, and that is that the patient is still the center of our timeless tradition of providing compassionate and comprehensive care—EMC technologies help enable us to deliver exactly that."

Industry Analyst Quote:

Jeff Janukowicz, Research Director, Solid State Drives and Hard Drive Components, IDC
"IDC expects that annual Flash capacity shipped in the enterprise will grow by 20X by 2016 thanks to the ever-growing number of applications, the digitization of data, cloud and Big Data. Storage I/O is a critical performance bottleneck for many data intensive applications. Flash is the essential ingredient in the industry's race for application speed. With these latest updates to EMC VFCache, EMC is delivering efficiency that didn't previously exist for the customer. This addition to its comprehensive Flash portfolio is an important evolution."

Partner Quotes:

Eric Kaplan,VP Engineering at Ahead
"Ahead enables companies to take advantage of key technologies driving the next-generation data center. As our clients' trusted technology advisor, we partner with EMC to provide best-of-breed products and services to our customers, providing the support and direction they need to make IT a competitive advantage for their business. EMC VFCache helps our customers' applications reach the performance they need while delivering the data protection their business demands. With added capabilities for deduplication and user-initiated VMware vMotion, VFCache delivers new levels of efficiencies to our customers."
Steve Gillaspy, Sr. Director Product Management Unified Computing Systems, Cisco
"Flash storage has proven to be a very disruptive and opportunistic technology to drive application performance. We are working with EMC and other partners to continue to deliver solutions that help to enable our customers to run their mission-critical applications faster. With EMC VFCache and Cisco UCS Blade Servers, customers are finding a simpler way to drive efficiency and productivity in the data center."
Gary Green, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware
"VFCache interoperability with VMware vMotion is about simplicity and automation for our customers. We're committed to delivering customers flexibility, efficiency and choice. As virtual environments continue to grow—and become more complex—it is interoperability like VFCache and vMotion, as well as continued innovation in PCIe Flash, that will address what customers need to handle the IT transformation occurring in the market today."

EMC Quote:

Mark Sorenson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Flash Business Unit, EMC
"Since 2008 EMC has led the market in enterprise Flash innovation—setting in motion the industry's move to Flash enabled storage arrays. EMC is uniquely positioned to help customers take advantage of Flash technology, and we continue to invest and innovate to offer purpose-built solutions for specific use cases and deployment options. Our approach is 'no-compromise'—offering hybrid Flash enabled storage arrays, Flash in the server, and Flash via the network. With the addition of deduplication, VMware interoperability, and performance enhancements to VFCache, we're yet again setting the pace for the industry—and delivering customers—the most optimized and efficient offering."
Additional Resources:
About EMC
EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

New EMC Storage Resource Management Suite Improves Application-to-Storage Service Level Management for Cloud Environments


EMC Press Release
New EMC Storage Resource Management Suite Improves Application-to-Storage Service Level Management for Cloud Environments
VMworld – San Francisco, CA - August 28, 2012

News Summary:

  • New EMC Storage Resource Management (SRM) Suite delivers one of the industry's most comprehensive application-to-storage management, for common insight into service level management, priorities and tasks as customers build their cloud infrastructure.
  • The SRM Suite combines EMC ProSphere, EMC Storage Configuration Advisor, and recently acquired EMC Watch4net into a single, easily consumable monitoring and reporting package that offers performance, capacity and configuration management at scale for EMC and select third party storage arrays for both file and block.

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Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) today announced the EMC® Storage Resource Management (SRM) Suite, delivering storage and application administrators application-to-storage management for cloud environments. For instance, now storage administrators can easily view what their Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server counterparts are concerned about — enabling common insight and alignment of priorities to improve the efficiency and simplify management of the overall IT environment. The EMC SRM Suite optimizes resource investments, enabling customers to move to more agile, cloud-enabled environments.
The EMC SRM Suite is a comprehensive storage management suite comprised of EMC ProSphere®, EMC Storage Configuration Advisor and EMC Watch4net, the most recent addition to EMC's portfolio, providing greatly improved reporting flexibility. The SRM Suite will provide performance, capacity and configuration management for EMC arrays — including EMC VMAX®, EMC VNX®, EMC VPLEX®, EMC Isilon®, and EMC DataDomain® — as well as select third party storage arrays for both file and block.
Virtualization enables businesses of all sizes to simplify management, control costs and guarantee uptime. However, virtualized environments also add layers of complexity to the IT infrastructure that reduce visibility and can complicate the management of storage resources. The SRM Suite attacks these layers — simply — by providing visibility into the physical and virtual relationships, which are essential to ensure consistent service levels. As customers build out their cloud infrastructure, the EMC SRM Suite will help organizations ensure service levels while optimizing IT resources — both key attributes of successful cloud deployments.

Technology Highlights:

Key features of the EMC SRM Suite include:
  • Dynamic real-time reporting: increased visibility of all resources and performance dependencies from the application to the host, down to the storage array.
  • Metric correlation: analyze application performance through trending and threshold notifications and correlate these with storage metrics.
  • Service-level compliance: manage and respond to service-level deviations through custom thresholds and dashboards across heterogeneous storage.
  • FAST VP (Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools) optimization: analyze the usage of FAST to meet customer-defined performance and chargeback policies by application.
  • Storage service alignment: analyze storage workload trends to align storage tiers to application service levels.
  • Configuration compliance: automatically validate configurations, leveraging the EMC Support Matrix and customer-defined design best practices.

Industry Analyst Quote:

Bob Laliberte, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group
"The EMC SRM Suite is helping customers continue to transform themselves into cloud-enabled businesses simply and cost-effectively. Companies need to ensure that the appropriate service levels are being delivered to a wide range of applications, even with rapidly growing, changing and complex IT environments. With the SRM Suite, EMC is helping businesses understand the big picture of how storage impacts their applications—a critical ability for any company with highly virtualized/cloud environments."

Customer Quotes:

Johan Marais, Storage & Virtualization Administrator, Discovery Holding, LTD.
"The combination of these three products will allow us to have a full 360 degree view of our storage infrastructure. ProSphere has given us great insight into our current storage environment capacity and performance wise. Adding Storage Configuration Advisor will allow us to have a better hold on storage changes and assist us in applying recommended standards. Completing the solution with Watch4net will give us sight into application health and performance all the way to the storage layer allowing us to adhere to stricter SLA's."
Sarel Theron, Senior SAN Engineer, Cloud Data Management, Internet Solutions
"With the rapid data growth we are experiencing, we must understand our existing as well as future workloads to make sure we are applying the right technology to meet service levels. To do so, we have to understand the relationships, dependencies and impact of systems connecting to storage in real-time. We need one of those 'vital signs' monitors you get in a hospital connected to our SAN. EMC's new SRM Suite appears to be just that."

EMC Executive Quote:

Amitabh Srivastava, President, Advanced Storage Division, EMC
"By analyzing performance, capacity and configuration compliance in a simple and easy-to-manage suite, EMC is offering customers a better way to maximize their storage investments. As organizations adopt cloud enabling technologies like VMware and FAST VP to create a more agile infrastructure, this new suite provides the visibility and control that ensure application service levels while optimizing storage resources to control costs. It also gives customers the flexibility to manage EMC or third party arrays with file or block storage."
Availability
The EMC SRM Suite is available today worldwide through EMC and EMC channel partners with support for EMC VMAX, EMC VNX and select third party arrays. EMC VPLEX, EMC Isilon and EMC DataDomain will be supported in an upcoming release.
Additional Resources:
About EMC
EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

EMC and VMware Unveil Early Access Program for New EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX


EMC Press Release
EMC and VMware Unveil Early Access Program for New EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX
VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite Enterprise Customers Can Preview Joint Analytics Solution Prior to General Availability
VMworld – San Francisco, CA - August 28, 2012

News Summary:

  • EMC and VMware are previewing their joint analytics solution, first announced in May at EMC World, which provides EMC VNX® storage performance and capacity analytics for VMware vCenter™ Operations customers, enabling end-to-end views of health and performance critical to managing virtualized infrastructures. EMC and VMware have extended their partnership to provide the powerful visualization and patented analytics capability of VMware vCenter™ Operations Management Suite to storage and virtualization administrators with the EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX.
  • EMC is offering an early access program to existing VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite enterprise customers, allowing access to the EMC Storage Analytics Suite before its general release later this year.
  • The early access program enables IT organizations to proactively manage their EMC storage infrastructures to meet the increasingly high user expectations of performance and uptime in highly dynamic virtual environments.

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Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) and VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) today announced an early access program for select VMware vCenter™ Operations Management Suite enterprise customers to begin using the EMC® Storage Analytics Suite before it becomes generally available later this year. The EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX®, a joint solution first announced by EMC and VMware at EMC World in May 2012, combines comprehensive storage intelligence with the analytics and visualization of VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite.
This offer is extended to VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite customers running at the enterprise level or higher and currently using EMC VNX unified storage products. The joint solution is designed to provide storage visibility, health alerts, proactive trending, rich metrics and customized dashboards within the VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite.

EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX: Actionable Storage Information

  • This solution helps proactively identify bottlenecks, balance workloads and pinpoint the root cause of potential problems around health and performance.
  • EMC Storage Analytics Suite enables customers to:
    • Maintain service levels by quickly identifying and troubleshooting performance abnormalities and remediating errors
    • Simplify storage operations management with powerful visualization and topology views
    • Proactively optimize storage performance and efficiency across physical and virtual environments with deep storage analytics and dynamic thresholding
    • Improve collaboration between IT groups and foster more holistic management across the enterprise

EMC Quote:

Eric Herzog, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Product Marketing, EMC Unified Storage Division
"As more customers virtualize their business-critical applications, analytics are a transformational, must-have tool for actionable, end-to-end visibility in virtual environments. The combination of EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX and the VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite provides never-before-seen capabilities for customers requiring powerful server, network and storage infrastructure performance, capacity and analytics capabilities for optimized efficiency and management."

VMware Quote:

Ramin Sayar, Vice President and General Manager, Products, Cloud and Virtualization Management, VMware
"The EMC Storage Analytics Suite for VNX demonstrates our shared vision with EMC to provide solutions that enable our joint customers to maximize their storage performance in heterogeneous and hybrid cloud environments. This integrated cross-domain solution provides robust storage analytics capabilities with the automated optimization and simplicity of VMware vCenter™ Operations Management Suite."

Availability:

The early-access program is available starting in September and will run through December 2012. The EMC Storage Analytics Suite will be generally available in late 2012.

Additional Resources:

About VMware

VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 350,000 customers and 50,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
About EMC
EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing.  Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.