Boeing Completes World’s First All-Electric Propulsion Satellites

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 9, 2015 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] has completed production of the world’s first all-electric propulsion satellites as preparations continue to launch the satellites, as a vertically stacked pair, next month.



Boeing Completes World’s First All-Electric Propulsion Satellites

Press release from NetApp:

NetApp Expands Technology Partner Ecosystem to Bring Big Data Solutions to Big Media Challenges

NetApp Furthers Leadership in Media and Entertainment Solutions with New Partners for Implementing Efficient Digital Production Workflows

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 30, 2012 — Every frame of the latest Hollywood blockbuster or hit TV program has to be ingested, edited, transcoded, and delivered, creating complicated workflows as content is shared across teams and across locations. Streamlining these processes requires greater integration between the front-end software tools used at each step with networks of back-end hardware. Storage is a critical part of this back-end infrastructure, and when integrated with front-end applications, it delivers the capacity, bandwidth, and performance that power broadcast production and content delivery.

NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), a leader in storage and data management, today announced the significant expansion of its media and entertainment technology alliance ecosystem to include new partners Actus Digital,Digital Rapids, Marquis Broadcast, MXFserver, Rorke Data (an Avnet Company), Signiant. Vidispine, and Vizrt.These partners join long-standing technology Alliance members ATTO Technology, Dalet, and Quantum in demonstrating interoperability with NetApp® storage solutions to solve the next generation of content production, management, and delivery challenges. Solutions from the NetApp Technology Alliance Program are on display next week (September 7–11) at the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam.

"NetApp continues to foster and forge strong alliances with technology innovators who share our vision and passion for helping customers simplify workflows and unleash creativity," said Brendon Howe, vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing, NetApp. "An example of the success we are delivering with partners is the petabytes of storage we’ve deployed through our media and content management solution, which is the storage foundation for several world-class postproduction and broadcast media operations."

NetApp media and entertainment storage platforms include:

• Media content management solution for high-bandwidth workflows
• Fabric-attached storage (FAS) for shared application media workflows, media transactions, and analytics
• NetApp StorageGRID® for cloud or on-premises distributed content repositories

NetApp works with its alliance technology partners to test and integrate these technologies with partner applications. Together, the NetApp ecosystem provides the first compelling combination of enterprise-class IT resiliency and media-class bandwidth, capacity, and cost-effectiveness for media and entertainment workflows. These tested workflows include content ingest, media asset management, edit, transcode, file-based quality control (QC), file delivery, and archive solutions.

MXFserver and NetApp Enable Collaborative Editing Environments 
FilmPartners, creator of postproduction management software MXFserver, and NetApp are building out collaborative editing environments with cost-effective enterprise-class open storage. MXFserver works with the top three broadcast editing platforms to consolidate their operations onto efficient and cost-effective scalable NetApp storage. Due to MXFserver’s open structure, all media can be easily accessed, transferred, managed, and exchanged without the use of additional software, improving project manageability, while supporting all the project sharing and bin locking edit workgroups are used to.

Signiant and NetApp Speed File Movement
The growing size of media files and the explosion of media delivery platforms are driving the need for highly efficient, file-based content delivery workflows. And the advent of global media companies with reservoirs of content on multiple continents is causing a rethinking of how the storage layer itself should manage the millions, and now billions, of video clips being stored and accessed.

NetApp and Signiant test and confirm tight interoperability between the intelligent file transfer layer and the storage layer. Media organizations have a business-critical need to move and store digital media as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, while applying enterprise-level security and maintaining complete control over the exchanges. By extending the Signiant file movement workflow to NetApp storage systems, this joint solution helps media companies meet these stringent requirements.

Dalet Collaborates with NetApp on Full-Resolution Workflow Infrastructure
Long-standing NetApp Alliance Partner Dalet recently collaborated with NetApp to install the infrastructure for an end-to-end production workflow with both proxy and high-resolution video into one of the largest national broadcast operations in Europe. The flexible broadcast workflow, built on the NetApp E-Series platform, supports high-bandwidth production groups needing 10,000MB per second.

Additional Resources

• Become a NetApp Alliance Partner: solutionconnection.netapp.com/solution-listing.aspx
• Learn more about NetApp media and entertainment solutions:www.netapp.com/us/solutions/industry/media-entertainment
• Join the NetApp Media and Entertainment Community: www.netapp.com/media
• Follow NetApp on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NetApp
• Get the latest on NetApp culture: www.facebook.com/NetAppCulture
• Join NetApp on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NetApp
• View NetApp videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/NetAppTV
• Connect with NetApp on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=111681

About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. Our commitment to living our core values and consistently being recognized as a great place to work around the world are fundamental to our long-term growth and success, as well as the success of our pathway partners and customers. Use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership between NetApp and any other company. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.

Tech Firms in Manhattan Trade Trendy Lofts for Midtown Bargains

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tech Firms in Manhattan Trade Trendy Lofts for Midtown Bargains

By C. J. HUGHES

A decade ago, in the dot-com boom, technology companies flocked to the neighborhoods along Broadway in Manhattan, with most ending up south of an unofficial cutoff of 23rd Street.

Today, though, that Rubicon is being regularly crossed by a new generation of digital businesses that seem willing to trade Lower Manhattan and its perceived hipness for the more button-down precincts of Midtown.

More than 100 Internet-based marketing firms, retailers and social networking companies are based in the area between the Flatiron Building and Central Park, out of about 1,400 similar businesses across the city, according to data compiled by NYC Digital, an initiative started last year by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to promote the city’s technology industry.

“The boundaries of Silicon Alley are definitely pressing outward,” said Jonathan Serko, a broker with Cushman and Wakefield who has worked to bring tech companies to Midtown. He added, “some of the companies are moving out of necessity.”

In pockets of downtown Manhattan, commercial rents have spiked in recent years as increasingly fashionable neighborhoods like Chelsea, Greenwich Village and the financial district have welcomed a surge of new businesses. Residential conversions have also gobbled up the types of industrial buildings that tech companies once favored.

At the same time, fledgling tech companies have become more cost-conscious than their predecessors, many of whom burned through their seed money in a short time, brokers say. Significant savings are possible in Midtown, where rents can be $40 a square foot compared with up to $70 a square foot in trendier areas, according to Cushman data.

GSI Commerce, which provides online services for retailers like Toys “R” Us, was subletting a 10,000-square-foot loft on Broadway in SoHo in 2011 when the company was acquired by eBay, prompting the need to expand.

“There are many spaces out there that are beautiful, don’t misunderstand me,” said Jan Dobris, a senior vice president of GSI Commerce. “They just weren’t good ways to expend dollars.”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Press release:

Customers Accelerate Move to an Agile Data Infrastructure with NetApp for VMware Virtual Environments

New Integration Between VMware vSphere and NetApp Data ONTAP 8 with Cluster-Mode Forms Foundation for Accelerated and Continuous Business Operations

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 27, 2012 — In order to gain the flexibility and efficiency of virtual environments, organizations are migrating IT operations from on-premise, hardware-defined application silos to virtual, software-defined cloud computing platforms. Today, however, IT departments are struggling to manage the scope, scale and complexity of inflexible storage infrastructures in data-driven enterprise. The migration to the cloud, and its agility, elasticity and reliability can best be achieved through software that abstracts out hardware resources, pools it into aggregate capacity, and enables automation to allocate resources as needed by applications.

For almost a decade, NetApp and VMware have aligned their storage and virtualization technology roadmaps to accelerate the customer journey to the cloud. Today NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) unveils integration between VMware® vSphere® 5.1 and NetApp® Data ONTAP® 8 software operating in Cluster-Mode to enable organizations to not only securely manage and deploy infinite storage pools, but to deliver non-disruptive migration of data among hundreds of virtual machines at a time. This new solution provides continuous data access and uninterrupted business operations even as infrastructure grows and scales in capacity and performance, and it requires no change to server hosts. Data ONTAP 8 operating in Cluster-Mode, Data ONTAP Edge and Flash Accel will be on display at the NetApp booth (#1402) at VMworld San Francisco, August 26 – 30.

As part of the NetApp and VMware solution, NetApp is also introducing Virtual Storage Console 4.1 (VSC 4.1), a new version of its end-to-end storage management software for VMware environments. VSC 4.1 adds support for VMware vSphere 5.1, enhanced support for NetApp Cluster-Mode configurations, and online alignment of misaligned virtual machines. The new features expand on support for existing VSC capabilities for storage management, including datastore provisioning, virtual machine cloning, and backup and recovery of virtual machines. VSC 4.1 is accessible by VMware administrators directly from VMware vCenter™, centralizing storage management and providing real-time visibility into the performance and health of your storage environment.

Together, NetApp and VMware are collaborating to accelerate movement to cloud architectures. NetApp support for VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 will enable a new era of software-defined storage, networking, and security. Data ONTAP operating in Cluster-Mode extends the virtualization benefits of VMware with the ability to transparently migrate data within a cluster to provide nondisruptive load balancing, hardware maintenance, or technology refreshes—virtually eliminating planned storage downtime. NetApp offers complete integration with the entire VMware cloud infrastructure suite, including VMware vCloud® Director, VMware View®, and VMware vShield™.

"The transition to cloud is a corporate strategy, not a tactical solution. The foundation for this business approach is a dynamic virtualized infrastructure with an easy-to-administer shared storage platform," said Brendon Howe, vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing, NetApp. “We continue to align our technology development and integration efforts with VMware with support for VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 to help organizations realize the power of software to greatly improve the efficiency and simplify the virtualization of more servers, desktops, and applications."

Other benefits from the NetApp and VMware integration include Data ONTAP Edge, which delivers enterprise storage services on a virtual storage appliance hosted by VMware. For remote offices, Data ONTAP Edge addresses the needs of enterprises with many small or remote offices that require local storage with minimal IT supervision and to be able to backup and protect that data easily. The result is that branch facilities can fully participate in a shared IT infrastructure without compromise.

Key New Highlights
Today’s announcement of NetApp and VMware’s further integration highlights the strength of the global partnership:

• Business Agility: The ability to scale and move to cloud architectures with flexibility to adapt to dynamic business needs
• Peak Performance: Cut virtualization storage requirements and operational expenses through deduplication
• Validated Architecture: New solution for vSphere 5.1 including Virtual Storage Console includes industry best practices and proven design
• Nondisruptive Data at Scale: Cluster-Mode enables infrastructure that can grow and change without disruption and additional resources can be added while maintaining stability and service predictability

Supporting Quotes

• Gary Green, vice president, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware  
  “As organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of cloud computing, there is a need for virtualized storage and server solutions that are reliable, proven and scalable. With VMware vCloud Suite 5.1, along with NetApp’s solutions, our joint customers are armed with storage efficiency, performance and data protection for enhanced productivity and the ability to respond immediately to business needs."
• Brian Babineau, vice president, Enterprise Strategy Group 
  “Nearly two-thirds of IT budgets are spent on maintaining infrastructure, leaving limited resources to enable new projects. NetApp and VMware’s integrated approach to virtualized environments is a catalyst to reverse this allocation so customers maximize data infrastructure flexibility and business value from their IT operations."
• Luke Norris, CEO, PeakColo 
  “PeakColo helps our clients increase application performance and drive innovation through our public, private, hybrid and customer cloud solutions. By building our infrastructure-as-a-service offering on NetApp and VMware technology we have the enhanced security and agility to create enterprise-class solutions that are specific to each of our service provider clients. Also, we have the resources to safeguard systems to recover from business disruptions."

Additional Resources

• Follow NetApp on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NetApp
• Get the latest on NetApp culture: www.facebook.com/NetAppCulture
• Join NetApp on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NetApp
• View NetApp videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/NetAppTV
• Connect with NetApp on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=111681

About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. Our commitment to living our core values and consistently being recognized as a great place to work around the world are fundamental to our long-term growth and success, as well as the success of our pathway partners and customers. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.

T-Systems’ customers benefit from VMware vCloud® Datacenter Services

VMware News Releases

T-Systems’ customers benefit from VMware vCloud® Datacenter Services

Strategic partnership for Cloud Computing
Cost reduction and business agility through standardized services.
Customers can quickly increase their IT capacities in T-Systems’ high-security data centers.
Data privacy and compliance in line with German legislation.

San Francisco, August 27, 2012 - T Systems joins forces with VMware to provide customers with easier, quicker and more manageable access to cloud computing. The companies confirmed their strategic partnership today at VMworld® 2012 in San Francisco announcing VMware vCloud® Datacenter Services from T-Systems. Among the first customers to benefit from the partnership is Europe's number one car marketplace, AutoScout24, and Actum/G2, the Czech digital marketing specialist within the multinational advertising and public relations group WPP.

On average, enterprises have virtualized more than 50 percent of their servers, leading to sizable gains in efficiency and manageability over the past few years. That enterprises are increasingly choosing VMware virtualization and cloud solutions to realize these benefits speaks to the trust that customers place in VMware cloud infrastructure. Service providers play a key role in the promise of cloud to deliver on-demand access to IT capacity on-demand without additional infrastructure investments. The VMware vCloud Datacenter Service to be provided by T-Systems delivers on the hybrid cloud promise, to provide IT infrastructure out of the cloud that has undergone a demanding certification process by VMware. This gives enterprises the confidence to move IT capacity into the cloud easily and without any surprises in terms of portability, compatibility, security, manageability and control. Thus when a customer’s data center has reached its capacity limit, or resources for new projects are needed within minutes, T-Systems provides a familiar solution in a hybrid cloud model. The new service – available internationally - is based on VMware’s award-winning cloud infrastructure suite, including VMware vSphere® and VMware vCloud Director®.

Flexible resources for dynamic markets
Flexible data center resources are essential for companies active in dynamic markets. Involved in the markets of 18 countries, AutoScout24 is the largest online car marketplace Europe-wide. "We require flexible, on-demand IT resources because our markets change every day," explained Joachim Rath, Head of IT Production of AutoScout24, which is part of the Deutsche Telekom group. "And that's why we appreciate the T-Systems offering based on VMware cloud infrastructure that will speed our ability to shift computing workloads between private and public clouds efficiently and effectively."
Another customer to use VMware vCloud technology is Actum/G2, a digital marketing specialist in the Czech Republic. It is part of the WPP group, one of the largest advertising and public relations companies worldwide. The Prague-based agency provides customers with websites and apps from the cloud while T-Systems supplies the necessary infrastructure on-demand, highly available and secure.

Into the cloud at the push of a button
"Put simply, enterprises will be able to move the contents of their servers to the T-Systems cloud at the push of a button," said Jürgen Urbanski, Cloud expert at T-Systems and a member of Deutsche Telekom’s Cloud Leadership Team. "Internally, we have been using proven VMware technologies for many years. Therefore, we are delighted to announce that we’ll be able to deliver VMware vCloud Datacenter Services from fall on. This will help ensure that our joint customers can move seamlessly between on-premise and cloud deployments, with the high standards of security and compliance expected by customers,” he added.

Deutsche Telekom aims to strengthen its growth with cloud services over the next few years. Closer partnerships with top-tier technology providers like VMware play a crucial part in achieving this aspiration. “Our goals are to make innovations from our community of strategic partners available to customers more quickly, to empower customers through self-service, and to offer customers choice and flexibility by embracing industry-leading standards and cloud APIs,” said Urbanski.  “Our new VMware vCloud Datacenter Service is a great example of that.”

 “VMware is pleased that T-Systems is joining the VMware vCloud® Datacenter Services community to bring its enterprise-class cloud services to multiple countries around the globe," said Mathew Lodge, vice president, cloud services product marketing and management, VMware. "T-Systems will broaden its VMware expertise by adding this cloud service offering to its existing and highly capable VMware consulting and integration practice, giving customers outstanding options for their cloud deployments."

About Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 129 million mobile customers, almost 34 million fixed-network lines and 17 million broadband lines (as of March 31, 2012). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has over 235,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenue of EUR 58.7 billion in the 2011 financial year – over half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2011).

About T-Systems

Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centers and networks, T-Systems operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions. On this basis, Deutsche Telekom's corporate customer arm provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. Some 48,200 employees at T-Systems combine industry expertise with ICT innovations to add significant value to customers' core business all over the world. The corporate customers unit generated revenue of around EUR 9.2 billion in the 2011 financial year.

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. Its German branch office is located in Unterschleissheim, Munich.

Press release:

The Pennsylvania State University Transforms Technology Education and Enhances Infrastructure Through NetApp’s Education Donation Program

University’s Center for Enterprise Architecture Creates New Program for the Next Generation of CIOs, CTOs

University Park, PA. – August 24, 2012 –The Pennsylvania State University is known internationally as one of the best public research universities in the United States, with total enrollment approaching 100,000 students. It ranks no. 1 in the United States among universities with information technology degrees. The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology has created a unique interdisciplinary program in enterprise architecture that integrates computer science, information technology, and business. The Center for Enterprise Architecture (CEA) needed storage capacity to support this important technology-intensive research agenda and the degree programs. The CEA is in the process of creating an innovative lab environment and was thrilled to be approached by NetApp to participate in NetApp’s Education Donation Program. NetApp’s program has already awarded over 100 systems in the past 6 months to universities and K–12 institutions that demonstrated an innovative approach to education. Penn State received a $250,000 Storage System and Software award for the Center for Enterprise Architecture.

As one of the most well-known learning institutions globally, Penn State holds nurturing and creating progress in professional practices as a critical element of its mission. Through its donation to Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology and its Center for Enterprise Architecture, NetApp has enabled the university to better support this mission. Prior to NetApp’s engagement with Penn State, the CEA had limited resources for data storage, preventing the center from leveraging its full academic and research potential. By deploying NetApp® solutions with a consolidated enterprise approach to storage, the Center for Enterprise Architecture will have the capabilities to support the future storage needs of its students and faculty and its new Professional Masters in Enterprise Architecture Program. 

In recognition of NetApp’s donation to the Center for Enterprise Architecture, Dean David Hall of the College of Information Sciences and Technology met with NetApp executives earlier this summer. NetApp’s equipment will be deployed as part of a new educational laboratory environment in which students will be able to perform research and participate in hands-on learning experiences. The NetApp system offers Penn State the flexibility, performance, availability, and responsiveness to growth needed to provide ample capacity to address both research and infrastructure demands.

"With the equipment we received through NetApp’s Education Donation Program, we will have cutting-edge technologies available to our researchers and advanced educational programs, including the new Professional Masters in Enterprise Architecture Program," said Dr. Brian Cameron, executive director, Center for Enterprise Architecture. "We are very excited to be working with NetApp, and with their technologies we can quickly start to engage our students in hands-on, practical research and educational scenarios to expose them to a real-world storage and information architecture environment."

In today’s challenging economic and competitive environment, the need for greater efficiency, effectiveness, and agility is crucial for organizations of all types and sizes.  Enterprise architecture professionals are at the forefront of this movement, striving to correctly and effectively leverage technology to meet the business goals of an organization. These professionals need to integrate strategic, business, and technology planning methods with an ability to understand, analyze, justify, and communicate the solution of enterprise architecture problems. To meet the increased demand for enterprise architecture professionals, Penn State has developed the Master of Professional Studies Program in Enterprise Architecture through the College of Information Sciences and Technology.

"Penn State’s Center for Enterprise Architecture is among the most innovative and unique information technology degree programs being offered by universities today. Its curriculum aligns closely with NetApp’s vision for the future of high-performance, data-driven information technologies," said Regina Kunkle, vice president of State and Local Government and Higher Education, NetApp. "Creative innovation in education and technology will be vitally important as we increasingly rely on storage technologies to provide the backbone of critical government and business infrastructure. Penn State is leading the charge to educate future CIOs and CTOs with this in mind. We hope that, through NetApp’s Education Donation Program, students will have unprecedented access to our technology to support their education goals and facilitate continued advancement in storage and IT performance."

Additional Resources

• Learn more about NetApp solutions for educational institutions:www.netapp.com/us/solutions/industry/education.html
• Follow NetApp on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NetApp
• Join NetApp on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NetApp
• View NetApp videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/NetAppTV
• Connect with NetApp on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=111681
• Discuss this news in the NetApp Community, where you can exchange thoughts and ideas on a variety of topics with community members. Join now at www.netapp.com/us/communities.

About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.

Press release:

Business Applications Run Up to 90% Faster with New Server Cache Solutions from NetApp and Its Partners

NetApp Unveils Flash Accel, Extends Technology Alliance Program, and Signs Resale Agreement to Integrate Server Cache Solutions with Data ONTAP for End-to-End Storage Management

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 21, 2012 — With storage capacity requirements increasing at exponential rates, Flash memory continues to gain popularity as a powerful complement to traditional hard-disk storage. Its ability to dramatically break through the input/output latency barrier—a key inhibitor to fast and scalable applications—makes an efficient and flexible Flash strategy a critical part of an agile data infrastructure. From their server to their back-end storage, cost- and performance-conscious system architects must balance how Flash is used within their organizations to maximize application performance, minimize rising IT costs, preserve high availability, protect data, and simplify management.

Today, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) extended its Virtual Storage Tiering (VST) strategy by introducing NetApp® Flash Accel™, expanded its Technology Alliance Program to include server caching hardware and software partners, and unveiled a reseller relationship with Fusion-io. This comprehensive strategy update to VST enables end-to-end storage management for customers with physical and virtualized environments, from the user-accessible Flash memory on the server to the cost-effective hard-disk storage on the back end. Flash Accel will be on display at the NetApp booth, #1402, at VMworld San Francisco on August 26–30. 

VST also creates new opportunities for partners to work with NetApp to develop innovative technologies that integrate closely with the capabilities of Data ONTAP® software, NetApp’s leading storage management operating system. Through Data ONTAP and other VST innovations such as NetApp Flash Cache and NetApp Flash Pool, IT administrators can now manage server-level, controller-level, and disk-level Flash memory and back-end hard-disk storage usage within a single data management infrastructure. This lets them meet service levels and gain greater storage efficiencies by enabling the right storage media to be used at the right time for the right data.

NetApp Flash Accel Can Accelerate Application Performance by Up to 90% by Turning Server Flash into “Hot” Data Storage
NetApp Flash Accel can speed application performance by turning server-side Flash into a cache for storing “hot,” frequently accessed data. NetApp testing shows that by storing up to 2TB of hot data in server Flash memory, application and server latency can be reduced by up to 90%^[1] and IOPS are increased by 80%. And, by off-loading “hot” IOPS at the server, Flash Accel helps reduce demand on back-end FAS storage.

As part of a comprehensive Virtual Storage Tiering strategy, server caching delivers:

• Application and Server Performance Acceleration: Accelerates enterprise applications and server performance by as much as 90% by deploying server cache on virtual machines.
• Highest Levels of Data Integrity and Reliability: Coordinates with Data ONTAP back-end platforms so that a persistent copy of all data is always stored on the back-end Data ONTAP platform, benefiting from the high availability and data protection of Data ONTAP; relies on the high availability and data protection of Data ONTAP.
• Coherency and Integration with Data ONTAP: End-to-end data coherency issues are identified and resolved, enabling deployment of high-confidence solutions.
• Broad Use Case Coverage: Customers can deploy solutions over a wide range of applications and operating environments using NetApp validated partner solutions.
• Maximum Flexibility: NetApp validated solutions provide maximum flexibility, allowing customers to deploy any server caching solutions (software and hardware) that have been validated by NetApp.

In addition to the above, Flash Accel has these key features:

• Flexibility at the Server Level: Provides the freedom to choose any server PCI-e flash card or SSD flash device.
• End-to-End Intelligent Data Coherency: Addresses data coherency issues that can cause data corruption using automated and efficient data coherency detection and correction software technology.
• Cache Persistency and Durability: Preserves cache content consistently with applications in the event of server and VM reboot and crashes so that cache restarts in a warm state; enables consistently high performance.

NetApp Expands Alliance Partner Ecosystem to Include Server-Caching Partners 
Reinforcing its commitment to enabling an open partner ecosystem for intelligent caching, NetApp is expanding its Alliance Partner Program to embrace hardware and software server-caching partners looking to develop solutions with NetApp. Partners can submit and qualify server-caching solutions as "NetApp validated” in accordance with established criteria for coherence and integration with Data ONTAP and Flash Accel. Among the first partners to submit server-caching solutions for qualification are Fusion-io, LSI, Micron, SanDisk Enterprise Storage Solutions, STEC, and Virident.

NetApp, together with its partners, will provide the widest coverage for its customers’ infrastructures as they deploy server-side caching to deliver increased ROI. This will include the broadest support for different hypervisors and operating systems. NetApp validated solutions will enable quick deployment of partner-specific innovations in the rapidly evolving server flash and caching market.

NetApp Signs Technology Reseller Agreement with Fusion-io
As part of its commitment to providing customers with a single source for Virtual Storage Tier technologies, NetApp has entered into a resale agreement with Fusion-io (NYSE: FIO), a leader in Flash memory solutions. NetApp will resell Fusion-io ioMemory platform products and two server caching software products: ioTurbine™ for virtualized environments and Direct Cache™ for non-virtualized environments.

Revlon Looks to NetApp Flash Accel to Run Applications at Peak Performance
In recent years, global cosmetics company Revlon has undergone a remarkable IT transformation: a move to a completely virtualized environment that enables Revlon IT to deliver more services faster, better, and cheaper. It now has more than 530 applications running on its private cloud, which supports more than 15,000 automated application moves a month and 14,000 transactions a second. To keep its applications running at peak performance, Revlon requires rapid access to data across the storage area network. In collaboration with NetApp, Revlon has been testing Flash Accel to reduce latency, improve server and storage performance, and simplify storage management.

"Revlon and NetApp share the vision that storage is a critical foundation for a virtualized agile data infrastructure," said David Giambruno, senior vice president and chief information officer, Revlon. "Currently, Revlon has more than 530 and counting business-critical applications, including SAP®, multiple enterprise databases, multiple ERP and MRP systems, financials, warehouse management, Microsoft® Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint®, and virtual desktops, running on VMware® virtual machines. To ensure that these applications run at peak performance requires an approach to storage that minimizes the latency between operations. We've been testing Flash Accel from NetApp and have already seen considerable efficiency and performance gains from our applications that for our business means that our scientists and marketers have greater access to the data that drives the creation and sales of our glamorous products."

Additional Supporting Quotes:

• Tim Russell, Vice President and General Manager, Data Lifecyle Ecosystem Group, NetApp 
  "Creating an agile data infrastructure depends heavily on anticipating and managing application performance needs. NetApp Flash Accel and caching products from our partners add a persistent and durable storage layer on the server, which, when used as part of our Virtual Storage Tiering approach, leads to the automatic management of data from storage to the application based on affinity and workload. This results in dramatic application and server performance boosts that will accelerate how business is conducted using virtualized environments.”

NetApp Alliance Technology Partners

• Neil Carson, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, Fusion-io 
  "NetApp’s open approach to partnering with industry leaders through its Technology Alliance Program will provide customers with efficient solutions that will enable them to achieve performance gains with Fusion-io software and hardware at a fraction of the cost of legacy systems. NetApp's innovative approach to Flash with Virtual Storage Tiering, combined with software like Fusion ioTurbine or directCache software and Fusion ioMemory hardware, uniquely enables IT administrators to scale performance on demand in response to ever-changing business requirements.”
• Gary Smerdon, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Accelerated Solutions Division, LSI Corporation 
  "Server side flash-based caching for application acceleration is one of the most exciting and compelling trends in IT today. As a leading provider of server-based acceleration solutions with our extensive Nytro™ product portfolio of PCIe flash card solutions, LSI is pleased to be working with NetApp and their Flash Accel server caching software to deliver dramatic application acceleration improvements for customers’ data-intensive workloads and mission-critical datacenter applications.”
• Greg Goetz, Vice President and General Manager, SanDisk Enterprise Storage Solutions
  "Collaborating with NetApp allows us to work together to provide Flash memory–based solutions that optimize storage performance and address the problem of I/O latency in the server. Combining NetApp products and our FlashSoft software will deliver significant improvements in application performance and VM density.”
• Ali Zadeh, Corporate Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager, STEC, Inc. 
  "STEC, like NetApp, is committed to delivering intelligent, efficient, high-performance hardware and software solutions to the enterprise storage market. Our SSD-caching software extends this commitment by fully supporting NetApp’s Virtual Storage Tiering and server-caching initiatives which will enable greater cohesion between virtualized enterprise storage systems and host-based applications. As a member of the Alliance Partner Program, STEC looks forward to further advancing SSD technology in NetApp environments and accelerating enterprise storage across an ever-increasing range of applications.”

Availability
Flash Accel will be available in December 2012. Fusion-io products being resold by NetApp are available now.

Additional Resources

• Watch a video on the benefits of NetApp Flash Accel: www.netapp.com/us/library/videos.html?videoId=1788244667001
• Follow NetApp on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NetApp
• Get the latest on NetApp culture: www.facebook.com/NetAppCulture
• Join NetApp on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NetApp
• View NetApp videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/NetAppTV
• Connect with NetApp on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=111681

About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. Our commitment to living our core values and consistently being recognized as a great place to work around the world are fundamental to our long-term growth and success, as well as the success of our pathway partners and customers. Use of the word "partner” or "partnership” does not imply a legal partnership between NetApp and any other company. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.

U.S. Department of Defense Awards Accenture Forecasting Improvement Contract

Press release:

August 14, 2012

U.S. Department of Defense Awards Accenture Forecasting Improvement Contract

 

Work will focus on using advanced analytics to improve supply chain cost and performance

 

ARLINGTON, Va.; Aug. 14, 2012 –The U.S. Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense has awarded Accenture Federal Services a two-year contract to identify ways that will improve forecasting techniques throughout the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Accenture will work with forecasting, inventory and metrics leads from all branches of the military and the Defense Logistics Agency to baseline current practices for forecasting Department of Defense inventory.

 

Work will focus on the lifecycle of an item or weapons system: when it is fully fielded, has an established operational requirement, when it is being phased out of operations. Accenture will use advanced analytics and simulation tools to determine how enhanced forecasting processes may help improve forecast accuracy, inventory levels and supply chain performance. 

 

“As budgets continue to shrink and demand for smart business decisions increases, analytics and simulation are essential tools to accelerate and improve supply chain systems,” said John Goodman, who leads Accenture’s defense and intelligence business.

 

Accenture’s federal business serves every cabinet-level department and 20 of the largest federal organizations. The U.S. federal portfolio spans across clients in civilian, defense, intelligence and public safety agencies.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s defense work, from Insights to Outcomes, its work with federal agencies and delivering Public Service of the Future.

 

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.  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.

 

# # #

Manage My Network: Businesses Turn to the Experts for Help

Manage My Network: Businesses Turn to the Experts for Help

AT&T Aims to Help Businesses Innovate, Manage Complexity and Control Costs

Dallas, Texas, March 20, 2012

ShareThis

The explosive growth of network-dependent data, devices and apps is creating technology complexity and cost challenges for large and medium-sized businesses.

To help businesses address these challenges, AT&T has introduced a network sourcing solution that includes consulting, design, management, and operation services for large and medium-sized businesses. AT&T Network Sourcing^SM  allows customers to manage complexity, control costs, improve productivity, and deploy technologies and applications that allow them to innovate and support their business strategies.

This solution allows customers access to AT&T’s deep networking expertise and a market-proven set of tools and processes across a variety of technologies, including voice, data, mobility, security, and cloud, among others. Services can include:

·         Consulting, design, operation and transformation of networks

·         Management and integration of customers’ other network service providers

·         A multi-year plan to update and evolve the customer’s network, including transition to a unified, MPLS-based IP network

·         Services in support of enterprise mobility, security, voice, IP telephony, virtual private networking, local area networking, and cloud solutions.

AT&T’s 13,000 network integration professionals provide network sourcing services to enterprises across a variety of industries including financial services, automotive, energy, technology, and hospitality.

“We have taken our experience managing networks for very large, global enterprises and integrated it into a flexible solution for a broader set of customers,” said Don Herring, Senior Vice President, AT&T. “AT&T Network Sourcing allows the CIOs of large and medium enterprises to manage complexity, control costs and focus on driving business performance.”

Network sourcing services can help large and medium-sized businesses reduce complexity and cut costs by as much as 15% to 35% over a two-year period, according to Boston Consulting Group[1].

Many enterprise customers who want to simplify technology operations are moving to outsourced or managed service models," said Mike Sapien, Principal Analyst at Ovum Research. "With this new solution, AT&T is addressing a growing market need among medium and large global companies with a new package of managed networking services."

AT&T’s network sourcing experts are helping the State of Georgia to maximize network bandwidth and consolidate telecommunications services for more than 70,000 state employees and 1,400 state and local government offices. Among the services AT&T provides to the State of Georgia as part of an agreement are the latest voice and data networking capabilities as well as security, mobility solutions, and telecommunications management insight. The solution also provides full network redundancy with failover capability.

“AT&T's network sourcing solution has increased our network stability dramatically," said Calvin Rhodes, Executive Director of the Georgia Technology Authority and State Chief Information Officer. "For the first time we can now re-route our network during maintenance windows and in the event of an emergency."

Industry analyst firm Gartner estimates 45% of all organizations have purchased ongoing network management services and 25% or more of all organizations in the services, retail, and healthcare provider industries plan to sign a new contract in the next 12 months[2].

Network sourcing is a key area of focus within AT&T’s strategic business services. AT&T strategic services grew 16.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 versus the year-earlier quarter.

For more information, http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Family/network-services/network-sourcing/.

---

[1] Boston Consulting Group. “Growth Readiness in Network Sourcing,” October 25, 2011

[2] Gartner. “User Survey Analysis: What Providers Need to Know About 2012 First-Time ITO Buyers,”  February 8, 2012

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Honeywell Introduces Attune Advisory Services

3/20/2012

Honeywell Introduces Attune™ Advisory Services, Connects Cloud Computing and Facility Know How to Cut Energy and Operating Costs

• Cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service Technology Provides Easy Access to Sophisticated Monitoring and Analysis, and Honeywell Specialists • Recommended Building Improvements Delivered by Skilled Technicians • Online and Onsite Expertise Combine to Trim Facility Expenses Up to 20 Percent MINNEAPOLIS, March 20, 2012 – Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today introduced its new Attune™ Advisory Services, a suite of professional services that combines cloud-based tools and analytics with a global network of operations centers, and energy and facility experts to provide enhancements that can reduce utility bills and operating expenses up to 20 percent.  Attune Advisory Services help building owners wherever they are on the energy- and operational-efficiency spectrum, providing technology and support to gain baseline awareness of building performance, make improvements to reduce energy and operations costs, and define an ongoing strategy to manage and optimize a facility. “The performance of building systems and equipment can degrade by as much as 5 percent every year, which translates to energy and operating costs that continually escalate,” said Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions. “Companies are starting to realize the significant impact this can have, as well as the opportunity it presents for bottom-line savings. With Attune, we’re providing the ease and convenience of cloud-based technology with expert advice and actionable guidance so companies can capture and maintain those savings.” Facility managers are under increased pressure to go beyond simply monitoring building systems and providing base-level comfort. They are being asked to translate facility information into actions that deliver energy, operational and environmental outcomes. However, many don’t have the resources to assess building performance, identify opportunities to upgrade infrastructure and operations, or prioritize retrofits. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), buildings account for nearly 40 percent of energy used in most countries. The IEA says the potential for savings is significant and can often be achieved at low or no costs. However, many barriers work against energy efficiency in buildings, including lack of useful information. “We’ve gone to great lengths to reduce energy costs while keeping occupants safe and comfortable,” said Tom Damsell, technical services supervisor for Brookfield Office Properties, which owns and manages One Liberty Plaza in lower Manhattan. “Working with Honeywell, we’ve already cut annual electricity use at One Liberty Plaza by approximately 7 percent .Now, we’re looking for the support to help uncover the next level of savings — to find the improvements that are less obvious but highly impactful.” Attune Advisory Services turn building performance data into an action plan that pinpoints potential upgrades and their expected return on investment. The service suite enables facility managers to optimize their budgets, personnel and systems by combining powerful cloud-based tools and analytics with insight and advice from a global team of Honeywell consultants, and customized support provided by skilled onsite technicians. The services exceed typical facility management software, which often only provides a steady stream of data, but no insight or recommendations. Attune offers three levels of assistance — awareness, improvement and optimization — with programs focusing on either energy or operational efficiency. The new energy-focused services include: Attune Energy Awareness Energy Awareness enables facility managers to access and monitor electricity and natural gas consumption using a Web-based, software-as-a-service dashboard that collects information from utility meters to provide insight on building performance and create a baseline to help identify savings opportunities. Honeywell also provides lobby signage that allows organizations to showcase the results of their efficiency efforts in clear-cut, graphic-driven terms, helping educate occupants, and spurring them to alter their behavior and energy use. Attune Energy Improvement Energy Improvement turns building data into actionable recommendations with the advice of Honeywell’s experienced analysts. Facility managers receive periodic reports that provide information on efficiency opportunities with related recommendations on upgrades and replacements. Building retrofits made as a result of these services can deliver energy savings of up to 10 percent, potentially paying for themselves within months. Attune Energy Optimization Energy Optimization delivers a powerful combination of improved building knowledge and actionable recommendations, backed by detailed monitoring, measurement and verification to help ensure facilities operate at their peak. Optimization can deliver energy savings of 10 to 20 percent on average, with the potential for even greater savings in older facilities. Honeywell plugs into a building to gather systems data and assess performance using cloud-based fault detection and diagnostics. Local service technicians collaborate with a global team of optimization experts to review the findings and present a plan to help facility managers reduce utility consumption. Ongoing assessment and monitoring allow building owners to see that upgrades continue to deliver results to the bottom line. Attune Operations Services The goal of Operations Services is more efficiently run buildings. Facility managers can select different combinations of 24/7 equipment monitoring, remote and onsite response to alarm conditions, and Honeywell consultation for uncovering other potential improvements and lowering equipment life-cycle costs. By providing secure, cloud-enabled support, Honeywell is able to help address the issues building operators routinely face — assistance the company is already providing to more than 3,000 sites that are connected to its global operations centers. Attune Operations Services provide guided solutions aimed at saving money and reducing downtime, and the improved insight allows Honeywell to dispatch technicians only when needed. It’s a cost-effective way to improve overall efficiency and another step toward optimization. Additional Information: • Attune Advisory Services website• Attune Advisory Services overview• Attune Energy Awareness video• Attune Energy Improvement video• Attune Energy Optimization video• Honeywell Building Solutions on Twitter• Honeywell Building Solutions website Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com. Honeywell Building Solutions is part of the Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions business group, a global leader in providing product and service solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, support regulatory compliance, and maintain safe, comfortable environments in homes, buildings and industry. This release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements.