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

Lenovo Expands ThinkServer Line with Low-Cost Rack Servers for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Press release from Lenovo:

Lenovo Expands ThinkServer Line with Low-Cost Rack Servers for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

New Collaboration with Hitachi Data Systems for Lenovo EasyManage Server Monitoring Software Complements Growing Server Portfolio

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., August 28, 2012 - Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (PINK SHEETS: LNVGY) today announced the expansion of its server portfolio with the new ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 rack servers. Designed to deliver workhorse performance for growing small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), the new rack servers are supported by a comprehensive services portfoliodesigned for ThinkServer products, including warranty support upgradeable to four hour onsite 24x7 response¹ and the ability to deploy custom Windows imaging and BIOS settings at the Lenovo factory. Lenovo also announced that it has entered into an OEM agreement with Hitachi Data Systems to deliver ThinkServer EasyManage, a branded monitoring solution built from Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer monitoring software. Designed to simplify the most frequent management issues for IT administrators, EasyManage is now bundled with all ThinkServer rack and tower server models, including the new RD430 and RD330.

ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 – Value Priced Scalability and Efficiency

Lenovo’s ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 servers deliver high performance, improved power and cooling efficiency technologies, and easy serviceability with rapid response professional services. Based on the Intel^® Xeon^® E5-2400 processor family, which deliver up to a three times performance increase versus the Intel^® Xeon^® processor E3-1200 v2 product family², the new Lenovo two-socket servers are available in either 2U (RD430) or 1U (RD330) chassis configurations with tool-less rail kits for easy installation. Both servers feature up to 192GB of RAM deployable in 12 DIMM slots, and either 24TB or 8TB of hard disk storage capacity for the RD430 and RD330, respectively. Industry standard protocols and IPMI 2.0 compliant interfaces make it easy for customers to easily integrate the new servers within existing IT infrastructures.

Adding to their outstanding value, the RD430 and RD330 are energy efficient systems that achieve a 160 percent performance improvement in performance per watt compared to previous generation Lenovo servers. Lenovo’s Smart Grid technology provides power planning intelligence and scales Intel^® Node Manager to the rack level. With Smart Grid, IT administrators can set power cap policies so the servers can dynamically respond to changing workloads, which helps increase utilization while lowering energy consumption and operating costs. Further enhancing the power efficiency of the ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 is a new chassis design that improves cooling efficiency by up to 20 percent and reduces fan power as much as 20 percent.³

Synonymous with the Think brand, the ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 also deliver exceptional reliability and durability with features including a new anti-vibration alloy design in the hard drive tray to improve fault tolerance, resulting in a 40 percent lower risk of failure due to vibration and shock issues. In addition, built-in redundancy reduces 90 percent of server downtime due to single point system failure.

“These new ThinkServer rack servers are designed for growing small and mid-sized businesses who need a low priced yet highly scalable and efficient rack server to build their IT infrastructure,” said Lu Yan, senior vice president, Think Product Group, Lenovo. “In addition to the substantial increases in computing performance and energy efficiency, businesses with only one or two IT staff members will also appreciate the manageability features that simplify server deployment and operation. The mix of built-in capabilities with high performance, efficiency and reliability yields a package that pays dividends in return.”

Lenovo ThinkServer EasyManage – Best-in-Class Capability for Lenovo Server Administration

To maintain peak performance, the ThinkServer EasyManage server monitoring and management tool now comes standard with all new ThinkServer products—including the RD430 and RD330. Working with Hitachi Data Systems, an information technology and IT operations software leader, ThinkServer EasyManage leverages the proven capabilities of Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer to provide a holistic view into the status of up to 1000 Lenovo server nodes. Priority features of ThinkServer EasyManage include:

• Simplified Web-based interface that monitors the health of Lenovo ThinkServers and installed applications from a centralized dashboard, keeping administrators abreast of key performance indicators for server components including temperature, voltage, fan speed, CPU and memory utilization, and free disk space.
• Agentless architecture with easy, wizard-based installation, discovery and configuration eliminates performance impacts while helping IT administrators proactively manage critical system issues and respond to critical events in real-time.
• Change monitoring that uses server and device-level intelligence to monitor and record changes of the end-to-end infrastructure, helping to avoid service degradation or help prevent unscheduled downtime.
• Scheduled monitoring with user-defined alerting allows IT administrators to define two different threshold levels based on their specific needs, helping to prevent unnecessary alerts while ensuring notification before a problem actually happens.

“Both IT administrators and end users expect their server infrastructure to provide maximum efficiency, availability and performance, regardless of the constraints commonly found on IT resources,” said Frank Amato, director, Global Software, Hitachi Data Systems. “By utilizing the flexible functionality of the award-winning Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer as the foundation for ThinkServer EasyManage, Lenovo provides a proven monitoring solution that helps simplify IT operations, improve service levels, and boost efficiencies tied to IT management time, cost and effort.”

Pricing and Availability⁴

The ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 are available now at www.lenovo.com or through Lenovo business partners. Prices for models of the ThinkServer RD430 and RD330 start at $1,499 and $1,099, respectively. For additional information regarding Lenovo Services, please visitwww.lenovo.com/services.

For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter andFacebook.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (PINK SHEETS: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world’s second-largest PC vendor. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile Internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.

¹ Subject to availability. Warranty eligibility lookup available athttp://www.lenovo.com/services_warranty/ca/en/4-hour-activation.html

²According to Intel internal measurements on SPECjbb*2005 benchmark as of March 2012.

³ When compared to a normal thermal design.

⁴ Prices do not include tax or shipping and are subject to change without notice and is tied to specific terms and conditions. Reseller prices may vary. Price does not include all advertised features. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice.

Nuance to Acquire Transcend

Nuance to Acquire Transcend


Accretive Transaction to Accelerate Adoption of Nuance Healthcare Solutions by Small- to Mid-Sized Hospital Market, Bring Strong Customer Base and Recurring Revenue

With Transcend, Nuance will accelerate access to and expand its customer base within the small- to mid-size hospital market, which comprises approximately 90 percent of hospitals in the U.S. and increasingly demands cost effective, voice-enabled, clinical documentation solutions to achieve Meaningful Use and the transition to ICD-10. With Nuance’s voice-enabled and Clinical Language Understanding technologies and deep electronic health record (EHR) integration, combined with Transcend’s high-quality transcription and editing services, hospitals can make clinical documentation and workflow more productive and cost efficient and extract greater value from clinical information.

“The acquisition of Transcend will expand the delivery of our innovative voice and Clinical Language Understanding solutions especially to small- and mid-size hospitals,” said Janet Dillione, executive vice president and general manager of Nuance’s Healthcare business. “With Transcend, we will drive change and improvement to the way these hospitals capture and leverage clinical information. The acquisition is a natural extension of Nuance’s existing healthcare business, and will strengthen our solution and services portfolio, as well as enhance our profitability.”

Nuance has agreed to acquire Transcend through a cash tender offer of $29.50 per Transcend share, representing an approximately 30 percent premium over Transcend’s 90-day volume weighted average share price. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company. Based on Transcend’s 11.1 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding as of December 31, 2011, the acquisition is valued at approximately $300 million, net of Transcend’s estimated cash at closing. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of Nuance’s fiscal 2012, subject to regulatory approval and other conditions.

Nuance expects the acquisition in fiscal 2013 to add between $140 million and $150 million in revenue; non-GAAP earnings between $0.08 and $0.09 per share; and, GAAP earnings between $0.02 and $0.03 per share. See “Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for further information.

The addition of Transcend brings many advantages and synergies to:

• Accelerate Growth within the Small- to Mid-Size Hospital Market – Transcend brings operational excellence and customer satisfaction, as well as a leading position with national Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) particularly within the small- to mid-size hospital market. Greater access to these organizations will expand the delivery of Nuance’s voice-driven and Clinical Language Understanding solutions in this segment and in turn will contribute growing revenue streams for Nuance’s healthcare business.
• Strengthen Services for Healthcare Organizations – With Transcend, Nuance will gain additional medical transcription and editing capacity for its healthcare offerings. Together, the combined organization will help a broader set of healthcare organizations achieve cost effective, efficient clinical documentation workflow.
• Drive Recurring Revenue and Enhance Profitability – The acquisition of Transcend is a natural extension of Nuance’s existing healthcare business that affords a stable, recurring revenue stream from its strong customer base and will enhance profitability within the division.

“Nuance recognized Transcend’s services experience and excellence and saw real benefit in adding Transcend’s employees and management team to its healthcare business,” said Larry G. Gerdes, CEO of Transcend. “Both Nuance and Transcend share a vision to reduce healthcare costs through technology and increased efficiencies. The strength of the combined organization will truly benefit the industry and we look forward to providing Transcend customers access to Nuance’s leading HIT technology.”

Key members of the Transcend management team will play integral roles in strengthening Nuance’s position in the healthcare industry, including Susan McGrogan, Transcend’s president and chief operating officer, and Lance Cornell, Transcend’s chief financial officer.

The tender offer is expected to commence on or before March 20, 2012. The offer will be open for a period of not less than 20 business days from its commencement and will be conditioned upon valid acceptances of the offer in respect of shares representing at least a majority of the outstanding Transcend shares on a fully diluted basis as well as other closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approval. The tender offer will be followed by a merger in which each Transcend share not acquired in the tender offer will be converted into the right to receive $29.50 per share in cash, without interest. The transaction will be financed through cash on hand at Nuance.

Transcend Services, Inc.
Transcend Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRCR) provides premium quality transcription and clinical documentation services to the healthcare industry. Its services encompass a wide range of solutions - people, products and processes - designed to turn medical dictation into meaningful electronic documents. Transcend provides its clients with exceptional quality, turnaround time and service so that they can focus on what matters most – their patients.  For more information, visitwww.Transcendservices.com .

Nuance Healthcare 
Nuance Healthcare, a division of Nuance Communications, is the market leader in providing clinical understanding solutions that accurately capture and transform the patient story into meaningful, actionable information.  Thousands of hospitals, providers and payers worldwide trust Nuance voice-enabled clinical documentation and analytics solutions to facilitate smarter, more efficient decisions across the healthcare enterprise.  These solutions are proven to increase clinician satisfaction and HIT adoption, supporting organizations to achieve Meaningful Use of EHR systems and transform to the accountable care model.  Recognized as “Best-in-KLAS” 2004-2011 for Speech Recognition we invite you to learn more, http://www.nuance.com/for-healthcare/index.htm.

Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.  Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications.  For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.