HP Simplifies, Automates Enterprise Desktop Management with HP WorkPlace 360 Services

HP today announced HP WorkPlace360 Services, an automated, scalable, subscription-based enterprise desktop management solution that helps clients reduce complexity while lowering operational costs.


Enterprises require multiple resources and significant capital expense to procure, assemble, deploy and support the organization’s desktop and remote computing assets. To help harness these challenges, HP WorkPlace360 Services provide organizations a standardized, packaged service that simplifies and reduces costs throughout the enterprise desktop management life cycle.

The services also eliminate the time and complexity of maintenance while freeing IT resources that can be used to drive innovation and improve business agility.

Available through HP Enterprise Services, HP WorkPlace360 is a fully managed, global IT service that enables organizations to:

— Improve IT staff productivity with rapid deployment of services and technology matched to the user’s specific role

— Improve software compliance through an automated distribution of upgrades and patches



— Reduce risk of security threats through security software and remote monitoring



— Simplify technology refresh cycles, as HP assumes responsibility for hardware replacement



— Improve environmental sustainability by upgrading to the most current energy-efficient technology and properly disposing of older equipment



— Maximize IT budgets by preserving capital expenses and moving to operating expenses by using a subscription-based model that allows clients to pay for what they consume and add workplace services at their own pace



“Organizations are looking to remove IT complexities that burden numerous resources and can impact costs and productivity,” said Marshal Correia, director, Enterprise Services, HP India,. “With HP WorkPlace360 services, clients can eliminate enterprise desktop constraints with a truly comprehensive, 360-degree workplace service without seeing large spikes in IT budgets or workloads.”



WorkPlace360 Services bring the breadth and depth of HP’s leading devices, software, services and global operations to personal computing. HP WorkPlace360 Services is available today in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and 18 countries across Europe. More information on the HP Workplace Services portfolio is available at www.hp.com/go/workplace360.



About HP



HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com./

Celebrate the ‘Sennheiser Sound’ with ‘Original Style’ this festive season!

With the festive season approaching and Diwali crackling around the corner, the world’s leading manufacturer of sound & audio solutions, Sennheiser Electronics India has launched two new street wear models for consumers and one premium DJ headphones in collaboration with Adidas Originals.




Sennheiser expands its diverse streetwear product portfolio by launching in collaboration with Adidas Originals and building on the successful Sennheiser HD 25, HD 220 and CX 310 for the consumers who love good sound while listening to their favorite music in leisure time and the premium DJ headphones for quality & performance.



“The new range offers a perfect blend of elegant style and superior technology with excellent features for music lovers this festive season. We wanted to offer something special to our consumers this festive season and the new range would be an ideal collection for consumers who consider music in good sound as an integral part of their lifestyle.” stated Mr. Kapil Gulati, Consumer Segment Head for Sennheiser India.



Description: CX_310Building on the two successful Sennheiser models, the HD218 closed-back on-ear headphones and the CX 300 ear-canal headphones, the new adidas versions (HD 220 and CX 310) have been given an original twist with colour update s according to Originals’ iconic blue tone. The Sennheiser HD 220 headphones by adidas Originals are perfect for everyday use, featuring bass-driven stereo sound with superior comfort. The Sennheiser CX 310 by adidas Originals offer a dynamic sound with great clarity across both high and low ends while various-sized ear adapters allow for a personalized fit and reduction of ambient noise. These headphones are best for all mobile music requirements.



Sennheiser HD 25-1-II headphone model, the version that comes in the unique Originals look embraces the value of both companies by fusing quality in design & functionality.



The Trefoil brand, which has been linked to the music scene for a long time and is connected uniquely to the beginnings of Hip Hop in the 1980s, now proudly Description: HD_220underlines its music affinity with the Original headphones by Sennheiser. Belonging to the professional equipment for recording and DJ-ing, Sennheiser has been one of the most successful monitoring headphones for more than 20 years. Now, it has been given a design makeover by adidas Originals including its iconic 3-Stripes as well as the brand’s renowned blue colour identity. These headphones handle a high sound pressure level, with crystal clear highs and crisp basses. Along with the adidas Originals design, these headphones ensure a true Sennheiser sound experience.



These headphones aim to serve the needs of trend-savvy people who love music but also set value on premium design and style. The new headphones in collaboration with audio professional Sennheiser present the perfect blend of both brands and the values they stand for: quality, functionality and excellent sound.



The products will be available across all the leading large format retail stores and more than 500 retailers across the country.



The models have been priced at;



* HD 220 Originals – Rs 3490

* CX 310 – Rs 3490

* HD 25 originals – Rs 16990

Tech Mahindra Q1 Revenue up 14%

Tech Mahindra, India’s fifth largest software exporter today announced consolidated financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2011.


Financial highlights for the Quarter (INR)

 Revenue at INR 1292.5 crores; up 14% YoY and 2.5% QoQ

 Operating Profit (EBIDTA) was INR 241.7 crores; up 13.7 % YoY

 PAT excluding share of associate company’s profit was Rs 181.2 crores; up 25% YoY

 PAT was INR 276.5 crores; up 91.6% YoY and 199.9% QoQ;

 Earnings per Share (EPS) was Rs 21.89 for the quarter ended June 30, 2011

Financial highlights for the Quarter (USD)

 Revenue at USD 289.8mn; up 15.4% YoY and 4.1% QoQ

 Revenue on constant currency basis was at USD 284.1mn, up 2% QoQ

 Operating Profit (EBIDTA) was USD 54.1mn; up 16.6% YoY

 PAT excluding share of associate company’s profit was USD 40.5mn; up 28.4% YoY

 PAT was USD 61.7mn; up 96.3% YoY and 203.6% QoQ

Other Highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2011

 Total headcount at 42,850. Software Professional headcount stood at 27,920, BPO at 13,804 and Support staff at 1,126

 Added 4,517 personnel during the quarter, of which 2,793 were in BPO

 Debt was Rs 1282.2 crores as of June 30, 2011

 Cash and Cash equivalent stood at Rs 194.4 crores on balance sheet as of June 30, 2011

 Active client count at 128

Business Highlights for Quarter ended June 30, 2011

 Tech Mahindra has inaugurated its Innovation Center for Mobility Solutions in Toronto. The Toronto Innovation Center will initially provide device certification services to Canadian wireless operators and further expand its services to provide enterprise mobility solutions on current and next generation mobile devices for the benefit of North American customers in general and Canadian carriers specifically.



 Tech Mahindra has declared Nigeria as the headquarters for its BPO operations in Africa ; and commenced operations in Gabon.



 Selected by Microsoft to setup an authorized Encoder Conformance Testing Lab (ECT Lab) for video encoders used in deployment of IPTV solutions on Microsoft Media room based platforms.



Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Tech Mahindra said, “We continue to build our business portfolio at a measured pace, despite low discretionary spend in the telecom vertical. This has been enabled by our diversification into new geographies and customers”



Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman, MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra said, “We have aligned ourselves with changing customer priorities and needs, which has helped us navigate in these volatile times. Our continued focus on core competencies, has enabled us to show sustained growth across our key clients and geographies. The changing macro economic conditions could pose new challenges which we are closely monitoring”

Key wins

Tech Mahindra engaged with one of the leading telecom operator in Europe for developing Integrated Network Capacity Management (ICM) solution. This solution enabled to enhance, automate and consolidate various networks of the operator and bring it under one strategic system thereby resulting in improved operational efficiencies.

Selected by a leading telecom operator in Europe as the preferred supplier for its data migration program which will help transform its IT estate, and reduce total cost of ownership.

Tech Mahindra has been chosen by one of the leading Indian telecom operators to provide customer support to its subscribers. With its proven methodologies, Tech Mahindra will enable the operator to enhanced customer experience and realize operational efficiencies.

Selected by a leading Telecom Equipment Manufacturer (TEM) in Europe for a performing test and validation activity, for its provisioning platform.

Awards and Recognitions

 Tech Mahindra has been ranked as No.1 Telecom Software Service Provider by Voice & Data, India’s leading communications magazine. According to the latest V&D100 Annual Survey conducted by the magazine, Tech Mahindra leads the Rs. 23,533 crore Indian telecom software services market in 2010-11 with 20.1 % market share.

 CanvasM has won the CMAI 5th National Telecom Award for ‘Excellence in Innovation with Rural Telecom Focus’

 Tech Mahindra has been recognised with 2011 Microsoft Communications Sector Partner of the Year Award. It was honored amongst a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology

Compuware Ranked Among the World's Leading System Management SaaS Vendors

Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR), the technology performance company, today announced that industry analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has ranked Compuware the world’s third largest system management Software-as- a-Service (SaaS) vendor. HP ranked first and IBM ranked second. Compuware had the highest growth rate of the top five vendors.

According to IDC’s market analysis report titled: “Worldwide System Management Software-as-a-Service 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares,” Compuware’s Application Performance Management (APM) business unit ranked third, with SaaS revenue estimated at $49.0 million, representing an 11.5 percent market share.[i] Compuware’s 18.1 percent growth rate from 2009 to 2010 was the highest out of the top five vendors and higher than the top two vendors combined (HP at -4.5 percent and IBM at 1.7 percent). Compuware’s high growth moved it to third place in 2010, up from fifth place in 2009.

“This ranking reaffirms our strength and leadership in the system management SaaS market and shows that our aggressive growth strategy is working,” said Bruce Reading, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Compuware’s APM business unit. “We continue to innovate and invest in our APM business to ensure our customers increase revenues, profitability and brand equity by optimizing application performance across the entire application delivery chain.”

The Gomez platform is the industry’s leading solution for optimizing the performance of web, non-web, mobile, streaming and cloud applications. Driven by end-user experience, Gomez provides a unified view across the entire application delivery chain, from a user’s browser or mobile device, across the Internet or a corporate WAN, in the cloud, to inside the data center, eliminating blind spots from the First Mile to the Last Mile.

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Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, provides software, experts and best practices to ensure technology works well and delivers value. Compuware solutions make the world’s most important technologies perform at their best for leading organizations worldwide, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most visited U.S. web sites. Learn more at: http://www.compuware.com.

HP Accelerates Market Share Gains in Networking Worldwide and in Every Region

HP today announced it has achieved market share gains across all networking segments in every region of the world in the first calendar quarter of 2011.

According to a recently issued report by analyst firm Dell’Oro Group,(1) HP Networking continues to grow faster than the market while increasing its revenue market share at the expense of the competition.

Specifically, the report reveals that HP gained 2.5 percentage points worldwide for layer 2/layer 3 Ethernet switching revenue market share in the first quarter of 2011. Cisco’s share fell 5.8 points in the same period.

HP also gained 2.5 percentage points in router and 2.2 points in wireless local area network (WLAN) revenue market share over the same period,(1) while Cisco’s share declined by 3.1 points in router and 0.4 points in WLAN.

With HP, clients are transitioning to simpler, more flexible and open networks that drive new levels of agility into their enterprise environments. The result is market growth illustrating customer confidence in HP Networking is continuing to accelerate on a global basis.

To further spur HP’s growth in networking, the company has recently introduced the HP FlexNetwork architecture, the industry’s only unified architecture for the data center, campus and branch. A core component of the HP Converged Infrastructure, the HP FlexNetwork architecture unifies network silos by ensuring protocols are implemented consistently across all networked devices throughout an enterprise.

“Customers are telling us that there is a significant sense of urgency to eliminate their inflexible, complex and expensive networks,” said Subhodeep Bhattacharya, Director, HP Networking, HP India. “As our market share gains demonstrate, customers around the world are choosing HP to create networks that are more flexible and easier to manage – better preparing them to adapt to cloud and other dynamic computing models.”

Other HP highlights of the recent Dell’Oro Group report include:

— Solidified No. 1 position in the smart managed switch category with 34 percent market share and a 13 percentage point lead over the second-place vendor.(2)

— Strengthened No. 2 position in switching and router markets, both in revenue and unit share, with 12 percent revenue and 20.2 percent port share in switching, as well as 5.5 percent revenue and 10.3 percent unit share in routers.(1)

— Gained switching revenue share year over year in all regions: 1 percentage point gain in North America; 2 points in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; 6 points in Asia Pacific and Japan; and 4 points in Latin America.(1)

— Outpaced the market in switching revenue share growth in the Asia Pacific and Japan region during the period, growing from 14.6 percent to 20.1 percent, and in Latin America, which grew from 12.6 percent to 16.1 percent over the same period.(1)

— Outperformed the market in switching, routing and WLAN categories during the two years since the first quarter 2009.(1)

More information about HP Networking solutions is available at www.hp.com/networking.

HP Converged Infrastructure is key to an Instant-On Enterprise. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/

Symphony Services Announces Development of Groundbreaking Application with Fetch Technologies

Symphony Services, the leader in global software product engineering services, today announced it has created an application layer for Fetch Technologies’ background screening solution, which enables customers to automatically and instantly determine the presence of a job candidate’s criminal record. After a review of the major players in the engineering services industry, Fetch decided to partner with Symphony because of its long history of providing full product development lifecycle support including product strategy, software architecture, development, quality assurance services and system deployment and maintenance services.

Fetch began working with Symphony as a result of its acquisition of Core Objects. Symphony’s charter was to support the creation of a new solution to serve the specialized needs of the background screening sector. Today, Fetch’s background screening solution, Fetch for Background Checks, provides companies with automated access to more than 300 online criminal background libraries and over 1,500 online jurisdictions around the country.  Symphony, Fetch and SJV & Associates are now developing the next generation of that solution, which will enable automated full extraction of criminal records.

“Fetch offers the industry’s most scalable and reliable solutions to deliver Web data,” said Timo Kissel, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations, Fetch. “Our customers benefit from our horizontal technology approach, which provides them with added leverage in a variety of markets. Our work with Symphony will enable us to deliver even more tailored and efficient data access to our clients in the employment screening industry.”

Fetch has been a primary service provider to the background screening industry since 2005. Today, the company processes billions of data points annually. 

“In partnering with Fetch, Symphony is building on its already strong expertise in developing Web-based solutions through our product development lifecycle services for leading software customers,” said Sanjay Dhawan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Symphony Services. “We’re eager to grow our relationship with Fetch and support the company as the dominant player in the market.”

About Symphony Services

Symphony Services is a leader in software product engineering services.  The company’s innovative Engineering Outcome Certainty™ engagement model offers a strict metrics-driven approach, ensuring complete alignment with clients’ business objectives. This methodology is proven to help clients achieve a range of goals, from improving product line revenue to raising client satisfaction, increasing product innovations and reducing time-to-market.

The company’s 3,500 employees globally support over 1,200 product releases annually, helping clients drive unparalleled innovation while bringing predictability to costs, schedules and quality of the outsourced engineering process.  Symphony Services’ capabilities across the full Product Development Lifecycle maximize the ROI for client engineering organizations while delivering market-leading products in Telecom, Healthcare, Energy, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Financial Services and Internet Commerce.

Symphony Services is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., with facilities in North America, India, Europe and China. For more information, please visit www.symphonysv.com.

About Fetch Technologies
Fetch Technologies accesses and transforms Web data into actionable information for the enterprise. With competitive intelligence, content aggregation, news aggregation, and background screening solutions, Fetch serves a diverse range of premier clients including Dow Jones, ADP, Shopzilla, HireRight and CityGrid. Fetch’s highly advanced Live Access platform takes resource-intensive data acquisition off the hands of the enterprise, providing in return the meaningful, useful information that the enterprise needs to stay competitive.

Tech Mahindra to scale up its operations in Africa

Tech Mahindra, a global systems integrator and business transformation consulting organization focused on the communications industry, declared Nigeria as the headquarters for its BPO operations in Africa and has elaborated ambitious plans to scale up its African operations on the eve of its second year of successful operations in Nigeria on Friday.

Over the last two years, Tech Mahindra has partnered with leading telecom operators in Nigeria, like MTN and Multilinks. The company has recently won the prestigious Bharti Airtel Africa deal for setting up Airtel’s BPO operations in 7 countries.

Mr. Sujit Baksi, President, Corporate Affairs & Business Services Group, Tech Mahindra, said, “We are extremely excited to be a part of the growing market of Africa. We have already helped our customers in Africa reduce their operating costs and generate new revenue streams. Tech Mahindra has recruited over thousand local employees in Nigeria and it is our strategy to nurture local talent for effectively executing our BPO operations. Over a period of two years, we plan to reduce the expat headcount considerably and develop the workforce locally to run the operations. Tech Mahindra has now joined the league of Indian IT companies with significant headcount in the region. ”

Mr. Krishna Gopal, Vice President, Sales & Global Alliances, said, “With its telecom domain expertise and global experience over two decades, Tech Mahindra is committed to offering best in the industry services to telecom operators leading to enhanced experience for the end consumers in Nigeria and the Africa continent as whole. Tech Mahindra would bring its global experience across developed and emerging markets to offer top levels of service to operators and end consumers in Nigeria.”

The two top executives of the company also touched upon various aspects of the telecom scenario in Nigeria, namely Mobile Number Portability and its flexibility to consumers in Nigeria. They outlined the need for the regulators and government to actively pursue SIM registration, which is absolutely necessary to ensure identity traceability and security for the nation.

About Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc. Tech Mahindra serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators worldwide and their proven delivery models, distinctive IT skills and decades of domain expertise enable clients to maximize returns on their IT investment.  Tech Mahindra registered revenue of USD 1,126.6 million in the year ended March 31, 2011 and is ably supported by 38,300 professionals who provide a unique blend of culture, domain expertise and in-depth technology skill-sets. A SEI-CMMi Level 5 organization, Tech Mahindra’s development centers are ISO 9001:2008 & BS7799 certified. Tech Mahindra has principal offices in the UK, United States, Germany, UAE, Egypt, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada & Australia. Tech Mahindra Ltd is part of the US $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The Group’s interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail.

National Instruments Introduces Industry’s Highest Throughput PXI Frame Grabber

National Instruments today announced the NI PXIe-1435 high-performance Camera Link frame grabber. Engineers can use the new module to integrate high-speed and high-resolution imaging into their PXI systems, the industry standard for automated test with more than 1,500 measurement modules available from more than 70 vendors. By combining high-throughput imaging with the benefits of off-the-shelf PXI measurement hardware, NI now offers full software-defined solutions for demanding automated test applications in industries such as consumer electronics, automotive and semiconductor.

The NI PXIe-1435 is the industry’s highest throughput PXI frame grabber and acquires from all Camera Link camera configurations, including 10-tap extended-full, with up to 850 MB/s of throughput. Engineers can power cameras through Power over Camera Link (PoCL)-enabled cables, eliminating the need for additional wires in deployment environments. The frame grabber also offers 512 MB of DDR2 onboard acquisition memory for added reliability in transferring large images without fear of data overflow. Onboard digital I/O includes four bidirectional transistor-transistor logic (TTL), two opto-isolated inputs and one quadrature encoder for triggering and communicating inspection results with automation devices.

The frame grabber incorporates the synchronization, timing, data streaming and processing capabilities of the PXI Express specification, and supports image processing on complementary field-programmable gate array (FPGA) boards to further boost system performance.

“The NI PXIe-1435 frame grabber further complements our capabilities in the PXI platform,” said Matt Friedman, National Instruments senior product manager for the PXI platform and PXISA board member. “The addition of high-performance imaging to our PXI offerings enhances our mixed-signal capabilities for high-end test systems.”
The high throughput and low latency of the Camera Link standard make the frame grabber ideal for line-scan image sensors, which engineers can use for surface inspection of large areas, including finding esthetic and functional defects in solar panels and dead pixels in flat panel displays. The NI PXIe-1435 frame grabber also works well in many industrial applications, such as fault analysis using a stop trigger to record images before and after an event on the factory floor, and medical device applications such as analyzing intricacies in movement and recording stimulus response in objects from heart valves to eye corneas.

Engineers can program the new module using NI LabVIEW graphical development software and the NI Vision Development Module, a comprehensive library of imaging functions. They also can configure it using NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection software, an easy-to-use, stand-alone package for fast development and simple maintenance. NI vision software helps engineers take advantage of hundreds of imaging processing algorithms, make decisions based on multiple inspection results, customize user interfaces and communicate results using I/O and industrial communication protocols.

About National Instruments
National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 30,000 different companies worldwide, with its largest customer representing approximately 4 percent of revenue in 2010 and no one industry representing more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has approximately 5,500 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 12 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Tech Mahindra recognized as 2011 Microsoft Communicat​ions Sector Partner of the Year

Tech Mahindra proudly announced that it has won the 2011 Microsoft Communications Sector Partner of the Year Award. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

L.Ravichandran, President, IT Services, Tech Mahindra, said, “Our strong partnership with Microsoft speaks volumes about our compelling value propositions for the telecom industry.   We are delighted to receive this award, which testifies our long standing relationship. Microsoft’s ease of use software coupled with its strong brand reach combines well with Tech Mahindra’s deep domain expertise to offer tremendous value to our customers. We will continue our effort to reinforce the relationship by winning together in the marketplace.”

Awards were presented in multiple categories, with winners chosen from a set of more than 3,000 entrants worldwide. Tech Mahindra was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in Microsoft Communications Sector Partner of the Year. The Communications Sector Partner of the Year Award recognizes Tech Mahindra for adding business value to customers by deploying new and innovative solutions based on Microsoft technologies in hosting, media and entertainment, or telecommunications.

 "Over the last year, Tech Mahindra has deepened its partnership with Microsoft, demonstrating continual innovation in bringing to market BI, CRM, and Windows Azure-based solutions that specifically address the needs of communications service providers (CSPs)," said Austen Mulinder, corporate vice president of Communications Sector at Microsoft. "In addition to a number of joint customer wins, this year Tech Mahindra also established a Microsoft Dynamics CRM lab for CSPs while Mahindra Satyam has launched a Windows Azure Center of Excellence.  We’re pleased to recognize Tech Mahindra with the Communications Sector Partner of the Year Award."

The Microsoft Partner Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions over the past year. 

About Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc. Tech Mahindra serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators worldwide and their proven delivery models, distinctive IT skills and decades of domain expertise enable clients to maximize returns on their IT investment.  Tech Mahindra registered revenue of USD 1,126.6 million in the year ended March 31, 2011 and is ably supported by 38,300 professionals who provide a unique blend of culture, domain expertise and in-depth technology skill-sets. 

A SEI-CMMi Level 5 organization, Tech Mahindra’s development centers are ISO 9001:2008 & BS7799 certified. Tech Mahindra has principal offices in the UK, United States, Germany, UAE, Egypt, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada & Australia. Tech Mahindra Ltd is part of the US $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The Group’s interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail.

HP CloudAgile Service Provider Program Transforms Cloud Services Market

HP today launched a comprehensive program that expands opportunities for service providers focused on the rapidly expanding cloud market.
The cloud services market is expected to grow to approximately $143 billion by 2013.(1) To take advantage of this dynamic opportunity, service providers need the agility to quickly evolve their business models and go-to-market strategies. However, service providers face budget and resource constraints, along with increasing customer demands for higher service levels and greater security. Service providers need efficient connections to new partners, services and business prospects to help them meet their customers’ needs.

HP CloudAgile offers service providers new opportunities to accelerate and extend their market reach,
delivering services faster with lower capital investment. Participants include telecommunications and service providers as well as hosters, systems integrators and value-added resellers. HP CloudAgile encompasses HP’s enterprise portfolio of servers, storage, networking, software and services.“Service providers want to tap into the vast revenue potential of the cloud, but they need a partner with the resources to create innovative business models and new revenue streams,” said Biswanath Bhattacharya, Director, Technology Services, HP India. “With HP’s market presence and industry-leading technology portfolio, the CloudAgile program enables service providers to become more agile and deliver a new era of cloud services that align with their customers’ changing needs.”HP CloudAgile offers service providers: —  Expanded sales capabilities with direct access to HP’s global sales force and its worldwide network of channel partners. HP will provide incentives for its sales force and channels to collaborate with CloudAgile qualified partners. —  New market opportunities delivering private cloud hosting and cloud bursting services enabled by the industry-leading HP Cloud System platform. CloudAgile partners will be able to become certified CloudSystem hosters, delivering private clouds to enterprise customers while helping to maintain client service levels.—  Robust go-to-market support, which includes joint planning and market development funds. Dedicated partner business managers will be assigned to qualified partners to facilitate ongoing sales and marketing collaboration. —  Significantly reduced development costs by leveraging complimentary resources. These include the Cloud Operating Environment, a remote-access HP Cloud lab environment, as well as access to CloudSystem equipment to support proofs of concept and services development.—  Fast and secure delivery of cloud-ready applications, automated cloud services as well as helps ensure compliance of cloud-enabled business processes across a hybrid environment. Service providers also create differentiation and greater revenue by offering software from HP’s IT Performance Suite to their clients as a service. For qualified CloudAgile partners, HP Software offers flexible software licensing to support the delivery of cloud-based services.—  Accelerated deployment of cloud solutions while refocusing capital on innovation for enterprise growth and also preserves cash while aligning cost to usage. These programs are available from HP Financial Services, the company’s leasing and asset life cycle management arm. The HP CloudAgile program will roll out worldwide throughout the year. More information about HP CloudAgile is available at www.hp.com/go/cloudagile
About HP 
 HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com

HP Helps Telecoms Grow Revenue with On-demand Cloud Services for SMBs

HP Enterprise Services today announced enhancements to the company’s hybrid delivery cloud solutions, offering telecom companies the agility they need to quickly enter the small and medium-size business (SMB) market with revenue-generating on-demand communications services.
HP Cloud Services Enablement for Communications as a Service (HP CSE for CaaS) enables communications service providers (CSPs) to help their SMB customers take advantage of utility pricing and the flexibility of the on-demand services model. HP CSE for CaaS is part of the broader HP CSE for CSP portfolio, which also includes solutions for Infrastructure as a Service and Device Management as a Service.
HP CSE for CaaS enables wireless, wireline and broadband companies to offer SMBs a “one-stop shop” for IT and communications services such as messaging, collaboration and automated voice services.
By leveraging cloud services and paying only for what they use, CSPs can offer their SMB clients the ability to:
—  Improve productivity and create a competitive advantage with access to state-of-the-art communications services.
—  Maximize their IT budgets with predictable costs and minimal capital investment.
—  Mitigate risks of deploying new technology, enabling SMBs to focus less on IT systems and more on core business objectives.
For CSPs, HP CSE for CaaS enables CSPs to transform their traditional business models and build new sources of revenue with on-demand communications services that SMBs can consume from customized bundles that suit their specific business needs.   “CSPs can drive revenue from the growing cloud-based services market with these new HP solutions,” Marshal Correia, Director, Enterprise Services, HP India. “HP CaaS, along with HP’s ability to bridge IT and telecom requirements, enables CSPs to get to market quickly with ‘pay as you go,’ on-demand services that SMBs need.”
HP cloud solution offers rapid time to revenue and flexibility
HP CSE for CaaS enables CSPs to quickly launch a cloud service business. The platform accommodates a wide variety of on-demand services from CSPs and third parties, and accelerates time-to-market with three pre-integrated service families for SMBs:
—  Messaging: Based on Microsoft® Exchange 2010, these services include full-featured email, calendar, contact management, integrated voice mail and email archiving.
—  Collaboration: To drive cooperation among remote teams, HP has included Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for improved productivity and business process management; HP Virtual Room for full-featured web conferencing; and HP Audio Conference, a reservation-less solution that can be combined with HP Virtual Room.
—  Business Voice: Enabling SMBs to handle incoming calls in an automated, professional manner, HP has pre-integrated systems based on the HP Network Interactive Voice Response, including Auto Attendant, Virtual Office Receptionist, Automatic Call Distribution and Call Recorder.
The core of HP CSE for CaaS is the HP Aggregation Platform for Software as a Service (HP AP4SaaS). It enables CSPs to integrate and cohesively present a wide variety of SaaS services via a new marketplace portal.
The platform automates key processes such as provisioning, activation, mediation, charging, revenue settlement and service assurance. With HP AP4SaaS, CSPs cassn create cost effective cloud services bundles that simplify procurement and usage for SMB customers.
The HP AP4SaaS is the foundation for other offerings in the HP Cloud Service Enablement portfolio such as HP CSE for Device Management as a Service and HP CSE for Infrastructure as a Service, which is built on HP CloudSystem Service Provider.
More information is available at www.hp.com/go/CSE4CSP.
About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

HP Networking Achieves First Security Certificat​ion From Indian Government

HP India today announced that HP Networking has received the Evaluation Assurance Level 2 (EAL 2) Common Criteria (CC) certification for HP Routers. This is the first time the Department of Information Technology, Government of India has issued this certification and provides the appropriate level of security assurance.

Each day, organisations are faced with numerous security threats, from both internal and external environments. To protect themselves and stay ahead of these threats, organisations need to put in place the latest and most sophisticated security solutions to protect data in critical infrastructure.

“As organisations and government departments increasingly opt to computerize and automate their operations, there is a dependency on IT to foster collaboration and deliver efficiency. Data protection and integrity is of paramount importance in this environment’, said Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director, HP India. “The EAL 2 certification is added recognition of the security, robustness and reliability of HP’s offerings and a reflection of HP’s ability to evolve our offerings to meet next generation threats.”  

The CC security framework is an international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for ensuring that IT/networking products conform to stringent security requirements. It is considered a prerequisite in many government procurement requirements in India and abroad. HP Networking received the certification under the Indian common criteria certification scheme, which is the national scheme and covers the HP MSR-SR series of routers. This is the first certificate that has been issued by Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC- http://www.stqc.nic.in/), which is a part of Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

“Over the past decade, there has been large proliferation of IT in every sector of society, including business and Government. With information explosion, the industry is facing a challenging task to manage, store and prevent vulnerable information from cyber attacks from across the organization”, said Hon. Shri. Kapil Sibal, Union Cabinet Minister, Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. “HP is the first company in India to have leveraged the CC certification process, having met the rigorous security standards established by the CC framework, to ensure IT security.  We encourage other companies to use this framework, which has been brought by DIT, Govt. of India, to get their products certified and build more secured and robust IT systems in our country.”

HP Networking, a component of the HP Converged Infrastructure, provides enterprises with a complete networking portfolio that includes consulting and management services, operations software and hardware. The portfolio spans from data centre networking, enterprise routing, security, LAN switching, branch office and mobility. Through its TippingPoint acquisition, HP Networking provides a complete set of security solutions that address today's sophisticated security threats.

HP Converged Infrastructure is key to an Instant-On Enterprise. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.


HP DISCOVERHP’s premier client event, HP DISCOVER, takes place on June 6 – 10, 2011 in Las Vegas and November 29 – December 1 in Vienna.  The event showcases how organizations can get started on their Instant-On Enterprise journeys. 
ABOUT  HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com..
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the achievement of expected operational and financial results; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2011 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2010. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Symphony Services Named Number One R&D Services Provider in the Software and ISV Vertical by Zinnov

Symphony Services today announced it has been named the top Research and Development (R&D) Service Provider, in the software and ISV vertical, in the Global R&D Service Providers Rating 2011 by Zinnov Management Consulting, the premiere globalization advisory and management consulting firm. Symphony secured the top ranking after a comprehensive analysis by Zinnov of the company’s human capital, global engineering services capabilities, lengthy history of successful client engagements and strong financials. Of the more than 75 service providers analyzed, Zinnov concluded that Symphony is the clear leader in directly advancing clients’ market position. This is the second time that Symphony has secured the top ranking, having last done so in 2009.



In addition to securing the overall R&D service provider leadership position in the software and ISV segment, Zinnov ranked Symphony as a leader in the storage engineering vertical based on its long and successful track record in engineering cutting edge storage technologies. Said Pari Natarajan, Chief Executive Officer, Zinnov Management Consulting, “Our comprehensive analysis proves that Symphony stands out for delivering contemporary engineering services that strengthen clients’ competitive position, which in turn helps them lead their respective markets. Moreover, Symphony’s established global customer base and clear vision for the future of R&D make it the clear leader in the Software and ISV vertical. We congratulate them on this stellar performance and their ranking in our ‘Global R&D Service Providers Rating’ this year.”

With a laser focus on delivering against agreed upon outcomes, Symphony excels in shortening time to market for new products, ensuring higher quality and delivering greater innovation to compete in a global marketplace. Zinnov’s evaluation of Symphony is the latest in a series of accolades the company has secured as a result of launching innovative, market-defining services spanning Enterprise Mobility, Cloud Enablement / SaaS, Product Quality Management (PQM) and more. Zinnov also recognized Symphony’s proven success in selling to multiple, high-growth vertical industries, including banking and financial services, business services, healthcare, insurance, retail and storage.

Symphony Services’ Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Dhawan, said: “Securing Zinnov’s top rating again validates the unique model that has served us so well: to deliver aggressively against agreed-upon outcomes while bringing to market highly differentiated engineering services offerings that software companies need now.” He added, “We are extremely proud of this latest recognition because it validates the recipe for success that we’ve long championed in the industry.”


About Symphony Services



Symphony Services is a leader in software product engineering services. The company’s innovative Engineering Outcome Certainty™ engagement model offers a strict, metrics-driven approach, ensuring complete alignment with clients’ business objectives. This methodology is proven to help clients achieve a range of goals, from improving product line revenue to raising client satisfaction, increasing product innovations and reducing time-to-market.


The company’s employees globally support over 1,200 product releases annually, helping clients drive unparalleled innovation while bringing predictability to costs, schedules and quality of the outsourced engineering process. Symphony Services’ capabilities across the full Product Development Lifecycle maximize the ROI for client engineering organizations while delivering market-leading products in Telecom, Healthcare, Energy, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Financial Services and Internet Commerce.


Symphony Services is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., with facilities in North America, India, Europe and China. For more information, please visit http://www.symphonysv.com/



About Zinnov Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

Founded in 2002, Zinnov – meaning Zeal in Innovation – is a leading management consulting company providing services in the area of Offshore Advisory, Market Expansion and Human Capital Optimization to Fortune 1000 companies. Zinnov works collectively with clients to tackle prevailing organizational challenges by analyzing the changing dynamics, improving performance, and building institutional capability. The services delivered to its clients through advanced reasoning and analytical techniques, provides solutions that help in integrating organizational vision, business definition and processes

Cybercriminals increasingly targeting consumers

Microsoft Corporation today released its Security Intelligence Report volume ten, where the findings indicate that the cybercriminals are increasingly targeting consumers. There is polarization in terms of cybercriminal behavior and a significant increase in the use of “marketing-like” approaches and deception tactics to steal money from consumers. SIRv10 (http://www.microsoft.com/sir), which is focused on the period of July to December 2010, gathers analysis of data from more than 600 million systems worldwide.


The findings also indicate a divergence in cybercriminal behavior. On one side, highly sophisticated criminals skilled at creating exploits and informed with intelligence about a target’s environment, pursue high-value targets with large payoffs. On the other side, there are cybercriminals using more accessible attack methods, including social engineering tactics and leveraging exploits created by the more skilled criminals, to take a small amount of money from a large number of people. These attack methods include the use of rogue security software, phishing through social networks, and adware, which have increased in prevalence in 2010.

Attackers continue to incorporate social lures that appear to be legitimate marketing campaigns and product promotions. Six of the top ten most prevalent malware families in the second half of 2010 fall into these categories of attack methods. Criminals using these malware families make money through tricking users with pay-per-click schemes, false advertisements, or fake security software for sale. Additionally, the report highlights an increase of over 1200 percent in phishing through social networking sites, as these venues have become lucrative hot beds for criminal activity.

“Social networking is on a high and cybercriminals and these sites have creates new opportunities for cybercriminals to not only directly impact users, but also friends, colleagues and family through impersonation. These techniques add to an existing list of social engineering techniques, such as financial and product promotions, to extort money or trick users into downloading malicious content. In India alone, there are over 50 million users of social networking sites viz. facebook, orkut, LinkedIn, Twitter. Hence the opportunities for cybercriminals to create havoc too has increased manifold. Microsoft is committed to address issues related to online crime and this report is a guide for all consumers to make them aware of the threats that exist online”. Said Sanjay Bahl, Chief Security Officer, Microsoft India.

“With more consumers and devices coming online every day, cybercriminals now have more opportunities than before to deceive users through attack methods like adware, phishing and rogue security software. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to decipher legitimate communications and promotions given the sophistication of tools criminals are using, so it’s more important than ever to provide information and guidance about these online threats to increase protections and awareness.” Said Graham Titterington, Principal Analyst, Ovum.



Some notable findings [Global & Indian]


According to the report:

· Phishing through social networks increased from a low of 8.3 percent of all phishing in January to a high of 84.5 percent in December 2010

· The detection of a new pair of adware families, JS/Pornpop and Win32/ClickPotato, between July and September 2010 contributed significantly to this increase

o ClickPotato is a program that displays pop-up and notification-style advertisements, based on the users’ browsing habits



o Pornpop is an adware family that attempts to display pop-under advertisements in users’ web browsers that usually contain adult content.

The report also highlights some key findings vis-à-vis the Indian landscape:

· The most common category in India was Worms, which affected 42.5 percent of all infected computers, down from 45.4 percent in the last quarter

· The second most common category in India was Misc. Trojans, which affected 33.9 percent of all infected computers, down from 34.5 percent from the last quarter



· The third most common category in India was Misc. Potentially Unwanted Software, which affected 33.7 percent of all infected computers, up from 31.9 percent in the last quarter

Additionally, rogue security software, or scareware, has quickly become one of the most common ways for cybercriminals across the globe to acquire money and private information from unassuming computer users. Rogue security software families, including the most prevalent, Win32/FakeSpypro, appear similar to legitimate security software providing a false sense of protection, and if trusted and clicked by the user, downloads itself and compromises systems. In 2010, Microsoft protected nearly 19 million systems from rogue security software. The top five rogue security software families were responsible for 70 percent or approximately 13 million of those detections.

Microsoft encourages employing the following best practices for securing networks, software and devices:-

· Use genuine software as several research including the most recently concluded KPMG study “The unaccounted consequences of non-genuine software usage” has found that the correlation coefficient between software piracy rates and malware attacks is a strong 0.74. The security implications of deploying non-genuine software are multi-dimensional, including threats that directly affect the end-user and organization’s security making them more susceptible to security attacks, loss of vital information to hostile third parties as well as indirect threats leading to increased cost of protection and remediation.

-Protect Your PC: Online safety guidance to protect information when surfing online and accessing the many cloud services available.


· Protect Your Organization: Leverage best practices for securing networks, software and customers by implementing information security policies, promoting awareness, defending against malware and securing network infrastructure.


· Install Internet Explorer 9, (IE9) offers the most up-to-date protections to help keep information safe. Internet Explorer 9 has passed the review of TÜV Trust IT GmbH. TüV is Germany’s most recognized trustworthy organization regarding certifications. IE 9 meets all specifications to provide highest security standards both for private users and enterprises. IE 9 has been specially praised for its Tracking Protection feature.

· Keep all software. Microsoft or third party software on your systems updated



· Run anti-virus software from a trusted vendor or you can use Microsoft Security Essentials which is available free of cost. Download the Microsoft Security Update Guide www.microsoft.com/securityupdateguide

· Be cautious with software that is not digitally signed by its vendor



· Visit http://www.cert-in.org.in/securepc/index.html and www.microsoft.com/protect


· Develop and deploy software with Security Development Lifecycle

About Microsoft: Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

New Release of SAP® Business ByDesign™ Solution

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced a major update in its portfolio of on-demand solutions: Feature pack 2.6 for the SAP® Business ByDesign™ solution has been generally available since February 1, 2011, offering a slate of new capabilities. The new release serves as an open platform on which a broad ecosystem of partners can further customize the software, and on which SAP will develop new on-demand offerings for various lines of business. Further features include enhancements to usability, support for additional mobile devices and on-demand integration of subsidiary operations into on-premise installations at headquarters. In addition, SAP Business ByDesign is now also being made available in Austria, Canada and Switzerland.




With the new release, SAP takes another significant step in executing its cloud computing strategy and further delivers on its product strategy to extend the availability of business software across on-premise installations, on-demand offerings and a wide variety of popular mobile devices.

Since the launch of feature pack 2.5 in July 2010, SAP Business ByDesign has gained considerable market traction, with approximately 250 customers currently signed up. SAP is now working with approximately 50 solution resellers and around 40 solution partners to serve a customer base that is expected to grow by several hundred around the May 2011 timeframe. The new feature pack ushers in a release twice a year to accelerate product innovation and improve the customer experience.

Ecosystem Extension Improves Customer Value

With feature pack 2.6 for SAP Business ByDesign, SAP partners and customers can extend the solution to individual requirements. Approximately 80 percent of all project-specific adaptations — such as adjusting the user interface, creating new reports, building forms and adjusting business processes — can be completed by customer key users without programming. For the remaining 20 percent, SAP has also introduced the first version of the software development kit (SDK) SAP Business ByDesign studio, which will enable partners to create complete add-on solutions.

This Microsoft Visual Studio-based development environment is fully integrated into the lifecycle management system from SAP and is currently being tested with selected partners. Partners are starting with project-based add-ons, with planned ability over time to add horizontal functionality and build deeply vertical industry solutions.

“We are extremely excited to be one of the first partners to use the SDK, and we believe it will allow us to add more value to SAP Business ByDesign as well as enable us to meet the specific needs of our customers,” said Caldwell Velnambi, president, ERP Logic, Inc. “We expect our first partner add-on solution to be available in the marketplace very soon.”

Line of Business Platform and Usability Enhancements

The latest version of SAP Business ByDesign delivers new enhancements, including:

· Integration for subsidiaries. Large enterprises running SAP® Business Suite software in their headquarters have shown strong interest in equipping their subsidiaries with SAP Business ByDesign to provide integration between headquarters and subsidiary partners. With feature pack 2.6, SAP offers the first integration scenario for financial consolidation to help companies deal with the growing level of global financial reporting standards such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), multiple currencies particularly at the subsidiary and transaction currency level, as well as tax jurisdictions. Further integration scenarios for sales and distribution are planned for the next version.

· Platform for line-of-business offerings. In addition to enabling partners to create industry-specific solutions, SAP Business ByDesign also will serve as the platform for line-of-business offerings for large enterprises from SAP, including the SAP® Sales OnDemand solution, planned for launch in the first half of 2011.



· Extended mobile support. In addition to supporting the iPhone, feature pack 2.6 for SAP Business ByDesign extends mobile support to the iPad and RIM BlackBerry smartphones. The next version is planned to include further support for the Android and Windows Phone 7 operating systems. In addition, partners have the ability to build native mobile applications that run Web services from SAP Business ByDesign, as well as build mobile applications using SAP Business ByDesign studio.

· In-memory expansion. The analytics functionality within SAP Business ByDesign runs on SAP in-memory computing. Feature pack 2.6 adds sales and financial planning scenarios powered by in-memory technology. These allow customers to develop their business strategies more quickly and precisely based on the ability to process huge data volumes in real time.



Analytical and Business Data on the Move.



With the dashboard app for feature pack 2.6, customers can access and consume complete analytical business information, enabling them to react to changes and make informed decisions. The app provides worksheets to arrange and organize reports, as well as annotations, notes, e-mail and voice notes for collaboration with colleagues. A compare function allows access to previous versions of customer data, including the ability to highlight significant changes in data based on a predefined threshold that can easily be changed by a fingertip. The dashboard app will be free to download from the Apple iTunes store and available in demo mode for non-SAP Business ByDesign customers.



“With feature pack 2.6, we are not only delivering additional value to our customers, but are also providing new opportunities for co-innovation to our partners,” says Peter Lorenz, executive vice president, On Demand, and corporate officer, SAP AG. “As we have now moved to a cycle of delivering a new feature pack every six months, the next big step in our SAP Business ByDesign roadmap will be the general availability of feature pack 3.0 in August.”

Symphony Services Announces Alliance with Health Resource Pioneer Inherited Health to Engineer its Health History Assessment and Screening Service

Symphony Service Corp., the leader in global product engineering services, today announced its key role in engineering consumer health resource provider Inherited Health’s powerful, user-friendly hereditary risk assessment tool that enables consumers to identify inheritable health and disease risks by working collaboratively with other family members to build a family tree of their health.




Inherited Health initially tapped new product development services provider CoreObjects in 2010 to engineer its flagship health history software solution. In September 2010, Symphony Services announced its acquisition of CoreObjects at about the same time the engineering team was building Inherited Health’s flagship solution that enables customers to determine their specific health risks associated with family history, and the actions they could take to stay healthy.

“From the very beginning of our relationship with CoreObjects—and now with Symphony Services—we’ve emphasized the delivery of agreed-upon engineering outcomes and the mitigation of risk as the most important factors dictating the success of our engineering function,” said Lee Essner, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Inherited Health. “In Symphony we have found a provider that not only knows our market extremely well but can deliver the cutting edge and differentiated technology we need on-time and on-spec. This has proven crucial to our ability to successfully execute our business model.”

Through a series of basic questions, Inherited Health’s family health history tool gathers users' medical and familial history, then analyzes that information to identify the family's disease risks and provide tailored guidelines about these risks. Users can easily invite family members to collaborate and supplement missing information, or print it for medical consultations to avoid repeatedly filling out family history forms. It also serves as an archive of the family health history for future generations.

“Welcoming Inherited Health to our client roster not only deepens our already impressive penetration in the healthcare market but validates our decision to acquire CoreObjects because of the innovative and highly differentiated engineering services work its team was doing with exciting, market-leading companies,” said Wayne Irwin, Executive Vice President and GM, Embedded & Telecom, Symphony Services. “We look forward to a long and mutually successful relationship with Inherited Health as we continue to engineer new solutions that will help them grow their business and dominate their market.”

ZYNGA BREAKS GROUND WITH THE LAUNCH OF 'CITYVILLE'

Zynga today announced the global launch of CityVille, a new social game allowing anyone anywhere to build their dream city from the ground up. Available in beta in the coming weeks, CityVille is debuting in five languages – marking the first international game launch for Zynga. CityVille is Zynga's most social game to date with new features that allow players to build a city, interact with friends' cities, and build franchises with the help of their friends. The game follows on the heels of the widely-successful launch of FrontierVille, which currently has 28 million monthly users. CityVille will be available in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish on Facebook at CityVille.com.



While Rome may not have been built in a day, the growth of a CityVille town is in the hands of the player. CityVille represents the most sprawling game board for Zynga allowing players to grow a thriving city, balance the needs of citizens, run restaurants and businesses and harvest crops. CityVille also features Zynga's first 3D-rendered buildings and characters and represents the most interactive Zynga game board to date.


“CityVille is where Monopoly meets Main Street," said Sean Kelly, GM of CityVille. "We are thrilled to bring the world our most social game to date – building on the best-of-breed gameplay that Zynga fine-tuned with FarmVille and FrontierVille. Instead of harvesting crops you're harvesting your neighborhood, instead of clearing your friend's frontier you're working on a friend's franchise. We hope players from around the world have as much fun playing CityVille as we had building it."


As the city leader, players must guide their city to become a thriving metropolis, clearing the land and getting play-by-play tips from their own city advisor. CityVille game features include:


City Building Build your town from the ground up! Once the land is cleared, make way for deliveries by assembling a road. Keep your residents out and about by building restaurants, stores and city services such as post offices, schools and fire departments. Build homes for your townies, and earn more money for your city by decorating them to increase the rent.


Run Your City A happy city, is a lucrative city. Plan the layout to make residents happy, and earn money as they eat and shop. Keep them well fed at restaurants, and run sales at businesses to attract a crowd.

The People Your characters won’t all look the same – dozens of characters and city officials will be available on launch day, including the ones who keep the city running – business owners, doctors, firemen and police officers. More people will become available as your city expands.

Goods & Trading Goods and trading are the lifeblood of your thriving city. Plant and harvest crops to keep restaurants stocked, and population stuffed. Send ships to import goods from places such as Shanghai, London and Rome to give your townies a taste of a different culture, and buy more storage, piers and farm plots to grow the city rapidly Trading between players is encouraged – buy or sell goods to others to avoid stomach rumblings.


Neighbor Cities Love thy neighbor. Visit your neighbors’ cities to help them secure more energy, decorations and collectible items. Be a good buddy by helping friends accelerate crop growth, expedite shipping times and construct buildings faster. Send them gifts to finish city service buildings and clear ground for them to build on. You can even own something in a friend’s city. As you go you earn experience and buy things for your own collections and to share with more friends.

Commerce & Put that economics class to good use and grow your city. Trade with neighbors by

Franchises buying or selling goods sent by rail. Offer goods to friends or buy their extra supplies when they come by to offer them. Deliver supplies via trains running at the edge of your town between all the neighbor cities. Friends can also run businesses in your city. Build an empire of business locations but don’t forget to supply them with goods. The more locations you get, the bigger you can grow your business headquarters in your own city.

Guided Play As the city leader you must guide your city to become a thriving metropolis. The city advisor will always show you fun things to try next to make a great metropolis. Once tasks are complete, you can unlock rare buildings and decorations.

CityVille will be available at CityVille.com in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

Young minds unleash their potential at IRIS 2010

The Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science 2010 (IRIS 2010), one of India’s pinnacle science innovation platforms for students was inaugurated today at the Nehru Science Centre in Worli, Mumbai. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Kamal Kant Dwivedi, Adviser and Head, National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science & Technology and Mr. Rahul Bedi, Director Corporate Affairs, Intel.


87 finalists selected from over 1300 projects across the country will vie for the National honors at IRIS 2010 where the students will showcase their innovations in the field of physical & life sciences, mathematics, engineering and social sciences. The projects range from “Eco friendly paper from Banana Stem” to “Wireless Transmission of Electricity”. A whopping 23 innovative projects by 33 students from Karnataka alone have been shortlisted for IRIS 2010.

The four-day event that concludes on November 21, 2010 is aimed at promoting and nurturing science and scientific research amongst young Indian innovators by recognizing and rewarding outstanding projects. The winners at IRIS 2010 will represent India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) which is the world's largest pre-college science fair, held annually in the USA. Intel ISEF brings together more than 1500 students from over 50 nations to compete for over US$ 4 million worth of prizes and scholarships.

“It is heartening to see the effort that has gone behind preparing each of these innovations. There is no doubt that science & technology can play a pivotal role to motivate students and empower them with opportunities to ensure sustained growth, both individually and consequently professionally and enhancement of their careers,” said Dr. Kamal Kant Dwivedi , Adviser and Head NCSTC, Department of Science & Technology.

Commenting on IRIS, Rahul Bedi, Director, Corporate Affairs, Intel South Asia, said, “It’s an inspiration to see these young minds apply their ample creativity and come up with such extraordinary innovative solutions. The aim of IRIS is to empower and mentor students, who truly are the future of India. IRIS through its unique proposition will continue to nurture innovation and provide stimulation and encouragement to young scientists in the making.”

IRIS as an initiative began in 2006 in collaboration with Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Intel and CII. This initiative is the merger of Intel’s “Science Talent Discovery Fair” and DST’s “Steer the Big Idea”. The primary objective of IRIS is to promote and nurture science and scientific research amongst the young Indian innovators in secondary and higher secondary schools. This is done by recognizing and rewarding outstanding research based projects. The programme offers a platform for the participating students to interact with some of the best scientific minds in the country, who are involved as judges, and to hone their scientific talent. It also provides a public platform to recognize students who excel in science and scientific concepts.

WebVisible Hires Symphony Services to Help Extend the International Features of its Campaign Reporting Platform

Symphony Service Corp., the leader in global product engineering services, announced it has signed WebVisible as a new client. WebVisible, an Irvine, Calif.-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company and a top name in local online advertising for small businesses, hired Symphony Services to support the company’s significant growth in global markets by extending the international capabilities of its Web-based campaign reporting platform: Merchant Center.



WebVisible turned to Symphony Services because of its established track record of building innovative software solutions with the highest possible quality; its commitment to Engineering Outcome Certainty™; and its deep experience in the SaaS space. The Merchant Center application has been extended to support Unicode and a localized user interface enabling resellers and advertisers to manage online campaigns in any language.


“We were very impressed with Symphony Services’ ability to execute against demanding timeframes, with the highest possible quality of outcomes,” said Chris Black, executive vice president of operations and technology, WebVisible. “The Symphony Services team embraced our goal of supporting global partners and customers in a way that is intuitive and empowering, from localized user interface to customizable management and reporting. Their team has played a central role in helping WebVisible to grow our international footprint.”

“The addition of WebVisible to our client roster signals to the market that our expertise in developing innovative SaaS-based solutions has been recognized by some of the hottest software companies in the industry,” said Alan Harlan, President, Software Solutions, Symphony Services. “We’re proud of the work we’ve done that has positioned WebVisible for future expansion both in the U.S. and abroad.”

SAP Launches SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions to Make Deployments Easier, Faster, More Affordable

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has launched SAP® Rapid Deployment solutions, new offerings that deliver fast implementation in a fixed scope model through a single, ready-to-use package of software, predefined services and pre-configured content at a predefined price. The solutions can be deployed as fast as within 12 weeks, and provide greater transparency into aspects such as costs and timelines.




The first SAP Rapid Deployment solutions are based on SAP® Business Suite applications for customer relationship management (CRM) and are now available to Indian enterprises. The SAP CRM rapid-deployment solutions comprise fixed-price, scalable, predefined software implemented within six to eight weeks for companies to address business priorities and gain time-to-value quickly while also paving a flexible path toward future growth.



SAP Rapid Deployment solutions for supplier relationship management (SRM) and business communications management (BCM) are planned for release. Further solutions spanning the SAP portfolio are planned for release at multiple stages over the next year across diverse industries and in areas such analytics, manufacturing, mobility, recruiting, sustainability and treasury.



“SAP Rapid Deployment solutions offer our customers a new model for their software, with an emphasis on time to value and reduced cost, while retaining the flexibility to scale up in the future,” said Alok Goyal, Chief Operating Officer, SAP India. “The solution-specific software, services and content out-of-the-box enables quick and easy implementation to holistically address our customers CRM needs, taking a step forward in attaining customer satisfaction and service vision.”



The solutions will be available “out of the box” by traditional on-premise and subscription licensing models, via partners or from SAP. To meet the increasing need to find the fastest time to value for customers, the SAP Consulting organization and a growing ecosystem of partners offer predefined, fixed-price services to implement the packages.