HP Expands Enterprise Security Solutions

HP Expands Enterprise Security Solutions

 CRN Network, September 28, 2011, 1100 hrs

HP has expanded its enterprise security solutions portfolio by introducing HP ArcSight Express 3.0, HP Reputation Security Monitor, HP Fortify Software Security Center suite, and HP TippingPoint Web Application Digital Vaccine 2.0 service.

HP ArcSight Express 3.0 delivers correlation, log management, and user-activity monitoring. HP Reputation Security Monitor provides HP ArcSight clients with a real-time list of known bad IP and DNS addresses to combat attacks that exploit web application vulnerabilities. HP Fortify Software Security Center suite is an application security testing solution available on-premises or on-demand. HP TippingPoint Web Application Digital Vaccine (WebAppDV) 2.0 service offers real-time identification of vulnerabilities in Web applications, and delivery of virtual patches.

“Organizations are realizing the importance of a comprehensive risk management strategy to securing assets across their corporate infrastructures and protecting corporate reputation,” said Colin Png, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, HP Asia Pacific and Japan. “HP’s extended security portfolio provides the protection that enterprises require, while providing customers, employees, partners, and consumers with access to the right enterprise assets.”

HP released the HP Digital Vaccine Labs’ Cyber Security Risks Report, which offers clients a detailed look at vulnerability, threat and attack data for the first half of 2011. This semi-annual report helps enterprises to understand the threat landscape.

HP also introduced new enterprise services: HP Information Security Management (ISM) services that comprehensively manage security policies and processes. HP Enterprise Cloud Service (ECS) - end point threat management protects desktop and notebook PCs and servers against viruses, malware, spyware and intrusions by blocking unauthorized communication and preventing installation of unwanted programs. HP Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) services collect and log security-relevant events to provide a unified view of the security activity across an enterprise as well as generating predefined reports to demonstrate compliance with policies and regulations. HP Application Security testing-as-a-service identifies and closes security vulnerabilities in the application layer with code scanning and Web penetration services.

Acer Launches Ultrabook, Targets 15 Percent Notebook Share

Acer Launches Ultrabook, Targets 15 Percent Notebook Share

 Amit Singh, CRN, October 5, 2011, 1230 hrs

Acer India is targeting 15 percent of the India notebook market by the end of 2012. The company recently launched its Aspire S3 Ultrabook, powered by second generation Intel Core i processor family.

“With quarter on quarter growth of 25 percent in notebook sales facilitated by increased government and corporate buying apart from consumer sales, we are targeting 15 percent share in the notebook market in India in 2012. We expect to sell about 3000 units per month of Ultrabook in the last quarter of 2011. We have a budget to spend $75,000 to $100,000 to promote Ultrabook for 2011-12 in India,” informed S Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India.

“With the launch of the Aspire S3 Ultrabook, we have charted a new line of course to the mobile computing world by combining the essential features of both a notebook and a tablet. The target customers of Ultrabook are mobile corporate users and tech savvy consumers,” he said.

The Aspire S3 Ultrabook measures 1.3 cm thin and weighs less than 1.4 kg and is available in two versions with Core i3 and i5 processors priced at Rs 47,500 and Rs 51,000, respectively. Ultrabook features Acer Green Instant On, which delivers responsiveness, energy efficiency, and power management; and Acer Instant Connect that provides access to the Internet in 2.5 seconds.

“Ultrabook will be distributed by Ingram Micro, Redington, and Supertron, and will also be primarily available through 708 Acer Malls, Acer Points, and Acer Galleries. We target to increase our 708 sales points to 1000 by December 2011 by expanding into tier 2 and tier 3 towns. Ultrabook will also be available through LFRs including Croma, Reliance Digital, HyperCity, and Jumbo,” said Rajendran.

Dell Plans Partner-Led Services Model

Dell Plans Partner-Led Services Model

 By Ramdas S, CRN, October 14, 2011

Dell is eying systems integrators with specific skill-sets to grow its branded services business. The company also plans to integrate its latest acquisitions to build a larger services portfolio, and intends to do so through a partner-centric model.

“In the past three years since we introduced the channel model at Dell, we have made significant progress in the consumer, SMB and commercial segments. We are further augmenting our GTM to provide our vast and growing channel ecosystem an opportunity to have a bigger play by enabling them to sell and co-deliver Dell branded services,” said Tim Griffin, VP, Dell Solutions & Services, Asia Pacific & Japan.

According to Griffin, Dell has already expanded the channel play in the selling and provisioning of its various post-sales services under the Dell Gainz and Global Commercial Channel programs; these include extended warranty, advanced warranty and other value-added support offerings.

“We today provide onsite support in 650 cities, and it’s delivered completely through partners. Our plan now is to get partners with niche expertise to co-deliver advanced Dell services to customers. We are in the process of floating a separate program for Dell services which will be part of the Global Commercial Channel Program,” Griffin said.

Services that would be co-delivered range from consulting and integration to testing, business process automation, infrastructure management, configuration and deployment.

Two services that Dell will soon start offering through partners are systems management and cloud integration services. Dell has inherited these capabilities through its acquisition of Kace Networks and Boomi respectively.

In addition, Dell has decided to take its Global Commercial Channel Program beyond class-A cities. “The expanded program will now be made available in 105 cities. We have doubled our channel management team for the same,” said Suresh Reddy, General Manager, Global Commercial Channels, Dell India.

HCL Launches ME Tablet For Rs 10,490

HCL Launches ME Tablet For Rs 10,490

 CRN Network, October 17, 2011, 1000 hrs

HCL Infosystems has launched an Android-based tablet, X1, priced at Rs 10,490, and access to the ME App store with over 10,000 applications.

Powered by Android OS 2.3, X1 offers an 800x480 pixel capacitive screen, Cortex A8, 1Ghz processor with low power CPU. The tablet comes with a 2 MP camera and 512 MB storage capacity with an internal memory of 4GB expandable to 32GB. It also offers a seven inch screen with full high definition 1080 pixel video support and an option of data connectivity through USB dongles.

X1 provides PC connectivity with ME Connect, which facilitates transfer of content to the tablet from any another computing device. It also offers applications including Cleartrip.com, Hungama, Wink ebookstore, Naukri.com, LinkedIn, 99 Acres, Book My Show, and applications to access office suite, Fring video chat, Moneycontrol.com; ESPNCricinfo.com, and Zomato local restaurant search.

Harsh Chitale, CEO, HCL Infosystems, said, “Today’s consumer does not just look for a product but a complete productivity and service ecosystem around it, which led us to innovations like local applications backed by our nationwide support service network and 24/7 HCL Touch customer service.”

Intel Execs Bullish On McAfee Technology, Channel Expertise

Intel Execs Bullish On McAfee Technology, Channel Expertise

 By Kevin McLaughlin, CRN, October 18, 2011, 1100 hrs

Intel’s decision to pony up $7.68 billion to acquire McAfee last year was seen as a shrewd yet daring attempt to reinvent the traditional IT security model through a combination of hardware and software. So far, Intel appears impressed with what McAfee is bringing to the table.

On Monday at the opening of McAfee's annual Partner Summit in Las Vegas, Renee James, Chairman and Senior Vice President, Software and Services Group, Intel assured partners that Intel has no intention of tinkering with a company that's currently hitting on all cylinders.

"We will continue to grow McAfee as standalone security company, and we will keep the management team intact," James told a crowd of roughly 650 McAfee partners. "You should not be convinced that anything is going to change, unless it's for the better."

McAfee plans to unveil its first two DeepSafe products on Tuesday at its Focus conference. DeepSafe, a combination of hardware and software that detects unknown rootkits and prevents them from wreaking havoc on machines, is the first fruit of the Intel-McAfee union and a technology that will be included in a wide range of future products, James said.

DeepSafe also represents Intel's desire to tackle security challenges in a "ubiquitous and systematic way," she added.

"Security needs to be reinvented. One reason we haven't been successful is that doing so requires a combination of hardware and software," she said. "We are very excited about the capabilities of DeepSafe. Even the first product is a pretty big advancement in terms of things we've been trying to solve ourselves for quite some time."

DeepSafe is a layer of technology that resides below the operating system, which enables it to provide a more effective form of protection, Todd Gebhart, Co-President, McAfee, told attendees.

"For the first time, security software has an opportunity to sit below the OS, which gives it a whole new type of visibility into threats," Gebhart said. "This is a new generation of technology that's going to bring together hardware-assisted security and protect customers against Advanced Persistent Threats and other dangerous attacks."

James said Intel is impressed with the ideas coming from the McAfee side regarding the DeepSafe architecture. "We've exposed them to everything we have, and the McAfee team is coming back with really exciting ideas about breakthroughs they didn't have access to before they became part of Intel," she said.

But it wasn't just McAfee's technology that caught Intel's eye. Both companies are channel focused, but there is very little overlap between their channels, James said.

Intel, for its part, does about 35 percent of its business through the channel, which means it accounted for just over $15 billion of the company's $43 billion in fiscal 2010 revenue. Intel has more than 1,000 people supporting the channel and the company spends $50 million annually in training its partners, James said.

"Our growth has largely come from the channel. We find that the value added by our channel partners is real, and they are our face to the customers," James said.

Cloud security is complicated, tough to manage and requires an investment in infrastructure that McAfee might not have been able to make as an independent company, according to James. "Security companies are facing fundamental challenges when it comes to protecting mobile devices," James said. "Mobile security is not like PC security -- it requires a new approach."

Intel thought long and hard about the McAfee deal before pulling the trigger, but James said the evidence so far indicates that it was the right move.

"We feel very confident that based on technical analysis, McAfee is the best positioned company at a platform and a cloud level, especially with the investments they've made in mobile," she said.

IBM Raises 2011 Expectations On Software, Power Hardware

IBM Raises 2011 Expectations On Software, Power Hardware

 By Joseph F. Kovar, CRN, October 18, 2011, 1115 hrs

Solid growth in services and software business, combined with a fast-growing business outside of North America and Europe, led IBM to both report a strong third quarter and raise its full-year estimates.

Strong growth in IBM's branded middleware business, nearly $250 million in Unix server takeaway business from Hewlett-Packard and Oracle, and a fast-increasing cloud business, all contributed to the company's success in the third quarter and in expectations for the year as a whole.

For its third quarter, which ended September 30, IBM reported revenue of $26.2 billion, up eight percent from the $24.3 billion it reported for the third quarter of 2010.

Big Blue, which earlier this month saw its market capitalization exceed that of Microsoft for the first time in 15 years, also reported earnings of $3.8 billion, up seven percent from the $3.6 billion it reported last year. The company also said its earnings reached $3.19 per share, up 13.1 percent over the $2.82 per share it reported last year.

The Americas were still IBM's largest market, accounting for $10.9 billion of its total $26.2 billion in revenue for the third quarter. However, said Mark Loughridge, CFO and Senior Vice President, Finance and Enterprise Transformation, the four-percent growth in U.S. revenue was far outpaced by a 19-percent rise in revenue in growth markets. Growth markets accounted for about 23 percent of IBM's total revenue.

Those growth markets included banking in China, telecom in India, and manufacturing in Asia, Loughridge said. "These are big iron markets," he said.

One new highlight for IBM is the cloud. Loughridge said IBM's total cloud business for the first three quarters is already exceeding the cloud revenue for all of 2010, although he did not provide revenue figures.

Revenue for IBM Global Services rose eight percent over last year, including a nine percent revenue growth for Global Technology Services and a six percent growth for Global Business Services. Together, they accounted for about $15.1 billion of IBM's total revenue.

IBM's software revenue was up 13 percent over last year to reach $5.8 billion, led by a 17-percent increase in IBM's middleware, including its WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Lotus and Rational products. Leading the charge was WebSphere, which had a 52-percent revenue growth.

IBM's hardware business did fairly well, increasing four percent over last year to reach $4.5 billion. The star of IBM's hardware business was its Power series of Unix servers, which enjoyed a 15-percent growth over last year.

IBM has been able to capitalize on the long-running battle between Oracle and HP over Oracle's decision to stop supporting development of its software for the HP UX platform running on HP's Itanium-based servers.

Loughridge said IBM recorded over 250 competitive displacements worth a total of over $240 million in the Unix server market, which he said were due to wins split evenly between HP and Oracle.

As a result, IBM gained six points of market share for the Unix server market in the third quarter, and single-handedly accounted for overall growth of that market, Loughridge said.

"IBM once again in the third quarter drove all Unix market share growth," he said. "All of it."

Unlike several recent quarters of mainframe sales growth, IBM reported a five percent decrease in mainframe sales for the quarter which Loughridge blamed on the introduction of a new model. "This is really a fairly consistent mainframe cycle," he said.

IBM's storage business rose eight percent over last year, while its x86-based server business was essentially flat with a mere one-percent growth.

IBM also reported a two percent drop in its Global Financing Business.

The solid third-quarter results and expected growth in the fourth quarter led IBM to raise its expectations for full-year 2011 GAAP earnings per share to at least $12.95 compared to its previous estimate of at least $12.87. The company also raised its non-GAAP earnings per share estimate to at least $13.35. That is up about 10 cents from its estimate last quarter, and up 35 cents from its estimated early this year, Loughridge said.

Loughridge said fourth-quarter growth for most of IBM should be similar to third-quarter growth except for its hardware business, which saw especially strong growth last quarter, making it a hard quarter against which to compare.

ऍपलचे सह संस्थापक स्टीव्ह जॉब्स यांचे निधन

ऍपलचे सह संस्थापक स्टीव्ह जॉब्स यांचे निधन

सॅन फ्रान्सिस्को - ऍपल कंपनीचे सह-संस्थापक आणि माजी प्रमुख कार्यकारी अधिकारी (सीईओ) स्टीव्ह जॉब्स (वय ५६) यांचे आज (बुधवारी) निधन झाले. गेल्या अनेक दिवसांपासून जॉब्स हे कॅन्सरमुळे आजारी होते.

कॉंम्प्यूटर, मोबाईल आणि डिजिटल क्षेत्रात आघाडीवर असलेल्या ऍपलच्या यशात जॉब्स यांचा मोठा वाटा होता. ऍपलच्या वेबसाईटवर जॉब्स यांचे निधन झाल्याची माहिती प्रसिद्ध करण्यात आली आहे.

स्टीव्ह जॉब्स आणि त्यांचे शाळेतील मित्र स्टीफन वॉझनिक यांनी १९७६ मध्ये सुबुरबन कॅलिफोर्निया गॅरेज येथे ऍपल कंपनीची स्थापना केली होती. जॉब्स यांनी कायमच प्रगत होत असलेल्या जगाला नवनवीन उत्पादने दिली. जॉब्स यांना कॅन्सर असल्याचे निदान झाल्यानंतर त्यांच्यावर २००४ मध्ये शस्त्रक्रिया करण्यात आली होती. यानंतर २००९ मध्ये त्यांच्या किडनीचे प्रत्यारोपण करण्यात आले होते. प्रकृतीच्या कारणामुळे अखेर यावर्षी ऑगस्टमध्ये जॉब्स यांनी कंपनीचे प्रमुख कार्यकारी अधिकारीपद सोडण्याचा निर्णय घेतला. त्यामुळे त्यांच्या जागी टीमोथी कुक यांची निवड करण्यात आली होती. पद सोडले तरी जॉब्स हे कंपनीच्या व्यवहारात लक्ष घालत होते.