Latest News from Government Cloud Computing

FedRAMP PMO Releases First Set of 3PAOs

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:41:00 EDT

Late today the FedRAMP Program Management Office released the first list of certified Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs). These companies are accredited to perform initial and periodic assessment of cloud service provider (CSP) systems per FedRAMP requirements, provide evidence of compliance, and play an on-going role in ensuring CSPs meet requirements. FedRAMP provisional authorizations must include an assessment by an accredited 3PAO to ensure a consistent assessment process. he initial set of 3PAOs announced today are (see http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/131991):

Insight Recognized as an HP Cloud Center of Excellence

Thu, 17 May 2012 05:17:00 EDT

Insight Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSIT), atechnology provider of hardware, software and service solutions, today announced its U.S. operating division has unveiled its HP Cloud Center of Excellence in its Bloomingdale, Ill., facility. Insight is a Premier HP Partner, and its HP Cloud Center of Excellence provides clients convenient access and an interactive learning environment with live demonstrations and briefings for HP Cloud Solutions. The Insight HP Cloud Center of Excellence includes systems with complete and integrated solutions for building and managing services across private, public, and hybrid cloud environments. The center is fully equipped with HP software, servers, storage, and networking products allowing clients to see how HP cloud solutions seamlessly work together.

Cloud Expo New York: Industry-Leading CxOs to Present June 11-14

Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:00 EDT

What do the CTO of the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the CIO of the National Reconnaissance Office have in common with the CEOs of Eucalyptus, GoGrid, ActiveState, Appcara, OpSource and Nortonworks, the CTOs of Rackspace, SoftLayer and AppZero, the Founder & General Manager of Dell Boomi, the VP of Big Data & Streams at IBM and the Chief Strategy Officer at Pacific Controls? Answer: all are shortly to present breakout sessions as members of the distinguished Speaker Faculty of Cloud Expo New York, taking place June 11-14, 2012, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

DCIA & CCA Forge Strategic Alliance, Announce CCW: 2012

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:54:44 EDT

The Distributed Computing Industry Association (www.DCIA.info) and the Cloud Computing Association (www.cloudcomputingassn.org) today announced a strategic alliance to better serve expanding industry needs driven by the explosive growth of cloud computing in the software sector.

What Isn’t Cyber War, Healthcare Vulnerabilities, and More

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:42:00 EDT

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: U.S. Army Cyber Command operational attorney Robert Clark said that the legal frameworks are not keeping pace with cyber operations and said that claims of “cyber war” do not qualify as war defined by international laws of armed conflicts. More here. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program named 9 third-party assessment organizations to evaluate federal cloud computing vendor security controls for FedRAMP compliance. More here. The Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center warned healthcare organizations about the danger of insecure networked medical and mobile devices. More here. The Army is looking to fill an urgent need for tactical radios and may turn to General Services Administration contractors for help. More here.

Balboa Capital Leading the Way With Fast, Dependable Financing for Cloud Computing Services

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:21:13 EDT

Balboa Capital Corporation, a top equipment leasing company in the United States, is a leader in cloud computing services financing. The company, which has a long and successful track record in software equipment leasing, helps businesses acquire cloud solutions with affordable finance plans. Plus, Balboa Capital's rapid funding capabilities helps companies speed their time to market with a variety of cloud-based applications.

Pure Storage Unveils Next Generation FlashArray With High Availability, FlashCare(TM) Technology and Data Integrity Fabric

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:35:19 EDT

Pure Storage, the all-flash enterprise storage company, today announced that its next generation FlashArray 300 Series with the 2.0 release of the Purity Operating Environment is generally available. The FlashArray delivers higher resiliency via active/active high availability, FlashCare Technology and an enhanced Data Integrity Fabric. Additional advances include always-on encryption with zero key management, a new web user interface, command line interface, and VMware vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) support. Pure Storage makes it affordable for enterprises and cloud providers to broadly deploy all-flash storage for their performance workloads, including virtual servers, virtual desktops, and databases and analytics workloads. With over 100 units shipped and production deployments for over a year, the FlashArray's performance, reliability, deduplication and compression are enterprise proven.

ClickSquared Selects First Line Software as Services Partner

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:02:18 EDT

First Line Software, a premier provider of custom software development services, announced today that it has been chosen by ClickSquared, a global provider of cross-channel marketing software and services, as a strategic technology partner. By selecting First Line, ClickSquared gains access to both recognized application development capabilities and First Line’s position as a trusted, global reseller.

ClickSquared Selects First Line Software as Services Partner

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:32 EDT

Pano Logic Transforms PCs Into Zero Client Desktops

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:00:28 EDT

Pano Logic, the leader in zero client desktop virtualization (VDI), today announced the general availability of Pano System 6 software that provides a new way for organizations to abandon costly PC-based computing. Pano System 6 introduces the Pano Virtual Client (PVC), which transforms PCs or laptops into virtual desktop clients. The newest version of the Pano System also features enhanced security, incorporating RSA SecureID's two-factor authentication for Pano Remote users, further securing mobile employee access.

Federal Cybersecurity and IT News Round-Up

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:30:00 EDT

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The U.S. Office of Naval Research is partnering with Chilean scientists to develop a mobile application to provide information helpful in countering pirates, arms traffickers, and illegal fishermen. More here. The Army’s 780th Military Intelligence Brigade. which handles cyber systems security and intelligence, is looking to hire 400 civilian employees. More [...]

Gateway Health Plan Selects CallidusCloud's ActekSoft ACom3 Suite to Manage Its Broker Distribution Community

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:12 EDT

Callidus Software Inc. (NASDAQ: CALD), the leader in sales effectiveness and cloud computing, announced today that Gateway Health Plan, a leading Medicaid and Medicare managed care organization, has selected the CallidusCloud ActekSoft ACom3 Commission and Incentive Compensation System and ACom3 License and Compliance System. The agreement was signed in the first quarter of 2012.

Chief Executives and the Cloud - Leadership for the New Frontier

Wed, 16 May 2012 06:30:00 EDT

Cloud facilitates a new generation of technology and related impacts that have never been seen before. With utility computing and on demand capabilities, many organizations want to jump on the bandwagon as soon as possible. As the Chief Executive, there are some tough decisions to be made. There will be people in your organization who say that Cloud is the best thing that happened since the emergence of the internet. Others will paint a picture of gloom and doom by citing issues such as security, privacy, control over data etc. Cloud can enhance productivity by providing the infrastructure or application platforms and related tools to respond to customer needs quickly, giving organizations an edge over others that have not assessed such mechanisms, and the on-demand capabilities can lead to efficient utilization of resources. Cloud also facilitates mobility services since such services are available at a cheaper cost to the enterprise.

Infinitely Virtual Selected as Intuit Host Provider, Enabling QuickBooks Hosting in the Cloud for Virtualization Clients

Wed, 16 May 2012 06:05:23 EDT

QuickBooks, Intuit’s market-leading financial management software, is now available on a cloud-hosted basis to clients of Infinitely Virtual, the hosting company announced today. Infinitely Virtual, a leading provider of virtual server cloud computing services for businesses, has been approved as an Intuit Commercial Host, enabling it to provide QuickBooks capability to clients via its virtual server platform.

Mitchell CTO Erez Nir Named San Diego Magazine Top Tech Exec Awards Finalist

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:59:30 EDT

Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced its Chief Technology Officer, Erez Nir, has been nominated as a finalist for the San Diego Magazine's Top Tech Exec Awards, which recognize the most outstanding Information Technology executives in San Diego.

Agiliance RiskVision Provides Out-of-Box FedRAMP Cloud Security Controls

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:36:24 EDT

Agiliance®, Inc., the leading independent provider of Security and Operational Risk Management (SRM) solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) programs, today announced the release of the Agiliance Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Content Pack, which includes the baseline controls required for FedRAMP security assessments and authorizations of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).

irth Solutions® Goes Live With Innovative, New, On-Demand Protection Product--UtiliSphere™

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:28:24 EDT

irth Solutions^®, a leading provider of on-demand software solutions to the domestic utility industry, goes live with UtiliSphere™ today. UtiliSphere is a first-of-its-kind Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business intelligence solution that transforms raw data into actionable insight for utilities and energy companies to help protect their product delivery systems, ensure safety and enhance regulatory compliance.

Gemalto sichert eGovernment-Dienste für Oman

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:59:21 EDT

Cards & Digital ID World Middle East

Red Hat Celebrates 10 Years of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Reaffirms Strategic Direction

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:30:23 EDT

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today celebrates the 10^th anniversary of its flagship solution, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which has transformed the deployment of business-critical applications for IT organizations around the globe. With the introduction of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system in May 2002, Red Hat dramatically changed the software industry with the first-ever open source software subscription business, spurring the adoption of Linux across the enterprise.

Clearview Names Robert Felps Vice President and General Manager for Central Texas

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:20:39 EDT

Clearview International LLC has just appointed Robert Felps as corporate vice president responsible for the company’s Central Texas sales and operations. As such, Felps will be responsible for:

The Bunker strengthens executive team with CTO appointment

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:35:00 EDT

The Bunker, provider of Ultra Secure Managed Hosting, Cloud Computing, Colocation, and Outsourced IT services from within Europe's most secure data centres, is pleased to announce the appointment of Philip Bindley to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will be responsible for leading The Bunker's technical development as the company enters the next phase of its growth and evolution.

Previously the CTO of IT service provider Blue Chip, Bindley was part of the team that built a very successful managed services business. He was responsible for identifying new revenue streams and consolidating the company's systems and architecture enabling the business to grow and support more customers seamlessly.

With over eight years of senior level experience in security and technology, he is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and has worked with a broad range of technologies, industries and clients.

Speaking on his appointment Bindley said, "Information Technology and Information Security are the cornerstones of many enterprises, and indeed for certain ecommerce businesses they are their only route to market. I wholly believe that Information Technology and Information Security should be recognised as business enablers and not just an overly complicated and expensive overhead. With The Bunker's successful track record in building technical teams with vast quantities of technical knowledge and industry experience, I very much look forward to leveraging my IT experience and expertise to help take the company's technical development to the next level."

"We're delighted to welcome Bindley on board as we embark upon the next stage of our rapid growth and development," added Peregrine Newton, CEO of The Bunker. "With his ability to translate between the languages of business and technology he will be an asset to our Executive Leadership team."

Bindley's appointment comes following a period of significant revenue growth from new and existing clients. For further information, please visit www.thebunker.net

About The Bunker
The Bunker delivers Ultra Secure Managed Hosting, Cloud Computing, Colocation, and Outsourced IT services from within Europe's most secure data centres.

Our data centres, which are outside the M25 yet within easy reach of London, are military-grade nuclear bunkers purpose built to house the UK's air defence systems. We run 24/7/365 - our NOC monitors systems both nationally and internationally and is staffed around the clock by system and network engineers and security staff. The Bunker is ISO 27001 accredited and PCI DSS certified and follows ITILv3 best practice and PRINCE2 project management standards.

Our clients are health service, financial services organisations, technology companies, government and other regulated businesses that value a premium service built around security.

For more information visit www.thebunker.net

For all press enquiries, please contact:
Robert Hickling/Louise Stewart-Muir
Say Communications
+44 (0)20 8971 6400
bunker@saycomms.co.uk

KCG Granted 3PAO Status Under GSA FedRAMP Program

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:08:48 EDT

Knowledge Consulting Group (KCG), the leading provider of cybersecurity services to the federal government and commercial organizations, today announced that it has been accredited as a Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). As a FedRAMP accredited 3PAO, KCG is authorized to perform security assessments for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) seeking FedRAMP provisional authorization.

IT Monitor Shows Overall Technology Spending Continues Upward Trajectory, Led by Small Business and Public Sector

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:11:00 EDT

According to the latest CDW IT Monitor, optimism continues to build among IT decision-makers, as half anticipate overall budget increases in the next six months, while only 8 percent expect budget cuts. Led by a strong increase in anticipated spending among government IT decision-makers, the IT Growth Monitor composite score rose to 76, up one point from December 2011.*

Gazzang Names Michael J. Harper Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Alliances

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:02:59 EDT

Gazzang today announced the appointment of Michael J. Harper as vice president of worldwide sales and alliances responsible for managing the company’s direct revenue model as well as its strategic partner and channel ecosystem.

Telx Names Ken Kajikawa and Tim Byrnes as General Managers

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:07 EDT

Telx®, a leading provider of global interconnectivity, cloud computing enablement services and data center solutions, today announced two new additions to its marketing team, Ken Kajikawa has joined the company as General Manager for Content, Media and Entertainment (CME) and Tim Byrnes has joined as General Manager for Strategic Alliances and Partnerships.

Scribe Wins SIIA CODiE Award for Best Cloud Application/Service

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

Scribe, the leader in CRM data integration, today announced that Scribe Online won an SIIA CODiE Award for Best Cloud Application/Service, which recognizes the best solution for creating, delivering, and/or managing services in a cloud computing environment. Determined to be a three-way tie, Google Apps for Government and Keynote Cloud Application Perspective were also named winners in the category.

Plextek and RedCloud complete acquisition of Iceni Mobile

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:36:45 EDT

Plextek Limited, Europe’s leading independent business, product innovation and design consultancy and RedCloud Technology Limited, a leading investor in mobile financial services in emerging markets, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Intellectual Property Rights of Iceni Mobile Ltd including the mobile payments system (the I2S platform) developed by the same team that brought the world’s most successful mobile money service, M-PESA, to market.

Xeround Adds AppHarbor and PHP Fog Integration to Cloud Database

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:00:00 EDT

Xeround, the Cloud Database Company, on Tuesday announced the availability of their database-as-a-service for MySQL applications as an add-on for the AppHarbor .Net platform and for AppFog's PHP Fog PHP platform. Xeround's add-on provides .NET and PHP developers using these platforms with a zero-management, highly available and scalable cloud database solution in just one click. Xeround's add-on on AppHarbor and AppFog platforms provides simple one-click integration between the applications hosted on these platforms and Xeround's Database-as-a-Service. From the users' perspective, all they need to do is add the add-on to their application from within their environment. This automatically creates a MySQL-compatible cloud database that easily connects to their application.

ISO 27001 Certification Achieved by Skyscape Cloud Services

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:36:00 EDT

London - May 15th 2012 - Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave Assured Cloud Services Company, today announced that it has achieved certification to ISO27001:2005, the global Information Security Management System standard.

With information security and effective process management being at the heart of the Company, certification was completed in a little over four months, with the LRQA Assessment Team identifying no non-conformances or observations. Skyscape's management systems were thoroughly assessed and certified to ISO 27001 by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), the leading UKAS accredited business assurance company.

Skyscape's Information Security Management System provides an effective method of identifying, classifying and ensuring appropriate protection for all information under the Company's control.

Phil Dawson, CEO of Skyscape says: "This widely recognised and respected management system standard is very important to Skyscape as it clearly demonstrates that we are delivering the highest possible standards in our operational data security practices - activities which are at the core of our Company. This position provides a level of confidence for our clients and partners that Skyscape's services are delivered using a highly secure cloud computing environment".

Dawson continues: "Skyscape has benefitted from the significant experience of our Cloud Alliance Partners, including QinetiQ, VMware, Cisco, EMC and Ark Continuity, each of whom has contributed to the development of highly automated, efficient and most importantly secure systems which combine to deliver the Skyscape cloud computing environment".

Alasdair Rodgers, Managing Director of Security, QinetiQ, a Skyscape Alliance Partner said: "The security issues faced by government departments, police forces and law enforcement agencies are highly-challenging and constantly evolving. Hence QinetiQ's demonstrable security expertise, knowledge and capabilities continue to assist Skyscape with compliance and Information Assurance in the Public Sector."

Mark Dougan, UK Sales & Marketing Manager of LRQA said: "ISO 27001 is a significant achievement for an organisation, and Skyscape Cloud Services' certification demonstrates the importance that they have placed on protecting the security of their own corporate data, as well as the systems which protect the information entrusted to them by their public sector cloud clients."

Skyscape's systems and processes are already assessed by external organisations, including G-Cloud PGAs (Pan Government Accreditors) and client SIROs (Senior Information Risk Officers), and will now additionally be subject to frequent on-going ISO27001:2005 assessments by LRQA.

Ends

About Skyscape
Skyscape's cloud solutions (www.skyscapecloud.com) will help the UK Public Sector to transform the provision of IT services into a lean, elastic, assured, green utility by providing a genuine on-demand cloud computing service. With a range of UK sovereign services that are easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave, Skyscape's solutions reduce both the risk and cost of delivering IT. Skyscape is currently in the formal process of securing pan government IL3 accreditation for all of its services.

Notes to Editors:
1. Interviews or further press ready statements and material are available.
2. To speak directly to someone regarding this press release, please contact Corporate Communications: Jeremy Sanders +44 (0)1249 700006 or jsanders@skyscapecloud.com

Gemalto Secures eGovernment Services for Oman

Tue, 15 May 2012 01:00:16 EDT

Regulatory News:

Zuora Partners With FinancialForce.com, Intacct and Sage to Bring Finance Into the Subscription Economy

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:00:00 EDT

Research and Markets: Power Discretes Market to 2016 - Energy Efficiency Initiatives in the Power Sector to Increase Market Demand

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:50:15 EDT

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c6v59h/power_discretes_ma) has announced the addition of the "Power Discretes Market to 2016 - Energy Efficiency Initiatives in the Power Sector to Increase Market Demand" report to their offering.

Evolution1 Chosen by Plexis as Preferred Consumer Directed Health Partner

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:17:10 EDT

Evolution1™, the nation’s largest electronic payment, on-premise, and cloud computing healthcare solution that administers reimbursement accounts – including HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, VEBAs, PRAs, and Wellness and Transit Plans – has been chosen by Plexis Healthcare Systems, Inc. as its preferred consumer-directed health Partner.

MuleSoft Launches Mule iON SaaS Edition to Simplify Cloud Integration Across SaaS and Enterprise Applications

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:05:09 EDT

MuleSoft, provider of the world's most widely used integration platform, today launched Mule iON SaaS Edition, which includes a comprehensive set of new tools and services for instant Software as a Service (SaaS) integration in the cloud, lowering the barrier to SaaS adoption. The Mule iON integration platform as a service (iPaaS) connects across cloud-based applications and also connects SaaS to on-premise applications. MuleSoft's Anypoint technology for on-demand API connectivity eliminates the need for custom point-to-point code. With Mule iON SaaS Edition, SaaS vendors can focus on scaling their core business instead of spending time and money on custom integration, resulting in shorter sales cycles, faster implementations, lower support costs, higher customer satisfaction and renewals. Today, MuleSoft also unveiled a new QuickStart Plan for fast growth SaaS vendors and systems integrators (SIs) that enables them to build their own revenue-generating integration apps on the Mule iON cloud platform in just a few days.

Data Storage Corporation Expands Waltham Data Center With IBM iSeries Hardware Supporting Increased Demand for Cloud-Based High Availability Services and Disaster Recovery

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:32:00 EDT

Data Storage Corporation (OTCBB: DTST), a long-standing leader in cloud storage and cloud computing for over 10 years focusing on data protection and business continuity solutions, today announced the completion of phase 1 and 2 of its three-phased expansion plan for its Waltham data center facility.

Vaultive Introduces Enterprise-Class Cloud Data Encryption Solution for Hosted Exchange

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:30:25 EDT

Vaultive, a provider of cloud data encryption solutions that enable organizations to leverage the economy and efficiency of cloud computing while maintaining data security, control and compliance advantages of on-premise computing, today announced general availability of Vaultive for Hosted Exchange. Vaultive for Hosted Exchange is an enterprise-class cloud data encryption solution that enables customers to encrypt data-at-rest and data-in-use within the Hosted Microsoft® Exchange environment, while enterprise IT retains complete control of the encryption keys.

Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Ajay Budhraja – U.S. Dept. of Justice

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Jill T. Singer – NRO

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:15:00 EDT

With Cloud Expo 2012 New York (10th Cloud Expo) now only four weeks away, what better time to introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical and strategy sessions at the conference... We have technical and strategy sessions for you every day from June 11 through June 14 dealing with every nook and cranny of Cloud Computing and Big Data, but what of those who are presenting? Who are they, where do they work, what else have they written and/or said about the Cloud that is transforming the world of Enterprise IT, side by side with the exploding use of enterprise Big Data – processed in the Cloud – to drive value for businesses...?

INSIDE Secure Extends Leadership in Security Expertise

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:02:37 EDT

INSIDE Secure, (NYSE Euronext Paris FR0010291245 – INSD.PA), a leader in semiconductor solutions for secure transactions and digital identity, today announced the launch of a new set of security devices designed to address the emerging security threats in the fast growing universe of net-connected devices, objects and people (“The Internet of Things”). With 16, 32 or 64K bytes of file system memory, the new VaultIC devices have been designed to offer strong security and pin-to-pin compatibility with current VaultIC modules, while significantly reducing overall cost, package size and printed circuit board (PCB) space.

CallidusCloud Named as Finalist in 2012 American Business Awards(SM)

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:00:06 EDT

Callidus Software Inc. (NASDAQ: CALD), the leader in sales effectiveness and cloud computing, announced today that it has been selected as a finalist in the 2012 American Business Awards in the "Company of the Year - Computer Software." CallidusCloud's Sales Effectiveness Suite was named a finalist in the "Best New Product or Service - Software - Cloud Application/Service" and "Best New Product or Service - Software - Financial Management Solution" categories, and CallidusCloud's website was named a finalist in the "Best Website - Computer Software" category.

Cyber Physical Systems Virtual Organization Holds National Symposium

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:00:00 EDT

On 11 June 2012 the Cyber Physical Systems Virtual Organization will be holding a symposium on Moving Target Research. In this context, think of Moving Target as meaning the creation of a dynamic attack surface to adversaries done in a way that dramatically increases the work factor required to successfully attack a system. This cybersecurity research [...]

Amazon Web Services Launches Dynamic Content Support in Amazon CloudFront

Mon, 14 May 2012 03:36:00 EDT

Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), on Monday launched support for dynamic content in Amazon CloudFront. This new capability gives AWS customers a simple, cost-effective way to improve the performance, reliability and global reach of their website by using Amazon CloudFront to deliver all their content, including the dynamic portions of their site that change for each end-user. Amazon CloudFront works seamlessly with dynamic applications running in Amazon EC2, without any custom coding or proprietary configurations, making the service simple to deploy and manage. And, because Amazon CloudFront charges the same low rates for both static and dynamic content, customers can now accelerate all of the content on their website for a low price, without any up-front fees or long term commitments. For more information about delivering dynamic content with Amazon CloudFront, visit http://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront.

Freudenberg IT Showcases FITvFlex 360™ at SAPPHIRE® NOW and ASUG Annual Conference

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:46:11 EDT

Freudenberg IT (FIT), a global provider of IT services for implementing, optimizing, and operating IT systems and SAP^® solutions, along with 3V Solutions, an SAP partner and provider of IT outsourcing services, have partnered to deliver a new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering in support of SAP solutions. The offering, called FITvFlex 360™, includes financing, hosting services, and on-going support for SAP business applications, including SAP Business Suite.

Research and Markets: Global IT Market 2011-2015 - The Global Information Technology Market to Grow At A CAGR Of 5.88 Percent over the Period 2011-2015

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:42:15 EDT

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c64ns9/global_it_market_2) has announced the addition of the "Global IT Market 2011-2015" report to their offering.

Study: Cloud Computing Cuts $5.5 Billion Annually from Federal Budget

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:30:00 EDT

The federal government saved nearly $5.5 billion a year by moving to cloud services. But it might have saved up to $12 billion if cloud strategies were more aggressive, a survey of federal IT managers found. The study, drawn from interviews with 108 federal CIOs and IT managers, was published by MeriTalk Cloud Computing Exchange, a community of federal government leaders focused on public-private collaboration in Washington, D.C. The IT managers surveyed also reported spending 11 percent of their current, fiscal year 2013 budgets, or $8.7 billion, on cloud computing. The chief impediment to implementing cloud services was security, listed by 85 percent of federal IT managers. Also of concern were agency culture, named by 38 percent of managers, and service levels, listed by 32 percent of managers.

Gazzang Launches Key Backup and Recovery Service for Ubuntu

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:36 EDT

Gazzang today announced the release of zEscrow™, a free service that enables Ubuntu desktop users to back up and recover randomly generated keys that protect Ubuntu encrypted home directories. Available immediately in the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS archive and demonstrated at this week’s Ubuntu Developer Summit, zEscrow is the latest addition to the Gazzang family of data encryption and key management solutions. The software-as-a-service solution (SaaS) works on earlier versions of Ubuntu as well.

Flexera Software Wins CODiE Award for Best Asset Management Solution -- 3rd CODiE Award for Company

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:00:26 EDT

Flexera Software, the leading provider of Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and enterprises, announced today that its market-leading enterprise license optimization solution, FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, won the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Award for best asset management solution. This is the third CODiE award win for Flexera Software.

Flexera Software Wins CODiE Award for Best Asset Management Solution - 3rd CODiE Award for Company

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprise is recognised for software licence optimisation capabilities

Maidenhead, UK - May 11, 2012 - Flexera Software, the leading provider of Application Usage Management solutions for application producers and enterprises, announced today that its market-leading enterprise licence optimisation solution, FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, won the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Award for best asset management solution. This is the third CODiE award win for Flexera Software.

SIIA, the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, announced 28 CODiE Award winners in different categories on May 10 at a ceremony in San Francisco. A CODiE Award win is an especially prestigious honour, as each award winner was first reviewed by a field of software industry executives, whose evaluations determined 119 finalists. SIIA members then reviewed these finalists and voted to select 28 CODiE Award winners in different categories, including FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprise's win as the best asset management solution.

FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises has emerged as the leading solution allowing large, global enterprises as well as midsize organisations to move up the maturity model, going beyond software asset management (SAM) to achieve continual enterprise licence optimisation. The solution automates entitlement based licence management and reconciles software purchase order and contract information with actual application installation and usage data, to reduce licence, maintenance and audit costs while maintaining licence compliance. As a result, enterprises gain unprecedented control of their software estate, driving as much as 5-30% savings in annual software spend.

"Enterprises that want to reduce software spend and unbudgeted software audit risk exposure understand that they must go beyond simply counting the software they've installed, and take full advantage of the licence entitlements afforded to them in their software licence agreements," said Randy Littleson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Flexera Software. "FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises goes beyond software asset management to deliver this level of optimisation. We're delighted that the SIIA judges and members recognise the tremendous value we deliver and are honoured to receive the CODiE award for best asset management solution."

"This year's winners reflect excellence and vision," noted SIIA Vice President for the Software Division, Rhianna Collier. "I'm proud to congratulate them on the success of their applications, platforms, and products."

In both 2006 and 2007 Flexera Software's FlexNet Publisher won the CODiE award for best digital rights management solution. FlexNet Publisher enables software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers to monetise, manage, secure, enhance, and grow market share through flexible software licensing, pricing, packaging, and intellectual property protection. In 2008 AdminStudio was selected as a CODiE Award finalist for best business productivity solution. AdminStudio powers enterprises' Application Readiness processes for migrations to Windows 7 & 8, application and desktop virtualisation, cloud computing and day-to-day application packaging operations.

# # #

Resources:

FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises includes the following components:

FlexNet Manager Platform
FlexNet Manager for Microsoft
FlexNet Manager for Adobe
FlexNet Manager for IBM
FlexNet Manager for Symantec
FlexNet Manager for SAP Business Suite
FlexNet Manager for Engineering Applications
Workflow Manager
Learn more about App Portal
Read our Blog on Enterprise License Optimization
FlexNet Manager Suite Success Stories
Related Flexera Software Webinars
Enterprise License Optimization White Papers

Learn more about FlexNet Publisher

Learn more about AdminStudio

For more information about the CODiE Awards, visit http://www.siia.net/codies/2012.

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About Flexera Software
Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management; solutions delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and their customers. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solutions- from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness and enterprise license optimization - to strategically manage application usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com.

About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education, and intellectual property protection to more than 500 leading software and information companies. The SIIA Software Division provides a forum for companies developing the applications, services, infrastructure and tools that are driving the software and services industry forward. For further information, visit www.siia.net/software

About the SIIA CODiE™ Awards
The SIIA CODiE™ Awards, originally called the Excellence in Software Awards, were established in 1986 by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), now the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), so that pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other's work. Since then, the CODiE Awards program has carried out the same purpose - to showcase the software and information industry's finest products and services and to honor excellence in corporate achievement.

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Research and Markets: Oman Information Technology Report 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:21:17 EDT

Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/x55rb3/oman_information_t) has announced the addition of the "Oman Information Technology Report 2012" report to their offering.

Cloud-Based Collaboration Services in Asia-Pacific Gov

Fri, 11 May 2012 06:30:00 EDT

Government agencies are reportedly one of the primary benefactors of managed cloud services. According to the results from a recent market study by IDC, IT decision-makers across the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) found that 59 percent of public sector respondents are confident in the ability of their internal IT departments to deploy private cloud environments.

However, IDC Government Insights cautions that high levels of private cloud adoption may not bode well for a collaborative and citizen-engaging government and preemptive measures should be taken for collaboration to take place across organizational boundaries. More insights can be found in the IDC report entitled, "Cloud Computing for Government: a View from Asia-Pacific."

Frank Levering, Research Manager for IDC said, "An efficient and productive internal IT department is definitely a good to have in any organization, private or public. However, a department that is highly confident in running its own private cloud environment may run the risk of not reaching out to other internal departments to collaborate on cloud opportunities."

To counter this possibility, IDC recommends that whenever possible, governments should consider cloud-based collaboration services rather than independent private cloud solutions.

Although governments will initially be seeking cloud-based solutions to deliver cost advantages and better manage resources, eventually, cloud implementations need to be about inter-department collaborations and citizen relationship management in order to reap the full benefits of its capabilities to deliver optimal citizen services.

This is particularly important for key initiatives like data classification for security purposes; if agencies do not align their security levels, it would prove to be a massive obstacle for future joint efforts.

A positive sign is that governments across the region are growing to recognize the need for collaboration within the cloud space. There is already a significant installed base of collaborative applications in the cloud and the numbers will grow significantly in the next 12 months.

To optimize the benefits of cloud services, IDC offers recommendations to governments:

Evaluate all aspects of cloud computing. Read everything you can get your hands on. Most suppliers will have recognized that the key to their long-term success is their short-term role as an educator. Since security is a big concern, develop security profiles for all suppliers being considered.
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) first, then cloud. The right SOA needs to be in place to facilitate a smooth connection to external cloud services. Government agencies needing to build a robust SOA require a plan that tackles the transition in bite-size pieces while solidifying long-term migration to the shared services architecture. Remove the key barriers to cloud computing.
Challenges like security concerns and decentralized data storage will be blocking issues until they are acknowledged and appropriately addressed. Many of the more complex scenarios, like customer/citizen relationship management and inter-department collaboration will depend on a government's ability to get the basics right.
Know your current environment. An inventory of the current environment should provide a good indication of whether systems contain sensitive data, including taxpayers' personally identifiable information and/or mission-critical data and (legacy) applications. This will provide an excellent start to planning for cloud services adoption.