Good measures in bad times offer from IT vendors

According to Asia-Pacific executives- As the recession continues to take its toll, IT companies are rolling out new initiatives to help clients ride the downturn.

One of the new initiatives is a "Try and Buy" program where customers can review a SonicWall product in their own environment for up to 30 days. They then decide if they want to purchase or return the product.

Security vendor SonicWall, for instance, introduced three initiatives last month in response to the global financial crisis. Ang Chye Hin, SonicWall's Asean director of sales, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview, the cost-saving schemes are targeted at both existing and new clients.

SonicWall also launched "Trade-up" for new customers migrating to its products, and upgrade programs, where customers buy new and refreshed products at an incremental price. The company is also working with its partners to offer payment installment schemes to customers.

For more info visit: http://.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62051277,00.htm

Amit
Our IT Vision

EU cyberbully deal sign by Social network sites

MySpace, YouTube, Google,and Facebook are among 17 social networking sites to sign a European Commission deal to prevent cyber-bullying and protect the privacy of users under 18. The Commission said-. Social networking grew 35% in the past year and more than 100 million people are expected to sign up by 2012.and the agreement will cut the risks of children harassing peers online and curb "grooming", whereby pedophiles make friends online with children with the aim of seducing them. The other social networks to sign up include StudiVZ, Sulake/Habbo Hotel, Arto, Bebo, Yahoo!Europe, and Zap.lu. For more info visit: http.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/02/10/234741/social-network-sites-sign-eu-cyberbully-deal.htm Amit

Our IT Vision

Just 'Fix it' offers From Microsoft

Over the past six weeks, Microsoft has quietly added a "Fix it" button to a few of the thousands of help documents on its Web site. When clicked, the computer then takes all the recommended steps automatically.
The "Fix it" option is still fairly rare, showing up in around 100 different help documents. The effort is growing rapidly, though, up from just four such fixes when the program quietly began in December.
Microsoft is also adding the "Fix it" option into the error reporting tool built into Windows. Initially, all users could do when a program crashed was send a report to Microsoft. More recently, the system has started checking to see if there is any information on the issue. Next up, said Brownell, is offering the option to have the issue solved automatically.


For more info visit: zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62050690,00.htm

Amit

Our IT Vision

New regional headquarters open in Sydney by RIM

Research In Motion (RIM) today opened a new regional headquarters in Sydney to service its customers in Australia and New Zealand.

The opening of the new headquarters building was attended by representatives of the New South Wales Government, North Sydney Council and RIM's partners and customers.

At today’s official unveiling of the new headquarters by Canadian Consul General, Thomas A MacDonald, RIM’s Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Adele Beachley said the company had developed a strong operation in Australia over the past six years and the new regional headquarters would help foster RIM’s innovation and growth while serving both customers and partners in the region.

For more info visit: http:/.itwire.com/content/view/23022/1231/

Amit

Our IT Vision

IBM Updates Small Businesses for Lotus Foundations

This week at Lotusphere, IBM announced an update of its Lotus Foundations line of small business software, built on IBM's Express Advantage program. The Lotus Foundations hardware and software system helps businesses from five to 500 employees collaborate with tools like email, office applications, file sharing, back up and recovery.

The company also announced the opening of the Lotus Foundations Branch Office.With Lotus Foundations Branch Office, large enterprise Lotus Domino customers will be able to extend existing skills and data to remote offices quickly and efficiently. IBM says it will help large organizations reduce costs and better manage operations by supporting the often complex technology needs of the branch and satellite offices with a fully integrated appliance. The company is touting evaluations of Lotus Foundations' functionality and ease-of-use by Research In Motion (RIM) and ShoreTel, who say they believe it is a good platform to reach the SMB market.

For more info visit:www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/IBM-Updates-Lotus-Foundations-for-Small-Businesses/

Amit

Our IT Vision

PM pushes in proble to restore IT trust quotient for swift Satyam

NEW DELHI: The hit India's IT sector's trust quotient has suffered in the wake of Satyam's very public fall from grace may impact India's ability to attract new economy

Investors and clients, prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stress on speedy and thorough investigations into the scam.

Even eight days after its founder Ramalinga Raju owned up to the fiddle, the Satyam mess is high on the PM's to-do list due to its worrisome fallout for the sunrise sector of India's economy. While ensuring Satyam does not sink, the PM has focused on what is felt as the core issue of investor confidence.

The stock-taking in government, which has involved senior ministers, industry, SEBI and National Stock Exchange chiefs and banks, has underlined risks to not just Satyam's survival as a viable business organisation, but the likely erosion of the vital "trust factor" in India's IT and software sector which has earned billions of dollars in foreign exchange.

Sources said government's intentions to pursue investigations into the scam vigorously were driven as much by a need to beam out a strong message that India would not tolerate corporate malfeasance as a desire to bring guilty to book. "Action will be taken by various agencies, those responsible will not be let off the hook," they said. This would cover all aspects of the fraud including the role of the board and top company officials.

The next steps the government takes may well have to wait a few days before the firm's accounts, described as completely opaque, unravel a bit. It is expected that even as auditors and investigators work hard, the government may not have an idea of Satyam's "receivables and liabilities" before the weekend. That would then provide some answers of how soon, and how, the hurt IT major could stand on its own feet again.

For more info visit: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/PM_pushes_for_swift_Satyam_probe_to_restore_IT_trust_quotient/articleshow/3979676.cms

Amit

Our IT Vision

SBI to retain contract with Satyam

Kolkata (IANS): India's largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), has decided to retain its contract with scam-tainted information technology (IT) firm Satyam Computer Services for maintaining its Internet banking services, a top bank official said here Thursday.

"We are not at all thinking of changing Satyam as our vendor for Internet banking services. But we are prepared," SBI deputy managing director in charge of IT, R.P. Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of an IT seminar.

"We are happy with Satyam's service as a vendor, there is no problem at all. If anything happens anywhere, we are fully prepared. There will not be any disruption in our net banking services,"

Sinha said when asked whether the vendor is capable of handling the banking transactions that takes place through the portal. Satyam's founder and disgraced former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju last week admitted to committing a Rs.70-billion (Rs.7,000-crore/$1.43 billion) accounting fraud.

Sinha said he was hopeful that the Satyam's condition would improve as the government was taking measures to "bring it back to health".

For more info visit: www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200901151931.htm

Amit

Our IT Vision