As we end the week early for the Canada holiday,here’s the news that didn’t fit to print this abbreviated week. Have a greatCanada Day, and we’ll see you Monday.
*IBM has released its global “commuter pain” studyand, while Torontonians may have it bad, they should be happy they don’t livein Beijing, Mexico City or Johannesburg. Toronto, the only Canadian city on thelist, actually ranked 12th onIBM’s index that ranks the emotional and economic toll of commuting in eachcity on a scale of one to 100, with 100 being the most onerous. While Toronto’scommuter situation isn’t as bad as many others, Toronto traffic is gettingworse and nearly half (43 per cent) of Toronto commuters believe trafficcongestion has harmed their health, through increased stress and anger.
*Waterloo, Ont.-based Open Text Corp. says delegatesat the recently completed G-20 conference in Toronto and G-8 conference inHuntsville, Ont. were able to collaborate over secure social networkingsoftware in advance of the events, and now after them, using a confidential andsecure social networking application was created by the Enterprise ContentManagement (ECM) software vendor. A collaboration between Open Text, theCanadian Digital Media Network and theCanadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, delegates werealso able to access the application from their BlackBerrys, iPhones and iPads.The application supported multiple languages to enhance the ability of delegatesto network productively. Open Text’s Social Workplace software — based on OpenText’s ECM Suite of products — was also used to provide a social networkingplatform for Summit participants including news outlets and businesses, inconjunction with OpenText Everywhere mobile software which enabled applicationdownloads to Summit participants’ Blackberry’s, iPhones and iPads. Participantswere able to connect with expert sources including hundreds of librarians andother content matter experts on-call to provide prompt answers to questions.The participant social networking site can be found at: www.g20net.org.
*Fluke Networks, a network installation andanalysis solutions vendor, has created a new operating entity from its FlukeNetworks Systems assets, with the introduction of Visual Network Systems. Thenewly branded company will operate independently and was established to addressmarket growth opportunity in the Application Performance Management market. VisualNetwork Systems will be headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. and led by LynCantor, general manager of Visual Network Systems. Cantor reports directly toRich McBee, who has leadership responsibility for a group of companies underDanaher’s Test and Measurement platform including Visual Network Systems, FlukeNetworks and Tektronix Communications. Visual Network Systems’ portfolioincludes a collection of organic and inorganic technologies that support thecompany’s Enterprise Intelligence Strategy: VisualPerformance Manager, Visual UpTime Products,NetFlow Tracker, Application Performance Appliance and NetAlly ActiveTest Solutions.
Product Launches
*CRM vendor Maximizer Software Inc. has announcedthe availability of Maximizer CRM 11 Team Edition and an enhanced CRM 11Entrepreneur Edition. Entrepreneur Edition is tailored for organizations withindividual or up to five networked users that primarily need contact managementfunctionality. The new Team Edition is designed for organizations with 5-50networked users that demand more advanced sales opportunity management andcollaboration. These latest offerings complete the rollout of Maximizer CRM 11across four editions, with Group and Enterprise Editions previously launched onMarch 29.
*McAfee Inc. has announced the worldwide availability of McAfeeSaaS Web Protection. The new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Web security solutioncombines the enterprise-grade reporting capabilities and features from McAfeesolutions with the scalable, multi-tenant platform architecture that poweredthe MX Logic solution. The new cloud-based service protects enterprises frommalware and other Web-borne threats without any on-premise requirements. LikeMcAfee appliances and virtual Web protection solutions, McAfee SaaS WebProtection leverages the McAfee Global Threat Intelligence network. McAfeeclaims the solution also helps reduce upfront costs, as well as lowers ongoingmaintenance and management costs. Organizations with numerous locations orlimited IT resources can quickly deploy the solution by simply redirecting Webtraffic to a McAfee data center and allowing McAfee SaaS Web Protection tomanage protection from start to finish.
*Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. hasannounced its new UTM-1 Edge N and Safe@Office N appliances, delivering gigabitfirewall performance starting at $750. A desktop solution designed to meet theneeds of small and medium businesses and branch offices, the unified threatmanagement appliances deliver enterprise-class security, including firewall,Intrusion Prevention (IPS), anti-virus, anti-spam, web filtering and remoteaccess connectivity. The new UTM-1 Edge N and Safe@Office N appliances arebased on the same Check Point technologies that secure 100 percent of theFortune 100. These appliances include tightly integrated security andnetworking features, such as Gigabit Ethernet supporting high-performancenetworking capabilities and seamless 3G and wireless connectivity supportingthe latest IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi standards.
