HP has announced improvements to the HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs, enabling networking channel partners to increase market competitiveness and revenue opportunities.

To succeed, partners want to penetrate new markets and deliver solutions that optimize their customers’ business models. The expanded HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs are designed to drive growth and key market opportunities in the high-growth networking sector.

The HP PartnerONE program now enables networking partners to substantially increase margin potential through growth accelerators and rebates. HP meets the needs of partners of all sizes through three refreshed specializations for networking:

Registered Networking Specialization: These Partners focus primarily on selling solutions to the SMB market and offer customers a choice of secure, affordable and scalable network solutions.

Professional Networking Specialization: HP Professional Networking Partners sell, deliver, manage and support secure, wired and wireless networking infrastructure solutions.

Advanced Networking Specialization: These Partners sell, deliver, manage and support complex, end-to-end secure networking and data centre solutions and have the expertise and skills in designing, deploying solutions and services spanning the networking lifecycle. They typically have a deep knowledge of corporate networks and requirements.

The refreshed specializations for networking are compatible with the previous UNS-Professional, UNS-Expert and UNS-Master specializations, however sales and technical certification requirements for these new specializations have been tweaked to drive a minimum competency standard required by partners to effectively represent HP in the market place.

HP PartnerONE and HP ExpertONE programs enable channel partners to use the HP FlexNetwork architecture to strengthen consultative, long-term customer relationships and create new revenue opportunities. By offering open and scalable networking solutions, partners can address customer requirements without locking them in to vendors and technology.

“Channel partners operate in a complex and competitive environment, and they need to focus on growing their businesses,” said Sanjay Jyotshi, Director, HP Networking, HP India. “With our simplified program, broad portfolio and unique competency approach, HP is empowering our partners to better serve their customers.”

Increasing IT knowledge through HP ExpertONE Program
The HP ExpertONE program offers partners the training and education needed to transform their customers’ proprietary environments into open, agile networks based on an HP Converged Infrastructure.

Professionals gain the skills needed to architect, implement and manage technology across the enterprise. The HP ExpertONE “Fast Track” program accounts for existing certifications – even those gained through a competitor – to speed the HP networking certification process.

An IDC Marketscape leader for IT education, the global HP ExpertONE program also now provides partners with:

A competitive edge via hands-on technical and certification training delivered through newly announced HP ExpertONE Learning Solution Partners. Offerings include customized courses, access to remote labs and web-based learning applications, with initial courses focusing on HP Networking.

Access to easy-reference training materials and study guides through HP Press, in the form of traditional books, e-books and mobile applications. The first five technical certification exam study guides focus on networking certifications.

Certifications through the HP Institute, a global academic program to be available in several thousand institutions by 2014. Students can earn architect-level HP certifications through integrated hands-on experience with remote labs in a classroom environment.

Intel has announced the expansion of the Intel  Xeon processor portfolio with new products designed to address a broad and emerging set of server requirements and provide IT managers with additional choice and flexibility.

To offer a range of energy-efficient and affordable solutions for server and workstation customers, the company introduced twenty-eight processors across three product families: eight processors from the Intel Xeon processor E5-4600 product family and nine processors from the Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 product family designed to complement the already available Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family. The company also announced availability of eleven processors from the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family.

“Companies today are increasingly dependent upon Information Technology to deliver innovative products and services to customers,” said Boyd Davis, vice president and general manager of the Datacenter Infrastructure Group at Intel. “To satisfy the increasing diversity of IT needs and workloads, Intel is excited to offer additional processor options to enterprises of all sizes with the Intel Xeon processor E5-4600/2400 and E3-1200 v2 product families.  Our new products feature the flexibility, value and performance that businesses demand in a market that is ever less tolerant of compromise.  We are also continuing to drive momentum in the micro server market by introducing new lower power processors within the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family.”

New Density-Optimized Four-Socket and Cost-Optimized Dual-Socket Processors
The Intel Xeon processor E5-4600 product family offers the performance and energy efficiency benefits of the record-breaking Intel Xeon processor E5 family to allow higher density designs than available with previous 4-socket systems. With up to 32 cores and 48 DIMMs per system, these processors are ideal for a wide range of technical compute applications, such as scientific research and financial services, as well as dense four-socket solutions for communications infrastructure and rapidly growing markets such as China.

These processors support all of the features of the Intel Xeon processor E5 family such as Intel Advanced Vector Extensions, Intel Integrated I/O, PCI Express 3.0, Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT). For traditional 2-socket server customers facing increasing data demands and a need to scale up for additional performance, the new 4-socket servers will open up new opportunities to realize significant total cost of ownership advantages. The Intel Xeon processor E5-4600 product family delivers up to 88 percent higher performance¹ than a comparable Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family-based server and up to 3.8x² the prior generation 2-socket Intel Xeon processor 5600 series-based server.

Similarly, for small and medium businesses looking to upgrade from a single-socket configuration to a dual-socket server, Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 product family delivers a strong balance of energy-efficient performance and affordability while supporting core features of the Intel Xeon processor E5 family. With up to 3x the performance and significantly more memory and I/O options, these processors enable higher system densities and easier management compared to a single-socket server solution.

New Processors for Small Business and High-Density Environments
Also introduced, the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family is an entry-level server and workstation processor based on Intel’s leading 22-nanometer (nm) process technology. Built for the unique demands of small business customers who require technology that lets them rapidly respond to market conditions and maintain a competitive advantage, these processors deliver up to 32 percent greater energy efficient performance and PCI Express 3.0 for higher I/O bandwidth compared to the previous generation. There are more reasons to move up to a server featuring the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family including up to 72 percent improved performance, better security and reliability compared  to the latest systems based on the 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2130 desktop processor. To address workstation customers running professional-grade 2-D and basic 3-D computer-aided drafting as well as entry-level media and entertainment applications, the new processors offer Intel HD Graphics P4000, which delivers up to 2x faster media processing capabilities compared to the previous generation.

Intel Continues To Drive Micro Server Momentum
The Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family also features two low-power processors optimized for micro servers to address the needs of the emerging scale out datacenter workloads and usages. The Intel Xeon processor E3-1265L v2 based platform delivers up to 39 percent better performance per watt⁷ for simple front end web workloads compared to the previous generation. Intel is also introducing the Intel Xeon processor E3-1220L v2, the world’s lowest power Intel Xeon processor at 17W TDP for dense micro server designs for applications  such as low end dedicated hosting and basic content delivery.  Systems based on the SSI* Micro Module Server Specification, designed for the micro server segment, and this new Intel Xeon processor, deliver up to 3.6x better performance per rack and up to 1.6x better performance per watt over prior the generation processor using traditional rack servers.

Extensive Industry Support
Starting today, system manufacturers from around the world are expected to announce platforms based on the Intel Xeon processor E5-4600/2400 product families and the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family. These manufacturers include Acer, Appro, Asus, Bull, Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, Hauwei, IBM, Inspur, Lenovo, NEC, Quanta, SGI, Sugon, Supermicro, Tyan and Unisys.

Product and Pricing Information
In quantities of 1000, the Intel Xeon processor E5-4600 product family ranges in price from $551 to $3,616, Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 product family ranges from $188 to $1,440 and the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v2 product family ranges from $189 to $884.

Cisco has announced the relocation of its East India and SAARC regional office to a new facility at Godrej Waterside Building, Salt Lake City, Kolkata. With an area of 13,500 sq ft., the new facility will include the latest Cisco technologies, including a state-of-the-art TelePresence facility in addition to a host of other Cisco networking and Collaboration technologies that can be showcased to customers from the region, as well as enabling greater employee productivity.

Speaking on the move to the new facility, Amit Malik, Vice President – East, Cisco India & SAARC said, “We believe that technology plays a significant role in improving employee productivity and increasing the overall profitability of the business. This move will provide us with an opportunity to showcase our latest, state of the art technologies to our customers and enable us to offer enhanced facilities to our employees.”

The Godrej Waterside Building is an Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) certified building, which is in-line with Cisco’s motto of using green and smart technology to be energy and resource efficient. It is also the largest IT Park in Eastern India.

Cisco is in India since 1995 and currently has offices in all the 7 major Indian metro cities, and in the SAARC nations, including Sri Lanka. Across the Eastern region, Cisco’s customers include West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL), National Insurance Corporation, IIT Kharagpur, IIM Kolkata, United Bank of India, amongst others.

Avaya has announced that Adil Doctor will lead the SME business in Asia Pacific, He takes over this new responsibility on the back of his successful role in delivering business growth as the SME leader for India and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.

“The Small and Medium Enterprise business area is a priority segment for Avaya and the Asia Pacific region has a growing and vibrant SME landscape.. Working closely with our extensive network of Avaya Connect channel partners and distributors, Adil will use his vast knowledge and capabilities in this space to strengthen the Avaya SME focus in Asia Pacific. This announcement highlights Avaya’s commitment to bringing The Power of We to every Avaya customer to help drive faster collaboration, smarter decisions and better business results.”

Rick Seeto – Senior Director Channels & Marketing, APAC, Avaya.

“At Avaya we firmly believe that the next level of growth across APAC will be driven by the Small and Medium Enterprise segment. Avaya’s solutions help SME companies benefit from the same collaboration functionality and advantages as their larger counterparts, but at a price aligned with their business needs and with the flexibility they need to scale up as they grow.”

Adil Doctor – Director, SME Business, APAC, Avaya.

Strontium will showcase its complete range of memory solutions at COMPUTEX 2012 from 5th-– 9th   June in Taipei, Taiwan.

Strontium Technology founded in 2002, is based out of Singapore and enjoys a strong market presence in over 30 countries like Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, India, US, Canada and Latin America. Strontium offers a full range of memory modules for desktops, notebooks, as well as flash device applications. Known for its elegant design and superior technology, Strontium Technology is a market leader in its category.

Mr. Ajay Kogta, Country Manager, Strontium Technology, said, “It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our entire product range in one place. We will also introduce new products at the booth and give away free gifts to the visitors attending Computex.

Computex is the second largest computer exhibition in the world. Over 120,000 visitors, including 36,000 overseas visitors attend this event every year.  Also there will be 1,800 exhibitors and 5,300 booths. Strontium will present its product portfolio at Booth number- I 0511, Floor 1 in Nangang Exhibition Hall.

Spice has announced that they will be coming up with India’s first ‘Secure Android’ which offers pre- embedded security solutions to its users in their upcoming range of MI (Mobile Internet) Smart phones. The initiative will reinforce S Mobility’s efforts in making its devices safe and secure as users are becoming wary of the potential threat data in their smart phones face in the current scenario; as the world converges towards mobile internet and m-commerce.

An average smartphone user is exposed to various threats when he uses his phone that can disrupt the operation of the smartphone, and transmit or modify the user data. Industry estimates suggest there are approximately six hundred varieties of mobile phone viruses and they exist only in smartphones. It is estimated that the number of global smartphone users will exceed 1 billion by 2013. While a study predicts that 26 out of every 100 phones sold globally this year will be smartphones, by 2015, smartphones will make up 40% of the total handsets sold across the world. The smartphone segment is forecast to see a much higher growth at 63.4% from 2011-15 and may achieve a shipment of 77.5 million by 2015 in the Indian market.

For these reasons, the applications deployed there must guarantee privacy and integrity of the information they handle. In addition, since some apps could themselves be malware, their functionality and activities should be limited.

The solutions offered by Spice will include an Antivirus that will provide real time protection from malicious Internet threats and also offers flexibility for the user to set a schedule for regular scans of data in the device as well as SD card. Also in the security stable is a Network Manager giving access to data like Traffic, setting monthly data transfer limit. Other features include Anti-Theft and Vault- privacy lock for following apps like, Photos, Videos, SMS and Call Logs & Secret Contacts.

Speaking on this Mr. Kunal Ahooja, Global Head – Devices, S Mobility said, “Only a fraction of smartphones and tablets are protected by security software, despite a rise in the amount of malware targeted at mobile devices. With a visible upward trend in Mobile payments and m-commerce in India we at Spice are sensitive to the situation and hence are offering security solutions to all our users. In the future we hope to constantly innovate and offer value added solutions to all our users.”

“Our marketing support for these top of the line handsets is going to be very strong given our vast distribution network. Spice will also support this with an aggressive marketing campaign via online medium”, he added.

The latest range of handsets will be available across India through more than 50,000 retail points including the 750+ Spice HotSpot retail network and www.saholic.com

In a move to provide superior education to students with collaborative learning tools, reputed schools like Delhi Public School, American School of Bombay, KR Mangalam have adopted Microsoft Live@edu, a cloud based service. Microsoft Live@edu enables institutions in brand building, social and professional collaboration, knowledge repository that leads to career opportunities.

Microsoft Live@edu is a no-charge suite of communication and collaboration tools for students, faculty, staff and alumni that enable access to Microsoft Office Outlook Live for e-mail, Microsoft Office Live Workspace to share documents and collaborate, Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging, and Windows Live SkyDrive for 25 GB of online data storage space.

“It is encouraging to see schools adopting and promoting a technology-enhanced environment. Microsoft Live@edu simplifies online collaboration, increases productivity with its ability to participate in online tutorials, collaborate on assignments, interacting with peers and faculty, and build lifelong relationships with their educational institution. We have a huge base of mailboxes activated across schools and colleges in the country,” said Tarun Malik, Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft India.

After evaluating several solutions to bring collaboration amongst the academician and administrator and finally embracing Microsoft’s cloud based email over Google. “ The cost of deploying a school wide messaging solution, which would cover over 5,017 students, 220 teachers, and 52 administrators would not have been feasible just from the sheer cost of acquisition and maintenance,” explains Mr. M.I.Hussain, Principal, DPS Mathura Road. “However, Live@edu brings the school at par with global institutions at no extra cost.”

“Alumni network plays an important role in building contact and resolving student queries about real life job environment. Live@edu has enabled our students to connect with alumni’s to share and learn from their experience. This helps them get first-hand information on the business aspect of life, thus enabling them to be job ready. With increased e-mail storage, students also get the option to keep reference material with them, at all times,” said Inder Dev Gupta, Chairman of KR Mangalam School, New Delhi.

“Cloud adoption is gravitating schools as it allows opportunities seamlessly integrating digital lifestyle to support their academic work style.  Cloud adoption is gravitating schools as it allows for possibilities of seamlessly integrating their digital lifestyle to support their academic work style. It is exciting to see students, educators and IT administrators collaborating through Live@edu to enrich the learning experience and to prepare students for future success. This gives them an edge as they enter the competitive job market,” added Malik, Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft India.

As schools deal with and manage highly sensitive student data, managing data security and privacy becomes of foremost interest to the IT department without increasing their IT management cost and time.  The American School of Bombay currently has about 1000 mailboxes, with over 50% usage. “With Live@Edu, we experienced highly dependable, highly secure world-class communications and collaboration infrastructure. By using this cross platform cloud based service, students are able to easily access and stay updated with the latest information both on and off campus,” said Mario Fishery, Sr. IT Manager (Network, Security & Systems) at the American School of Bombay.

Microsoft also recently announced its largest cloud deployment ever with the implementation of Live@Edu at AICTE. The deployment is the largest ever and will bring on-board over 7 million students and 0.5 million faculty members to the Microsoft Cloud platform. Covering over 10,000 colleges across the country, with the AICTE win, Microsoft continues to pave way for the progressive eco-system in education in the country.

Sanovi Technologies, the market leader in Disaster Recovery Management software, has embarked on their next phase of expansion with the appointment of Anurag Kuthiala as Head of the Pre-Sales. In this role, Kuthiala will lead Sanovi’s pre-sales team to proved customers and partners with world class DRM solutions.

Sanovi Technologies offers IT Disaster Recovery Management (DRM) software products that help enterprises automate their IT disaster recovery processes for business continuity through recovery readiness assurance.  The India-founded, globally recognized Company has been positioned by Gartner as sample vendor for “Recovery Excercising in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Business continuity Management and Disaster recovery Management, 2011”. Sanovi product suite offers the most comprehensive feature set covering all aspects of DRM, as compared to other vendors to using run book automation tools and professional services to develop custom scripts.  More than 50 large enterprises, many Fortune-500 companies among them are already using Sanovi products to manage their DR programs.

On the new appointment at the Company, Ashis Guha, President – Global Sales at Sanovi said, “With his strong technology background and understanding of the DR space, Anurag will be the major resource as leader of the Pre-Sales team.  He will work with the product management to give shape to customer requirements and bring back the valuable feedback for product enhancements from the market perspective.  Additionally, under his leadership, the Pre-Sales will be able to provide better support and training to Channel Partners.”

A 14-year veteran with diverse experience in services and pre-sales, Kuthiala brings with him vital market knowledge and customer relationships with large local enterprise accounts. Before coming on board at Sanovi, he was part of the Systems Engineering team for North and East India with Symantec, where he worked extensively with the sales and partner ecosystem to drive business. He was also part of Symantec Professional Services responsible for deployments in Asia South. In his previous stints, he led service delivery in both India and US where he was a part of EMC Professional Services in Detroit, Michigan.

Verizon has been selected as one of the founding members of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s Hosting Services Ecosystem. The ecosystem approach will allow market participants to subscribe to a comprehensive set of services offered by ecosystem members of HKEx’s next-generation data center.

As part of ecosystem, Verizon will address the needs of customers, financial information providers and technology vendors by providing low-latency connectivity and on-demand computing solutions and services for HKEx’s new data center, which will launch later this year.

Ryan Wuebbels, head of relationship management at HKEx, said: “We welcome Verizon into the Hosting Services Founding Member Program and look forward to the low-latency networking and financial communication capabilities that Verizon will bring to our Hosting Services Ecosystem.”

HKEx aims to cultivate a financial services ecosystem consisting of exchange participants, information vendors, technology vendors and telecommunication providers as members.

HKEx is the holding company of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limited and Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited.

Verizon recently introduced a low-latency financial service that enables firms in New York and Chicago to execute trades, securely and reliably. The Verizon Financial Network Premier Low-Latency Service — which offers speeds as low as 14.5 milliseconds round-trip, one of the fastest speeds in the industry — is targeted at global banks, hedge funds, market makers, pre- and post-trade service firms and money managers.

Verizon Enterprise Solutions creates global connections that generate growth, drive business innovation and move society forward.  With industry-specific solutions and a full range of global wholesale offerings offered over the company’s secure mobility, cloud, strategic networking and advanced communications platforms, Verizon Enterprise Solutions helps open new opportunities around the world for innovation, investment and business transformation.

SAP and Capgemini today announced an agreement to co-develop a mobile sales execution solution and a joint go-to-market plan for the next five years. This follows the global managed mobility agreement Capgemini signed with SAP and Sybase in September 2011. Today’s announcement focuses initially on the consumer products sector to design a mobile application solution for companies selling products via mobile direct store delivery with additional requirements for accelerated customer relationship management (CRM). The solution is planned to be based on Sybase Unwired Platform and aims to help customers reduce costs but at the same time improve customer experience, as mobile channels become increasingly important.

“Having worked with SAP and Capgemini for many years on the Direct Store Delivery area, we feel that their shared knowledge is a huge asset to build a solution for the consumer products industry,” said Alejandro Bombaci, CIO for Empresas Polar, a leading consumer products manufacturer and distributor. “Capgemini’s mobile development capabilities combined with SAP products and mobile strategy experience will produce a world-class mobile solution, which includes extensive process coverage and strong data integration, that should become the de-facto standard in the industry.”

The joint team will leverage SAP excellence in back-end architecture, process consulting, custom development and technical optimization, along with Capgemini strengths in mobile architecture design, implementation and hosting services, drawing on its recently created Global Mobile Solutions Service Line.

“We are delighted to sign this significant co-development agreement with SAP and to have been defined as the preferred systems integrator for mobile sales execution in the consumer products industry,” said Fernando Alvarez, mobile solutions global service line leader, Capgemini. “This agreement builds on our strong relationship with SAP in the area of mobile. It will help us deliver further value to our customers as we continually strive to build and advise on solutions, in a sector where mobile channels are developing at a rapid pace.”

“We are partnering with Capgemini because of their strong global footprint, deep expertise in implementation, hosting services, mobile capabilities and functional expertise in the market,” said Sanjay Poonen, president, Product Go-to-Market, and head of Mobile Division, SAP. “We look forward to developing our go-to-market strategy with them over the next years, as one of the leading forces in the marketplace.”

Capgemini has a long-standing relationship with SAP with nearly 11,500 practitioners focused on SAP solutions globally. It provides application life-cycle services in support of SAP solutions, including on-premise, on-device and on-demand projects to thousands of clients worldwide. Capgemini has one of the broadest offerings of SAP Services globally, including design, build, run and operate services. It delivers solutions to its customers by providing SAP software licensing, implementation, hosting, application management and business process outsourcing under one contract. In March 2012, Capgemini received an SAP Pinnacle award in the category of “Transformational Award: Unwired Enterprise.”