The global leader in enterprise real estate software and a leader in the 2011 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Workplace Management Systems, announced today the addition of 25 new companies to their growing client base. Today’s announcement demonstrates that Manhattan Software continues to be the leading software company providing Integrated Workplace Management Software (IWMS), Computer-aided Facility Management and Property Management software to the real estate market.

Corporate, institutional, education, investment and government organizations all over the globe are utilizing Manhattan’s technology to further improve and optimize the utilization of their real estate portfolios and to manage their properties in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The Manhattan IWMS products are now available in additional languages, including Chinese, German, Russian, Hungarian and Polish, further demonstrating Manhattan Software’s commitment to the global market. All Manhattan Software solutions are sold as cloud applications or self-hosted, with the majority of clients readily embracing cloud computing in recent years.

“As I enter my fourth year as CEO of Manhattan, I am delighted to report on the continuing success of new client acquisition around the world,” said Craig Gillespie, CEO, Manhattan Software, Americas. “The main catalyst driving new sales is the growing concern amongst all organizations on how to plan for and manage real estate to maximize their operational expenditures in today’s uncertain economic climate. Manhattan Software gives management and staff of real estate and facility management organizations the ability to ensure they have the right sized space at the right times, at the right locations and at the right cost, both today and for the future.”

As our client base expands, so is Manhattan Software’s staffing in North America, Europe, India, the Middle East and Australia. Consulting personnel with in-depth domain expertise from the real estate and financial industries have also been added; they are specialists in both the functional and technical aspects of software development and implementation. This demonstrates an increased investment by Manhattan in the next generation of product development and the company’s commitment to its clients and maintaining its industry leadership position.

Source:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/31/4227805/manhattan-software-expands-global.html

A West Yorkshire software company that put itself up for sale in a bid to open up new international business opportunities is set to have new US-based owners following an agreed £5.1 million deal.

Bosses at Cleckheaton-based Atlantic Global have confirmed a formal recommended offer for the acquisition of the business by international software and consulting company KeyedIn Solutions, which has agreed to pay 22p a share.

Minnesota-based IT firm KeyedIn Solutions, co-founded by entrepreneurs George and Lauri Klaus, which has a UK office in Ilkley, said it had been keenly interested in Atlantic Global since last August.

Atlantic Global is looking to develop new markets from its Cleckheaton base for its own ‘Software as a Service’ product, which provides automated access to a range of ‘self-service’ IT functions. Last autumn it invited approaches from potential buyers.

Eugene Blaine, Atlantic Global’s chief executive, said. “The synergies between what Atlantic Global needed to expand and what the KeyedIn team offered were startling. Bringing together our world-class products and the international sales and marketing experience of the KeyedIn team made this a compelling proposition for our employees, customers and shareholders.

Lauri Klaus, KeyedIn’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “This is an exciting acquisition that provides the products and the development capability that allow us to complete our vision. We have exciting plans for the ongoing development of the product line and are already geared up to take the products into the United States and mainland Europe.”

James Waterhouse, Keyedin’s UK managing director added: “This is a great opportunity both for KeyedIn and Atlantic Global. It safeguards Atlantic Global’s presence in Yorkshire, while at the same time opening up significant international opportunity for expansion.

“We believe that the ability to take this product into the US and deliver growth will be of great benefit to both current customers and the team at Atlantic Global.

“It is fantastic to see US investment in home-grown British intellectual property, and even better that the business is committed to driving business growth in Yorkshire, and the development of the solution from Atlantic Global’s current base in Cleckheaton.”

Shareholders have been recommended to support the deal.

Source:http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/business/9490045.Software_firm_Atlantic_Global_makes___5_1m_deal_with_sale/

TechNavio’s analysts forecast the Global Security Software as a Service market to grow at a CAGR of 28.4 percent over the period 2010–2014. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing compliance requirements. The Global Security Software as a Service market has also been witnessing increases in security SaaS offerings from large vendors. However, slow development of some security SaaS verticals could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Key vendors dominating this market space include McAfee Inc., Symantec Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Trend Micro Inc.

TechNavio’s Global Security Software as a Service Market 2010–2014 report has been prepared based on an in-depth analysis of the market with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the Americas, and the EMEA and APAC regions and focuses on the Global Security Software as a Service market. The report also covers the major vendors which are operating in the Global Security Software as a Service market.

Source:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/24/4210736/global-security-software-as-a.html

Vector Software, the world’s leading provider of innovative software solutions for testing safety and mission critical embedded applications, announced today the expansion of its customer-facing operations in North America and in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Over the past year, Vector Software has added some of the most prominent businesses in the world to its customer ranks. In order to address the significant increase in demand for its VectorCAST solutions, the company has added staff in the areas of engineering, customer support, sales, and marketing. The expansion represents a need for proven embedded software test solutions in the industry and a further strengthening of the company’s presence in the market.

“In addition to our continued product development, this expansion supports our global growth strategy with the ability to offer local sales, support, and training services to our growing base of customers”, said William McCaffrey, Vector Software Chief Operating Officer. “Expanding our local teams is just one of the ways we continue to provide unparalleled customer service, both globally and locally.”

In Europe, where Vector Software recently added major clients including medical technology leader, Sirona Dental Systems, global automotive supplier, Fujitsu Semiconductor, and AYESAŞ, a leading solution provider for the Turkish Defense Industry, the company has significantly increased the size and reach of its sales support staff to address the growing interest in VectorCAST solutions at multinational firms.

“We have seen tremendous growth in EMEA and the potential is even greater,” stated Niroshan Rajadurai, Vector Software Sales Director of EMEA. “The recent additions to our sales and support team here in the UK allow us to expand our ability to service clients and prospects throughout EMEA.”

Source:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9110733.htm

Successful processes create value for both parties involved. For a company purchasing software components, implementing quality assurance methods can improve and support the brand by ensuring that externally sourced code is held to a high standard. For a supplier, it’s an objective way to represent the quality of the product and strengthen the relationship with the customer.

With the increasing complexity of software products, companies commonly rely on a myriad of software suppliers, from internal teams that share and re-use code to third-party commercial software suppliers and outsourcing development partners. Companies are increasingly being held accountable by their customers for the quality and security of the complete product.

Yet third-party code typically isn’t tested with the same level of rigor as internally developed code. That means a defect could be lurking in the third-party code that could cause a significant security breach or quality issue.

Add to this the fact that more than ever before, companies are being asked to get products to market faster to remain competitive and capitalize on market opportunity. That time pressure is being felt across all phases of the software development lifecycle.
Zero Uninspected Defects

Development teams need to deliver more innovation through software, and the time allotted for formal quality control is constantly shrinking. To deal with this pressure, companies are turning to faster development methodologies for rapid iterative development cycles that can take advantage of new suppliers, cheaper code, and new markets made possible by the expansion of their global network.

Nowadays, most of the components companies integrate into their own products are electronic in nature. OEMs often have working agreements with dozens of suppliers spread all over the world that supply minuscule, but necessary, components to build the next generation of mobile phones, for example.

How should companies ensure the quality of the final product and thereby safeguard their brand? By ensuring that all their suppliers are held to high quality standards, OEMs and many other businesses that rely on third-party suppliers for embedded systems can avoid sub-par products that can irrevocably damage a brand’s reputation.

This increased risk has resulted in the demand for better visibility into all of the software components that make up a product. Development testing solutions enables managers to establish and enforce consistent measures for quality and security across the organization and across the supply chain.

Organizations could set a policy for zero uninspected defects prior to launch, since any one of those defects could contain a security vulnerability. Policies could also be established for zero security defects such as buffer overflow, integer overflow and format string errors.
Quality Assurance Processes

Here are a few processes that you can implement to ensure the quality of your overall product, as well as the component parts, from a global supply chain:

1. Put it in the contract: Modern static analysis solutions provide vendors with a cost-effective, automated, and repeatable way to ensure the quality of software they create and ship. Because static testing produces results that are measureable, objective and repeatable, OEMs can require it as a contractual agreement with a third-party software provider.

2. Auditing mode: OEMs that purchase source code can reserve the right to analyze the supplier’s code and report the results back. It could be implemented as part of the integration. This helps in multiple ways. First, the OEM has a way to measure the quality of what is received using the same measuring stick that it uses internally; second, providing recommendations and results of the analysis to the supplier gives the supplier an opportunity to fix the defects.

3. Expect a report indicating the quality of every software version received: A high-level report of the testing effort and quality should be necessary with every drop of software received. A report indicating that all bugs and defects are fixed may be an unrealistic expectation. However, if a report indicates untested parts or many defects that have not been reviewed, it serves as a strong signal that quality is not up to par. Additionally, a report can provide an indication of quality compared to industry averages.

As with every aspect of the value chain, successful processes create value for both parties involved. For a company purchasing software components, these methods improve and support the brand by ensuring that externally sourced code is held to a high standard. For a supplier, it’s an objective way to represent the quality of the product and strengthen the relationship with the customer.

Things will continue to get more complicated as new supply chains emerge and businesses take advantage of more choices to bring down costs, increase their profit margins and become leaner. New development testing solutions enable managers to establish and enforce consistent measures for quality and security across the organization and across the supply chain. Organizations could set a policy for zero uninspected defects prior to launch, since any one of those defects could contain a security breach or quality issue.

Source:http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Ensuring-Software-Quality-Across-a-Global-Supply-Chain-74187.html

Niranjan Pendharkar is still in his first job, and it’s been a long 14-year innings. The ‘distinguished engineer’ at global software security products maker Symantec India has no regrets at having stayed on. His satisfaction comes from the element of innovation woven into of the job, and the adrenalin rush that comes with competing on a global scale.

“I am an architect, a technical person who designs products, and there are challenging opportunities for growth. We are kept on our toes as we compete globally,” says Pendharkar.

Admittedly, the greatest beneficiary of Pendharkar’s loyalty is his company, and by extension his industry, which is seeing an increase in professionals deriving deeper satisfaction from their jobs. Fewer professionals in software product companies in India are being lured by the 10% to 15% salary hike through a job change, preferring instead to earn the respect of their global peers.

It’s showing in the numbers: Attrition in the quarter ended September 30, 2011, was 12%, a few percentage points lower than it was in the comparable period last year, says Chandramouli CS, director, Zinnov Management Consulting, a globalisation advisory firm. “It is around 8%, in the better managed companies or those which offer complex and challenging work, at the real cutting edge,” he adds.

As the sector matures, professionals seek global exposure based on expertise and knowledge. “There is an increase in the domain knowledge of engineers; the service provider ecosystem is maturing; there is a sound process knowledge, expatriate movement; competition from China and other global centres; emergence of global leaders from India and the need for innovation for emerging and local markets,” he says, summing up the reasons for the trend.

This is a relief for companies, as attrition can be a drain on productivity. It takes between six and nine months to bring a new employee to speed, depending on complexity of the work. Attrition is highest in groups with work experience of six months to four years. This is because people join straight from college and leave for higher education.

Of the rest, some have relocated for their first job and wish to return home, says Chandramouli. “It (attrition) is very low in groups with more than eight years’ experience because by then, they have figured out what whether they want to be on the managerial or the technology track,” he adds.

“Macro economic issues are a major driver for lower attrition,” says Kishor Bhalerao, senior vice president, HR at Persistent Systems, a mid-sized product company. “For us, attrition is around 15% to 16%, down from 18% to 19% at this time last year. The greater the economic depression in the market, the greater the opportunities,” he says.

For the engineers, this spells a new high. Pendharkar is one of Symantec’s two distinguished engineers in the data storage area. “My plan is to create new products. I have the domain technical expertise, a vertical, and can now go horizontal, influencing other products,” he says.

Bhalerao says Persistent has a policy to egg on intrapreneurs. “We encourage intrapreneurs to take a business risk, develop a concrete plan and run it as a profit centre. We want people within the enterprise to grow,” he says.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/software-product-professionals-seek-global-exposure-based-on-expertise-and-knowledge/articleshow/11174975.cms