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EMC World: New Scale-out Storage and Software

May 24th, 2012

The 2012 EMC World is underway this week in Las Vegas and EMC has announced new Isilon scale-out storage, Documentum and DataBridge software.

New Isilon Storage Nodes

EMC announced new Isilon X400 and NL400 storage nodes, featuring more throughput than previous platforms and traditional NAS single volume throughput. The X400 and NL400 will scale to over 15 Petabytes in a single cluster, is highly efficient with over 80 percent storage utilization and help enterprises meet large-scale IT storage needs. Data that is frequently accessed or used with business-critical applications are suited for the X400 while older, less-frequently accessed data can be stored on the more economical NL400. When used with EMC Isilon software capabilities such as FlexProtect and SmartPools, storage solutions built with the X400 and NL400 are designed to deliver the highest availability and efficiency.

New DataBridge Enterprise Management Software

EMC announced a brand new enterprise management software – EMC DataBridge – to empower IT operations teams with a “single-pane of glass” management tool to easily build customizable dashboards for delivering ITaaS. DataBridge breaks down the individual silos of compute, storage and network, combining and relating infrastructure management data in a way that provides a more complete multi-dimensional view of their infrastructure. DataBridge will support EMC ProSphere, EMC Data Protection Advisor, EMC Unified Infrastructure Manager, EMC IT Operations Intelligence Suite, EMC Storage Configuration Advisor and EMC AppSync, in addition to non-EMC data sources.

“EMC DataBridge delivers visibility across a business’ IT infrastructure in both the physical and virtual environments–providing customers with integrated dashboards, and analytics with better visibility across the organization, said Jason Buffington, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. ”These new capabilities—combined with EMC’s storage and infrastructure solutions, and the ability to include third party data sources—create valuable new opportunities for companies looking to exploit and leverage real-time data from their cloud environment.”

Documentum D2 4.0

EMC announced the availability of EMC Documentum D2 4.0, a content management application with a modern, configurable and intuitive user experience for the EMC Documentum platform. Documentum D2 4.0 delivers new features such as configurable widget-based workspaces that increase usability and accommodate user preferences. New features include widget-based interfaces for personalized control of workspaces, and workspaces, to act as containers for widgets and gadgets. Documentum D2 focuses on configuration versus coding to significantly decrease the time to create, deploy and maintain a solution, and enable business analysts and systems administrators to make changes to applications without specialized coding. Documentum is available as a client in EMC onDemand, and is the core of the Documentum Life Sciences solutions, also announced at EMC World 2012.

“EMC is pleased to deliver this next release of Documentum D2,” said Rohit Ghai, Vice President, Products, Information Intelligence Group at EMC. ”Companies struggle with balancing the user demand for ease and productivity with IT’s push for agility, security and governance. We are the only vendor to accommodate both of these needs with Documentum D2. In extending Documentum D2 to the cloud via EMC OnDemand, we further enable our customers to focus on delivering business value without the burden of managing complex IT infrastructure.”

Source:http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/05/23/emc-world-new-scale-out-storage-and-software/

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Tags: Software

Five Signs That It’s Time to Change Your Financial Software

May 24th, 2012

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A division of UNIT4 (euronext amsterdam:UNIT4), the world’s leading provider of business software for fast-changing organizations, today released guidelines to help companies determine when it’s time to change their financial software. According to a recent survey conducted at CFO Leadership Summit, financial executives said that the biggest challenges they face with their financial systems are a lack of real-time reporting and poor integration with other systems in their organization.

“The financial system is the backbone of every organization, providing the data that is critical for analyzing and reporting profitability, sales and expenses,” said Steve Pugh, CEO of UNIT4 CODA. “Unfortunately, many organizations don’t have one single integrated system that can provide real-time visibility into their finances, but rather have data in disparate systems. This makes it impossible for them to know what’s really going on in their organizations.”

Other challenges CFOs cited include their system’s inability to adapt to change, complex financial tables, poor ease-of-use, minimal support, and features that are less than comprehensive.

Based on these insights and UNIT4 CODA’s experience with thousands of customers, the company offers the following signs that it is the time to improve financial management and change your accounting system:

1. You are adapting processes to accommodate your system. Instead of implementing the best practices for your business, you are re-engineering them to fit your legacy system.

2. You are relying more on work-arounds and spreadsheets. When you start depending on manual systems to complete everyday tasks that should be handled by your accounting solution, it’s time to change. You are at risk for human error and problems resulting from using outdated numbers for activities such as budgeting, forecasting and planning.

3. You have different versions of the truth. If General Ledger (GL), Accounts Receivable (AR), and Accounts Payable (AP) are all managed separately in disparate databases, you won’t have one accurate view of the data, the ability to identify issues and opportunities as they arise, or the agility you need to respond to them quickly.

4. You no longer have your finger on the pulse of your business. Without a single real-time view into your finances, you can be out of touch with what’s really happening within your organization. The more changes in your organization — such as expansion, acquisitions, and new product lines — the harder it is to know what’s really going on. You need visibility across your organization and the ability to drill down to the detailed level view and to “slice and dice” data in multiple ways.

5. You can’t support your global organization. If your financial system can’t handle multiple languages, currencies, taxes, and regulations, and it can’t simultaneously handle GAAP and IFRS accounting and reporting needs, it’s time for change.

“Every business, regardless of its stage of maturity, faces the organizational, technological, and economic challenges of change and growth. If the internal systems and processes aren’t designed to easily accommodate change, it can result in inefficiencies and missed business opportunities. The good news is that there are solutions that enable companies to achieve the visibility and agility they need to be competitive and support their business goals,” said Pugh.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-signs-that-its-time-to-change-your-financial-software-2012-05-23

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Tags: financial Software

Localized software will be key to Chinese success

May 24th, 2012

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China will be the biggest single source of smartphone growth in the near future, but the software platform battle will play out with different rules from those in more established markets. There is a rising trend to rely on homegrown operating systems and highly localized applications, which may prove challenging to Google’s or Apple’s one-size-fits-all approach.

Chinese search giant Baidu recently unveiled its own twist on Android and the first step in an ambitious plan to deliver a full cloud/browser operating system for mobile devices. But the firm is not alone. According to researchers at IDC, local OSs are on the rise because they integrate indigeneous mobile and web services, which are familiar to consumers.

While the currently fragmented OS market will consolidate, several players will survive, reflecting Chinese players’ desire to control their own destinies rather than rely heavily on western technologies. “Many of these developers are utilizing homegrown OS as a platform to create additional revenue streams,” commented ID research manager Ian Song.

By localizing the user environment and integrating well known services, an OS – or in some cases, a simpler Android overlay or fork – can drive greater mobile data usage and create revenues for operators and apps suppliers. Several localized platforms have been created by carriers, including China Mobile’s oPhone.

“Although many locally developed Chinese mobile OS are thinly disguised attempts at increasing the vendors’ bottom line, there are gems in this group that truly shine. These vendors know that having a great OS is half the battle,” concludes IDC. Baidu, Alibaba and China Mobile would fall into this group.

IDC predicts that smartphone shipments in China will eclipse those of featurephones by 2013 as operators build out 3G and offer incentives, such as subsidies, for consumers to upgrade from low end devices.

Nokia and Microsoft claim they will be in a strong position to take advantage of Chinese users’ taste for localized interfaces and content. Nokia has a long history of working with local software partners in emerging economies to create tailored apps. Michel van der Bel, Microsoft’s COO for Greater China, recently said that WP7 had gained 7% share on Chinese smartphones in its first two months of availability, overtaking iPhone on 6%.

A research study by Strategy Analytics found that handset vendors must offer highly tailored content to succeed in China. Mobile apps in highest demand include local shopping sites, stock market reports and restaurant reviews, commented analyst Alvin Wu. “Chinese consumers seek a mobile application store that should not only be easy to use and well structured, but provides a specific Chinese consumer experience.”

Paul Brown, director of the firm’s user experience practice, noted that smartphone vendors “must meet unique Chinese consumer needs for integration of native applications and social networking services, contacts and messaging, file management, security, privacy and customization”.

Source:http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2012/05/24/localized-software-key-chinese-success.htm