This week's sponsor is Catalyst Telecom. | 
| Learn More |
Editor's Corner: CISPA sponsor out of touch with Americans' privacy concerns Also Noted: Kony Solutions
Spotlight On... EU mulls probe of Chinese telecom gear makers
Source: Intel to buy Mashery for $180M; Is WebRTC threatening Skype? and much more...
This week's sponsor is Kaltura. |  | Webinar: CorporateTube - The Next Step for Enterprise Success
Thursday, April 18th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT
Learn from an elaborate case study and see how leading companies implemented this cutting edge solution to reap the benefits of video in the enterprise. Experts from Oracle, Akamai, and Kaltura will explain the many possibilities of deploying a CorporateTube for your organization. Register Today! |
CISPA sponsor out of touch with Americans' privacy concerns
 The House is expected to pass the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) bill on Thursday, despite objections from privacy advocates and many Democratic lawmakers.
An amendment offered on the House floor designed to address concerns of privacy advocates about the sharing of personal information with U.S. national security agencies appears to have been thwarted by House Republicans. The amendment would have required that any cybersecurity information obtained from private companies would go directly to the Department of Homeland Security instead of the National Security Agency (NSA), according to a report by The Hill newspaper. This would address a concern expressed by a number of privacy advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Freedom Foundation, about the CISPA. "Companies are granted immunity for sharing information directly with the NSA and that still needs to be fixed," Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel for the ACLU, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. I am perplexed that legislation benefiting the security of government and private sector networks and computers would be sabotaged by the refusal to address privacy concerns that many Americans, not just the ACLU, have about sharing personal information with U.S. national security agencies... Continued  Read more
Read more about: cybersecurity, Department of Homeland Security
back to top | |
Sponsor: Coveo FierceLive! Webinars > CorporateTube - The Next Step for Enterprise Success- Thursday, April 18th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT
> Building Custom Enterprise Apps - Thursday, May 16, 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT Events > Fierce Innovation Awards 2012 Live Announcement of this Year's Winners - Now Available On-Demand Marketplace > Whitepaper: The Importance of Managing Privileged Accounts
> eBook: Smarter Service: The Contract Center of the Future
> Research: How to Unlock Knowledge from Big, Unstructured Data to Improve Customer Service
> eBook: Harnessing the Increasingly Mobile Workforce Jobs > Public Safety DAS Engineer - Houston, TX - Connectivity Wireless Solutions
> Manager Business Process II - Business Intake - Denver, CO - Cricket Communications
> Construction Manager II Job - Nashville, TN, USA – Yoh
> Senior Linux Systems Administrator / Project Manager Job - Richardson, TX, USA – Yoh
> Technical Writer / Software Development Job - Falls Church, VA, USA – Yoh
> Project Manager II Job - Overland Park, KS, USA - Yoh
> Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs * Post a classified ad: Click here.
* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. Verizon's Terremark cloud unit invests in Xen, CloudStack open-standard projects
Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) Terremark cloud unit is investing in the Xen Project and CloudStack open-standard community, Terremark said in blog post this week. In the blog, Chris Drumgoole, senior vice president of global operations at Terremark, said his firm was investing money in the Xen project, joining the Linux Foundation as an advisory board member and endorsing the CloudStack project. "Our support and investment reflects our desire to see the cloud market mature quickly and provide businesses with cloud-based offerings that address specific needs like performance, cost and flexibility. From our perspective, investing in open source technologies at this stage of market development makes sense because it accelerates sharing, technology and ecosystem growth and reduces development and go-to-market costs," wrote Drumgoole. This is the first time Terremark has actively invested in open cloud projects, but it will not be the last time, Drumgoole said. The Terremark announcement comes on the same day that Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS), the commercial backer of the Xen Project, announced it was turning Xen over to the Linux Foundation. The member-led Linux Foundation will provide infrastructure, guidance and a collaborator network for the project, which is expected to accelerate development of the Xen hypervisor, Citrix said in a release. The Linux Foundation is backed by Amazon Web Services (Nasdaq: AMZN), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), HP (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and other major tech firms. Perhaps not coincidentally, these announcements come in the middle of the OpenStack Summit being held this week in Portland, Ore. Rackspace (NYSE: RAX)-backed OpenStack is a competing open-standards cloud project to the Citrix-based CloudStack. Verizon's Terremark is a leader in providing managed hosting services in North America, along with Rackspace, AT&T (NYSE: T) and Savvis, according to the latest magic quadrant report from Gartner. Managed hosting is offered on physical and virtualized infrastructures, including cloud-based infrastructure as a service, Gartner explained. For more:
- see the Terremark blog post
- check out the Citrix release
- read the Gartner report Related articles:
Report: AT&T, Verizon retain dominant spots in cloud market
Gartner: IaaS is fastest-growing segment of $131B public cloud market Read more about: OpenStack, CloudStack
back to top |
This week's sponsor is Coveo. |  | Research Report:
How to Unlock Knowledge from Big, Unstructured Data to Improve Customer Service
Learn how to unlock knowledge trapped in silos and systems and read how advanced enterprise search technology can put your organization's collective knowledge in the hands of your service reps. Watch your service performance improve and customer satisfaction soar. Download Now! |
2. Avaya's new network fabric supports tens of thousands of video streams for IP multicasting
Avaya unveiled on Wednesday its VENA Fabric Connect that supports tens of thousands of video streams for IP multicasting. VENA Fabric Connect provides a new model for IP multicasting which increases its scalability and resiliency, Avaya explained in a release. In addition, IP multicasting over Fabric Connect uses a single protocol, provides fast failover times, enables single command configuration for end points, drives network traffic through the shortest latent path and supports multi-tenant functionality for virtualization. "The IP multicast capability enables enterprises to turn on IP multicast routing without the complexity of traditional routing protocols," explained Paul Unbehagen, chief architect for Avaya Networking. Unbehagen said that in the financial industry, for example, IP multicast is used for stock trading applications. In addition, the security industry uses IP multicasting for video surveillance, he added. "A lot of enterprises have been struggling to deploy IP multicasting, or even avoiding it because of the number of protocols they have to run," Unbehagen told FierceEnterpriseCommunications. "With the IP multicasting extension to our Fabric technology, they just type in a single command and that enables it automatically." In addition, Avaya announced its VSP 4000, a fabric-enabled multi-service/multi-tenancy device that extends the VENA Fabric Connect across the network to the campus, metro or wide area network edge in order to connect to remote offices. Avaya said the device reduces the network complexity and increases network agility and uptime for enterprises deploying virtualization technology. VSP 4000 is the "first of its kind to enable all of the Fabric functionality that Avaya provides… It provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 VSN [virtual service network] capabilities," Unbehagen explained. Avaya will deploy its VENA Fabric Connect product as the network backbone of the upcoming Interop conference being held in Las Vegas next month. For more:
- see Avaya's release Related articles:
Avaya teams with VMware, EMC to launch collaboration pods on Aura virtualized environment
Avaya's new SBC beefs up security of remote and mobile UC capabilities Read more about: Interop Las Vegas, VENA Fabric Connect
back to top |
3. Intel reports steep profit drop, but Wall Street is unfazed
Poor PC sales contributed to a disturbing 25 percent year-over-year decline in Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) net income in the first quarter of 2013. The company reported a net income of $2.05 billion, down from $2.74 billion in the first quarter last year. Revenue totaled $12.6 billion in the first quarter of 2013, compared to $12.9 billion in the same quarter last year. Surprisingly, Intel's stock price did not decline after its financial results were released on Tuesday after the markets closed and instead was up slightly on erratic trading Wednesday. The net income decline could also be attributed to high inventory write-off for the company building more chips than it needed in the quarter, as well as charges for excess manufacturing capacity for older production lines, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Intel said it expects its revenue to increase to $12.9 billion in the second quarter of 2013. "Amidst market softness, Intel performed well in the first quarter and I'm excited about what lies ahead for the company. We shipped our next generation PC microprocessors, introduced a new family of products for micro-servers and will ship our new tablet and smartphone microprocessors early this quarter," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. Otellini will be stepping down from his post next month. Intel has been struggling to move from a PC chip maker to a mobile chip maker, a market currently led by Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM). In fact, revenue from the company's mobile chip unit was down 9 percent in the first quarter, a steeper decline than its PC chip business, which only fell 6 percent, Wall Street Journal writer Tom Gara wrote in a blog post. Perhaps investors were buoyed by Intel's predictions that the price of Windows 8 mobile devices could drop as low as $200 because of a new processor Intel is developing called the Bay Trail, Otellini told participants on the earnings conference call. The Bay Trail chip is a redesign of the Atom micro chip that boosts performance close to mainstream Intel chips, according to an article in CNET. "Bay Trail is going to be a great product in that segment of the market and enable stunning performance relative to what the competition can bring," Stacy Smith, Intel's CFO, was quoted by CNET as saying. The Bay Trail chip is expected to be available later this year, the report noted. Another explanation, offered by Gara, is that investors judged that Intel did well enough by only reporting a slight decline in revenue. Or as he titled his blog post: "Intel results: When not collapsing is good enough." But will it be "good enough" to give Intel time to make the transition from PCs to mobile devices? Investors will need to see indications that the chip giant is in fact making the transition successfully. For more:
- see Intel's release
- read the Wall Street Journal report
- check out the CNET article Related articles:
Is Intel the captain of a sinking semiconductor ship?
Dell predicts decline of the PC market Read more about: Mobile Devices
back to top |
4. Big data to fuel 53% CAGR for storage market through 2016, says IDC
Big data is fueling enterprise demand for increased data storage, a market that is forecast by IDC to increase at a 53 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2016. IDC predicts that revenue from storage used by big data and analytics will soar to nearly $6 billion from only $380 million in 2011. Most of the revenue will be generated by capacity optimized systems, such as dense enclosures, but some enterprises will use software-based distributed storage systems with internal disks to store processed data. "Storage will be one of the biggest areas of infrastructure spending for big data and analytics environments over the forecast period," said Ashish Nadkarni, research director for storage systems at IDC. Nadkarni told FierceEnterpriseCommunications that strong storage demand from big data would benefit most storage vendors, including EMC (NYSE: EMC), Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Hitachi Data Systems and NetApps. In a survey of 212 enterprises conducted by IDC, 68.8 percent of respondents said performance was the primary factor in selecting storage architecture, while 59.5 percent cited cost. Fewer than one-third of respondents said they currently had not deployed enterprise storage systems for data analytics infrastructure, but plan to begin deployment in the next six months. Asked about the type of converged infrastructure used for big data infrastructure, around 30 percent of respondents said they have deployed discrete converged infrastructure. Approximately the same percentage have deployed Compustorage, and 28 percent have done the integration in-house. In a separate study of storage deployment influencers, IDC found that 64 percent of respondents cited analysis of operations-related data as the primary reason for deploying data analytics infrastructure; 53.3 percent of respondents cited analysis of transactional data from sales or point-of-sale systems as a primary factor for deployment. IT was the top influencer of data analytics infrastructure, followed by operations as a distant second. More than 61 percent of respondents cited improving customer satisfaction as the most significant challenge solved by data analytics deployments. For more:
- see IDC's stats Related articles:
New storage technologies teed up
HP harnesses big data to thwart enterprise security threats Read more about: IBM, IDC
back to top |
5. Icahn agrees to limit stake in Dell
Carl Icahn has agreed to a deal with Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) that allows the billionaire investor to contact other shareholders about a possible bid for the company in exchange for a limit on Icahn's ownership stake in Dell, the company said in a release. Icahn has agreed not to buy more than 10 percent of Dell's shares or enter into agreements with shareholders who, together with Icahn, own more than 15 percent of the shares collectively. In exchange, Icahn receives a limited waiver of Delaware corporate law to enable him to contact other shareholders about buying the company. Icahn submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Dell during the "go-shop" process triggered by the merger agreement Dell's board signed with Michael Dell and his investment group. The go-shop period ended on March 22. Michael Dell's group agreed to pay $13.65 per share for Dell's stock, or a total of $24.4 billion. The company's founder is contributing his 15.6 percent stake in Dell along with cash through his private investment firm MSD Capital. Silver Lake is contributing $1 billion in cash, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is loaning the group $2 billion. The other proposal received by the special committee during the go-shop period was submitted by the Blackstone Group, which is working with investment firms Francisco Partners and Insight Venture Partners to offer $14.25 per share for control of Dell, the New York Times reported. "The Special Committee believes that granting the limited waiver to Mr. Icahn while capping his share ownership will maximize the chances of eliciting a superior proposal from Mr. Icahn while at the same time protecting shareholders against potential accumulation of an unduly influential voting interest," the Dell release said. The agreement between Dell and Icahn "will expire upon the earliest of consummation of the Michael Dell/Silver Lake Partners transaction, consummation of a superior alternative transaction, or January 15, 2014," the release added. For his part, Icahn said in a statement that "my affiliates and I expect to engage in meaningful discussions with other Dell shareholders, discussions that we believe will help to facilitate alternatives to the existing transaction with Michael Dell." Icahn stressed that he had turned down a $25 million expense reimbursement offer from Dell in exchange for giving up a proxy fight. "I want to make it very clear that I have retained the absolute right to conduct a proxy fight at Dell," he said. "Dell shareholders are entitled to a free exchange of ideas as they make this important decision and that includes the right of shareholders to evaluate all alternatives. We look forward to speaking with Dell shareholders in the days and weeks ahead," Icahn said. Icahn has been highly critical of the Michael Dell proposal for undervaluing the company. He reiterated his criticism this week. "Like other large Dell shareholders, I continue to believe that the February 5 merger agreement to take Dell private undervalues Dell and hurts shareholders," he said. For more:
- see Dell's release
- check out Icahn's statement
- read the New York Times article Related articles:
Dell predicts decline of the PC market
Report: Blackstone Group, Icahn make offers for Dell Read more about: Dell
back to top |
Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Kony Solutions. |  | Webinar: Building Custom Enterprise Apps
Thursday, May 16, 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT
Enterprises are moving away from publicly-available apps in favor of apps that are custom-built for their needs. Join a panel of experts to learn whether customized enterprise apps are right for your company and what business requirements those apps need to address.
Register Today! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... EU mulls probe of Chinese telecom gear makers EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is lobbying the EU ministers to launch a probe into Chinese telecom gear makers Huawei and ZTE over state subsidies that the commissioner considers unfair trade practices, according to a report by Reuters. However, European telecom gear makers Ericsson (NYSE: ERIC), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Nokia Siemens Networks are refusing to cooperate with the EU on the probe out of fear they will be shut out of the Chinese market, people familiar with the situation told the news wire. An internal EU report circulated last year recommending that action should be taken against Huawei and ZTE over the subsidies as well as over security concerns, the report related. Read more > Source: Mashery is selling to Intel for more than $180M. Article (TechCrunch) > RingCentral explains how cloud transformed VoIP. Article (PC Magazine) > Lebanon's MoT suspends Safico's preliminary VoIP award as it hammers out licensing details. Article (TeleGeography) > Broadsoft CEO: Here's why communications is moving to the cloud. Article (CITEworld) > ShoreTel debuts UC solution for small businesses. Article (Channel Partners) And finally… Is WebRTC a threat to Skype? Article (UCStrategies) > CorporateTube - The Next Step for Enterprise Success- Thursday, April 18th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT Learn from an elaborate case study and see how leading companies implemented this cutting edge solution to reap the benefits of video in the enterprise. Experts from Oracle, Akamai, and Kaltura will explain the many possibilities of deploying a CorporateTube for your organization. Register Today! > Building Custom Enterprise Apps - Thursday, May 16, 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT Enterprises are moving away from publicly-available apps in favor of apps that are custom-built for their needs. Join a panel of experts to learn whether customized enterprise apps are right for your company and what business requirements those apps need to address. Register Today!
| > Fierce Innovation Awards 2012 Live Announcement of this Year's Winners - Now Available On-Demand Please join Jason Nelson, Publisher of FierceWireless, FierceTelecom, and FierceCable as we announce the winners of the Fierce Innovation Awards 2012. Click here to RSVP today.
| > Whitepaper: The Importance of Managing Privileged Accounts Organizations can benefit greatly from a methodical process for the proper use, management and enforcement of administrative privileges. Read this whitepaper to learn how to develop and enforce a strategy for managing privileged accounts. > eBook: Smarter Service: The Contract Center of the Future This eBook explores the challenges facing traditional contact centers and the benefits of deploying the contact center of the future. You'll find links to further resources on the final page. Download today. > Research: How to Unlock Knowledge from Big, Unstructured Data to Improve Customer Service Learn how to unlock knowledge trapped in silos and systems and read how advanced enterprise search technology can put your organization's collective knowledge in the hands of your service reps. Watch your service performance improve and customer satisfaction soar. Download Now! > eBook: Harnessing the Increasingly Mobile Workforce How can companies best use mobile? FierceMobileIT explores methods for strategic mobile planning and IT development. Download for free today.
| > Public Safety DAS Engineer - Houston, TX - Connectivity Wireless Solutions Connectivity Wireless Solutions delivers best in class consulting, engineering, project management, installation, and staffing services to wireless carrier and enterprise customers. The Public Safety DAS Engineer is tasked with collecting and analyzing RF data typically with tools such as test phones and needs analysis equipment such as ZK Celltest and spectrum analyzers. Learn More! > Manager Business Process II - Business Intake - Denver, CO - Cricket Communications Cricket Communications, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts serving approximately 6 million customers. The Business Intake Manager will provide oversight and management of the Business Readiness Board and delivery of a consolidated calendar of system & commercial launch dates. Bachelor's Degree - business, marketing or related field; or equivalent experience required...Learn more. > Construction Manager II Job - Nashville, TN, USA – Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Construction Manager II to join our client in Nashville, TN. Job responsibilities include to create project tracker in Site Handler and provide any necessary support to Site Acq Lead (i.e. production curves). Bachelor's Degree preferred or equivalent work experience of three to five (3-5) years in specific industry...Learn more. > Senior Linux Systems Administrator / Project Manager Job - Richardson, TX, USA – Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Senior Linux Systems Administrator / Project Manager to join our client in Richardson, TX. Responsible for the installation, configuration, patching, upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting of server hardware, operating systems, storage, software and utilities in a large enterprise environment. Extensive experience with Red Hat Linux 5.6. required...Learn more. > Technical Writer / Software Development Job - Falls Church, VA, USA – Yoh Yoh has a three (3) month plus contract opportunity available for a Technical Writer with Software Development experience in Falls Church, VA. Job responsibilities include to review, edit, and write end-user documentation (SRN, IG, UM, Online Help, Readme, Navigation Tips) for 31 software applications. Five to seven (5-7) years of technical writing experience in a software development environment required...Learn more. > Project Manager II Job - Overland Park, KS, USA - Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Project Manager II to join our client in Overland Park, KS. PMII will be responsible for Network deployments of new technology, capacity additions, optimization, and preventative maintenance across CORE, RF, and Access. Bachelor's Degree preferred or extensive telecommunications experience required...Learn more. > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.