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Companies constrained by rising costs of license fees are rapidly turning to Zylog for help to migrate to lower cost Red Hat JBoss middleware solutions. A growing number of companies have made the transition from Oracle WebLogic to Red Hat Enterprise Application Platforms. The industry is quickly turning from traditional proprietary and heavyweight offerings that are notorious for complex, large, and expensive installations. JBoss leads the way to faster restarts, easier debugging, and proven technology for server and configuration management, performance monitoring and diagnostics, application provisioning and automation.

Companies investigating the total cost of ownership have quickly learned the rapid return on investment for migrating to JBoss. Some license fees and support costs for other legacy middleware products have risen as much as 70%. The transition to JBoss typically covers the costs for migration in the first year.

JBoss provides a proven foundation for mission critical applications that require superior performance and scalability. JBoss includes an application framework that simplifies building Web 2.0 applications. JBoss provides a process engine to create and automate business processes that coordinate people, applications, and services. The JBoss open source business rules management system enables easy policy and rules development, access, and change management.

Companies are turning to JBoss for total cost of ownership, significant return on investment with short payback period, reduced ongoing operational costs, improved IT productivity and time to market, and improved ability to consolidate virtualization. Zylog migration services enable companies to achieve these goals faster, at lower cost, and with dependable delivery.

Zylog contracted consulting services are immediately available to assist with installation, migration, and maintenance. Contact Zylog to find out more about options to reduce license costs, preserve budget, and keep pace with evolving technology.

Zylog has more than fifteen years of experience in providing migration services for esteemed clients worldwide. These services are now available in Canada, supported by Zylog offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canadian veterans of the Secord World War and Korean War will be able to have their stories told for future generations, thanks to an investment by the Government of Canada. The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced funding for the Historica-Dominion Institute’s Memory Project: Stories of the Korean War at an event held at HMCS York in Toronto. Minister Moore also announced an extension to the funding for the Institute’s Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War.

These projects aim to provide every living Canadian veteran who wants to share his or her memories with all Canadians—particularly teachers, students, and the general public—the opportunity to do so through an interactive and extensive website that will record and store first-hand accounts and memorabilia of individual Canadian veterans. As a result, future generations can learn about and understand what they did for their country.

“Every veteran who fought for Canada deserves to be able to share their stories, so all Canadians can remember their sacrifices,” said Minister Moore. “Our Government is proud to help our veterans tell their stories so they can be preserved for generations to come. These projects provide a unique opportunity to record this important chapter in our history from those who lived it. Knowing our history helps us understand where we came from and defines us as Canadians.”

In 2009, the Government of Canada announced funding for the Institute’s Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War through the Commemoration Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The project creates a definitive record of Canada’s participation in the Second World War through thousands of first-person accounts by veterans. Stories of the Korean War is the continuation of that work.

The Government of Canada has provided funding of $938,850 for Stories of the Korean War and an additional $385,000 for Stories of the Second World War (bringing total government investment in that project to more than $3 million) through the Commemorate Canada component of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Celebration and Commemoration Program. This component provides financial support to initiatives of national significance that commemorate various aspects of Canadian history.

OpenText™ has been named a Microsoft Global Launch Partner for SQL Server Code Name “Denali” – a cloud-ready information platform now available for community review. OpenText also announced that it has been selected as a finalist for the 2011 Microsoft ISV/Software Line of Business Partner of the Year Award and continues to deliver market-leading solutions in support of key Microsoft cloud initiatives including fax server integration for Office 365 and an Azure-based business process management solution.

The announcements were made at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 (WPC11), the annual gathering for the Microsoft partner community to learn about the roadmap for the upcoming year. OpenText has a strong presence at the event and is exhibiting in the Solution Innovation Center in booth #435.

“Our customers are continually pushing for new and more powerful ways of dealing with the explosion of data and content across their organizations,” said Lubor Ptacek, Vice President of Strategic Marketing and General Manager of the Microsoft Solutions Group at Open Text.  “As a Microsoft Global Launch Partner for Denali we are well-positioned to help our enterprise content management (ECM) customers take advantage of new capabilities in SQL Server around performance, scalability, security and information access. We see Denali as supporting our mission to help enterprises claim, control and capitalize on content.”

As part of the agreement as a Global Launch Partner for Denali, OpenText will provide support for SQL Server Denali for core ECM products shortly after the final release of Denali.

For those in the creative fields, anticipating and adapting to change — from the tools they’re using at work to the people they’re interacting with to the audiences they’re targeting — has become part and parcel of the job. A new research guide, The Creative Team of the Future, explores key trends shaping the marketing and design fields, and how industry professionals can prepare for and capitalize on upcoming changes.

The guide is part of a new research project, which also includes video interviews with leading creative thinkers, that was co-developed by The Creative Group and the American Advertising Federation (AAF). For the project, The Creative Group and the AAF surveyed more than 500 AAF Ad Club and corporate members, interviewed industry thought leaders and conducted exclusive research to assess how marketing and design teams may operate in the next three to five years.

Key Findings:

– Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of AAF Ad Club and corporate members said creative professionals will have more influence on their companies’ business decisions in the future. Fittingly, one-third of survey respondents cited problem-solving skills as the most useful trait for creative professionals to develop.

– More than six in 10 respondents (62 per cent) said they expect creative professionals to work more hours over the next several years. In addition, an overwhelming 85 per cent said they anticipate being more connected to the office outside of business hours by 2016.

– As collaboration tools become more accessible and affordable for creative teams, employers may offer their staff the ability to telecommute more frequently during the work week. In fact, 84 per cent of respondents said a greater number of creative professionals will work remotely in the next three to five years.

– In today’s global marketplace, collaboration often means working with people in different countries and marketing to a multicultural audience. But the colleagues sitting next to you will likely become more varied, too: Eighty-two per cent of respondents said they expect creative teams to become more culturally diverse.

– Two-thirds of survey respondents said spending on mobile-related projects will increase significantly in the next three to five years; another 28 per cent said it would increase somewhat. Further, 34 per cent of AAF Ad Club and corporate members said mobile will be the most influential advertising medium over the same period.

Design and marketing professionals are holding more sway in their organizations as companies recognize they can do more than develop eye-pleasing designs and catchy ad campaigns. The ability to think outside the box and pitch ideas effectively will become essential for creative professionals in the near future.

“Organizations are increasingly turning to their marketing and creative teams for help generating ideas and solutions that solve business problems, improve customer service and, ultimately, grow the bottom line,” said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group.

While smartphones, laptops, tablets and other communications tools provide employees greater flexibility, they also have made it more difficult for creative professionals to unplug from the office. “Mobile devices certainly free us up to work where we want, when we want, but they also blur the boundaries between our personal and professional lives,” said Farrugia. “Finding ‘me’ time on your calendar to relax or enjoy a hobby will become as important as juggling on-the-job deadlines and meetings.”

Creative professionals are interacting with more people than ever before, working with colleagues in different departments — and even different organizations — to concept, develop and execute multifaceted campaigns. Managing relationships with freelancers or business partners located in different cities, states or countries also will become more common. Consequently, the ability to communicate effectively with people across and outside an organization, who may or may not be familiar with design or marketing terminology, will be crucial.

“Being flexible is key to surviving and thriving in the creative industry of the future,” said Farrugia. “Professionals with an open mindset — who are willing to embrace new tools, consumer trends and work processes — will be in the best position to move their careers and businesses forward.”

To download a complimentary copy of The Creative Team of the Future, watch video interviews or find more information about the research project, please visit the study’s information page.

With business softphone adoption growing at double-digit rates annually, service providers and enterprise IT departments need to slash the costs and time spent provisioning and managing those devices. CounterPath Corporation has announced the availability of its Client Configuration Server (CCS) and the granting of U.S. Patent No. 7,958,276, which together offer IT managers more control and autonomy through a simplified management user interface that immediately increases deployment efficiencies and streamlines end-user device management.

CounterPath’s Client Configuration Server is designed to enable enterprises and service providers such as telcos, cable providers and ITSPs to deploy and manage their own CCS solution, a key node for any softphone or SIP endpoint deployment. Featuring a clean and intuitive user interface, the CCS enables service providers to automatically apply the proper configuration to each end-user device, periodically update those configurations and remotely upgrade client-side software.

“Service providers typically have to build their own configuration servers when deploying endpoints such as CounterPath’s softphones. Not only is that labor-intensive, it isn’t really within the operator’s core competency,” said Todd Carothers, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Products, CounterPath. “With CCS, operators can take advantage of a solution that’s not only off the shelf but specifically designed to accelerate deployment while increasing back-end efficiencies.”

CounterPath’s Client Configuration Server also provides:

• Five-Nines (99.999 percent) Reliability – The CCS is based on CounterPath’s Network Convergence Gateway (NCG) technology, ensuring carrier-class reliability.
• Standards-Based Security – All client communications are done via HTTPS.
• High Scalability – Customers can support millions of softphone/SIP endpoints.
• Flexibility – The CCS’s profile and template structure supports a wide variety of client types and end-user configurations.
• Multi-Tenanted Capabilities – A group hierarchy enables reseller scenarios and department-level administrative control within end-customer companies.
• Multiple Interfaces – The CCS is designed for both programmatic back-end systems and operations staff for configuration access on a per-tenant basis.

In addition to desktop softphones, CounterPath’s CCS can be applied to CounterPath’s mobile softphone applications for Apple’s iOS and Android devices. This architecture gives service providers and enterprises the ability to make changes to, and monitor subscriber usage of, their mobile applications across broader distribution channels, such as Value Added Resellers (VARs) and Value Added Distributors (VADs).

The CCS also helps major OEM channels manage provisioning scenarios that have a large number of in-channel constituents – VADs, VARs and resellers – and multiple end users. Major OEM channels also can use the CCS to help manage the distribution of revenue to agents in the channels, and provide audit capabilities to control how many licenses are being used and by whom.

CounterPath’s newly granted patent, No. 7,958,276, covers the automatic configuration of peripheral devices such as VoIP softphones, headsets and speakerphones. The CCS implements elements of this patent to significantly enhance and simplify device deployment and management within a service provider or enterprise environment. The patent enables device and software configuration to be performed automatically both when the software is started and on important events such as a user unplugging or attaching a headset.

The patent also provides the ability to save and restore multiple configurations based on a variety of conditions, a major asset in mobile environments. When combined with the CCS, this feature enables IT services to achieve zero-touch deployments across the field.

“CounterPath’s new patent enables zero-touch device configuration,” Carothers said. “The launch of our Client Configuration Server and the receipt of this latest patent together demonstrate CounterPath’s commitment to simplifying the softphone experience from implementation to end user and dedication to helping service providers be successful in their go-to-market VoIP strategies.”

A hosted version of the Client Configuration Server will be available from CounterPath in the near future.

Dejero Labs Inc. announced this morning that ABC Owned station WLS-TV in Chicago has purchased multiple Dejero LIVE Platform systems with mobile 4G wireless capability that transmit live SD/HD video and transfer files remotely. The award-winning Dejero LIVE Platform is the mobile video transmission solution with the ability to broadcast live video across 4G/3G/WiFi wireless networks and Ethernet direct. This innovative transmission solution also integrates store and forward capabilities that upload clips, photos and files.

“WLS-TV is the dominant news organization in Chicago and our viewers trust us to bring them breaking news first,” explained Kal Hassan, VP and Director of Engineering of WLS-TV. “We chose the Dejero LIVE Platform as an added asset for our newsgathering tool box. Our crews can go live quickly with streaming video if cellular, WiFi or Ethernet networks are available. Additionally, news packages can be sent to the station using the integrated non-realtime store and forward capabilities. Although not a panacea for all situations, it enhances our news gathering capabilities.”

“WLS-TV is the number one news station in their market,” said Dan Mance, Dejero CEO. “Their investment in the Dejero LIVE Platform supports their drive to be news leaders with a more flexible solution for live and remote file-based transmission.”

The Dejero LIVE Platform comprises three components: the Dejero LIVE Mobile Transmitter is a portable hand held HD/SD transmitter that connects to a camera and goes live with the push of a button; the Dejero LIVE Video Manager, the online manager that connects transmitters to video receiving servers; and the Dejero LIVE Video Server, the receiving unit that typically resides in a studio rack to decode the live video transmission for ingest.

VOIP solutions provider babyTEL Inc. has successfully completed interoperability testing with OpenText RightFax 10 and babyTEL’s open Internet Fax over IP (FoIP) SIP Trunking service. The two companies can now provide reliable fax transmission over the Internet on SIP trunks by supplying enterprises and hosted service providers with end-to-end support for the T.38 FoIP protocol.

Enterprise fax server customers are rapidly moving to FoIP technology to leverage investments in converged voice and data networks as SIP/T.38 trunking is fast being adopted in lieu of legacy PSTN. As a result of this successful interoperability, enterprise can extend the efficiency of FoIP technology beyond the enterprise border to the user end points.

“The interest and demand for SIP-based communication services within the enterprise market continues to grow and with it comes the need to support reliable fax communications,” said Matthew Brine, Vice President, Fax and Document Distribution, OpenText. “At OpenText, we are committed to supporting this need through proven interoperability with industry-leading SIP trunking services, and we are particularly pleased to add babyTEL to our tested FoIP interoperability list.”

babyTEL’s FoIP optimized network, with end-to-end T.38 support, allows customers to deliver faxes over the open Internet and avoid the cost of dedicated data links, regular telephone Trunking and/or related hardware. As a result, users gain significant savings in lower call rates with this scalable solution, requiring only additional bandwidth for expansion, while meeting enterprises’ stringent demands for quality and reliability.

“We are very excited to have our FoIP-optimized network certified for interoperability with OpenText’s RightFax 10,” said Stephen Dorsey, CEO, babyTEL Inc. “This collaboration between our companies marks an important chapter in FoIP, as it allows RightFax users to connect to our FoIP network using the readily available open Internet. By bundling babyTEL’s T.38 Trunking, OpenText RightFax 10 is ready to operate with minimal configuration, once connected to the Internet.”

From the Accelerate Okanagan blog:   The “Business Clinic” service for Okanagan technology companies has officially launched. This free service forms part of Accelerate Okanagan’s offering for entrepreneurs and technology companies looking to start, accelerate and grow. Priority access to the clinics will be given to program clients and member companies of Accelerate Okanagan.

The inaugural Legal Business Clinic was presented July 4 by Pushor Mitchell Lawyers. The first Financial Business Clinic took place July 8 with BDO Dunwoody. Accelerate Okanagan’s Business Clinic initiative is designed to offer access to expertise for growth companies through “drop-in clinics” delivered by partners, who are professional service providers offering free expert advice and guidance on specific legal, financial and HR challenges faced by technology companies and entrepreneurs.

On the financial side, some of these challenges might include:

• Business structure and related reporting and tax implications
• Business plan preparation and the financial components
• Understanding financial statements: Balance sheet; Income statement; Cash flow statement; Retained earnings
• Chart of Accounts
• Forecasting
• Budgeting
• Bringing in investors
• Shareholder loans
• Compensation: Salary vs. Dividends
• Equipment: Buy vs. lease.

On the legal side, they could include:

• Basic Legal Issues and Documents for Early Stage Ventures
• Incorporation
• Corporate Due Diligence
• Confidentiality, Non-Circumvention and Protection of Corporate Interests Agreements
• Organizing and Structuring your Venture
• Beta and End User Licensing
• Licensing Considerations
• Software Support Agreements
• Intellectual Property
• Disclaimer Information
• Exit Strategy Requirements.

Together with access to in-house Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Business Clinics form part of Accelerate Okanagan’s overall Expert Service that provides support to technology companies from experienced, successful business professionals who work hands-on with entrepreneurs to share advice, solve problems, and assist clients identify and overcome hurdles to growth.

Professional services firms that have signed on to deliver Business Clinics include:

Law firms – Pushor Mitchell and Farris, Vaughn, Wills & Murphy
Financial services firms – BDO Dunwoody, Grant Thornton and KPMG
HR firms – Smithson Employment Law and Love HR.

All of these service provider partners join Accelerate Okanagan in their commitment to assisting entrepreneurs grow and achieve their full potential. For further information about this service, please visit the Accelerate Okanagan website or contact Martin at 250.870.9028. To schedule your participation at a financial, legal or HR Business Clinic, contact Kathryn at 250.870.9028.

On Sunday, August 7th, and in conjunction with SIGGRAPH 2011, Autodesk will be hosting the Autodesk Student Experience Event, a series of workshops and presentations exclusively for students who are pursuing their CG dreams. This full day of events will feature classes, one-on-one feedback sessions with Autodesk technology experts, a seminar from Carlos Baena of Animation Mentor and a keynote presentation by Duncan Brinsmead, principal scientist at Autodesk.

The workshops and presentations will be held at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel beginning at 9am and running throughout the day until 5pm. There will be a two networking reception held following the conclusion of the day’s events.

The sessions will focus on skill set improvement using Autodesk 3D animation tools such as Autodesk^® Maya^®, Autodesk^® 3ds Max^® and Autodesk^® Softimage^® software. Pre-registration is highly recommended, and you can follow Jennifer Goldfinch on Twitter for more information.

Autodesk Application Engineers & AREA Bloggers will be on site during the event, and you are invited to come and chat with them about your latest project, product tips & tricks, industry questions and more. No registration required for this portion of the day. Gary M. Davis (3ds Max), Louis Marcoux (3ds Max), Lee Fraser (Maya) and Mark Schoennagel (Softimage) will be available to answer your questions about 3ds Max, Maya and Softimage.

Growing security and compliance concerns signal big growth in the awareness and adoption of SIEM solutions in the coming year, according to a recent Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Vendor Landscape report published by Info-Tech Research Group.

“As security and compliance concerns grow with each new regulation, each failed audit and each publicized security breach, SIEM will finally begin to draw broader attention in the coming year,” said James Quin, Lead Research Analyst for Info-Tech Research Group. “Though the space is mostly populated by smaller players, some larger players are already marketing SIEM solutions and the recent acquisition of market-leader ArcSight by HP is a possible precursor of greater consolidation to come.”

The report, titled “Security Information and Event Management: Simplify Compliance and IT Risk Management with SIEM Tools,” lists Q1 Labs (USA), SenSage (USA) and Symantec (USA) as Champions with Nitro Security (USA) earning the Innovation Award.

NitroSecurity’s NitroView ESM offering garnered top product performance scores across the board and is listed at the second lowest price point of the solutions evaluated in the report. It is noted as one of the most feature-rich solutions and offers truly comprehensive and forward-looking correlation capabilities.

Symantec is the Value Award winner and a Champion in the report. According to Info-Tech Research Group, they offer a solid product backed by a solid vendor committed to the security space and at an attractive price point. The report recommends Symantec’s solution for organizations with generic SIEM needs.

SenSage and Q1 Labs also showed well in the evaluation and were listed as Champions. SenSage is one of the smallest vendors in the space, but makes up for it with their business intelligence like capabilities for security data. Q1 Labs is the largest independent player in the space and offers the broadest and most comprehensive set of reporting capabilities of any other vendor in the report. Info-Tech notes that Q1 has the potential to be looked on as a prospective target for acquisition by some of the big security vendors looking to get into the space as the demand for SIEM builds.