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Industry News Europe

Business News

businessMart Takes On New Markets Using IBM SOA and Web 2.0 Technologies
businessMart AG, Inc. has significantly accelerated its entry into new business markets, thanks to a new Web-based trading platform built on IBM service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web 2.0 technology. Combining a flexible infrastructure with mashup technology, businessMart’s marketing and IT functions can now better communicate and share ideas, streamlining the traditional product development process and cutting deployment time. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, businessMart develops and operates some of the largest and most successful e-business platforms in Europe. businessMart can now reuse existing applications, business processes, and services to instantly support the saleof new products from hundreds of manufacturers. This eliminates the need to build individual applications and Web pages to support each and every new product; now it's as simple as a few clicks using the Web 2.0 tools. IBM mashup technology is also used by businessMart to access the SOA-enabled back end and quickly provide visualization of the available services. For information about businessMart AG visit www.businessMart.de.

Callidus Software Announces European Growth
Callidus Software Inc., a provider of sales performance management (SPM) solutions, announced the growth of its sales and consulting team for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Additionally, Callidus has opened a new EMEA headquarters in London to serve its growing customer base. The company's growth is being driven by a greater market need for sales performance management across organizations and industries. The slowing economy, increased competition, and regulatory considerations, such as the U.K. Retail Distribution Review in the financial services market, are all contributing to major expansion of the SPM market. Callidus' solutions are available on-premise and on-demand and enable companies to improve sales performance, align sales strategy with corporate business objectives, and drive revenue and profitability. Visit www.callidussoftware.com for more information.

Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation Opens New Office in Belgium
Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation, a global logistics and transportation service provider for chemical and process industries, announced the opening of its European office in Antwerp, Belgium. Several major companies have already signed contracts with Odyssey in Europe to manage and provide services in all logistics operating modes, including truck, rail, and ocean transportation, and warehouses and terminals. Odyssey’s clients in Europe will take advantage of the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform, a software platform developed in-house by Odyssey technology personnel using well-known and proven software technologies. This expansion will give Odyssey the opportunity to provide a global integrated logistics solution that combines technology, people, and process into one offering, servicing many more clients and giving them worldwide coverage. For more information, visit www.odysseylogistics.com.

UniCredit Group Joins European Risk Analysis Service
UniCredit Group has joined the Risk Analysis Service (RAS), a credit risk benchmarking service developed jointly by RMA and AFS that is designed to enhance risk management practices. RAS is unique because it allows financial institutions to measure their respective risk profiles in defined portfolio segments relative to industry peers. Based on quarterly data from participating banks, RAS provides a timely metric that enables individual banks to more closely monitor risk exposures and thereby improve risk measurement and management practices. RAS will also help satisfy a number of the new regulatory reporting requirements mandated by Basel II. In addition, it will prove useful to firms for model and parameter validation purposes. As the EU moves toward public disclosure of internal risk information such as Probability of Default (PD) and Loss Given Default (LGD) in early 2009, RAS could prove especially useful. Visit www.unicreditgroup.eu for more details.

 

New Products &Services

MyComplinet, an online community for compliance professionals in the global financial services industry, has announced new networking features, which are available immediately to its 19,000 users across Europe, the Americas, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. MyComplinet is a professional online networking platform that acts as a social and professional forum; it was launched in October 2007 by Complinet, the leading provider of dynamic and connected risk and compliance solutions to the global financial services industry. It connects compliance specialists in financial institutions, allowing them to network and to share ideas to resolve market-wide challenges created by the volume and complexity of industry regulations. The updated version of MyComplinet offers a range of new networking and information features, including monthly bulletins and enhanced messageboards covering a broader range of subject matter. Other features include a compliance blog that subjects breaking market news to expert analysis and opinion as well as providing a tongue-in-cheek look at the industry through cartoons and humor. For more details, visit www.compliment.com/community.

QuickArrow Launches New SMB Offering
QuickArrow, Inc., a leader in SaaS services automation, launched a new small business offering, further extending its focus on the rapidly growing small and medium business (SMB) market segment. The new offering is designed to help SMBs quickly and easily automate their businesses and gain greater visibility into their services operations. QuickArrow focuses on four key enablers for the SMB space: ease of use, speed to value, visibility on demand, and automation. The company's SaaS delivery model simplifies the implementation process, reducing the deployment cycle to less than 30 days for most organizations. Packaged integrations with applications such as salesforce.com and QuickBooks are also available, allowing SMBs to easily integrate and automate their entire business from bid-to-bill. QuickArrow's Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution helps services organizations better manage the three things that matter most: people, projects, and performance. To learn more, please visit www.quickarrow.com.

ClickSoftware Channel Partner Program Brings Field Service Management and Optimization to Mid-Size Service Organizations
Mid-size service organizations now have access to full-featured, quickly deployed, and affordable field service optimization software thanks to a new channel partner program unveiled by ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. The ClickSoftware Channel Partner Program will be the exclusive channel for selling ClickSoftware for Installation, Maintenance and Repair Services (ClickIMRS) software, which enables mid-size service organizations to use best-in-class service optimization tools. ClickIMRS is a cost-effective offering incorporating schedule optimization, mobility, reporting, and a work order management module to help mid-size companies with 50 to 500 field resources increase their customers' satisfaction and loyalty while sustaining growth and profitability. Having recently attained Microsoft's Gold Certified Partner status, ClickSoftware will work with key Microsoft Dynamics AX (ERP) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution resellers to provide ClickIMRS to prospective customers. ClickIMRS integrates with the Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions to help organizations respond more quickly to customer requests and connect their business in real time with their mobile workforce. Visit www.clicksoftware.com for more information.

Sun and Microsoft Open New Interoperability Center and Announce Availability of Sun Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation announced two new milestones in their ongoing alliance—the official opening of the Sun/Microsoft Interoperability Center on Microsoft’s Redmond campus for optimizing Microsoft applications on Sun Fire x64 server systems and storage, and the availability of the Sun Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. The Sun/Microsoft Interoperability Center serves as a working lab for tuning, benchmarking, and interoperability solutions creation. The Sun Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will help enable enterprise customers to better manage e-mail growth and realize the benefits of Exchange Server 2007. Pre-tested end-to-end system and storage configurations allow customers to easily migrate to Exchange Server 2007—achieving up to 85 percent in rack space, power and cooling savings, and reducing total cost of ownership for e-mail by up to 70 percent over three years. More information on the Sun Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is available at www.sun.com/exchange and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb412164.aspx.

 

Industry Awards & Achievements

Attenda Wins VMware Partner of the Year Award for Its Hosting Services
Attenda Limited, the Always On Managed Services company, has been awarded the VMware EMEA Hosting Partner of the Year Award. The award was presented at the Partners Awards ceremony at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, as part of VMworld Europe 2008, which was attended by more than 4,500 IT professionals from around Europe to experience Europe's largest virtualization industry event. The award is a mark of Attenda's success as a leading VMware Service Provider, bringing to market new virtual infrastructure hosting and managed services offerings. Attenda is utilizing VMware technology to power its Real Time Infrastructure, with the benefits of faster provisioning, higher availability, and lower cost than would be possible with conventional hardware hosting, while also helping the environment by consuming less power and data center space. Visit www.attenda.net or www.VMware.com for more information.

ServRight Announces Outstanding Performance Awards Winners
Steven Ridenhour, president of ServRight, an Intrepid company, announced the winners of the company’s annual outstanding performance awards. The 2007 Winners for Awards of Excellence:

“Each of these companies showed the largest growth in business in calendar year 2007,” explained Ridenhour. “All of us at ServRight are pleased that these companies can grow their own businesses through a successful partnership with us. Congratulations.” ServRight delivers technical service and support solutions to government and commercial enterprises that value quality, speed, flexibility, and cost control. Visit www.servright.com.

CGS Wins Prestigious IBM Global Services Sales Leadership Award
Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. (CGS), a leader in innovative IT solutions and services, has been awarded the 2007 IBM Global Services U.S. Sales Leadership Award. The award recognizes exceptional contributions by IBM Business Partners. CGS was recognized in two categories: awarded first place in the Global Systems Integration category and third place in the Labor-Based Services Growth category. CGS has been a premier IBM Business partner for more than 15 years and is a recognized leader in delivering services, custom applications, and support on IBM platform and technologies. Receiving the IBM Global Services Business Partner Sales Leadership Award demonstrates not only leadership and expertise of IBM Technology Solutions, but also the knowledge and capability to develop industry-specific custom solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.cgsinc.com.

 

Industry News Makers

Therap Services Welcomes Anna Keith to the U.S. Customer Support Team
Therap Services has appointed Anna Keith as assistant director of implementation. Therap Services is a Web-based service bureau offering an integrated suite of applications for the developmental disability community. Therap has a customer support team consisting of former executive directors, house managers, clinicians, and direct support professionals. Anna comes to Therap with 17 years of service delivery experience. Prior to joining Therap, she was president and CEO of New Beginning Enterprises for 12 years, where she oversaw day-to-day activities and was involved with legislative initiatives, grant writing, strategic planning, and creating business opportunities for people with disabilities. Visit www.therapservices.com.

Former Postini/Google Executive to Expand Proofpoint's Customer Service Offerings
Proofpoint, Inc., a provider of unified e-mail security and data loss prevention solutions, has named Mark Fishwick as vice president of client services. In this role, Fishwick will expand Proofpoint's global customer service offerings while ensuring the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Prior to joining Proofpoint, Fishwick spent four years as vice president of client services for Postini (Google). Fishwick brings 25 years of experience building and running customer service organizations including stints at Blazent Inc., Brokat Technologies, Blaze Software, Chordiant Software, and Informix Corporation. Fishwick has extensive international experience, having lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and the Americas. Visit www.proofpoint.com.

Panda Security Joins TSANet Board of Directors
Panda Security, a leading provider of IT security solutions, has joined the board of directors of TSANet (Technical Support Alliance Network). Specifically, Darragh Kelly, Panda Security's technical training and certificate manager, will be the company's representative on the board. TSANet is a non-profit organization that facilitates seamless global collaboration between support organizations and addresses mutual client problems. The seat was offered due to the active participation of Panda Security's Services Division within TSANet since 2004. TSANet has expressed its satisfaction in welcoming Panda Security onto the board of directors of TSANet Europe. "Having Darragh join TSANet's board is great news," said Leigh Darby, executive director, TSANet Europe. "Along with the other board members, Darragh's experience and guidance will help us develop the organization even further during 2008." Visit www.pandasecurity.com for more information.