MaSSSoftech

OAK BROOK, Ill., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of businesses turning to a third party to implement and maintain their information technology continues to grow as IT departments seek ways to further cut costs and reduce their on-premise infrastructure.

SWC Technology Partners, a consulting firm with roots going back 30 years, has seen an increase over the past 12 months in the number of organizations seeking managed services for networks, computers and software. Managed services are delivered through a combination of technology, people and processes to remotely monitor, identify and proactively repair any issues that could challenge network or server performance, thus avoiding service disruption. Managed services solutions are embraced by a variety of industries including manufacturers, non-profits, financial services, educational institutions and professional services.

In a November 2008 report, Forrester Research analyst Henry Dewing noted multiple factors lining up to increase the attractiveness of managed services over the next 24 to 30 months, including rapid technology evolution, a coming investment wave in information technology and market constraints on capital.

"As the economy fights to regain its footing, small and midsize businesses are more readily and more decisively turning to managed services," said Bob Knott, President, SWC Technology Partners. "A managed environment is an ideal solution for small and midsized businesses, and it makes economic sense to manage systems remotely instead of investing in equipment, technology and manpower."

Knott cited some of the benefits of a managed environment:

* It fills gaps created by a downsized IT department, usually for a fraction of the cost of a full time staff member.
* It decreases the challenges and risk associated with having a sole IT manager with whom all knowledge resides.
* It provides a flexible level of support that can grow or change with a company's needs.
* It enables the replication of a company's core system for disaster recovery purposes.
* SWC's Managed Services contracts are delivered via a fixed monthly fee, eliminating surprises, and customers aren't locked into a lengthy multi-year commitment.

"We're seeing more companies delay hiring and turn to a managed environment instead," Knott said. "Managed services solutions mean less risk, less stress, improved stability, more predictable costs and affordable access to expertise across a variety of technologies. These factors contribute to customers embracing managed services with much more gusto now than in the past."

SWC gains total visibility into a client's network performance to see how systems interact with one another by installing a network probe that collects data and monitors network health and performance every five minutes around the clock. In the event of a problem, the SWC team can immediately diagnose what happened, assess the severity, notify the customer, and troubleshoot and resolve the issue to get the system up and running with minimal downtime.

Knott noted some recent SWC projects that illustrate the trend toward managed services:

Affy Tapple

A Chicagoland tradition since 1948, Affy Tapple is a supplier of caramel apples and specialty confections. As the company changed ownership and evolved from a simple operation to a major manufacturing firm, it found itself with an increasingly complex IT infrastructure and a heavy reliance on technology.

Because Affy Tapple's reputation for quality depends upon the freshness of its products, orders received in the morning are made to order and often ship the same day. As demand grew, it became increasingly important that Affy Tapple's orders were processed with speed and accuracy. As a result, the company turned to SWC to provide it with IT systems that were highly reliable and able to manage high spikes in demand.

SWC upgraded the servers, backup and network to ensure these systems would appropriately support Affy Tapple's business needs, and provides ongoing monitoring, maintenance and security for its systems.

"We needed to update our IT systems, but did not want the upgrades to interfere with our production. SWC embraced our goals, implementing the changes we needed within an aggressive timeframe. This allowed us to keep our production schedule on track heading into our busy season," said Bill Henry, chief operating officer of Affy Tapple.

Morton College

Morton College came to SWC seeking network administration and technology support. The college's board of trustees was impressed by SWC's unique solution to manage Morton College's IT needs. Through its Managed Services team, SWC proactively collects data on a 24-7 basis and monitors Morton College's network infrastructure, generating alerts when thresholds are breached. SWC then provides best practice recommendations to proactively address issues before they become problems.

SWC provides a dedicated onsite engineer who coordinates the comprehensive support and coverage Morton College requires.

"When a problem does occur, the wealth of information available to the SWC team allows them to quickly triage the issue, identify a solution and begin working toward resolution," said Philip Pena, Morton College's Director of MIS. "Their experience shows us also that maintaining a regular updating and patching schedule ensures the security, longevity and operational efficiency of our systems.

"SWC's intimate knowledge of the Morton College environment and the related technologies to provide the required support eliminates the cost, frustration and high turnover associated with traditional support models," Pena said.

About SWC Technology Partners

SWC Technology Partners (www.swc.com) is a leading provider of innovative IT solutions to small and medium-size businesses. For nearly 30 years, SWC has excelled at providing strategic guidance and delivering solutions tailored to the needs of growing organizations. SWC's areas of expertise include best-in-class Managed Services, Performance Management, Business Applications, Messaging & Collaboration and Network Infrastructure & Security solutions. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, SWC is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, a Symantec Gold Certified Partner and a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Partner.

Siddique Islam - AHN Correspondent

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - The country's apex trade body will organize a seminar on 'Bangladesh, Next Destination of IT' in the two-day CIO Summit scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Arizona of the U.S.

Commerce Minister of Bangladesh Muhammad Faruk Khan and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Annisul Huq will give an overview of the Bangladesh information technology (IT) market and its prospects before the CIOs of the top global companies in the seminar.

The seminar will play a vital role in developing the IT sector of Bangladesh, the apex trade body said in a press statement in the capital, Dhaka.

The CIO (Chief Information Officer) Summit 2009 in Scottsdale, Arizona, will once again serve as an arena for senior level executives to engage in clear and focused dialogue with their peers and examine their management objectives in a relaxed and vibrant environment.

"Together with our exclusive partners at IDC, we have invited the CIOs at top global companies based in the United States who not only have the financial reserves to weather the current economic climate, but are increasing their IT spends in 2009 and 2010," the organizer said.

The summit will provide a number of different channels to execute and promote business. "Our business model is built around the success of targeted one-on-one business meetings and focused interactive workshops," it added.

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016318648?Bangladesh%20To%20Arrange%20Seminar%20On%20IT%20During%20CIO%20Technology%20Summit%20In%20U.S.#ixzz0QRWFvxEx

The human kind is the most intelligent and evolving species to have inhabited this world. It is therefore always seeking knowledge, convenient ways of communication and development in general.

It is the result of this quest that in the early 40’s the precursor of modern day computing machines was first invented. Ever since there has been no letting in the pace of progress in this exciting field which has profound effects on almost all the aspects of the modern day human beings.

The most important and sought after offshoot of the computer or information technology is the internet. It opens up unlimited vistas of knowledge in a fraction of second for the user. The possibilities are literally limitless.

One major branch of internet is the E-commerce. In its early days, it existed simply as a form of facilitation for commercial and financial transactions. Since then it has really transformed.

Technologies such as electronic data interchange and electronic funds transfer were introduced and they allowed the freedom to the businesses to communicate documents such as invoices via electronic network systems, securely. The growth of telephonic banking, credit cards and automated teller machines are all too well known and form the back bone of e-commerce. There are many vistas in this regard which are growing as per the users need and information technology is providing an efficient and secure platform to them.

The major electronic payment systems that govern current online transactions are credit cards processing systems and electronic payment gateways. The electronic payment gateways facilitate financial transactions online by authenticating credit cards and online bank accounts authorizing transactions. They connect the merchant’s website and the credit card companies. In doing so, the user has the liberty of doing such transactions from the safety of the home or office and avoiding the physical hassle of going to the financial institutions or the vendors.

E-banking and business of many sorts is now a normal occurrence and part of the daily routine of a sizable population.

The internet has eliminated the distances between friends and family. The internet provides web services of different sorts like, social networking services, chatting services with real time interaction and portals providing free lance business opportunities.

In the beginning no one had envisioned the growth spurt of the internet and its allied e-commerce. The web browsers are instruments which have the ability of finding and organizing the information quickly and thus have become indispensable tools in the hands of common people.

The web was lately considered a medium for sharing mere text files. Now with advanced user interface, animations, video and radio streaming the internet has really evolved.

It is professed that the computer technology especially the internet has a more profound effect on people’s lives as compared to the radio or television. This magical box, the computer with its flexibility has become one stop solution to all the media needs of a modern day person.

So it can be safely said that the computers and the information technology are a part and parcel of the modern day man’s life and in the years to come are going to flourish even more.

In the late 1940’s scientists developed the first machines that could store and use encoded instructions or programs. In the beginning the users performing a variety of computations had to rewrite the basic hardware of the computers. Later on the innovations dramatically changed and increased the flexibility and usefulness of computers. Instead, they could simply direct the computer to perform one of the functions that it had stored in its memory.

As computers grew more powerful and the tasks they performed grew more complex, computer experts and scientists developed more complex sets of instructions that are executed automatically by the computers.

Advances in computer technology have made greater efficiencies of processing possible with out the need of manual operators. Most modern computers, particularly the personal computers are made and developed in a manner that they serve general purpose and that feature a high degree of programming flexibility.

As the computer technology has many diversified sub fields there are different roles defined for different sets of action and activities which cover the core technology of computing. The task of adapting an application program designed to run on one operating system to another computer system is often technically complex, and costly.

In recent years, software developers have developed programs to allow users to move files from one application program to another. Still the problem of compatibility between applications, programs and operating systems remains a major concern in the computer technology and software industry.

The major boost to the Information technology was due to the ever growing popularity of internet utility, which with the help of interactive support of web browsing really encompasses every aspect of toady’s life. Internet has gained such a positive boost and response in the modern day living that almost every thing seems related to it. The new television services and high dimension video, audio facilities are giving it more popularity with the common people.

The computer technology is proving as a necessity in the coming years and surely is one of the great means of entertainment; a single magical box which has almost every available communication service contained in it.

The web has become a mass media phenomenon. With the development of web browsers the personal computers have gained the ability to access a sea of information on the web from the millions of websites. Internet has become a transaction medium for most electronic commerce and it is one emerging field which has lot of potential. It gives the users a lot of freedom and convenience in making transactions with various vendors from the safety of their homes or offices.

Computer technology has created a lot of job openings for professionals as well as non technical people; free lance web portals are also very well known and active contributors in providing experts and required workforce to the relevant fields from across the globe.

The technological change in the field of computers is helping the mankind in many ways; starting from the basic household to the technical levels of expertise, the computer technology is really covering all the aspects. The prompt access to information pertaining to any field or subject is now in the reach of average person due to the popularity and the user friendly nature of the internet.

Jamie M. Mooney of Larchmont, N.Y., vice president and chief information officer at Norwalk Hospital, has been selected to be a mentor for the Columbia University School of Continuing Education.

This partnership assigns students in the Executive Master of Science in Technology Management Program with accomplished senior executives who have outstanding track records in business and industry.

She has also just been appointed by Connecticut Senate Minority Leader John McKinney to the Board of the SustiNet Universal Health Care Plan. This board, appointed by Connecticut's governor and legislative leaders, comprises experts in various industries with Mooney being selected for her track record as an expert in the information technology field.

Ms. Mooney has extensive experience in information technology, operations, project management and systems implementation. At Norwalk Hospital, she has developed initiatives supporting the strategic direction of the hospital that have enhanced efficiency in providing patient care.

Under her leadership, Norwalk Hospital has been nationally recognized in the 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study for its use of advanced information technology.

Prior to joining Norwalk Hospital, Ms. Mooney was Vice President of Customer Care at Innovatix LLC. She had previously been Vice President of Outsourcing Services at First Consulting Group in New York, where she managed major outsourcing accounts and implemented advanced hospital information systems.

Prior to that Ms. Mooney had served as Vice President of Information Systems at New York Presbyterian Hospital, directing all financial and patient management systems and implementing new technologies. She was a senior manager at Ernst & Young and began her career in information technology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

She serves on the Board of the Norwalk Community Health Center and is a guest lecturer for the health care management course at the Wagner School of Public Administration -- New York University, Managing Information Across a Healthcare System course. She holds her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and received her MBA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, and Xi’an Kingtone Information Technology Co ., Ltd ., a leading Chinese high-tech enterprise and application developer, in collaboration with China Children and Teenagers’ Foundation, the first charitable foundation in China dedicated to the education and welfare of Chinese children, announced today a project that will set up a rural health care delivery system in select clinics using 3G handsets and 3G-ready PCs, pre-installed with a specially designed health care application. This system will enable doctors and 21 clinics in Xian County, Hebei Province, to have access to medical information and the ability to treat patients more effectively. As part of Qualcomm’s global Wireless ReachTM initiative, this project will enhance China’s rural health care system and bridge critical gaps in access to medical information through the use of advanced 3G technologies and applications.

The project is supported by the China Rural Doctors Training Center, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Health and is the only national-level training organization targeting rural doctors and the Hebei Province Women’s Federation.

The system employs China Telecom’s EV-DO network and uses a mobile device to access real-time medical treatment and regulation information, communicate with other physicians for remote medical consultation and manage patient profiles and records any time, from any location. Educational health care content designed to address the specific needs of rural doctors also will be developed through the project. The system will give rural physicians the tools they need to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and provide timely treatment in rural areas thus improving the overall level of health and medical services available to the local population. This is particularly beneficial for groups at higher medical risk such as women and children.

As part of the project, Qualcomm also will work with other contributors to provide training sessions for the rural doctors in Xian County. These training sessions will help doctors effectively use wireless devices to access information and training sessions conducted by other professional physicians.

“Qualcomm enthusiastically supports the Chinese government’s commitment to rural informatization, improved medical services and the development of enhanced rural health care systems,” said Jing Wang, executive vice president of Qualcomm Asia Pacific & Middle East and Africa. “We are pleased to be working with an innovator like Xi’an Kingtone to help China’s rural doctors gain better access to medical information and services. Providing adequate health care services to widespread rural populations is a challenge in many countries. 3G wireless technology has proven to be effective in overcoming many of these challenges and we continue our commitment to using wireless technology to help improve economic conditions and enhance quality of life in local communities across China.”

“It has been a great honor for Xi’an Kingtone to cooperate with Qualcomm to help advance medical services in rural China through the integration of both companies’ technologies,” said Li Tao, Chairman of Xi’an Kingtone. “The combination of a health care application specifically designed for rural doctors and high-speed wireless connectivity will help doctors in underdeveloped areas to benefit from access to the latest medical information and real-time connections with specialists in leading hospitals across China. We will continue to focus on the research and development of wireless information technology to enable compelling 3G applications that benefit people all across the country.”

About Xi’an Kingtone
Xi’an Kingtone Information Technology is a professional application developer and provider of field and long distance information management technology. The company strives to provide complete, 3G enabled solutions that aid industrial production, communication, logistics, government services and public life. Xi’an Kingtone is the recipient of the 2007 Qualcomm BREW Award for Best Public Service Application.

About China Children and Teenagers’ Fund
China Children and Teenagers’ Fund was established in 1981 by the All China Women’s Federation. It was China’s first independent and legally sanctioned charity fund, raising funds for the mission of caring, fostering and educating China’s children and teenagers, especially those in impoverished areas. For more information, please visit http://www.cctf.org.cn.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm believes access to advanced wireless voice and data services improves people’s lives. Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative supports programs and solutions that bring the benefits of connectivity to underserved communities globally. Wireless Reach projects create new ways for people to communicate, learn, access health care, improve the environment and reach global markets. For more information, please visit: www.qualcomm.com/wirelessreach.

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif ., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2009 FORTUNE 500® company. For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Wireless Reach is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Salutes the Resilience and Self-Determination of the American Worker
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
CompTIA celebrates Labor Day, hopeful that the economy looks to be on the mend,
and that the American worker will soon be better off as a result. Though we
remain in the midst of economic troubles, with unemployment still at record
levels, we see light at the end of the tunnel. We have faith that America and
its workforce will emerge stronger and more secure, surviving through these
trying times.

In the coming months, most economic indicators point to renewed economic
activity and growth. This means consumers will start spending again, companies
will invest in new plant and R&D, and, consequently, jobs should expand. As for
these new jobs, global competition means that most of them will require skill,
and that acquisition of those skills needs to occur flexibly and dynamically. IT
fluency will figure prominently in the skill sets demanded by employers because
IT is embedded into most everything we do. Thankfully, a majority of American
workers possesses the needed acumen and learning traits to acquire these skills
and excel in this environment. Our educational infrastructure, as well as our
ethos of self-reliance and continual self-improvement, currently gives us a
competitive advantage over the rest of the world.

For those who lack enough competitive skills, CompTIA stands ready to support
their re-skilling efforts, and believes that industry and government both play
an important role in assuring that these transitioning workers succeed, even in
this challenging economic climate. We know it is not easy, but we trust in the
innate ability of the American worker to surmount challenges big and small.
Opportunities to learn new and marketable skills abound. Training and then
certifying those skills has a proven track-record of quickly and effectively
getting workers back into our economy. They also help keep skilled workers up to
date and competitive.

Throughout this rocky period, the resilience of the American worker has never
been in doubt. We salute him and her. They are the bedrock of American industry,
productivity and innovation; they are perhaps America`s greatest natural
resource. Happy Labor Day!

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the voice of the
world's information technology (IT) industry. Its members are the companies at
the forefront of innovation; and the professionals responsible for maximizing
the benefits organizations receive from their investments in technology. CompTIA
is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs,
market research, networking events, professional certifications, and public
policy advocacy. For more information, visit www.comptia.org.





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CompTIA, Public Policy
Mike Wendy, 202-716-3400