MaSSSoftech

San Francisco, CA & Jersey City, NJ (PRWEB) August 17, 2009 -- Freeborders, Inc., a leading provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services to the financial services, high tech and travel industries, today announced that Michael Keating, a senior executive at Freeborders, will address a plenary session at the Eighth Annual International Smart-Sourcing Conference hosted by The Center for Global Outsourcing. The event will be held at the Grand Hyatt, Jersey City, New Jersey on August 24 at 9:00 a.m. and will be chaired by Dr. Shailendra Palvia, Professor of MIS, Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus.

Keating is a highly experienced executive, top echelon consultant, seasoned technology and business professional who founded the Freeborders' Value Engineering Institute (VEI) and ProfITSM methodology. ProfIT's analytical approach to identify untapped client business value and financial returns has helped to provide clients benefits of over $500 million in increased revenue and profitability.

In today's business environment, outsourcing may be considered a fact of life

During this session, Keating will convey his expert views and share practical experiences about the outsourcing industry and specific nuances relative to China, which is emerging as the next sourcing destination behind India. This presentation will analyze China as an ITO provider based on criteria that are typically evaluated by industry analysts such as: language, government support, labor pool, infrastructure, educational system, cost, political and economic environment, cultural compatibility, global & legal maturity and data and intellectual property security and privacy.

"In today's business environment, outsourcing may be considered a fact of life," said Keating. "However, despite its economic inevitability, outsourcing decisions can create many challenges. China is emerging as the next 'India' and there are many lessons to be shared with companies to ensure they are maximizing economic value and reducing risk with their outsourcing vendors as they enter a new geography. I have been working with clients delivering from China for over 10 years. My goal for the attendees is to come away with a better understanding of China as an ITO outsourcing destination, provide do's and don't tips and to explain an approach to optimize the value created in any global sourcing relationship."

About Freeborders
Freeborders provides specialized expertise to solve the most complex business challenges for the financial services, travel and high tech industries. The company provides global consulting, technology and outsourcing services that leverage its deep domain knowledge, innovative thinking and strategic execution through its integrated China to US delivery model. Freeborders is uniquely positioned to cost-effectively enable its clients to achieve their business objectives. To learn more, visit www.freeborders.com.

Maine's Office of Information Technology (OIT) Selects Harris' Hybrid P25 System to Extend and Unite the States's Public Safety Communications

LAS VEGAS and BOSTON, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, announced that the State of Maine Office of Information Technology (OIT) has selected the company's Public Safety and Professional Communications business to deploy MSCommNet, a hybrid Project 25 (P25) VHF statewide digital radio system, based on the company's VIDA(R) (Voice, Interoperability, Data, Access) Network technology. Designed to meet the unique needs of Maine's law enforcement, public safety, and public service first responders, the P25 VHF system is fully compliant with Phase 1 of the federal P25 standard and will include 40 sites throughout Maine, providing mobile coverage across 95 percent of the state. Supporting suppliers on the Harris winning bid include Jacobs Telecommunications, Radio Communications Management and Alcatel-Lucent.

"We are pleased to announce that as a result of receiving our panel's highest score, the Office of Information Technology has contracted with Harris," said Richard Thompson, Chief Information Officer (CIO), State of Maine Office of Information Technology. "Following a lengthy, open and comprehensive bid process, the hybrid system proposal was selected for a number of reasons, including a rapid, low-risk implementation plan, a proven, state-of-the art technology platform and a cost-effective approach that will utilize and consolidate our existing resources and systems. The Harris proposal provides the State with a clear roadmap to future technologies and growth, avoiding stranded costs."

The State of Maine's system will join Nevada, Florida, Delaware and Pennsylvania in adopting statewide radio systems based on Harris proven VIDA Network technology. The VIDA Network is a cost-effective, Internet Protocal (IP)-based interoperable radio communications technology that fully supports analog and digital radio communications systems, including the P25 Phase 1 and Phase 2 standards. VIDA also supports communications between new and legacy systems to provide seamless interoperability with other agencies, regardless of frequency band, radio brand or operating mode. The system is P25 Phase 1-compliant and software upgradeable to the new P25 Phase 2 standard.

"We are confident that Maine's public safety and public service users will receive a reliable, robust interoperable communications system from Harris that will provide the support they need to focus on the tasks they do best - protecting and assisting the residents of Maine," said Dana Mehnert, group president, Harris RF Communications. "The flexibility and depth of the VIDA Network will enable the State of Maine to deploy a hybrid trunked/conventional VHF radio system that meets and exceeds all the requirements of the P25 standard. Powered by VIDA's superior technology, the system will provide the State with a clear migration path for future expansion, extending the life of the system to provide Maine's public safety agencies and officials with necessary communications capabilities while keeping the costs to Maine's citizens reasonable."

Description of the MSCommNet System:

The hybrid system will provide P25 trunking technology with advanced feature sets and capacity efficiencies, while the P25 conventional component of the system will reduce the power requirements at remote sites that will utilize solar energy systems. Additionally the hybrid trunked/conventional P25 system will provide critical features including group, individual and emergency call functionality. The upgrade to the system will insure that the State of Maine is compliant with the Federal Communications Commission requirements for non-Federal public safety agencies to be narrowband compliant prior to January 1, 2013.

The VIDA Network will enable Maine to select the most efficient and cost-effective radio equipment to connect analog and digital systems throughout Maine through the Harris NetworkFirst(R), an innovative IP network switching architecture. NetworkFirst has been designated as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology under the Department of Homeland Security's SAFETY Act.

The MSCommNet system will provide the State of Maine with an advanced set of features including:

* Interoperability: The VIDA-based system allows interoperability at three levels:
o Standards: The radios will operate on VHF, P25 and legacy analog networks
o Radio: Any vendor's P25-compliant radio will operate on the system
o Network: VIDA will interoperate with any system regardless of brand or frequency band
* Statewide Agency Communication: Designated users will have the ability to communicate to any other user no matter the site, region or agency - with no dispatcher intervention.
* Agency Autonomy: All of the State's public safety agencies will realize the advantages of a shared network but can remain autonomous within the system. Each agency will have independent secure partitioning, secure assigned talkgroups and configuration clients allowing local control.

Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications is a leading supplier of assured communications(R) systems and equipment for public safety, federal, utility, commercial and transportation markets, with products ranging from the most advanced IP voice and data networks, to industry leading multiband, multimode radios, to public safety-grade broadband video and data solutions. With more than 80 years of experience, Harris supports over 500 systems around the world.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has approximately $5 billion of annual revenue and 15,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications((R)) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.


SOURCE Harris Corporation

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Composite Software, Inc., the data virtualization leader, announced today that in response to growing demand for its data virtualization software, the company plans to grow its direct sales force by an additional 22 percent in the second half of 2009. Overseeing this expansion and ensuring seamless service to existing and prospective customers will be Composite sales veteran, Che Wijesinghe, who has been promoted to vice president, Eastern U.S. Region. To bolster its internal sales team, the company has also inked agreements with six new partners in 2009.

The anticipated additions to its direct sales team are projected to expand Composite’s sales group overall by 40 percent in 2009. Its professional services staff has also increased by nearly 100 percent compared to 2008 hiring levels. The company is hiring in Toronto; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and London.

For four years, Wijesinghe has helped enlarge the company’s customer base in the Eastern U.S. Region, from a collection of industry-focused early adopters, to a broad cross-section of advanced users. He will oversee the team charged with Composite’s largest enterprise installations in industries including financial services, life sciences/pharmaceuticals, telecom, energy, manufacturing and retail.

“We are seeing an increasing number of customers innovate and invest in our technology to be more competitive,” said Wijesinghe. “This is primarily in an effort to leapfrog their competition in preparation for when the economy turns around. Access to accurate information in a timely fashion is a critical focus for both business and technical executives alike. Composite offers high-performance, easy-to-implement technology that provides faster time to data, at a fraction of the cost of traditional data integration methods.”

In 2009, Composite Software formed partnerships with six specialists to meet the data integration needs of enterprises seeking to optimize their information system investments. Addressing the need for cost-effective, agile data integration solutions among European-based enterprises, Composite entered partnerships with Emunio Consulting, a UK-based data integration consultancy; Janus SI, a French reseller; SCICOM, a Greek IT solutions provider; and PowerData, a provider of data management solutions based in Spain. Composite’s relationships with Adaptivity and Turnberry Solutions will support the portal, business process management and IT transformation needs for large U.S.-based enterprises.

According to Joe Rose, president and co-founder of Turnberry Solutions, “Our customers view information technology as a means to meet their business objectives of increasing revenue and reducing costs. Increasingly this means gaining better returns from existing data assets. Composite’s data virtualization middleware provides our consultants with a powerful tool to quickly unleash enterprise data and deliver the value our mutual customers seek.”

About Composite Software, Inc.: Composite Software, Inc. is the leading independent provider of data virtualization software. Global organizations including 10 of the top 20 banks, five of the top ten pharmaceuticals, leading energy, media, and technology companies along with U.S. Defense and Intelligence agencies, use Composite's technology to integrate disparate data--regardless of location or source format--and fulfill critical information needs, faster with fewer resources. Composite’s platform scales from individual business applications to enterprise-wide Information-as-a-Service architectures, automating the entire data virtualization life cycle, while complementing traditional data warehousing investments. Founded in 2002, Composite Software is a privately held, venture-funded corporation based in Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.compositesw.com

FACTIVITY, a leading provider of factory floor IS solutions, recently integrated Fortis Plastics Groups' facilities with leaner technology for the injection mold supplier's manufacturing process. All aspects of the company's information systems and applications at its six facilities were converted to one in five short months--considered record timing in both manufacturing and IT worlds.

FACTIVITY, a leading provider of factory floor management IS solutions, recently integrated Fortis Plastics Groups' facilities with leaner technology for the injection mold supplier's manufacturing process. All aspects of the company's information systems and applications at its six facilities were converted to one in five short months--considered record timing in both manufacturing and IT worlds.

"We're committed to operational excellence and customer service," says Jack G. Nestell, VP of Information Technology for Fortis Plastics Group, headquartered in South Bend, Indiana. "Our CEO and President, Joseph Mallak drives the value of reacting quickly to market trends, improvement opportunities, and lean manufacturing. We understand that it's a matter of survival of the fittest, and this doesn't mean just having the right tools, it means having the right tools now."

The installation of Preactor, a PC-based scheduling and planning system courtesy of FACTIVITY was timed with recent acquisitions of facilities in multiple states at the time operating on disparate information systems.

The installation of Preactor began in early 2009. "The conversion was critical from an efficiency standpoint," says Gary Schaum, FACTIVITY's Senior Consultant and Project Manager. "All facilities, existing and newly-acquired, needed to be utilizing the same system for standardized production monitoring and reporting throughout the company."

"Internally, Fortis set a very aggressive time frame for installation and training. And, I was confident Factivity would met our schedule and deliver as promised," says Nestell.

FACTIVITY responded well within this request; Preactor was installed and the company's employees trained to use the scheduling software by the end of May.

Dale Kukla, Senior VP at FACTIVITY is quick to point out that all facilities required QAD, and despite this, FACTIVITY's team delivered an integrated solution on schedule. "I have been involved with many ERP implementations over my 35 years in manufacturing systems and the time, effort and resources needed to change a single site operation are enormous. Not only did Fortis change seven (7) sites, we had to find a way to quickly get the Fortis production team trained and the Preactor product installed and integrated into the QAD system in record time."

Assisting FACTIVITY in the installation and also credited for the quick turnaround was FACTIVITY's UK based Partner, Resource Management Systems (RMS), a global leader in finite scheduling software; together, FACTIVITY and RMS offer the large breadth of Preactor and add-on manufacturing execution systems (MES) with offices across the US in addition product and support in the UK and Europe

Regarding working with an overseas company, Nestell says the operations team had no qualms about it. "The conversion was well coordinated between the two and most importantly, was prompt and professional."

He continues, "You can't rule out value added relationships just because the companies don't reside on the same continent." "Resource Management's alliance with FACTIVITY took precedence, and we were confident we would receive the necessary support." Having Preactor support organizations on multiple continents will be a big benefit for potential Fortis future acquisition targets in both the UK and Europe.

In just five (5) months, the plastics manufacturer has better shop floor management via production visibility of the factory floor, from all shops and all machines, and of all employees. And, the return on its FACTIVITY/Preactor-investment is showing through improvements in procurement and scheduling, as well as reductions in risk and cost.

Of the others vendors queried for the job, Nestell says FACTIVITY Inc., the Cleveland-based company was selected because of its expert status in lean manufacturing software. "We did our research, and FACTIVITY has 'been there, done that' across multiple industries," he says. "They were not only backed by a state-of-the-art product offering, but a proven skill set and top tier customer service."

"Hindsight being 20/20," he continues, "FACTIVITY took ownership of the project, and we feel is and will be vested in our long term success as we more forward with acquisitions and now with a competitive advantage."

Luanda – The Parliamentary administration of the National Assembly in the 2008-2009 period recorded qualitative and quantitative improvements in its information and communication technologies.


The information is contained in a report that reached Angop, stating the improvements were particularly noted in the administrative support to the legislative and parliamentary activity, boosting of inter-parliamentary and international relations and management of human, financial and patrimonial resources.


According to the source, human resources management has been elected as one of the basic foundations in the adoption of macro-strategic policies of parliamentary administration management.


Tasks of organisational nature that included the drafting of the 2009 Training Plan and identification of internal and external training institutions were among the works conducted in the period in respect, the report also says.


Some of the training programmes might be covered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), adds the source.


The series of tasks carried out includes the conception of the process of re-evaluation of the duties of the parliamentary officials and agents, with support of the Psycho-technical Centre of Angola National Air Force (FANA).


The FANA centre, in articulation with the concerned services of the Secretariat of the National Assembly, will carry out the technical and operational acts to assess expected results, in a process ending in October this year.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Telecoms will be in focus this week as wireless behemoth China Mobile reports half-year results on Wednesday.

Usually these reports have been like victory parades of eye-boggling numbers -- being the undisputed giant in the world's largest wireless market has been a good place to be.

But the arrival of 3G in China threatens to finally shake-up the wireless market there. All three mainland operators -- China Mobile /quotes/comstock/22h!e:941 (HK:941 80.00, -2.85, -3.44%) /quotes/comstock/13*!chl/quotes/nls/chl (CHL 51.87, -1.39, -2.61%) , China Telecom Corp. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:728 (HK:728 3.84, +0.02, +0.52%) /quotes/comstock/13*!cha/quotes/nls/cha (CHA 50.59, +0.70, +1.40%) and China Unicom /quotes/comstock/22h!e:762 (HK:762 10.74, -0.16, -1.47%) /quotes/comstock/13*!chu/quotes/nls/chu (CHU 14.18, -0.14, -0.98%) are gearing up to unleash 3G services after finally launching their new high-speed networks.
/quotes/comstock/22h!e:941 941 80.00, -2.85, -3.44%

Plans for China Mobile are particularly ambitious and controversial. It has to commercialize China's home-grown 3G standard "Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access" (TD-SCDMA), given national aspirations to sell it around the world. Its smaller rivals have the advantage of deploying Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and CDMA2000 -- both proven and mature technologies used globally.

According to the government, operators will invest a massive 450 billion yuan (US$66 billion) in 3G projects in the next two-and-a-half to three years. Last week, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology felt confident enough to up its 3G user target to 240 million in three years from the 150 million projected in February.

In Hong Kong any mention of bold 3G targets inevitably brings up the name of Hutchison Whampoa /quotes/comstock/22h!e:13 (HK:13 57.40, 0.00, 0.00%) /quotes/comstock/11i!huwhy (HUWH.Y 37.30, -0.10, -0.27%) , which painfully pioneered the technology in Europe. If any mainland officials had joined the conglomerate's results presentation last week, it would have tempered any enthusiasm.

Once again chairman Li ka-shing had to explain away a seemingly never-ending sea of 3G red ink. Since 2003, Hutchison has sunk more than US$20 billion in its 3G business "3" across Europe. Even with 25 million subscribers six years later it is still to break even at the EBIT level, and its cumulative losses are over HK$110 billion. In addition to making results briefings uncomfortable, the project is blamed for Hutchison shares consistently underperform the Hang Seng Index for the past five years.

The Hutchison lesson suggests mainland operators face an uphill battle to profitability.
TD-SCDMA wild card

China Mobile starts as the undisputed leader with 73% market share and 460 million subscribers, rather coming in as a new entrant. And to reduce the risk of investment in TD-SCDMA, China Mobile's parent -- effectively the government -- is building the network and charging the listed company a rental charge based on usage.

TD-SCDMA is still a wild card, however. China Mobile is a first mover with this technology. Much like Hutchison and early versions of 3G, China Mobile will have to learn by trial and error.

We can expect the gremlins in the network to be fixed, and perhaps the capital outlay costs can be kept from damaging the bottom line -- but finding subscribers will be harder.

Getting a range of handsets that match the competition will be key, and here TD-SCDMA is still a long way behind. So far China Mobile is believed to have around a million 3G customers.

Regulation could also turn against China Mobile. Despite restructuring the industry last year to even up competition, the government has still backed away from a fundamental enabler: number portability. You still can't switch carriers and keep the same phone number in China, and some analysts say this must come soon.

3G news flow could turn bad. As the networks from China Unicom and China Telecom go into wider commercial launch, comparisons with China Mobile's service will become more widespread. In September Unicom is expected to launch Apple Inc.'s /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 169.22, +2.89, +1.74%) iPhone in China on its 3G network. To compete China Mobile is expected to launch the Ophone made by Lenovo /quotes/comstock/22h!e:992 (HK:992 3.52, -0.05, -1.40%) /quotes/comstock/11i!lenxq (LENXQ 0.01, 0.00, -7.69%) .

Attention is also turning to China Mobile's fundamental value drivers -- subscriber growth and fat margins. When you get to China Mobile's size, it gets a lot harder to keep growing at the same pace.
Bonanza for vendors

With 3G comes pricier handsets and so handset subsidies need to be increased. This could take a toll on China Mobile's EBTDA margins which have consistently been above 50%. These numbers also suggest there is some reward in there for its market power.

Perhaps the biggest question on China's belated 3G push is whether the country can really afford to build out three separate networks. The government, after all, is still majority owner of all carriers despite their stock market listings.

MainFirst Securities in a recent report highlighted that NTT DoCoMo /quotes/comstock/!9437 (JP:9437 139,800, -1,200, -0.85%) /quotes/comstock/13*!dcm/quotes/nls/dcm (DCM 15.01, -0.02, -0.13%) had to spend 4.5 trillion yen (US$50 billion) to convert 95% of their subscribers to 3G. Based on the 3G expenditure announced by June of 270 billon yuan in China, that only adds up to just 7% of what is needed for China's subscriber base, going by DoCoMo's experience.

The flip side is while that sounds like a daunting burden for the operators, it is a bonanza for vendors.

Both unlisted Huawei and ZTE Corp. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:763 (HK:763 34.45, +0.30, +0.88%) look set for many fat years ahead.

By Katie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech

Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and champion of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill that recently passed the House and is making its way through the Senate, has taken an interest in algae fuel. Late afternoon on Sunday, Markey got a tour of Alameda, Calif.-based Aurora Biofuels’ labs, where the startup is using biotechnology to create algae strains, which it says can produce biofuel for a low cost and with low carbon emissions. Markey told us after his tour in the lobby of the Aurora headquarters that “if properly harnessed,” algae could play a key role in fighting climate change, and that Aurora’s technology was “very exciting.”

Now, Markey isn’t exactly an algae fuel expert, so the Aurora endorsement should be taken with a grain of salt, but it shows just how prominent the fuel has become, with increasing attention from Capitol Hill. Now that the large oil firms, including both ExxonMobil and BP, have started to take algae fuel seriously (Exxon with one of the biggest algae fuel deals yet, including more than $600 million for an algae biofuels development program with Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics) the federal government can feel more comfortable trusting that this technology could offer promise for next-generation biofuels.

Markey’s climate change bill doesn’t necessarily have any specifics for the algae fuel crew, but the cap-and-trade portion would do more than enough by putting a price on carbon. Algae, which absorbs carbon in the growth process, could make money by recycling captured carbon, in addition to selling fuel and algae byproducts. “With a little bit of luck, we’ll pass this legislation later this year and create a marketplace” for technologies like this, Markey said.

For entrepreneurs who are toiling in the labs over algae fuel and other clean technologies, Washington, D.C., can oftentimes feel far away, in both geography and culture. When I asked Markey if he had any words for the innovators building these technologies in labs across the country, he said: “Get ready…Our legislation will unleash more than a trillion dollars’ worth of private sector investment,” which he said will create an opportunity for entrepreneurs to once again transform the world in much the same way that entrepreneurs did for the information technology boom.