Brandix Streamlines Business with Lawson Fashion Solution

Massive Andhra Pradesh Educational Computing Rollout to 5,000 Schools Completed in Just 4 Months with NComputing

tarswar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:57:13 +0000

Bangalore, February 27th 2009: NComputing, the world’s leading provider of ultra low-cost computing, today announced that the company and its technology partners have completed the installation of a massive computerization project for Andhra Pradesh government schools in just four months. This remarkably fast achievement affirms the decision by the Andhra Pradesh government to adopt a shared-computing model using NComputing’s desktop virtualization technology. The accomplishment also demonstrates the success of the government’s Public – Private Partnership to achieve transparency, accountability and efficiency in the education segment. The ambitious project was funded jointly by the Central and State government under the ICT@Schools scheme. The goal was to bring computer training and e-learning to 5,000 government schools with 1.8 million students and was commissioned in November 2008 after a competitive tender process. Four months later, the schools have each been equipped with an up-to-date computer lab with the latest computer hardware, Microsoft software, trained instructors, and reliable power-supply solutions. “The government’s goal is to accelerate computing access to the millions of students in its system, but to do it in an economical, eco-friendly way. NComputing plays an important role in achieving that goal,” said Mr. Suresh Chanda, IT Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. “We are pleased that this first milestone has been met and that computing access has been created for 1.8 million students around the state – most of whom have never had the opportunity to even touch a computer.” “The students and their parents are very happy. The computer is becoming a part of their today and tomorrow,”said Mrs. Pushpavati, Principal, Zilla Parishad High School, Medak. The computerization project has been successful due to two key factors. First, the government was determined to provide maximum number of computer seats at a minimum cost and chose the NComputing desktop virtualization technology. The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of students only use a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing’s desktop virtualization solution taps this unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously used by many students. Each student connects their own monitor, keyboard and mouse to an NComputing device which is then connected to the shared PC. Each student gets a full PC experience. The NComputing devices are easy to deploy, rugged, and only use 1 watt of electricity. The low electricity usage is critical because electricity in India can be expensive and often unreliable. With NComputing, the Andhra Pradesh government will use 90% less electricity compared to a traditional all-PC lab. The second element of the project success is the Public-Private Partnership model wherein the Government of Andhra Pradesh has awarded turnkey contracts to Education Service Providers (ESPs) like NIIT. This scheme was implemented through a transparent open tendering process and the contracts signed with 8 such ESPs for: – System integration – Site preparation – Facilities creation – Faculty – Teaching to students as part of syllabus – Courseware support – Facilities management “We are honored that NComputing was selected for this very strategic initiative as it will teach and empower the next generation of Andhra Pradesh’s workforce,” said Mr. Raj Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, NComputing.“We believe that NComputing’s low cost and energy efficiency makes it the ideal computing platform for the public and private sector, especially in these difficult economic times. In just 2 years, over 40,000 organizations around the world have installed NComputing to expand computing access at an affordable cost. ” “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has shown a great deal of vision and foresight in designing a model for enhancing the education of the next generation, and the early success is very positive,“ said Mr. L. Balasubramanian, President of NIIT’s School Learning Solutions division.“NIIT has been involved in bringing this cost-effective technology for computerization of schools in Andhra Pradesh. We are happy that the shared-computing technology has been scaled up to 5,000 schools. We feel that this can be a suitable model for schools in other States.” The computing labs are being used to teach computer skills, office productivity (such as spreadsheets and word processing), as well as subjects like reading and math. The systems run on the Microsoft Windows Server operating system and Microsoft Office Suite. Commenting on the initiative, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “Under our global effort of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, we are committed to support relevant and affordable technology solutions that reach the benefits of technology to the underserved. Education remains an area of priority in India – and one where technology can really bring about a transformation – so it is good to see the success of innovative solutions like NComputing.” According to Mr. Sankalp Shrie, Senior Manager of Computing Products Research at IDC India, “With CIOs becoming more aware of the need to minimise the cost of power and cooling, ‘Green Computing’ is graduating from being just a buzzword to the central theme of IT strategy. Desktop Virtualization/Thin Clients could be the answer to many of the questions and issues facing corporate IT managers. Sankalp further added, “Desktop virtualization as a technology is expected to see more and more takers across a range of applications and environments, as thin-clients witness increased deployment. This kind of scenario may be a boon for knowledge based verticals like Pharmaceuticals, R&D institutions, design firms and other related end-user industries. Desktop Virtualization also potentially offers advantages for verticals like ITeS (BPO, KPO), Travel & Hospitality and Telecommunications where the high cost of real estate space has become an NComputing began operations in India in 2007 and has been recognized for its role in bringing truly affordable computing to schools, hospitals, factories and business. NComputing is working with nearly 15 states in India to pilot or implement the shared computing solution. About NComputing, Inc. NComputing was founded with the vision of making computing affordable for everyone. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company’s patented technology enables schools, governments and businesses to dramatically lower computing costs, energy consumption and e-waste. NComputing has offices around the world. For more information please log on to www.ncomputing.com

Massive Andhra Pradesh Educational Computing Rollout to 5,000 Schools Completed in Just 4 Months with NComputing

tarswar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:55:58 +0000

The ambitious project was funded jointly by the Central and State government under the ICT@Schools scheme. The goal was to bring computer training and e-learning to 5,000 government schools with 1.8 million students and was commissioned in November 2008 after a competitive tender process. Four months later, the schools have each been equipped with an up-to-date computer lab with the latest computer hardware, Microsoft software, trained instructors, and reliable power-supply solutions.

“The government’s goal is to accelerate computing access to the millions of students in its system, but to do it in an economical, eco-friendly way. NComputing plays an important role in achieving that goal,” said Mr. Suresh Chanda, IT Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. “We are pleased that this first milestone has been met and that computing access has been created for 1.8 million students around the state – most of whom have never had the opportunity to even touch a computer.”

“The students and their parents are very happy. The computer is becoming a part of their today and tomorrow,”said Mrs. Pushpavati, Principal, Zilla Parishad High School, Medak.

The computerization project has been successful due to two key factors. First, the government was determined to provide maximum number of computer seats at a minimum cost and chose the NComputing desktop virtualization technology. The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of students only use a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing’s desktop virtualization solution taps this unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously used by many students. Each student connects their own monitor, keyboard and mouse to an NComputing device which is then connected to the shared PC. Each student gets a full PC experience. The NComputing devices are easy to deploy, rugged, and only use 1 watt of electricity. The low electricity usage is critical because electricity in India can be expensive and often unreliable. With NComputing, the Andhra Pradesh government will use 90% less electricity compared to a traditional all-PC lab.

The second element of the project success is the Public-Private Partnership model wherein the Government of Andhra Pradesh has awarded turnkey contracts to Education Service Providers (ESPs) like NIIT. This scheme was implemented through a transparent open tendering process and the contracts signed with 8 such ESPs for:

- System integration
- Site preparation
- Facilities creation
- Faculty
- Teaching to students as part of syllabus
- Courseware support
- Facilities management

“We are honored that NComputing was selected for this very strategic initiative as it will teach and empower the next generation of Andhra Pradesh’s workforce,” said Mr. Raj Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, NComputing.“We believe that NComputing’s low cost and energy efficiency makes it the ideal computing platform for the public and private sector, especially in these difficult economic times. In just 2 years, over 40,000 organizations around the world have installed NComputing to expand computing access at an affordable cost. ”

“The Government of Andhra Pradesh has shown a great deal of vision and foresight in designing a model for enhancing the education of the next generation, and the early success is very positive,“ said Mr. L. Balasubramanian, President of NIIT’s School Learning Solutions division.“NIIT has been involved in bringing this cost-effective technology for computerization of schools in Andhra Pradesh. We are happy that the shared-computing technology has been scaled up to 5,000 schools. We feel that this can be a suitable model for schools in other States.”

The computing labs are being used to teach computer skills, office productivity (such as spreadsheets and word processing), as well as subjects like reading and math. The systems run on the Microsoft Windows Server operating system and Microsoft Office Suite. Commenting on the initiative, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “Under our global effort of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, we are committed to support relevant and affordable technology solutions that reach the benefits of technology to the underserved. Education remains an area of priority in India – and one where technology can really bring about a transformation – so it is good to see the success of innovative solutions like NComputing.”

According to Mr. Sankalp Shrie, Senior Manager of Computing Products Research at IDC India, “With CIOs becoming more aware of the need to minimise the cost of power and cooling, ‘Green Computing’ is graduating from being just a buzzword to the central theme of IT strategy. Desktop Virtualization/Thin Clients could be the answer to many of the questions and issues facing corporate IT managers.

Sankalp further added, “Desktop virtualization as a technology is expected to see more and more takers across a range of applications and environments, as thin-clients witness increased deployment. This kind of scenario may be a boon for knowledge based verticals like Pharmaceuticals, R&D institutions, design firms and other related end-user industries. Desktop Virtualization also potentially offers advantages for verticals like ITeS (BPO, KPO), Travel & Hospitality and Telecommunications where the high cost of real estate space has become an

NComputing began operations in India in 2007 and has been recognized for its role in bringing truly affordable computing to schools, hospitals, factories and business. NComputing is working with nearly 15 states in India to pilot or implement the shared computing solution.

About NComputing, Inc.
NComputing was founded with the vision of making computing affordable for everyone. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company’s patented technology enables schools, governments and businesses to dramatically lower computing costs, energy consumption and e-waste. NComputing has offices around the world. For more information please log on to www.ncomputing.com

Brandix Streamlines Business with Lawson Fashion Solution

tarswar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:18:23 +0000

Bangalore, Nov. 18th , 2008 – Lawson Software (Nasdaq: LWSN) today announced that Sri Lankan garment manufacturer Brandix has successfully implemented Lawson Fashion, which is part of the Lawson M3 Enterprise Management System. Lawson Fashion is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed around the specific business needs and supply chain management challenges of companies in the fashion industry.

The full solution includes the Lawson Sales and Marketing Automation application with the added benefits of Lawson Warehouse Mobility and Advanced Production Planner modules. The company initially went live on the Lawson M3 Finance Management Suite in 2007, following an implementation that took less than five months.

Brandix began as a small manufacturing organization in 1965 and has since grown into a $350 million (USD) group of companies producing primarily casual pants, intimates and active wear for reputable brands. It now owns and operates three mills that produce cotton fabrics, woven products, knits and finishes. The company has a plan to grow to $1 billion in revenue by 2010.

The Lawson Fashion solution replaced Brandix’s in-house ERP system and has helped the company centralize its databases for its financial and non-financial systems. Since choosing Lawson Fashion, Brandix has succeeded in streamlining processes surrounding supply planning. Brandix has also managed to simplify business functions such as customer order processing, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and procurement across the different divisions within the company.

“We initially had to decide whether to build our own ERP product against the products that were currently available in the market,” said Lalith Withana, executive vice president for Brandix. “After evaluating different vendors, we felt that the Lawson solution was much more suitable for our type of business. We found there was a fit, because of the functionality geared specifically for the fashion industry.”

Lawson Fashion is an enterprise-wide, integrated business information system that supports the core business processes of companies in the fashion industry. The software provides a powerful, global platform for fashion companies to manage and view their entire supply chain effectively.

Lawson Fashion helps design/source/distribute companies, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers synchronize demand and supply, which allows for faster response to changing market conditions and improved profitability.

“Lawson Fashion offers integrated functionality beyond the realms of a standard ERP solution,” said David Hope, vice president and regional managing director for Lawson in Asia and Japan. “As a vendor that has been deeply committed to customers in the fashion industry for so many years, we knew the exact pain points that Brandix was facing. With this implementation, we also demonstrated how Lawson Fashion helps simplify the management of complex global supply chains, helping customers improve on the industry’s razor-thin margins.”

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,500 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance, healthcare and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson’s solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management, Human Resource Management, and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that contain risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements contain statements of intent, belief or current expectations of Lawson Software and its management. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company is not obligated to update forward-looking statements based on circumstances or events that occur in the future. Risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include but are not limited to: uncertainties in the software industry; uncertainties as to when and whether the conditions for the recognition of deferred revenue will be satisfied; increased competition; general economic conditions; global military conflicts; terrorist attacks; pandemics, and any future events in response to these developments; changes in conditions in the company’s targeted industries and other risk factors listed in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawson assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release.

# # #

For more information on Lawson, please contact:

Jeanne Lim

Asia Media

+65-6788-8769

jeanne.lim@sg.lawson.com

New Serena Mariner Makes Project and Portfolio Management More Intuitive, Accessible, and Secure

tarswar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:05:43 +0000

Bangalore, July 31st, 2008 — The second release of Serena Software’s on-demand Project and Portfolio Management tool is now available as Software as a Service (SaaS). Serena® Mariner® 2008 R2 gives IT and business users a way to manage their entire project portfolio quickly and easily without creating unwieldy spreadsheets in Excel. The improved interface makes common tasks more intuitive and project data more accessible and secure, helping companies (and individual departments within them) of every size – from small- and mid-size businesses to the enterprise – benefit from the SaaS advantage.

Named a Leader in Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tools by Forrester[1], Serena Mariner provides total visibility into project status and metrics to ensure the right people are on the right projects at the right time, ultimately delivering more value to the business. Delivered as a service, Mariner further benefits companies large and small by eliminating the need to manage infrastructure or install software, while also providing faster time to value and simple subscription pricing.

“Serena’s commitment to SaaS means we are always looking for better ways to deliver software to our customers. We also look to our customers for ways to make our software better,” said René Bonvanie, senior vice-president of worldwide marketing, partners & online services. “Customers made these Mariner enhancements real, from retuning the user interface around the workflow needs of their businesses, to the specific tasks rolled up into the summary views on the datasheets.”

Like all Serena products delivered via SaaS, Mariner has published pricing and discount schedules. Mariner prices are as low as $18 per user per month, bringing the power of enterprise IT tools within reach of every business, regardless of size.

What’s New in Mariner 2008 R2

Enhancements include:

Improved user experience

· The new Mariner interface is Web 2.0-like to make it easier for users to read and quickly discover important information.

· Widget Space extends the project workspace by adding reports, data, and other content from outside of Mariner.

More accessible platform for all project-related data

· Mariner Xcelerator^TM: To jumpstart working with Mariner, users can now import resource and project data directly from Excel – a convenient and familiar tool. Using the Xceleratortemplate, users can quickly and easily add resource teams, roles, rates, and individual team members.

· Updated Microsoft Project Connector: Mariner provides native project scheduling capabilities as well as the option to integrate with Microsoft Project.

· Custom Reporting: Now users can download out-of-the-box report templates, customize them and upload new or customized report templates into Mariner.

Mariner 2008 R2 can be freely trialed here .

About Serena Software, Inc.
Serena is a privately owned company, headquartered in Redwood City, California, with 29 offices in 14 countries and almost 1000 employees. Serena provides software on premise and on demand to over 15,000 customers including 96 of the Fortune 100. Serena enables teams of programmers to become more efficient by standardizing and automating development processes across both mainframe and distributed environments. Serena enables IT business analysts and power users to improve productivity with a new generation of Web 2.0 tools to build Business Mashups. Business Mashups automate common everyday, processes, are visual and do not require coding. Serena also enables IT executives to gain visibility into their projects, resources and costs – CIO’s should have access to the same quality of information about IT as the CFO has about Finance. For more information on Serena, visit www.serena.com.

Serena Expands Partnership with HCL Technologies

tarswar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:59:51 +0000

Bangalore, 29^th July, 2008 – Serena Software today announced, it has further expanded its long term partnership with HCL Technologies Ltd. (“HCL”), India’s leading global IT services company. As the largest outsourcing partner for Serena, providing product engineering and support for the past seven years, HCL has now implemented Serena® PVCS® Professional, Serena® Dimensions® RM and Team Track to reduce errors, track and manage change in requirements during a project’s lifecycle, thereby improving quality and reducing the time to develop and deploy solutions for HCL customers.

“We at HCL wanted a solution that would ease the work of developers, reduce delivery cycles and help projects have better control over changes to various work products created during the development and enhancement of software solutions. Serena’s products have helped us meet these objectives and achieve cost saving benefits across the organization. We have consolidated all projects/ engagement specific licenses and initiated enablement of HCL teams on various Serena products in order to reduce future cost of support and increase the productivity of teams.” said S. Sivaguru, AVP, Engineering Excellence Group, HCL Technologies.

“As a worldwide leader in developing innovative products and solutions for its customers, HCL recognized the need for, and value of, implementing industry’s best change management software,” said Munindra Kumar Bharatee, Managing Director for Serena Software in India. “Serena bridges the gap between the developer’s vision and management’s perspective to provide visibility across the organization.”

PVCS Professional is one of the most widely adopted solutions in the software configuration management (SCM) industry. PVCS is a comprehensive suite that delivers version, defect, build and issue management, and helps customers reduce development errors, establish repeatable builds and predictable development schedules, and deliver solutions to market faster.

Dimensions RM ensures that project teams effectively collect and refine project requirements by allowing enterprises to effectively manage change in requirements during the project lifecycle.

TeamTrack is a process management application that provides visibility into and repeatability across, all operational processes. Unlike other process management applications that are difficult for end users to adopt and are limited to specific IT functions, TeamTrack provides a simple web interface that controls processes across any set of operational changes.

About Serena Software, Inc.

Serena Software, Inc. provides services to make Enterprises and the business people within them more productive. More than 15,000 organizations around the world, including 96 of the Fortune 100, rely on Serena solutions delivered either on premise or on demand, to provide visibility and efficiency to the application development process. The company provides software services such as Serena Mariner (Project Portfolio Management), Serena Business Mashups, and Serena® Dimensions® (Change & Requirements Management), and will be providing Agile Lifecycle Management tools in the near future. Serena is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and has offices throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information on Serena solutions and services, visit www.serena.com.

INVENSYS PROCESS SYSTEMS APPOINTS LAWRENCE WEE AS PRESIDENT OF ASIA PACIFIC REGION

tarswar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:55:45 +0000

25^th June 2008 / Bangalore – Invensys Process Systems (IPS), a global technology, software and consulting firm, today announced that it has appointed Lawrence Wee as President of the company’s Asia Pacific region, one of the fastest growing region, to drive the dynamic growth and expansion of its business.

“IPS is confident that Lawrence’s wealth of experience in growing businesses in Asia Pacific and his experience in senior leadership, sales, e-commerce, and both product and services businesses will serve IPS well as we continue to develop in this rapidly growing region,” said Paulett Eberhart, President and Chief Executive Officer of IPS.

Wee most recently served as President of Asia Pacific for McAfee, responsible for all business operations in the region, including North Asia, South East Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand

Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) Asia and held senior leadership roles in the Asia Pacific region for Ariba and IBM.

He graduated from the University of Singapore with Bachelor of Social Science Honors (Second Class Upper), majoring in Economics, and participated in Columbia Business School’s Senior Executive Program.

About IPS (Invensys Process Systems)

Invensys Process Systems (IPS), headquartered in Plano, Texas, is a global technology, software and consulting firm leading significant change in process manufacturing, plant optimization, business operations and enterprise performance. IPS clients are some of the world’s most important industrial organizations — companies that operate large oil refineries; plants that process chemicals, gas, LNG, power, pharmaceutical and minerals; and pulp and paper mills. IPS solutions, used at over 50,000 locations across the globe, include field devices and controls from Foxboro and Triconex, advanced applications from SimSci-Esscor, operations management from Avantis, and the world’s first truly open enterprise control system, Infusion™.

IPS’ nearly 7,000 employees integrate these capabilities to create solutions that impact and increase efficiency, boost productivity, and accelerate performance. These results help industrial companies run safer, operate more efficiently, and extract useful knowledge from their operations to make faster, better decisions. To learn more about IPS visit us at www.ips.invensys.com.

In Asia Pacific, IPS serves more than 2,400 customers across 21 countries in 10 major industries, providing Safety and Automation Solutions, Manufacturing Operations and Optimization Software, and Plant-to-Business Intelligence Solutions.

The Invensys Group (www.invensys.com) is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ISYS.L), with approximately 25,000 employees working in 60 countries.

Media Contact

Mr. Satyapriya Verma / Mr. Swetank Kumar

sverma@mutualpr.com / skumar@mutualpr.com

09312784185 / 09312077498

Mashups Meet Widgets in New Serena Mashup Composer

tarswar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:19:21 +0000

Bangalore, June 12^th, 2008 — Mashups are an increasingly popular enterprise tool. In fact, Forrester projects that the enterprise mashup market will reach nearly $700 million by 2013 in a May 2008 report called “The Mashup Opportunity.” To capitalize on this momentum, business users are now looking to blend more consumer information and easy-to-use widgets into their workplace mashups. Serena Software is responding to this demand with a new version of Serena® Mashup Composer™ that lets users simply drag and drop widgets, RSS feeds, Flash components and more into their Business Mashups. The resulting Rich Interface Mashups™ (RIMs) show that consumer data and social graphs are finally finding their niche in the workplace.

Imagine a scenario where a sales rep is preparing for a big meeting with a new customer. The rep might start with the customer’s record in salesforce.com, and have the mashup fetch related information like a photo and details from the customer’s LinkedIn [one word] or Facebook profile, external news feeds showing the company’s latest stock price, credit report information from a Dun & Bradstreet Web service, and widgets showing local weather and traffic in the customer’s location. Soon the rep has all the information needed for the meeting. It’s as easy as personalizing a Yahoo! home page.

The best part is that this mashup can be reused for other meetings, saving users the time and effort of visiting multiple data sources again and again for the same information. The mashup is a visual representation that stays the same while the data is dynamic and changes according to specific user needs (like which customer the rep is visiting in which city, in the scenario above).

“Consumer data, widgets, social graphs and mashups have finally found a legitimate purpose in the enterprise,” said Rene Bonvanie, SVP, Global Marketing, Partnerships and Online Services, Serena Software. “With Serena Mashup Composer, any data from any source – whether it has SOA hooks or not – is now mashable. We’re entering a brave new work world where individuals are empowered to create new business applications that work for them and that make their lives easier.”

The Last Mile of Customization

Serena Mashup Composer will consume and mix any kind of widget or Rich Internet Application (RIA), including: Adobe Flash, Amazon Search, Flickr, Microsoft Silverlight, RSS feeds, YouTube, any of the 30,000 Google Gadgets (such as calendars and maps), and more.

These can be mashed with business processes and data from internal applications (such as salesforce.com, Siebel, Oracle, and more) and any Web-based services to create Rich Interface Mashups that can be delivered on demand with a single click.

Serena Rich Interface Mashups are a boon for business users and IT professionals alike. While business workers benefit from being able to quickly build the mashups they need to do their jobs more effectively, IT pros are no longer burdened with countless requests for new applications. With Serena’s proven governance framework that provides the reliability, security and compliance that IT requires, IT is free to focus on the core infrastructure and architecture needs of the company.

Pricing and Availability

The latest iteration of Serena Mashup Composer, with services and support, will be available free of charge as part of Serena’s on-demand release in the third quarter of 2008.

Online Demos and Materials

· Flash demo of Serena Rich Interface Mashups: http://video.serena.marketbright.com/mashups/AR-PR/RIM_quick_demo.htm

· Video interview with Tim Zonca, director of product marketing for Serena Business Mashups: http://video.serena.com/mashups/AR-PR/TZ.6jun2008.render2.wmv

· Screen shot of Serena Mashup Composer: http://www.serena.com/mashups/AR-PR/RIM-Mashup-Composer.png

· Screen shot of Rich Interface Mashup: http://www.serena.com/mashups/AR-PR/RIM-Mashup-Preview.png

About Serena Software, Inc.
Serena Software, Inc. provides services to make Enterprises and the business people within them more productive. More than 15,000 organizations around the world, including 96 of the Fortune 100, rely on Serena solutions delivered either on premise or on demand, to provide visibility and efficiency to the application development process. The company provides software services such as Serena® Mariner® (Project Portfolio Management), Serena Business Mashups, and Serena Dimensions® (Change & Requirements Management), and will be providing Agile Lifecycle Management tools in the near future. Serena is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and has offices throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information on Serena solutions and services, visit http://www.serena.com/.

QUEST SOFTWARE SUPPORTS MICROSOFT WITH THE RELEASE OF ENHANCED PRODUCTS TO MANAGE SQL SERVER ENVIRONMENTS

tarswar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:49:37 +0000

Bangalore, June 11, 2008 – Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT), today announced the release of two products that will enable customers to manage growth and change in SQL Server environments. Capacity Manager for SQL Server 2.5 enables better control of disk space, growth rates and database performance, while Change Director for SQL Server permits easier implementation and control of enterprise-wide changes.

“In many organizations, SQL Server professionals are charged with both developing and managing their environments,” said Billy Bosworth, vice president and general manager of Quest’s SQL Server business unit. “The latest releases of these tools, along with other Quest SQL Server solutions, help organizations maximize return on investment while lowering total cost of ownership.”

Capacity Manager for SQL Server 2.5 offers capacity planning for SQL Server databases and the applications they support, such as SharePoint. Database administrators (DBAs) now have a centralized console that provides a holistic view of capacity across the database so they can see past and present events, and predict future growth trends.

-more-

In addition, Capacity Manager offers intelligent index maintenance to ensure rebuilding takes place during appropriate windows of time so performance is not impacted, and simplifies table partitioning to improve the performance of the database. It also collects data constantly through integration with Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise’s data repository to make sure that information is on hand for consolidation projects, and offers advice as to which servers would be good candidates for consolidation. For more information about consolidation and details on

Quest’s recently published consolidation guide (see related release), visit: www.quest.com/consolidate.

“Capacity Manager from Quest Software is a valuable tool for anyone involved with capacity planning, forecasting and trend analysis,” said Thomas LaRock, database engineering team lead, ING Investment Management. “As a database administrator, I am responsible for over one hundred servers in addition to other daily tasks. Capacity Manager saves time by allowing me to quickly see which servers need my immediate attention.”

Quest’s latest release of Change Director for SQL Server – a solution that allows DBAs to automate the deployment and migration of database schema changes – can now more easily implement enterprise-wide changes by using optional middle-tier architecture. The introduction of a middle tier affords more flexibility and scalability by offloading schema comparisons, impact analyses, script generation and job scheduling to a persistent processing tier. In addition, Change Director offers clustered environment support for both passive/active and active/active clusters and new compare and sync functions that perform comparisons between DDL scripts, previous database snapshots and live databases. This new release allows DBAs to better manage, control, and track schema changes across even the most dynamic of enterprises.

Pricing and Availability

Capacity Manager for SQL Server is available now with North American pricing starting at $995 (USD) per server; more information is available at http://www.quest.com/capacity-manager-for-sql-server. Change Director for SQL Server is available now with North American pricing starting at $995 (USD) per server; more information can be found at www.quest.com/change-director-for-sql-server.

About Quest Software, Inc.

Quest Software, Inc., a leading enterprise systems management vendor, delivers innovative products that help organizations get more performance and productivity from their applications, databases, Windows infrastructure and virtual environments. Through a deep expertise in IT operations and a continued focus on what works best, Quest helps more than 90,000 customers worldwide meet higher expectations for enterprise IT. Quest provides customers with client management as well as server and desktop virtualization solutions through its subsidiaries, ScriptLogic, Vizioncore and Provision Networks. Quest Software helps organizations deliver, manage and control complex database environments through award-winning products for

Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, Sybase and MySQL. Quest Software can be found in offices around the globe and at www.quest.com.

Technology Skills, Attitude Give Edge to Gen Y Women Entering Workplace, Says Serena Software Masher Survey

tarswar — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:51:22 +0000

Bangalore, May 26th, 2008 — Young millennial women translate social networking skills and technology-friendly attitudes into a workplace advantage as “Accidental” Mashers, one of five Masher profiles defining the essential characteristics of technology early adopters in a new survey sponsored by Serena Software. The company interviewed 700 early adopters in the U.S. to identify key themes among their approaches to technology, work, lifestyle, personalities and demographics. According to Serena, as a result of the survey findings, a Masher is a person who is able to use technology to be more productive in their personal life and at work. Anyone can take the free quiz (available at http://apps.facebook.com/masher_quiz) to see how they use technology in their everyday life.

Serena Software, the Enterprise ALM leader known for its Business Mashups and employee Facebook Fridays, decided to sponsor the study out of its conviction that social networking skills learned by Generation Y online will be as important to their success in the new workplace as their classroom experience. A recent poll conducted by global outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas found that despite the downturn, many employers still plan to hire college graduates this year: 22 percent of U.S. companies plan to hire more graduates than they did in 2007; and 46 percent will hire the same number of graduates as a year ago. Mashed up with recent Forrester analysis (“Youth and Social Networks,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 2008) indicating young women are more likely than young men to express their personality on social network sites (44 percent versus 35 percent), Serena suggests that Gen Y women, in particular, will be the ones who buck the “techie” stereotype to find new ways to collaborate for success.

“Women no longer need to have an engineering degree or be in the IT department to make a technology impact at work,” says Christina Johnson, a 25-year-old marketing coordinator at Serena. “Consumer technologies like social networks and online collaboration tools are becoming standard business tools, so I can build software applications and collaborate with colleagues across the country, even though I’m not a techie.” At Serena, Johnson gets paid to use Facebook every day to connect with customers and colleagues, and even counts CEO Jeremy Burton among her Facebook friends.

Johnson stands as an example of the Accidental Masher profile: predominantly younger females who, although less technology focused than other profiles like Alpha Mashers, strive to get ahead and break through a glass ceiling and see technology as a way to do just that. Accidental Mashers identified in the survey are:

· Extremely early adopters – 53 percent identify themselves as the first to try new technologies, even before they become mainstream, ranking higher than any other profile.

· Workaholics – 26 percent identify themselves as workaholics, more than any other profile.

· Reinventing processes/Breaking the mold – nearly 20 percent are working in roles that were newly created to address an emerging need in their organization, but reinvention governs their style, on the job and off. This profile also has the largest segment not currently employed, with 20 percent not currently working.

Masher Profiles

The survey results identify common trends across all participants, who tended to:

· Agree that technology not only plays a significant role in their lives but is also critical to the advancement of society

· Work most often in IT departments, but within diverse industries ranging from healthcare to financial services

· Enjoy jogging more than any other sport

· Prefer a structured and planned approach when dealing with the outside world

· Consider themselves politically moderate

Through cluster analysis, five unique segments, or “Mashers,” were identified among technology early adopters based on their differentiated responses to key questions.

· The Alpha Masher – The tech elite, drenched in technology, Alpha Mashers see it as having significant positive impact on their lives and ability to communicate. At work they are delegators, developing solutions to hand off (think: senior director, consulting firm). The most likely to agree that technology has a positive impact on the world (94 percent) and to be working full-time (91 percent). Predominantly white males 35-44.

· The Accidental Masher – Not as comfortable with technology as Alphas, Accidental Mashers still have a deep understanding of how technology can improve their lives. With a less direct approach at work, they consider technology a tool to solve problems, but not the key to everything (think: software project manager, healthcare). Similar to Balanced Mashers, but more focused on work and enthusiastic toward technology. Predominantly white females 25-54.

· The Practical Masher – Using all the technology that most Mashers are excited about, they are less enthusiastic about the devices. They typically report to the Alphas and Accidentals at work, but are focused on implementation (think: Web designer, high-end retail). The most hesitant to agree that technology has a positive impact on the world (only 50 percent) or their lives (20 percent). Predominantly white males 25-44.

· The Balanced Masher – Although similar to Accidental Mashers, they do not place technology or work at the center of their lives. Approaching their job as a means to fund other things they enjoy, Balanced Mashers lead more relaxed lives than other types, and are hesitant to adopt emerging technology until they see how it relates to their personal lives (think: IT project manager, financial services). The most likely to be students (9 percent) and the least likely to be workaholics (9 percent). Predominantly white females 25-44.

· The Masher Lite – The most resistant to adopting new technologies before they are mainstream, they are less likely to take risks, actively solve problems or create efficiency. At work, they may adopt a new process once it is proven effective in another department (think: IT manager, department of Transportation). The most risk averse segment in relationship to technology (only 1 percent are the first to try new technology), their work life (only 7 percent take frequent workplace risks) and at home (only 4 percent take frequent risks in their personal lives). Predominantly white males 35-54.

Survey Methodology
Marketing research consultancy Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates conducted the “Serena Software Masher Profile Exploratory Research Study” in March 2008 by conducting 700 online interviews of U.S. consumers. Each respondent was a PC and Internet user, who is an early adopter and heavily reliant on technology and decision-maker on all tech purchases. The survey was designed to gain insights from Serena Software employees and clients into what it means to be a Masher, and to identify unique segments within the Masher audience. More information about Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates is available at http://www.psbresearch.com/.

QUEST SOFTWARE’S DATABASE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP RECOGNIZED WITH AWARDS FROM KEY INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS

tarswar — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:07:31 +0000

Bangalore, April 18th, 2008 – Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) announced today that it has received editor’s choice awards from two popular IT industry publications. First, IOUG (Independent Oracle Users Group) SELECT Journal honored Steven Feuerstein, Oracle PL/SQL specialist for Quest, with the 2008 SELECT Journal Editor’s Choice Award for his two-part article series, “Six Simples Steps to High Quality Coding.” Second, Service Provider Weekly selected Quest’s Benchmark Factory 4.7.1, a database workload simulation and scalability testing tool, as a winner for the Editor’s Choice Award 2008 for proficiency and performance.

“Quest has been a thought leader in the database management area for several years, thanks to talented & passionate people like Steven Feuerstein. During his visit to India in October 2007, Steven spoke a lot about high quality coding and how India could lead the ‘Quality Revolution’ in coding in the next several years. Quest India is delighted to continue to playing its part in helping our customers move to higher code quality”, says Krishnan Thyagarajan, MD, Quest Software, India. “In addition, Benchmark Factory’s undeniable success as a scalability testing tool gives database administrators and IT managers the confidence that their database will always perform optimally, even under stressful conditions.”

Steven Feuerstein has more than 26 years of experience and has written ten books on PL/SQL, including “Oracle PL/SQL Programming” and “Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices.” After reviewing all of the IOUG SELECT Journal articles from the past year, the publication’s editorial board chose Feuerstein as the one author who demonstrated the most excellence in a technical article.

Benchmark Factory 4.7.1 stress tests environments by simulating users and transactions on the database. In addition, the product has the capabilities to analyze and report on key statistical information in a real-time setting. Service Provider Weekly named Benchmark Factory one of its Editor’s Choice products for 2008, touting the solution’s ability to work with almost any database environment. The publication also highlights the product’s ability to carry out important user load tests without the need to hire specialized personnel, an important benefit for IT departments with limited resources. The entire review can be found at: http://www.spweekly.com/issue1007.pdf.

About Quest Software, Inc.
Quest Software, Inc., a leading enterprise systems management vendor, delivers innovative products that help organizations get more performance and productivity from their applications, databases, Windows infrastructure and virtual environments. Through a deep expertise in IT operations and a continued focus on what works best, Quest helps more than 90,000 customers worldwide meet higher expectations for enterprise IT. Quest provides customers with client management as well as server and desktop virtualization solutions through its subsidiaries, ScriptLogic, Vizioncore and Provision Networks. Quest helps organizations deliver, manage and control complex database environments through award-winning products for Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, Sybase and MySQL. Quest Software can be found in offices around the globe and at www.quest.com.

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Quest Software and Quest product names mentioned in this Release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Web Links Referenced in this Release:

Quest Software, Inc: www.quest.com