The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure

How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project!

When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed closure plan serves as an outline of required tasks that must be carried out appropriately in order to result in successful project delivery, and adequate preparation is one significant element when it comes to ensuring a smooth transition to implementation. The closure plan must be considered at the outset of the project, as the client outlines their specific software requirements. With a detailed description of the desired end result communicated and understood, the expected capabilities and deliverables of the software are established. But as you enter the final stages of a software development project, what can be done in order to ensure that the program is completely suitable and fully primed for implementation?

Key Components

• According to Joe Coley “Projects that I’ve been involved with…have been very much subject to additional needs and desires of the user community.” In effect, this means that the end deliverable becomes the focus of the closure plan—that is, to ensure a high level of end user satisfaction with the software requested and therefore created. Coley has 20 years of experience in the information technology industry and offers much insight on the subject. When it comes to key components for successful closure plans, he highlights three main aspects to consider, presented below.

• Assess the project requirements. In order to determine the best course of action throughout the cycle of a project, it is necessary to first consider the scope of the project. Establishing a clear outlook and complete understanding as to the required deliverables will greatly improve the ability to adequately determine exactly what tasks must be carried out in order to meet these deliverables in an efficient and timely manner.

• Communication. While communication is always essential throughout the cycle of any project or initiative, it is imperative to establish a specific plan for obtaining end-user input, as needed and where feasible. Therefore, a key component to a successful close is establishing and maintaining open lines of communication with the appropriate groups. The end users comprise the group of those who will be utilizing the software in real-time business applications; they have the critical business knowledge as to ways in which the software can be created or functionality that can be incorporated so that the result will be a valuable tool with the capability to enhance their business functions.

• Offer continuing support. When it comes to considering a focus on the continuing support needs of the end-user community, Coley cites a specific reason to do so, “There is always an expectation of continuing support in the form of application tweaks, bug fixes, and enhancements.” By extending continuing support to the end users, they have more confidence in the software program as well as in their chosen developer.

What Impacts Implementation?

Each project has its own specific design layout and requirements, thereby making every delivery unique. In creating a closure plan, a key initial imperative is to clearly define the client’s objectives in relation to their software needs (which should include key elements from the earlier discussion regarding the functionality and other requirements communicated by the end user). Client communication is essential from the beginning in order to have an appropriately formed program structure—ensuring that no important features are overlooked. Establishing and maintaining strong and regular communication during the early phases of the project can help to prevent last-minute additions that the client may want or later decide are necessary to incorporate into the software.

Many of these last-minute additions or necessary changes can be uncovered during the building and testing phases of the software development project. Not only can the exact capabilities of the software be established, but limitations will be identified as well. Often, it is ultimately the end user who will have the best perspective when it comes to specifying the software requirements where implementation and daily application use are concerned. It is the responsibility of the chosen software development company to determine the most effective approaches to fixes and additions, as well as to implement project resources effectively in order to do so in the most efficient and timely manner possible.

Coley highlights that another main challenge to overcome is to ensure that the technology meets the real needs of the end users, which can be addressed by having a method in place to obtain feedback from the end users regarding the software’s capabilities. “Happy users a successful project makes! It’s not over until the end user sings!” he says. The focus should continually be on the needs of the clients.

Writing software specific to the needs of a client can have a dramatic impact on the timeline for the program building phase. The tasks demanded of the software can become great, especially as the client delves further into their detailed notes as to individualized performance expectations. More often than not, a client may find that as the development phases continue and as they come to further understand the program’s capabilities, they will want it to do more than originally expected.

Each individual program developed will present unique, specific challenges. While some of these are visible immediately, others will be uncovered throughout the process of development. The results that will be delivered at the close of the project are those that were seeded from the beginning, which is why it is so critical that effective lines of communication be established before, during, and even after the project’s completion to ensure the satisfaction of the end users following implementation.

Right Resources, Right Words, Right Time

One element to consider in ensuring the development of an effective closure plan is that the employees assigned to critical tasks within the organization must be those who are best suited for their respective positions, with appropriate, applicable knowledge and experience and necessary resources. Also, by displaying strong, confident leadership continually throughout the project cycle, a valuable manager can keep the entire staff focused on the ultimate goal of satisfying the client’s requirements. This is where the communication aspect of any development plan comes into play. Project managers act as diplomats; they must establish and maintain ongoing effective communication with the client about their needs and relay this critical information to their own workers who are responsible for meeting the requirements of the software build.

The demands of the client can potentially present its own set of challenges—another reason why it is imperative to keep lines of communication open and clear. The client must feel confident that their needs are being met, and it is monumentally important for the staff creating the program to be made aware of needed changes immediately as they arise. A first-rate leader will find the appropriate balance of communications on both sides of the conference room. As Coley emphasizes, “Communicate, communicate, communicate! When developing as a team, effective communication among those working on a project as well as effective communication with the customer is crucial. It’s elementary, my Dear Watson.”

Scheduling of appropriate tests, the build phases based on the project’s demands, and the client’s expectations of delivery are all important areas where an effective leader should be communicating and reacting as the circumstance dictate. It is through these efforts that the project may maintain its proper flow toward the delivery deadline.

Test…Test…Test

If appropriate testing is not carried out in accordance with end-user requirements, delivery of a project may be severely hindered. Overlooking even a seemingly simple test can lead to poor software performance. Testing the software is the most critical of the phases in a closure plan, and it must be done throughout the build of the software.

As with any project, there’s always a degree of variable or unknowns that will occur and must be overcome. By testing regularly, from the early stages through to the end of the project, you are addressing the risk of potential error and ensuring a timely delivery for a satisfied client.

When it comes to determining the degrees and stages of testing to be carried out throughout a project, Coley encourages first considering the nature of the project itself. “Is the project the result of a detailed specification prepared well in advance of coding and basically a design pretty much cast in stone? If there is pretty much a hard and fast design to which you must adhere, then certainly as one enters the closing phases of the project, testing to determine adherence to all specifications is critical,” he asserts. “I believe this often is not the case, perhaps because there is too much to test, so testing is not performed completely , with reliance instead placed on the testing done throughout the creative process and only minimal ‘final’ testing.”

In an environment where a client requests the creation of software suited specifically to their unique business structure, Coley uses his experience to suggest, “This kind of project requires the most extensive testing. Testing throughout the creative process should be applied consistently, and the affects of the changes/additions of new or newly coded functionality should be tested thoroughly as the project progresses. This extensive testing often conflicts with unrealistic schedules and often is not completed,” Coley notes.

“I believe that all too often, the challenges of testing incorporated changes and/or additions becomes more than a development team can handle effectively. In my opinion, the best testers are the end users themselves. Closing phases of a project are smoother with more user input,” he adds. “I realize that not all projects can include user input and that getting user input itself can be a huge challenge.” However, obtaining their input during any project that allows for it makes such communication an invaluable resource.

Success from Beginning to End

It is essential to be prepared throughout the entire life cycle of a software development project, and an important element of preparation is to have established an insightful closure plan. In order to create a successful closure plan, key components to consider include communication both among the team and with the client, testing throughout the life of the project, and clearly defined expected results from the client at the outset as to how they wish the software to perform.

These components, however, are unique to each project and must be considered on a individual basis; while there may be similarities among projects, what may have worked well during a project in the past might not be best suited for a current project. Establishing and maintaining a plan with the end user in mind makes for a smoother transition and successful close of a software development project.

Source: http://call-center-software.tmcnet.com/

Free Copy of Flex Builder to unemployed developers!

If you’re a Web developer and you’ve recently been made redundant, is offering you a free copy of its Flex Buildersoftware to learn while you’re unemployed. Flex Builder is an IDE (integrated development environment) offering coding, interface design and debugging tools for Adobe’s Flex Web development language. Flex is designed for creating visually-rich Web applications from reusable components created in the MXML mark-up language and ActionScript 3, the scripting language behind Flash.

All you have to do is make contact with an Adobe evangelist (pick your favorite or contact shorten [at] adobe dot com), provide some details about your development experience and your most recent employment and they’ll provide a free copy of Flex Builder together with links to free online training resources.

FYI: If you are a student you already can obtain a free copy (https://freeriatools.adobe.com/flex/).

Source: http://www.sdfug.org/

Microsoft, Adobe wage verbal battle over RIAs

It all started with an answer to a question at a telecommunications conference, which sparked a verbal feud over two of the more notable rich Internet application (RIA) platforms on the market.

When asked his thoughts on Microsoft Silverlight at Thomas Weisel Partners Technology & Telecom Conference 2009 in mid-February, Mark Garrett, Adobe’s executive vice president and CFO, said that Silverlight launched strong, but its adoption “has really fizzled out in the last six to nine months, I’d say. We’re innovating ahead of them, and they have not been able to catch up.”

Those remarks got under the skin of Tim Sneath, Microsoft's director of client platform evangelism. “We're very pleased with how Silverlight is doing,” Sneath told SD Times. “Even in this troubled economy, my team is working overtime to respond to requests from top Web 2.0 sites across the world who are adopting Silverlight. There's no other Web technology out there that packs so much punch in such a small size.”

Sneath said that Garrett’s comments make it seem as if he’s “living in a fantasy world.” He pointed out that Silverlight offers near infinite-scale image interoperability with DeepZoom, rich XML-based UI layout and markup, and seamless interaction with HTML. Microsoft has even been using Silverlight for its own technology needs by demonstrating how a new version of Office will use Silverlight in browser-based companion applications.

“In terms of Silverlight momentum, there's no question that we're on course. Silverlight 2 has only been out for five months and yet is now installed on more Internet-connected PCs than Firefox and Google Chrome combined,” said Sneath, who initially reacted to Garrett’s comments on his blog, Musings of a Client Platform Guy.

Garrett declined further comment about his remarks at the conference, which were first reported by Betanews.

Matt Rozen, a spokesman for Adobe, said Garrett’s comment was made for the financial community at a special event and was a quick answer to a question from an audience member. However, Sneath wasn’t convinced that the jab was a simple slip of the tongue, saying it is in Adobe’s interest to try to create the perception that Adobe’s Flex RIA platform is in huge demand while interest in Silverlight is waning.

Developers using both platforms said that there could be some fierce competition in the years to come between the two platforms. Rockford Lhotka, principal technology evangelist for IT consulting firm Magenic, has created a Silverlight version of CSLA .NET, an open-source .NET development framework for simplifying the production of Windows Forms, Web Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation and Web Services. Lhotka admitted that he is biased toward Silverlight, but he said he can’t see how someone could say that it’s fizzling.

“From my perspective, the technology is only a few months old and it seems to be spreading fairly rapidly, especially given the economy and how conservative businesses are at the moment,” he said. “At the same time, while I’m hopeful that Silverlight becomes a dominant force, nothing is ever a given. Look at [Betamax]/VHS or BluRay/HD-DVD and countless other examples where technologies become dominant that may or may not be the best technology.”

R.J. Owen, a senior developer with Denver-based user interface designer EffectiveUI, has worked primarily with Adobe Flex. He said that Silverlight is poised to be a huge competitor in the RIA space and offers features that Adobe’s platform doesn’t, such as multi-threading. However, Adobe’s commitment to open-source technology and its longer presence in the RIA market presently give it the edge.

“The general feel I have for the situation is that while Adobe’s platform is currently both more mature and easier to use, Microsoft is catching up extremely fast and will be very competitive very soon,” Owen said. “Adobe’s tools are currently more mature and provide a better designer-developer workflow, but a lot of that is due to the fact that we’re all very used to the way things are done with Adobe. Microsoft also hasn’t pushed the Silverlight player out hard to everyone’s machine, so Flash’s distribution still continues to be better.”

According to Microsoft, Silverlight 2 has been downloaded and installed on more than 100 million consumer PCs since it was launched in October 2008. Silverlight 1 was the platform of choice for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, streaming 2,200 hours of live coverage and more than 70 million videos from NBC’s Olympic website.

Adobe, meanwhile, said at its Adobe MAX Japan conference in January that Adobe AIR also had 100 million installations in less than one year after its initial release. Flash Player 10 was installed on more than 55% of computers worldwide in the first two months of its release, and it is expected to surpass 80% by the second quarter of 2009, the company claimed.

source: http://www.sdtimes.com/

ProjectLocker Offers Private Git Hosting for Software Development Teams

ProjectLocker, provider of rapidly deployable software tools, announced the addition of Git, the open source distributed version control tool, to its suite of hosted and managed software development services.

Runako Godfrey, CEO of ProjectLocker, says, “Because innovation is a constant in the world of software development, we’ve always been fairly agnostic when it comes to specific tools and processes. We’re hoping that our new service will empower the growing audience of developers building proprietary software with Git with the same reliability, availability, and productivity-focused functionality that our Subversion clients currently enjoy.”

Just like Subversion, ProjectLocker’s Git offering fully integrates with Trac for source browsing and ticketing. Git users can utilize ProjectLocker’s existing 3rd party integrations with Basecamp, FogBugz, Rally, Twitter, and Jabber for commit notifications, as well as perform direct application deployments via FTP/SFTP/SCP or to Mor.ph.

The option to use either Git or Subversion is available to all ProjectLocker subscribers and service levels and is included as a part of their Source Control service at no additional charge. New customers can subscribe to ProjectLocker’s Git hosting online at http://www.projectlocker.com/signup/startup.

Source: http://opensource.sys-con.com/

Cordys launches cloud compute platform-as-a-service

Business service provisioning via the cloud

Business process management firm Cordys has made good on its promise of a new cloud computing platform with the launch today of the Cordys Enterprise Cloud Orchestration System, or ECOSystem.

Cordys is anticipating a need for a software infrastructure that can be used to orchestrate the management of the many general-purpose and specialized applications and services that will eventually be hosted in private and public clouds.

In fact, Cordys is making it clear that its ECOSystem is not BPM on-demand or process on-demand, but a Platform-as-a-Service, on which companies can develop, integrate, host and manage their business applications in the cloud.

Cordys founder and executive chairman Jan Baan told CBR, "It took us six months to engineer the project -- to turn the Business Operations Platform into a Software-as-a-Service deployment framework, or Platform-as-a-Service if you like."

IT shops can build new applications that will run on the platform or deploy their own applications onto the ECOSystem.

“Just as VMware has launched its vCompute capability for infrastructure, Cordys has launched the ECOSystem for applications,” Jon Pyke, chief strategy officer of Cordys, stated,

Pyke was referring to VMware Inc’s approach to virtualization management, by which it aligns physical server computing resources with application requirements based on business priorities. vCompute creates an aggregate shared compute resource and provisions resources precisely as and when applications need them.

In the same way, the Cordys system orchestrates the interaction and integration of services needed to deploy business services. “The platform delivers a high-performance, highly available and scalable architecture, with embedded functionality, such as business activity monitoring and master data management” the company said.

Detailed pricing has not yet been set, but the company has confirmed that Cordys ECOSystem will be available on a pay-as-you-go, subscription-based pricing model.

Cordys is a company that has centred on business process management software development and was founded in 2001 by Jan Baan, in a past life founder of Baan Corporation with its eponymous ERP suite.

Source: http://www.cbronline.com/

Web 2.0 Building Blocks

MasterCard follows four guiding principles during any application development that involves Web services.

Faced with budgetary and time limitations, companies are using Web 2.0 technologies to speed, simplify and reduce the cost of software development. Making individual software components reusable and interoperable—like children’s building blocks—means these components can be rearranged and combined without limit to meet the demand for larger, more complex applications. However, we believe that to take full advantage of the software development benefits afforded by Web services, a business must understand the new principles of development engagement.

At MasterCard, we established these principles when our teams worked on two public-facing applications based on Web services. The first, Find-A-Card, was produced by multiple teams working together to deliver a sophisticated, powerful online product that enables MasterCard-affiliated banks to easily market their card products. Find-A-Card’s intuitive, rich user interface enables consumers to determine which credit or debit cards best suit their requirements by answering a few basic questions about their preferences regarding interest rates, card features and introductory offers.

The second application, ATM Locator, harnesses the power and popularity of Google Maps to create MasterCard Location Services. This expands a successful mashup with our existing ATM Locator application to enable search capability for merchants accepting MasterCard PayPass cards, prepaid Travel cards and ePower gift cards.

User searches yield the familiar Google map format, with icons indicating each service location. Location Services can be customized to meet specific branding needs, allowing it to integrate seamlessly and effortlessly into any delivery channel.

Based on these experiences, we’ve devised these four guiding principles to keep in mind during any application development involving Web services.

Application developers have to be more than just good coders.

In the past, software developers merely took orders from the business owner, but they now must consider themselves full partners in the business and act accordingly. They need to understand the business’s objectives and requirements backward and forward, so they can design and build applications based on how the business operates, rather than creating applications to which the business must adapt.

This means that developers must move their technology expertise to the background and act like members of the customer-facing staff. They must help drive the organization forward by anticipating future business needs—and make sure to explain how the technology can be leveraged to help create practical solutions that will serve those needs.

Individuals who do this will elevate their worth to the company and become known internally as “business technologists.” It can’t be said often enough that advancing the business is the obligation of every team member.

In addition, application developers must keep a clear destination in mind. The current half-life of business software is relatively short, so what developers build must be stable and be usable for a short period—and then lend itself to being repurposed, rebuilt and enhanced.

The business and technology teams behind Find-A-Card agreed from the project’s start on a few overriding objectives. These included employing a common, parameter-driven back end that could be implemented quickly in many different languages and achieving seamless integration into other Web sites and delivery channels.

In addition, both sides reached consensus regarding the revenue-generating potential of the finished product: It was quickly agreed that lowering our customers’ acquisition costs and increasing card-application approval rates were essential to making this product a success in the marketplace.

The payoff? Although Find-A-Card’s overall development time was comparable to that of earlier one-off Web applications, this platform can be rapidly and easily reconfigured to accommodate new countries and other languages. Follow-on implementations, which once required three to six months of additional development, can now be accomplished in a day.

Managers must realign their organizations to foster Web services.

The attitudes and methods that organizations have traditionally used to develop core software systems do not apply in a Web 2.0-driven world. Managers have to commit to altering their organizational structure and culture. From the CIO down, supervisors must acknowledge that utilizing Web services is totally unlike building other customized software: It requires vigilance, constant management attention and repeated reinforcement of why it has value to the organization.

Successfully implementing Web services requires that all members of an organization share technology and best practices across silos, so that the software applications produced will be compatible and interoperable. That may require changes in corporate governance, less reliance on top-down directives and greater emphasis on midlevel cooperation. Compensation policies might also need to be adjusted to reward managers and developers who demonstrate that they can collaborate effectively.

Companies need to select a few senior-level technologists to make sure that the appropriate application development guidelines and procedures are adhered to throughout the organization. Such individuals should be charged with thinking across organizational boundaries and ignoring old-style concerns that an application might be “not invented here.”

They should also verify that new applications use available software components or facilitate future reuse. The best candidates for this role will think fast on their feet and bring credibility and persistence to the task.

Companies should adopt Google’s mentality: Fast is better than perfect.

Since the half-life of business software isn’t very long, it’s better to push a product into the marketplace quickly, rather than wait until a future date when it’s considered absolutely finished. Both developers and business owners must agree on which compromises they are willing to accept regarding an application’s functionality, features and stability, as weighed against achieving greater simplicity and speed to market.

Online users are now accustomed to applications that exist in perpetual development. Popular products like Google’s Gmail are released publicly while still at the beta stage and wear that label for years. Though the initial product might not include all the features and functionality users need out of the gate, this approach enables organizations to test their business case and solicit practical feedback from real customers, which can be used to improve the final product. As a corollary, the organization must be open to “failing fast and failing cheap” and learning from mistakes in order to improve solutions.

Of course, this approach runs counter to the traditional attitude in IT departments, which requires that every line of code be tested until the application is bulletproof. But if your organization decides to wait an extra six or 12 months to perfect a new application before launch, it might miss the market’s window for capturing significant revenue.

Be sure to acknowledge that adopting Web services requires time and effort.

Management should not underestimate the significant changes that implementing Web services entails, or the challenges it poses to employees at all levels. Adopting Web services represents a radical change from the way corporations have traditionally developed software systems.

This approach cannot be implemented overnight, especially in companies where existing application development processes have been in place for decades and reflect long-standing employee attitudes and management structures. It takes significant time to alter the way individuals think and work on a daily basis, especially across a vast organization that employs hundreds of application developers.

All team members must be made to understand why their organization is implementing Web services and what benefits that will bring. Adopting a new paradigm for application development is never easy, but, in this case, the final results are well worth the time and effort invested.

Source: http://www.baselinemag.com/

FSF in Round Two Against Software Patents

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is persisting in its worldwide battle against software patents with comprehensive background information and has hired lobbyist Ciaran O'Riordan to fight the next round.

Round one is now over and FSF is entering round two "in re Bilski" that we covered in November 2008, in which a US court of appeals handed down a ruling redefining software patenting. By many expert and FOSS activist opinions, the ruling is ground-breaking for new legislation that can challenge software patents, at least in the US.

The FSF wants to provide the material assembled in its defense to worldwide patent activists and has issued an EndSoftwarePatents.org website to give it a well structured and organized platform. The foundation has now hired lobbyist Ciaran O'Riordan to be head of the project. Having been employed by FSF Europe, the native Irishman brings years of anti-patent activist experience. O'Riordan sees the software activists as well-armed: "We have the arguments and the studies to show how software patents harm competition, choice, innovation, SMEs, standards, and entrepreneurs." His recent experience has led him to one conclusion: "We've seen how inefficient, slow, and costly the patent system is -- how incompatible it is with software development timelines."

EndSoftwarePatents.org is positioned to gather multilateral ammunition against patents, among it business management attitudes and assessments as well as legal considerations.The available EU documents as well as the US ones in the Bilski case should provide the initial support, with the team working globally to make it "easily reusable." O'Riordan explains the task at hand: "There's a mountain of information, but a bottleneck is that much of it is contained in electronic archives... in news stories, and unmaintained websites. By organizing this information and delivering it into the hands of activists and lawmakers, we can form an immense tool to help existing and future campaigns around the world."

The FSF is financing the EndSoftwarePatents.org project through donations. The website already contains resources for lawyers, with the motto "The fight is not yet over."

Source: http://www.linux-magazine.com/

Embarcadero All-Access Debuts

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc., a database tools and developer software company, has launched Embarcadero All-Access, a software development solution that provides application developers, architects and database professionals with on-demand access to the tools they need to design, build and run software applications and data systems for all of their platforms and programming languages.

"In today's economic climate, companies are under intense pressure to boost IT and R&D productivity while simultaneously reigning in costs," said Al Hilwa, program director, Application Development Software, IDC. "One of the best ways to address this challenge is to provide application and database developers with the full range of tools they need to speed development, manage changes and compliance more efficiently, and to design things right in the first place. Software vendors that can affordably provide this broad range of tools across the industry's most popular platforms and languages are well-positioned to become strategic partners to companies seeking to optimize their IT spend and boost efficiency, productivity and innovation."

Embarcadero said that All-Access enables customers to select from one of four All-Access levels providing on-demand access to the entire Embarcadero tool chest which includes up to 18 development and management products. The tools range from rapid application and web development (Delphi, JBuilder, C++Builder, 3rdRail) and database design and development (ER/Studio, Rapid SQL, DBArtisan), to database management (Change Manager, Performance Center) and more. Higher All-Access levels provide additional products, features and functionality. The price for each level includes the first year of support, maintenance, all upgrades, new products as they are introduced, and access to content on the Embarcadero Developer Network website.

"All-Access offers Embarcadero's popular database and application development tools at a price point significantly below the cost of even part of the included capabilities," said Ronald Segal, president of Spectrum Systems, Inc. "All-Access is a versatile and powerful asset that can evolve with any organization, and can be redeployed across roles, projects and project lifecycle phases. This is particularly important in the federal marketplace in which we work as software budgets are being slashed and requirements continue to grow. All-Access enables agencies to meet their current needs within budget, dramatically reduce total costs of ownership, and is specifically designed to support organizations as they expand and evolve."

"Embarcadero All-Access is the ultimate high-tech tool chest," said Wayne Williams, CEO of Embarcadero Technologies. "Rather than having to find, evaluate and buy full price individual tools as needs arise, the All-Access tool chest provides users with instant access to virtually all the tools they need to design, build and run applications and databases across the industry's most popular platforms. And by making the tool chest affordable and convenient to use, customers can reduce overall tooling costs while achieving huge efficiencies in their IT and R&D groups."

Source: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/

Small IT firm remaps business plan for the long haul

It took a major setback and serious restructuring for Michael Cocanower's small IT development company to find its footing, distinguish itself from similar companies and develop a plan for sustainable growth.

And being associated with Microsoft products and services doesn't hurt.

"All of our technologies are Microsoft-based," Cocanower said. "Our deep relationship with Microsoft gives us very early access to new developments and software, sometimes in the earliest developmental stages."

Stressing the Microsoft connection has helped the Phoenix-based firm prosper at a time when IT companies, like other business enterprises, scramble to weather the recession.

But the downturn is just the latest challenge for itSynergy, the company that Cocanower started in 1997 after working as a solo technology consultant.

It offers a number of services, including developing custom software, creating internal communication networks and protecting data from prying eyes outside the company.

It initially focused on small- and medium-sized businesses, especially those in residential construction.

"Through 2001, we had all the work we needed. We'd grown to about a dozen people, and me, just with one large and one smaller client," he said. "Then the market crashed, and 75 percent of our business and our revenue walked out overnight."

Cocanower persevered, but it wasn't easy.

He had to cut staff, land new clients and find a way to set itSynergy apart from dozens of similar application and software development companies.

Highlighting the company's Microsoft connection helped.

But Cocanower also worked with home builders and contractors to boost his client roster, and he targeted smaller businesses with as few as five computers in various industries.

About 70 percent of itSynergy's clients have 50 or fewer workstations, with businesses in accounting, legal services and health-care services, in addition to residential construction.

Cocanower said other consulting firms also are turning to itSynergy as a resource in developing IT solutions for their own clients.

"Most small businesses really don't understand their total technology needs," he said. "They rely on us to tell them, and, really, that's how it should be."

The company's staff has grown again. Cocanower said his employees each have at least a decade's experience in the field, and strong opinions to go with it.

"I pay them to argue with me," he said. "It pays off for our customers because it gives us a higher level of response as a cooperative team."

Cocanower said that he's confident itSynergy is positioned to continue growing, even in today's business environment.

"To me, the business model is key, and we have a good model in place," he said.

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/

UPDATE 1-Egypt's Orascom Telecom may sell IT subsidiaries

Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab telecom firm by subscribers, said on Sunday it was studying an offer for two of its information technology subsidiaries, to increase focus on its core mobile business.

Orascom said it may sell LINKdotNet and Link Egypt to Mobinil, Egypt's largest mobile operator by subscribers, in which it owns an approximately 35 percent stake.

"The sale...represents another key step in the implementation of our stated strategy to dispose of our non-core assets and focus on our GSM business," Orascom Telecom Chairman Naguib Sawiris said in a statement.

Orascom did not say how much Mobinil had offered to pay for the two companies. LINKdotNET sells Internet services in the Middle East region and Link Egypt sells offshore software development services, according to its website.

The sale would allow Orascom, whose shares have lost more than a third of their value this year, to raise cash, said Shrouk Diab, telecom analyst at Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial.

"They are trying to cut capex (capital expenditure) across the board ... in response to global economic conditions," she said.

Buying the two companies would allow Mobinil to boost its data offering to better compete with the Egyptian subsidiary of United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat ETEL.AD, she said.

"It is part of them trying to integrate and consolidate more strength in terms of the data segments of their revenue," she said.

In November, Orascom said it had agreed the sale of service firm OrasInvest to sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment for $180 million.

By 1025 GMT, OT shares were trading 4.2 percent lower at 19.38 Egyptian pounds ($3.46). Mobinil had slipped 1.9 percent to 137.01 pounds. ($1 = 5.5956 Egyptian pounds)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/

Silver Touch launches Unique Offshore Development Center services as Silver ODC

Silver Touch is launching its uniquely designed Offshore Development Center (ODC) services with a brand name called "Silver ODC" in CeBIT 2009 in Hanover, Germany. Silver Touch will aggressively approach its European clients through its regional subsidiaries in Netherlands and Belgium.

Software developments companies across the globe are now are days stuck in a word called "Cost Cutting" or "Down Sizing". But this really does not mean lesser business. Current market situation of never ending price wars leading wafer thin profit margins, it’s time for software companies to look beyond their onshore to offshore or near shore software development outsourcing. Semaphore proudly offers India Advantage to make its client more profitable and more focused towards their product development or services. India Advantage meaning skilled resource pool of engineers, software developers, pharmacists, doctors, architects, designers etc. This pool carries fluent English knowledge, competitive rate expectations and willingness to work in any time zone of international clients.

Ahmedabad, India based Silver Touch Technologies Director of Global operation, Mr. Minesh Doshi, says "our Silver ODC will enable our European clients to setup their own software unit in India quicker, and get competitive in International market with low cost. In actual terms, our clients can save up to 400% cost over local software development in Europe and save up to 60% if they are already outsourcing to an Indian software companies in other part of India."

Silver ODC offers new flexible engagement models for Software product companies, Hosted solution developers, Corporate companies, Software Development services providers. Clients can choose Build-Operate-Own model (BOO) or Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) model through Silver ODC. Silver Touch offers various investment plans with these engagement models. Silver ODC business models are designed such a way that it gives very low cost of ownership and faster ROI.

Silver Touch is an enthusiastic emergent that possesses a sound experience of several successful projects behind its notable repute in the IT industry. Silver Touch offers dedicated offshore teams that are appointed specially as per the clients' requirements, which work as virtual extensions of their in-house staff. Mr. Doshi says "ODC not only reflects splendid efforts and superb technical skills but also trust, compatibility, mutual respect and understanding between the service provider and the client, upon which the success of offshore development center depends."

Silver Touch is catering its European clients- base from its local subsidiaries from UK, Netherlands and Belgium. This will give Silver Touch an added advantage to show its face to clients while providing services. Silver Touch has strategy in place to increase its reach by opening up more offices in European region.

Silver Touch is a CMMi-3, ISO 27001 and ISO 9001:2000 certified company. It has 500+ software professionals team with offices in US, UK, Netherlands, Belgium and India. Silver Touch has strong technical alliance with Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, Sonic Wall, VM ware, Apple iPhone and Google Android.

Source: http://www.information-online.com/

SAP Acquires Coghead’s Technology As It Looks Towards The Cloud

Software giant SAP, which previously had invested in the company, has acquired Coghead’s intellectual property assets. While Coghead will cease operations, much of the company’s team will join SAP

While SAP had previously invested in the company, its ultimate acquisition of Coghead is sure to raise a few eyebrows. SAP has long been associated with local enterprise software suites that require time-consuming upgrades and IT teams, and has had trouble coping with the pressure to lower its prices to reflect those offered by SaaS services like Salesforce.com (though SAP offers products that these SaaS solutions don’t).

To combat this attrition, the company recently began offering smaller upgrades, allowing customers to pick and choose the features they’d like to upgrade rather than having to spend time on large system overhauls. It has also been making strides to establish services in the cloud, which may explain the logic behind the Coghead acquisition.

Source: http://www.techcrunch.com/

Stacks plug-in expands RapidWeaver Web site development

YourHead Software has released Stacks 1.0, a new page style plug-in for RapidWeaver, the Web site creation software for Mac OS X. Stacks costs $19.95, and a demo is available.

RapidWeaver, developed by Realmac Software, is a template-drive visual Web page creation software app; it helps you build new Web sites quickly without having to hand-code each page in HTML. It sports a plug-in architecture that enables you to embed QuickTime media, iPhoto galleries and other types of content on your pages.

Stacks is also a plug-in, but it’s a general-purpose layout tool, so you can use it to help you create custom Web site designs in RapidWeaver, using RapidWeaver’s many themes. The software comes with a library of building blocks to help you get started. Stacks produces valid xHTML and CSS, and doesn’t rely on Flash or scripts.

You can move, resize, style and nest elements inside each other, and pages created using Stacks will re-flow content to fit the dimensions of different themes without requiring you to relayout Web pages manually.

Web site designers and developers looking for more extensive control can build their own Stacks library elements using CSS and HTML — YourHead has published an Application Programming Interface (API) to enable them.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.5 or later, RapidWeaver 4.2.1 or later and 5MB hard disk space.

Source: http://www.macworld.com/

Callidus Software Expands SaaS Footprint With Introduction of Objective Management and Quota Management

Callidus Software Inc. the leader in Sales Performance Management (SPM), today launched its newest SaaS applications to address objective management (TrueMBO(TM)) and quota management (TrueQuota(TM)). The introduction further strengthens Callidus Software's leadership-role in the growing SPM market and expands Callidus Software's offerings for Pervasive Performance Management. Both products are built based on the latest Web 2.0 technologies and offered through Callidus On Demand. Promotional pricing for TrueMBO and TrueQuota is available until June 30, 2009.

"Managing employee performance across all functions of a company is essential to business success, especially as the economic climate remains uncertain," said Michael Dunne, research vice president at Gartner Inc. "Companies are increasingly focused on baselining and optimizing their workforces, and applying targets, quotas and rewards to a wider set of roles that represent key measures for influencing employee behaviors to support corporate strategies and objectives."

"We are excited to enhance our solution set with the addition of TrueMBO and TrueQuota," said Steve Apfelberg, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Callidus Software. "These new offerings extend our reach beyond sales performance management to pervasive performance management across an entire company. It is critical for businesses to manage all employees from a single system to ensure alignment with corporate objectives. Our pervasive performance management solutions provide tools to effectively motivate employees and eliminate complicated manual processes."

TrueMBO is an objective management solution that allows businesses to extend pay-for-performance to employees beyond the sales team and executives in an organization. The solution provides an integrated, complete solution to transform and streamline the employee performance management process from objective setting, distribution, review and acceptance to compensation processing. This workflow-based, self-service solution helps organizations build a collaborative, transparent and traceable process for performance management within days. It quickly improves employee motivation, accountability and performance. TrueMBO also includes enhanced analytics functionality to monitor and assess the effectiveness of various performance programs. TrueMBO works as a standalone solution or can be deployed in conjunction with the market leading Sales Performance Management solution, Callidus TrueComp® software.

TrueQuota is a quota management solution that enables sales and finance teams to streamline and accelerate the process of quota setting, distribution, review and approval. This workflow-based solution ensures quotas are allocated across the sales organization with full visibility, traceability and efficiency. With built-in analytics functionality, the solution enables organizations to align sales quota with corporate goals and objectives. TrueQuota can be deployed as a standalone solution and generate outputs for other compensation, CRM and ERP applications. It can also be fully integrated with Callidus TrueComp® Manager software module for end-to-end sales performance management.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/

Microsoft eyes emerging markets on cloud

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a key component in Microsoft's core strategy to help sustain Microsoft Office's market dominance in Asia's emerging economies, according to company executives.

Geoff Thomas, Microsoft's Asia sales general manager of communications sector, told ZDNet Asia in an interview the mass population in Asia's large emerging markets such as India, typically cannot afford to privately own PCs.

The software giant hopes to address this issue by making public Internet kiosks available for use. And to help make this a compelling option for consumers, Microsoft this week introduced a service offering it calls, Online Desktop.

Announced Tuesday with India's telecommunication services provider Bharti Airtel, the service aims to provide a virtual personal desktop from the kiosk, allowing Airtel users to access documents, files and other features from these kiosks via a cloud-based version of Windows.

The partners hope the new service will help boost India's PC and broadband penetration. Features offered on the Online Desktop include 5GB of cloud-based storage and anti-virus data protection.

Thomas noted that while the region's emerging markets yield lower ARPU (average revenues per user) for service providers, the sheer proportion of untapped subscribers presents large potential for vendors.

The initiative is in line with Microsoft's cloud momentum in recent months, encompassing a SaaS strategy the software vendor coins "software plus services". Microsoft had talked about making available a cloud-based OS, as well as a Web version of its Office suite.

Thomas said the SaaS delivery model will help make Office available to small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the region at a lower price point. "The Internet is a great equalizer, allowing these markets access to the same software," he said.

John Zanni, Microsoft general manager for worldwide software plus services industry, said cloud-based applications are also appealing for developed markets.

"The premise is the same--low upfront investment and cost shared among users," Zanni said.

In Asia's mature IT markets such as Singapore, thinner Web versions of traditional applications are also appropriate for the "deskless" worker, he said. This is why the next version of Office will include features that allow data to be exchanged via the cloud more easily, he added.

According to Zanni, Microsoft is seeing "double digit" growth in the adoption of its Web products. In some developing markets, this figure has hit triple digits, he said.

Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/

VisionMonitor Releases Risk Management Software for .NET

Built on a .NET platform, v5.0 uses Microsoft's Sharepoint Server 2007, AJAX, Silverlight 2 and Virtual Earth technologies

VisionMonitor Software is releasing v5.0 of its environmental risk management solution. VisionMonitor v5.0 enables real-time, enterprise-wide data monitoring of companies' environmental operations and delivers optimized analysis to oil and gas, refining, utility, chemical and petrochemical companies. The new VisionMonitor v5.0 product suite brings together enhancements balanced to provide our clients with a scalable platform that is adaptable to changing business and regulatory landscapes. The new product suite will define a gold standard for environmental risk management with features to support collaboration, agility, business execution and rich user experience using Microsoft's Sharepoint Server 2007, AJAX, Silverlight 2 and Microsoft Virtual Earth technologies.

Microsoft's SharePoint Server 2007 is a suite of server capabilities that improves organizational effectiveness by providing comprehensive content management, enterprise search, accelerating shared business processes and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business insight.

Microsoft's Silverlight 2 delivers a wide range of features and tools that create more accessible, more discoverable and secure user experiences. User productivity and accuracy are increased through the use of an interactive, easy to use graphic user interface that is similar to desktop software applications.

The VisionMonitor real-time environmental risk management software platform enables enterprise-wide delivery and communication of compliance information. Data is automatically collected, aggregated from disparate data sources across the enterprise, logically grouped and then personalized and delivered enabling optimized analysis. The web-based solutions enable compliance management, operations management and strategic planning related to enterprise-wide environmental risk.

VisionMonitor v5.0, built on the Microsoft .NET platform, will be available for general release in Q2 2009.

Source: http://ajax.sys-con.com/

Embarcadero Debuts the Industry’s First On-Demand, Multi-Platform Software Development Tool Chest: Embarcadero® All-Access™

Fruition of CodeGear™ Acquisition from Borland® Yields on-Demand Access to Embarcadero’s Powerful Tools for Application and Database Developers, Architects and DBAs

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc., a database tools and developer software company, today launched Embarcadero All-Access, the industry’s first software development solution that provides application developers, architects and database professionals with cost effective, on-demand access to all the tools they need to design, build and run software applications and data systems for all of their platforms and programming languages.

“In today’s economic climate, companies are under intense pressure to boost IT and R&D productivity while simultaneously reigning in costs,” said Al Hilwa, program director, Application Development Software, IDC. “One of the best ways to address this challenge is to provide application and database developers with the full range of tools they need to speed development, manage changes and compliance more efficiently, and to design things right in the first place. Software vendors that can affordably provide this broad range of tools across the industry’s most popular platforms and languages are well-positioned to become strategic partners to companies seeking to optimize their IT spend and boost efficiency, productivity and innovation.”

Embarcadero All-Access enables customers to select from one of four All-Access levels providing on-demand access to the entire Embarcadero tool chest which includes up to 18 award winning development and management products. These tools range from rapid application and web development (Delphi®, JBuilder®, C++Builder®, 3rdRail™) and database design and development (ER/Studio®, Rapid SQL®, DBArtisan®), to database management (Change Manager, Performance Center) and more. Higher All-Access levels provide additional products, features and functionality. The price for each level includes the first year of support, maintenance, all upgrades, new products as they are introduced, and access to premium content on the Embarcadero Developer Network website. http://edn.embarcadero.com. To view all products available in the Embarcadero All-Access by level, visit www.embarcadero.com/products/all_access.

“All-Access offers Embarcadero’s popular database and application development tools at a price point significantly below the cost of even part of the included capabilities,” said Ronald Segal, president of Spectrum Systems, Inc. “All-Access is a versatile and powerful asset that can evolve with any organization, and can be redeployed across roles, projects and project lifecycle phases. This is particularly important in the federal marketplace in which we work as software budgets are being slashed and requirements continue to grow. All-Access enables agencies to meet their current needs within budget, dramatically reduce total costs of ownership, and is specifically designed to support organizations as they expand and evolve.”

Embarcadero All-Access simplifies tool delivery and license management with innovative and flexible licensing and deployment options that are designed to simplify license provisioning and access for any size team or organization. All-Access license options include: Workstation, which is tied to a user and workstation; Network Managed Named User, which allows a user license to float between workstations; and Network Managed Concurrent, which allows All-Access licenses to be shared among users in an organization.

Embarcadero All-Access also introduces InstantOn™, a breakthrough feature that allows users to easily “click-and-run” All-Access tools on-demand, without installation, either locally or over the network. InstantOn saves valuable time and allows instant operation in locked-down desktop environments where installing software is problematic. The InstantOn capability is available today for many All-Access tools and will be available for all components of All-Access in Q2 2009.

“Embarcadero All-Access is the ultimate high-tech tool chest,” said Wayne Williams, CEO of Embarcadero Technologies. “Rather than having to find, evaluate and buy full price individual tools as needs arise, the All-Access tool chest provides users with instant access to virtually all the tools they need to design, build and run applications and databases across the industry’s most popular platforms. And by making the tool chest affordable and convenient to use, customers can reduce overall tooling costs while achieving huge efficiencies in their IT and R&D groups.”

Pricing and Availability

Embarcadero All-Access is now available worldwide. Pricing in North America begins at $2,250 USD for a “Bronze” single-user Workstation license. To learn more about Embarcadero All-Access packages, visit www.embarcadero.com/products/all_access.

Supported Platforms and Languages

Oracle, IBM® DB2, Sybase®, Microsoft® SQL Server, InterBase®, MySQL®, Java™, Microsoft .NET, VCL, Rails ™, Windows®, Linux®, Mac OS®, SQL, UML®, XML, HTML, C++, Delphi®, PHP, Ruby™.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/

Evolution in Packaging Controls

Robotics and software solutions deliver impact in OEM packaging machinery

Since electronic servo motion control emerged as an automation solution 25 years ago, packaging machinery has been a primary target for innovation. These high-speed, line-oriented machines were often originally designed with a main lineshaft to synchronize complex mechanical motion. Packaging machines were a perfect fit for multi-axis coordinated motion, electronic gearing and camming, large axis count controllers and the fundamental strengths of servo technology.

The pace of innovation hasn't slowed, and with high-speed networking and integration of logic and HMI control, changes in controls have become an even more complex and multifaceted evolutionary process. Suppliers are now looking to use processing power and software advances to implement kinematics for robotics and find ways to simplify and speedup the software development process. This report surveys the latest trends and how packaging controls are evolving to power the newest generation of machines.

PackXpert Generates Robotics Code for Packaging

A consistent theme in the evolution of packaging controls is the implementation of new tools for creating application software more easily and quickly, along with the integration of robotic handling capabilities into a wide range of OEM packaging machines.

An example is PackXpert, a recently introduced software technology from Adept Robotics. This software is designed to take the company's expertise in robotics for packaging and make it available to customers in a simple, easy-to-use product that is useable right out of the box.

"We decided to take our expertise in vision-guided, conveyor-tracking robots and create motion application programs that provide a solid level of software, and make it available to users as soon as they install the product," says Travis Armstrong, a systems' engineer for Adept.

Armstrong says robotic motions are similar for a wide range of product handling applications. The PackXpert application software walks the user through configuring the application and setting up process-specific items such as whether there are one or four conveyor belts, or the application requires vision. The idea is to allow the user to configure the system using point-and-click software. Then PackXpert builds all the underlying programs required for the application.

"All the user needs to do is configure the system, teach the locations and what the part looks like, and we create the underlying programs that do most of the work," says Armstrong. "One of our main goals is shortening development time. Instead of finding time to write programs for error recovery, handling multiple products and changing over from Product A to the next-generation product, we wanted to minimize the amount of time it takes to develop an application."

"Being Green," Sustainability Puts Focus on Efficiency

This year's PackExpo, held in Chicago in November, confirmed for some that the strong focuses on "being green" and sustainability issues are increasingly becoming important for packaging machinery builders. For more and more OEMs, there is a goal to reduce packaging material usage by producing more accurate machines that reduce the waste of packaging films and other materials. But according to Rick Rey, a packaging industry business development manager for Bosch Rexroth, this focus is rippling into controls, as well.

"As a supplier, we look at how machines can be ‘green' for the (manufacturing) plant in terms of more efficient energy and air usage. With both electric drives/controls and pneumatic products, there is an emphasis on driving greater levels of efficiency," Rey says.

One example he cites is that servomotors can routinely utilize bus sharing, so when motors are decelerating they are in a regenerative mode and provide bus voltage to other motors that are accelerating. Capacitor modules can also be designed into systems and used to store dc energy which can be reused.

One example of how the focus on energy efficiency is shaping the thinking of OEMs is an application for pallet loading beverages. When the pallet is lowered, because it is a heavy load, the motor is regenerating a significant amount of electricity.

"What happens is the system's dc voltage can only go so high and once you saturate the level of the bus voltage, most systems bleed off that additional energy into a resistor and it becomes wasted energy and heat," Rey says. But since a regenerative power supply can serve as an inverter and convert that additional energy back to ac energy, it can be put onto the three-phase line. Average power consumed by the machine is greatly reduced and is something end user plants can look at as a long-term strategy for reducing energy usage.

Application Software Tools Speed Packaging Development

A key to the evolution of packaging control is the pace of change in consumer products which is affecting the size and configuration of packaging, and requiring more flexible machinery and higher production rates. According to Travis Holley, a packaging industry consultant for Siemens, there is a strong demand for higher performance and the ability to handle this broad range of products.

"For product handling applications including orienting products, loading of trays, multi-pack loading into cartons and palletizing, we see a demand for automation and motion solutions that can handle more modular machine concepts. OEMs are looking for control architectures, both hardware and software, that can handle modular designs," Holley says.

There is also a primary focus on software solutions that expedite the development for the OEM. Machine builders don't want to be creating 100 percent of the machine code for every machine they are shipping.

"We have developed application tools and libraries for key machine types in the packaging industry," Holley says. "Libraries are available for vertical form-fill-seal, horizontal flow wrapping, smart belt feed systems and robotic handling to name a few."

A hot technology area is robotic handling, where the number of machine configurations demand differing kinematic solutions to execute the paths and motions required for those machine types. Each kinematic solution needs to be flexible to handle a range of products.

Siemens has introduced a top-loading application for robotic handling that allows users to simply configure their solution without worrying about developing the fixed order polynomial equations to create the path for a specific application. The libraries allow users to define restricted areas or interference points in the path and integrate safety solutions. The software helps the OEM execute the motions required, protect the machine with restricted area configuration and protect operators using integrated safety functionality.

Single, Scalable Architecture and Multi-Discipline Control

With packaging OEMs challenged to be more productive, efficient and flexible, there is a strong move in controls toward a single architecture for the machine that also integrates software tools to simplify and shorten the process. According to Axel Rodriguez, product manager for Rockwell Automation's CompactLogix programmable automation controllers, these issues, along with sustainability, are shaping the future for packaging machinery builders.

"Important factors for OEMs are the ability to utilize a single, scalable architecture that can be deployed for small and large machines," he says. "The same controls should be able to be used for different disciplines within the machine or production line. And there needs to be a set of tools and features built into products and architectures to reduce development times for OEMs."

In the past, he says, many packaging applications would have a separate controller for motion and line control, but now, modern architectures combine those disciplines into a single control. The controllers can go up-front in the line or at the back of the line, for processing and/or material handling applications.

"The idea of scalable control is OEMs offering different levels of machines, from small machines without a lot of features and functions to a scalable architecture that can cover a wide variety of machine types," says Leo Petrokonis, a packaging business development manager for Rockwell.

A reduction in development times can be accomplished by utilizing modular control concepts. Machines use the same basic functions such as jogging or homing servos, which don't change from machine to machine. Modular control makes it possible to modularize, label, execute and deploy these functions to reduce development time for new machine types.

An example is how Rockwell can use an "add-on instruction" to identify a group of code, name it and make it available for use in other applications. Users can also redeploy the same technology over existing controllers because the hardware is software-upgradeable.

Robotic Case Packer Uses Mechatronic Design

A key part of the evolution of packaging controls is an ability to weave robotics into the systems. More robotic mechanisms are available off-the-shelf, but software integration has become the important issue.

"Packaging machine controls are now more commonly adding function block solutions for robotics," says Tom Jensen, engineering manager for Schneider Electric's ELAU Packaging Solutions. "Major packaging innovations are happening at the software level and with integrating robots into machines."

He says the mechanical game of packaging machines has changed. Everything used to be custom. Now there are many more off-the-shelf components being utilized. The challenge is how to integrate these components from a motion control perspective and simply programming the application.

Jensen says there is a need to hide the software complexity inside the machine, especially in the American market. Servos simplify the mechanics of the machines, but the software needs to contend with more variables. A typical packaging machine in the US has seven to eight axes of control, so the programs can get long and complex. Most users love the operation of the servo-driven machines but need to simplify their approach to programming the machine.

A success story is the Edson RPd 270 robotic case packer, which utilizes a compact, modular two-axis delta mechatronic design. This new delta robot differs visibly from most case packers with its sleek, uncluttered work envelope. To optimize performance, Edson has combined ELAU's robotic, automation and servo module technologies with a complete electrical panel and HMI. The two-axis delta concept offers unique reach, payload and efficiency needed for case packing, compared to articulated robots or three-axis delta pick-and-place robots.

"The core of the Edson machine is its ability to control the XY space," says Jensen. "The robot has a large 30-lb payload and can offer cycle rates ranging up to 60-70 picks a minute depending on the weight of the objects."

"The concept of the Edson robot is simple but the calculations for robotics control, camming and synchronization, are advanced. The mechanics of the system are simple but the integration piece is more difficult. If, as the technology supplier, we didn't simplify the approach so one function block could be used with both the robot and other servos, the system would have been much more complicated," Jensen says.

Source: http://www.designnews.com/

Telerik Adds WebUI Test Studio (powered by ArtOfTest) to Its Portfolio

Telerik, a leading vendor of developer tools and UI components for .NET, has partnered with ArtOfTest, the expert in software quality assurance technologies, to add a new web testing product to its portfolio—Telerik WebUI Test Studio. This move reinforces Telerik’s position of an industry leader and makes its portfolio the most extensive .NET toolbox on the market.

The new Telerik WebUI Test Studio is an automated testing solution, powered by the innovative ArtOfTest Automation Design Canvas™ and WebAii™Automation Framework. The product is specifically tailored for Telerik RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX, thanks to the integrated control translators. Advanced, yet user-friendly, WebUI Test Studio helps developers and QAs easily deal with complex automated testing scenarios. Although it offers tight integration with the Telerik web controls, the new tool is indispensable when it comes to testing rich, AJAX-based web applications.

“With WebUI Test Studio, we are happy to present a new era in automated web testing,” said Svetozar Georgiev, Telerik Co-CEO. “Historically, testing tools have been complex and expensive, and as a result—out of reach for most small and medium-sized companies. We believe WebUI Test Studio will bring automated testing to the masses, finally making superior and cost-effective testing possible, finally facilitating team collaboration between developers and QAs. We have also provided another benefit for all Telerik customers—special wrappers for the Telerik AJAX controls, which expose control-specific test actions.”

Telerik WebUI Test Studio is not a generic testing tool, but rather designed for automated testing of modern web applications, especially AJAX-based. It features an Automated Overlay Surface™, a unique visual storyboard, and an array of other advanced features for web solutions. Thanks to the tool’s unique browser abstraction, recorded tests can be run against all supported browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox, with Safari and Google Chrome support coming soon). WebUI Test Studio is fully integrated in both Team Suite and Professional editions of Microsoft Visual Studio. Support for Silverlight applications will be added in the next releases.

“We are very excited about partnering with Telerik and offering a specialized version of Automation Design Canvas™ to their customers,” said Christopher Eyhorn, ArtOfTest CEO. “This partnership and its offerings is a first of its kind between a UI component vendor and a testing tools company. We believe it is time to bring a new generation of cutting-edge technologies and innovative processes to software testing that will assist software quality professionals in building better software easier.”

Source: http://www.softdevtools.com/

Novatel Wireless Unveils Next Generation Mobile Broadband Performance with HSPA+ Product Family

Novatel Wireless, Inc., a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced its HSPA+ product line with the availability of the Ovation MC996D USB modem.

HSPA+ is the next evolution of high-speed packet access (HSPA) wireless broadband technology with greater capacity for data throughput compared to current 3G networks. With peak data speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps on the downlink and 5.76 Mbps on the uplink, the MC996D design delivers significant performance enhancements compared to legacy broadband technologies.

The MC996D supports the 900 and 2100 MHz frequency bands and is designed to provide connectivity virtually anywhere in the world to check email, download rich multimedia content and remain connected to family and coworkers. The MC996D offers unprecedented speed in Novatel Wireless’ sleek form factor design. Featuring an auto install connection manager, multi-color LED service indicator light and removable memory storage up to 32GB via MicroSD/SDHC, the MC996D has the ultimate 2-in-1 USB modem and storage device.

“Novatel Wireless is dedicated to the latest emerging technologies to support the continuous evolution of wireless broadband network technology,” said Peter Leparulo, chairman and CEO of Novatel Wireless. “Our HSPA+ product line with the MC996D represents our efforts to continuously develop the fastest and most reliable wireless data devices for our customers.”

Invite-only demonstrations will take place at the Novatel Wireless booth (# AV52 –A) at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/

Microsoft and Nectec in three-year project

Collaboration aims to boost local work in security, agriculture, traffic control

Microsoft (Thailand) has joined the Science and Technology Ministry in an effort to boost software research and development in Thailand.

Under the collaboration, Microsoft and the ministry's National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) will join in research and development in three areas: assistive technologies, developing "digitized Thailand" and software testing. They will also collaborate on software development for traffic control.

Nectec director Pansak Siriruchatapong said the partnership would aim to lift up research and development in Thailand, to bring research and development to the industrial sector, and to chart a career path in research and development for future generations.

"We plan to persuade Microsoft to set up a joint development lab in Thailand in the future," he said.

The priority is co-development of assistive technology related to Desy (Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron) software. The aim is to bring open-standard Desy features to operate with a majority of Microsoft's software suite.

At present, Microsoft's software has a "Save as Desy" feature to facilitate the transfer of text-based documents to Desy format. The collaboration effort will seek to extend this facility in the Microsoft software suite, with more features such as text-to-speech, to help bridge the "digital divide" between normal and disabled people.

Another priority is mobile development to serve a wide range of applications such as traffic, security and agricultural management.

"Nectec has received Bt400 million for development of an information archive for three provinces in the South be using mobile technology developed by Microsoft and Nectec. This project is initially to serve the government's security policies and then it can be used for other purposes as well," Pansak said.

Microsoft (Thailand)'s managing director Patama Chantaruk said that by signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Science and Technology Ministry, Microsoft was promising to spend a three-year research budget in Thailand that had already been approved by the company's headquarters in the United States.

The timeline is more important than the amount of the budget, she said, since Microsoft has committed itself to a three-year research and development effort in Thailand.

The company plans to set up another research and development centre in Thailand, after having chosen this country to establish its first healthcare research centre outside the US. It is possible, after this collaboration, that the next such centre will cover the areas of agriculture and education, she said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

Visual DataFlex for software developers

Data Access Worldwide has announced the global availability of Visual DataFlex 2008/14.1, the company's latest release of its flagship rapid application development framework for building business software solutions for Windows and Web platforms.

Visual DataFlex 2008/14.1 delivers several productivity-enhancing features designed to make developers' work easier than ever. The integration of database management and modeling capabilities and the ability to view database table definitions and modify tables are now included in the Studio. Data Dictionaries, the center of Visual DataFlex applications, can now be visually modeled in the Studio. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Vista x64 platforms are now supported.

"The release of Visual DataFlex 2008/14.1 furthers the software's reputation among software developers as the fast and easy way to build Windows and Web database applications, Rich Internet Applications, Web services and other business solutions," said Chip Casanave, Data Access' president and CEO.

"This (release) enhances the productivity of software development dramatically," said Siegfried Weissleder of the Germany-based software firm Turbo-Soft. "In previous versions, learning about properties, events and inheritance was time consuming. With the new Properties Panel, this information is made readily available and blended in, thanks to the automatic code generation."

With Visual DataFlex Studio and its application framework, class library and rich set of pre-programmed, data-aware controls and components, the design and implementation of Windows and Web applications is a structured, well managed process resulting in fast, easy visual development.

With the Visual DataFlex Web Application Server it is easy to Web-enable existing Windows solutions as well as to create new Web applications. Visual DataFlex Windows and Web applications share a common technical and operating foundation so developers can reuse large portions of Windows applications to create new, browser-based solutions in minimum time. The secure, high-performance Web Application Server seamlessly integrates with the Windows application environment. It's also easy to build Rich Internet Applications (RIA) with the AJAX Library for Visual DataFlex.

Visual DataFlex also makes it easy for developers to deliver great-looking menus, tool bars and skins in Windows applications with the included Codejock Xtreme CommandBars ActiveX controls and Xtreme Skin Framework.

Source: http://www.ciol.com/

What's GNU? 25 years!

It’s been about a quarter of a century since Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation unveiled two important milestones in the open-source movement: the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. From them came very important projects like Emacs, the GNU Operating System, the GNU General Public License and the GNU Compiler Collection.

Whether you like or dislike Linux (which was built using GNU tools), or whether you admire or revile the GPL, there’s no doubt that the Free Software Foundation has had a profoundly significant impact on nearly every aspect of software development. Yes, Stallman is a polarizing figure. Yet when you look back at his track records, from Emacs to the GPL, from the gcc to Linux, his work has touched us all.

That’s not to say that everything about the Free Software Foundation and Stallman (it’s almost impossible to separate the two) is admirable. Stallman’s long-standing grudge against Linus Torvalds gets in the way. So too does Stallman’s habit of insisting that reporters refer to Linux as GNU/Linux. Sorry, rms, that battle has been lost. It’s time to move on.

Do you think that Stallman will move on? Of course not. That’s not in his nature. He’s a never-give-up, never-surrender fighter and has been since he began writing his license and operating system. Nomenclature notwithstanding, he and the FSF have been remarkably successful in creating both software and licenses that have profoundly influenced both open-source and commercial development.

Since the advent of GPLv3, however, the question is now, “Where does the Free Software Foundation go from here?” For better or worse, the organization’s latest battles haven’t been technological, but legal. Stallman, the FSF and its partner, the Software Freedom Law Center, are now focusing on corporate compliance with their licenses. They’re not innovating, they’re litigating.

Yes, a license without compliance is valueless. Yet we’d rather that the standard-bearers of the open-source movement return to their traditional role of winning hearts and minds. We’d rather they talk to developers instead of attorneys.

It is not clear to us what Stallman and the FSF intend to do next to build upon their success. We’re sure that there’s going to be a lot more to come. Born in 1953, Stallman has many fruitful years of activism, compiler optimization, complaining about Linux and license rewriting ahead of him. Let’s hope that the next 25 years are famous for more creativity along the lines of Emacs and the gcc, not an endless stream of GPL lawsuits.

Tightening belts

Microsoft, Intel, AMD: They’re among the companies laying off employees in the face of today’s economic slowdown. Call it a recession, call it whatever you want, but organizations large and small are tightening their belts and reducing their payroll.

On the grand scale, the layoffs in the technology sector are small. Sure, that’s no consolation to those who have been laid off, and we empathize with everyone who has lost a job or seen a reduction in pay, hours or benefits. Still, we must acknowledge that the tech industry is faring better off than other industries. Around the same time that Microsoft, Intel and AMD announced their cuts, heavy construction equipment maker Caterpillar slashed 20,000 jobs.

The good news is that, long term, the prognosis for our industry is strong. Software developers and development managers are valuable employees. Yes, anyone is obviously vulnerable when companies go out of business or institute massive layoffs, and yes, it can take some time to find a new position. Yet we believe that when the economy recovers, organizations will set a priority to rebuild their battered software development teams.

Source: http://www.sdtimes.com/

Google Pulls The Plug On Its Radio Ads; Retreats To What It Knows Best

Google is pulling the plug on its Google Audio Ads and Adsense for Audio products, and is looking to sell off its Google Radio Automation software business. The moves come less than a month after the company decided to stop selling print ads, another experiment to expand beyond Web advertising that went nowhere. Google expects to lay off as many as 40 people as a result of exiting the broadcast radio advertising business. We’ve added the number to our Layoff Tracker.

It also marks the failure of Google’s $102 million acquisition of dMarc Broadcasting two years ago, which formed the basis of these businesses. The dMarc deal could have been worth as much as $1.13 billion if the business hit certain milestones. But radio stations and the companies that own them never gave Google the advertising inventory it needed to make it a real business, despite Google’s outright attempts to buy market share.

You’ve got to wonder whether dMarc would have made more inroads on its own had it not sold to Google. As it was, fear of Google’s growing power no doubt played a role in the lack of cooperation from the radio industry. And in this environment, even Google can’t fund money-losing projects forever. So it decided to take its marbles and go home, staying in the audio ad business only as it applies to streaming audio on the Internet. Google says it will still continue to pursue its dreams of serving better TV ads, but it is not clear Google is making much progress on that front either.

Source: http://www.techcrunch.com/

It's That Time Again: KDE and GNOME Invite Students (and Mentors) to GSoC 2009

Google's Summer of Code (SoC) Program has united students interested in open source with projects and mentors for several years now. The initiative's goal is to foster interest in open source software while exposing students to "real-world" software development processes. It's easy to see, based on how enthusiastically some projects embrace the annual event, that the students aren't the only ones who benefit from the program.

This week, both KDE and GNOME announced that development teams under their respective umbrellas wishing to submit project ideas and mentor students this summer were able to do so.

This also means interested students can get a sneak peek at potential projects and mentors. The list of projects (and mentors) won't be finalized until mid-March, but seeing as students only have two weeks to submit their applications, an advance "project screening" might prove helpful.

Students wishing to work on KDE-based projects are encouraged to read through the participation guidelines (the 2009 participation wiki entry links to the 2008 requirements). Both students and interested mentors are encouraged to look through this summer's idea proposals.

GNOME's SoC page directs mentors and students to the current list of proposed projects (again, this list is expected to grow in the coming month). Students are invited to take a look at GNOME's participation guidelines.

Both projects encourage interested students (and mentors) to explore Google's SoC wiki and check both the SoC home page and Google's Open Source blog for updates.

Source: http://ostatic.com/

Mobile software merger combines Android, LiMo forces

Esmertec, a Swiss firm specializing in Android and Java virtual machines, is acquiring Purple Labs, a French vendor of mobile stacks compatible with the LiMo Platform. In a stock deal worth about 19.7 million shares, the two European companies will be renamed as "Myriad Group AG."

The new Myriad Group would combine two major platforms and development teams for mobile Linux with combined, estimated 2009 revenue of about $125 million, and about 800 software engineers in Europe, Asia, and America. While linking Android and LiMo development teams, Myriad also integrates Esmertec's more fundamental Java middleware technology with Purple Labs's expertise in mobile browsers and UI components.

Zurich, Switzerland-based Esmertec, which is known for its Jbed Java Phone Engine, was a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), which oversees the Google-sponsored, Linux/Java Android stack. Esmertec also joined the rival LiMo Foundation in August as one of the refugees from the now defunct Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum.

Esmertec is primarily known for its Android-ready Jbed Java Phone Engine

Known for its mobile browser technology, acquired via its recent purchase of OpenWave, Chambery-France-based Purple Labs is a Core member of the LiMo Foundation. It developed the first LiMo reference design in the Purple Magic feature phone (pictured at top). Purple Labs is also providing one of five reference designs for the upcoming LiMo R2 release of the Linux Mobile spec. The company recently reported positive revenues and another funding round. (For more background on Purple Labs and Esmertec, see farther below.)

Myriad deal touted for $13 million in savings

In the Myriad stock deal, Esmertec is purchasing all of Purple Labs's stock shares in exchange for 19,681,842 Esmertec shares, say the companies. Subject to shareholder approval, the acquisition also includes an earn-out clause that would provide Purple Labs shareholders with an additional 4.4 million Esmertec shares if specified targets are met. Meanwhile, a Purple Labs management options scheme is being converted to about 1.4 million Esmertec options, which could grow by over 300K Esmertec options, contingent on the earn-out, say the firms.

Once the companies are fully integrated in 2010, the merger is expected to yield annual operating cost savings of about $13 million. Savings will be found especially in research and development, sales and marketing, information systems, and administrative functions, say the companies.

Purple Labs CEO Simon Wilkinson will become CEO of Myriad, and Esmertec CEO Thomas Hornung, will move to an advisor role, say the companies. Esmertec chairman Hans Peter Baumgartner and other Esmertec board members will retain their positions in Myriad, and subject to shareholder approval, Purple Labs's Wilkinson, Roland Manger, and Loek van den Boog will join the board of directors of Myriad.

The acquisition has been approved by the boards from both companies, and was "reviewed favourably" by the Swiss Takeover Board, say the firms. Shareholder approval is expected by the end of March.

Esmertec: a Java success story

Esmertec specializes in Java engines, Android platforms, and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) mobile services, says the company. It is known primarily for its Jbed Java Phone Engine (pictured above), which is compatible with all major mobile operating systems, including Linux, as well as processor platforms including ARM, x86, and XScale.

The key component of Jbed is its CLDC (connected limited device configuration), which includes a Java compilation engine, and supports "a large variety of Java 2 Platforms, Micro Edition (Java ME) specifications, and operators's extensions," says the company. The Jbed Java Phone Engine supports both CLDC 1.1 and MIDP 2.0/2.1 (Mobile Information Device Profile), as well as the next generation JTWI (Java Technology for the Wireless Industry), says the company.

Esmertec also fields a Jbed Java Multimedia Engine, based on a Jbed Advanced CDC stack aimed at consumer electronics devices, including set-top boxes (STBs), Blu-ray players, automotive infotainment devices, home gateways, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), says Esmertec. In addition, the company provides mobile services, including its Cellicium USSD Browsing service, which is said to offer menu-based on-line mobile messaging services to nearly all GSM/UMTS mobile subscribers. It also offers a new MAX (Mobile Application eXplorer) service for designing, promoting, and deploying services including self-care, news, mobile banking, music, games, and instant messaging applications, says the company.

In December, Esmertec announced that it expected double digit revenue growth for 2008. It also reported 3Q shipments of 28.2 million Jbed units, and said that 157 million mobile subscribers had access to its Cellicium USSD services via 28 mobile operators. In addition, the company reported that its Android involvement was "bearing fruits," accelerated with the launch of the HTC G1 by T-Mobile, as well as engineering contracts for the OHA. It also reported that it was in advanced discussions with Tier One mobile manufactuers on the development of "Jbed empowered Google-phones."

Later in December, Esmertec reported shareholder approval of its previously announced acquisition of Sagem Mobiles's software platform activities. This appears to be a separate unit from the Sagem Wireless technology and staff acquired recently by Purple Labs (see below).

Purple Labs: Bringing LiMo to feature phones

French mobile stack developer and LiMo (Linux Mobile) Foundation member Purple Labs company recently announced 2H 2008 revenues of 11 million Euros (~$14.1M), quadruple its revenue in the first half of 2008. The company also said it raised series-B funding of 22 million Euros (~$22.8M) during the half. In its first funding round in 2007, Purple Labs raised $14.7 million. Purple Labs is privately held, funded by three European venture capital firms: Sofinnova Partners, Earlybird Venture Capital and Partners Group.

The Purple Labs feature-phone stack includes multimedia players, videoconferencing, and an HTML browser

Purple Labs was originally known for its Linux phone stack, which was used in several iMode-compatible Grundig phones distributed by French carrier Bouygues (pronounced "Bweeg"). The company later offered an interesting Purple Magic design (pictured at top), which used NXP's "Nexperia" hardware reference design and VirtualLogix VLX to reduce component count, targeting sub-$100 end-user pricing. As far as we know, however, the phone was never widely distributed.

Purple Labs pegged its second-half revenue increase to its acquisition and relaunch of Openwave's mobile browser business. Purple Labs acquired Openwave's mobile phone software business for $32 million last June, gaining Openwave's cross-platform browser and messaging client technologies, which enjoyed huge marketshare during the WAP era. Purple Labs had previously committed to upgrading Openwave's high-end Surfer Browser, as well as its Mobile Integrated Dynamic Application System (MIDAS) mobile development kit and function library, which was also part of the deal.

Purple Labs announced order intake during 2H 2008 of over 70 million Euros, and says it expects to earn 50 million Euros in revenue in 2009. Cumulative shipments of Purple Labs browser and messaging applications surpassed 1.8 billion units, claims the company, and the staff has grown to 425, up from 80 at end of 2007.

In August, Purple Labs announced a joint testing agreement with Openwave, and also announced it would acquire the mobile applications suite and software engineering team of French phone manufacturer Sagem Mobiles. Purple Labs now says that it has closed a 52.5 million Euro contract to provide software and services to Sagem over three years.

Purple Labs will be exhibiting on "The Avenue" (Stand AV97) at the Mobile World Congress, Feb. 16-19 in Barcelona. The company will also sponsor the GSMA "Best mobile phone / device" award, says the company.

Stated Hans Peter Baumgartner, chairman of Esmertec, "This acquisition creates a powerhouse in the mobile industry. Myriad will be a valued partner for phone manufacturers and mobile network operators that aim to create innovative user experiences for the mass market."

Source: http://www.linuxdevices.com/