Autodesk

Autodesk announce AutoCAD LT® 2009

Dramatically increase productivity with AutoCAD LT software, the world’s number one selling 2D drafting and detailing product.
AutoCAD LT is a powerful solution for designers who need full DWGTM native file format compatibility without 3D capabilities or advanced customisation. Increase efficiency with an updated user interface that not only accelerates routine tasks, but also makes commands easier to find, helping new users become productive as quickly as possible. Working with layers is now easier than ever. Move to new heights of productivity with AutoCAD LT software.

AutoCAD LT® 2009 software provides user interface enhancements with:

• Ribbon: Easily learn and use updated interface
• Quick Properties: View key property information at the entity
• Quick View: See thumbnail images of open drawings and layouts
• Layer dialog box enhancements: Changes in the Layer dialog box are reflected instantly in the drawing.
  

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Business Objects

Business Objects first combined offering with SAP

As a first indication of the successful pace of the companies’ integration, SAP and Business Objects have announced an initial slate of joint product offerings, enabling deep, operational intelligence to improve business performance.

The nine new software “packages” combine solutions from SAP and Business Objects in groupings designed to help customers hone in and address particular business challenges. The initial packages fall into three categories: performance optimisation applications, business intelligence platform capabilities and packages specifically for the small and midsize market.

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CA

CA release new versions of CA ARCserve Backup and CA XOsoft

CA has enhanced its award winning ARCserve Backup and XOsoft products to help you protect all of your data, all of the time. Now available together as CA Recovery Management r12, the new versions provide a complete data protection solution to reduce business risk and increase efficiency.

With CA Recovery Management R12, you benefit from uninterruptible access to your data. Backup, recovery, replication and availability are all managed from one easy to use interface. It’s modular, so you can install what you need now and add more later. And it comes from a trusted leader in IT management, so you can be sure your critical business data is in safe hands.

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Centennial

Centennial and Vista

Windows Vista migration is the largest single IT project many organizations will undertake in 2008 according to analysts. So to effectively manage such a large project, IT managers need to know exactly what they have on their network so they can plan and prepare before the migration commences.

Centennial Software’s IT audit solutions make it easy to build an accurate and dynamic inventory of the entire corporate network, discovering all installed software and auditing hardware configurations across all major platforms.

With the majority of IT projects failing to come in on time or on budget, is your organization prepared for success when it comes to migrating to Windows Vista? The "Practical Advice on Planning for a Windows Vista Migration" white paper from Centennial explores the importance of knowing exactly what is on the network before you begin to ensure Vista migration is a success.

Click here to view the white paper 

Centennial License Manager 2.1

Following the highly successful launch of License Manager in September 2007, Centennial Softwar announced the introduction of License Manager 2.1, in March 2008. The latest version of License Manager further consolidates the solution’s position as the most intuitive and automated desktop software license management solution on the market. Key to the development goals were the ability to handle different types of software licenses, facilitate internal reporting on license purchases and allocations and provide a more comprehensive coverage of known software titles.

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Cisco

Cisco ASR 1000 technology 

Cisco has announced the introduction of the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 1000 Series). The ASR 1000 Series features software virtualisation to enable “instant-on” provisioning and simultaneous use of a wide range of service functionality, including firewall, IP security virtual private networks (IPSec VPNs), deep-packet inspection and session border control (SBC). Such broad-ranging embedded capabilities eliminate the need to deploy multiple single-function appliances in addition to a router, offering dramatic savings in capital costs, operations expenses and reducing users’ carbon footprints.

The Cisco ASR 1000 series is driven by the new Cisco Quantum Flow Processor (QFP), the industry’s first fully-integrated and programmable processing engine. The Quantum Flow Processor results in not only outstanding scaling of service intelligence and performance but also in the platform’s ability to be retasked to meet many emerging requirements as networking evolves over the coming decades.

Cisco and Apple 

Cisco VPN technology has been incorporated into Apple's iPhones new software release. The software will incorporate enterprise security features such as Cisco IPsec VPN and e-mail/contacts/calendar sync with Microsoft Exchange.

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Citrix

Citrix XenServer extends the dynamic data center to both physical and virtual servers

Citrix XenServer™ 4.1 and Citrix XenServer Platinum Edition, the first new releases to its server virtualisation product line since completing the acquisition of XenSource last quarter. With the new releases, XenServer becomes the first solution in the industry to address both virtual and physical servers.

With fewer than 15% of all corporate servers expected to be virtualised by 2012 according to industry estimates, the ability to dynamically provision virtual application workloads across 100% of servers in the typical data center provides a significant advantage for XenServer customers. The new release also adds more than 50 new enhancements, improving the product’s ease of use, performance and increased support for enterprise storage systems. In addition, XenServer adds specific new optimisation for Citrix XenApp™ (the new name for Citrix Presentation Server).

Citrix XenServer Platinum Edition includes powerful new capabilities that dynamically provision both virtual and physical servers, extending the product’s value to servers running native workload images and assuring server consistency within silos by provisioning simultaneously from a single standard workload image.

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Clearswift

Clearswift launches Small Enterprise Suite

Clearswift has announced that its award winning MIMEsweeper e-mail and web security appliances, are now available to organisations with 50 users upwards as a new bundled solution called the Clearswift Small Enterprise Suite.

Clearswift have recognised that the e-mail and web security and content control demands placed upon smaller organisations have been rising sharply. Malware and viruses continue to evolve, spam shows no sign of abating and new web 2.0 channels further compound security threats by increasing the likelihood of damaging data leaks. This new appliance offers SMEs the same no compromise solutions Clearswift offer to all their enterprise customers.

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EMC

EMC introduce the new EMC® CLARiiON® AX4

A highly flexible, available and scalable storage area network (SAN) system for small and medium businesses (SMBs).

The new system can easily be deployed, expanded and reconfigured in a VMware Infrastructure and traditional IT environments with no application downtime. The CLARiiON AX4 system can scale to 60 terabytes of capacity and supports either iSCSI or Fibre Channel SAN connectivity. With built-in advanced information management and protection features, it can store, manage and protect data from up to 64 high availability Windows, Linux, Unix, NetWare and VMware Infrastructure hosts simultaneously. The CLARiiON AX4 system is cost effective to deploy for SMBs and can easily be tailored and expanded to meet dynamic information storage requirements and is ideally suited for applications including Microsoft Exchange, SQL, Oracle and SAP. It can be configured with up to 60 SAS and SATA disk drives for an optimal mix of performance, cost and energy efficiency.

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HP

HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director

HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director Power Pack is the most advanced B-series director-class switch and provides the backbone for evolving SANs in mission critical environments. It supports a scalable and application-centric approach to enterprise data management. It enables the merging of diverse types of networks including client/server, virtual server cluster, extension, and SANs to improve server and storage utilization, simplify management, reduce costs, and support non-disruptive growth.

DC SAN Director offers a 6TB backplane consolidation by delivering scalability with up to 768 ports in a dual chassis configuration.

HP release MSA2000

In Q1 08 HP announced its intention to launch the MSA2000 family of storage arrays aimed at the mid market. The MSA2000 will replace the existing portfolio starting with the introduction of the fibre channel and iSCSI versions. With support for 4Gb FC and 1Gbe on the iSCSI model these latest editions bring best performance and feature rich storage consolidation to the cost conscious business. Active/Active controllers from launch give resilience and performance to those requiring it and cache requiring no batteries as standard allows for continuous data integrity even without power.

Scalable to 36TB, this simple to implement and manage solution will bring data availability and protection to medium sized organisations that see business growth matching their data growth and do not want second best storage.

HP launch Colour LaserJet CM6040 MFP series

See productivity soar with this high performing Colour LaserJet MFP. Ideal for workgroups and departmental environments who need print, copy, scan, fax and digital sending functionality up to A3 format.

The first laser printer with output speeds of up to 40 ppm in colour and black and process documents quickly with an 835MHz Microprocessor and 512MB memory, expandable up to 1GB.

This series is easier to use than ever before with the Easy Select control panel’s intuitive display. Achieve outstanding results with exceptional line acuity with up to 1200x600 dpi operating mode, colour matching standards and Pantone certification.

HP ProCurve new Switch 2610 Series

This new switch series is a replacement for the most successful ProCurve product - the 2600 series . The new 2610 has more features, more port options and most importantly the 2610 products are significantly more cost effective than the outgoing 2600 products.

With static routing, robust security and management features, free lifetime warranty and free software updates, the 2610 series is an effective solution for customers who are building converged enterprise edge networks.

VMware and HP announce agreement to embed VMware ESX 3i on HP ProLiant Servers

VMware’s ultra-thin hypervisor software, VMware ESX 3i, is to be integrated on 10 models of HP ProLiant servers. The joint offering makes it easier to adopt virtualisation with greater speed and simplicity. Virtualisation helps companies share and pool technology resources to better optimise their data centers, resulting in greater flexibility to meet business demands and business pressures to reduce costs.

VMware ESX 3i for HP ProLiant features VMware virtualisation capabilities with full support for HP System Insight Manager (SIM), the rich set of server management tools that come standard with HP ProLiant servers. This integrated offering enables customers to deploy VMware’s base hypervisor within minutes of booting up a ProLiant server, providing greater speed and simplicity for those new to virtualisation, as well as increased capacity expansion for those who already use VMware’s data center virtualisation and management suite, VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3).

HP introduce three new thin client products

Three months after closing its acquisition of Neoware, HP has added two powerful and flexible desk-based models as well as the first HP branded mobile thin client – all of which combine notebook and thin client expertise from both HP and Neoware.

Designed for mobile workers who have a well defined set of tasks requiring a wide range of general purpose software or unique business applications, the HP Compaq 6720t Mobile Thin Client is ideal for on-the-go professionals.

It is based on Microsoft Windows® XPe and features a 15.4” display; solid-state design with no hard drive, fan or other moving parts; enhanced security with no data residing on the notebook; Wi-Fi Certified WLAN along with support for 3G broadband wireless via PC memory card slot; and solid-state flash module for greater durability, faster data access and more quiet and cool operation.

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IBM

New - IBM Director 5.20

IBM Director is an integrated, easy-to-use suite of tools that provide customers with flexible systems management capabilities to help realize maximum system availability and help lower IT costs. With IBM Director, IT administrators can view and track the hardware configuration of remote systems in detail and monitor the usage and performance of critical components, such as processors, disks and memory.

IBM Director 5.20 contains the following new capabilities:
• Simplified installation
• Management for updates
• Security improvements
• Expanded command line interface
• Inventory collection now collects firmware information for more devices, including hard disk drives, SCSI tape drives, NIC adapters and RSA video BIOS for most managed systems.
• Includes support for new IBM hardware
• An updated, comprehensive, web-based information centre provides easy access to the most up-to-date product information available.

IBM System x3450

The dual socket, quad core IBM System x3450 provides maximum performance for a fixed investment, enabling organisations to run compute-intensive applications. The x3450 is targeted for businesses requiring a high-performance computing server or scientific/technical computing cluster for a space-constrained data centre. 

With fixed power, five non redundant cooling fans, and improved systems management control, System x3450 servers feature: 

• 1600 MHz front-side bus (FSB) support
• Five non redundant fixed cooling fans standard
• 600 Watt power supply with cooling
• One PCI-Express card slot (1 x16) Gen 2, full length/full height
• Integrated dual Gigabit Ethernet
• SATA models with native SATA controller
• AMF DDR2 ECC DIMMs, combined with an integrated ECC memory controller in core logic, that correct many soft and hard single-bit memory errors, and minimize disruption of service to LAN clients.
 

The System x3450 servers are positioned above the High Performance Compute node, x3455 and below the stable business critical application server, x3550. These servers contain large 16 DIMM memory addressability, 1600MHz front-side bus processors, and one PCI-Express slot. They are offered in flexible rack models. These servers are optimized for the High Performance Computing space.

The System x3450 servers form a compact 1U, two-socket, Xeon processor-platform designed with fewer general purpose features for quicker response to data calculations at a lower cost per transaction. These servers are ideal if you require considerable processing power and large memory addressability in a space saving 1U design.

IBM System x3350

Install the x3350 in a data center or remote office and enjoy simplicity and value integration in an easy to manage server that supports the needs of your business today and tomorrow.

The industry’s first single-socket server delivers the power, performance and reliability previously found only in dual-socket offerings, include higher end 2 and 4-processor server offerings. The x3350 provides leaner power and cooling consumption than competitive 1U, two-processor servers.

• Go green and save with affordable, energy efficient, high performance quad-core computing
• Manage growth and risk with reliability, flexibility and security to respond to business change
• Reduce complexity with integrated systems management tools
• Do more with less - a single-processor server with four computational engines.

IBM announce Rational AppScan

An automated web application security testing engine that continuously and automatically reviews Web applications, tests for security issues and generates actionable reports with fix recommendations to simplify the remediation process.
IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition provides:

• Core vulnerability support: Includes those identified in the WASC threat classification - such as SQL-Injection, Cross-Site Scripting and Buffer Overflow
• Advanced remediation recommendations: shows a comprehensive task list necessary to fix issues uncovered during the scan
• Automated capabilities for penetration testers: advanced testing utilities and the Pyscan framework complements manual testing offering more power and efficiency • Regulatory compliance reporting: 40 out of the box compliance reports including PCI Data Security Standard, ISO 17799 and ISO 27001 and Basel II.

IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.0.1 new features

This updated software builds on the value and innovation of 8.0 and offers features including Lotus® Notes Widgets and Lotus Domino Web Access Lite mode.

Improvements are delivered in a familiar framework that provides an integrated infrastructure and builds value, while minimising the need to grow IT infrastructure with new servers.

New features:

• Deployment enhancements to Lotus Domino that enable administrators to free up time and focus on other areas.
• A new mode for Lotus Domino Web Access optimised for bandwidth. It addresses the needs of users who are travelling or are constrained with dial-up connections.
• Linked to other components of the Lotus portfolio including integration with IBM Lotus Quickr, IBM Lotus Connections, increased support for IBM Lotus Sametime® 8.0 (includes Lotus Sametime Unyte). 
• Support for Citrix Presentation Server 4.5.

New mobile access options for users of Lotus Notes and Domino 8.0.1.

Eligible users may request entitlement to download a new wireless e-mail option, called Lotus Notes Traveler, which provides real time synchronisation of Lotus Domino e-mail and PIM data on a Windows Mobile 5 or 6 mobile device (smartphone or Pocket PC).

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Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkCentre Vertical PC and monitor stand

The Lenovo Vertical PC and monitor stand lets you combine your desktop PC and monitor into one compact, space saving, and flexible solution. The stand helps you maximise your workspace by securely holding the PC behind the monitor. This new product is compatible with the 4.5L Ultra Small Form Factor ThinkCentre A61e, M57, M57p systems.

Features and benefits

• -Quick and easy assembly
• -Adjustable height, tilt and swivel of monitor with little effort for comfortable viewing at any angle
• -Integrated cable management helps keep the work area tidy
• -Removable cable cover offers easy access to wired connections
• -Unique ThinkVantage Design complements your compatible Lenovo USFF Desktop
• -Accommodates 17 inch through 22 inch-wide monitors
• -Quick and easy assembly
• -Adjustable height, tilt and swivel of monitor with little effort for
• comfortable viewing at any angle
• -Integrated cable management helps keep the work area tidy
• -Removable cable cover offers easy access to wired connections
• -Unique ThinkVantage Design complements your compatible Lenovo USFF Desktop
• -Accommodates 17 inch through 22 inch-wide monitors  

Lenovo unveil thinnest ever ThinkPad

Lenovo’s amazing new ThinkPad X300 ultraportable notebook is the thinnest ThinkPad ever – less than 19mm at its thinnest and it weighs just 1.4 kg. But the X300 is more than ultra-thin and ultra-light thanks to features like these:

• Integrated DVD burner
• Extended life batteries
• Easy connectivity
• 3 USB ports, line in/line out and more.

Advanced components on the X300 include Solid State storage drives and for the first time in X Series – an integrated camera option and stereo speakers. The X300 also offers several wireless connectivity options including integrated Wireless WAN and Wlan.

In addition, ThinkPad X300 is the first Lenovo notebook rated EPEAT Gold for low energy use and minimal impact on the environment. It also meets the European Union’s Reduction of Hazardous Substances standards. And it is Energy Star 4.0 qualified. The X300 uses 25% less energy than previous X Series models.

IBM and Lenovo licensing agreement for select x86 servers

IBM has signed a licensing deal enabling Lenovo to manufacture and sell select x86 servers. The relationship will help extend IBM’s technology footprint in the x86 market with a trusted partner, Lenovo.

IBM is granting Lenovo a product manufacturing license for one and two-socket tower and rack servers. Lenovo will manufacture and distribute a select set of these products. Lenovo has contracted with IBM Global Technology Services to provide services (level 1) and maintenance as well as IBM Global Financing for financing for its Top Seller models.

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McAfee

McAfee Total Protection for Data announcement

McAfee® Total Protection for Data is a comprehensive solution delivering complete protection, full visibility and control of confidential data anytime and anywhere. With unmatched scalability and centralised management, the new solution includes endpoint encryption, device control and host data loss prevention (DLP).

Created in response to the growing number of regulations placed on organisations that require them to ensure customer privacy and data confidentiality. McAfee protects data regardless of how the data is used, stored, accessed or located. Customers receive comprehensive monitoring and protection of all communication channels including corporate e-mail, personal e-mail, instant messaging, file transfer, P2P file sharing, Web mail and other applications. The inclusion of end-point encryption protects businesses if a computer is ever lost or stolen.

McAfee reveal Foundstone 6.5

Now generally available, Foundstone 6.5 extends the capabilities of agentless scanning by adding policy compliance checks for both Windows and Unix systems. This release automates and simplifies inefficient processes as it quickly and accurately discovers and prioritises vulnerabilities and policy violations across managed and unmanaged networked systems.

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Mimecast

Mimecast Software-as-a-Service integration with MS Outlook

The new enhancement to Mimecast’s e-mail archival, security and continuity service, gives users the ability to continue to send and receive e-mails natively within Microsoft Outlook during planned or unplanned Microsoft Exchange outages. Mimecast Services for Outlook ensures that in the event of failure of the primary Exchange server, the user will automatically be switched to Mimecast’s online e-mail service without any intervention from the IT administrator or user.

Peter Bauer CEO of Mimecast comments, “The dangers of any e-mail failure affecting the reputational, regulatory and commercial status of a company are mitigated.” Adding, “This enhancement to our service eliminates the need for costly and complex redundant servers and RAID systems. Mimecast’s service ensures users’ e-mail services continue unaffected during a server outage leaving the IT Manager free to concentrate on fixing the problem or carrying out the routine server maintenance without users complaining about e-mail downtime.”

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NetApp

NetApp virtualisation solutions

NetApp offer storage solutions for VMware environments that simplify data management and save time while leveraging existing investments in heterogeneous storage arrays across FC, iSCSI, NFS, and CIFS. All the NetApp systems support both primary-to-virtual (P2V) and virtual-to-virtual (V2V) environments.

• NetApp SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure enables your VMware administrators to increase productivity by automating common storage management functions.

• The NetApp FAS product line (FAS6000, FAS3000, and FAS2000) integrates easily into complex enterprise environments and simultaneously supports all standard network protocols.

• To extend the benefits of NetApps simplified data management to your third party storage arrays, you can use NetApps V-Series product line (V3000 and V6000). 

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Netgear

The GSM7200R switches deliver wirespeed Gigabit performance and a full set of Layer 2 management features. These next-generation, high-speed switches deliver maximum throughput where you need it — to high-performance workgroups at the edge of the network, or as a backbone for Fast Ethernet switches and high-speed servers in demanding small networks. The non-blocking design offers full Gigabit throughput simultaneously to all 24 or 48 10/100/1000 ports to ensure reliable performance. Flexible fiber connectivity is enabled through four combination small form-factor pluggable (SFP) gigabit interfaces. Layer 2 management functionality delivers reliability, control, and availability.

Netgear launch new enhancements

18 new products, 6 CES Innovations Awards and 2 review awards at Januarys CES event in Las Vegas started another year of product innovation for NETGEAR. They have unveiled some great new technologies for 2008 including Dual Band wireless to take networks to the uncluttered 5GHz band, innovative metamaterial antennae in the new wireless-N range to allow more and smaller antennae to boost wireless performance and the new HD gaming bridges which bring enhanced performance for high speed video transfer. Security fears are addressed with the new Push ‘N’ Connect wireless security across the new range. These industry recognised product introductions highlight NETGEAR’s innovative approach to product development and great understanding of it’s customers needs.

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Samsung

Samsungs new T range

Samsung have released a new range of 19''- 26'' widescreen displays. The T-series boasts world-beating contrast ratio (200,000:1), and 2ms response time, so image quality is a new vision in clarity and brightness. What's more, the MFM displays offer full HD, Dolby Digital technology and 2HDMI with integrated digital TV tuner, so superior sound and connectivity also come as standard.

Samsung launch SP-A400B

Optimised for both home theatre and business use, the new Samsung SP-A400B dual mode projector is the most versatile projector ever released onto the market. Its colour intensity produces vividly realistic images which add depth and clarity to the viewing experience. By accurately reproducing the colours of the original source material, colours are displayed exactly as they were made to be seen. The stylish contours of the SP-A400B add sophisticated elegance into any environment. The ergonomic design, high glossy black finish and delicate blue lighting are an expression of premium design and timeless style. Performing at WXGA 768p, supporting PC and widescreen modes and with Windows Vista certification.

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Sony

Sony VAIO adopts new Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processors and product specifications are upgraded for 2008

• VAIO AR61, FZ31, SZ71, CR31 and TP2-Series are now powered by new Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processors
• More models will have Blu-ray Disc™ Drives for 2008
• High-end AR61, FZ31 and SZ71-Series models have 4GB SDRAM for exceptional performance
• The AR61ZU full HD entertainment notebook now has 512MB dedicated VRAM.
  

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Sophos

Sophos announce Endpoint Security and Control 8.0

In April 2008 Sophos will be releasing the much anticipated Endpoint Security and Control 8.0. This new version integrates standard network access control (NAC) functionality with comprehensive endpoint protection - anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-adware, HIPS, client firewall and application control - in a single licence.

Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 allows you to enjoy the security benefits of NAC in a way that is simple to deploy across your existing network and that doesn’t stretch your security budget. IT security will be immediately improved by:

• identifying managed, unmanaged and guest computers that do not comply with security policy
• using a single automated console to deploy, update and report anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and NAC protection on Windows, Mac and Linux computers 
• stopping infected or unprotected computers from joining the network. Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 8.0 delivers brilliantly simple security and control.
  

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Trend Micro

Trend Micro Message Archiver

This new product was released in March to efficiently manage secure e-mail storage in mid-size companies. It provides fast, easy search capability and reduced storage costs, while enabling e-discovery and compliance with data retention regulations.

Message Archiver lowers e-mail storage costs by reducing data on the mail server by as much as 80%. The tamper-proof archiving solution allows authorised personnel to search and retrieve e-mails and attachments quickly throughout an organisation. It uses timestamps and encryption to ensure the authenticity of messages. Message Archiver also protects employee privacy by logging transcripts of privileged-user searches that can be sent to a designated Data Guardian.

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Wyse

Wyse offer two new mobile thin clients for virtualised desktops

The Wyse X90L and X90Le add to Wyse’s current ultraportable mobile thin clients based on Microsoft Windows® XP embedded and address desktop replacement and display oriented applications with a large, bright 15.4-inch widescreen WXGA TFT display.

The X90L and X90Le deliver the benefits of being totally solid-state, by eliminating fans and spinning parts, and more secure by eliminating a local HDD. These provide a rich set of capabilities:

• Rich, multimedia support in virtualised environments
• Gigabit Ethernet
• VGA and DVI display outputs
• SD card slot for additional storage
• Bluetooth 2.0 for true mobility
• Integrated smart card reader and Citrix Password Manager Client for 2 factor security.
  

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