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Crude oil, gasoline inventories lower last week

2007-08-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

Crude oil prices were lower at the close of trade in New York on Wednesday after having risen after new data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that inventories of both crude oil and gasoline were lower by unexpectedly high amounts in the week ending August 3.
Gasoline stockpiles, which had been expected to rise by around 900,000 barrels during the week instead dropped 1.7 million barrels to 203 million barrels, while crude oil inventories were down by 4.1 million barrels when a decline of only 2.7 million barrels had been anticipated.
Refinery utilization was also down to 91.3 percent of capacity from 93.6 percent the week before, a rate that had not been expected to change much, bringing gasoline production down to 9.15 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, distillates inventories were 1 million barrels higher to 127.5 million barrels.
Despite the inventories declines, and despite the fact that prices for West Texas Intermediate crude were higher in New York after the new numbers were announced, at the close of floor trade WTI for September delivery was 27 cents lower to $72.15 per barrel.
In London, meanwhile, September contracts for Brent crude dropped 21 cents to $71.59 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.

The price of Nymex September gasoline was also lower at the close, falling 1 cent to $1.94 per gallon, while September heating oil traded steady at $1.97 per gallon.
September natural gas, however, added 2 cents to trade at $6.22 per million British thermal units

More pressure on OPEC to raise quotas

2007-08-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

The price of crude oil fell on Monday on profit-taking by hedge funds, while at least one analyst predicted that taking of profits could trigger a sharp decline in oil prices.

Meanwhile, another group urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies to increase their production quotas when its ministers meet in Vienna in September.
The Centre for Global Energy Studies said that OPEC is not pumping enough oil and that it must increase production if it wants to ensure a balanced market.

While OPEC continues to insist that inventories of crude oil are sufficient globally and that there are few signs that high oil prices are hurting the global economy, one report had OPEC’s president also saying that his group might increase supply, but not necessarily before the end of the year.

Still, some analysts saw a possibility that the oil cartel could begin to pump more oil in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

September contracts for Brent crude were $1 lower on the Intercontinental Exchange to trade at $76.64 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery had dropped $1.19 to $74.60 in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
At the same time, Nymex August gasoline was down 5 cents to $2.11 per gallon, while September heating oil had fallen 4 cents to $2.08 per gallon.
September natural gas dropped 42 cents in afternoon trade to $6.10 per million British thermal units.

Oil prices up on weather forecast, equities gains

2007-08-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Oil prices were higher on Monday after the US National Hurricane Center reported that a tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic Ocean.The depression was located around 840 kilometeres (520 miles) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands at late morning Eastern Daylight Time, but forecasters said that by the time it approaches the Caribbean later this week there is a possibility that it might strengthen into a hurricane.
Price gains also came after equities markets gained in the wake of further cash injections by several central banks.

Near the close of trade in New York, West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was 15 cents higher to $71.62 per barrel, while the price of Brent crude September contracts had added $1.10 to $71.49 per barrel.Nymex September gasoline was down 2 cents to $1.94 per gallon, while September heating oil traded even at $1.97.

October contracts for natural gas were down 4 cents to $7.02 per million British thermal units.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency cut its oil demand forecast for North America by 100,000 barrels per day to 25.88 million for the fourth quarter.

Denmark ready for North Pole mission

2007-08-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

The Arctic icecap is thinning as a consequence of global warming so the race is on to claim ownership of the rich oil and gas resources under the North Pole and Russia is one of many nations competing to lay claim to the oil and gas reserves.
Researchers from Denmark now plan to head for the North Pole to gather geological information. The expedition, which will last for one month, will investigate the Lomonosov Ridge off Greenland.

Russia claims the underwater feature is linked to its territory. However, Denmark is investigating to see if it is geologically connected to Greenland, a Danish territory. The USA, Canada and Norway also have claims in the Arctic.
The Danish Science and Technology Minister remarked that they will continue until they have the best data. The Danish mission, entitled Lomrog (Lomonosov Ridge), is backed by a Swedish icebreaker called Oden and a Russian nuclear icebreaker called 50 let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory), which was leased by Sweden.

The research team comprises 45 specialists from Canada, Denmark and Sweden and plans to collect bathymetric, gravity and seismic data to map the seabed under the ice.

Oil prices up on named tropical storm

2007-08-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Crude oil prices were higher in New York on Tuesday as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean was upgraded to a tropical storm and given the name Dean as it heads toward the Caribbean.
Dean is expected to become a hurricane by the end of the week and analysts worry that it could enter the Gulf of Mexico and interrupt oil supply.

In addition, a separate tropical depression could form today in the Gulf of Mexico in an area north of the Yucatan Peninsula.September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 78 cents to $72.40 per barrel by the close of floor trade.
Nymex September gasoline was up 4 cents to $1.97 per gallon, while September heating oil gained 2 cents to $1.98 per gallon and October natural gas jumped 11 cents to $7.13 per million British thermal units.

Ahead of Wednesday’s US inventories data for the week ending August 10, most analysts expect that crude oil and gasoline stockpiles both will have declined but that distillates inventories will be higher.

Oil prices mixed in Asia midsession on US subprime credit woes

2007-08-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade Friday, with the market taking a hit from the escalating contagion sparked by troubles in the US subprime credit sector.There are concerns that the financial impact of US lending to borrowers with poor credit records would lead to slower economic growth in the US and elsewhere which would dampen demand for oil.At 11:55 am (0355 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, was down one cent at 71.58 US dollars a barrel from 71.59 dollars in late US trades Thursday.Brent North Sea crude for September added seven cents to 70.28 dollars."There are concerns about the impact of the US credit woes on economic activity and hence oil demand," said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz."Some investors have also moved their money out of oil to cover losses in other sectors."

The problems in the high-risk subprime home loan sector has been sending shockwaves through the markets worldwide.In the latest development, BNP Paribas Investment Partners, a unit of French bank BNP Paribas, said it had suspended three of its funds exposed to the subprime market, triggering heavy selling in equities globally.Oil prices have fallen sharply after hitting a fresh all-time high of 78.77 dollar on August 1.

"After establishing the new record high last week, the market was really vulnerable to a reversal," Shum said."All the market needed was a trigger and the market foundthat trigger in the concerns over the US subprime market."But he said there appeared to be strong support for prices at 70 dollars, with falling US energy inventories and a refusal by the OPEC cartel to raise output expected to help keep prices buoyant.US crude inventories fell 4.1 million barrels to 340.4 million barrels for the week ended August 3, against the consensus forecast for 2.75 million barrels.US gasoline stocks dropped a surprising 1.7 million barrels against expectations for a rise of 775,000 barrels.Shum said that with the US hurricane season around the corner, "weather remains a wild card" as storms could threaten US oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Cisco beats Q4 earnings expectations

2007-08-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

Cisco surpassed analyst expectations again when it posted fourth-quarter earnings of $2.3 billion on sales of $9.4 billion. The results exceeded analyst estimates of $9.29 billion in revenue and earnings of $2.24 billion.Earnings do not include expenses and other items. Including those items, Cisco recorded a profit of $1.9 billion for the fourth quarter ended July 28.Revenue was up 18% over last year’s fourth quarter, and earnings for the same period were up 21.2%.For the 2007 fiscal year, Cisco recorded sales of $34.9 billion and earnings – excluding expenses and other items – of $8.4 billion. Revenue was up 22.6% over fiscal 2006 and earnings increased 21.6% over the last fiscal year.

Scientific-Atlanta, acquired in February 2006, contributed $2.8 billion to net sales for fiscal 2007, compared with $989 million for fiscal 2006. Fiscal 2007 results again exceeded analyst expectations, which were $34.78 billion in revenue and earnings of $8.34 billion.At $1.9 billion, routing revenue was up 14% in the quarter from the fourth quarter of FY 2006. Orders for high-end routers grew in excess of 30% from the fourth quarter of 2006.Switching revenue was $3.3 billion, up 18%.

Revenue from Advanced Technologies -- unified communications, storage, security, and others -- was $2.2 billion, up 24% from last year's fourth quarter, and services revenue, $1.5 billion, was up 19%. U.S. business improved in the quarter after two soft quarters in the enterprise market in Q2 and Q3. In U.S. business overall, average growth was in the upper teens, "the best we've seen in a number of quarters," said Cisco CEO John Chambers. In enterprise specifically -- excluding federal government business -- orders grew 12% in Q4, vs. mid single digit order growth in the second and third quarters. Federal orders grew 40% over the fourth quarter of FY 2006, and U.S. service provider orders grew 30% over the same period.Cisco's new video-based TelePresence virtual meeting system is relied upon by the company to drive enterprise demand. Orders for that system in Q4 grew 400% over the third quarter of fiscal year, and Cisco has deployed 110 systems since its introduction last fall.On a global basis, enterprise orders -- including public sector -- grew in the mid-teens. Service provider orders grew in the low 20% range. Q4 was the sixth consecutive quarter of record revenue and net income, excluding expenses, for Cisco. The company has grown earnings an average of 22% on a yearly basis for the past 16 quarters, CFO Dennis Powell said during a conference call on the fourth quarter results.With that momentum, Cisco is raising its long-term guidance to grow 12% to 17% annually, from previous targets of 10% to 15%. For the first quarter of fiscal 2008, Cisco expects revenue of $9.45 billion to $9.55 billion, a hike of 13% to 16% from the first quarter of 2007.

The IT Manager's Toolbox: Microsoft Virtual Server & Virtual PC

2007-08-08T03:57:00.002-07:00

A critical component of the IT manager’s toolkit should be virtualization software.In our mostly heterogeneous Windows™ server and client environments, we use Microsoft’s Virtual PC and Virtual Server products.

In fact, virtual machines (VMs) containing server images and default client desktops for each client are part of the tools out technical consultants take with them on site visits. For service and technical support, the ability to roll back a server, or client for that matter, to an earlier, more stable image is a blessing.

In x64, R2 SP1 form, Virtual Server is capable of running 512 virtual machines and supporting up to 256 GB of memory when operated on Windows Server 2003 x64. Yes, not a typo! 256 GB of memory! 512 virtual machines! Talk about taking advantage of the performance allowed by 64-bit addressing!Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 can be downloaded from here, and Microsoft Virtual PC download is here. Microsoft has also made available a library of ready-to-use virtual hard disks, or VHDs, containing time-bombed OS installs. These VHDs cover almost the entire gamut of Microsoft offerings.

Microsoft Aims to Launch New Windows by 2010

2007-08-08T03:57:00.001-07:00

InformationWeek.com - With Windows Vista out the door and its first service pack on the way, Microsoft has begun to focus on the road map for the future of its flagship operating system. The details are still extremely skimpy, but the company is beginning to discuss Windows 7, which is Microsoft's internal code name for the next version of the Windows client, with select customers and partners.

Since Vista's release, Microsoft has been saying that the next version of Windows would appear significantly quicker than Vista did after XP's release. To that end, Microsoft is still on track. "Microsoft is scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year time frame, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar," the company said in a statement. However, earlier statements by Microsoft execs had put Windows 7 on track for release in 2009, while doing the math on the latest statement puts Windows 7 more in the 2010 time frame.

Surf the Internet Wirelessly at 15GB/s in the Future

2007-08-08T03:56:00.001-07:00

ScienceMode.com - Scientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) announced a new research which investigates the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances. This means that tangled wires under desks and in data centers will be a thing of the pas, scientists say.Within three years, this “multi-gigabit wireless” approach could result in a bevy of personal area network (PAN) applications, including next generation home multimedia and wireless data connections able to transfer an entire DVD in seconds.The research focuses on RF frequencies around 60 gigahertz (GHz), which are currently unlicensed — free for anyone to use — in the United States. GEDC researchers have already achieved wireless data-transfer rates of 15 gigabits per second (Gbps) at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters.

National Semiconductor reaches for the stars

2007-07-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

National Semiconductor Corp, an icon of the electronics industry, isn't acting as you'd expect an icon to behave. The company has changed its lineup from commodity products to higher end analog devices, boosted its profitability, and regained its standing as one of the premier electronics companies. Not bad, for an electronics company that was founded in 1959—the same year that Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby invented the IC. In fact, last quarter gross margins climbed nearly a point, bookings were up, and the projection for the company was pointed firmly up and to the right. Making the turnaround even more significant, industry participants just a few years ago considered National a commodity analog player.

But that's only part of the story. National's shift away from commodity components has pushed it to the leading edge of power-management design—something that chairman and chief executive officer Brian Halla calls the “cool factor.” National's components fill motherboards for power-management and temperature sensors on the upcoming Tesla electric sports car, for example. Its components are also present in high-end stereo systems, digital cameras, and a variety of consumer devices that are household names.

“The volumes in the Tesla are not going to excite National as a company,” Halla says. “But if National could somehow be part of the solution to leaving hydrocarbons and going to electric, that's pretty exciting.”

National's focus is no longer just the analog interface. It wants to own the entire signal path. “All of our sales training was done at a signal-path level, and all of our product collateral is now done at a signal path level,” he says. “We're starting to make the turn.”

Halla believes there are three drivers of the electronics industry: energy, health care, and security. “We're already immersed in technology that can fix so many of the problems that exist today,” he says.

But getting there and keeping the company facing forward have required a reshuffling of resources within National. The company's R&D as a percentage of sales has increased to about 18% and swallowed a larger percentage of the selling, general, and administrative portion of the budget, which has held steady.

The role Halla has carved out for himself on the national stage as former chairman and current board member of the Semiconductor Industry Association is perhaps even more significant for propelling the company's image. Over the past couple of years, he has emerged as the industry's spokesman against limitations on H-1B visas, restrictions of stock options, and the need to fund engineering schools. “I don't think politicians represent their constituencies anymore,” he says. “They think they do. But you watch these debates on H-1B visas and these claims that the visas are used to get lower cost workers. No. It's just as competitive for a PhD from Iraq as from down the street. You have to pay them going wages. It's no different. People think they're taking jobs away from Americans. They're actually creating jobs.”

Halla, like many others with several decades of history in Silicon Valley, also believes that government funding for research is essential—and lacking. “Bell Labs and Xerox PARC [Palo Alto Research Center] and SRI are all gone. So, all the research happens at universities, but nobody's funding them because DARPA is funding Lockheed and Raytheon.”

He notes that both political parties support research in theory, but nothing gets done because they wind up bickering over issues such as illegal immigration when they discuss H1-B visas. The fallout is companies go where the business conditions are more favorable.
National has taken that route and established a strong global presence. But while the company seems poised to survive just fine, the big question is who its competitors will be.

Walden Rhines, Mentor Graphics: Looking ahead key to success

2007-07-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

In an industry dominated by four main players all vying for the same customer base, Walden C Rhines, chairman and chief executive officer of Wilsonville, OR-based Mentor Graphics Corp, stands out from the rest.

Hailing from a 21-year career with Texas Instruments, Rhines joined Mentor in 1993 and has led the company to about $800 million in annual revenues with 28 engineering sites worldwide. Differentiating the company from competitors is a key challenge, Rhines admits. To succeed, “It's [crucial] to decide very early on what's going to be important down the road, rather than what's important today. And that's usually hard to do because no one is pressuring you to spend money or dedicate resources to something that's not important today.”

That long-range insight, research, and planning are what Rhines believes management-level executives are paid for, even though the results are not clear until long after the fact. “In most companies, you don't even know while the existing management is in place whether they did a good job or not; you find out five or 10 years later,” he says. In addition, under Rhines' direction, Mentor has made a concerted effort to find areas in which there was no established infrastructure and whether those areas would become problems in the future.

One of the biggest payoffs with this strategy is beginning to bear fruit: Building on the success of its Calibre physical-design and -verification tool, it became obvious to determine what areas of chip design, verification, and manufacturing could use Calibre as a foundation, he says. “The whole area of resolution enhancement—all of the things associated with DFM (design for manufacturing), and the things associated with mask masking—became things that we could target that were out of the range of attention of our major competitors and allowed us to build a base early in the game.” As a result, Mentor now has one of the largest cadres of DFM tools in the market and is watching revenues slowly but steadily inch up. Rhines can point to other areas, such as functional verification, emulation, C-based design, automotive electronics, and mixed-signal design, that benefited from his strategy.

Developing EDA tools in a number of disciplines is no small feat and requires key partnerships with semiconductor vendors. “Partnerships are important because EDA is a business in which you can't develop the product stand-alone; you have to do it interactively,” Rhines says. “Everyone in EDA has company partners that are interactively evolving products until it gets to some stage where they say, 'That's good enough; I'll use it.' All technology development has interactivity to it, but EDA in particular has interactivity because how people end up using the tool and addressing the problem is as important as how you solve the problem.”

With this kind of complexity in product development, measuring success takes on new facets, Rhines notes. “Rather than [just] looking at total revenue and even profitability, it's much more, 'In the areas where we're number one, are we perceived by customers to add substantial value? Are we the de facto or are we just one alternative? Are we providing capability that is not generally available from others?' Those metrics tell me more about where we are going than the financial ones which tend to be backward-looking: You did things well five years ago, so your financials look better. What's going to say you're going to look better five years from now?
In the end, the focus on strategy and running the business well has paid off for Rhines, even if it is on a local level. Last year, Mentor was named a recipient of the Oregon Ethics in Business Awards, which honors organizations and individuals that demonstrate ethical business practices. Although Rhines may not be able to literally “take it to the bank,” it certainly appears the company is on the right track.

VODAFONE PLANNING ACQUISITION IN INDIA

2007-07-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

Britain-based Vodafone Group PLC, currently headed by Indian-American Arun Sarin, is considering acquiring a company in India at an appropriate time. Sarin said Vodafone would try to acquire companies in France as well as, Russia and other East European nations if it could buy at the right prices, according to The Wall Street Journal. For the longer term, he indicated Vodafone would consider an acquisition in India, following a withdrawal from that country last year, the New York newspaper said.

Telecommunications Saves Lives

2007-07-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

Disasters disrupt national economies, severely weaken the poor and vulnerable and are recognized as major impediments to sustainable development and reduction of poverty especially in poor countries. The impact is even worse for those living in remote and isolated areas with no access to basic information and communication facilities that are essential to providing vital alerting information.
In order to mitigate the impact of disasters, timely dissemination of authoritative information before, during, and after disasters is critical. ITU’s activities in the field of radiocommunications make invaluable contribution to disaster management as they facilitate the prediction, detection, and alerting through the coordinated and effective use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the establishment of radio standards and guidelines concerning the usage of radiocommunication systems.
ITU’s telecommunication technical standards also play a strategic role in ensuring global interconnection and interoperability of telecommunications networks for monitoring and management at the onset and during emergency and disaster situations. A number of Recommendations have been developed for call priority schemes that ensure that relief workers can get communication lines when they need to, whether using traditional or next generation communications networks. Complementary to the need to provide call priority during emergencies is the ability to deliver warnings to users, and standards are fundamental to ensure that warnings are timely delivered uncorrupted from the source to the end users – no matter how they can be reached.
The development arm of the ITU considers emergency telecommunications an integral part of its development agenda. For this reason, a lot of effort is directed at mainstreaming disaster management in telecommunications/information and communication technology projects and activities as part of disaster preparedness. This includes infrastructure development, and the establishment of enabling policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. In the immediate aftermath of disasters, ITU deploys temporary telecommunications/ICT solutions to assist countries affected by disasters. This includes the provision of basic telecommunications and telemedicine applications via satellites. Reconstruction and rehabilitation of telecommunications/ICT networks is an important part of disaster management. After providing assistance for disaster relief and response, ITU undertakes assessment missions to affected countries aimed at determining the magnitude of damages to the network through the use of geographical information systems. On the basis of its findings, ITU and the host country embark on the resuscitation of the infrastructure while ensuring that disaster resilient features are integrated to reduce network vulnerability in the event of disasters striking in the future.

UK companies underestimate 0870 regulation

2007-07-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

London, UK- Friday 27th July 2007 – Comtact, a leading provider of IT and Telecoms solutions today announces that it has found UK companies have significantly underestimated the potential impact of the new 0870 regulations.

As part of their campaign to raise user awareness of 0870 numbers and the pending regulation change, Comtact Limited and one of their lead Numbering Consultants Adam Dulmeer has made significant findings regarding 0870 number use.

From having contacted over 1,200 UK organisations that employ the use of 0870 prefix telephone numbers, 74% of respondents had not made any preparations in regards to the regulation change. UK companies seem to be unaware of the potential damage this could cause to demand for their services as well as the fact that they would incur a charge themselves for using 0870 telephone numbers.

When speaking with some of the UK’s largest organisations which use 0870 prefix numbers, reasons cited for not switching were that they believed it would be an inconvenience to customers having to use a different number.

From regular meetings with the policy managers of Ofcom and ICSTIS (the regulating body for premium rate numbers), Comtact established that Ofcom has limited its distribution of alternative numbers, with the potential result of many businesses panicking over the forthcoming months to change as new numbers are reserved.Comtact continues to raise awareness of this regulatory change by informing businesses through various methods, including the development of their information website, www.nomore0870.co.uk.

US data hosting firm eyes NZX

2007-07-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Security-conscious Diligent withdrew some of its core functions from New York to Christchurch after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and now keeps a low profile even in the South Island city.
Diligent chief executive Brian Henry said raising capital would allow sales staff growth at the firm, now incorporated in the United States.
The New Zealand options looked positive, although the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market had been considered, Henry said. "What's great about New Zealand is we can be a significant player in the New Zealand market and have a very high profile we could never have in America."
Diligent grew out of another software data hosting company – MSO New York – started by Henry and his partner, Kiri Borg, in 1994.
In 2001, insurance giant AIG SunAmerica came to Henry and his team to help it find a way of putting board meeting papers online. Rather than create a system to sell to AIG, Diligent spent $US5m ($NZ6.3m) on a server and mainframe and licensed space on the system.
Then AIG said as a client it would pay $US60,000 a year per user licence because it would save that amount by adopting an online approach.
The annual licence fee system would allow Diligent to lift its turnover, now at over $US3 million, with an extra $US3m in the pipeline. It is projecting turnover of $US12.28m in calendar 2008 and $US31.18m in 2009.
Staff are projected to grow from 16 to 45 next year and 75 in 2009.
NZX market development manager Geoff Brown said Diligent would be a welcome addition. "From our perspective to have a US-based company in the technology sector listed here would be a fantastic outcome."
The advent of 9/11 caused Diligent to bring its main server to Christchurch, where it has some of its top people including Henry and chief financial officer Kevin Lawler and development manager Al Percival – amongst 20 or so staff.
"This software used to be in New York City but after 9/11 we moved it to New Zealand. After 9/11 we said that's it, that stinking cloud from downtown came right up the avenue got sucked into our air conditioners and we couldn't even work in the office," Henry said.
Diligent – now owned by a small group of shareholders – had turned down offers to buy the business by information company Thomson Financial, American stockmarket Nasdaq and global Lehman Brothers Private Equity, he said.
Diligent's "boardbooks" product allows licensed users from corporate giants like Motorola and No. 5 US bank Wells Fargo to access board papers for meetings held throughout the year. "They've got to feel confident to move their archive on to the servers. They've got to know the security is 100%, they've got to know their directors are going to feel happy using it," Henry said.
In the US, board papers for mutual fund managers could run up to 1500 pages. In the US a mutual fund might have two books and meet four times a year with 10 directors. "So you're talking literally millions of pieces of paper a year, and you're talking about dragging these papers around in a little luggage trolley," he said.
"It hasn't got that bad in New Zealand, but we meet a lot more regularly than in the States."

Microsoft Woos Partners With Beefier Hosting Tools

2007-07-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

This week at HostingCon 2007 in Chicago, Microsoft is showing its partners how they'll benefit from its software + services strategy, the vendor's answer to software-as-a-service. Software + services consists of a rich mlange of directly hosted applications, partner hosted applications and on-premise software. As Microsoft moves to a services world, partners are going to have to adjust their business models, for example, from selling Exchange Server to sell hosted Exchange services, said Michael van Dijken, marketing manager for Microsoft's Hosted Solutions division.
Windows Server 2008 and its integrated component Internet Information Services 7.0, which are slated for launch next February, includes better security, scalability and reliability, all of which make life easier for hosting partners, according to van Dijken
Additional improvements come in the form of integrated health management for Web services, fast and scalable configuration, and delegated administration, van Dijken said.
Several hosting partners told CMP Channel that while they're excited about the new tools, Microsoft's entry to the software-as-service business -- the vendor already provides CRM, Microsoft Exchange Server and Windows SharePoint Services -- looms as a potential threat.
However, some partners believe they've found the right market niche to ensure that they're not going head-to-head with the world's biggest software vendor.
For example, hosting partners can differentiate themselves from the competition -- and from Microsoft -- through solid back end data center infrastructure, customer service, and support, said Amir Hudda, CEO of Herndon, Va.-based Apptix, a hosting partner that provides Exchange, SharePoint, voice and collaboration services.
"We take it as a given that at some point in the future Microsoft will be offering all its core products in a service oriented model," Hudda said.
Dave Grantz, CTO of Exchangemymail.com, an Albertson, N.Y.-based hosted mail provider, expects Microsoft to go after the higher end of the market, leaving the small and medium size portion of the market for partners. He thinks Microsoft's promotion of hosted Exchange could have a beneficial trickle down effect for partners.
"I think that Microsoft will target the largest of companies, and let us manage the small to medium businesses," said Grantz. "Small to medium sized businesses don't want to deal directly with Microsoft because they're not sure they can get the proper sales and support from such a giant entity."
Small and medium business want a specialist that can handle their business with a high level of effort and attention, which is another reason why partners are best suited to handle this end of the market, said Grant.
"We're not the giant [that Microsoft is], and we believe we can offer a level of customer service that they've never been able to offer," he said.
Rurik Bradbury, vice president at Intermedia.NET, a New York-based Exchange hosting partner, says despite partners' concerns over how software-as-a-service will be delivered, Microsoft has the right message and the right software to make it work.
"Microsoft has said their own hosting services are going to be fairly generic at first, and although they're going head-to-head with Salesforce on CRM, they're not going to get into lot of detailed customizations," said Bradbury.
As Microsoft pushes its channel partners to offer a mix of packaged applications and software-as-a-service, many are finding strong interest from their customers in having Exchange 2007 delivered in this way, said Bradbury.
"Exchange 2007 is difficult to deploy and is expensive, and companies are more willing to pay to not have to deal with the complexity," he said.

Microsoft Set To Show Off Hosting Tools, Apps

2007-07-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Microsoft this week is set to demonstrate a number of key new hosting technologies that will enable service providers to offer up some of the company's tools and applications over the Web. At the HostingCon 2007 conference in Chicago, Microsoft said it will highlight new hosting-related development tools and applications for the first time.
Among other things, Microsoft said it will provide users with a look at several new technologies -- such as integrated health management for Web services, Windows optimized PHP, and delegated administration controls -- that it plans to include or support in its forthcoming Windows Server 2008 server operating system.
On Monday, Microsoft disclosed that cPanel, a developer of Web hosting control panel software, will later this year produce a version of its product for Windows Server 2008. The company has traditionally developed hosting automation tools only for Linux and FreeBSD environments.
Microsoft is ramping up efforts to offer some of its products as hosted services -- either directly or through partners -- in an effort to keep pace with Web specialists like Google and Yahoo. Microsoft CRM, Exchange Server, and 40 applications from the Windows SharePoint Services suite are among the products the company has already made available as hosted services.
Microsoft also recently released a beta version of Internet Information Services 7.0 -- a Web server built into Windows Server 2008 that features a number of new online publishing and security technologies.
Under a so-called Go Live license, users can now deploy ISS 7.0 into production environments accessible to customers. The caveat: Microsoft says it's not responsible for any problems the beta software might cause.
Microsoft plans to release the full version of Windows Server 2008 in February.

Verio Unveils Ecommerce-Hosting Solution with eBay Integration

2007-07-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Verio announced new eStorefront ecommerce Web hosting packages to help small and midsize businesses get their online stores up and running quickly with ShopSite shopping cart. ShopSite offers volume pricing options, product search and customer registration.
Verio ShopSite features the latest innovations in online transactions and security, including integration with Google Checkout, Visa CISP/PABP validation, PayPal and eBay auction integration, as well as Fedex shipping integration. It caters to varying knowledge levels, online shop sizes and feature requirements.
eStorefront Starter was designed with the novice in mind, and is geared toward small businesses just getting started with selling online. The web hosting plan comes with online marketing capabilities to help increase site traffic. eStorefront Business is aimed at businesses that sell less than 15 products on their website, and offers the ability to commerce-enable an existing website. At the higher-end, eStorefront Developer is one of the most complete start-to-finish shopping carts available on the market, and can handle a wide variety of products, produce detailed sales and traffic statistics and offers many more features.
Verio CEO Dennis Boyle said, "With these new ecommerce packages, we have combined our intimate knowledge of small business hosting needs with our unparalleled ecommerce solutions. The result is a range of excellent ecommerce businesses services that are scalable, easy-to-use and can be matched to virtually any size small or medium business customer."
Verio ecommerce hosting packages starting at US $20.95 per month