New vmPRO 3.1 Enables Data Protection and Archive of VMware Data to Disk, Tape or Cloud for Searchable Retrieval without a Backup Application

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 21, 2013 – Quantum Corp. (NYSE:QTM), a proven global expert in data protection and big data management, today announced enhancements to the popular Quantum vmPRO™ software that bring open standard data protection and archive capabilities to virtualised environments. In addition to disk or cloud, vmPRO 3.1 now leverages Scalar LTFS tape technology to provide user-accessible, searchable archive capabilities for VMware data. The new software also greatly simplifies management while improving performance and workload efficiency for backing up virtual machines in their native VMware (VMDK) format.

Open, Simple and Fast VM Protection and Archive

• User-Accessible, Searchable Data Protection and Archive in Native VMware Format: Quantum vmPRO 3.1 enables companies to access and recover backup and archive VM data from disk, tape or cloud across its lifecycle. By backing up VMs in native state, users can instantly boot VMs from any remote site, including the cloud, without requiring a proprietary backup application, ensuring future-proof flexibility to adopt the latest backup technology.
• VMware Data Protection Made Simple: Quantum vmPRO is designed to provide easy deployment for backup and recovery, allowing users to browse, search and retrieve individual files from any standard file browser with drag and drop simplicity. New features to reduce administrative time include automatic configuration protection and aggregated management for multiple Quantum vmPRO virtual appliance deployments.
• Significantly Higher Performance: Quantum vmPRO 3.1 achieves dramatically improved performance with the addition of HotAdd support from VMware, as well as the ability to perform multiple backup jobs simultaneously, and includes enhancements to its patented technology to efficiently read only what is truly necessary for a backup job.
• Improved Management: Customers can use Quantum Vision™ software to initiate and push upgrades to Quantum vmPRO for better overall management of VM backups.

All-Virtual Backup to Q-Cloud

Continuing the advancement of virtual data protection technologies, Quantum also today announced the new DXi V4000. This all-software, all-virtual solution provides 24 TB of usable capacity for deduplication, encryption and replication to DXi^® appliances as well as Q-Cloud, Quantum’s cloud backup and disaster recovery solution. Combined with vmPRO 3.1, the
DXi V-Series provides a simple, native, all-virtual data protection solution that works with existing customer environments.

Supporting Quotes

• Greg Sollenberger, solution architect, H.A. Storage: “vmPRO has proven itself as a simple but powerful approach to protecting VMs, and the addition of support for LTFS tape should broaden its appeal for customers looking for long-term, economical backup and archive solutions.”
• Jason Buffington, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group: “Quantum has the rather unique capability to offer customers the complete range of data protection, from deduplicated DXi disk to LTO tape to Q-Cloud, leveraging vmPRO software or other third-party data protection products. Combining VM protection with LTFS (and disk) makes sense to me, as customers look for ways to decommission VMs or make them portable – as easily as they provision them these days. Combined with the announcement of the DXi V4000 – which solution providers should be thrilled to hear about – it is apparent that Quantum is committed to blazing a trail that meets customers’ evolving needs.”
• Robert Clark, senior vice president, Data Protection Group, Quantum: “Backup and archive continue to converge, and vmPRO 3.1 is on the front line of that trend. Companies increasingly treat their data as an asset, and by bringing open standards archive capabilities to virtual machines, vmPRO is enabling customers to enjoy the economic benefits of both virtualization and tape for long-term retention.”

Additional Resources

• To download a free, fully functional copy of Quantum vmPRO Standard Edition, visit: www.quantum.com/vmpro
• To attend a weekly vmPRO live demo: www.quantum.com/vmprodemo
• To view a SlideShare presentation on vmPRO 3.1, visit: https://www.slideshare.net/QuantumCorp/vmpro-31-new-features
• To read Quantum’s Q&U blog, visit: http://blog.quantum.com
• Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/quantumcorp
• Add us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/quantumcorp

The whitepaper, Conversational Marketing & Commerce: Best Practices to Engage Your Customers and Create Advocates, in collaboration with independent analyst firms Mobile Groove and Portio Research, identifies 5 best practices companies should integrate into all customers interactions. It also spotlights the pivotal importance of text messaging, a form of ubiquitous, direct and personal communications that allows companies to get closer to consumers than any other channel. To underline this, the paper has also integrated insights gleaned from a recent survey of 3,000 consumers in Europe and Brazil conducted by IFOP institute.

1. Ask for permission — first: Mobile may be able to deliver more data and context, but the best insights come when companies simply ask their customers’ consent. 82% of survey respondents said permission was a pre-condition to accept marketing.
2. Understand the customer: Start by asking for basic information — such as interests, personal preferences and motivations — but don’t stop there. Companies should also use text messaging to refine and improve customer segmentation, and ensure the delivery of personal and relevant information and communications key to creating customer loyalty.
3. Know your audience: Respect individual privacy, meet consumers’ requirements for relevant messages and implement strategies that put the customer in control. Indeed, 90% of respondents said they want to have a clear opt-out function, and 71% want the message to be in line with their tastes and requirements.
4. Right person, right message, right moment: Consumers do want to receive targeted messages and offers that match their personal preferences, real-time needs and somehow reward them for providing consent in the first place.

Please click  for access to the FULL WHITEPAPER or contact the Kaizo press team.

For a video on how mobile marketing works, please click here.

Fitbit, the market leader in digital health and fitness, has today launched the Fitbit Flex™ wireless activity and sleep wristband in the UK. The Flex comes with a range of new features and adds to Fitbit’s existing portfolio of the Fitbit One™ and Fitbit Zip™, making Fitbit the only brand to offer both a clip and wristband tracker.

As well as tracking steps, distance, calories burned and sleep activity, the Flex now monitors a brand new stat; active minutes. Active minutes track how many moderate-intensity cardio minutes a user has done in a day. Available to view on the dashboard and on Fitbit’s new app, active minutes motivates the user to achieve their goals through different approaches to activity, be it a 30 minute walk during the day, or a number of smaller 5-10 minute bursts of activity.

The Flex also works seamlessly with Fitbit’s updated iOS app, allowing real-time-syncing of stats so users can see their data ‘live’ on the move through their latest Apple device. The Flex is the only wristband tracker on the market that offers the user such access to stats on the go. For select Android customers, who also benefit from an updated app, users can now tap their Flex band on an NFC-enabled Android phone which will automatically launch the Fitbit app.

Water resistant, so users can wear it in the shower, Flex comes in two colours, Black and Slate. A three colour band accessory pack is also available allowing users the choice of Teal, Tangerine and Navy wristbands, so wearers can switch bands to match their mood and help make fitness part of their lifestyle.

• The LE857K series are the flagship TVs in Sharp’s AQUOS LED range, offering Sharp’s best ever picture quality and natural colour reproduction thanks to third generation Quattron 3D and 800 Hz Active motion technology, only available from Sharp.
• The series’ premium design uses high-quality materials, textures and finishes, including a slim 15mm pure aluminium bezel. An open metal stand creates a floating effect and keeps viewers’ attention fixed on the screen.
• The smart LC-80LE857K and LC-70LE857K include the new AQUOS NET+ open browser, with broadcast TV, internet, social networking, apps, video on demand and stored media, all accessible through one easy to use and intuitive interface.
• Sharp has developed a remote control iOS and Android app, the AQUOS Remote Lite, to seamlessly operate LE875K TVs through smartphones and tablets.
• Unlike standard RGB TVs, which only offer Red Green and Blue subpixels, Quattron 3D uses a fourth Yellow subpixel (RGBY). This means better definition, smoother diagonal lines and smoother colour gradations, which look more natural.

For more information please download the full press release.

May 2, 2013 – Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces IDPrime PIV Card version 2.0 for organizations wanting to reduce costs when migrating to stay in compliance with the United States evolving PIV (Personal Identification Verification) standards. This release also introduces one-time password (OTP) support, allowing customers the flexibility to secure access to networks using PIV or OTP-based credentials in a single FIPS 140-2 Validated™ authentication device.
The Gemalto IDPrime PIV Card technology enables provisioning of identity credentials for private enterprise, government contractors, federal, state and local governments. These credentials can be used on conventional systems as well as portable devices such as tablets and smart phones. This technology enables interoperability and enhanced trust when interacting within and among these organizations. Gemalto has delivered more than 15 million PIV cards.

“We are committed to delivering the latest evolution of identity security technology while also protecting and building on the investment our customers have already made with the smart cards and services,” said Neville Pattinson, senior vice president of Government Programs at Gemalto North America. “Secure credentialing is moving to this new standard that provides customers with a wider selection of interoperable vendor solutions. As the industry leader, Gemalto is streamlining the conversion.”

Additional Information on IDPrime PIV Card

The new IDPrime PIV Card is a multi-functional, single smart card device that allows logical and physical access for federal, state and local governments, healthcare first responders, enterprises and other entities that require or desire the PIV standard. Supporting dual authentication mechanisms based on public key infrastructure (PKI) and OTP, the customer can support multiple methods of authentication.

IDPrime PIV Card v2.0 supports all the optional and mandatory specifications of the NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-73-3 required by the PIV standard, including key history, iris image, and off-card credential mechanisms.

The IDPrime PIV Card v2.0 supports Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), that delivers the highest strength-per-bit of any public key cryptography known today, combined with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) which is the only symmetric encryption algorithm providing at least 128 bits of security approved for use by the U.S. government.

IDPrime PIV Card is listed on General Services Administration (GSA) Approved Product List (APL) as compliant to the FIPS 201 (PIV) standard.

Enterprise issues

Recent research by Gemalto and independent researchers, Vanson Bourne, shows that there are many weak links to enterprise security, which products such as the defender suite can help to tackle in the future.

The research found that:

• 43% do not have the latest security software on the devices they use for work
• 22% use the same password for home and work access
• 25% do not change their corporate passwords regularly
• 1/3 of respondents are not aware of their company’s IT policy

For the full research and infographic, please click here.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2012 annual revenues of €2.2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 83 offices and 13 Research & Development centers, located in 43 countries.

We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work – anytime, everywhere – in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. We develop secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services made possible.

Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals. Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.

02 May 2013, London –The Great British reserve is being challenged to its fullest, according to new research released today.  In a ¹survey conducted by computer upgrade company Crucial.com, 90% admitted to putting up with daily irritations in and around the home. Examples such as dirty clothes being left on the floor, dirty plates left unwashed, dripping taps and the toilet seat being left up or down, were all considered to be annoyances which people in the UK have to tolerate.

• A staggering 40% of people who said that problematic technology and slow computers was their most common irritation at home
• 75% of those surveyed of the opinion that people in the UK are becoming far less tolerant of trifling frustrations that build-up day to day
• Almost a fifth of people admit that they become moody (24%) or even angry (19%) about the things which constantly bother them. Additionally, four in ten people specifically mentioned that trying to put up with a slow computer often drove them crazy

According to the survey, incidences of what is being duly dubbed as ‘computer rage’ (shouting at or hitting a computer) affect 42% of people in the UK, outranking  ‘street rage’ (annoyance and anger caused due to being pushed on public transport or people walking too slowly causing one delays) at 30% and even ‘road rage’ (frustration caused by some stealing your parking space or driving dangerously) at 27% of responses.

Note to editors:

¹The survey, conducted by The Leadership Factor, polled more than 2,000 men and women within the UK on behalf of Crucial.com in March 2013.

and Cost for Today’s Enterprise Data Centers

30 April, 2013 – SMART Storage Systems, an innovative enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) technology provider, today announced the new Optimus Eco, the first Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 6Gb/s SSD on the market to leverage 19nm multi-level cell (MLC) Flash. Continuing the company’s effort to usher in a new era of Flash storage, and anticipating the changing needs of enterprise data centers, SMART Storage Systems’ new Optimus Eco SSD represents the industry’s best combination of performance, capacity, endurance and cost in an enterprise-class 2.5-inch drive.

Forced to do more with less, many organizations are choosing to build their own hyperscale architectures by combining best-in-class hardware and software to lower costs and meet growing data center demands. In addition, looking to control maintenance costs, data center managers are seeking the highest-capacity drives to pack more capacity into a rack, resulting in the ability to reduce their storage footprint. In fact, Gartner estimates that in 2016 the average capacity of an SSD deployed in enterprise storage and server environments will be more than 1.1TB[1]. When combined with SSDs that can provide the endurance necessary to support write-intensive applications with cost-effective 19nm MLC Flash, the result is a dramatic reduction in storage total cost of ownership (TCO).

“This announcement marks the beginning of a new era in flash storage,” stated Mike Lakowicz, vice president of sales and marketing at SMART Storage Systems.  “We are bringing the cost effectiveness of 19nm flash to a high performance enterprise SAS SSD platform, without compromising on endurance or reliability. This unprecedented combination will enable storage architects and data center managers to design high performance, high reliable, high available storage systems while reducing costs, and minimizing TCO.”

Optimus Eco leverages the Guardian Technology Platform, a proprietary suite of enterprise features and enterprise-class endurance enhancement technologies, to deliver up to 10 drive writes per day (DWPD). In addition, the new SSD provides consistent performance throughout the five year warranty period, delivering up to 500/500MB/s sustained read/write performance and up to 100K/45K IOPS. The Optimus Eco also comes equipped with a full line of enterprise features, including SMART Storage Systems’ third generation backup power circuit technology, full data path protection, data fail recovery, thermal monitoring and AES 256-bit encryption. The Optimus Eco is available in capacities ranging from 200GB – 2TB. OEM pricing for the Optimus Eco 2TB drive starts at $3,999.

The Optimus Eco has begun sampling with select customers and will be generally available in June 2013.

[1] Gartner Forecast, 4Q12 Revised HDD/SSD Forecast Updates, Joseph Unsworth, 4Q12

For more information on the Optimus Eco, please visit http://www.smartstoragesystems.com/products/optimus_eco_ssd.asp, the company’s blog at  http://www.smartstoragesystems.com/company/blog.asp, find us on Twitter under the handle @SMARTSSD or on YouTube, or connect with us on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/smart-storage-systems.

About SMART Storage Systems

SMART Storage Systems is a technology leader in the design, development and deployment of current and next-generation enterprise solid-state storage products. Combining leading-edge, enterprise-class design and proven world-class support, SMART Storage Systems leverages its deep expertise in Flash and enterprise storage technology. SMART Storage Systems delivers high-quality, high-reliability solutions to a broad customer base including tier one storage and server OEMs. In support of these designs, SMART Storage Systems provides award-winning innovations in solid-state storage technology, such as NAND high-endurance Guardian™ technology, to a variety of customers in the enterprise storage, enterprise server, data center, defense and industrial markets. SMART Storage Systems is part of the SMART family of global companies. See www.smartstoragesys.com for more information.

About SMART Worldwide Holdings

The SMART family of global companies are leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of electronic subsystems for the most demanding OEMs around the world. The SMART companies have led the way over the past 23 years providing standard and custom products to today’s leading global OEMs crossing all major electronic industries. These industries include PC, enterprise and industrial servers, networking, telecom, defense, aerospace, gaming and embedded application markets. Taking innovations from the design stage through manufacturing and delivery, SMART Modular Technologies has developed a comprehensive memory product line that includes DRAM, SRAM and Flash memory in various form factors. SMART Storage Systems offers high-performance, high-capacity SSDs for enterprise storage, enterprise server, data center, defense, aerospace, industrial automation, medical and transportation markets. SMART’s presence in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America enables it to provide its customers with proven expertise in international logistics, asset management and supply-chain management worldwide. See www.smartm.com for more information.

OTTAWA, Canada and NEWARK, Calif. – April 25, 2013 – SMART Storage Systems, Inc., an innovative enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) technology provider, and Diablo Technologies, Inc., a proven innovator in memory system interface products, today announced an exclusive relationship to combine SMART Storage Systems’ award-winning  Guardian™ Technology Platform with Diablo’s Memory Channel Storage™ (MCS™) to usher in a new era of Flash storage. The development and marketing partnership will result in a new class of ultra-low latency (ULL) SSDs and system accelerators, transforming enterprise server, virtualization and cloud environments.

The fusion of Diablo’s Memory Channel Storage architecture with SMART Storage Systems’ Guardian Technology Platform creates a new ULL Flash-SSD tier for enterprise servers and storage systems. This new ULL SSD enables DRAM-like performance and enterprise-class Flash endurance and reliability, while leveraging cost-effective multi-level cell (MLC) NAND Flash. SMART Storage Systems’ proprietary Guardian Technology Platform drives additional endurance from cost-effective MLC Flash through a proprietary suite of enterprise features and endurance enhancement technologies.

“Flash technology is a key building block in the enterprise, with the caveat that greater performance, higher capacity and more cost-effective solutions are required to fuel specific needs of applications like data analytics and the full promise of cloud computing,” said Jeff Janukowicz, Research Director for Solid State Storage at IDC. “Advances in system design, as is anticipated through this partnership, will enable volume deployments and NAND Flash to transform the enterprise data center.”

The combination of MCS and the Guardian Technology Platform will provide systems with dramatic improvements in latency, transaction throughput, IO bandwidth, density, scalability and operating cost over a wide range of enterprise-level deployments when compared to Flash-based designs using PCIe or SAS/SATA-based SSDs. The new ULL SSDs are expected to provide 50 percent higher transaction rates with 80 percent lower latency in database caching and OLTP applications. For virtualized environments, the MCS-Guardian system solution is expected to enable 10X more virtual machines per server while reducing DRAM requirements by over 70 percent.

“This really changes everything,” said John Scaramuzzo, president of SMART Storage Systems. “The convergence of Diablo’s groundbreaking MCS technology and our award-winning Guardian Technology Platform is not just about re-architecting storage, but re-architecting the integration of servers, storage and Flash acceleration. We are setting a new standard for ULL storage in the enterprise, improving performance over currently available SSDs, including PCIe-based drives.”

“SMART Storage Systems was the logical partner for us in this development effort.  SMART Storage Systems specializes in meeting enterprise requirements for quality, endurance and performance using the most cost-effective Flash media, and its Guardian Technology Platform has harnessed the physics of NAND Flash to make new Flash applications possible,” said Diablo founder and CEO Riccardo Badalone. “Our partnership with SMART Storage Systems will accelerate Memory Channel Storage product innovation and fuel new deployments of Flash storage in enterprise data centers, which are currently restricted by traditional CPU/Flash interfaces and the cost limitations of providing enterprise-grade NAND Flash.”

Under the terms of the agreement SMART Storage Systems and Diablo will jointly develop the new ULL SSD product.  The product will be exclusively sold by SMART Storage Systems and will be jointly supported by the two companies’ world-class customer support teams.

About SMART Storage Systems
SMART Storage Systems is a technology leader in the design, development and deployment of current and next-generation enterprise solid-state storage products. Combining leading-edge, enterprise-class design and proven world-class support, SMART Storage Systems leverages its deep expertise in Flash and enterprise storage technology. SMART Storage Systems delivers high-quality, high-reliability solutions to a broad customer base including tier one storage and server OEMs. In support of these designs, SMART Storage Systems provides award-winning innovations in solid-state storage technology, such as NAND high-endurance Guardian™ technology, to a variety of customers in the enterprise storage, enterprise server, data center, defense and industrial markets. SMART Storage Systems is part of the SMART family of global companies. See www.smartstoragesys.com for more information.

About Diablo Technologies

Founded in 2003, Diablo is successfully delivering products that enhance the performance and capability of memory system designs.  Diablo’s innovative Memory Channel Storage technology platform is leveraging the disruptive capability of NAND-flash and future Non-Volatile Memory technologies to enable increased levels of application performance supported by a new class of enterprise server and storage system designs.The Diablo executive management team, now developing its third family of memory interface solutions, has decades of experience in system architecture, chip-set design and software development at companies including Nortel Networks, Matrox Graphics, Goal Semiconductor, BroadTel Communications, ENQ Semiconductor, IceFyre Semiconductor, MosaidTechologies and Huawei.

• 43% do not have the latest security software on the devices they use for work
• 22% use the same password for home and work access
• 25% do not change their corporate passwords regularly
• 1/3 of respondents are not aware of their company’s IT policy

Infosecurity, London, April 25, 2013 – Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, shares new research conducted by Vanson Bourne to highlight areas of security concern within enterprises in the UK. It highlights key findings about a particular aspect– the spill-over from the digital habits of employees in their personal lives and in a corporate context. This trend is today accentuated with the BYOD (bring your own device) revolution.

As BYOD culture booms, some 33% of the respondents surveyed are using personal devices to work on corporate networks. This figure increases for directors and c-level executives, with 100% of those surveyed stating that they used their own devices at work. Although BYOD provides employees with greater flexibility for working, it raises a number of questions in term of IT risks that have to be addressed in order to maintain the highest security level.

The study also reveals that security is not only a technological issue but a matter of behavior, and this human factor is difficult to change. With 22% of respondents using the same password for home (social networks, personal web accounts) and work access, it clearly illustrates the educational challenge that the IT managers have to overcome.

For free access to the full survey results, click here

Vanson Bourne surveyed 400 office workers across the seniority range, working across all sectors of the UK economy, in organizations with a minimum of 3000 employees.

Come & Meet Gemalto at Infosecurity at Earl’s Court, London (23-25 April) stand D95. To make sure that you don’t miss out on the full story, please get in touch today to arrange your appointment with a Gemalto specialist at Infosecurity.

As it moves closer to bringing its much-anticipated  versatile, secure and widely accepted mobile commerce solution to the marketplace, Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) today announces the selection of Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, to build its mobile wallet.

MCX selected Gemalto for its unmatched expertise in mobile financial services and track record of being trusted by leading banks, governments, merchants and mobile operators and their customers all over the world.

The initial MCX wallet, which will be primarily barcode and cloud-based, will run on Gemalto’s Allynis Mobile Payment platform. MCX will also leverage Gemalto’s mobile wallet software for a rich smartphone application as well as development kits to enable retailers to embed the wallet functionality within their own applications.

Once it is fully deployed, the wallet will be accepted at all MCX members, an unparalleled, growing group of widely respected merchants that collectively operate more than 75,000 stores and process more than $1 trillion in payments annually. Consumers will have access to a personalized payment experience integrated with merchant offers, promotions, loyalty and location-based services, which they will be able to use at many of the large retailers at which they regularly shop.

Download the complete PDF here