Top 700 European Systems Integrators generate combined revenues in excess of $170 billion (€108bn)
Average year-on-year sales growth 11%

A growing desire amongst both private and public sector organisations to outsource responsibility for the implementation and support of IT has enabled Europe’s leading System Integrators to post growth rates well above the industry average over the last year. The top 700 European Systems Integrators, which between them employ 1.29 million people, posted average growth rates of 11.27% in generating combined sales of $169.96 billion (€107.57bn) last year. These are amongst the findings of “Systems Integrators in Europe –The Top 700”, the latest database report from IT Europa which is published today.

The database report, which provides detailed business profiles of each of the top 700 European Systems Integrators, provides further evidence that Europe’s IT industry is increasingly being driven by applications and service based sales.

In terms of geography, the highest growth rates were achieved in Germany (average 18.45%) followed by Italy (16.98%) and Poland (16.35%). Norway was at the bottom of the growth league with just 4.58% growth. Amongst the leading companies, major winners included Dimension Data (23.5% growth) Accenture (19.8%) and IBM (18%)

“What we are seeing here is mainly geographic growth as companies set up operations in other regions, particularly Eastern Europe, by a combination of organic growth and acquisition,” explains Christine Bardwell, IT Europa Research Manager. “Companies such as Ness, Logica CMG, CIBER Novasoft, S&T CZ and Sigma AB have all benefitted from significant acquisitions over the last 2 years.”

IT Europa’s Managing Director, Alan Norman, adds: “The considerable growth we are seeing in this sector underlines the transition we have been observing for some time towards more application and service lead sales. Put simply, organisations are increasingly averse to the risk of deploying and managing large scale IT systems and infrastructures themselves. They want Systems Integrators to take responsibility for managing the increasing complexity for them and to do that on an international basis involves having a local presence, which is one reason why we are seeing so much geographic expansion. There is also a growing desire to harness lower cost near-shore resources from the developing Central and Eastern European markets”

The leading European Systems Integrators:

Company            2007 Total Sales($m)
IBM Global Services EMEA       19001
BT Global Services Limited       16351
T-Systems International GmbH       15840
Capgemini SA             9546
Accenture EMEA             9534
Atos Origin S.A.          7631
EDS EMEA             6849
HP Services EMEA          6825
Logica Plc (EMEA)          6131
Siemens IT Solutions         6050
and Services GmbH & Co. OHG
Fujitsu Services Holdings plc       4918
CSC Europe Limited          4225
 
The “Systems Integrators in Europe – The Top 700” database report spans 38 countries and represents the most detailed view of this key market sector. It has been compiled from detailed interviews by IT Europa’s own research team. The company profiles include sales breakdowns by company activity, which markets they operate in, and detailed information on staff numbers and development plans, along with contact details for the top executives of each company. The report is available from IT Europa (www.iteuropa.com) at a cost of £2,095 for a single user licence and £8,380 for a multi-user licence.

 

Developments in IPTV and broadband video to be showcased at IBC2008

(London – 2 April 2008) Following the success of last year’s show, the IPTV Zone at IBC2008 is being increased in size by 15.5% to more than 1100m². The expansion reflects the growth of the IPTV market which is forecast to grow to reach 63 million subscribers by 2010 (an annual growth rate of 92% from 2.4 million in 2005) creating a $27 billion marketplace according to a recent report by iSuppli.

The IBC2008 IPTV Zone will bring together many of the organisations and technologies that are emerging as major forces in these new markets. It will therefore provide a unique opportunity for application developers, content providers and technology companies to showcase their capabilities at the heart of the broadcast industry's leading international conference and exhibition.

The IPTV Zone will be accompanied by the IBC2008 IPTV Zone Business Briefings to which attendance is free. These briefings will examine some of the issues and opportunities arising from this revolution in broadcast content delivery in further detail and are intended to reinforce and complement the established peer reviewed, paid-delegate IBC Conference.

Commenting on the development of The IPTV Zone at IBC2008, Mike Crimp, COO, IBC commented: “We have seen a huge increase in interest in IPTV over the last year and the growth in the use of the Internet as a delivery mechanism is creating enormous opportunities for both content creators and broadcasters. We were delighted with the interest generated at last year’s show and I’m confident that the IPTV Zone will again prove a major visitor attraction at this year’s convention.”

The Mobile Zone at IBC2008 is being jointly developed and marketed by IBC, IT Europa and BPL. The IBC2008 exhibition takes place from 12th - 16th September 2008 at the RAI, Amsterdam.

Global partner programme to drive use of intelligent infrared technology in retail

Irisys Integrated Infrared Systems, the Northampton-based market leader in intelligent infrared technology, has appointed René Schrama as Worldwide Sales Director. René’s initial focus will be on building a strong partnership programme to drive sales of Irisys people counting and queue management applications in the retail industry.

Irisys’ award winning infrared technology already provides customer insight to a wide range of retailers including Ikea, Marks and Spencer, Virgin Megastores and Tesco. Irisys people counting solutions accurately measure the number of people entering a store, visiting a department or section of a store. Based on this customer traffic data, stores can improve staff allocation to manage peak times, optimise store layout and ultimately increase conversion rates and customer service levels.

René brings over 10 years of experience in driving sales leadership in highly competitive markets. He joins Irisys from Motorola, and previously Symbol Technologies where he was responsible for overall revenue in retail solutions across Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.

“We’re delighted to have René on board. His understanding of the retail market, coupled with his extensive experience in building strong reseller networks are invaluable assets for Irisys. There is a range of clever applications of infrared technology to help retailers understand and improve customer experience and customer loyalty, and together with our partners we can now meet the growing demand for such products,” commented Lee Shorten, Director, Irisys.

René added: “The people counting market is exploding as retailers both in Europe, Asia as well as in the Americas are now recognising that better service, based on customer traffic data, can drive both sales and bottom-line growth. Thermal imaging technology is a very accurate, reliable and non-intrusive way to understand and analyse customer flows in store. I am pleased to be joining the market leader in this area and driving their business forward.”

SwissQual, the independent Swiss network quality measurement company, has announced that it’s Diversity Network Optimisation and Benchmarking system now supports WiMAX technology. The Diversity platform offers the monitoring and analysis of data, video and voice, including VoIP, services using proven SwissQual voice and video quality algorithms.   

Diversity is designed to help service providers identify interference issues and cell site configuration problems enabling a rapid deployment and smooth on going maintenance of the network. More importantly, it can also show a direct comparison of the quality delivered by a new WiMAX network versus that available from existing networks running other technologies.

Said Pero Juric, SwissQual VP of Product Management: “With SwissQual’s Diversity platform, WiMAX service providers will not only be able to efficiently roll out a new network, but will also be able to directly see how the service delivered by their WiMAX network compares with the service from existing networks using alternative technologies such as 3G. Diversity can show how the “human centric” quality measures such as service coverage, service drop rates, clarity, download speed and latency vary for different networks based on a wide range of technologies. These measurements are informed by our original research into human perceptions of quality and allow service providers to achieve the optimum balance between network cost and service quality.”

SwissQual Diversity is a quality measurement platform that provides simultaneous, end-to-end testing for voice, data and video. It is a highly scalable drive test solution offering network benchmarking, optimization and service monitoring. SwissQual Diversity is already in use with more than 70 customers in 50 countries.

The Diversity test platform provides the ability to test WiMAX data cards, network elements and services from the early stages of development through final operation. This allows design, optimization and quality assurance engineers faster and more cost efficient work. The test types supported include FTP, UDP, HTTP, Video streaming, Email, VoIP call and many others.

SwissQual invests heavily in research and development and will be making further major new product announcements throughout 2008.

Real-time alert system delivers actionable feedback

Confirmit (OSE:CONF), the world's leading provider of software for Market Research (MR) and Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM), is pleased to announce that Serco Solutions has successfully implemented Confirmit EFM as part of its commitment to continuous service improvement.

Serco Solutions is the division of Serco responsible for IT-enabled transformation and service delivery in the public and private sector. One of its biggest drivers is to ensure service excellence, delivering services that meet the needs of its customers and their customers on an ongoing basis.

Neil Laird, National Field Services Manager, Serco Solutions commented: “Our decision to invest in Confirmit was driven by our desire to measure our performance from a customer perspective. We wanted to be able to gather background data about agent performance and service quality and make decisions about staffing levels and the effectiveness of solutions provided based on real information, not assumption. We wanted to know what impact our services were having on our clients’ business and how we could improve. Most importantly, we wanted to gather feedback about individual or team performance in real-time so that we could respond to any issues immediately before they become a major problem. Confirmit has helped us to drive service improvement by helping us to measure Customer Perception Ratings (CPR) in a consistent, time efficient and cost effective manner.”

Working alongside Remedy, an existing service management software tool, Confirmit can be directed to survey between 1 percent and 100 percent of end users following an event – whether it be completion of a task, regular maintenance, enquiries made to the help desk, or unexpected downtime, for example. Surveys are sent overnight to reduce general system overload and have a general response rate of 33 percent. Managers are automatically alerted to very bad or very good CPR ratings and feedback about agents providing services at the frontline via an email alert so that the appropriate action can be taken immediately. Trends about individual or team performance or repeated operational issues can be analyzed either by the assigned Serco Solutions’ client services director or by the client direct via Confirmit’s online reporting facility, Reportal.

Laird explains: “As a service organization, the quality of service we provide has a direct link to our reputation and that of our clients. Confirmit provides Serco Solutions with a direct link to end users across any client site. It provides us with the opportunity to respond to our customers’ needs, without delay, which means we are in a much better position to deliver the best possible service. The ability to respond in real-time is an invaluable component of our continuous improvement programme.

Gary Schwartz, vice president of product marketing, Confirmit comments: “Serco Solutions’ implementation of Confirmit is a sophisticated example of the business benefits that can be achieved through the use of event-driven surveys. The seamless integration of Confirmit with other business systems, such as Remedy, provides actionable feedback in real-time, ultimately leading to an enhanced decision making environment, based on real information about customer experience and business performance, not assumption.”

Fronde Anywhere, a global provider of mobile financial services and multi-factor authentication solutions, today announced the appointment of Caroline Dewe as CEO. Dewe previously held the position of vice president for products and marketing and was responsible for the company’s go-to-market vision and strategy, including the product portfolio roadmap.

Ian Clarke, CEO of parent company Fronde Systems Group, commented: “Caroline has been instrumental in the company’s global traction so far and is the ideal candidate to drive its growth and development. We are fully behind her leadership.”

Dewe takes over the role of CEO from Dean Johnson, who has stepped down. She is considered one of the industry thought leaders in mobile banking and payments. Her background includes her executive role as the head of the product development business unit within Fronde Systems Group, Fronde Anywhere’s parent company.

Caroline Dewe, Fronde Anywhere’s new CEO commented: “Having been with the company since its inception a year ago, I am delighted to take on the role of CEO. Our goal is to empower organisations to successfully enhance their business through mobile technology. I am confident that Fronde Anywhere will continue its strong progression thanks to the strength of its mobile payments, banking and multi-factor authentication solutions.”

Dewe is supported closely by chief technology officer, Antony Williams and head of products, Craig Eades. Continuing to head up European sales for Fronde Anywhere is London-based Marc Philippo. The company’s acting chief financial officer is Vicky Donaldson.

Fronde Anywhere is currently recruiting for senior positions within the organisation and on the Board. This includes sales and operational support in the UK and New Zealand. Fronde Anywhere will also be looking to increase resource in North America towards the end of 2008.

Momail’s popular mobile email service is now available in localized versions in ten countries, another 20+ countries to be launched this year.

Momail has launched its popular mobile email service in Austria, Germany and Italy. The service takes only two minutes to start and is as easy as SMS to use.  Let Momail be the postman for all of your existing email accounts, and easily collect them into Momail’s SuperInbox on the mobile device. Best of all, Momail works on over 1100 different mobile models – so anyone can use it! New users can now register via Internet or mobile at www.momail.at, www.momail.de or www.momail.it.

”Momail is now ready for three more countries and we look forward to welcoming new users. Our unique technology MMOPE (Mobile Message Optimization and Protection Engine) optimizes all emails and attachments, reducing the amount of data sent to the mobile up to 99,9 percent. So, not only is the download to the mobile of emails and attachments very fast, but the cost for mobile data will also be reduced when using Momail. As of now,  users in Austria, Germany and Italy can get access to the world’s smallest mobile email,” says Roger Grönberg, CEO of Momail.

Availability and price
Momail is free of charge and works on all mobiles with built-in email support. The service is available in the UK, in all Nordic countries, Austria, Italy, Germany and Poland. Many more countries will be added this year, beginning with the BeNeLux countries. For an updated country list please visit www.momail.com.

Why Momail?
•Ease of use - Momail is very easy to start and to use, and there is no need for special client software or downloads. All email and data settings are automatically configured by Momail.
•Fast and data efficient – Momail´s patented MMOPE-technology optimizes all emails, including attachments, per mobile model saving up to 99,9% of the data sent to the mobile device.
•No tolerance of spam - Included in the service is world-class mobile spam and virus protection (IronPort).
•Device support - Momail is the market leader in device support, today available on more than 1100 different models.
•Never miss emails - With Momail, all emails can be collected and read from one inbox on the mobile phone (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail+, etc.). This feature provides consumers with simple control and easy handling of their email accounts.
•Bonus – A full featured webmail is included …and much more!

More information
Lars Aase, mobile +46 701 44 18 22, [email protected] Julie Meyer, mobile +44 207 653 0204, [email protected]

Ascribe extends integrated Pharmacy and Robotic IT systems to Royal Bolton Hospital

Ascribe plc (AIM:ASP), the innovative health IT Group, today announced that it has successfully installed its Web Pharmacy solution at the Royal Bolton Hospital, part of the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust and that the site is completely operational.  One unique aspect of this ‘Go Live’ was that, on the same day that the hospital changed its pharmacy IT system, they also brought online a robotic dispensing system; thereby taking a massive leap forward in improving patient care and safety. 

The Ascribe Web enabled pharmacy system is designed by healthcare clinicians to ensure higher patient safety standards. It achieves this by using a patient’s medication record which effectively warns pharmacy staff automatically, via use of its integrated decision support service, if there may be a dangerous drug interaction or allergic reaction arising from the dispensed medications.

The Ascribe pharmacy system was selected by Bolton Hospital NHS Trust because it extends such a broad range of complementary pharmacy services outside of the dispensary. The system has been designed to allow ward-based clinical services, such as medicines management (whereby medicines can be ordered wirelessly from the wards) and electronic prescribing and medicine administration (which records exactly what medication was prescribed, when the medication was administered to the patient, and what reaction was noted).  In addition to this, the Ascribe pharmacy system also provides the hospital pharmacy staff with a bi-directional interface from their pharmacy system to their Rowa Speedcase Robotic Dispensing unit, allowing pharmacists to both issue requests for prescriptions to their robotic system and receive (stock level) updates from their robot.

Brian Smith, Chief Pharmacist at the Royal Bolton Hospital said “The Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust is delighted that Ascribe was able to deliver such a robust and flexible pharmacy system within a twelve week project cycle. Our staff has welcomed the additional patient safety features that are embedded within the system and we look forward to extending our pharmacy services beyond the pharmacy itself, thereby saving time and providing a higher level of service to our clinicians and patients.” 

Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe plc said “Ascribe is delighted that the Royal Bolton has taken this step to improve patient safety standards. Our technology enables Hospitals to provide their clinicians with comprehensive and relevant information when and where healthcare decisions are made. This technology is in increasing demand and we have recently sold similar systems in the UK (at Addenbrookes Hospital, part of the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), and overseas in Australia & New Zealand.” 

Acquired Business Unit Becomes Standalone Company Named Acresso Software
 
San Francisco, Calif. & Maidenhead, UK, April 1, 2008  – Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm, has completed the acquisition of Macrovision Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MVSN) Software Business Unit.  The acquisition results in the formation of a standalone company named Acresso Software.

Acresso Software provides solutions that help simplify the business relationship between software producers and enterprises. Acresso Software’s product line includes the FLEXnet® and InstallShield® family of products that were previously offered by Macrovision Corporation.  These software products enable independent software vendors (ISV’s) to manage entitlements, software licensing, compliance, installation, and electronic software delivery. Acresso Software also delivers the Adminstudio® product line that provides asset management, license usage, and mass deployment tools to IT departments at enterprise organizations.

"Acresso Software is being launched today on the foundation of two strong product franchises in InstallShield® and FLEXnet® software with 60,000 installed customers, deployed on 500 million desktops around the world." said Mark Bishof, CEO of Acresso Software.  "We have a world-class investment partner in Thoma Bravo, an experienced, energized management team, and employees dedicated to building a world-class software business singularly focused on making our customers successful.  We are open for business and extremely excited about the future of Acresso Software."

“Thoma Bravo looks forward to further strengthening the market leadership of Acresso Software, a company with 20 years of experience in delivering successful software solutions,” said Orlando Bravo, managing partner at Thoma Bravo. “By leveraging the market leadership of Acresso Software’s existing product lines, Thoma Bravo will work with the company’s highly experienced management team to grow Acresso Software and deliver increased value for its customers,” added Seth Boro, principal at Thoma Bravo.
Acresso Software’s management team draws on the strengths and expertise of dedicated, seasoned software industry experts. The management team of Acresso Software is:

 - Mark Bishof, President and CEO
 - Jim Ryan, SVP Global Sales
 - Bob Doyle, SVP Engineering
 - David Rowley, SVP Business Development
 - Richard Northing, SVP Global Services

Summary of the Transaction
In February 2008, Thoma Bravo entered into a definitive agreement with Macrovision Corporation to acquire its Software Business Unit in a cash transaction valued at approximately $200 million. The divestiture of Macrovision Corporation’s software business unit closes today and results in the formation of standalone company Acresso Software. 

WaveMarket’s product suite now available to Aepona’s global carrier customers

BELFAST, United Kingdom and EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 1, 2008  -- Aepona (www.aepona.com), the leading supplier of Telecom Web Services solutions to telecoms operators worldwide, and WaveMarket (www.wavemarket.com), a leader in location- based services, today announced a partnership to provide location-based tracking services for carriers worldwide.

This agreement will enable operators to bring to market WaveMarket's entire product suite, including WaveMarket’s recently-announced Location Privacy Platform, Veriplace™, to their customers quickly and easily, using the Aepona Telecom Web Services platform.

In addition to the Veriplace™ Location Privacy Platform, WaveMarket develops best-of-breed location-enabled applications for both businesses and consumers, including family safety, pet tracking, enterprise tracking, mobile local search and navigation, and friend finder. This partnership will facilitate the rapid expansion of WaveMarket’s services, already deployed on nearly a dozen carriers in North America and Latin America, whilst enabling Aepona’s carrier partners to offer customers these popular location-enabled applications.

“We are delighted to offer WaveMarket’s powerful suite of enterprise and consumer services as part of our Telecom Web Services solution” said Michael Crossey, Aepona’s VP of Marketing. “Our industry-leading platform provides the ideal foundation for WaveMarket’s suite of location applications and allows our carrier customers to offer these valuable location-based services to their users – quickly and easily”.

“Location-based services are extremely popular in North America and we are pleased to be partnering with an industry leader like Aepona to help bring these services to their global carrier customers” said Tasso Roumeliotis, WaveMarket CEO. “Furthermore, Veriplace™ will allow Aepona’s carrier partners to quickly and securely deploy new location applications with other LBS vendors while protecting the security and privacy of their users.”

Nuance Mobile Launches Voicemail to Text; New Service Converts Voicemail to Readable Messages

Telco Grade Service Powered by World’s Leading Speech Recognition Engine and Nuance Mobile Infrastructure

London UK, April 1, 2008 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading provider of speech solutions, today announced Nuance Voicemail to Text, a voicemail transcription service that delivers high-quality readable messages to mobile devices. Offered through carriers, the service uses Nuance’s world-leading speech recognition and transcription workflow solutions to convert voicemails left on any voicemail box into text. Transcribed messages are sent to users as SMS or email messages.

Nuance Voicemail to Text allows users to read voicemail messages rather than simply listen to them, introducing the opportunity to access and organize voicemails in new and exciting ways. Because the messages are transcribed, users don’t have to worry about writing down or losing information while driving or on-the-go. Messages can be saved, edited, forwarded, indexed in an archive and retrieved anytime, anywhere.

“Converting voicemail to text is a powerful and simple concept. But implementing a highly scalable semi-automated service is far more complex and requires highly accurate speech recognition – technology that takes decades to develop,” said Steve Chambers, president, mobile and consumer services division, Nuance. “The Nuance Voicemail to Text Service integrates speech technology with over 3,000 Nuance transcriptionists, hosted in a Nuance-owned facility, with proven security, scalability, and reliability.”

The new service is based on Nuance’s state-of-the-art Dragon Naturally Speaking® speech recognition technology.  Dragon NaturallySpeaking – the world’s leading speech recognition engine for dictation and transcription, backed by more than 200 patents and patent applications worldwide and proven by millions of users over ten years – enables Nuance to deliver a complete and accurate solution for turning speech into text.

As the leading provider of speech recognition solutions, Nuance draws on more than ten years of experience implementing, deploying and hosting carrier-grade speech recognition solutions worldwide to host the Nuance Voicemail to Text for service providers. The system is integrated with any standard voicemail system, so callers can simply leave a message on a voicemail system that’s Nuance-enabled, and the message is transcribed to text and sent back to the voicemail platform. Transcribed messages are delivered to users through any messaging medium.

Nuance’s fully integrated, carrier-grade end-to-end Voicemail to Text service ensures:
•   Accuracy: Nuance’s combination of the most advanced continuous speech engine in the world and Nuance’s award-winning human transcriptionist services delivers extremely accurate results. The system learns each caller’s voice over time delivering improved accuracy and automation rates with use.
•   Scalability: Profile adaptation offers a clear path to automation with reduced dependency on human transcriptionists. This reduces costs and creates a scalable solution that can grow over time. Nuance’s robust speech capabilities coupled with its hosting expertise combine to offer an unrivaled level of scalability to suit business needs/volumes.
•   Reliability: Nuance has hosted tier-one grade speech-to-text and semi-automated solutions for more than ten years and has successfully deployed more than 2,500 speech recognition solutions worldwide; the Nuance Healthcare division processes the equivalent of 20 million voicemails per month in medical transcriptions.
•   Flexibility: Results returned from Nuance Voicemail to Text to the voicemail service platform are compatible with any distribution method, including SMS and email.

Nuance solutions can be seen at CTIA Wireless 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in booth 5717. For more information about Nuance Voicemail to Text, please visit www.nuance.com/vm2text.

Webroot® Research Finding: Rapidly Growing Email Security Threats Impacting Businesses Worldwide

Existing Security Measures are Only Partially Effective. Webroot Projects 42,000 Spam Messages Will Hit Every Business Email Inbox in 2008. 

Westerham, UK., April 1, 2008 – Webroot, a leading provider of security solutions for the consumer, enterprise and SME markets, today released its latest research report, “State of Internet Security: Protecting Business Email.” The report reveals the significant impact that rapidly growing email security threats, in size and volume, are having on businesses worldwide and underscores the need for a multi-layered approach to Internet security.

“The battle against spam is an on-going struggle for many organisations with spammers continuing to present a serious and costly threat to most businesses. In 2008, we estimate there will be over 42,000 spam emails for every single business email account, or about 116 per day. And, because spammers are working at beating conventional filters with images and attachments, the size of spam has grown 60 percent since 2004,” said Mike Irwin, COO, Webroot. “The size and volume of these spam attacks is largely due to the partial success of current filtering defenses that now make spamming success a numbers game. It’s clear why first-generation defenses such as appliances and server-based software are struggling to keep up.”

Along with the rapid growth in spam, there is a similarly rapid growth in malware. Industry research shows that malware jumped from about 50,000 variants in 2004 to 5.5 million in 2007. Webroot research found that spam has become a significant vector of attack for deploying these new malware variants. But, while companies are seeing an increased malware threat to their email, they are still using it to gather and exchange vital customer and employee information such as credit card numbers and other confidential financial data. About one out of five businesses that responded to the survey experienced a threat to sensitive or confidential online information last year underscoring the growing need for securing and storing business email.

“Huge amounts of spam and malware can easily overwhelm the networks of small and mid-size businesses and, in some cases, even small countries. In our survey, more than half of the respondents said that they suffered spyware and virus attacks via email,” added Irwin. “Because existing defenses are getting over-run, large numbers of companies are increasingly losing important data. Spam is growing in relation to the importance of email as a business communications tool. As a result, companies and organisations need defenses that can quickly and easily scale to exceed the demand.”

In the “State of Internet Security: Protecting Business Email” report, Webroot studied email-related threats and the latest methods to protect business email. Webroot surveyed approximately 1,500 email security product decision-makers in companies across seven countries: Australia, Canada, France Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Key Findings at a Glance:

Email is Business Critical
•   According to IDC, over 6.62 trillion business emails will be exchanged in 2008;and,
•   Three-fourths of Webroot survey respondents rely on email for communicating with customers and providing customer support.

Risks to and from Email are Prevalent
•   More than half surveyed experienced spyware and virus attacks via email and over 40 percent experienced a phishing attack;
•   About one out of five organisations reported that sensitive online transactions were threatened and confidential information was compromised as a result of spam;
•   Over 60 percent of respondents had at least one email outage in 2007; and
•   One out of three survey respondents said that the hourly cost of an email outage is over $1,000.

Employee Behavior Increases Email Security Risks
•   Individual email users open messages before realising they are spam, open messages in junk folders and even make purchases from emails marked as spam;
•   The 2007 eCrime Watch report found that current employees were second only to hackers as groups that pose the greatest cyber security threat to organisations; and
•   One out of three organisations reported employee misuse of email resources.

Few Companies Have Protective Policies in Place
•   Less than a third of organisations surveyed have key employee email security policies in place; and,
•   Less than half of companies with more than 100 computers have policies in place to restrict employees’ personal email use. 

The State of Internet Security report is issued quarterly as an in-depth review and analysis of the most critical computer and data security-related concerns. Each report focuses on a specific aspect of information security, and provides industry data, trends and best practices in light of the threat landscape.

The complete “State of Internet Security: Protecting Business Email” report is available at http://www.webroot.com/En_GB/land-sois-home.html

Milan, April 1st, 2008 - Prysmian Cables & Systems will this week set off on its 2008 Fibre to the Home (FTTH) European Roadshow. Following the success of last year's event the Prysmian mobile technology facility will open the Roadshow at Aachen in Germany on 2nd April and over the next six weeks will travel as far as Turkey where it will participate at the Caspian Telecom Conference in Istanbul on 17th and 18th April.

The adoption of FTTH is expanding rapidly around the world and activities in Europe are now gathering momentum with many municipalities and local authorities - as well as the more traditional telecom operators - starting to build  optical 'last mile' networks. The Roadshow features a specially constructed, interactive exhibition trailer full of all of Prysmian's latest FTTH product solutions including blown fibre, preconnectorised drop cable, bend insensitive fibre and the latest addition to the portfolio, VerticasaTM, a cable system for multi dwelling unit applications. Visitors will be able to get hands-on experience of the different technologies and speak to a team of product specialists who can provide advice on network planning and design

Other countries to be visited during the event include Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Holland. The chosen locations represent a mix of territories in which for some FTTH is a current reality whilst in others fibre in the access network is still very much in the planning stages.

Director of Prysmian's global telecom business, Mr Giovanni B. Scotti commented, "Our Roadshow in Western Europe last year attracted more than 1200 visitors with a direct interest in FTTH. The feedback we received from them regarding the value of this type of activity was extremely positive and we expect a similar reaction from this year's event".

To find out more about the Roadshow visit www.prysmian.com. Prysmian customers interested in attending the Roadshow should get in touch with their local account manager.

Leading Developers Around the World Implement Clickatell Mobile Messaging for Enterprise Customers

Ease-of-Use, Broad-range of APIs and Developer Tools Enable Quick Integration of Mobile Messaging Capabilities into a Variety of Applications.

CTIA Wireless 2008, Las Vegas, Booth #5156: March 31, 2008 – Clickatell, leading provider of global mobile messaging solutions, today announced its work with leading developers worldwide including iProgram, 123 Consultants Ltd, Mobilitrix, SMSengine and more. These developers have chosen to work with Clickatell for its enterprise-grade quality, widest global network coverage, high levels of quality of service, and easy to implement mobile services.

As cell phones fast become the dominant device for commercial transactions and communications, leading developers are integrating mobile messaging solutions into a wide variety of enterprise applications. Given the sheer ubiquity of mobile phone use across the world, enterprises are looking for ways to reach their customers on their mobile phones. Because SMS is easy to use and inherent on most cell phones without any extra downloads or cell phone modifications, it provides an ideal way to reach the vast majority of customers and drive immediate business results.

“The Wireless Association’s semi-annual survey on data service revenues for the first half of 2007 revealed that text messaging is still setting new records. In June 2007 alone, 28.8 billion messages were sent worldwide – an increase of 130% over June 2006. The increased number of subscribers using SMS to send messages, do banking, get news headlines, and receive critical information alerts, means it makes sense for developers to provide enterprises with solutions enabling them to reach customers via the cell phone,” commented Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. “Given the ubiquity of cell phones and the knowledge that people want to stay connected and informed via their cell phone, we are dedicated to supporting our developers, who are providing innovative mobile solutions for their enterprise customers.”

World-wide, developers working with Clickatell are building highly innovative services that integrate mobile messaging into a variety of applications:

 ·          iProgram is a mobile marketing and content delivery company located in New York City. It specializes in targeted and viral SMS-messaging solutions, delivering links to websites with live and on-demand streaming video. To service an extensive pipeline of real estate brokers and listing agents, iProgram has created a revolutionary dashboard interface enabling users to do much more than only send SMS messages. In a first of its kind consumer-facing website, the www.realestatejukebox.com allows sellers to upload, format, target, push-out and share videos of properties with buyers any time, any where via their cell phones.

“Clickatell has been there for us since the beginning of our mobile initiatives. Their two-way interactive messaging has made the universe of self-service and customization available to buyers and sellers via SMS to distribute information, images, video, payments, downloads, incentives, surveys and much more,” said Brian McLane, President and CEO of iProgram. “In addition, Clickatell has provided us with invaluable assistance to further our mobile initiatives. We wouldn´t be in the position we’re in without them.”

·          123 Consultants Ltd, an information technology and management consultancy based in the UK, offers schools and the National Health Service (NHS) products to communicate via SMS. Its Schools SMS solution offers students learning and motivational tools through a website that has been specially designed to enable integrated e-mail and text messaging. Its Health SMS solution enables the Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust to effectively communicate health information and medical advice, ranging from issues such as diet to drugs and safe sex, to over 300,000 people in its growing community.

“Typically this information is distributed through printed leaflets, reaching about 1% of the intended audience. By comparison, SMS reaches over 90% of its intended audience, at around 50-60% of the cost,” says Phil Colledge of 123 Consultants Ltd.

·          Mobilitrix, a mobile solutions company in South Africa, converts static content into a multimedia-rich, interactive experience using the mobile phone as potent interface. Its bundle of products allow advertisers and media companies to add a short code to practically any media – including print vouchers, radio ads and TV spots. By communicating promotional information to individuals through an opt-in SMS and keywords, content providers can bridge the gap between traditional and new media. An interactive campaign manager, built by integrating Clickatell’s SMS Gateway in the company’s solutions, provides businesses with a web-based application to easily manage SMS campaigns and services.

“Clickatell’s messaging gateway is extremely easy to integrate into existing applications and is the most effective service available today,” explains Chris Rolfe, CEO of Mobilitrix. “The proven e-commerce model further allows our customers to rapidly integrate the mobile channel into their marketing strategies with superior global messaging connectivity.”

·          SMSengine, an SMS company based in Australia provides schools, businesses and sports clubs in Australia and the UK with web-based SMS communications to stay in touch with their audiences. Working closely with Clickatell, SMSengine designs the front-end to create the message while plugging in to the Clickatell SMS Gateway for direct access to its global mobile data delivery platform.

A series of open and well-documented APIs provide direct access to the Clickatell Gateway’s core mobile data delivery platform and international SMS gateway. The APIs support a set of common protocols, such as the popular HTTP for interfacing and data exchange, FTP to upload files, XML for structured data or even SMTP to connect e-mail to SMS, or Windows COM to integrate directly into applications. An assortment of script libraries and comprehensive integration specification documents are provided with each protocol. Developers can register an account online and start setting up an API within minutes to connect to the messaging application.

Upholding industry guidelines and best practices Clickatell provides multiple online support channels. Highly trained technical staff – efficiently addressing the specific needs of developers – is on-call for assistance 24/7 x 365 and Service Level Agreements guarantee reliability, speed of service delivery and service uptime. A fully functional online support service is available at http://support.clickatell.com, and an online community provides Clickatell developers with a vibrant forum to discuss state-of-the-art features. Clickatell’s Messaging Market allows developers to showcase their Clickatell powered applications on this third party developer’s platform. Clickatell’s expansive web presence provides developers with valuable exposure for earning revenue from their applications.

Clickatell: - http://www.clickatell.com/