Socrata offers free access to its open data platform, API tools, data hosting, and technology support to National Day of Civic Hacking events across the country.

Seattle – May 14, 2013 – Socrata (www.socrata.com), a Seattle-based cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data, today announced its sponsorship of the National Civic Day of Hacking. Scheduled for June 1st and 2nd, the event is made up of nearly 90 local, community events where more than 5,000 developers, artist, entrepreneurs, journalists, government employees, and concerned citizens are expected to work with government data to create web and mobile applications.

Socrata is supporting events across the country by offering free access to its open data platform, API creation tools, data hosting, and visualization technology to any community group organizing a hackathon for the National Day of Civic Hacking. The community platform is available athttps://communities.socrata.com/ (See further details below.)

Socrata has long been a supporter of the civic hacking movement, hosting and sponsoring events across the country, from Oakland to New York City, and promoting the creation of standards for making government data available in open, machine-readable formats.

“The civic hacker has a lot of power to improve quality of life for Americans and empower them with information they can use. Hackers need the tools, technology, and data in the right format to create apps that change people’s lives,” says Socrata CEO Kevin Merritt.

Several Socrata customers are already supporting National Day of Civic Hacking events in their communities and contributing valuable data sets and APIs, including, Chicago, Honolulu, Seattle, Baltimore, San Francisco, and New York City.

“We are excited to have Socrata join an already very innovative group as a sponsor for National Day of Civic Hacking. It is important for more companies to demonstrate their commitment to civic hacking and embrace the value it creates for everyone involved,” says National Day of Civic Hacking Coordinator Michael Brennan.

The Offer

Socrata will provide free tools and support to those attending events via a central website,http://communities.socrata.com, including:

Data Hosting – Civic hackers can import up to 10 datasets into the Socrata platform to be searched, filtered, visualized, commented on, and shared on social networks. Socrata will also support importing and mapping geospatial data via Esri Shapefile and KML/KMZ files.

API Creation Tools – Imported data will be made accessible in machine-readable formats via Socrata API Foundry. Groups will have free, customized, Socrata-managed APIs for their datasets, as well as automatically generated accompanying documentation and management tools to help track usage of the APIs.

Catalog Page – Every community’s data sets will be hosted in its own mini-site onhttp://communities.socrata.com. They will have the same functionality as a full-fledged Socrata data portal, but will be personalized for the group.

Hackathon in a Box – Socrata’s “Hackathon in a Box” website will offer specific advice to event leaders, including a downloadable “How to Run a Hackathon” guide, details about Socrata APIs, and ways to contact Socrata for further assistance.

Event Support – Socrata engineers will attend some events in person, as well as having a support team available on the day of the event virtually via IRC and Google+ Hangouts. Also, during the run-up to the event, email and @socrata Twitter support will be available to help groups get set up.

About Socrata

Socrata is the cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data. We help government leaders improve transparency, modernize citizen access to information, and bring facts into every decision, with unprecedented speed and cost savings.

Delivered as turnkey cloud services, Socrata’s data consumerization products unlock data in enterprise silos and transform it into useful information that everyone can easily access, visualize, share and reuse. Innovators like the World Bank, Medicare, Data.gov, EnergyStar, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Oregon, Montgomery County, and Maryland, have all chosen Socrata as the data sharing platform for their open innovation initiatives. To learn more about Socrata, visit www.socrata.com or follow us on Twitter @socrata.

Contact

Saf Rabah
VP, Marketing
Socrata, Inc.
206.745.6533
[email protected]

Exinda Networks Inc. has released an upgraded version of its top of line network optimization appliance which can shape network traffic at up to 10 Gigabits per second.

The model 100062 – which replaces the 10060 – is a 2U-sized data centre class appliance that can handle up to 400,000 users in large enterprises or service providers.

Like all six models of Exinda appliances, the Network Optimization Suite gives Layer 7 level visibility into application traffic and with policy-based bandwidth allocation, Cory Badcock, the company’s director inline product management, said in an interview.

It would prove useful in segmenting traffic at universities, he said, where the institution has traffic generated by the administration and by students.

The 10062 has an optimization capacity of 310 Mbps, or 45,000 connections, and an edge cache capacity of 225 Mpbs.

It costs US $175,000.

The 10062 is one of five new or updated models in the lineup of Toronto-based Exinda. The others are the 4010 for branches, the 4061 (with more RAM than the previous version), the 6062 (replaces the 6060) and the 8062 (replaces the 8060).

RELATED CONTENT

Version 6.4 of the firmware gives improved visibility with new layer 7 application signatures for applications like LinkedIn, Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Skydrive.

“It allows network administrators to more easily identify that traffic and make decisions on how they want to treat it,” said Badcock. Previously if a staffer used Skydrive it would have shown up as general TCP traffic. Identifiying app traffic with more precision allows network administrators to better decide whether it needs more bandwidth or if certain users should be give priority access.

Appliances can now create a baseline application performance score, which allows them to understand how an app is performing. Until now administrators had to create the baseline themselves. Baseline scoring makes it easier to configure the network.

Administrators will also be able to cluster multiple Exinda appliances either through higher availability or load balanced environments. Appliances can share configuration and monitoring policies as if a single appliance, or one could be set up for failover protection.

Finally, the firmware update gives faster optimization performance of SMBv2 and MAPI traffic, which will benefit organizations with large file shares or Microsoft Exchange.

OpenView is pleased to announce the release of its latest eBook, Get More Customers! How to Build an Outbound B2B Lead Generation Team that Drives Sales. Targeted at CEOs and heads of sales at expansion-stage technology companies, the eBook outlines how to determine if outbound lead generation is right for your organization, and create and manage outbound lead generation programs that get results.

“Generating high-quality leads is one of the greatest challenges any B2B company faces,” explained Devon McDonald, Director of Sales and Marketing Support at OpenView Labs. “Because it’s a particular issue for expansion-stage companies, our latest eBook provides a detailed guide to building successful lead generation teams that help lower costs, reveal market intelligence, and allow you to vet prospects before they move too far along your sales process.”

OpenView’s new eBook was written specifically to help expansion-stage executives:

•     Understand what outbound lead generation is and why it’s important
•     Learn the components of a successful outbound lead generation implementation
•     Improve your outbound approach and process
•     Explore the various technologies available to sales managers and how to utilize them effectively to manage the outbound lead generation process

In addition to sharing OpenView’s insights from working with its 20 portfolio companies around the country, the eBook is supplemented with ideas and best practices from an array of sales experts, including Brian Carroll, Executive Diretor, Revenue Optimization, MECLABS, and Anneke Seley, CEO and Founder, Reality Works Group.

“Our eBook outlines small but crucial adjustments you can make to increase your team’s productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness,” said McDonald. “It also provides a framework for the many nuances and complexities of building — or improving — a high-functioning outbound lead generation program.”

OpenView’s eBooks support its mission of building great companies by providing expansion-stage companies with the operationally oriented tools and support they need to succeed. The firm’s recent eBooks span a variety of topics, including board optimization, customer segmentation, marketing channel discovery, sales forecasts, competitive messaging, and operating reviews. To find out more, visit https://labs.openviewpartners.com/ebooks/.

A companion report will be published later in the month examining sales benchmarks that expansion-stage companies can use to build a scalable B2B outbound lead generation program.

Exinda, a global provider of next-generation WAN optimization and Network Control solutions, today announced a partnership with Precor®, a leading home and commercial fitness equipment manufacturer, to enhance the Preva®fitness experience for clubs and their patrons. Exercise facilities are able to extend this powerful solution to their users, while easily managing and controlling the associated traffic.

Precor has been a fitness industry innovator for more than 30 years, and the company’s latest market innovation – Preva – allows users to experience networked fitness: the inspired connection of people and the technology that empowers their fitness journey. Using Preva in conjunction with the Precor P80 touchscreen console, gyms as well as fitness centers at universities and hotels, can provide a personalized workout experience to their customers.

Not only can users access streaming content from the web, including video, as they work out, but they can also store their workouts and access them from anywhere in the world, customize their training based on previous workouts, and set and track fitness goals online based on duration, calorie burn and/or distance. As workouts are completed, Preva keeps exercisers motivated by awarding achievement badges for reaching key milestones, such as the “New Yorker” for walking or running the length of Manhattan Island. Preva also enables management tools that allow fitness club managers to remotely monitor equipment and update to the latest software, allowing them to make better decisions about maintenance and making their machines last for a longer period of time.

Exinda’s WAN optimization and Network Control solutions optimize the club’s network, allowing it to handle the additional bandwidth required to provide such advanced services to both exercise facility owners and members. After evaluating several potential partners, Precor has put Exinda’s solutions in more than 140 fitness centers where Preva is in place, including some of the top fitness center brands in the industry.

“Exinda is ensuring that the appropriate bandwidth and reliability is there to provide an optimal networked fitness experience for our customers and their users,” said Brent Brooks, Precor Vice President of Networked Fitness. “It’s this kind of outstanding performance that drives our product and services roadmap forward, and allows us to exploit today’s product capabilities while ensuring we can deliver and support even more exciting experiences in the future.”

“Precor is a clear leader in the fitness industry and a perfect partner to demonstrate how networked technologies are moving into all aspects of our lives,” said Kevin Kirksey, Vice President of North American Sales at Exinda. “Exinda’s solutions allow fitness centers – which have varying degrees of IT expertise – to easily handle the influx of traffic generated by this next-generation of fitness. The result is an exceptional fitness experience for gyms and exercisers alike.”

Exinda’s WAN Optimization and Network Control solutions are on display at Interop through May 9, 2013, in Booth 1667 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

About Exinda 

Exinda is a leading global supplier of WAN optimization and Network Control solutions. Exinda enables organizations to assure a predictable user experience for strategic business applications through policy-based WAN optimization and Internet Control that intelligently allocate network bandwidth and optimize traffic based on the priorities of the business. The company has helped more than 2,600 organizations in over 80 countries worldwide assure application performance, improve the end-user experience, contain recreational applications and reduce network operating costs for the IT executive. For more information, please visit http://www.exinda.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Exinda.

About Precor 

Precor designs and builds premium fitness equipment for effective workouts that feel smooth and natural. With a passionate focus on ergonomic motion, insight driven innovation, and superior engineering, the company continually advances the home and commercial fitness industry with breakthrough new product categories, including, EFX® Elliptical, Adaptive Motion Trainer® “AMT®” and Preva® Networked Fitness. Precor is a subsidiary of Amer Sports Corporation, the world’s largest sports equipment company, with internationally recognized brands Wilson, Atomic, Suunto, Salomon, Arc’Teryx and Mavic.

Serguei Beloussov has been named CEO of Acronis, effective immediately. He succeeds Alex Pinchev. Mr. Beloussov is a co-founder of Acronis and was the Company’s first President. He has been a member of the Acronis Board of Directors since 2002 and is also the Chairman of Parallels, a global leader in hosting and cloud services enablement and desktop virtualization software.

“I am very excited to be back at Acronis,” said Mr. Beloussov.  “Acronis is a leader in traditional backup and recovery solutions, and is leading the way forward with new solutions that protect, secure, and access a company’s valuable data.  The Company has a solid strategy for growth in virtual, Cloud and mobility markets.  With leading technology and strong execution we will take a very good company and make it a great company.”

About Acronis

Acronis is leading the next wave of data availability, accessibility and protection solutions to simplify today’s complex IT environments. Acronis technology enables organisations of all sizes to manage the always-on anywhere data access demands of users, reducing risk against the loss of valuable corporate data and controlling management and storage costs. With proven technology for data migration and disaster recovery for physical, virtual and cloud environments, and secure enterprise file-sharing and synchronization regardless of type or platform, Acronis is enabling organisations to embrace new IT strategies and options such as BYOD and Mac® in the enterprise.

Xtium, Inc., a leading enterprise software and solutions company providing managed cloud hosting, online backup and virtual disaster recovery services, today announced that its Chief Technology Officer, Tim Vogel, was named a “Top IT Innovator” by the Philadelphia Business Journal, as part of the journal’s “2013 Top IT Pros Awards.” He will be honored at a celebratory awards luncheon on Thursday, May 9, 11:00am – 2:00pm at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

As one of Xtium’s co-founders, Vogel grew the company from a small technology consulting firm in 2004 into a fully managed services provider focused on virtual hosting and disaster recovery in 2007. Under his leadership, Xtium became one of the first companies to offer virtual cloud hosting services, before the term “cloud” was widely used.

Vogel also helped Xtium win its first multi-year, multi-million dollar deal in 2007, in which the technology he built helped support the customer’s IT operations, growth and acquisitions. Since then, he has led the Xtium team to drive business efficiencies and competitive advantages for a number of small- to mid-sized companies. His innovative approach to cloud computing allows companies to transfer the complexity and responsibility of infrastructure management to partners like Xtium, which enables the organizations to focus on their core competencies instead of managing their IT infrastructure.

In regards to the Top IT Pros Awards selection process, the Philadelphia Business Journal states, “We’re recognizing those leaders whose roles have evolved from miners of communication systems and computers to indispensable strategic advisors and operations experts. These leaders have their head in the cloud, are social, and constantly innovate to capture competitive advantage. They also defend against cyber security issues to protect both the company and its customers.”

Vogel said, “I’m honored to achieve this prestigious award from the Philadelphia Business Journal. I look forward to continuing to help organizations benefit from virtualization, cloud and new technologies in the future.”

About Xtium

Xtium is a leading enterprise software and solutions company innovating managed cloud hosting, online backup and virtual disaster recovery services. We offer companies the most secure virtual private cloud experience with guaranteed application performance across the network. Our architecture is flexible, allowing customers to remain in control. We are the only enterprise service company certified to deliver, SAP®, VMware® and Riverbed® technologies.

Xtium, Inc., a leading enterprise software and solutions company providing managed cloud hosting, online backup and virtual disaster recovery services, today announced that its Chief Technology Officer, Tim Vogel, was named a “Top IT Innovator” by the Philadelphia Business Journal, as part of the journal’s “2013 Top IT Pros Awards.” He will be honored at a celebratory awards luncheon on Thursday, May 9, 11:00am – 2:00pm at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

As one of Xtium’s co-founders, Vogel grew the company from a small technology consulting firm in 2004 into a fully managed services provider focused on virtual hosting and disaster recovery in 2007. Under his leadership, Xtium became one of the first companies to offer virtual cloud hosting services, before the term “cloud” was widely used.

Vogel also helped Xtium win its first multi-year, multi-million dollar deal in 2007, in which the technology he built helped support the customer’s IT operations, growth and acquisitions. Since then, he has led the Xtium team to drive business efficiencies and competitive advantages for a number of small- to mid-sized companies. His innovative approach to cloud computing allows companies to transfer the complexity and responsibility of infrastructure management to partners like Xtium, which enables the organizations to focus on their core competencies instead of managing their IT infrastructure.

In regards to the Top IT Pros Awards selection process, the Philadelphia Business Journal states, “We’re recognizing those leaders whose roles have evolved from miners of communication systems and computers to indispensable strategic advisors and operations experts. These leaders have their head in the cloud, are social, and constantly innovate to capture competitive advantage. They also defend against cyber security issues to protect both the company and its customers.”

Vogel said, “I’m honored to achieve this prestigious award from the Philadelphia Business Journal. I look forward to continuing to help organizations benefit from virtualization, cloud and new technologies in the future.”

About Xtium

Xtium is a leading enterprise software and solutions company innovating managed cloud hosting, online backup and virtual disaster recovery services. We offer companies the most secure virtual private cloud experience with guaranteed application performance across the network. Our architecture is flexible, allowing customers to remain in control. We are the only enterprise service company certified to deliver, SAP®, VMware® and Riverbed® technologies.

Spring Release Improves Enterprise Visibility, Communication and Agile Portfolio Management Capabilities

VersionOne, recognized by agile practitioners as the leader in agile project management tools, has announced the availability of its Spring 2013 release. With the introduction of a new Portfolio Timeline and enhanced Conversations, the new release extends VersionOne’s enterprise agile offering to help customers improve organizational visibility and collaboration and simplify coordination of their agile portfolio management (APM) initiatives.

As identified by VersionOne’s recently announced State of Agile Development survey, organizations of all sizes are expanding their use of agile, with almost 50 percent now using agile practices across five or more teams. As agile adoption continues to grow and more teams are introduced to agile methods, effective management and tracking to business objectives becomes increasingly difficult.

The new Portfolio Timeline allows Project Management Offices (PMOs) and project leaders to quickly get a high-level view of their portfolio of business initiatives, enabling them to see progress and identify at-risk projects. The Portfolio Timeline also allows program and project managers to drill down into each level of their project hierarchy to obtain more detailed information, driving better decision making.

“This product release extends our enterprise feature set to better support customers practicing agile across their entire organization, giving them the visibility and interactive collaboration capabilities they need to manage cross-project initiatives from inception through delivery,” said Robert Holler, president and CEO of VersionOne.

Additional feature updates further strengthen an organization’s ability to support enterprise-wide agile initiatives within VersionOne.

These include:

• Enable more effective communication through the ability to target conversations to specific groups and topics.
• Provide a personalized, consolidated view of conversations each team member is currently engaged in, and current status.
• Give product managers more granular control over the information that is displayed on both future and previously delivered ideas. Notifications are also included to allow customers and users to engage in timely conversations occurring around new ideas.
• Allows teams to easily identify applications currently in use that can be integrated with VersionOne.

About VersionOne

VersionOne is a recognized leader and visionary in agile application lifecycle management. Our mission is to help companies envision and deliver great software. Our promise is to promote and serve the best interests of the agile software development community with genuine respect and humility. Every single day we work hard to make a difference both in our community and with our customers.

Today more than 50,000 teams including over 35 of the Fortune 100 use our products to help them scale their agile initiatives faster, easier, and smarter. Whether a small team just starting out with agile or a global enterprise, VersionOne customers get the best software tools in the industry backed by the pioneers of agile project and lifecycle management.

SOURCE VersionOne

CONTACT: Andrea Keeble, VersionOne, (678) 468-0618, [email protected]

Web site: http://www.VersionOne.com