Commetrex Corporation announced today the launch of BladeWare IP-Fax Interop Test Suite. Tom Ray, Commetrex EVP of Sales and Marketing stated, "Since January 2002, Commetrex has led the industry effort for T.38 interoperability when the company launched the T.38 Interoperability Test Lab. Now, Commetrex has introduced the BladeWare Fax Interop Test Suite (FITS), which supports the 16 tests we previously featured in our T.38 Interoperability Test Lab, to allow the OEM to perform the same testing internally." Ray also stated, "BladeWare FITS is a ready-to-test system comprised of a client application based on the BladeWare stand-alone IP-based media server that provides the developer with a T.38 and G.711 pass-through interoperability testing facility."
Ray also added, "FITS uses BladeWare to place and accept SIP calls and to send-receive faxes for testing purposes. BladeWare's fax capability is based on Commetrex' TerminatingT38, which is the same technology that became the industry's T.38 reference standard through its use in Commetrex' T.38 Interop Lab. Commetrex invented TerminatingT38 in 2000 and then opened its T.38 Interop Lab in January 2002. We found that scheduling a mutually convenient time for our test engineers and that of our testing partners was a major obstacle. But with BladeWare FITS, a developer can perform the same tests with the same reference platform to his own schedule. The FITS product was developed as a means for customers to reduce their time-to-market while increasing their customer's satisfaction and providing a great return on development cost and is licensed for 50- or 100-port test environments."
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Monday, 26 January 2009
ITIL v3
ITIL is currently on v3 of its library and consists of five books:
- Service Strategy
- Service Design
- Service Transition
- Service Operation
- Continual Service Improvement
Sunday, 25 January 2009
ITIL
ITIL is a documentation of best practice for IT Service Management. The documentation is in the form of ITIL books and is backed up by a professional qualification scheme. Microsoft, Proctor & Gamble and British Airways are 3 of the blue chip companies implementing ITIL.
The books centre on guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT. ITIL has been developed in recognition of organisations' growing dependency on IT and embodies best practices for IT Service Management.
Currently at Version 3 ITIL seeks to satisfy organisations requirements for high quality IT services.
Benefits claimed for ITIL are:
The books centre on guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT. ITIL has been developed in recognition of organisations' growing dependency on IT and embodies best practices for IT Service Management.
Currently at Version 3 ITIL seeks to satisfy organisations requirements for high quality IT services.
Benefits claimed for ITIL are:
- Reduced costs
- Improved IT services through best practice processes
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Standards and guidance
- Improved productivity
- Improved use of skills and experience
- Improved delivery of third party services through the specification of ITIL or ISO 20000 as the standard for service delivery in services procurements.
Friday, 23 January 2009
ITIL and Service Strategy
Service Strategy is one of five volumes in the ITIL v3 library.
Central to the volume is a framework or basic conceptual structure used to solve or address complex issues. Its aim is to help organizations develop a long term service strategy. Topics include:-
Central to the volume is a framework or basic conceptual structure used to solve or address complex issues. Its aim is to help organizations develop a long term service strategy. Topics include:-
- general strategy
- competition and market space,
- service provider types,
- service management as a strategic asset,
- organization design and development,
- key process activities,
- financial management,
- service portfolio management,
- demand management,
- key roles and responsibilities
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Service Design
Service Design is one of the five volumes of the ITIL v3 library.
The book seeks to help organizations improve design of IT service and in doing so conform to best practice.
Areas covered include:- design of architecture, processes, policies, documentation and allowing for future business requirements. This also encompasses topics such as Service Design Package (SDP), service catalog management, service level management, designing for capacity management, IT service continuity, Information Security, supplier management, and key roles and responsibilities for staff engaging in service design.
The book seeks to help organizations improve design of IT service and in doing so conform to best practice.
Areas covered include:- design of architecture, processes, policies, documentation and allowing for future business requirements. This also encompasses topics such as Service Design Package (SDP), service catalog management, service level management, designing for capacity management, IT service continuity, Information Security, supplier management, and key roles and responsibilities for staff engaging in service design.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
ICCM Solutions help Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service to become ITIL® aligned
Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) embarks on ICCM's ITIL® consultancy services and training to ensure their IT systems are effectively supporting NFRS staff with their vision of keeping the Nottinghamshire public safe. ICCM provides industry recognised Service Management consultancy, training and software and, over the next few weeks they will be helping NFRS to become aligned with the latest ITIL® processes.
John Noctor, Senior Consultant for ICCM, who has been in the industry for over 20 years and has worked with a number of Blue Chip organisations, will be assisting NFRS with identifying operating procedures as well as the design and development of their ITIL® processes for Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Service Level Management and Request Fulfilment. Noctor will also be conducting ITIL® best practice training. Upon completion, the aim is for NFRS to have the most up-to-date toolset and skills to formalise their ITIL® processes and functions to improve delivery and support of services to their customers.
"Key to enabling us to deliver effective services to the public is a well managed IT infrastructure. It's easy for IT departments to fail if the technology, skills and expertise to implement IT projects are lacking. In our industry this is simply not acceptable and for that reason we need to equip our staff with the latest ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library) aligned Service Desk and knowledge. ICCM has supplied our Service Desk solution for a number of years and as we've been so impressed with their competent and experienced staff we entrusted them to match our Service Desk processes with our support services," says Peter Mann, Head of ICT for NFRS.
Noctor comments: "NFRS understand the benefits to their organisation following the guidance contained in ITIL® including: better communication, reduced operating costs and improved service quality." Noctor continues: "Their commitment to this project demonstrates to their customers that essential IT services are being managed and controlled effectively and in the process will reinforce their reputation as a reliable, trusted emergency service."
John Noctor, Senior Consultant for ICCM, who has been in the industry for over 20 years and has worked with a number of Blue Chip organisations, will be assisting NFRS with identifying operating procedures as well as the design and development of their ITIL® processes for Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Service Level Management and Request Fulfilment. Noctor will also be conducting ITIL® best practice training. Upon completion, the aim is for NFRS to have the most up-to-date toolset and skills to formalise their ITIL® processes and functions to improve delivery and support of services to their customers.
"Key to enabling us to deliver effective services to the public is a well managed IT infrastructure. It's easy for IT departments to fail if the technology, skills and expertise to implement IT projects are lacking. In our industry this is simply not acceptable and for that reason we need to equip our staff with the latest ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library) aligned Service Desk and knowledge. ICCM has supplied our Service Desk solution for a number of years and as we've been so impressed with their competent and experienced staff we entrusted them to match our Service Desk processes with our support services," says Peter Mann, Head of ICT for NFRS.
Noctor comments: "NFRS understand the benefits to their organisation following the guidance contained in ITIL® including: better communication, reduced operating costs and improved service quality." Noctor continues: "Their commitment to this project demonstrates to their customers that essential IT services are being managed and controlled effectively and in the process will reinforce their reputation as a reliable, trusted emergency service."
Friday, 9 January 2009
Commetrex
Commetrex develops and markets enabling technologies for the gateway and media-server telecom OEM, as well as ready-to-deploy fax applications, BladeWare Fax Media Server (FMS), BladeWare Fax2Email, and BladeWare Email2Fax. Well known for its market-leading fax and other licensed media-processing technologies, Commetrex has announced its 75th T.38 FoIP customer. Commetrex' list of licensees is a who's who of the telecom industry, including LSI/Agere, Iperia, Genband, Castelle, Lucent, Sonus, OpenWave, Nortel, Broadsoft, Siemens, ShoreTel, Avaya, Empirix, Logica, and Movius. Commetrex is currently enhancing the BladeWare product family by introducing comprehensive voice capabilities with its BladeWare (VXi)initiative.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
AT&T and Fujitsu Contract for IP VPN
AT&T Business Solutions announced today that Fujitsu in North America has signed a two-year contract for a fully managed Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) and Integration Solutions supporting a High Definition Telepresence system.
AT&T Integration Solutions portfolio will provide Fujitsu with a complete networking and equipment design for Telepresence along with global project management of its AT&T system implementation and testing between Sunnyvale, Calif., and Kawasaki, Japan.
Fujitsu, which considers the green impact in all that it does, has been deeply committed to safeguarding the environment for current and future generations. As such, the two Telepresence sites supported by the AT&T IP VPN -- in Sunnyvale and Kawasaki -- will reduce the amount of travel required by Fujitsu employees, while allowing more frequent interaction and maintaining the same level of collaboration needed between the two sites. The AT&T solution is designed to help Fujitsu reduce travel costs, increase productivity and bring to market faster product delivery.
"The Telepresence solution is a natural progression for us in our quest to conserve energy and natural resources," said Jeff Meier, North American chief information officer of Fujitsu. "AT&T Business Solutions is a valued partner providing Fujitsu with a High Definition video solution while meeting our environmentally focused objectives."
Fujitsu currently uses the Telepresence sites for management meetings, product design meetings and cross-functional teaming.
AT&T Integration Solutions portfolio will provide Fujitsu with a complete networking and equipment design for Telepresence along with global project management of its AT&T system implementation and testing between Sunnyvale, Calif., and Kawasaki, Japan.
Fujitsu, which considers the green impact in all that it does, has been deeply committed to safeguarding the environment for current and future generations. As such, the two Telepresence sites supported by the AT&T IP VPN -- in Sunnyvale and Kawasaki -- will reduce the amount of travel required by Fujitsu employees, while allowing more frequent interaction and maintaining the same level of collaboration needed between the two sites. The AT&T solution is designed to help Fujitsu reduce travel costs, increase productivity and bring to market faster product delivery.
"The Telepresence solution is a natural progression for us in our quest to conserve energy and natural resources," said Jeff Meier, North American chief information officer of Fujitsu. "AT&T Business Solutions is a valued partner providing Fujitsu with a High Definition video solution while meeting our environmentally focused objectives."
Fujitsu currently uses the Telepresence sites for management meetings, product design meetings and cross-functional teaming.
Synopsys Passes PCI Express
Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) , a software and IP for semiconductor design and manufacturing vendor, today announced that its DesignWare(R) digital controller and PHY IP for the PCI Express(R) 2.0 technology is the first complete, single-vendor PCI Express 2.0 IP solution to successfully pass the PCI Express 2.0 compliance testing at the PCI-Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG(R)) workshop held in Taiwan in October 2008. Passing PCI Express 2.0 compliance testing helps ensure interoperability while reducing risk and time-to-market for designers incorporating the complex, high-performance interface. As the only IP vendor to offer a complete, silicon-proven and compliant PCI Express 2.0 solution consisting of digital controllers, PHYs and Verification IP, Synopsys continues to demonstrate industry leadership.
The PCI Express 2.0 specification doubles the 1.1 specification transfer speed from 2.5 Gbps to 5.0 Gbps per lane, helping to meet the demand for increased bandwidth in data center, servers, networking and storage applications. Backward compatibility with PCI Express 1.1 allows designers to increase performance, while maintaining interoperability with existing devices.
The DesignWare digital controllers for PCI Express 2.0 fully support the PIPE interface standard and the PCI-SIG I/O Virtualization (IOV) suite of specifications. Synopsys offers digital controllers for Endpoint, Root Complex, Switch and Bridge applications. In addition, designers implementing the ARM AMBA(R) 3 AXI(TM) and AMBA AHB(TM) on-chip interconnect can easily add PCI Express 2.0 functionality to their SoC designs by using either the DesignWare Bridge IP for PCI Express to AMBA 3 AXI or AMBA AHB.
"The enhanced performance available with the PCI Express 2.0 interconnect standard helps address the increased bandwidth requirements in next-generation enterprise computing infrastructure applications," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG chairman and president. "We are happy to see that Synopsys, an active member of PCI-SIG, continues to support the PCI Express standard in the market by providing IP solutions that enable designer to integrate the PCI Express interface into their products."
The DesignWare PHY IP substantially exceeds key PCI Express 2.0 specifications in the areas of jitter, margin and receive sensitivity thus delivering a robust design that tolerates process, voltage and temperature variations. Embedded high-speed mixed signal IP, such as a PCI Express 2.0 PHY, can pose significant testing challenges in terms of development time, coverage and equipment cost. With the DesignWare PHY for PCI Express, at-speed production testing can be conducted on a pure digital tester by using the supplied ATE test vectors for full compliance eye-mask testing. This eliminates the need for expensive test equipment, enabling designers to speed development time and lower costs. Furthermore, the advanced built-in diagnostics capabilities provide customers with an on-chip sampling scope for quick debug of the SoC.
The DesignWare Verification IP for PCI Express 2.0 supports directed testing and the constrained random methodologies defined in the Verification Methodology Manual (VMM) for SystemVerilog. To help designers test the integration of the DesignWare digital controller IP in their SoC designs, the DesignWare Verification IP is included with the DesignWare digital controller for PCI Express 2.0.
"As a leader in PCI Express IP, Synopsys has hundreds of design wins with our DesignWare PCI Express solutions, and our customers are shipping PCI Express 2.0-based designs in high volume production today," said John Koeter, vice president of marketing, Synopsys Solutions Group. "Achieving compliance for our complete IP solution enables designers to lower interoperability risks and speed time to market for their PCI Express products."
The PCI Express 2.0 specification doubles the 1.1 specification transfer speed from 2.5 Gbps to 5.0 Gbps per lane, helping to meet the demand for increased bandwidth in data center, servers, networking and storage applications. Backward compatibility with PCI Express 1.1 allows designers to increase performance, while maintaining interoperability with existing devices.
The DesignWare digital controllers for PCI Express 2.0 fully support the PIPE interface standard and the PCI-SIG I/O Virtualization (IOV) suite of specifications. Synopsys offers digital controllers for Endpoint, Root Complex, Switch and Bridge applications. In addition, designers implementing the ARM AMBA(R) 3 AXI(TM) and AMBA AHB(TM) on-chip interconnect can easily add PCI Express 2.0 functionality to their SoC designs by using either the DesignWare Bridge IP for PCI Express to AMBA 3 AXI or AMBA AHB.
"The enhanced performance available with the PCI Express 2.0 interconnect standard helps address the increased bandwidth requirements in next-generation enterprise computing infrastructure applications," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG chairman and president. "We are happy to see that Synopsys, an active member of PCI-SIG, continues to support the PCI Express standard in the market by providing IP solutions that enable designer to integrate the PCI Express interface into their products."
The DesignWare PHY IP substantially exceeds key PCI Express 2.0 specifications in the areas of jitter, margin and receive sensitivity thus delivering a robust design that tolerates process, voltage and temperature variations. Embedded high-speed mixed signal IP, such as a PCI Express 2.0 PHY, can pose significant testing challenges in terms of development time, coverage and equipment cost. With the DesignWare PHY for PCI Express, at-speed production testing can be conducted on a pure digital tester by using the supplied ATE test vectors for full compliance eye-mask testing. This eliminates the need for expensive test equipment, enabling designers to speed development time and lower costs. Furthermore, the advanced built-in diagnostics capabilities provide customers with an on-chip sampling scope for quick debug of the SoC.
The DesignWare Verification IP for PCI Express 2.0 supports directed testing and the constrained random methodologies defined in the Verification Methodology Manual (VMM) for SystemVerilog. To help designers test the integration of the DesignWare digital controller IP in their SoC designs, the DesignWare Verification IP is included with the DesignWare digital controller for PCI Express 2.0.
"As a leader in PCI Express IP, Synopsys has hundreds of design wins with our DesignWare PCI Express solutions, and our customers are shipping PCI Express 2.0-based designs in high volume production today," said John Koeter, vice president of marketing, Synopsys Solutions Group. "Achieving compliance for our complete IP solution enables designers to lower interoperability risks and speed time to market for their PCI Express products."
Aehr Test Systems 2009 Q2 Results
Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) , a supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 ended November 30, 2008.
Net sales were $9.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with $9.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Pre-tax income was $1.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with $1.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Aehr Test reported net income of $872,000, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with net income of $1.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 reflects a significantly higher effective tax rate than the same period of the prior year, as the Company now expects to accrue tax expense at close to the statutory rates for the countries in which it generates income.
"Our net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 came in lower than we originally expected, as we saw customers delay new orders or defer delivery on existing orders in light of the current economic slowdown," said Rhea Posedel, chairman and chief executive officer of Aehr Test Systems. "During this slowdown we are focusing on two strategies. First, we hope to maintain our strong financial position by maximizing our cash balance and keeping expenses low. In response to the challenging business conditions, we implemented a two-week shutdown of our facilities in December, and are actively exploring other measures to control or reduce our expenses until capital spending in the semiconductor equipment industry returns to more normal levels. Second, we are aggressively introducing new products, such as our ABTS system, which are targeting new test and burn-in market segments. We believe that our aggressive product development and marketing efforts during this time will position us well to win additional business with new and existing customers as the semiconductor industry begins to recover."
Net sales were $18.9 million in the first six months of fiscal 2009, an increase of 9% when compared with $17.3 million in the first six months of fiscal 2008. Net income for the six months ended November 30, 2008 was $1.7 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.1 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, in the same period of the prior fiscal year.
At November 30, 2008, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $13.7 million, an increase of $4.3 million from the balance at the end of the prior quarter. Aehr Test closed the second quarter of fiscal 2009 with no outstanding debt and shareholders' equity of $40.8 million, or $4.83 per share outstanding, at November 30, 2008.
Commenting on the outlook for Aehr Test Systems, Gary Larson, vice president and chief financial officer, said, "We are not expecting a meaningful improvement in this difficult operating environment until the second half of calendar 2009 at the earliest. Accordingly, due to the uncertainties in our market, we find it imprudent to provide guidance for the next several quarters."
Net sales were $9.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with $9.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Pre-tax income was $1.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with $1.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Aehr Test reported net income of $872,000, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with net income of $1.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 reflects a significantly higher effective tax rate than the same period of the prior year, as the Company now expects to accrue tax expense at close to the statutory rates for the countries in which it generates income.
"Our net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 came in lower than we originally expected, as we saw customers delay new orders or defer delivery on existing orders in light of the current economic slowdown," said Rhea Posedel, chairman and chief executive officer of Aehr Test Systems. "During this slowdown we are focusing on two strategies. First, we hope to maintain our strong financial position by maximizing our cash balance and keeping expenses low. In response to the challenging business conditions, we implemented a two-week shutdown of our facilities in December, and are actively exploring other measures to control or reduce our expenses until capital spending in the semiconductor equipment industry returns to more normal levels. Second, we are aggressively introducing new products, such as our ABTS system, which are targeting new test and burn-in market segments. We believe that our aggressive product development and marketing efforts during this time will position us well to win additional business with new and existing customers as the semiconductor industry begins to recover."
Net sales were $18.9 million in the first six months of fiscal 2009, an increase of 9% when compared with $17.3 million in the first six months of fiscal 2008. Net income for the six months ended November 30, 2008 was $1.7 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.1 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, in the same period of the prior fiscal year.
At November 30, 2008, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $13.7 million, an increase of $4.3 million from the balance at the end of the prior quarter. Aehr Test closed the second quarter of fiscal 2009 with no outstanding debt and shareholders' equity of $40.8 million, or $4.83 per share outstanding, at November 30, 2008.
Commenting on the outlook for Aehr Test Systems, Gary Larson, vice president and chief financial officer, said, "We are not expecting a meaningful improvement in this difficult operating environment until the second half of calendar 2009 at the earliest. Accordingly, due to the uncertainties in our market, we find it imprudent to provide guidance for the next several quarters."
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Aehr Test Contract
Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) , a supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced it has received a second order for their new Advanced Burn-in and Test System (ABTS) from a leading European provider of imbedded wireless technology. The system is configured for burning-in and testing advanced logic devices.
"The technology in the ABTS is based on our successful FOX(TM)-1 full-wafer contact burn-in and test system," said Greg Perkins, vice president of worldwide sales and service at Aehr Test Systems. "Although numerous FOX systems are currently in high volume production in many parts of the world this will be the first version of the ABTS package part burn-in and test system shipped to Europe. Other members of the ABTS family will focus on high-power logic and memory devices."
The ABTS family of products is based on a completely new hardware and software architecture that is designed to address not only today's devices, but also future devices for many years to come. It can test and burn-in memory as well as both high-power logic and low-power logic. It can be configured to provide individual device temperature control for devices up to 50W or more and with up to 320 I/O channels. It uses N+1 redundancy technology for many key components in the system to provide the highest possible system uptime.
"The technology in the ABTS is based on our successful FOX(TM)-1 full-wafer contact burn-in and test system," said Greg Perkins, vice president of worldwide sales and service at Aehr Test Systems. "Although numerous FOX systems are currently in high volume production in many parts of the world this will be the first version of the ABTS package part burn-in and test system shipped to Europe. Other members of the ABTS family will focus on high-power logic and memory devices."
The ABTS family of products is based on a completely new hardware and software architecture that is designed to address not only today's devices, but also future devices for many years to come. It can test and burn-in memory as well as both high-power logic and low-power logic. It can be configured to provide individual device temperature control for devices up to 50W or more and with up to 320 I/O channels. It uses N+1 redundancy technology for many key components in the system to provide the highest possible system uptime.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
MTS Systems
MTS Systems Corporation is a supplier of test systems and industrial position sensors. The Company's testing hardware and software solutions help customers accelerate and improve their design, development, and manufacturing processes and are used for determining the mechanical behavior of materials, products, and structures. MTS' high-performance position sensors provide controls for a variety of industrial and vehicular applications. MTS had 1,660 employees and revenue of $461 million for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2008. Additional information on MTS can be found on the worldwide web at http://www.mts.com/.
Friday, 2 January 2009
EXFO
EXFO is a provider of test and service assurance solutions for network service providers and equipment manufacturers in the global telecommunications industry. The Telecom Division offers a wide range of innovative solutions extending across the full technology lifecycle ? from design to technology deployment and onto service assurance ? and covering all layers on a network infrastructure to enable triple-play services and next-generation, converged IP networking. The Life Sciences and Industrial Division offers solutions in medical device and opto-electronics assembly, fluorescence microscopy and other life science sectors. For more information, visit www.EXFO.com.
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