Friday, December 13, 2013

Nimble Storage Rockets Ahead in IPO

On their first day of trading, shares in Nimble Storage  (NYSE: NMBL) rocketed up 62% from the initial price of $21 to close at $33.93, or $168 million for the company.

The company raised $168 million by selling 8 million shares.

http://www.nimblestorage.com/


  • Nimble, which is based in San Jose, California, supplies flash-optimized hybrid storage solutions. The company is headed by Suresh Vasuden, who previously servedd as CEO of Omneon (acquired by Harmonic), and as a senior executive at NetApp for over 10 years where he led the company's product strategy and development.

VMware Updates its Cloud Management Solutions

VMware releases updated software versions of its its vCloud Automation Center 6.0, vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.8 and IT Business Management Suite.

VMware has also updated the automation and management capabilities of its vCloud Suite 5.5.

“Providing cloud management solutions that simplify and automate how IT is managed is key to helping our customers on their journey to deliver IT-as-a-Service,” said Ramin Sayar, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Management, VMware. “With the availability of new products and enhancements across our management portfolio, customers can take advantage of the business opportunities that exist whether it’s increasing business agility, enabling cost transparency of IT services or expanding to the hybrid cloud.”

Some highlights:


  • VMware vCloud Automation Center 6.0 offers a self-service catalog for requesting and managing all types of IT services across multiple clouds and platforms to on-demand access to any service and reducing time to value. Additionally, the product enables rapid application delivery, including application release automation and support for DevOps automation tools, through the incorporation of VMware vCloud Application Director.
  • VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite 5.8 extends visibility and insight into the performance of applications running on Microsoft Hyper-V and Amazon Web Services. This latest release also offers improved performance analytics for a broad range of storage arrays and business critical applications including Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server.
  • VMware IT Business Management Suite 1.0 Standard edition is a new product that allows infrastructure and business stakeholders to quickly understand the cost and consumption of their virtual infrastructure across private and public cloud environments. VMware IT Business Management Suite 8.0 Advanced and Enterprise editions introduce additional persona-based dashboards tailored to the CIO, CFO of IT, IT project managers and line-of-business owners.

http://labs.hol.vmware.com/
http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/vmw-mgt-ga-121113.html#sthash.Ustn3FeZ.dpuf

IBM Patents Secure Virtual Machine Launcher for Mobiles

IBM was awarded a U.S. patent for a technique that prevents mobile devices from accessing software code that has been maliciously or inadvertently modified after it was encrypted.

U.S. Patent #8,341,747, "Method to provide a secure virtual machine launcher," provides security controls that restrict and prevent access to apps unless their original, previously encrypted code remains unchanged and uncompromised. IBM said its patented security mechanism will prevent an an app from running if it has been modified after being encrypted.

"This patented invention will help organizations confidently and securely embrace the advantages of a mobile workforce while remaining protected against malicious content or intent," said Andrew Cornwall, inventor and mobile software developer, IBM. "Our technique helps businesses prevent altered apps from running and unleashing their wrath on businesses, their networks and their customers."

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/42672.wss

Sonus to Acquire Performance Technologies for Virtualized Diameter Signaling Controller

Sonus Networks agreed to acquire Performance Technologies, a supplier of advanced, high availability network communications solutions, for $3.75 per share in cash, or approximately $30 million, net of PT’s cash and excluding acquisition-related costs.

PT brings an integrated, virtualized Diameter and SIP-based solution that enables service providers to offer new multimedia services through mobile, cloud-based, real-time communications. Its SEGway signaling products includes Diameter Signaling Controllers (DSC), which anchor the authentication, authorization and accounting messages sent across mobile networks.

Sonus said the Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) market, which is expected to grow in coming years, is a natural extension of the Session Border Controller (SBC) market. SBCs and DSCs both serve as points of entry into core IP networks by providing security, admission control, intelligent routing and interworking capabilities.  PT’s SEGway Universal Diameter Routers and SS7 Signaling Systems provide tightly integrated signaling and advanced routing that span mission-critical demands of both existing and next-generation 4G/LTE and IMS networks.  Additionally, PT’s IPnexus Multi-Protocol Gateways and Servers enable a broad range of IP-interworking in data acquisition, sensor, radar and control applications for aviation, weather and other similar infrastructure networks. Providing an integrated, virtualized Diameter and SIP-based solution will enable Sonus to offer a more strategic value proposition to service providers seeking to deliver new multimedia services through mobile, Cloud-based, real-time communications.

“Today’s mobile broadband traffic nearly eclipses all Internet activity from just a decade ago, driving the necessity for intelligent and capable Diameter Signaling Controllers that will allow mobile operators to efficiently deploy 4G/LTE,” said Raymond P. Dolan, president and chief executive officer of Sonus.  “The combination of Sonus and PT allows us to address this significant opportunity by bringing together unique and complementary technologies in wireless and wireline network intelligence, thereby expanding our addressable market by 50% and advancing our mobility and virtualization strategies.  The transaction enhances Sonus’ best-in-class portfolio, further enabling service providers and enterprises to deliver on the promise of real-time communications.”

“Over our thirty-two year history, PT has been recognized for providing mission-critical solutions built on leading-edge technologies designed and supported by some of the best talent in our industry,” said John M. Slusser, president and chief executive officer of PT.  “The agreement with Sonus provides substantial value to our stockholders as the premium represents an approximately 25% per share premium to our closing stock price as of December 12, 2013."

http://pt.com/
http://www.sonus.net/


  • PT is based in Rochester, NY.




Qualcomm Names Steve Mollenkopf CEO and President

Qualcomm named Steve Mollenkopf as its next CEO, succeeding Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, who remains Executive Chairman of the Board. Mollenkopf will continue to serve as the company's President, and will take over full CEO responsibilities effective March 4, 2014, following Qualcomm's 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Mollenkopf has been at Qualcomm for nearly 20 years, serving in a variety of leadership positions including leading the chipset business (QCT). Under Mollenkopf, Qualcomm became the world's largest mobile chipset supplier, the global leader in LTE, and also completed the $3.1 billion acquisition of Atheros, its largest acquisition to date. Most recently, he served as Qualcomm's president and chief operating officer and as a member of the executive committee, helping to drive Qualcomm's overall global strategy.

"Qualcomm's board of directors is responsible for ensuring the continuity of the Company's senior leadership and that the executive team possesses the experience, skills and character required to achieve the Company's goals. With today's announcement, we enable a smooth transition to a proven executive in Steve Mollenkopf, while providing for ongoing executive guidance and Board-level leadership from Paul Jacobs. Qualcomm's Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Steve Mollenkopf to the board of directors and his transition to CEO.  We have the highest degree of confidence that his leadership will further expand Qualcomm's impressive record of innovation and continued stockholder value creation," said Sherry Lansing, Presiding Director of Qualcomm's Board of Directors and chair of its Governance Committee.

http://www.qualcomm.com 

Infonetics: SON Software Sales to Hit $5 Billion by 2017

The global mobile network optimization and self-organizing network (SON) market is on track to grow 13% in 2013, down from a 17% annual growth rate in 2012, according to a new report from Infonetics.

“Self-organizing networks (SON) remain baked in LTE, but as an evolutionary 3GGP technology, SON will continue to evolve, offering more and more advanced features. So deploying SON for 3G optimization – with the zero-touch network as the long-term goal – is something that’s natural and logical for many operators,” notes Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research.

A few notes from the report:

  • In a large majority of cases, 3G network optimization, rather than LTE alone, is a key driver for using SON
  • Over 80% of mobile operators worldwide are using SON for 3G/HSPA/HSPA+ optimization
  • Centralized SON (C-SON) is predominant in optimization schemes
  • The burgeoning SON segment of the market tripled in 2012
  • Infonetics forecasts optimization and SON software to grow to nearly $5 billion by 2017.

http://www.infonetics.com

Cisco Looks to Add R&D Jobs in Ontario, Canada

Cisco and the Province of Ontario, Canada have signed a 10-year agreement under which Cisco aims to add up to 1,700 high tech jobs in Ontario with a focus on R&D within the first six years.

The agreement also includes a framework with the potential to grow Cisco’s total Ontario employee footprint up to 5,000 by 2024, reflecting a potential total investment of up to $4 billion, including $2.2 billion in salaries alone.  The Province of Ontario will provide up to $220 million in support of the total initiative.

http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=1298889