Thursday, April 19, 2012

Soarsoft extends offering with Metalogix’s inclusion of Syntergy’s SharePoint solutions


Soarsoft Africa, a specialist in archive, migration, collaboration and messaging services, has extended its offering with Metalogix Software’s recent announcement of its purchase of Syntergy’s SharePoint solutions.  Metalogix will integrate Syntergy’s SharePoint products into its portfolio of SharePoint Content Lifecycle Management solutions.

Syntergy features the market leading SharePoint replication solution, Replicator for SharePoint, which is a web-based solution used to synchronise and manage business intelligence in real-time across multiple SharePoint environments.

Says Chris Hathaway, Director at Soarsoft Africa:  “The incorporation of Syntergy’s SharePoint solutions into the Metalogix stable is a very neat fit with the existing tools and will provide local businesses with the enhanced functionality that Syntergy’s solutions deliver, bolstering their SharePoint mobility and providing them with more choice in how they manage, move, store, archive and protect their SharePoint Content across networks.”

“By adding the leading SharePoint Replication solution to our Migration and Storage product lines, we are able to extend our range, reach and leadership in the SharePoint content mobility market segment.  This investment in SharePoint technology and talent achieves another milestone in our strategy to provide our customers a better way to enhance the use and performance of their Microsoft SharePoint platform investment,” says Steven Murphy, CEO, Metalogix. 

By utilising SharePoint replication, organisations with multiple SharePoint servers have uninterrupted access to content that enhances employee productivity and efficiency and improves company performance globally. Replicator for SharePoint provides for two-way data synchronisation by replicating content and settings back and forth between server farms, even if they are not identical.

“We believe that Metalogix will bring Syntergy’s breakthrough SharePoint technology to more clients,” says David Seaman, COO, Syntergy. “Replicator for SharePoint has become the leader in the SharePoint replication market and its ability to allow end users from around the world to work seamlessly on the same content will boost productivity for any organisation.”

Replicator for SharePoint is easy to install, transparent to end users and maintained through the SharePoint central administrator. The solution optimises SharePoint performance for growing SharePoint environments by preventing version control conflicts. Replicator for SharePoint allows administrators to create a highly available environment that is well-prepared for disaster recovery scenarios. Syntergy SharePoint solutions include Syntergy Connect for SharePoint, which provides the ability to visualise, monitor and manage the replicator-enabled SharePoint wide area farm environment.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

DCC introduces Verbatim's PinStripe Black USB flash drive - the colour for business this season


The uptake of mobility and the increasing requirement to share large files and information with colleagues and customers has created the need for smaller flash drives that feature higher storage capacities.  Distributor Drive Control Corporation (DCC) has the answer with Verbatim’s newly launched PinStripe Black 64 gigabyte (GB) 2.0 USB flash drive in environmentally friendly packaging.

The drive features a stylish black pinstripe look, with a push-pull mechanism for retracting and protecting the USB. This USB 2.0 flash drive is also USB 3.0 compatible.  This means you can use this flash drive with USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 host ports. Verbatim’s “More Green, Less Plastic” concept means the packaging is made of 90% less plastic, and is also tear resistant, so you know your choice is protecting the environment. Adding additional peace of mind is Verbatim’s two year warrantee on the flash drive.

Says Drika Wilkins, Verbatim Product Specialist at DCC: “Verbatim’s latest flash drive is small and discrete yet is able to store a significant amount of data, making it the ideal business tool for any meeting.”

The Verbatim PinStripe Black 64GB USB flash drive is available from selected resellers with an approximate recommended retail price: R 699.00 inclusive of V.A.T.

Slim, energy-efficient hard drive for Ultrabook devices


Western Digital has announced it is shipping the WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm hard drive, the latest addition to its mobile hard drive family and the 2.5-inch drive with the lowest power consumption on the market today. Specified to a best-in-class 400Gs shock tolerance, the new single-platter WD Scorpio Blue small form factor hard drives are available in 500 GB and 320 GB capacities and the drives’ compatibility with industry-standard 9.5 mm slots make them ideal storage options for mainstream notebooks as well as slimmer notebook and Ultrabook devices that require a 7 mm drive height.

“Consumers want thin and light personal computers, but the limited storage capacity of SSD-based notebooks forces them to pick and choose what files to bring from their library,” says Matt Rutledge, vice president and general manager for WD client storage products. “With the release of the new WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm mobile hard drives, WD is able to offer capacity, reliability and data-protection features combined with excellent power management all in a slim form factor perfect for thin and light notebooks.”

“These new drives enable users of Ultrabooks to upgrade their existing hard drives for additional capacity, without needing to replace their entire machine. They also provide a more eco efficient option with up to 20% energy savings. The Scorpio Blue drives ship standard with a two-year warranty for added peace of mind,” says Anamika Budree, WD Country Manager -WD South Africa.

Features of the new WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm hard drives include:
·         Low power consumption - Advanced power management features and algorithms optimise the way the drive seeks data, which significantly improves power consumption.
·         Shock Tolerance – WD’s ShockGuard technology, now increased to a best-in-market 400Gs shock specification, protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks.
·         Cool and quiet - In a notebook drive, silence is golden. WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology enables quiet performance.
·         Reliable – WD’s SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non-operational shock tolerance.
·         Compatibility Tested - WD performs tests on hundreds of systems and a multitude of platforms in its FIT Lab and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give customers confidence that drives will work in specific systems.

“For the South African market, the availability of the WD Scorpio Blue increases the available WD range and gives users further options when selecting hard drives. It also offers local systems integrators greater opportunity to build, upgrade and repair Ultrabooks, a market which has historically been held back by limited component availability,” says Barber Brinkman, Western Digital Sales Manager Benelux and South Africa.

Price and Availability
The WD Scorpio Blue will be available from distributors Pinnacle Africa, Rectron and Drive Control Corporation from the last week of April 2012. The approximate retail price is R650,00 for 320GB and R800,00 for 500GB. Pricing is exclusive of V.A.T.