Leviton Showcases Industry Leading Cabling Solutions at Dubai DCD

Leviton Middle East, a subsidiary of Leviton Manufacturing Company which is North America’s leader in residential, commercial and industrial wiring devices is participating in DatacenterDynamics Conference & Expo, taking place at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai on December 1st, 2008. Leviton will be educating senior datacenter and IT professionals about its ‘green’ lead-free and RoHS compliant core connectivity products like CAT 6 and CAT 5e jacks, patch panels and patch cords. The manufacturing giant will also be showcasing a range of cutting edge datacenter-related technology including structured cables, cable management products and power distribution units.

Speaking on the company’s participation, Mr Ramzi Nassif, Managing Director, Leviton Middle East commented, “DatacenterDynamics brings together the largest gathering of professionals involved in the design, build and operational management of 24/7 mission critical IT facilities and infrastructure in the region. We believe the forum is an excellent branding platform for Leviton, which has just established an office in Dubai, to make its presence known to key industry personnel and educate them about our industry leading products”.

Leviton will be promoting it’s high-performance copper solutions, including eXtreme®10G, eXtreme 6+, GigaMax®5e, designed to deliver the best category-rated performance in the industry. Leviton holds the distinction of introducing the industry’s first component-rated Category 6A system. Leviton connectors, patch panels, and patch cords have each been independently tested and verified by ETL to meet or exceed TIA 568-B.2-10 component performance and qualified installations carry a Lifetime Performance Warranty.

Also on display will be Leviton’s Plug-n-Play Fiber System which doubles the density of standard fiber systems and reduces installation time by upto 75% along with a wide variety of adaptable, easy-to-install cable management products including Spectro-Link® Fiber Raceway, Versi-Duct® Slotted Duct, and Rack & Frame solutions.

In the United States today, Leviton is the leading brand of structured cabling and home networking solutions for the building market. In 2007 the prestigious publication Builder magazine rated Leviton as their top brand choice in their annual Brand Use Study in the categories of structured cabling products, lighting control products, brands used in the past two years, and brands used the most. The company manufactures over 25,000 products. Its extensive product array includes 10 Gig, eXtreme 6+, GigaMax 5e, and Opt-X Fiber Performance Systems, multimedia connectors, fiber connectors, wall-plates, housings, patch panels, patch cords, fiber enclosures, fiber cable assemblies, PoE, tools, enclosures, cable management and much more. Residential solutions cover structured media center panels, routers and switches, video distribution, audio, intercom and video monitoring.

About Leviton Manufacturing Company
Founded in 1906 at the dawn of the electrical era, Leviton manufactures over 25,000 different products and is North America’s leading electrical and electronic wiring device producer. Leviton products are used in nine out of ten homes in the US and Canada, and in commercial facilities, industrial plants and OEM operations. Independent surveys consistently show Leviton is Number One in brand preference among builders, electrical contractors, architects, specifying engineers and end-users. Leviton Network Solutions was created 20 years ago to meet the growing need for telecommunications and high-speed data technologies. Today, the division is dedicated to producing complete system solutions for network infrastructure, from the backbone to the workstation, for the enterprise, data center, service provider, and residential markets. Incorporating fiber and copper innovations to create the best and most integrated network possible, Leviton Network Solutions offers connectors, cabling assemblies, panels, wall plates and workstation solutions, cable management, and home technology equipment for commercial and residential uses.

Configure One Expands World Headquarters

Configure One™, a leading provider of web-based product configurator and electronic catalog software, today announced the completion of a major expansion project at its Oak Brook headquarters which includes increasing overall office space by 60 percent.

According to Michael McDonnell, Configure One’s Vice President for Product Development, the expansion was driven by a number of factors. “This expansion allows our U.S. and European offices to continue to provide unparalleled support to our rapidly growing customer base around the world. In addition, as we continue to add personnel, we need to maintain a productive working environment for all our team members. We increased our staff by 40 percent in 2007 alone, and this expansion will support our continuing growth in 2008 and beyond. Most importantly, at the core of the business is the continued development of our flagship product, Concept™. Every aspect of this expansion improves our ability to keep the development of the product moving in the right direction”.

While the most obvious effect of the expansion is to add more space for Configure One personnel, that’s only one part of it. “In addition to accommodating growth, the new facilities help streamline our operations by better supporting our meeting, training, and conferencing needs,” added McDonnell.

Configure One’s IT infrastructure also received an overhaul, with the capacity of Configure One’s data center increasing by 50 percent. “As the Concept Enterprise Product Configurator™ is a web-based application, we host many of our customers’ applications. We’ve increased network capacity, both internally and externally, and invested significantly in power backup and data storage systems,” said McDonnell.

The construction was completed during October 2008. “We’re excited about this expansion, and given the performance we’ve seen thus far in 2008, it didn’t occur a moment too soon,” added McDonnell.

About Configure One
Configure One is a leading provider of web-based product configurator and electronic catalog software. Configure One’s Concept Enterprise Product ConfiguratorTM, Concept E-CatalogTM, and Concept E-CommerceTM products are enterprise applications that enable companies to efficiently sell and process orders for configurable, multi-option, and customizable products and services. Configure One’s customers are able to increase revenues while reducing costs by automating much of the sales, order entry, and engineering processes. Customers include industry leaders such as ABB, Emerson Electric, British Telecom, Dover Corporation, Stryker Medical, Sumitomo, and Thomas & Betts.

Hays IT Reveal Results of Latest Industry Survey

Hays Information Technology surveys senior IT professionals to find the most desired skills from employees in the IT industry

Hays Information Technology, the UK’s number one IT recruitment consultancy, has conducted a survey targeting senior professionals to find out what the most desired personal and professional skills are from employees in the IT industry.

The survey, which was conducted with a number of companies throughout a diverse range of public and private sectors across the UK, found that candidates with a strong business awareness of both IT and non-IT issues, and leadership skills are the two primary factors looked for when recruiting middle and senior IT management. However, the ability to apply IT strategy to the wider business and possessing strategic focus, strong technical and industry knowledge also featured high up the list of desirables.

James Lloyd-Townsend, Managing Director of Hays Information Technology commented, “You need a proven track record and be up to date with the direction of technology. But you need to think strategically, give clear direction and engage with people.”

As to sourcing the talent to fill their senior IT and networking jobs, the survey from Hays revealed that businesses use a mixture of direct advertising, websites, internal promotions and recommendations. The survey also showed that while most employers are satisfied with their current IT management teams, more than a quarter are currently recruiting and as many as six in 10 plan to bring on board new talent during the next 12 months.

Hays Information Technology also confirmed that salary demands remain the number one obstacle to placing the right candidate. However, the timeliness of the recruitment cycle, the total reward offering and external competition are factors that can adversely affect a candidate’s decision. It was concluded that the hiring company’s brand has a negligible significance while the IT function is fairly or very influential in leading business transformation and driving business strategy, goals and objectives.

About Hays Information Technology:
Hays Information Technology is the UK’s number one recruitment consultancy specialising in IT jobs . Working across a nationwide network of offices Hays Information Technology offers clients and candidates a highly specialised IT recruitment service for permanent and contract positions across all vertical markets, skill sets and levels of seniority.

Hays Information Technology is a subdivision of Hays Plc, the FTSE 250 Company which employs 7,753 staff operating from 376 offices in 25 countries across 17 specialisms including marketing jobs, nursing jobs and legal jobs. Hays Plc placed circa 68,000 candidates into permanent jobs and paid circa 46,000 temporary workers weekly during the year ending June 2007.

UK mobile phone deals

UK mobile phone deals
Finding the latest mobile deals UK can be a daunting and challenging task. The mobile phone market in the UK has reached saturation point, there is no doubt about that and now retailers and the networks are fighting for your business. There are some really great deals on mobile broadband deals at the moment as this market really starts to expand. You can even get a mobile phone free laptop, if you make sure that you shop around and compare some of the higher level monthly mobile phone contracts from UK retailers. Best Mobile Contracts is a website that will do just that for you. With a truly staggering number of mobile phone deals out there, can you afford to be without a mobile phone comparison website?

Getting mobile phones at the right prices
Taking a look at the mobile phone market in the UK, you can tell that retailers are starting to panic. The mobile deals that they are offering to consumers are reducing in price every day. Margins are being squeezed and this can only be a good thing for consumers. Less margin means better deals for you. There is a good website that offers some really great mobile broadband deals from the leading UK retailers. This is an area that is really expanding quickly on the back of reduced prices and some really great free gifts. Why not check them out today? Something else that is also becoming very popular with customers is a mobile phone free laptop. This is where you get a free gift when you take out your mobile phone contract, in this case a new laptop. It seems to make sense to get a free gift when you take out your mobile phone deal, saving you some money.

Want a new mobile? Look no further
Do you want to get your hands on the best mobile deals at the best prices? If you do check out the latest mobile phone comparison website, Best Mobile Contracts. They compare many different mobile phone deals as well as mobile broadband deals. This is a new area for many mobile networks and it seems that it has become much more affordable for many non-business customers to purchase mobile broadband over traditional broadband connections. Of course we expect prices to drop further over the next year and this will make it even more affordable for customers throughout the UK. Another area that is proving to be popular amongst cash strapped consumers are mobile phone free laptop. This is where you get a free laptop when you take out a new mobile phone deal. This represents excellent value for the consumer as they get a free gift as a bonus for taking out a new mobile phone contract.

What can you get with the latest mobile phone deals?
When it comes to the latest mobile deals, you need to make sure that you make the right decision. What constitutes a good value mobile phone deal? That is open to debate, but perhaps one of the first things to decide is whether or not you need any of the extra services like mobile broadband. If you do then you can get yourself a truly fantastic deal, simply by visiting Best Mobile Contracts. This is a price comparison website that compares mobile broadband and mobile phone deals, from a wide spectrum of retailers. One of their specialties is finding mobile phone free laptop

Trident pre-loads Windows free on Avalue SBCs

Trident today announced that it will ship Avalue embedded SBCs with a free fully-working Windows Embedded evaluation image on a Compact Flash card – allowing customers to run Windows 32-bit applications on their hardware right out of the box

Trident today announced that it will ship Avalue embedded SBCs with a free fully-working Windows Embedded evaluation image on a Compact Flash card – allowing customers to run Windows 32-bit applications on their hardware right out of the box.

The offer applies to ten of the most popular Avalue single board computers and industrial panel computers available from Trident. Customers are offered a choice of Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded, Windows CE5.0 and/or Windows CE6.0 as appropriate, depending on the hardware selected. They will be provided with a ‘vanilla’ image of their chosen software on a CF card that will boot without further configuration or set-up. The Windows images supplied are evaluation versions, limited to 120 or 180 days operation depending upon chosen platform, enabling testing of both hardware and software. Customers can then optionally optimise the image provided to meet the exacting needs of their target system and then using Target Designer deploy a fully working Embedded image.

Commenting, Andy Stevens, Trident’s Embedded Systems Senior Product Manager, said, “Supported Avalue embedded SBCs from Trident can now boot right out of the box like desktop machines. All you need to do is plug in, switch on and install your application.” He added, “Microsoft’s embedded operating systems offer huge flexibility for configuration to suit individual applications which remains available to developers exercising the offer.”

Trident is looking at extending the service to appropriate VIA embedded PC boards in the near future.

Trident offers Avalue 3.5″, EPIC, and 5.25″ single board computers based on AMD, VIA or Intel processors, featuring LCD driver onboard, fanless operation available, and USB, Ethernet and parallel connectivity. It also offers fanless PCs, integrated units based on 7″, 12.1″ or 15″ LCD TFT displays, and barebone PCs with a wide range of processors and specifications. The specific products available with a free trial Windows image can be found on the following web page: www.trident-uk.co.uk/windows_image.html

About Trident
Trident is one of Europe’s leading technical franchised distributors of displays, interface kits, single board computers, panel PCs, printers and card readers as well as providing an extensive range of value added services.

The company is part of the Abacus Group and has offices in the UK and across Europe with presence in The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Italy.

Due to their years of expertise and vast product portfolio Trident operate in most markets including industrial, retail, public information, marine, hospitality, transport, multi-media kiosks, EPOS, broadcast, security, defence and medical hardware.

Differentiated by its unrivalled technical expertise across a very broad portfolio, customers are able to consult Trident specialists on the most appropriate solution to meet their particular needs.

For further information visit: www.trident-uk.co.uk

About Abacus Group plc
Abacus Group plc is one of the leading distributors of electronic components in Europe, with directly owned companies having locations in every major European electronics market.
Abacus Group companies are marketed in four groups:

Abacus Electronic Component Distribution (ECD) has a portfolio of over 180 franchises within 12 trading operations providing technical distribution services through locally based sales offices.

Abacus Embedded Systems Group (ESG) covers businesses offering displays and communications expertise, and includes Trident, Axess, TDC and Abacus Embedded.

Abacus Own Brand encompasses Dubilier and Eledis offering competitively priced, quality passives, electro-mechanical components and batteries.

Alpha 3 Manufacturing provides electromechanical sub contract manufacture, under three trading operations: DEM Manufacturing, CTL Manufacturing and CCS Electronics.

Rockford IT launches high tech data centre

Ideally located within the established Networks Operations Centre in Telford, Shropshire, the six figure investment boasts robust security systems, including 24 hour manned security with CCTV, monitored intruder alarms and secure fob access. Not only this, but the data centre is located away from flood plains, and the environment is protected by FM200 Fire Suppression, so customers can be rest assured their data and network are completely secure.

The new data centre specification includes backup generator and APC UPS Redundant Power systems, 2N Air Conditioning systems, FM200 fire suppression as well as diverse fibre entry and multiple carriers.

Tom Sykes, Rockford IT’s Managing Director, comments on the new data centre; “We are extremely pleased with this new development. By having the latest resilient systems and high-speed communications we are able to offer our customers highly secure, reliable managed hosting, enabling them to take full advantage of technology to run their businesses.”

“Our 24 hour technical support and flexible package offerings give us the ability to provide our customers with the high standard of service that they require. This data centre helps us develop on that, ensuring that we maintain the high customer retention that we hold today.”

Rockford IT also became ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certified in January this year, a high security standard that ensures Rockford IT delivers the most effective and up to date security measures to give the utmost protection to its customers’ networks and data.

About Rockford IT

Rockford IT is a well established IT solutions provider within the SME market, with clients ranging from multinationals with over 500 IT users to small companies of fewer than 10 staff. Now with over 10 years experience, Rockford IT has developed from its humble beginnings in Newport and now occupies prestigious premises at Central Park, Telford with a much larger and highly skilled workforce. Rockford IT prides itself on being a competitive and experienced player in the information technology sector, with specialist services ranging from providing secure and cost effective outsourcing facilities, to managed Internet security systems and wide area networks. In addition, it offers complementary services such as domain registration and Anti-Spam / Anti-Virus email scanning, plus data recovery and forensic services through its associate company, IT Group. Its highly qualified and proactive team is on hand to offer support and advice 24/7/365.

Rockford IT is, amongst other accolades, a Microsoft Certified Partner, WatchGuard Professional Partner, and HP Select Partner. In January 2008 Rockford became ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certified; a standard which ensures the utmost protection for its customers’ networks and data. The standard fits well with Rockford’s ISO 9001:2000 certification that has been held for nearly 5 years.

Visit Rockford IT’s website at www.rockford-uk.com.

Worrell Gets Bronze IDEA Design Award for Wiegen Stroller

Designer Dan Clements of Worrell, one of the world’s leading product design and development firms headquartered in Minnesota, received the esteemed Bronze 2008 International Design Excellence Award for his design of the Wiegen stroller. Alongside other international winners such as the Apple iPhone and Dewalt tools, Dan competed globally with thousands of design entries for the award.

He designed the innovative stroller for the trendy parent looking for comfort as well as style. The design has been well received in Europe as well as the US, with consumers ready to buy before the first prototype has even been developed. Worrell’s in house engineering and prototyping division is currently crafting the first version of the Wiegen Stroller which is scheduled to be complete towards the end of September 2008.

It is typical for Worrell and it’s designers to be ahead of the curve when it comes to concepts from everything from transportation to consumer electronics to medical equipment. With most of their products a bit more on the serious side, Dan found it to be an exciting and creative project with lots of fun details.

Please visit our company website at www.worrell.com for more information or feel free to contact Emily Matejcek for photos or additional information on the Wiegen Stroller.

Worrell partners with leaders in corporations and forward thinking entrepreneurs to create value through the power of design. Worrell’s ability to cultivate a cutting-edge team has driven financial victories for a wide variety of clients since 1976.
Press release Submission by PressReleasePoint(http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/)

Contact:
Emily Matejcek
Director of Marketing and Communications
Worrell
1414 Marshall St
Minneapolis, MN
612.638.1926
ematejcek@worrell.com
http://www.worrell.com

Irish Consumers Getting In Line To Go Online This Christmas

A leading Irish ecommerce firm has predicted that the number of consumers shopping online this Christmas could increase by as much as 50% in comparison to the same period last year.

Magico.ie says that although traditional high-street retail activity is suffering a downturn, Internet sales in Ireland are likely to smash all previous records this year as more and more price-conscious and time-poor consumers do their festive shopping online.

The company warned, however, that the Irish retail sector had not fully explored the potential of the online shopping market and was losing out on potential business to competitors throughout the world.

It indicated that many Irish small and medium enterprises needed to adapt to the growing trend among consumers who were opting to order their gifts from the comfort of their own home.

‘There is no doubt that the Internet has transformed the way Irish consumers shop and interact with the companies from which they buy’, commented Mr. Paul McGurran, Director of ecommerce, Magico.ie.

He explained, ‘Consumers, as they become more Internet-savvy, are using the Web to research gift purchases in the lead up to Christmas. Once they have narrowed down their selection many shoppers will actually visit numerous stores based on this research. Therefore, for a certain category of shopper the Internet is the first place they look prior to making a store visit.’

Mr. McGurran added that the increase in online retail activity was stimulated by numerous other factors, including time-poor consumers, greater broadband penetration across Ireland and Irish people living abroad.

‘There is a growing tendency for shoppers to leave Christmas gift buying later into the festive season and due to time pressures many will purchase online. This option gives last minute shoppers a wide selection of possible gifts, often coming with a gift-wrapping service as extra. The online shop also takes on the role of shipping items onwards to the recipient’, said Mr. McGurran.

He continued, ‘Furthermore, many Irish abroad find the Web the obvious place to do their Christmas shopping for family still based in Ireland. This works both ways – some ex-pats will go online and use Irish based online shops to get attractive shipping rates, and conversely some Irish based consumers with family abroad may also send gifts via local online shops to friends overseas.’

The increase in shoppers using the Internet to purchase Christmas gifts is not an Irish phenomenon, with similar trends being experienced throughout much of Europe. Research shows that increasing numbers of people spend more time researching and buying online in the run-up to Christmas in comparison to those who do the same on the high street.

In the UK, the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index claims there was a 65% increase in the numbers shopping online last Christmas compared the 2006 festive season. In recent years, the Royal Mail has had to employ extra staff to cope with the increasing volumes of mail that has arisen as a result of increased online purchases.

Commenting on the wide-ranging benefits for retailers that trade online, Mr. McGurran said, ‘Once a retailer starts trading online they immediately open up their shop to consumers beyond their natural catchment area. We notice that many of Magico’s clients are getting Web orders from London, Berlin, Dublin, Cork and from remote parts of Ireland. Often orders come in from towns and regions where the retailer does not have a physical retail presence.’

He pointed out that companies that had expanded their business into the online market were also experiencing an increased footfall on their premises.

Mr. McGurran stated, ‘Both sides of the business benefit each other because a lot of people browse at home and come in to buy and other people go to the stores and then buy on the Internet. However, many Irish retailers have yet to realise this and are unknowingly denying themselves profits at the most lucrative time of the year.’

‘Irish businesses need to sit up and take notice of the steady growth in retailing via the Internet in the run up to and during the Christmas period. With the much talked of slowdown in the Irish economy and an increasingly price conscious consumer, Irish retailers really have no option but to invest in their own ecommerce and online sales store’, concluded Mr. McGurran.

Magico.ie was established in 1999 and currently employs 13 people at its headquarters in Ennis, County Clare. Its current client base includes Fujipix.ie, The Bag Shop, Smyths Toys, Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute, Evergreen Healthfood, Munster Rugby Supporters Club, Freshways Sandwiches, Sisk Builders and Fitzpatrick Design Hotels.

The Magico.ie team consists of industry experts who have worked on large Irish and overseas ICT projects with partners such as IBM, Microsoft, Tesco.com, Ireland Online, Bank of Ireland Asset Management, and many more.

In 2005, the ecommerce, online sales and marketing firm received the ‘Best Web Design and Development Agency Award’ at the prestigious eircom.net Golden Spider Awards, the Oscars of Ireland’s Internet industry. Since this success, the company has been shortlisted for a Golden Spider award every year, as well as being shortlisted in the Web Development Company of the Year category at the ICT Excellence Awards.

For more log on to www.magico.ie.

Fuentek Sponsors 2008 Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic

Technology Firm Supports The V Foundation For Cancer Research

Laura A. Schoppe, president of Fuentek, LLC (www.fuentek.com), has announced that the firm is a sponsor for the 15th annual Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic to be held August 8-10 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C. Fuentek donated computers to The Classic’s office to help the organization plan not only the 2008 event, but tournaments for years to come. Benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research, The Classic has donated approximately $13 million to support cancer research. For more information about The Classic, visit www.golfclassic.org.

Related Links:
www.fuentek.com
www.golfclassic.org
www.mmimarketing.com

News Facts:

• Laura A. Schoppe, president of Fuentek, LLC (www.fuentek.com), has announced that the firm is a sponsor for the 15th annual Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic to be held August 8-10 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C.
• Fuentek donated computers to The Classic’s office to help the organization plan not only the 2008 event, but tournaments for years to come.
• Benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research, The Classic has donated approximately $13 million to support cancer research.
• For more information about The Classic, visit www.golfclassic.org.

Quotes:
“Cancer is a disease that touches everyone,” said Schoppe. “I am honored to support the 2008 Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic in its fight against cancer.”

About Fuentek, LLC:
Fuentek, LLC is a technology firm that provides intellectual property and technology management services. With a specialization in technology commercialization, Fuentek works with a wide variety of clients to identify promising technologies and assist them in converting their ideas and inventions into marketable products. The firm’s unique combination of technical, business and commercialization expertise has allowed them to help organizations around the world find the technology they need. Fuentek offers training workshops, guidebooks and instructional Web sites to help clients improve their skills in effectively managing their intellectual property. In 2005, DiversityBusiness.com recognized Fuentek as one of the top 50 women-owned businesses in North Carolina. The firm is the largest NASA contractor in North Carolina. For more information, please call (919) 303-5874 or visit their Web site at www.fuentek.com.

About The V Foundation for Cancer Research:
The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $60 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. The Foundation awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Review Committee of top doctors/scientists from across the country. The Foundation operates with a small staff, a nationwide volunteer network and an all-volunteer Board of Directors and Scientific Review Committee, assuring that over the past five years, an average of 83 cents of every dollar raised has been available to fund cancer research. For more information visit The V Foundation for Cancer Research website at www.jimmyv.org.

Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC