NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 6 June
06-06-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
Magnet hires sales support exec | BT Ireland launches SME products website
IBM is to buy US security software firm Watchfire, in a bid to extend its governance and risk management strategy. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will see Watchfire's security and compliance technology integrated into IBM's products. The acquisition is expected to be concluded in the third quarter of 2007. However, IBM is staying tight lipped on the asking price. The two firms already have an existing relationship -- Watchfire is a Ready for IBM Rational software business partner.
Financial crime and compliance software company Norkom Technologies has won the Ireland France Chamber of Commerce Annual Award. The prize will be awarded to the firm on Thursday at the Stephen's Green Hibernian Club in Dublin. The annual award is given by the Chamber of Commerce to a company or organisation which has made what it considers an outstanding contribution towards promoting trade between Ireland and France.
Qualcomm and Sagem Communication have signed a WCDMA subscriber unit license agreement. The terms of the deal gives Sagem a worldwide license to develop, manufacture and sell 3G WCDMA subscriber units at Qualcomm's standard worldwide royalty rates.
Meanwhile, Magnet Business has appointed Sonya Corcoran as its new channel sales support executive. Corcoran has held a variety of roles in IT companies including BT, Client Logic/Gateway and eMachines, including positions in sales, technical support and high level complaints. The new role will see Corcoran taking responsibility for supporting Magnet's channel partners.
BT Ireland has launched a new IT and technology website aimed at SMEs, www.dabs4work.ie. The website will include more than 15,000 products from manufacturers including HP, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba. The site is already doing good business in the UK, dealing with more than 5,000 orders a day. The company has also released research into how IT is handled in Irish SMEs, which found that small businesses could be sacrificing up to 15 percent of the working week due to Information and computer technology issues.
Meanwhile, an SAS study has revealed that organisations with business intelligence competency centres have improved their financial results. The research revealed that a lot of organisations still struggle with how to manage their information assets and use them to drive business performance. The study took in 175 business professionals from organisations of varying size and industries across the globe. Less than a quarter of these said their senior management relied on business intelligence to make decisions, whilst almost 80 percent had not yet fully implemented measures to ensure data quality, integrate required data across the business or create standard data definitions. However, those who had learned to effectively manage their information performed better than their counterparts.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 