Press Releases & News

LONDON, UK — 2 August 2010 — Hitachi Consulting UK today announced that it is helping the United Kingdom Accreditation Service Ltd. (UKAS) to overhaul its current internal system and processes by implementing a new software solution, run on a Microsoft Dynamics® AX platform, to support operational requirements around the accreditation process and specific back-office finance and human resource management functions. ‘Project Evolution’ is expected to help UKAS meet its key objectives to drive greater efficiencies, improving its business processes, to facilitate the company’s delivery of higher quality services to its customers today, and as the business grows.

UKAS is the sole national accreditation body recognised by Government to assess against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators. UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee.

The overall process for the assessment and accreditation of organisations carrying out testing, calibration, inspection, certification, reference material production, proficiency testing and other types of evaluation has been in place for a number of years. During that time, there have been modifications and improvement made to the processes in order to enhance the customer experience and improve operational efficiency. UKAS has identified that investment in its internal systems is required as the company grows and seeks to better serve its customers.

“’Project Evolution’ has been initiated to help enable these process simplifications to be realised and also deliver greater integration of UKAS’s business processes to improve our customer experience,” said Alan Hill, Finance Director, UKAS. “These improvements will be delivered through the implementation of this new ERP system with the help of experienced consultants from Hitachi Consulting UK, who understand not just the Dynamics product, but Best Practice processes to help ensure a successful implementation which is expected to meet our key objectives.”

Following a comprehensive selection process, UKAS chose Microsoft Dynamics AX as its platform and awarded the implementation project to Hitachi Consulting UK. UKAS was impressed by the calibre of the consulting team and one of the main reasons for selecting Hitachi Consulting UK was their ability to quickly understand the company’s complex business requirements and internal infrastructure, providing not just technical competency and experience, but knowledge gleaned from successfully completed client implementations such as the Met Office. The use and articulation of Hitachi Consulting UK’s Dynamics AX Delivery methodology, known as ’Consensus, ‘ helps Hitachi Consulting UK to achieve significantly reduced risk, delivery times and cost.

The business benefits that are expected to be realised from the roll-out of the Microsoft Dynamics solution include:

o Improved responsiveness; faster more efficient audit cycles

o Improved automation; increased efficiency, UKAS resources can be allocated to other key tasks

o A scalable platform for future business growth

o Business efficiency; increased visibility of processes and methodologies

o Improved customer service and quality delivery

Hitachi Consulting’s consultants are currently implementing the solution at UKAS’ headquarters in Feltham, London. Hitachi Consulting will also be providing UKAS with managed services support on completion of the project.

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About Hitachi Consulting Corporation

As Hitachi, Ltd.’s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. With a balanced view of strategy, people, process and technology, we work with companies to understand their unique business needs, and to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.

Hitachi Consulting’s client base includes 25 percent of the Global 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement. For more information visit www.hitachiconsulting.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2009 (ended March 31, 2010) consolidated revenues totaled 8,968 billion yen ($96.4 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About Hitachi Europe Ltd.

Hitachi Europe Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan. Headquartered in Maidenhead, UK, it has operations in 11 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and employs approximately 460 people.

Hitachi Europe comprises of nine business areas: air conditioning and refrigeration systems; digital media and consumer products; display products; industrial components and equipment; manufacturing systems; information systems; power and industrial systems; power devices and procurement and sourcing. Hitachi Europe also has three Research and Development laboratories and a Design Centre. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.hitachi.eu.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Hitachiuk

About UKAS

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national body recognised by government to assess evaluating organisations to international standards. UKAS operates under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and is a non-profit-distributing company limited by guarantee. UKAS accreditation involves assessment and verification (against international standards) of certification, inspection, testing and calibration activities. UKAS employs over 300 assessors and technical experts, and has over 40 years’ experience.

The accreditation process determines, in the public interest, the technical competence and integrity of organisations offering testing, inspection, calibration and certification services (collectively known as evaluation services or conformity assessment services). For more information about UKAS or accreditation, call 020 8917 8400 or visit www.ukas.com

For further information, please contact:

Vanessa Land

Devonshire Marketing

Tel: 0870 242 7469

Email: vanessa[at]devonshiremarketing[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of Hitachi Consulting by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)

July 6 2010 – The itSMF UK is extremely excited to announce that the headline Platinum sponsor for the 2010 itSMF UK Conference will be IT Management experts Pink Elephant. The itSMF event will be held on 8th and 9th November 2010 at the Novotel London West.

“Pink Elephant becoming our Platinum sponsor this year demonstrates both the level of excitement in this year’s event and Pink Elephant’s commitment to IT Service Management (ITSM) globally, particularly here in the UK as the home of ITSM,” commented itSMF UK’s Chief Executive Keith Aldis. “This year’s event is already shaping up to be our best. Not only are we moving it to London for the first time, but coupled with the powerful programme we’ve just released, we really are looking forward to a memorable conference.”

This year sees the event move to the UK capital for the first time and so far the delegate bookings have shown how this move, alongside a high quality programme across the 2 days, has been viewed in the marketplace as bookings for the event are so far well ahead of 2009’s event. The event has been running for 19 years and has long been seen as the best ITSM event in the UK, Europe and across the globe.

“Becoming the Platinum sponsor for this year’s event aligns perfectly with our strategy for growth,” added Pink Elephant UK’s new CEO Marcus Harris. “We’ve long been seen as leaders in ITSM and have worked with itSMF across the world for over 19 years. Becoming the Platinum sponsor is a great way to demonstrate our commitment to the market, our customers, and builds a close relationship with itSMF which is beneficial as we enter this period of rapid business development.”

The itSMF UK Conference and the itSMF generally are dedicated to helping organisations getting the most out of their IT Services. To view the event, please go to the itSMF UK Conference home page: http://www.itsmf.co.uk/Conference-2010/

INFORMATION FOR EDITORS

The itSMF UK

The itSMF® is the only truly independent and internationally-recognised forum for IT Service Management professionals worldwide. This not-for-profit organisation is a prominent player in the on-going development and promotion of IT Service Management “best practice”, standards and qualifications and has been since 1991.

The itSMF provides an accessible network of industry experts, information sources and events to help you and your staff address IT service management issues and help you achieve the delivery of high quality, consistent IT service internally and externally through the adoption of “best practice”.

As businesses depend more and more on technology to promote and deliver their products to market, so the benefits of adopting “best practice” IT Service Management and of becoming part of the IT Service Management Forum become more apparent.

The itSMF UK has over 15,000 members from over 1000 organisations and globally, the itSMF now boasts over 6000 member companies, blue chip and public sector alike, covering in excess of 70,000 individuals spread over 50+ Chapters.

About Pink Elephant

Pink Elephant is the world leader in IT management best practices, offering conferences, education and consulting services to public and private businesses globally, and many listed in the Fortune 500. The Company specialises in improving the quality of IT services through the application of recognised frameworks, including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). For more information, visit www.pinkelephant.com

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Contacts:

Ben Clacy, Head of Business Development, itSMF UK

Tel number  +44(0)118 918 6503

E-mail: ben.clacy[at]itsmf[dot]co.uk

Caroline Wyatt, Head of Service Operations, Pink Elephant EMEA

Tel number + 44(0)118 903 6822

E-mail: c.wyatt[at]pinkelephant[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of Pink Elephant by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)

June 18 2010 – The PDF/A Competence Center is organising its fourth international PDF/A conference this year from September 29th to October 1st, 2010 in Rome. It offers technical presentations by international experts, tracks for various PDF/A topics and areas of interest as well as workshops for practical applications of PDF/A for those new to the subject as well as experienced participants. Users from corporations and public institutions will report their experiences with PDF/A. The conference includes an exhibition at which products for PDF/A conversion and archiving are presented.

The conference fee is € 890 plus VAT, with an early bird rate of € 750 plus VAT available until June 30th. Workshops can be booked separately or together with the conference. Further information and registration is available at www.pdfa.org.

Participants at the 4th International PDF/A Conference can once again expect a multifaceted programme offering insights into many different theoretical and practical aspects of PDF/A. The agenda includes three parallel tracks offering lectures to introduce the concepts of PDF/A as well as presentations of specialist expertise. This year’s keynote speakers are Betsy Fanning, Director of Standards for AIIM, Giovanni Battista Colombo, Vice President of Assografici and President of Gruppo Stampa Digitale, and Stephen Levenson of the U.S. District Courts and head of the ISO PDF/A committee.

“We’ve invited speakers from many countries and expect conference attendees from throughout the world,” said Harald Grumser, CEO of the PDF/A Competence Center. “That means that there will be particularly promising opportunities for networking at an attractive location in the heart of Rome. This historic environment is an appropriate backdrop for our international presentation of long-term archiving with PDF/A.”

Pre-conference workshops offer practical insights.

The first day of the event – Wednesday, September 29th – is dedicated to workshops in which experts will present special topics covering many practical aspects of PDF/A, such as converting scanned or electronically generated documents to PDF/A, handling metadata, and electronic signatures in PDF/A. Participants will benefit from small groups with many opportunities for discussion.

Parallel tracks enable individualised information gathering.

On Thursday, September 30th, conference participants can choose between a presentation track designed for those new to PDF/A, a second track covering legal topics and compliance or a third focusing on access options and metadata. The preceding keynote lectures are by Giovanni Battista Colombo, who will give an introduction to the situation with PDF/A in Italy, and Stephen Levenson, who will speak from the perspective of a user in the US.

The next morning focuses on particular sectors. Track 1 covers the PDF/A requirements for archivists and librarians, Track B discusses the needs of public agencies and Track C explains the use of PDF/A in B2C operations such as banks, insurance companies or telecommunications service providers. Various user reports in the three tracks will provide particular clarity for the possibilities.

Friday afternoon is dedicated to the use of PDF/A in public agencies. One good example will be given by Infocamere, the IT partner of the Italian Chamber of Commerce. The presentation will demonstrate the use of PDF/A for digital transmission of company forms to the Chamber of Commerce. The Italian distributor Technosolutions srl will give a provider’s view of introducing PDF/A for public authorities.

The conference will conclude with a panel discussion moderated by Johannes Hesel and Olaf Druemmer, both management board members of the PDF/A Competence Center.

An exhibition will take place throughout the conference in which members of the PDF/A Competence Center will present their current products and solutions.

About PDF/A

The ISO 19005 standard (PDF/A) defines requirements for creating documents suitable for archiving based on the widely available PDF format. The standard specifies in detail what content is allowed and what is not. These and other specifications are intended to ensure long-term readability of the documents regardless of the application software and operating system in which they were originally produced. The advantages of PDF/A such as full-text search capabilities have led it to already replace TIFF as the preferred archiving format in numerous international governmental organizations as well as in private industries.

About the PDF/A Competence Center

The PDF/A Competence Center was established as an international association in 2006. The objective of the association is to promote the exchange of information and experience in the field of long-term archiving in accordance with ISO 19005 (PDF/A). The management board is composed of executives from callas software GmbH, Compart AG, intarsys consulting GmbH, LuraTech Europe GmbH, PDF Tools AG (CH), PDFlib GmbH and SEAL Systems AG. Within less than three years, more than 100 companies and various experts from about 20 countries have joined the PDF/A Competence Center. The executive chairman is Harald Grumser, CEO of Compart AG, Dr. Hans Baerfuss, CEO of PDF Tools AG, Switzerland, is the executive vice-chairman.

For further information please contact:

PDF/A Competence Center

c/o LuraTech Europe GmbH

Phone: +49 30 394050-0

Fax: +49 30 394050-99

info@pdfa.org

www.pdfa.org

good news! GmbH

Nicole Koerber

Phone: +49 451 88199-12

Fax: +49 451 88199-29

pdfa@goodnews.de

http://www.goodnews.de

Distributed on behalf of good news! by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

LONDON – 24 May 2010 – Hitachi Consulting UK today announced that it has won a contract and commenced work with the Met Office. This undertaking supports the Met Office’s current programme of change to rationalise and improve the cataloguing of products and services offered to Met Office’s customers.

Hitachi Consulting UK will oversee and implement a solution built on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 platform, resulting in an overall centralised system the aim of which is to improve business processes. Once completed, the solution will be utilised by people across the Met Office in an effort to offer customers better service and support the management and the sale of weather-related services and consultancy.

The Met Office is the United Kingdom’s national weather service, and is one of the leading and most highly respected global meteorological weather service providers.

The Met Office is currently undergoing a programme of change to rationalise and improve the cataloguing of products and services offered to customers. To support this process, the Met Office required a technical solution which would help move information from the existing Word templates into a searchable and actionable service catalogue. At the same time, the Met Office identified an opportunity to support sales and enquiry processes in the new centralised solution by replacing the existing application. This new solution provides them the flexibility and functionality to track customer calls and queries, maintain visibility in the process and convert the calls/queries to sales opportunities as appropriate.

“We knew we needed to engage with an external team and after conducting a competitive tender process we believe Hitachi Consulting UK was the right fit for us,” said Claire Ross, Senior Project Manager at the Met Office.

The solution also needed to provide integration to a variety of back office and other systems, including financial, asset management and content management. Hitachi Consulting UK will be implementing Scribe Insight to accelerate this integration, making use of the Dynamics CRM database and Web services adapters to provide the required interfaces.

The project will include design, build, migration, training and transition to Hitachi Consulting Managed Services, providing support for an initial period of three years.

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About Hitachi Consulting Corporation

As Hitachi, Ltd.’s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. With a balanced view of strategy, people, process and technology, we work with companies to understand their unique business needs, and to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.

Hitachi Consulting’s client base includes 25 percent of the Global 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement.

For more information visit www.hitachiconsulting.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2009 (ended March 31, 2010) consolidated revenues totaled 8,968 billion yen ($96.4 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi.com.

** Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Hitachiuk **

For further information, please contact:
Vanessa Land
Devonshire Marketing
Tel: 0870 242 7469
Email: vanessa@devonshiremarketing.com

Distributed on behalf of Devonshire Marketing by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

San Francisco – May 12th, 2010 – Userlytics Corporation today unveils its new remote usability testing service. Userlytics is the first online usability testing service that provides the rapid results, and comprehensive reporting that is required to make important development decisions in today’s exceptionally fast-paced development teams. Userlytics combines the power of online testing with the convenience of an immediately available panel of testers to get the actionable feedback needed to optimize user interfaces.

End users of software have an expanding number of choices, and user experience is an increasingly important factor for developers to understand to maintain competitive advantage. The introduction of Agile development methods has had a disruptive effect on design and usability efforts. Userlytics now provides a way to collect usability feedback at a depth and speed that keeps pace with Agile teams. The solution is fast, flexible and affordable.

Groundbreaking Test Results

No other tool provides the comprehensive results delivered by Userlytics. Completed tests include a webcam video recording of testers while they are working on their assigned task, as well as synchronized audio as they “think aloud” throughout the test. The rich navigational details include captures of their clickflow with detailed screenshots and mouse positioning, as well as time on task metrics. Testers provide specific feedback through our contextual commentary tool which anchors bubble comments to specific page locations. There are also answers to the survey type questions you may have included in your task. These details are compiled and available segmented by tester and task component or aggregated across the test, giving a 360° view of individual tester experience. Results from 5 or more independent testers increases confidence that you have uncovered actionable details, and not simply collected anecdotal information.

“With a tester goal designed to take no more than 10 minutes it is easy to review the results – in fact, it is almost like having them sitting there in your office” states Dan Richards, the Product Development Director of Userlytics. “The reports and recordings are powerful tools to get designers, developers and stakeholders to reach common understanding of user experience issues.”

Userlytics requires no site instrumentation in order to complete a test. In fact, the site or software application does not have to be functional. Userlytics works well for testing posted wireframes or low fidelity prototypes. The service requires a functioning URL, or even a wireframe / low fidelity prototype that can be hosted on our secure servers.”

Full Range of Testing

Userlytics tests are conducted remotely. Prototypes, production web sites, web-based applications and even your competitor’s offerings can all be evaluated. Building a test is a snap, even for clients who have no prior experience with usability testing. Select from a wide range of sample tasks and questions or create your own. The choice is yours.

A best practice of a minimum of 5 testers is implemented by the service, and you can select from our panel of testers, or provide your own. Tests are completed in the testers’ natural environment, at locations across the US and UK. Choosing Userlytics testers allows you to select pertinent demographics ensuring you have the correct mix of responses. However you choose your test participants, the invitations, tester incentives, and quality control are all handled by Userlytics making the process simple, quick and safe.

Initial results are often available within one to two hours, while completed tests are ready in most cases in less than 48 hours. Your personal dashboard can be viewed as the results come in, or you can wait until all the testers have completed their tasks. This quick turnaround enables you to have real user feedback in time to make critical decisions, regardless of development method or time constraints.

Web and software designers, developers and user experience professionals use Userlytics to:

* Answer architecture questions at critical junctures in development
* Validate design decisions with a geographically dispersed set of users
* Conduct RITE testing with a wide variety of users
* Share design feedback with skeptical stakeholders
* Build a case to undertake detailed research for areas of concern

Pricing and Availability

The Userlytics service is available now for English language sites.

Individual tests are available directly through Userlytics.com for $299. Each test includes 5 completed test results which have been validated for video and audio quality. Additional testers are available for $47 per tester.

For usability consultants, online marketing agencies or development/design firms who see the Userlytics platform as a way to complement your own services, expand your geographical reach, or address specific needs we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us.

About Userlytics

Userlytics Corporation has offices in San Francisco, California and Madrid, Spain. Our team shares deep experience in usability research, remote testing and Agile methods. We actively support usability and design organizations such as the UPA and IxDA. Learn more at www.userlytics.com

Userlytics Corporation
April Turner,
Tel: +1 650.483.1554
Email: april[at]userlytics[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of Userlytics by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

May 5 2010 – Siegen, Germany. PoINT Software & Systems GmbH, the software specialist for storage systems, offers with the latest version 3.0 of their established software product “PoINT Publisher NG” an innovative solution by which multiple production systems for CD/DVD and Blu-ray Disc (so-called “autoloaders”) can be controlled centrally in a network. The new load balancing function improves productivity by splitting media production jobs to various systems, thus compensating possible system breakdowns by redundancy.

Autoloaders can burn and label CD/DVD and Blu-ray discs automatically with robotics, multiple recorders and a label printer. The systems are controlled by the “PoINT Publisher NG” software, which is able to run multiple systems simultaneously thanks to the load balancing function.

The former load balancing function for autoloaders directly connected to a server, has been enhanced with the latest version 3.0 for network based production systems and offers new application scenarios for this device class. Highest levels of productivity and reliability are realized this way.

The new load balancing function assigns a media production job automatically to that autoloader which can perform it fastest. A job consisting of a substantial number of media to be produced can also be distributed to multiple autoloaders (“job splitting”) to optimize production time. The “FailOver” function ensures moreover, that a job, which is supposed to be performed by an autoloader currently not available due to a defect, is automatically directed to another device.

Especially customers working with TEAC disc publishing systems as EXPLORER 1 and DiscSprinter profit from the enhanced load balancing function: As the new function was especially created for the TEAC hardware, it supports the specific characteristics of these devices. Petar Stojcevic, Sales & Marketing Manager at TEAC Europe, is particularly happy about this: “We can now meet our customers’ high requirements regarding increased productivity and less downtime even better with the new load balancing functions of PoINT Publisher NG which actually strengthens our enormous competitive advantage. We are very glad that PoINT is a strong partner of ours who implements market requirements precisely”.

Thomas Thalmann, Manager Operations at PoINT, also expects very good new possibilities from the enhanced product functions: “The new load balancing is another decisive factor in the range of functions of our product PoINT Publisher NG. The solution meets business critical requirements customers expect nowadays from professional production solutions.”

PoINT Publisher NG 3.0 supports autoloader models of various manufacturers. A detailed list as well as pricing can be requested at PoINT Software & Systems GmbH.

About PoINT

PoINT Software & Systems GmbH, situated in Siegen, is specialized in the development of software products and systems solutions for storage and management of data using all available mass storage technologies like hard disks, magnetic tapes and optical media. Close collaboration with leading hardware manufacturers enables an early support of new storage technologies. Besides these complete solutions PoINT also offers its know-how as toolkits, which can be easily integrated in other applications by the programming interface. Furthermore PoINT projects entire storage solutions and provides consultancy with its long-term and versatile experience. PoINT products are distributed by about 50 partners in more than 25 countries world-wide and have been installed successfully in more than 2 million installations. The PoINT product portfolio ranges from recording and duplication of CD/DVD and Blu-ray Discs, professional audio- and video recording to business critical network storage solutions.

Your Contact:
Carmen Schneider
Managerin Public Relations
PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
Eiserfelder Str. 316, 57080 Siegen
tel.: +49 271 3841-159
fax: +49 271 3841-151
marcom[at]point[dot]de

http://www.point.de

Nicole Körber
good news! GmbH
Kolberger Str. 36, 23617 Stockelsdorf
tel.: +49 451 88199-12
fax: +49 451 88199-29
nicole[at]goodnews[dot]de

http://www.goodnews.de

Distributed on behalf of good news! by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

May 3 2010 – Linz, Austria. celum GmbH introduces the latest release of its enterprise digital asset management solution celum IMAGINE IV.7. Improved user-friendliness, expanded functionality and mobile access to centrally stored data and media make the new release of celum IMAGINE a powerful digital asset management solution for companies of all sizes.

“We work closely with our customers and partners to ensure that we are able to optimally support ever changing work processes in communication, marketing and sales and reduce external costs. The new release of celum IMAGINE assists companies in automating, accelerating and centrally managing routine and costly processes,” states Michael J. Kräftner, CEO of celum GmbH. “Faster and safer remote access to the central data and media management system, while on the go, offers real value and helps to improve the acceptance of this digital management system.”

Mobile Access to Digital Asset Management

Many marketing and sales professionals use their iPhones to conveniently access company applications when they are out of the office. With this new release, marketing professionals can for example transmit photos and videos from an event directly via their iPhone to the celum IMAGINE solution. If a sales person, for example, wishes to send a product video to a customer, they can access the central data and media manager directly using their iPhone, search for the video and send the link or pin directly to their customer. The file does not first need to be loaded onto their mobile device. Celum IMAGINE automatically ensures that the customer receives the latest version of the file in the requested format. This same functionality is also available for iPad users. Other smartphone operating systems, such as Android and Symbian, will also be supported by celum in the future.

New Functionality from celum IMAGINE IV.7

The optimised user interface of celum IMAGINE is on the one hand simple and intuitive to use for occasional users but on the other hand offers extensive functionality for power users who want to automate complex work processes within their company. The integrated version control ensures that all users are automatically working with the latest files, while still making available older versions. A native interface with Helios image processing ensures professional colour conversion during the download of data.

In more complex work environments, it is possible to individually define user access rights right down to the field level of the metadata. Connections between media elements may be freely defined and this simplifies the integration with any third party software.

celum IMAGINE also performs well as a cloud service because of its native support for Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).

The New celum Product Lines

With its four product lines, celum addresses the requirements of customers ranging from small and mid-sized enterprises up to large corporations.

celum IMAGINE is the comprehensive enterprise digital asset management solution for complex enterprise work processes.

celum MOVIS is a stand-alone system for editing and managing videos and social media elements.

celum DYNAMO is a flexible platform for remote publishing (web-to print) and brand management.

celum SWIFT is the digital asset management for small and mid-sized companies.

The different digital asset management solutions from celum are available for purchase or rental via a licensing model and are offered together with partners as software as a service.

About celum

celum is an Austrian software company that develops enterprise digital asset management solutions. celum products automate and accelerate communication, marketing, and sales processes and thereby reduce costs. The company was founded in 1999 and has been producing standard software solutions since 2004. The company, with headquarters in Linz employs over 55 people and has offices in Vienna, Essen, Paris, Rome and San José. More than 380 customers in 28 countries and over 350.000 users rely upon the celum software to deliver efficiency in digital asset management. celum customer references include CDU, CreditSuisse, Hochtief, L’Oréal, Migros, Universal Music, voestalpine, Volkswagen and Carl Zeiss. For more information about celum, please visit www.celum.com.

Corporate Contact:
Michael J. Kräftner
CEO
celum GmbH
Tel: +43 (0)732 716529 0

http://twitter.com/celum

Media Contact:
Birgit Jordan
Tel: +49 (0)171 221 7975
media[at]celum.com

Distributed on behalf of good news! by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

April 23 2010 – Hospitality Services Plus SA, a fully-owned subsidiary of Swisscom, announced today that it will acquire Wayport Holdings A/S, an AT&T company providing network-based guest services to hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acquisition will strengthen Swisscom Hospitality’s presence in Europe including the Nordic countries, and expand its international footprint to new markets such as Russia and the Middle East.

Wayport Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T*, is specialized in High Speed Internet Access services and end-to-end network solutions for the international hospitality and lodging industries. Wayport Holdings A/S is the European entity of Wayport, Inc. that focuses on the hospitality market in EMEA. The closure of the deal is pending approval by the competent competition authorities.

Wayport Holdings A/S currently provides about 300 partner hotels in 34 countries with Internet guest services and business center solutions. Among its clients are renowned international hotel chains. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wayport Holdings A/S and its subsidiaries are mainly focused on the Nordic countries but also operate across Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, the Middle East and in some African countries. The company’s market presence, client portfolio and product offering perfectly fit to Swisscom’s hospitality branch which already serves more than 1’800 partner hotels in Europe outside of Scandinavia, plus 200 locations in the United States.

“Through this acquisition, Swisscom aims to further consolidate the hospitality technology market and serve more hotels with enterprise-grade ICT solutions”, says Leo Brand, CEO of Swisscom Hospitality Services. “Hotels worldwide still suffer from a highly fragmented market on the supply side. To stay competitive, they need to standardize their applications and technology platforms and make them scalable while satisfying guests’ rapidly evolving communication and entertainment needs. Chains, in particular, are looking for innovative, reliable and financially strong partners that can meet their geographic expansion plans. The acquisition of Wayport Holdings A/S contributes to our global presence and the scaling of our operations.”

Following the closure of the deal, Swisscom will merge Wayport’s EMEA operations with its own and assume all existing contractual obligations. Adds Leo Brand: “Wayport’s EMEA clients are very important for us. We want to offer them a wider range of hotel and guest services such as Internet services, IPTV over Coax, VDSL or Ethernet, bandwidth management solutions and conference services as well as the option to integrate third-party applications into their IP networks.”

“I am happy to see our company joining forces with Swisscom”, says Ib Drachmann-Hansen, Managing Director of Wayport Holdings A/S. “Swisscom’s technology and client relationships are largely complementary to ours. I am convinced that with Swisscom, we can continue creating additional value for hotels and hotel chains across the EMEA region.”

AT&T will continue to own and operate the former Wayport assets in the United States. Since the acquisition of Wayport in December 2008, AT&T has integrated Wayport into its Wi-Fi network. AT&T has the largest Wi-Fi network in the U.S., with more than 20,000 hot spots.

About Swisscom Hospitality Services

Hospitality Services Plus Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd, is a leader in converged technology solutions for the global hospitality industry. The company provides IP-based communication and entertainment solutions designed to meet the unique requirements of the world’s finest hotels. The company has more than 2,000 partner hotels in 19 European countries and the United States. Moreover, it provides customized network solutions at more than 10,000 meetings and events every year.

www.swisscom.com/hospitality 

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Geneva, April 8, 2010

Media contacts: Jane Newick/Barbara Molnar, The Wordbox Group, Tel 01483 562244/07711 611415, jane[at]thewordbox[dot]com, barbara[at]thewordbox[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of The Wordbox Group by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

April 22 2010 – acrolinx today announced the appointment of three new senior appointments to strengthen their global management team. As a reflection of the global nature of the acrolinx customer base, the company has created a new regional structure for its key markets of North America, Europe and Asia, and has been able to recruit a strong regional management team to head these business units.

acrolinx has always been a global company supporting a user base in over 25 countries. As a reflection of the increasing critical mass of customers in North America, Europe and Japan, the company has created three regional business units, and created and strengthened regional management.

Tony Ehrens, formerly General Manager of RedDot in North America, will become VP – Sales to form a new acrolinx North America, Inc. team management structure with Kent Taylor – SVP &GM. Jörg Seeger, formerly EMEA Sales Director for Oracle, has joined acrolinx as General Manager Europe, and Hideo Yanagi, formerly head of the acrolinx practice at Sunflare, has joined acrolinx as Managing Director of the newly formed subsidiary acrolinx K.K., with responsibility for the APAC region.

“It became clear to us last year that our continued strong growth through the economic crisis presented both an opportunity and a challenge;” explained Andrew Bredenkamp, CEO of acrolinx, “we wanted to take the opportunity to go after the huge market we see opening up for our Information Quality technology, and at the same time address the challenge of how to best look after our existing customers around the world. Strengthening the regions will also allow our headquarters in Berlin to focus on continuing to deliver technology which is far ahead of the competition.”

Last year, acrolinx made more than half of its global revenue in North America and is expecting to make 20% of its license revenue in Asia in 2010. The company is also expanding into France and Scandinavia. The establishment of dedicated sales, marketing, support and professional services teams in each of the regions will help acrolinx to better address their specific needs.

About acrolinx

acrolinx is the world’s leading provider of Information Quality Management solutions. More than 60 blue-chip customers worldwide, such as Cisco, IBM, Siemens, Philips, an d Caterpillar, rely on acrolinx in their information development process. The flagship product acrolinx IQ™ has rapidly become the leading quality management solution for high-value content. Its competitive edge is the award-winning linguistic technology. See www.acrolinx.com for more information.

Contact:

Good News! PR
Nicole Goerber
Tel: +49 160 8254495
Email: nicole[at]goodnews[dot]de

Distributed on behalf of acrolinx GmbH by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com

London – 21 April 2010 – Hitachi Consulting UK today announced that Dalkia PLC in the UK has outsourced its core IT services to Hitachi Consulting following the sale of Dalkia’s Technical Facilities Management business unit. The separation of Dalkia’s existing business applications, such as Oracle E-Business Suite, needed to be delivered against aggressive timelines. The initial phase was completed in just nine weeks. Hitachi Consulting UK has since established a new IT infrastructure on behalf of Dalkia in the UK and will provide ongoing, 24×7 support for the new core infrastructure and associated applications.

As one of Europe’s leading energy services company, Dalkia is dedicated to enhancing organisations with services that play a critical role in protecting the environment. The company works closely with customers at more than 70,000 industrial facilities, public and commercial buildings and residential complexes around the world. As an energy partner with more than 80 years energy management experience, Dalkia helps to optimise environmental performance and reduce energy costs. The UK operation is headquartered in Staines, UK.

“Following a strategic review of our UK operations, we sold our Technical Facilities Management business unit,” said David Thompson, CIO of Dalkia PLC. “As part of the agreement, the ownership of the majority of Dalkia’s existing IT applications and technical infrastructure transferred. As a result, we were required to de-merge our existing applications and re-establish a new IT infrastructure. As a long-term services provider of Dalkia, we engaged Hitachi Consulting UK to provide us with the necessary expertise in de-merging our core business applications, in particular the Oracle E-Business Suite, and re-establishing our whole IT infrastructure. Hitachi Consulting has both in-depth technical expertise and a good commercial insight into our business operations.”

Hitachi Consulting UK managed the procurement and build of Dalkia’s new UK core infrastructure, including the provision of hardware, network devices, storage, server virtualization, Linux and Microsoft Windows operating-systems, backup solutions and multi-data centre IT Service Continuity and disaster recovery links. Hitachi Consulting UK will also provide ongoing managed support for all of the IT components.

The support will primarily be provided via remote access from Hitachi Consulting UK offices in Manchester as well as its Support Centre in Pune, India on a 24×7 basis. Final completion for the new IT infrastructure is planned for Q2 2010.

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About Hitachi Consulting Corporation

As Hitachi, Ltd.’s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. With a balanced view of strategy, people, process and technology, we work with companies to understand their unique business needs, and to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.

Hitachi Consulting’s client base includes 25 percent of the Global 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement.

For more information visit www.hitachiconsulting.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 400,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2008 (ended March 31, 2009) consolidated revenues totaled 10,000 billion yen ($102.0 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials, logistics and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi.com

** Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Hitachiuk **

For further information, please contact:

Kim Lynch
Devonshire Marketing
Tel: 0870 7000 166
Email: kim[at]devonshiremarketing[dot]com

Distributed on behalf of Hitachi Consulting UK by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com