Chairman and CEO Scott Davis was joined by members of the UPS Board of Directors and senior executives in launching the trading day on Friday. Davis is the 10th chairman and CEO in UPS's 102-year history but only the third to spend time guiding the affairs of a "public" UPS.

UPS, founded as a Seattle messenger service in 1907 by a 19-year-old named Jim Casey, was owned privately by employees, retirees and various foundations until Nov. 10, 1999. On that day, UPS issued 109.4 million Class B shares representing 10 percent of the company's outstanding shares at an IPO price of $50 per share.

At the time, the $5.47 billion raised on that day was the largest domestic IPO ever. Over the ensuing 10 years, public ownership of UPS has grown from 10 percent of the company's stock to 70 percent.

"The IPO marked another milestone in our 102-year history that allowed us to lever our financial strength to expand our business," said Davis, noting UPS now offers a broad range of logistics, supply chain, freight, customs brokerage, financial and retail services.

"I firmly believe that going public facilitated execution of UPS's strategy to become the leading global transportation solutions provider," he added. "UPS is better positioned today than at any time in its history."

About UPS
Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the Web at UPS.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

— WebWireID107226 —

Bangalore, India - Infosys Technologies (Infosys), a world leader in Consulting and Information Technology Services, today announced that it has teamed up with Oracle through the 'BPO Powered by Oracle program', and is launching a comprehensive managed services platform for multi-function HR through its Infosys Business Platforms offering.

With this launch, Infosys moves into the next generation of multi-process HR transformational outsourcing. This platform is built on state-of-the-art technology and will enable process transformation, while also being cost-effective. This will help companies streamline their HR operations and reduce operational costs. The Infosys Business Platform for HR frees up significant capital expenditure locked into HR technology and process investments, allowing the HR function to be a strategic enabler of an organization's business objectives.

The Infosys Business Platform for HR is built on Oracle's industry-leading PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) Suite and offers the entire 'Hire-to-Retire' processes and operations such as HR Administration, Payroll and Talent Management functions like Recruitment, Performance Management, and Learning Management in a fully hosted and managed environment.

Clients can take advantage of the scalable IT infrastructure to achieve economies of scale, best practices and variable cost models. Offshore teams will provide integrated technology, process and language support from multiple offshore and near-shore delivery centers. The unique shared services business model helps clients realize transformational benefits by unlocking capital expenditure, streamlining business processes and enhancing operational performance metrics.

"We are excited to team up with Oracle and are already seeing early successes of this model in Australia and New Zealand. The launch will also extend to Asia, Europe and the Americas," said Anantha Radhakrishnan, Vice President, Infosys. "This unique bundling of HR technology, application services, HCM process consulting and BPO delivers transformational value using levers such as global sourcing, technology innovation, process optimization, scale and centralization.'

"The combination of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM Suite and Infosys' world-class IT and HR capabilities can help global organizations achieve HR process transformation and cost reduction using a 'pay-as-you-go' variable pricing model," said Tibor Beles, Vice President, Oracle Business Process Outsourcing. "We are impressed with Infosys' execution capabilities as demonstrated by winning their first customers on Infosys Business Platform for HR within the first few months of working together."
About Infosys Technologies Limited

Infosys Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) defines, designs and delivers IT-enabled business solutions that help Global 2000 companies win in a Flat World. These solutions focus on providing strategic differentiation and operational superiority to clients. With Infosys, clients are assured of a transparent business partner, world-class processes, speed of execution and the power to stretch their IT budget by leveraging the Global Delivery Model that Infosys pioneered. Infosys has over 105,000 employees in over 50 offices worldwide. Infosys is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index and The Global Dow. For more information, visit www.infosys.com.
Infosys Safe Harbor

Statements in connection with this release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of US Securities laws intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including those described in our SEC filings available at www.sec.gov Opens in new window including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2009, and our other recent filings, and actual results may differ materially from those projected by forward-looking statements. We may make additional written and oral forward-looking statements but do not undertake, and disclaim any obligation, to update them.
Trademarks

Oracle® is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

— WebWireID107199 —

Dallas, Texas, AT&T* today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:CYCL). The acquisition enhances AT&T's network coverage across the Midwest and Southeast United States and in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The combination of the two companies' wireless networks will allow AT&T to deliver broader wireless coverage, including to approximately 893,000 former Centennial wireless subscribers.1 With the addition of Centennial, AT&T also expands its wired network coverage to Puerto Rico, enhancing service for its business customers with operations there.

'The addition of Centennial will enhance AT&T's assets in wireless — a strategic priority and one of our biggest growth drivers — and service for customers of both companies,' said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. 'We're excited to give Centennial wireless subscribers access to the nation's fastest 3G network plus our premier lineup of smartphones and unmatched portfolio of applications and services.

'We'll also improve network reliability for our wireless subscribers who will be able to make on-network calls in the Centennial footprint,' said de la Vega. 'And as Centennial's broadband network in Puerto Rico is integrated with AT&T's extensive global network and advanced service offerings, we'll offer corporations that operate in Puerto Rico the benefits of end-to-end service over a single network.'

Integration Plans
AT&T plans to integrate Centennial's networks and products with AT&T's networks and product portfolio. The transaction extends AT&T's wireless network coverage in primarily rural areas of Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio and Texas as well as enhances coverage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the mainland U.S., AT&T will move quickly to rebrand Centennial as AT&T and to make AT&T's innovative products and services available to Centennial's customers.2 By late January 2010, AT&T products and services will be available at more than 100 Centennial retail locations. Within the same timeframe, AT&T signage will be installed in all Centennial locations. Former Centennial wireless subscribers may keep their existing rate plans, but they will also have the opportunity to migrate to AT&T rate plans without activation or upgrade fees. Existing AT&T customer contracts will not change.

In Puerto Rico, the Centennial brand will continue through mid-2010. AT&T will honor the current rate plans and contracts of Centennial wireless subscribers. AT&T expects to make the full portfolio of AT&T products and services available in Centennial locations in Puerto Rico in the third quarter of 2010. At that point, Centennial customers will have the opportunity to migrate to AT&T rate plans without activation or upgrade fees. Existing AT&T customer contracts in Puerto Rico will not change.

To provide the best experience possible for Centennial customers who choose to migrate to AT&T service, prior to the transition, AT&T plans to deploy 3G at more than 200 sites in Centennial's markets. This deployment plan includes adding 3G capabilities at more than 100 sites and expanding 3G coverage and capacity at approximately 100 sites.

Centennial customers who choose AT&T plans will enjoy significant benefits as they join the AT&T network. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, with more phones working in more places; more applications running over its network; and access to the nation's fastest 3G network, which will get even faster as AT&T rolls out HSPA 7.2 technology in advance of its deployment of 4G LTE service. And unlike other wireless networks, AT&T's network enables subscribers to talk and e-mail or surf the Web at the same time — one of the reasons, along with the industry's leading lineup of devices, that significantly more smartphone users have chosen AT&T over other wireless carriers. Centennial customers who choose select smartphones and LaptopConnect cards will have access to AT&T's Wi-Fi hot spot network, the largest in the U.S. with more than 20,000 hot spots, at no additional charge. AT&T will also offer Centennial subscribers Rollover® Minutes, a feature exclusive to AT&T, as well as a mobile-to-mobile calling community of nearly 82 million3 members.

Centennial's wired network assets in Puerto Rico will also allow AT&T to better serve business customers with a presence in Puerto Rico.AT&T will continue to provide switched voice, high-capacity data and Internet Protocol solutions for business customers in Puerto Rico. Existing Centennial customers will now have access to new technologies, to AT&T's innovative products and to both wireline and wireless services from AT&T.

Merger Synergies and Financials
The acquisition of Centennial will provide AT&T opportunities for synergies in areas such as corporate functions, advertising, customer care and network operations. AT&T expects upfront integration costs will result in minimal dilution to EPS and cash flow in 2009. As previously announced, Centennial stockholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash. Including net debt, the transaction is valued at $2.7 billion. AT&T will take prompt actions to redeem all of Centennial's outstanding debt under its indentures and credit agreement.

Regulatory Approval Process
AT&T's acquisition of Centennial has been reviewed and approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pursuant to a consent decree, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana have agreed to permit the merger to close.

As a result of the FCC and DOJ review processes, AT&T agreed to divest operations in eight service areas: Alexandria, La., Lafayette, La., LA-3 (DeSoto), LA-5 (Beauregard), LA-6 (Iberville), LA-7 (West Feliciana), MS-8 (Claiborne) and MS-9 (Copiah). Per the terms of a definitive agreement signed in May 2009, AT&T has agreed to divest to Verizon Wireless five of the Centennial service areas covered under the DOJ ruling. These five service areas are Lafayette, La., LA-5 (Beauregard), LA-6 (Iberville), LA-7 (West Feliciana) and MS-8 (Claiborne). AT&T now expects that this transaction will close in the first quarter of 2010, once the companies obtain regulatory approvals. AT&T also has a definitive agreement with Verizon Wireless to acquire wireless properties Verizon Wireless is divesting as a result of its acquisition of Alltel. That transaction is also subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

To secure FCC approval of the transaction, AT&T committed to honor agreements for roaming on Centennial's network. AT&T will honor existing roaming agreements with other carriers for the life of the contract — or, for carriers with fewer than 10 million subscribers, will maintain the roaming agreement for at least four years or the full term of the agreement with Centennial, whichever is longer. AT&T also agreed to certain measures restricting the flow of competitive information between AT&T and América Móvil. AT&T is a minority shareholder in América Móvil, which also provides telecommunications services in Puerto Rico.

— WebWireID107197 —

New York - CashEdge, Inc. (www.cashedge.com), the preeminent provider of financial account aggregation services to brokerages, wealth management firms and financial advisors, today announced that its industry leading aggregation solution, AllData Advisor, is now available to financial advisors via online, self-service subscription.

The availability of the self-service subscription model offers independent financial advisors the opportunity to take advantage of recent enhancements to AllData Advisor, which include new, highly intuitive and customizable features that help advisors provide better advice and capture more assets. Financial advisors can visit www.AllDataAdvisor.com to subscribe to the aggregation service today.

"Account aggregation is a critical tool for today's leading financial advisors, enabling them to provide more targeted guidance, capture held-away assets and improve client satisfaction and retention," said Tom Roberts, Senior VP & General Manager of Wealth Management for CashEdge, Inc. "CashEdge is committed to making account aggregation accessible and affordable for all advisors. By offering AllData Advisor directly to advisors through a simple, cost-effective self-service subscription, all advisors have the opportunity to benefit from a holistic view of their clients assets."

AllData Advisor is currently used by thousands of advisors nationwide and offers the widest and deepest aggregation coverage in the market with more than 10,000 sources, including banking, investment, retirement, insurance, credit card, mortgages and annuities. AllData Advisor also integrates with leading wealth management platforms, such as Albridge, eMoney Advisor and MoneyGuidePro, which enables advisors to fold account aggregation into their current processes and leverage the investments they've already made in various technology solutions.

CashEdge will be hosting an informational webinar titled, "Account Aggregation: the Best Investment an Advisor Can Make," on November 17, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. EST. All financial advisors are invited to attend. To register, please visit www.AllDataAdvisor.com.
About CashEdge Brokerage & Wealth Management Division

CashEdge is the preeminent provider of financial account aggregation services to brokerages, wealth management firms, financial advisors and providers of personal financial management applications. These services are highly secure and provide a holistic view of a client's or consumer's financial picture, delivering aggregated data from more than 10,000 sources, including banking, investment, retirement, insurance, credit card, mortgages and annuities. For more information, visit www.AllDataAdvisor.com. The Company is headquartered in New York with offices in Silicon Valley and India. For more information, visit www.cashedge.com.

— WebWireID107170 —

Completion is conditional upon approval by the relevant authorities and remains expected in the first half of 2010 as previously indicated. The agreement is subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom and the Board of Directors of France Telecom. Timotheus Höttges, CFO of Deutsche Telekom, said: "This joint venture is based on the full commitment of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom to a long term partnership. The negotiations were conducted in a fair way on both sides and I am certain that this spirit of professionalism and partnership will shape the future of our joint venture. It will set new standards as the number one in the UK mobile market."

Gervais Pellissier, deputy CEO in charge of Group Finance & Information Systems, said: "The relative terms of the transaction as announced on 8 September were fully confirmed. I would like to stress the excellent cooperation between the teams of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, which enabled us to deliver on the timing and process objectives which we set out in September. This is an important step towards our objective of establishing an excellent platform to deliver operational synergies and offer innovative and high quality services to our customers."

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the leading integrated telecommunications companies worldwide with approx. 151 million mobile customers, around 39 million fixed network lines and approx. 15 million broadband lines (as of September 30, 2009). The group is present in around 50 countries worldwide with approx. 260,000 employees (as of September 30, 2009). In the first three quarters of 2009 Deutsche Telekom generated more than half of its revenues of EUR 48.4 billion outside of Germany. Major subsidiaries in Europe include the integrated telecoms providers OTE in Greece, Magyar Telekom in Hungary, T-Hrvatski Telekom in Croatia and Slovak Telekom in Slovakia. The group has mobile communications subsidiaries in Germany, the US, the UK, Greece, The Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic , Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, FYROM and Montenegro. Deutsche Telekom operates three product brands: T-Home provides state-of-the-art fixed network infrastructures, fast internet access and innovative multimedia services such as IPTV. T-Mobile, on of the world's leading mobile service companies, provides a comprehensive portfolio of mobile voice and data services in Europe and the US, as well as mobile broadband services. T-Mobile is exclusive partner for the Apple iPHone in Germany, The Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia. In addition, T-Mobile markets the iPhone in a further eight European countries. T-Systems, the business customer operation of Deutsche Telekom, offers integrated ICT solutions to multinational customers. For further information please visit www.telekom.com.

About France Telecom
France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators, had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros in 2008 (25.5 billion euros in the first half of 2009) and, at 30 June 2009, a customer base of 186 million customers in 32 countries. Orange, the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates, now covers 124.5 million customers. At the first half of 2009, the Group had 125.5 million mobile customers and 13.4 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers worldwide. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number two provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies. The Group's strategy, which is characterized by a strong focus on innovation, convergence and effective cost management, aims to establish Orange as an integrated operator and benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. Today the Group remains focused on its core activities as a network operator, while working to develop its position in new growth activities. To meet customer expectations, the Group strives to provide products and services that are simple and user-friendly, while maintaining a sustainable and responsible business model that can be adapted to the requirements of a fast-paced and changing eco-system. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com.

About T-Mobile UK
T-Mobile is one of the world's largest mobile operators with more than 150 million customers worldwide and is the service provider of choice for 16.6 million customers in the UK. T-Mobile offers a range of innovative products and services, such as Solo, the SIM-only plan, Combi, a traditional minutes and text package, and Flext, the UK's first flexible tariff. T-Mobile continues to innovate with new devices such as the UK's first Android™-based smart phone, the T-Mobile G1, and its successor the T-Mobile G2, both with access to more than 1,000 applications. T-Mobile has pioneered the mobile internet, and operates an award-winning 3G network with speeds of up to 4.5Mbps. As a pioneer of deep network sharing in the UK, T-Mobile is continuously improving population coverage for 3G services and will operate the best 3G network by the end of 2010. For more information about T-Mobile UK, please visit www.t-mobile.co.uk.

About Orange UK
In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population. At the end of July 2009, Orange had almost 17 million customers in the UK – 15.9 million active mobile customers and close to one million fixed broadband customers. Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited. For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com For further information, call the Orange press office on 0870 373 1500 or email: Orangepr@golinharris.com or visit www.orange.co.uk/newsroom.

Deutsche Telekom Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the current views of Deutsche Telekom management with respect to future events. Forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates, and projections. They should therefore be considered with caution. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond Deutsche Telekom's control. If these risks and uncertainties materialize, or if the assumptions underlying any of these statements prove incorrect, results may be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Deutsche Telekom can offer no assurance that its expectations or targets will be met. Without prejudice to existing obligations under capital market law, Deutsche Telekom does not assume any responsibility for updating forward-looking statements by taking new information or future events or other matters into account.

France Telecom Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the current views of the management of France Telecom S.A. ('France Telecom') with respect to future events. They include, among others, statements as to market potential, synergies and financial guidance. They are generally identified by the words 'expect,' 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'intend,' 'estimate,' 'aim,' 'goal,' 'plan,' 'will,' 'seek,' 'outlook' or similar expressions and include generally any information that relates to expectations or targets for revenue, EBITDA, earnings, capital expenditures, operating expenses, synergies, profitability or other performance measures, as well as personnel related measures and reductions. Forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections. You should consider them with caution. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond France Telecom's control, including those described in the sections 'Forward-Looking Statements' and 'Risk Factors' of France Telecom's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and France Telecom's Document de Référence filed with the French Autorité des marchés financiers. Among the relevant risk factors are the progress of any regulatory approvals, restructuring of operations, and impact of other significant strategic or business initiatives, including network and IT rationalization, distribution streamlining and other cost-saving initiatives. In addition, regulatory rulings, stronger than expected competition, technological change, litigation and supervisory developments, among other factors, may have a material adverse effect on costs and revenue development. Further, changes in general economic and business conditions, including the significant economic decline currently underway, in the markets in which France Telecom and the proposed new joint venture operate and ongoing instability and volatility in worldwide financial markets; changes in exchange and interest rates, may also have an impact on our business development and availability of capital under favorable conditions. If these or other risks and uncertainties materialize, or if the assumptions underlying any of these statements prove incorrect, France Telecom's actual results, and the actual results of the proposed new joint venture, may be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. France Telecom cannot offer any assurance that its expectations or targets will be achieved. France Telecom does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements to take new information or future events into account or otherwise. France Telecom does not reconcile EBITDA guidance to a GAAP measure because it would require unreasonable effort to do so. As a general matter, France Telecom does not predict the net effect of future special factors because of their uncertainty. Special factors and interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (including impairment losses) can be significant to France Telecom's results. In addition to figures prepared in accordance with IFRS, France Telecom presents non-GAAP financial performance measures, including, among others, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EBIT, adjusted net income, free cash flow, gross debt and net debt. These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Non-GAAP financial performance measures are not subject to IFRS or any other generally accepted accounting principles. Other companies may define these terms in different ways. For further information relevant to the interpretation of these terms, please refer to France Telecom's Investor Relations webpage at www.francetelecom.com.

— WebWireID107164 —

Google Commerce Search brings retailers:

* Ultra-fast speed and accuracy, by leveraging Google's platform to provide sub-second response time to customer queries. Commerce Search also uses proprietary ranking technology to analyze the products in each data feed and serve the most relevant match. High quality, lightening-fast search increases conversions, as customers can quickly find specific products without having to navigate complex hierarchies on a website.

* E-commerce-specific search features, like parametric search, sorting, spell checker, stemming, and synonym suggestions. These features allow users to easily refine their searches. Retail-specific features like product promotions and product boost allow administrators to fine-tune their marketing approach in real-time and maximize conversions. The rich Commerce Search API also allows retailers to fully customize the search experience on their website.

* Deployment and scaling ease, because Commerce Search is hosted by Google and fully based in the cloud. Retailers can implement the tool very quickly and don't need to worry about maintenance. Using the hosted Google platform also allows retailers to scale without concern for seasonal peaks or valleys.

* Integration with Google tools, like Google Analytics™ and Google Product Search™. Retailers can measure changing conversion rates through Commerce Search integration with Google Analytics on their website. E-commerce vendors benefit from providing a single feed of their catalog items to power Google Commerce Search for their website store and for indexing on Google Product Search. This helps retailers reduce costs and increase consistency across their inventory.

"We're excited to bring Google Commerce Search to market in time for the holidays," said Dave Girouard, president, Google Enterprise. "To date the technology powering retail website stores has not kept pace with innovation in search. Google Commerce Search will help customers find accurate results extremely fast, to the benefit of retailers and customers alike.'"

Birkenstock USA has implemented Google Commerce Search on one of their online properties and found it made an immediate impact on their business.

"'Google Commerce Search is improving user satisfaction -- bounce rates have decreased and we're seeing more return customers,' said Jeff Kilmer, COO, Birkenstock USA. 'The search results are ultra-fast, so customers more easily find the specific products they're looking for. We deployed Google Commerce Search quickly and easily, and we've seen dramatic conversion improvement since implementation. It has also meant a better shopping experience for our customers, which is critical given the holiday season rush."

Better searching means better conversions and a better online shopping experience. Learn more about Google Commerce Search at www.google.com/commercesearch.

— WebWireID107163 —

Under the Elevator Safety Standards, Chapter 399 Florida Statutes, the most common elevator safety violations in layman's terms have to do with:

1. Car Door Restrictors that prevent the doors from opening unless they are within four inches of a floor level. Elevators without the door restrictors can open between floors and passengers are at risk of a fatal fall into the hatch.

2. Two-way, 24-hour Emergency Communication so at the touch of a button, an answering service picks up and hears a recording, which automatically indicates the location of the elevator where a passenger needs assistance. This is especially important for the hearing and/or speech impaired or in situations where there is a language barrier.

3. Electric-eye, Door Re-opening Device that protects passengers from getting hit by closing elevator doors. If any object is between the doors, they will re-open without contact on that object or person.

4. Emergency Lighting that prevents passengers from getting left in the dark. It operates the lighting and the emergency alarm bell with a back-up battery pack. The light shines over the car station button panel, phone and alarm bell.

5. Floor Numbers with Brail that are displayed on each floor on the outside of the doors on both sides.

6. 'In Case of Fire Do Not Use Elevator' Signs posted on the outside of the elevator doors on every floor.

7. Door Fire Tabs that prevent doors from popping out of the door tracks as the elevator travels. Without door tabs, doors could swing into the hatch causing injury to passengers and extensive damage to the elevator.

Any person not complying with these elevator safety requirements may be subject to fines of $1,000 per violation, in addition to any other liability to the passengers. 'I can guarantee that persons not complying with these safety codes will receive a violation notice and have to pay penalties. Inspectors are looking for these safety features, especially on older elevators,' states Renick, a 35-year elevator veteran. 'It is easier, more cost-efficient and less liability to comply, especially when Eagle Elevator offers a safety package for all these items starting at $3,000.'

Eagle Elevator has a full staff of experienced administrative and industry professionals in order to offer consumers the best products and service at prices 20 percent less than the major competitors. Eagle Elevator has extensive commercial and residential experience for: 1. New Installations / Renovations for all Makes and Models (Passenger / Freight, Remodels / Hydraulic Cylinders); 2. Refittings; 3. Maintenance / Repairs (Same Day Response, Service Agreements with 30-day cancellation notice); 4. Annual and Full-load Testing; and 5. Professional Consultation via a FREE survey. Eagle Elevator is a DBE-, SBE- and WBE-certified company.

For more information on elevator safety code violations and how to stay compliant, contact Eagle Elevator at (954) 351-0440 or http://www.eagleelevator.us.

— WebWireID107106 —

Cannes, France - As organisations begin to prepare for a return to business growth, many are finding themselves at a major crossroads at which they must decide whether to remain on their longstanding current path of performing IT activities or to go in a different direction, according to Gartner, Inc. Organisations that opt for the latter will have an opportunity to challenge all activities as they currently exist, choosing where to stay the course and where a different course of action makes sense.

'We are now within one of the rarest and most fleeting periods in business: nearing the bottom of a recession and before a return to growth,' said Ken McGee, vice president and Gartner fellow. 'We urge organisations to exploit this unusual opportunity to question the efficacy of their IT business practices and determine whether those practices warrant change. But they need to act now, by the time business growth returns, they will be far too busy, and it will simply be too late to change.'

Mr McGee presents his outlook for business and IT leaders to prepare for a return to business growth during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2009, being held here through 5 November. He reveals 11 IT-based activities that are prime candidates for organisations to review for potential overhaul and advises organisations to consider the extreme approach to each activity, then consider the less extreme options, before finally deciding how to proceed. These recommendations are based on the results of various research findings from hundreds of client interactions.

Decision 1 - How to Modernise IT Infrastructure vis-ŕ-vis Cloud Computing?
Extreme recommendation: Fund infrastructure modernisation only after you decide upon a cloud computing strategy.
Gartner said that by explaining today's request for infrastructure and operations (I&O) modernisation funding within the context of cloud computing in the future, executives are less likely to feel that they are paying twice for modernisation when cloud computing is officially adopted.

Decision 2 – How to Significantly Improve Budgeting?
Extreme recommendation: Replace existing budget methodologies with zero-based budgeting principles where every project request cites: (1) project name; (2) business unit executive; (3) one-time project implementation cost (operating and capital expenditures); (4) recurring annual cost and (5) business executive's signature.

Decision 3 – How to Become the CEO of IT?
Extreme recommendation: Hire an IT CFO, formally teach contract negotiation techniques and establish signing and agency authority list for vendors.
For decades, organisations have empowered IT associates to negotiate multimillion-dollar hardware, software and service contracts, even though those associates have never been formally trained in doing so. Gartner has long recommended the hiring of an IT CFO, as well as better training for IT associates involved in contract negotiation and tighter controls to limit unauthorised purchases.

Decision 4 – What IT Information Should You Disclose to Executives?
Extreme recommendation: Implement the procurement department and accounting department challenges immediately.
Those presenting contracts to executives for signing need to ensure that they are being transparent and clear. For example, they should have no qualms about including the following disclaimer on contracts presented for executive sign-off: "Before you sign, please note: The prices, terms and conditions in this contract are not the result of a competitive bidding process." The executive being asked to sign the contract will then be in a position to decide whether to put his or her name on it, equipped with the knowledge that it has not undergone the rigour of a competitive bidding process, or a comparison of prices prevailing in the marketplace.

Decision 5 – When Should IT Practitioners Leave the IT Organisation?
Extreme recommendation: Announce when key IT staffers with CIO aspirations will leave IT.
Gartner research has found that new CIOs for global 2000 companies must have served as managers or executives of departments or divisions other than IT. IT managers must decide when to encourage aspiring CIOs to leave IT to foster the pursuit of career goals in the wider organisation.

Decision 6 – Should You Support Cost Savings or Business Growth?
Extreme recommendation: Resolve how to simultaneously support cost-cutting efforts and business expansion.
As globalisation levels continue to grow, solving how to simultaneously support positive and negative growth will become one of the most complex never ending IT organisational challenges of the next decade.

Decision 7 – Current CIOs - Which IT Organisation Structures Work Best?
Extreme recommendation: End Tier one, two and three (T-1-2-3) support modules.
Unless abandoned, T-1-2-3 structures will continue to undermine the success of delivering new projects by interrupting developers to solve outages occurring in deployed systems. Instead the automotive industry model should be considered whereby once a product is built by the 'factory', a separate group of people becomes responsible for maintenance.

Decision 8 – Should New CIOs Abandon Legacy IT Organisational Structures?
Extreme recommendation: Divest IT operations from IT.
CEOs want to employ new CIOs with extensive business and management backgrounds to help IT keep pace with the business. Before IT project workloads increase as business growth returns, new CIOs should decide whether traditional IT organisational structures can best exploit their business acumen.

Decision 9 – What Type of IT Innovation Will You Lead?
Extreme recommendation: Finalise what type of innovators your IT groups will be.
Leaders need to decide whether they want their IT people to be empowered to be able to unilaterally identify and recommend a business issue, and deliver an innovative IT solution to solve it.

Decision 10 – Where Should You Prioritise Your IT Group's New Innovation Goals?
Extreme recommendation: Inform executives where you will direct your IT group's innovation efforts.
CIOs wishing to target a vastly new and favourable impact on business during this period of preparing to return to growth should direct most new funding to the business cycle phases where IT has been and continues to be most silent.

Decision 11 – Can You Solve One Enterprise Information/IT 'Grand Challenge' by 2013?
Extreme recommendation: Resolve just one enterprise information/IT 'grand challenge'.
Gartner recommends that organisations direct R&D funding toward specifically improving or solving just one of the enterprise's 'grand challenges' in order to make maximum impact.

Follow Gartner
Follow news, photos and video coming from Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/Gartner?ref=ts. FriendFeed at http://friendfeed.com/rooms/gartner, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc using #Gartnersymp, on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27772229@N07/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/gartnervideo.

About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

— WebWireID107018 —

Logue will succeed Douglas G. Duncan, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Freight Corp., who is retiring effective Feb. 28, 2010. To facilitate a smooth transition, Logue will serve as president of FedEx Freight beginning December 1, 2009, and will assume the CEO role upon Duncan's retirement. A seasoned leader, Logue joined FedEx Express in 1989 through the Flying Tiger acquisition. In his current role at FedEx Express, Logue serves as executive vice president, chief operating officer, FedEx Express-United States, where he is responsible for FedEx Express Air Operations, Air Ground and Freight Services, Central Support Services and Domestic Ground Operations Divisions.

In his new position, Logue will be responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of the FedEx Freight Segment, which includes FedEx Freight, FedEx National LTL and FedEx Custom Critical.

"Bill's demonstrated ability to lead complex organizations and his in-depth transport operations experience make him an excellent choice as the new president and CEO of the FedEx Freight Segment," said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corp. "I want to recognize Doug Duncan for his many contributions in helping FedEx build our excellent LTL services. These capabilities have strengthened the FedEx portfolio and I am confident that Bill's leadership will further enhance our performance in this key market."

About FedEx Freight

Within FedEx Corp., the FedEx Freight Segment had annual revenues of $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2009. With corporate offices in Memphis, Tenn., the Segment includes FedEx Freight, a leading U.S. provider of regional LTL freight services; FedEx National LTL, a leading U.S. provider of long-haul LTL services; FedEx Freight Canada, an LTL operating company serving most points in Canada; and FedEx Custom Critical, North America's largest time-specific, critical shipment carrier. For more information, visit the FedEx web site, www.fedex.com.

About FedEx

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $34 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 275,000 team members to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit news.fedex.com.

— WebWireID106958 —

One such business owner recently told the Financial Mail that after registering his company for VAT in April 2009 he was informed that there would be a six week wait due to a processing backlog. Despite chasing up the application on numerous occasions, he did not receive his registration until last week – almost 5 months later.

Kevin Kinsella of Kinsella Tax Investigations, one of the UK's foremost HMRC tax investigation specialists, notes that, 'If the HMRC are leaving our clients waiting for 3-5 months, this could cause a great deal of aggravation later on.'

'It used to be satisfactory to issue a VAT invoice with the words 'VAT applied for' but that is not really a VAT invoice, which again could cause problems if there was an investigation by HMRC.'

Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young have also warned that if firms have to wait for VAT registration numbers, their ability to trade can be harshly restricted; not good news during a financial downturn.

A source at UHY Hacker Young said 'The backlog at Revenue and Customs has never been worse, despite assurances over the past few years that the issue was being resolved. These delays are causing serious problems for small business trying to set up in a tough environment and are hampering wider economic recovery.'

A spokesman for HMRC denied there were extensive problems, still stating that, on average, it takes just two weeks to process a VAT application. However, he did admit that HMRC was taking an observant approach to applications in the light of an increased number of fraudulent applications in recent years.

Kinsella Tax Limited has over 120 years' experience of the tax investigation industry and operates nationwide. For more information, visit their website at: http://www.kinsellatax.co.uk/.

— WebWireID106945 —

The new, state-of-the-art workshop provides qualified in-situ capacity and field support and offers a wide range of service functions, including propulsion system repairs, engine component overhaul work and other services. Initially, the facility will be served by 12 highly trained personnel, and additional field-service engineers will be recruited during the coming months.

Wärtsilä currently serves the area from Wärtsilä Sweden's main facilities in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden, and since 2006 also from a smaller workshop in Sundbyberg close to Stockholm. Wärtsilä currently employs over 300 people in Sweden.

Mr Bo Dahlén, President & General Manager Services, Wärtsilä in Sweden, says: 'Through investing in this workshop we want to ensure the best support for our customers. We have seen an increase in the number of requests for our services on the east coast, and our facilites in Sundbyberg have become too limited to allow us to adequately support these needs. Our marine customers will now have better options for service in the Stockholm area, which might lead to more companies establishing in the region'.

Wärtsilä's investment in the 700m2 service centre at Beckholmen is based upon the notable increase in shipping traffic along Sweden's east coast. Several large shipping companies are already operating services from Stockholm, while more and more cruise and ferry vessels are visiting the Swedish capital. The new freight terminal close to Södertälje is also attracting an increase in containership tonnage to the area. The potential for marine services in the area is, therefore, significant.

Pictures from the inauguration will be available at www.wartsila.com

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.

In 2008, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with 19,000 employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com

— WebWireID106943 —

SAN JOSE, California - Cisco and EMC, together with VMware, today introduced the Virtual Computing Environment coalition, an unprecedented collaboration of three information technology (IT) industry leaders. The coalition has been created to accelerate customers' ability to increase business agility through greater IT infrastructure flexibility, and lower IT, energy and real estate costs through pervasive data center virtualization and a transition to private cloud infrastructures.

Cisco, EMC and VMware have worked closely over the past year on a shared vision for the future of enterprise IT infrastructure – private cloud computing. A private cloud is a virtual IT infrastructure that is securely controlled and operated solely for one organization. It can be managed either by that organization or a third party, and it can exist on or off premises or in combination. Private cloud computing offers the controls and security of today's data center with the agility required for business innovation at substantially lower costs.

Worldwide spending on data center technology infrastructure and services exceeds $350 billion1 annually, according to McKinsey and Company estimates, with half of that spent on capital expenses (products) and half on operating expenses (services and labor). Further, an estimated 70 percent2 or more of those costs are expended to maintain existing infrastructures, leaving 30 percent or less for new technology initiatives and applications that can provide breakthrough differentiation for businesses. It is also estimated that approximately $85 billion3, or 20% of this total market, can be addressed with data center virtualization and private cloud technology by 2015.

The Virtual Computing Environment coalition offers organizations of all sizes an accelerated approach to data center transformation with dramatic efficiencies that promise significant reductions in both capital and operating expenses. As a result, organizations will no longer have to choose between best-of-breed technologies and end-to-end vendor accountability.

With the introduction of Vblock TM Infrastructure Packages, the Virtual Computing Environment coalition will provide customers with a fundamentally better approach to streamlining and optimizing IT strategies around private clouds. Vblock Infrastructure Packages are fully integrated, tested, validated, and ready-to-go/ready-to-grow infrastructure packages that combine best-in-class virtualization, networking, computing, storage, security, and management technologies from Cisco, EMC and VMware with end-to-end vendor accountability.

The coalition will scale customer adoption of Vblock systems by enabling a global community of systems integrators, service providers, channel partners, and independent software vendors (ISVs). The coalition has also established unified presales, professional services and support capabilities to simplify customer engagement.

In unveiling the Virtual Computing Environment coalition, Cisco and EMC also introduced Acadia, a joint venture focused on accelerating customer build-outs of private cloud infrastructures through an end-to-end enablement of service providers and large enterprise customers. Acadia's unique 'build, operate, transfer' model for delivering the Vblock architecture, addressing people, process and technology, will offer customers further choice, flexibility and cost advantages as they seek to virtualize their IT infrastructures and evolve to private cloud environments. In addition to Cisco and EMC as the lead investors, the build-out of Acadia's expanded capabilities in 2010 has also been capitalized by investments from VMware and Intel. Because the Vblock architecture relies heavily on Intel Xeon® processors and other Intel data center technology, Intel will join the Acadia effort as a minority investor to facilitate and accelerate customer adoption of the latest Intel technology for servers, storage, and networking.

ANNOUNCEMENT DETAILS:

1. First Offering: Vblock Infrastructure Packages

* The Virtual Computing Environment coalition today introduced Vblock Infrastructure Packages to accelerate the virtualization of IT infrastructures by minimizing risk, complexity and time to benefit.
* Vblock Infrastructure Packages are validated platforms of engineered, integrated IT infrastructure from Cisco, EMC and VMware, that deliver a breakthrough total cost of ownership and pervasive virtualization at a scale to meet today's most demanding use cases.
* Vblock Infrastructure Packages can be easily scaled with additional compute and storage capability after purchase, a key differentiator versus today's monolithic IT systems.
* Vblock Infrastructure Packages can be extended by complementary systems integrators, service providers, channel partners, and ISVs.
* Early customer trials of Vblock Infrastructure Packages have delivered up to 40 percent reductions in the cost of operating and managing virtualized data center infrastructures.
* The following family of Vblock Infrastructure Packages is being offered by the Virtual Computing Environment coalition:
o Vblock 2 is a high-end configuration supporting up to 3,000-6,000 virtual machines that is completely extensible to meet the most demanding IT needs of large enterprises and service providers. Designed for large-scale and 'green field' virtualization, Vblock 2 takes advantage of Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS), Nexus 1000v and Multilayer Directional Switches (MDS), EMC's Symmetrix V-Max storage (secured by RSA), and the VMware vSphere platform.
o Vblock 1 is a mid-sized configuration supporting 800 up to 3,000 virtual machines to deliver a broad range of IT capabilities to organizations of all sizes. Designed for consolidation and optimization initiatives, Vblock 1 is comprised of a repeatable model leveraging Cisco's UCS, Nexus 1000v and MDS, EMC's CLARiiON storage (secured by RSA), and the VMware vSphere platform.
o Vblock 0 will be an entry-level configuration available in 2010, supporting 300 up to 800 virtual machines, for the first time bringing the benefits of private clouds within reach of medium-sized businesses, small data centers or organizations, and for test and development by channel partners, systems integrators, service providers, ISVs, and customers. Vblock 0 is also comprised of a repeatable model leveraging Cisco's UCS and Nexus 1000v, EMC's Unified Storage (secured by RSA), and the VMware vSphere platform.

Also today, EMC is introducing IonixTM Unified Infrastructure Manager as an integrated, unified element manager for Vblock. Unified management is a central factor in helping customers reduce operating expenses. As an element manager, Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager is designed to support a wide range of enterprise management consoles.

A comprehensive security framework based on EMC RSA security products, including RSA enVision, has been validated with Vblock Infrastructure Packages. RSA security solutions are layered onto the Vblock architecture to deliver security policy management and security at three levels: identity, information and infrastructure. Vblock is designed to extend a customer's existing enterprise security controls to the virtual infrastructure and does not require the customer to replace security software already in place.

* Further Vblock Infrastructure Packages will be developed to serve business needs across three categories: shared services, applications and vertical industry solutions. For example, the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure on Vblock solutions will enhance the provisioning, scale-out and back-end management of enterprise applications and users. To help ensure solutions are de-risked and highly secure, Vblocks will be ISO 27001 compliant.
* Vblock Infrastructure Packages are scheduled to be available this quarter direct from authorized systems integrators and channel partners. EMC, Cisco and VMware components can be purchased directly from the respective companies or their authorized partners.

2. Integrated Presales, Professional Services and Support

The Virtual Computing Environment coalition has committed to unify customer engagement with investments spanning dedicated pre-sales, professional services and single support experience to provide a seamless, end-to-end customer and partner experience.

* The Virtual Computing Environment coalition Solution Support Team is a cross-company presales team, fully trained in all elements of Vblock architecture and go-to-market resources to work with customers and partners and to facilitate engagements.
* Virtual Computing Environment coalition professional services, jointly developed and delivered, will help customers to understand how to maximize value and speed time to solution. These offers include: the Cloud-based Business Advisory Service, Private Cloud Strategic Impact Advisory Service, Private Cloud Architecture Impact Advisory Service, Virtual Desktop Advisory Service, Cloud Computing Strategy Service, and Vblock Design and Implementation Service.
* Virtual Computing Environment seamless support offers customers unmatched technical support and rapid problem resolution for virtualization and private cloud solutions. The coalition companies will leverage in-depth cross training and investments in joint problem re-creation labs as well as integrated processes and best practices with a single point of accountability.

3. Acadia Solutions Joint Venture and Investment

The Virtual Computing Environment coalition today also introduced Acadia — a Cisco and EMC solutions joint venture to build, operate, and transfer Vblock infrastructure to organizations that want to accelerate their journey to pervasive virtualization and private cloud computing while reducing their operating expenses. Acadia expects to begin customer operations in the first calendar quarter of calendar year 2010.

* Founded on a Vblock architecture that incorporates Cisco, EMC and VMware technologies, Acadia will train and help customers and an ecosystem of service providers and other partners to build, operate and transfer Vblock Infrastructure Packages to customers or their partner of choice.
* In addition to Cisco and EMC as the majority investors, the build-out of Acadia's global capabilities in 2010 also has been capitalized by investments from VMware and Intel.

'We have been pleased to contribute industry leading data center building blocks to server and storage solutions from EMC and Cisco. We look forward to extending these relationships by supporting their Virtual Computing Environment coalition in a similar fashion,' said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and General Manager of Intel's Data Center Group. 'Our investment in Acadia will provide a deployment option for customers looking to take advantage of Intel's latest data center innovations.'

4. Vblock Partner Ecosystem

The Virtual Computing Environment coalition has established a robust set of partners committed to the coalition. This includes representation from the entire partner ecosystem, including systems integrators, value added resellers, service providers, and independent software vendors. There are six system integrators at launch: Accenture, Capgemini, CSC, Lockheed Martin, Tata Consulting Services, and Wipro.

* The entire community of partners will augment, sell and deliver Vblock solutions to accelerate the journey to pervasive virtualization and private cloud for organizations of all sizes.
* The Vblock partner ecosystem will offer systems integrators and channel partners a business and technical solution on-ramp to private cloud infrastructures. Click here (Insert hyperlink) to read commentary from systems integrators and channel partners participating in this ecosystem.
* Vblock Infrastructure Packages support a broad range of operating systems and applications, enabling partners and customers to rapidly migrate existing applications to Vblock, accelerating broad-scale virtualization and time to results.

Read perspectives from Vblock Partner Ecosystem members here: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_110309.html

'Today's announcement addresses our customers' greatest challenges and opportunities in the data center.' said John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco. 'This coalition is about more than technology and partnership. It is about an entirely new and unique approach to the data center that improves utilization, power consumption and security of information, all in a way that lowers the total cost to the customer, not via a box, but with a network-based architectural approach for optimizing virtual resources.'

Joseph Tucci, EMC chairman and CEO, said 'Cisco and EMC, together with VMware, are coming together in an unprecedented way to help our customers. They need to be able to shift more of their IT budgets to the development and rapid implementation of new technologies that help their organizations create differentiated business advantages. Many of them understand the vast potential of the private cloud. With shared roadmaps and a long-term commitment, the Virtual Computing Environment coalition will bring true accountability, along with the best-of-breed technologies our respective customers have come to expect, to help enable their success.'

'Customers are increasingly looking to virtualization to dramatically improve the performance and flexibility of their existing IT systems,' said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware. 'Today's announcement provides a compelling vision and set of roadmaps valuable to any company looking to harness cloud computing in a fundamentally more pragmatic and nondisruptive way.'

Watch John Chambers, Joe Tucci and Paul Maritz discuss the Virtual Computing Environment coalition here.

Customer Quote
'Purdue is a research university and the majority of our IT needs are spent on high-performance computing, which requires strong computing, massive amounts of storage, and high-speed networking fabric,' said Steven Tally, CTO of Purdue University. 'The Vblock solution offers these elements in a single pre-tested, pre-integrated solution which will be easier to deploy. VMware, Cisco, and EMC are ideal partners to respond to this problem because they offer complementary tool sets and have a history of delivering good products in the market space. When these solutions are tied together in a coherent and systematic way, it is very good news for an environment like Purdue.'

Watch Purdue's Steven Tally discuss the Virtual Computing Environment Coalition here: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/videos/purdue_110209.html

News Webcast

John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco, Joe Tucci, chairman, president and CEO of EMC Corp, and Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware will discuss the new Virtual Computing Environment coalition and how it will help organizations simplify and accelerate pervasive virtualization and the transition to private cloud infrastructures.

When: Nov. 3, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. PST/ 11.30 a.m. EST
Where: http://event.ciscowebseminars.com/clients/cisco/coalition

Twitter

EMC and Cisco will be taking questions from the Twitter community.
Please submit questions to @CiscoSystems ((hyperlink to www.twitter.com/ciscosystems)) or @EMCCorp. ((hyperlink to www.twitter.com/emccorp))

Additional Resources

Cisco
Landing page www.cisco.com/govce
Learn more about the Cisco Unified Computing System
Learn more about Cisco Data Center Services
Read "Cisco Data Center" blog
Follow Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior on Twitter.
Follow the Cisco Data Center team on Twitter.

EMC
Launch landing page www.emc.com/powerof3
Twitter www.twitter.com/emccorp
Facebook www.facebook.com/emccorp
YouTube www.youtube.com/user/emccorp
Chuck Hollis's Blog www.chucksblog.emc.com
IT Management 2.0 Blog www.itmanagement2.com
Chad Sakac's Blog www.virtualgeek.typepad.com

VMware
Launch landing page(s) = www.vmware.com/cisco and www.vmware.com/emc
Twitter = http://www.twitter.com/vmware
Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/pages/VMware/6975960973
YouTube = http://www.youtube.com/vmwaretv
VMware Blogs = http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/planet/vmware/
VMware vSphere Blog = http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information on Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) delivers solutions for business infrastructure virtualization that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2008 revenues of $1.9 billion, more than 150,000 customers and 22,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

# # #

Note 1: Worldwide spending by businesses and other organizations on technology infrastructure and services exceeds $350 billion annually, according to McKinsey and Company estimates, with half of that spent on capital expenses (products) and half on operating expenses (services and labor).

Note 2: VMware Fortune 1000 Customers Study

Note 3: Based on Cisco internal estimates.

Trademarks
Cisco, the Cisco logo and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. DOCSIS is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

EMC, Symmetrix, CLARiiON, Ionix, and V-Max are either registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. RSA and RSA envision are registered trademarks of RSA Security Inc.

VMware and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word 'partner' or 'partnership' does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

— WebWireID106941 —

Furthermore, Mortgage REITs have reentered the market, seeking higher leverage loans, but at larger rate premiums. Greater competition from this sector will continue pressuring other lenders to offer better pricing.

Regardless of pricing, project quality and sponsorship remain tantamount as lenders stay defensive. As such, current pricing trends include the following:

• During the past month, benchmark treasury yields moved nearly a quarter percent higher, yet rates remained steady as many lenders continue using rate floors for permanent loans.
• Floating rate debt remained unchanged as prime bank customers pay floating-rate pricing starting at about 4.5%.
• While new transactions are still rare, refinancings and restructuring of loans remains in the forefront of real estate capital markets. Appraisers and investors are using band-of-investment calculations for sizing values and loans absent of any relevant market comparable data. Given current debt pricing, capitalization rates under such models typical start at 7% for multifamily properties and 8.5% for commercial assets. Multifamily agency pricing favors securitized loans vs. balance sheet debt as the agencies CMBS markets slowly recover.
• Opportunity investors armed with significant equity capital aggressively hunt for bargain price distressed assets with pricing of 20% or more on an overall return basis using five-years or less time horizon.
• Commercial and industrial tenants with specialized space needs and multifamily projects using FHA funds, such as 221(d)(4), are the only sources of new construction demand. Return-on-cost yields start at 8% for 'definable' credit-worthy tenants, otherwise double-digit figures are more representative of current development risk pricing.

Aaron Gruen, an Advisory Board Member of the Real Estate Capital Institute notes, "The Great Recession has permanently altered consumer, investment, and governmental behavior. Both public and private sector interests which influence land use and economic development need to reset their models and practices to work out projects and plans affected by the Great Recession and to respond to the opportunities the economic recovery will present."

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Greene King, which has more than a 1,000 pubs, hotels and restaurants across the UK, is one of three new high street retailers to join the scheme in the last month alone.

The Greene King Group has household brands that include Greene King pubs, Hardy's House Pubs and Old English Inns and the Hungry Horse pub and restaurant chain. They are also renowned brewers creating award-winning pints such as Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen.

Household names Austin Reed and Feather and Black have also signed up as retail partners giving members the chance to collect even more points in their everyday shopping.

'We're delighted to have partners of the calibre of Greene King, Austin Reed and Feather and Black joining in the last month alone. They complement our existing high street partners and give our members even more chance to earn points while they shop, have a pint or a meal,' said Commercial Director, Colin Whitehead.

Austin Reed has over 90 outlets in the UK selling classic womens' and menswear and Feather and Black is the bed and bedroom furniture specialists with more than 30 stores across the UK.

The latest additions to the UK's leading golfing loyalty scheme is yet further testament to the popularity of Rewards4golf.com, launched just over a year ago and now boasting over 80,000 members.

'As more and more household names join the scheme it is becoming even easier for our members to collect points and redeem them for the golf products they want,' added Whitehead.

And Rewards4golf.com has also announced it has just signed up 14 new online retail partners, including Interflora, Lloyds Pharmacy, Hallmark Cards, Cath Kidston and Tommy Hilfigger, giving members an even greater choice.

Launched just a year ago, the pioneering website enables golfers to earn points in their everyday shopping, is absolutely free and takes just one minute to sign up to.

Rewards4golf.com is the only specialist golf rewards scheme where members earn points for every pound they spend with some of the UK's most popular retailers including Tesco, John Lewis, Littlewoods, Currys, Marks & Spencer, Halfords, Superdrug and Amazon.

They can also earn points when spending with some of the UK's best known golf specialists including Direct Golf UK, Golfbreaks.com, Golf Care, GreenFree and The Golfers Club.

The scheme is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and its innovative technology means points are automatically collated whenever a registered credit or debit card is used with a participating retailer – meaning the system is both environmentally friendly and hassle-free as there is no need to carry a separate loyalty card.

It takes just one minute to register a card online and is completely free. Members can earn points by shopping with more than 200 online retailers and around 3000 high street outlets. In addition, they can register more than one card to contribute to their points' tally, so they can even be rewarded when their partner, friends or family shop.

Anyone can sign up to the scheme at www.rewards4golf.com, where they can also browse the huge variety of rewards on offer and see the extensive list of participating retailers.

Ends

For further information, please contact LIFE PR:

Emma Chadwick
0161 236 3363
07885 047 194
emma.chadwick@life-pr.co.uk

Joanna Simpson
0161 236 3362
0773 433 3392
joanna.simpson@lifepr.co.uk

— WebWireID106840 —

Cannes, France — Six 'business killers' still threaten to destroy financial services institutions in the next 24 months, whether an economic upswing occurs or not, according to Gartner, Inc. These issues need to be addressed, or they have the capacity to kill the recovery for most financial-services providers (FSPs). Analysts said that those institutions that face the 'business killers' head on will place themselves better to ensure that they not only survive an upturn, but to take advantage of future opportunities.

'It has been a tumultuous year for banks and financial services providers and some will continue to face a rocky path for the next two years - a critical period whenleading banks will take action to deal with both the recession and a possible recovery and thereby establish an unassailable lead over laggards,' said Peter Redshaw, research vice president at Gartner. 'IT departments have been fighting frantically to help keep their organisations' heads above water and they'd be forgiven for thinking that the worst is over. That may be true but it is no time to relax.'

Mr Redshaw, with Alistair Newton, research vice president at Gartner, and Juergen Weiss, principal research analyst at Gartner, examine the challenges that drive these killers, the opportunities they present and the actions financial services institutions need to take to thrive during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2009, being held here through 5 November.

While some FSPs have addressed the dangers and are now in a position to rebuild their brand and business, most others still need to confront these threats. More than 50 per cent of banks will still be in cost-optimisation mode in mid-2010 and making no plans or investments for any recovery. Gartner has identified six business killers that financial services institutions and their IT department need to overcome if they want to survive and even thrive:

1. Organisational Inflexibility and Resistance to Change
Top-down changes to governance can be initiated when senior job roles are realigned with processes and with customers - not with products or business units. Gartner predicts the emergence of roles such as a head of payments, or process improvement, or customer interactions. These are roles that are responsible at a strategic level for linking the people with the appropriate processes and systems across the FSP and at a lower level being managed on a daily, operation basis by business process management (BPM) suites.

2. Cost-Driven, Revenue-Shy
Many FSPs focus too much on costs rather than revenue as the emphasis shifts to efficiency rather than effectiveness. 'For all the huge investments in IT, cost/income ratios and most other metrics have barely improved in Europe in the last ten years,' said Mr Redshaw. 'Part of the problem is that every time one process is streamlined and automated, a new product or a new channel pops up and has to be supported by IT. Much of the cost improvement in recent years has been due to making lower provisions for loan losses – not a good strategy for the future. FSPs should base their targets on profitability, not just cost management.'

3. Tactics Win Over Strategy
Many FSPs focus too much on short-term thinking without having a wider strategy in place. Examples are a strong quarterly result emphasis and the lack of a coherent IT strategy. Banks miss a thorough analysis of the financial supply chain and the relevance or position of their bank within it. They also neglect supply-chain-management changes in distribution networks such as the rise of social networking and the crowd-sourcing implications. FSPs need to avoid two extremes: first, assuming that unpredictability means that strategies are worthless, so they become purely reactive and tactical; second, assuming that unlimited flexibility is a desirable state.

4. Internal Focus and Customer Neglect
Trust and confidence in traditional FSPs has been severely dented during the current crisis. Some FSPs are perceived as direct causes of current misfortunes – lost money, lost jobs, etc – and may be actively targeted for boycotts or even sabotage. However, hardly any FSPs actively offer advice to customers that is specifically designed for this recession. Instead, they devote a greater proportion of their efforts to internal initiatives designed to cut costs, make operations more efficient, shore up balance sheets and ensure regulatory compliance. The focus is inwards not outwards but FSPs should identify and work to customers' processes rather than their own.

5. Risk: The Tail that Wags the Dog
Risk management has gained significant importance in many banks and insurers as a consequence of the financial crisis such as additional stress tests for financial institutions and informal cross-border consultations. Although the six European financial services regulations, including the Capital Requirements Directive and the Third Anti-Money-Laundering Directive, do not deliver any value to FSPs, they account for 14.1 per cent of FSPs' IT spending. 'FSPs can't wait for instructions from regulators; ignorance is not an excuse for inactivity,' said Mr Redshaw. 'New legislations should be factored in when FSPs define new products, build up new sales and service channels or decide on organisational changes; however they shouldn't lead to a situation where the risk-tail wags the dog.'

6. Starved of Innovation
Around one third of FSPs is investing in future economic recovery but FSPs are not necessarily good at innovation. Gartner research from May 2009 conducted among 92 executives at banks worldwide showed that the most important innovation goals are to improve product or service quality, to extend a product range, to replace products and services, to comply with regulations and to protect market share. However, only 30 per cent of FSPs in North America, 53 per cent in APAC and 66 per cent in Europe have established a formal innovation process.

'FSPs must create a more outward-facing set of objectives for IT and a culture that has incorporated innovation best-practices at its core. IT strategies and projects need to be risk-aware but they also need to be innovative and bold,' said Mr Redshaw. Most importantly, IT departments at FSPs will need to support a new operating model from their board that is designed to cope with a world that has low growth, small margins, high volatility and heavy regulations.

Mr Redshaw explores the challenges FSPs face in the Gartner video at http://www.youtube.com/gartnervideo#p/u/1/30-TO4uPPfQ. Gartner analysts will further discuss the threats posed to financial-services establishments at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2009 in Cannes, 2-5 November.

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Follow news, photos and video coming from Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/Gartner?ref=ts. FriendFeed at http://friendfeed.com/rooms/gartner, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc using #Gartnersym, on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27772229@N07/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/gartnervideo.

About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

— WebWireID106865 —

SANTA CLARA, Ca. – Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced the latest in a series of aggressive moves to expand the full spectrum of secure cloud computing options available to enterprise CIOs.

The company announced Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution, an innovative solution for organizations to realize the operational and economic benefits of cloud computing in their internal data centers. Unisys also announced significant enhancements – including a disaster recovery service – to Unisys Secure Cloud Solution, the company's managed public cloud offering. Unisys is showcasing new and forthcoming solutions at the SYS-CON Cloud Computing Conference & Expo here.

'Unisys is committed to giving clients highly flexible computing services that enable them to move more of their business workload to the cloud,' said Rich Marcello, president, Unisys Technology, Consulting and Integration Solutions. 'We have found that some organizations prefer a private cloud solution for mission-critical applications that use sensitive data so they can retain greater control over their own and their customers' information. Unisys meets that need with the Secure Private Cloud Solution.'

Recent Unisys research has consistently shown that security concerns are the leading cause of enterprise and individual users' hesitancy in adopting cloud computing. The most recent findings of the Unisys Security Index, a bi-annual global study of consumer opinion on security-related issues, showed that a significant percentage of respondents worldwide were uncomfortable about having their personal data controlled by a third party without assurance that the data could be kept secure.

'Unisys cloud computing strategy is based on providing industrial-strength security and data protection,' said Marcello. 'Like our public cloud offering, Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution goes a long way toward allaying the security concerns of enterprises and their customers. Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution presents CIOs with a way to realize the full operational and economic advantages of public cloud computing on their own terms, in their own data centers, with extra measures of security for their organizations' and their customers' sensitive information.'

Automation and Consulting Services Make Secure Private Cloud Solution Easy to Deploy, Operate and Use

Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution, scheduled for availability in December 2009, leverages the technology and expertise behind Unisys Secure Cloud Solution. Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution enables clients to reduce IT costs through server and storage virtualization; remove troublesome IT bottlenecks through automated operations and immediate, as-needed self-service provisioning of resources; and align the supply of IT resources to fluctuating business demand.

For ease of deployment, this pre-loaded, ready-to-go solution allows a full range of virtualization, including scale-up and scale-out, and supports physical as well as virtual machines. Clients can typically run existing Microsoft Windows applications without alteration, reducing migration costs and realizing the business benefits of cloud deployment more quickly.

Extreme automation makes Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution easy to operate and manage. The solution enables automated virtual provisioning and repurposing of IT resources on the fly and provides automated resource tracking to facilitate allocation of IT usage costs to specific groups.

Clients can either monitor the infrastructure themselves or have Unisys do it through the Unisys Converged Remote Infrastructure Management Solution. Announced in March 2009, that solution correlates events across all managed infrastructure segments to orchestrate pre-emptive action against potential IT faults. Unisys also plans to include enhanced capabilities in this solution, such as live chats to resolve service issues more quickly at a lower operational cost.

Provisioning through a self-service portal makes Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution easy to use. From anywhere on the network, at any time, users can select the configuration and length of time needed to address a specific IT resource requirement and typically move existing applications to a Unisys cloud without modification.

This self-service capability can reduce provisioning time from days to minutes. For example, deploying thetechnology that underpins Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution for its engineering development and testing lab, Unisys cut virtual server provisioning time from 10 days to five minutes while avoiding the cost of hiring extra staff to manage the lab.

Organizations using Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution can optionally choose to implement Unisys Stealth solution for additional data protection. Using patent-pending data protection technology, the Stealth solution cloaks data from detection as it moves through the network. As a result, different departments and applications in a multi-tenant environment can share the same IT infrastructure without fear of compromising the security of their data moving across the corporate network.

To make it easier for users to decide on and deploy Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution, Unisys has augmented its portfolio of Cloud Transformation Services with Current State Assessment, Design and Planning, Installation and Configuration, Implementation and Application Migration Services specifically for private cloud deployment. The Cloud Transformation Services are delivered by a workforce of 3,000 Unisys consultants worldwide.

Disaster Recovery, Additional Services Boost Unisys Public Cloud Capabilities

'To give clients wider choice in cloud services, Unisys continues to enhance the capabilities of the Unisys Secure Cloud Solution,' said Marcello. 'We are enriching a public cloud environment that already offers industrial-strength security so enterprise clients and their customers can have greater confidence that their sensitive business and personal information is protected in the cloud.'

Unisys has added Secure Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to the Secure Cloud Solution. This new service provides comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery services on a subscription basis, typically lowering clients' cost of entry compared to in-house implementation. The service also makes it easier for clients to comply with laws and standards requiring storage and recovery of sensitive business data and applications.

With the DRaaS service, the Unisys Secure Cloud Solution is configured as a disaster recovery backup facility, with copies of critical applications and data stored in Unisys data centers worldwide. The automated provisioning, replication and failover capabilities of the Secure Cloud Solution permit applications to be recovered within minutes.

Unisys has also added new capabilities to key 'as a service' offerings delivered through the Secure Cloud Solution:

* At the end of November 2009, Unisys plans to support Microsoft stacks, including IIS Web Server, .NET Application Server and SQL Server, along with custom stacks such as IBM Websphere and Oracle, in Unisys Secure Platform as a Service (PaaS). This service makes it easier for clients to move their applications to the cloud without changes; and
* Unisys Secure Virtual Office as a Service (VOaaS), which provides access to standard office suites through hosted desktop services, will support qualified client-supplied devices, such as PCs used as thin clients. This addition enables IT organizations to give workers access to applications and support through the technologies they want to use so they can stay continually productive no matter where they are.

For further information on Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution, click on the following link: http://unisys.com/unisys/theme/index.jsp?id=16000032&pid=1036300010000010000
About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With more than 26,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

— WebWireID106858 —

Because employers cannot be expected to always know exactly what it is each and every one of their staff would like to receive as a gift, SayShopping Pass – the multi retailer gift vouchers – can be spent in over 60 outlets from much-loved high street stores such as HMV and Boots, to experiences, restaurants and holidays. So employers are offering their staff the choice of tens of thousands of products.

Hunterlodge is the name of the advertising and publicity agency behind the campaign. Account Director Paul Mellor says: 'We're delighted to be working with Sodexo to develop such an innovative piece of creative advertising that moves away from the typical Christmas mailer. The essence of our 'Everyone's Different' proposition is that it sums up the dilemma that businesses face each year when rewarding employees.'

'The corporate Christmas incentive market is worth over £400m but I wonder how much of that is wasted on gifts that people just don't want or need,' says Kevin Harrington, Director of Sodexo. 'It's a fact that panic and confusion set in when employers are set with the task of choosing gifts for staff and clients. Yet, by giving someone the option of choosing a gift for themselves with a voucher, you're not only offering choice but also giving yourself peace of mind that your gift will be appreciated!'

More details about the full product range can be obtained by calling 0800 0856238 or by visiting www.everyonesdifferent.co.uk.

— WebWireID106822 —

Known to celebrities such as Simon Cowell and Kate Moss simply as 'Bongo Man', the man with the healing hands worked his magic on staff at Lancashire-based communications firm Daisy.

Bongo Man who had never before been to England, was flown over by businessman, Tony Ford, of Ford Campbell, to help with charity work.

Daisy paid a sum of money to enjoy Bongo Man's services for the day and staff got the chance to enjoy a bit of stress relief Caribbean-style.

Bongo Man's usual clients include celebrity tourists at the exclusive Sandy Lane resort, where he has worked for 17 years.

As well as Cowell and Moss, clients include supermodel Cindy Crawford, retail billionaire Sir Philip Green and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.

After meeting Daisy boss Matthew Riley - the entrepreneur who is mentored by Sir Philip Green- at an awards ceremony in Manchester he agreed to visit Daisy House in Nelson.

Bongo Man was offering his speciality head and foot massages to staff and after a sweepstake involving 70 people, ten were chosen to receive their half hour of star treatment.

Daisy CEO Matt Riley said: 'I couldn't believe it when Tony said he had flown Bongo Man over for three weeks to help with his charity work, so just had to have him in to Daisy. We now have a very relaxed, stress-free workforce!'

Tony Ford said: 'Having had a massage from Bongo Man I know how relaxing it is. He's also a great character and will help brighten up people's lives.

'Ford Campbell is committed to the North West community and we are delighted to be able to help raise vital cash for a number of extremely worthwhile charities."

Ends

For more details and interview opportunities, please contact Fiona Ritchie, PR Executive. Tel: 01282 878549 or e-mail: fiona.ritchie@daisyplc.com

www.daisyplc.com

— WebWireID106772 —

Friday October 30, 2009 – A big fanfare greeted news this week that internet giant Google was looking to increase its 'green' credentials by offering customers a way of monitoring their energy use in 'real time'.

And while this is a great way for householders to monitor their energy consumption with a view to cutting it, home improvement comparison service LocalQuoter says it should be just part of consumers' armoury alongside a range of other money-saving tactics which it can help people adopt.

'Realising how much energy your house is consuming in 'real time', as Google's new service allows people to do, is sure to be a wake-up call for many cost-conscious householders,' said Les Yates of LocalQuoter.

'Many people may not realise that they are losing an average of £135 a year* if their windows are not up to the latest energy-efficient standards,' Yates added.

'The key to achieving savings which make a real difference lies in then acting on this information, and taking steps which can make a long-term, lasting difference to a home's energy consumption levels.'

And this means having a home which has energy efficiency built into it, in the form of the latest double glazing, fitted to the highest standard, and using the latest types of energy-efficient glass.

That's where LocalQuoter comes into its own. By using www.localquoter.net, householders can get a double glazing quote from the pick of a carefully-chosen list of companies operating in their area.

The companies used by LocalQuoter are all specificially chosen for their reliability and quality of work, based on feedback provided by their customers, so using LocalQuoter guarantees that householders will be put in touch with an established, reputable company with a good reputation to uphold.

That means customers get full guarantees on the products, and on the quality of the work carried out – an especially important factor given the recent news that energy bills will continue to rise, to help us pay for the building and commissioning of new, more efficient and less polluting energy sources.

'When we are all being told that we should expect energy prices to rise by well above inflation in the coming years to help pay for making the country's energy production more efficient, the time to start seriously looking at cutting our energy costs is now,' Yates said.

'The Green Party has also recently installed double glazing at its headquarters, and this has produced massive savings in both costs and CO2 emissions. This shows the direction we should all be taking to help ensure that our energy supplies remain secure for the foreseeable future – and we at LocalQuoter are ready to help anyone looking to make their home more energy-efficient, and reduce the impact of those looming higher bills.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

*According to the Energy Saving Trust, Energy Saving Recommended double glazing can cut heat lost through windows by half, as well as saving around £135 a year on the average heating bill.

— WebWireID106787 —

This revolutionary cleaning technology, is a fully self contained system which contains a power unit and pre-heated solution hoses which are fed into the home or business to undertake the cleaning operation.

Chem-Dry's patented hot carbonating cleaning solution is cleverly warmed from the heat generated by the power unit.

The Carpet & Rug Institute based in the US, who are responsible for undertaking programs to test the effectiveness of carpet cleaning products and represents the carpet & rug industry, recently awarded the CTS 450 Truckmount a gold level 'Seal of Approval', the highest accolade for certified deep cleaning systems.

Chris Jones, Proprietor of Chem-Dry Quality Care, comments 'If any member of your family is an allergy sufferer, you will understand just how important it is to maintain a good standard of indoor air quality and undertake regular cleaning to control allergies such as dust mites. As a local Chem-Dry operator I believe it is one of our responsibilities to improve indoor quality in our customer's homes, neutralise the household dust mite and contribute towards providing a better standard of living for allergy sufferers. I believe truckmount cleaning technology will have a significant impact for our business, our customers and anyone who suffers from an allergy'.

The CTS 450 Truckmount cleaning system is at least five times more powerful than conventional cleaning devices, and provides numerous health and safety benefits such as reduced hazards with less manual handling and fatigue placed on technicians as they no longer have to manoeuvre equipment from floor to floor and through customer's homes.

Mr. Jones says 'This is a significant investment for the business and our local domestic & commercial customer base with benefit from improved efficiency savings, reduced downtime by enabling 2 rooms to be cleaned simultaneously and providing superior drying times.'

Mr. Jones continues 'As a local service provider to the North Powys and South Gwynedd communities, I believe it will secure our position in the domestic & commercial market for years to come and we look forward to many more years of raising the standards in our industry'.

Chem-Dry Quality Care became part of the Chem-Dry national network in 2008 and is an independently owned family based business operated by Chris & Vicky Jones. The domestic and commercial carpet and upholstery cleaning business is managed daily by Chris and has evolved through the provision of exceptional service to both their domestic and commercial customers from various parts of North Powys & South Gwynedd.

ENDS

Chris Jones
Chem-Dry Quality Care
Bodaioch Lane
Trefeglwys
Powys, SY17 5PN

Tel No: 01686 430773
chrisjones16@hotmail.co.uk

Notes to Editor

Chem-Dry® at a glance www.chemdry.co.uk

* Chem-Dry Quality Care is part of the Chem-Dry® franchise network, which serves 28 million homes. With over 900 licences you are never far away from your local Chem-Dry®.

* Chem-Dry Quality Care has been trading since 2009

* Chem-Dry Quality Care is a locally owned family business

* Chem-Dry Quality Care holds 2 licences, covering communities of North Powys & South Gywnedd

* Chem-Dry® was established in the UK in 1987. Its Yorkshire-based national service centre with 210 staff now supports a network of 900 franchise licences

* For further information on Chem-Dry Quality Care, please contact Chris Jones on Tel No 01686 430773 or Mark Richardson on Tel no 01482 888195.

— WebWireID106579 —