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KEMP Technologies today announced the launch of its Virtual LoadMaster (VLM).

This new virtual-appliance application delivery controller (ADC) will be sold under a Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) starting at $99 per license per month with no startup or setup fees. The SPLA pricing model enables managed hosting providers (MHPs) and managed service providers (MSPs) to offer a dedicated server load balancer with the same functionality as KEMP’s hardware appliances at a price point affordable to a much broader range of business customers while significantly reducing operating costs.

As a virtual appliance, the Virtual LoadMaster removes the need to maintain hardware and reduces or eliminates costs associated with power consumption, cooling, rack space constraints and other environmental dependencies of hardware-based appliances. The VLM can be quickly configured and deployed, accelerating service provisioning and simplifying ongoing management, which aids in further reducing operating expenses and increasing ROI.

MHPs and MSPs implementing the Virtual LoadMaster are able to reduce the risk associated with stranded investment when customers disconnect services and leave the provider with hardware that has not yet been fully depreciated. Furthermore, the MHP is better positioned for aggressive marketing with the lower-priced software-based solution compared with hardware-based ADCs. When deploying the VLM, MHPs can then maintain margins while pricing their high-value services low enough to attract a new base of customer such as small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that previously thought the benefit of ADCs were out of reach.

Akorri announced today that it achieved its best fourth quarter in the history of the company, with Q4 2009 revenues increasing 134 percent over Q4 2008 and 82 percent over the previous quarter.

In addition, Akorri experienced significant customer expansion in 2009, added 33 new US national and regional partners within its newly launched PartnerPoint channel program, and expanded into international markets by opening regional offices in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia.

To lead the company during its next phase of growth, Akorri has appointed technology industry veteran executive Allan Wallack as President and CEO. Allan has spent the last 40 years leading high-profile startup companies through their early stages to IPO or acquisition.

Previously, Allan served as President and CEO of Spring Tide Networks, an IP services company purchased by Lucent Technologies; was Chairman, President and CEO of Chrysalis Symbolic Design, an electronic design automation software company purchased by Avanti Corp.; was President and CEO of Synernetics, a communications company which was bought by 3COM; was COO of COGNEX Corporation during its IPO; and Vice President of Marketing for MASSCOMP during its IPO.

Company highlights in 2009 include:

· Released BalancePoint 3.0 – the latest version of the company’s award-winning virtual infrastructure management software, with richer virtual machine and storage analysis, broader interoperability, and user interface improvements
· Acquired new customers in a variety of industries including Christian Broadcasting Network, Epsilon, Kronos, Merkle, Sandridge Energy, SCI, and VistaPrint that are using BalancePoint’s powerful analytics to optimize both virtual and physical server and storage environments
· Appointed three seasoned executives to its management team: Bill Simpson and Warren Mead to lead Worldwide and Channel Sales, and Jim Comstock to lead Marketing
· Won Gold in the SearchServerVirtualization Product of the Year Awards
· Named a “Visionary” within Gartner’s SRM Magic Quadrant
· Named as one of the “Ten Virtualization Vendors to Watch” by CIO Magazine
· Named as one of the Top 20 Storage Products from VMworld by ChannelWeb
· Named a top-rated virtualization management tool by Searchvmware.com.

Wyse Technology, provider of thin computing and client virtualization solutions, today announced the availability of its latest provisioning software, WSM 3.0.

WSM 3.0 delivers full PC functionality on a zero client, while creating scalable, low-cost and easy to manage architectures for all organization sizes.

• Faster application streaming and pre-fetching
• High availability for distributed sites
• Full PC functionality, including Microsoft Windows 7
• OS and application content distribution management
• User setting and data preservation

WSM 3.0 uses distributed architecture scalability combined with the flexibility of being able to run your environment on Microsoft Server 2003, 2008 or XP Professional, or Wyse WSM Appliance Device. Users are also able to create and provision their virtual clients with VMware Virtual Center Integration. Most important for public sector and financial customers, WSM centralizes security and allows no local storage in order to keep the system safe.

Wyse WSM 3.0 is available immediately at $200/device seat.

Forrester says the tech downturn is now ‘unofficially over’.

The research firm says the global technology industry will see an 8.1 percent increase in IT spending in 2010, with software and computer hardware leading the charge, and IT consulting services following.

After declining 8.2 percent last year, U.S. IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion, according to Forrester’s latest research report. Global tech spending, which dropped 8.9 percent in 2009, will rise to more than $1.6 trillion in 2010.

Forrester is particularly optimistic about IT spending of businesses and governments in the United States, with Forrester Research VP and principal analyst Andrew Bartels predicting a the tech recovery that will be stronger than the overall economic recovery, with technology spending growing at more than twice the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010.

In Western and Central Europe, tech purchases are forecast to rise by 11.2 percent, boosted by the dollar’s decline against the euro. Forrester Research expects IT purchases in Canada to grow by 9.9 percent, Asia Pacific by 7.8 percent, and Latin America by 7.7 percent.

(Via TechCrunch)