Tag Archives: B2b

Alibaba Group’s Re-evaluation of Yahoo Ties May Prove Harmful To Yahoo’s Presence in China, warns SEO Experts QueryClick.com

Alibaba.com has been something of a success story, beginning its internet life as a small start-up and growing into an online force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, it has recently expanded it overseas presence with AliExpress, an online marketplace akin to eBay.

In fact, it seems that a closer relationship with eBay may replace that held between Alibaba and Yahoo. During the two-day Alifest event this month, John Donohoe, chief executive of eBay, made an unlikely appearance, with Alibaba chairman and chief executive Jack Ma announcing that:

“We are competitors in some ways but we have the same dream, the same mission and the same goal to help entrepreneurs…I believe one day we will work very closely together.”

The hinted co-operation between the companies coincides with the deterioration in Alibaba’s ties with Yahoo, whose proposed venture into mainland China, along with the denouncement of Yahoo’s lack of core technologies by Alibaba.com CEO David Wei have formed the basis for the alleged re-assessment of the current partnership between the companies.

Search Engine Optimisation experts QueryClick.com commented on the benefits of increased co-operation between AliExpress and Ebay:

“A close partnership between AliExpress and eBay could be hugely beneficial for both sides, with one providing the other with valuable contacts and insights into their respective markets. The Chinese market is notoriously difficult to master for foreign investors, whilst eBay could provide expert advice for Alibaba’s expanded online presence in the West.”

Following news that Yahoo Hong Kong Managing Director, Tsoi Po-tak, revealed the company’s hope to lure advertising from the Chinese mainland, China’s Alibaba Group – which is 40% owned by Yahoo Inc. – may rethink it’s relationship with the US giant.

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Web Content Management System Consulting Company Gold Sponsor at Drupalcon 2010

New York-based DPCI, a leader in the implementation of web content management systems, was a big supporter of Drupalcon 2010, acting as a Gold Sponsor of the San Francisco conference. Over 3,000 people involved in Drupal content management attended the conference, held at the Moscone Center. Aimed at developers, consultants and businesses involved in the Drupal community, the three day conference (with an additional four days of associated activities) included numerous sessions ranging from development presentations and training opportunities to discussions of open-source CMS solutions and employment opportunities, all with a heavy emphasis on Drupal, the leading open-source web content management system.

Always active in the Drupal and web content management systems community, DPCI President Joseph Bachana and other DPCI staff were in attendance. Mr. Bachana was a featured presenter at the show, as a member of a panel discussing “Trends in Enterprise 2.0 Technologies.” The company’s visibility at the show was highlighted by a booth in the Exhibit Hall. DPCI joined leading technology companies such as Google as a Gold Sponsor of the conference (which was also supported by the likes of Microsoft, Sun Oracle, The Economist and other well known names), showing the interest the technology industry in general has in the web content management system market. Such systems can be very complex to implement. With the combination of proprietary software, open-source options (like a Drupal content management solution) and a frequent need to integrate with existing corporate software systems, it’s crucial to ensure that an experienced consultant is chosen to lead the project. Companies that make use of digital assets or publish content to multiple platforms (typically print, web, mobile and e-Book) benefit tremendously from implementing a web content management system (CMS). While the entertainment and media industry is a primary market for CMS, DPCI has also implemented CMS solutions in the education, marketing, financial services, advertising, travel and software fields since 1999.

For further information about Drupalcon 2010, visit the conference web site at www.sf2010.drupal.org. For more information about options for a Web content management system or to learn more about DPCI, please visit the company’s web site:www.databasepublish.com. To contact DPCI President Joseph Bachana, please e-mail info@databasepublish.com or call 800-818-2905. DPCI’s offices are located at 1560 Broadway, Suite 810, New York, NY 10036.

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Rackspace Hosting Updates Rackspace Hybrid Email for 1.7 Million Users

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX), the world leader in the hosting and cloud computing industry, has enhanced its popular Rackspace Hybrid Email offering – a custom mix of Hosted Microsoft Exchange and the business-focused Rackspace Email platform on a single domain. Rackspace Hybrid Email now features easy calendar viewing between Hosted Microsoft Exchange and Rackspace Email, as well as a faster webmail design for Rackspace Email to make businesses using Rackspace Hybrid Email even more productive.

Rackspace Hosting Updates Rackspace Hybrid Email for 1.7 Million Users

“We’ve learned from our customers that, on average, only a small percentage of employees really need and use the advanced features of Microsoft Exchange, yet many businesses are paying a lot more to run Exchange for every single user,” said Kirk Averett, director of product for cloud applications at Rackspace. “With Rackspace Hybrid Email, companies can purchase a combination of Exchange and low cost Rackspace Email accounts on a single domain, without sacrificing features for any employee. Most businesses can realise a significant cost savings by utilising this model because they have different types of email users.”

Rackspace Hybrid Email has been a key attraction for Rackspace solution partners and resellers because it provides another unique selling point, in addition to Rackspace’s Fanatical Support. Businesses can reduce total costs by substituting even one Exchange user with Rackspace Email. For example, using an average 80/20 ratio of Rackspace Email to Hosted Exchange, businesses can save more than 60 percent on email with Rackspace Hybrid Email compared to Hosted Exchange alone, and significantly more than hosting their own email in-house.

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A Solid Solution for Digital Assets

Databasepublish.com – One of the greatest opportunities for many organizations involves the potential streamlining of their content structure for print, mobile or web applications. The time that it takes to structure content for these applications costs many organizations time, money and lost opportunity. A reliable content management system can help to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

A Solid Solution for Digital Assets

Many organizations own hundreds of thousands of digital assets. These include corporate logos, branding material, audio and video clips, still and stock photography, and a variety of archival content. Many of these assets were acquired over long periods of time and at great expense to the organization. Unfortunately, many organizations are unable to maximize the benefits of their digital assets due to a lack of an effective digital asset management solution.

Due to the critical nature of having digital assets organized and easily locatable, many organizations have implemented a digital asset management system. These organizations may have a slightly better grip on their digital asset management than an organization with no formal system. However, over time an organization’s needs change, which oftentimes necessitates customization, retraining of staff, and/ or the integration into a content management system or back-office software package.

For this reason, it is important to find consultants that are well-versed in tailoring a new or pre-existing digital asset management system to meet the current needs of the business. For example, an organization may be looking to find a digital asset management system that centralizes and manages the rights and permissions of a significant portion of all published editorial content, containing text, illustrations and photographs. Such a system could help non-technical staff members reuse both legacy and fresh content across print and digital media more effectively. Additionally, the organization may want the final implementation of the the digital asset management solution to be in-house.

For this example, many product options are available in the digital asset management market. Although the organization knows what capabilities they want, a prudent decision would require an interactive technology agency that can deliver an integrated content management system to help the organization refine its requirements and manage the request for proposal process.

A third-party consulting business that understands the technology, can assist in the refinement of requirements, and ensure an objective selection of vendors is indispensable. The mark of a truly valuable consultant is in their ability to quickly distill an organization’s needs for digital asset management and not only help identify the appropriate vendor, but also provide a new way of thinking. The type of thinking that helps the organization ensure they get the most out of their investment through the implementation of the digital asset management system.

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Businesses Would Love To Never Have To Buy Another Server Again

Rackspace Hosting, the world’s leader in hosting and cloud computing, has announced the results of its latest survey, which highlights the growing problem of businesses struggling to cope with the demands of managing their own servers. More than half of the businesses surveyed responded that they would ‘love to never have to buy another server again.’

Rackspace’s online survey research was conducted in September 2009 and involved 441 US and UK-based IT decision-makers at companies with 100-500 employees

The research underscores Rackspace’s recent launch of No More Servers, a campaign and community dedicated to a new way of buying IT which includes managed hosting, cloud computing and email hosting. The new service has been created to help free businesses from the hassle of in-house server management and to enable them to instead shift their focus onto mission critical applications, core competencies and innovation. Rackspace is augmenting this initiative with Rackspace.co.uk/NoMoreServers, a location for companies to learn the benefits of hosting services.

The study, conducted by LoudHouse on behalf of Rackspace, investigated the views of more than 441 IT managers at mid-size enterprises and revealed that approximately one third of their IT staff’s time is spent on server management, which is liable to limit their ability to focus on strategic initiatives that could benefit the business. Fifty eight percent of respondents cited the ‘hassle of managing servers’ as a challenge for their organization, while 61% of IT managers said ‘time to drive innovation’ was a challenge.

Additionally, on-site servers were seen to also cause ‘server stress’ for IT managers, who cited ‘the need to be available 24×7’, ‘hardware issues and maintenance’, and ‘after-hours calls and issues’ as the top three server management issues. The survey also found that 51% of respondents have made mistakes in their server capacity planning. Fifteen percent have bought too many servers and 36% have failed to buy enough. This leaves businesses exposed to the risks of financial waste and the inability to cope with user demand by not getting server spending right the first time.

The survey also revealed that 35% of companies identify themselves as ‘proactive and slightly ahead of the curve’ when it comes to describing their approach to new technologies, while 28% remain ‘cautious and reactive.’ When it comes to hosting and cloud computing, barriers to adoption include assurances of reliability (29%), evidence of cost savings (28%) and assurances of security (27%).

“IT should be an enabler,” said Lanham Napier, president and chief executive officer of Rackspace Hosting. “The survey seems to reveal that a huge chunk of time and resources are spent keeping the lights on and preventing problems. Rackspace, with its world class Fanatical Support, can free organizations from the hassle of server management and enable their IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives that will positively impact the business.”

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Translator Network tolingo Launches English Language Website

The translator network tolingo (www.tolingo.de) has launched an international version of its translation portal. The website (www.tolingo.com) is in English and the aim is to ensure that the company’s services will also be used increasingly by customers from outside Germany.

“After a very promising start, we see the international site as the logical next step. We have a worldwide network of over 2500 qualified translators available. Why then shouldn’t customers around the globe benefit from it too? Besides the fast and uncomplicated processing of the submitted texts, the 24 hour global availability is one of the great benefits of offering translation services online,” says tolingo Managing Director Hanno von der Decken.

tolingo provides customers with quotations in real time, while this usually takes several hours or even days elsewhere in the industry. Automatic selection of the best available translators within the network for each document means that tolingo delivers translations of consistently high quality while keeping translation times to a minimum. In this way, the processing times that usually stretch to days in the industry can be shortened to just a few hours. Yet the prices for the translations are markedly lower than those of a conventional translation office.

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Translation Services Firm Increases Sales By Providing Free Content

According to Ken Zwerdling, CEO of Foreign Translations, Inc., a global translation services firm, “Today’s savvy Internet user leaves little room to be directed by companies to take a particular course of action. The consumer has become the expert and is in control.” We have seen this change of power especially within the real estate industry. Consumers are on-line analyzing local markets and exploring homes via virtual tours with no help from a live individual, all the while making decisions without involving professionals. This trend has overflowed into many industries around the world. What does this mean for professional service companies that want to earn business? Be the first to offer consumers educational information about your services and give it away for free.

Be Known As The Expert In Your Industry

For companies that almost never achieve a face-to-face meeting with customers or potential customers, its on-line presence is the only means for consumers to validate its expertise and knowledge. This validation goes beyond graphics, ease of navigation, and client lists. It is found in the quality of the information that company provides. Some visitors know exactly what is wanted: price estimate, quote request, or contact information. Other visitors want to learn more about the different service offerings, while still others seek valuable free information to better understand the industry and guide the decision on who is contracted for service. By fulfilling the information needs of consumers via tutorials, instructional content and free tools a company will become the recognized expert in that field.

Keep the Consumer Coming Back

Free instructional articles are a valuable tool that directly serves the needs of many website visitors. The average number of page views a website visitor sees is only three. Offering instructional content will result in visitors who stay longer, view more pages, learn more about your company and become more educated. The key is to think like a customer and freely give away what is wanted. A company needs to ask itself, “What kind of information would I research if I wanted to learn more?” To stay ahead on consumer desires, a company should publish new articles periodically to accommodate ever-changing consumer interest. At Foreign Translations, Inc., the company offers a vast array of valuable instructional content. It provides white papers on topics such as How to Prepare for Globalization, Laws of Quality Translations, How to Find Growth in Non-Traditional Markets, Language Translation and Social Media, Marketing to Hispanics and Selling your Products and Services in Other Markets. In addition, there are informational articles on business etiquette in major countries such as China, Germany, and South Korea, the history of the world’s major languages, and what to expect when traveling to specific countries across the globe.

Some customers are simply looking for information. They want to complete due diligence and research the service needed before finalizing a purchase. You want to be the company that offers these consumers more than is expected, more than what can be gained from your competitors. Service companies must understand that instructional content can take many forms such as whitepapers, industry research, tips and free tools. Use this content effectively to make your website indispensable. Encourage your visitors to return again and again.

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Network Affiliates Push Clickbooth.com Into Inc. Magazine’s Top 500

The Inc. 500 is a list of the top 500 high growth businesses. It is an entrepreneur’s dream to be on the list. Clickbooth ranked #5 overall and #1 in their business sector, which is advertising and marketing. In an economic climate where many businesses have been simply trying to survive, Clickbooth has grown an amazing 12,000% over the last four years. They have been doing it by providing consistently strong ROI for publishers and advertisers. It is a milestone for the advertising industry as whole, and marks the dawn of a new day for the future of marketing.

The infamous dot-com bubble may have popped but there are still businesses using the Internet in innovative ways to enjoy high growth by providing exceptional customer value. Clickbooth’s industry revolves around a concept known as affiliate marketing. It is a marketing strategy that shares revenue among advertisers and affiliates online. affiliates are traditionally known as publishers and are considered the same in this context.

The network affiliates at Clickbooth are among the best in the business. Some are among the Alexa Top 50 sites. The affiliates network together through Clickbooth to provide premier marketing campaigns for advertisers. The number of worldwide affiliates they use is over 10,000 and many of them are exclusive. The coverage is very broad and encapsulates a number of niche markets. The compensation is based on performance from one or a combination of sales, clicks, and registrations.

Each affiliate is rigorously screened and monitored for performance and integrity. Much of Clickbooth’s success comes from their industry leading compliance team. Their function is to track uploads and downloads among other monitoring functions to ensure that the proper integrity is maintained. Any of the affiliates that are identified as abusing the system are promptly excommunicated. The result is a dependable set of affiliates that are networked together through Clickbooth to be reliable, trustworthy and maximize an advertiser’s time and money.

Clickbooth is an internet marketing business created in September 2002. With their high integrity and high quality affiliates network, they leverage the power of the Internet for businesses looking to maximize their advertising budget. Clickbooth produces benefits for their network affiliates and their clients in need of advertising through a high level of integrity, a careful screening process, and an Internet marketing program that is mutually rewarding.

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Report Says Small Firms Floored By Basic Web Errors

Streamline.net web hosting research finds the majority of consumers using SME websites in the past year experienced usability faults.

The Streamline.net study of 1700 consumers found that 83% faced faults including unfinished web pages, broken URLs and an out-dated design. A further survey of 450 UK firms revealed that whilst half consider their website to look ‘professional’, 1 in 3 owners admit that they are guilty of ‘neglecting’ their sites. There is also a worrying discrepancy between where consumers wish to find web addresses, and where companies are displaying them. For example, 48% of firms still do not make any efforts to optimise their URL on search engines. Whilst 1 in 5 consumers took a web address from the side of a small company’s vehicle, only 10% of small firms currently display theirs in this way.

The data from Streamline.net showed that many SMEs are alienating web users through simple web errors. 76% of consumers have now used the website of a small business. Whilst 47% of consumers consider their experiences of such sites to be overall ‘good’, a further 1 in 4 Britons conclude such websites to be ‘barely usable’. In the past year, 83% of online consumers found faults on more than one occasion. Web errors reported included unfinished web pages (54%), broken URLs (52%), outdated email addresses (50%), and missing contact details (31%).

Top design gripe with SME websites is an outdated website design, faced by one third of users in the past year. 1 in 5 online consumers have encountered superfluous descriptions of products and services. 20% have been confused by the use of generic corporate images that bear no relation to specific company’s.

The findings are in contrast to another survey of 450 small firms where 76% felt confident that the language on their website could in no way be perceived negatively, and 84% saw the images on their website as fit for purpose.

Steve Holford, Marketing Director at Streamline.net, said, “As with many areas of business, if the basics of a website are not sound, customers will be deterred from purchasing”.

Almost half of companies (48%) made no attempt at optimise their position on search engines, when 77% of consumers call upon these. Many enterprises are prioritising the display of their URL in places unpopular with online consumers. 43% of companies publish their web address on industry websites whilst only 15% of consumers use this source. Remarkably, only 9% display their web address on signage or windows of their premises, when 1 in 5 Britons have made use of a domain name taken from here in the past year.

Holford added, “Every opportunity to capture online custom must be seized upon, which means promoting a web address in every possible environment – online and off-line”.

Streamline.net provides a comprehensive range of domain registrations. Users can even try free web hosting for 3 months with Streamline.net.

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Technology Adoption Fuels Recovery Tipping Point For UK SMEs

According to research from BT Business, supported by the Design Council and Prince’s Trust, small businesses at the forefront of technology adoption have been the least impacted by the recession, with those most reluctant to bring in new technology suffering the most. Companies with a positive attitude to technology adoption had a 69% better than average experience of the recession, whereas technology laggards suffered a 34% worse recession experience than the average.

The survey was conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of BT Business and included responses from more than 7,200 small businesses across the UK.

The 2009 Business Pulse report is the UK’s largest survey of SMEs this year. The survey shows widespread recognition of the importance of technology in reducing costs and increasing efficiency and competitiveness. 30% of businesses said that they have saved money through using technology, 32% use technology to network and obtain advice and 28% have found more customers through its use. Nearly one in five cited the use of technology to support flexible working as having one of the most significant impacts on how they have managed the recession.

The Business Pulse survey identified the positive steps firms have taken to manage the downturn. Nearly twice as many technology innovators have seen an increase in turnover of 10+% compared to those small businesses reluctant to embrace new technology, the majority of which have seen their turnover decrease since the recession began.

Mick Hegarty, strategy director, BT Business said: “The small business community has fought bravely to survive the downturn. Our findings show that many small businesses believe we are now at a tipping point with a recovery almost upon us. We can also see that now more than ever technology has a critical role to play in the future success of these businesses, helping them to find new customers, market themselves more effectively and reduce costs. Investing in better technology is emerging as a measure of success in the future for many businesses.”

In terms of the technologies having the biggest impact, 61% said faster broadband speeds have had a positive impact on their business. Better web sites, better e-commerce and mobile devices were also particularly beneficial. More than 1 in 10 small businesses are looking for more advice and support on using technology to manage their business.

Smaller organisations are also increasingly turning to social media to improve the way they operate with one in five respondents turning to support forums, Twitter and blogs to market their business and attract and retain customers.

Lord Digby Jones, said, “The Business Pulse highlights that optimism is on the rise. Equipping firms with the right technology and support will help tip the economy from recession onto the road to recovery in 2010.”

Full findings of the Business Pulse will be revealed in Small Business Week 2009 and debated by a business leadership panel including business experts Peter Jones and Lord Digby Jones at the launch.

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bigmouthmedia Has Been Named One Of The UK’s Ten Fastest Growing Technology Companies For The Second Year Running

Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency made the list of major winners in the Deloitte Fast 50 2009 following another successful year of exponential expansion. Recording a growth rate of 4111% over the past five years, the company’s top ten listing was cited by the judging panel as evidence of the online sector’s growing influence.

“Trading conditions this year have been challenging to say the least, but the digital marketing sector’s increasing maturity and size has enabled us to pursue an ambitious growth strategy despite the economic situation. Cost-effectiveness and measurable ROI lie at the heart of what we do, and even in the most difficult of times these qualities make for a compelling business argument,” said Lyndsay Menzies, Group Chief Operations Officer at bigmouthmedia.

“We’re delighted to have been ranked so highly and are obviously happy that bigmouthmedia’s continued success across the group has been recognised. It’s a great boost for the entire team and underlines what a talented group of people we have here.”

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50, one of the UK’s foremost technology award programmes, is a ranking of the country’s fastest-growing technology companies based on percentage growth over five years. Now in its 12th year, the programme honours business growth, technological innovation and UK entrepreneurial spirit.

David Halstead, Partner TMT practice and Fast 50 Chairman, Deloitte said: “The large number of software and digital marketing companies in the 2008 Deloitte Fast 50 reflects the growing maturity of online enterprises. The web is approaching the next stage of its evolution, and successful business models are becoming entrenched.”

The complete list of winners is available at: http://www.deloitte.co.uk/fast50/

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Online Accountancy Firm Brookson Has Appointed bigmouthmedia To Handle Its Search Marketing Activity


A leading provider of accountancy, tax advice and support services, Brookson selected bigmouthmedia following an extensive search to identify the ideal partner to lead its digital marketing strategy. An established innovator in the sector, the move comes as the award-winning consultancy moves to establish its Navigator Money Manager portal as the UK’s preeminent suite of online financial tools.

“As a company we have been going through a revolution in recent times. We have fundamentally changed our business model and are going direct to market as we look to continue the company’s expansion, so clearly search engine optimisation is a critical part of that strategy,” said Martin Hesketh, Managing Director at Brookson.

“Together with its status as an industry leader, bigmouthmedia’s unrivalled experience in helping brands make the most of their online activity made the agency the only logical choice for the job.”

Founded in 1995, Brookson was recently shortlisted as a finalist in this year’s Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) awards for ‘Innovation of the Year’. The company’s 150-strong accountancy service now manages the financial affairs of over 9,000 customers, freelance contractors and individuals who work in business for themselves.

Brookson’s Navigator Money Manager portal underpins Brookson’s claim to offer one of the most innovative contractor accountant services available on the UK market. Allowing clients to access their business financial information 24/7, the system has been designed to helps customers run their businesses more effectively by providing up to date financial information at their finger tips.

Currently, ninety nine per cent of Brookson’s customers used the online tool to complete their last year-end accounts and each week the online portal records an average of 4500 unique visits.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming Brookson as a client. The company’s focus on innovation and invention is one that we share at bigmouthmedia, and this promises to be both an exciting and challenging campaign,” said Phil Acton, Head of Business Development at bigmouthmedia.

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Finding the Right Content Management Solutions

With vast amounts of continual information creation, many businesses find it difficult to fully leverage, manage, and distribute their information effectively. Implementing new technology in-house can be an expensive and problematic situation resulting in excess time and cost overruns. This is due to the innate learning curve required for successful integration, the inevitable distraction due to the overlap of daily duties, and a host of other externalities that can restrain progress.

Many businesses prefer an information technology consulting company that can assist them in tailoring and implementing data content management solutions. The goal of many businesses is to reduce the cycle-time involved with the continual loop of content creation, content enrichment, content management and content delivery. Since this loop is recurring, there is great value in designing a solution that, for instance; publishes content to the web, to print, or to wireless media in an efficient and effective fashion. Trying to manage all of this manually can be exhausting and trying to implement an in-house solution can be painful and risky resulting in an uncertain level of quality and reliability.

It is often difficult to find consulting businesses that not only guide businesses toward the right solutions, but also implement the solutions with candor and integrity. Ideally, it is good to start at the beginning using a business’s current technology and current processes. Then systematically choose the right out-of-the-box product(s) that can be customized to fit the business’s requirements.

Whether a business is looking for improved web content management, digital asset management, multi-channel systems, work flow management, or any combination thereof; a solid content management consultant would have the experience, the passion, the maturity and innovation required to arrive at a solution adapted to the business.

DPCI is a content management consultation business that not only has the high-level of requirements necessary for consulting, tailoring and implementing quality content management systems, but they also do it with integrity. They have a ten year track record of delivering content management solutions for many notable businesses in a wide range of industries. DPCI has the experience to help maximize the value of a business’s information content in both print and digital forms.

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Fasthosts and Microsoft launch WebsiteSpark

Fasthosts Internet Ltd, a leading web hosting provider, has announced its work with Microsoft to promote the new Microsoft WebsiteSpark program for web professionals. The initiative assists smaller web design and development companies in launching or growing their business by providing better access to the Microsoft web platform. The scheme delivers free Microsoft Server OS, free licenses for Microsoft Expression and Visual Studio software, as well as training and access to MSDN newsgroups.

Eligible Fasthosts customers can save over £240 a year in server licensing costs as well as valuable software licences direct from Microsoft. The scheme is an example of how businesses can gain significantly from discussing their technical requirements and business needs with Fasthosts. Fasthosts has been selected by Microsoft to promote the program benefits and guide eligible Windows Server customers through enrolment.

The Microsoft WebsiteSpark program offers new support for web design and development agencies with up to 10 employees. Eligible Fasthosts customers gain an immediate financial benefit – saving £240 per year with a free Windows Server license and saving even more with a free MSSQL license. Upon enrolment, members gain access to free Windows Expression Studio 2 (1 user license), Expression Web 2 (2 user licenses), Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (3 user licenses) and DotNetPanel control panel.

A great number of professionals and enterprises can achieve cost savings by discussing their server and software needs with a long-standing expert like Fasthosts. The company’s advisers are trained to identify and leverage the efficiencies that hosted technologies can deliver. By working-through requirements with Fasthosts, synergies between software and hardware can often be identified.

Steve Holford, CMO Fasthosts Internet Ltd., said: “WebsiteSpark is an excellent opportunity for smaller web agencies. It delivers exactly what they need most – free tools and practical help. As hosting partner to thousands of web pros, Fasthosts is well qualified to advise participants on how to apply Windows hardware and development tools to best effect.”

Simon Pryce, Director of Skylight Media, is a Fasthosts customer who enrolled in the WebsiteSpark program to help boost the web design side of the business. Pryce commented: “We had discovered WebsiteSpark through our business network, and our successful enrolment in the scheme led to us setting up additional dedicated servers with Fasthosts at the same time. The WebsiteSpark scheme is an ideal way for us to update our use of Windows Server technology, enabling us to save a significant sum of money on license fees. We were also delighted to find during our consultation with the ever-reliable Fasthosts, that these new server resources will save us money too, so we’re very pleased all round.”

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Data Cleansing Specialists Unveil New-Look Corporate Website

Tracesmart Corporate, data cleansing specialists and leading providers of consumer information services, have launched their new look corporate website. The redesign is not just skin-deep however, as it also includes an updated appearance to their intuitive online services, employed by a growing legion of operators to trace people and conduct identity checks. The redesign project was initiated following discussion with clients and prospects about site functionality.

Following in-depth market research with staff, customers and potential clients, the company embarked on a strategic overhaul of their business website to reflect the requirements and observations made by visitors during the research. The new look website and service portal was developed to portray Tracesmart Corporate as a modern and progressive organisation with a more welcoming and easier to understand user interface.

Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager commented, “Putting into practice the feedback we received during market research has paid dividends. We believe our new look corporate website presents a more customer focused and user friendly search facility. Our in-house web developers and design team have responded to the challenge and delivered a fresh, contemporary design that I’m sure our customers will greatly appreciate.”

The Tracesmart Corporate website provides access to a variety of data intelligence services such as self-key consumer tracing, existence checks anti money-laundering and know your customer identity verification. Users of these services come from a broad and growing range of industries that include, amongst others, the financial sector, professional services and the media.

Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director added just before its launch, “Following exhaustive examination of our previous site and listening to visitors and our customers, we were keen to improve the user experience and design. The website has gone through more than just a face lift and early indication from those consulted on the project suggests a more than favourable reaction. We are extremely delighted with the new design.”

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NoMoreServers.com, a site dedicated to the emergence of Computing-as-a-Service models

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE:RAX) has announced the launch of NoMoreServers.com, a site dedicated to the emergence of Computing-as-a-Service models (like hosting, cloud computing and SaaS) to power corporate computing.

To support this campaign, the hosting company has hired renowned hosting industry strategist Andrew Schroepfer. In his role, Schroepfer will cover the trend in depth from how providers are evolving to how real businesses are making this trend pay off.

“A new way to run business computing is emerging,” said Lanham Napier, president and CEO of Rackspace. “We have countless business customers tell us they are finished buying servers and are looking for a computing partner. People don’t want to buy standalone computing, they want computing as a service with Fanatical Support. This trend will have major implications on the entire IT industry, and there is no one more qualified to cover it day-to-day than Andy.”

NoMoreServers.com will feature daily and unique commentary explaining the next era in computing. In addition to filtering and reviewing interesting developments and third-party content about the NoMoreServers computing era, the site will feature daily commentary and a live community portal for visitors to engage on the topic and offers a white paper on the subject for community members.

Schroepfer has been a key analyst in the hosting industry since its inception in the late 1990s. From his beginnings at Piper Jaffray where he developed and managed the VoIP (Voice-over-Internet-Protocol) industry’s primary market statistics, Schroepfer published a 270-page report on the dis-aggregation of communications which sparked his coverage of the Web hosting industry. He then joined Goldman Sachs as VP and senior equity analyst on the Internet Infrastructure Services industry during the time when Equinix, Loudcloud (now HP), and Webex (now Cisco) were executing their IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). In late 2000, Schroepfer founded, led, and later sold Tier1 Research, the leading specialist research firm on the hosting and data centre industry whose insights and data remain highly relevant.

“Having covered the hosting industry since its inception, and having strongly recommended Rackspace since 2001, I am excited to now become a Racker,” said Andy Schroepfer. “I have always said Rackspace will be more than just a leader in hosting, and I am honoured to join the 2,700-strong Fanatical Support team tasked with sustaining and evolving our leadership role as the IT value chain is recast.”

Via EPR Network
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Tracesmart Bolster Their Database

Tracesmart, the online people search providers, have announced the addition of 100,000 rolling register updates for their tracing website. The new records will further assist customers when performing their online searches, delivering added accuracy to the Tracesmart facility. The new electoral roll data consists of individuals who have moved home or changed other details during the past month and have contacted their local authority to register their change of circumstance. The annual canvas of the UK population is undertaken during October every year, offering households the choice to opt out of the electoral roll if they wish. The option has given people the freedom to decide if their information is to be kept in the public domain, or only made available to those within local authority or credit reference agencies.

The number of people choosing to opt-out has risen since the opportunity was introduced in 2003, however the electoral roll continues to document millions of people and in 2009 the total amassed was 25 million records. Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director, explains that although this number is lower than previous years, he is confident that the company’s unique Tracesmart Register fills in the gaps, strengthening the database. Weathersby commented, “We were the first website to publish the monthly updates, and we know from listening to customers that this has benefited them greatly. The fresh data we upload monthly is in addition to the Tracesmart Register, which is a database of data compliant sources.”

The Tracesmart Register has 250,000 new record uploads every month, and the extra rolling register monthly additions bolster the websites positioning as the premium name search facility.

“We pride ourselves on the information we hold, and invest in the most current data available to us. This provides our customers with the best possible chance of a successful address search to find relatives or friends,” said Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Communications Manager.

Anyone who moves or changes their details is encouraged to contact their local authority or visit the website About My Vote to register or update their details.

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National SEO , Global SEO – Mirror, Mirror on the Web, Who’s the Fairest of Them All?

That’s what we say everyday, when peering into our looking glass of this information age: our computer monitors: “Who’s the fairest of them all?” In other words, whose website is #1, or at least on Page 1 of Google, the juggernaut of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) world? One of the technologies used by one of the leaders in National SEOand Global SEO and in their own backyard, Denver SEO, USWebCentral has one of the highest technologies available these days: Video SpokesPerson on your website. Another aspect is how to obtain more “square footage” high on search engine results pages.

What is a Video SpokesPerson? It is a filmed person, walking and talking on your website, in a 30 second commercial/ introduction, superimposed right onto the homepage of a website, or on any webpage. The SpokesPerson discusses the most important aspects of a company’s mission, presenting it in a compelling manner that is hopefully interesting to potential clients. The desire is that the SpokesPerson’s presentation will create a Call To Action, resulting in the potential client phoning or e-mailing the owner of the website to do business.

Having a Video SpokesPerson is one of the coolest technologies you can have these days. “Seeing their Video SpokesModel on their Denver web design site, immediately convinced me we had the right website and SEO consultant,” said Rand Soellner AIA, of Rand Soellner Home Architect, a leading custom home architect that engaged USWebCentral’s services earlier this year, “Actually seeing something different and cutting edge that works, that actually sets your website on a higher level of professionalism, now that’s the sort of thing that helps your website elevate in people’s minds and creates more clicks and therefore a higher ranking on search engines.”

Also, as an architect, Rand Soellner Architect deals in square footage of buildings and used this to describe the recent success of his revamped website with USWebCentral’s help: “We have a series of press releases about various hot topics and speak to those issues in which we are recognized leaders of the industry, like Green Home Architects, for instance. I have noticed that when I type in certain search terms, that not only do 1, 2 or 3 of my press releases pop up on page 1 or page 2 of Yahoo or Google, so does my main website, quite often. In other words, I own from 20% to 30% square footage of the organically searched results on page 1 and /or page 2, which is huge in SEO circles, I am told.”

Scott Carvin of USWebCentral agrees, getting a kick out of the term “Page 1 square footage percentage ownership” to describe what he is doing for his clients. “I started this trend of the Video SpokesPerson to make a difference, and it’s working. We are leaders in this technology. We actually digitally film everything right here in our own high-tech studio, and we have about 50 professional actors and anchor people and models on call, all of whom present themselves and our clients well. We allow our clients to pick the talent they want, or they can personally be the star of their own show, right there on their own website.”

Creating as much square footage ownership of Page 1 is Carvin’s mission, which he talks about like an impassioned evangelist, “I want my clients to succeed. If they do, they keep paying me to help their websites rank high, and I get new clients who want that kind of success, so that’s a win-win for all of us. We also provide a multi-pronged press release service that allows us to launch multiple press releases for clients, which will help accomplish the obtaining of the additional square footage on page1 and page 2 search engine results. If possible, we want our client to own the entire first page of Google search results, meaning that our clients, in their industry, are most of what people see, when searching for what our clients do.”

Carvin knows that owning an entire page on search results is a Nirvana-like utopian result that is not likely, but he has seen something near this with some of his clients’ search results. He is a client advocate whose desire is to place them on a pedestal for the whole world to see. Check out the Denver search engine optimization company online!

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HSBC Division Employ Tracesmart’s Proprietary Existence System

Tracesmart Corporate has been appointed by HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited (HACL) to provide their proprietary existence and tracing services. The facility will allow the verification of customer data against vital consumer information, including key UK mortality records; permitting the HSBC employee benefit consultancy to continuously and confidently monitor their client database in order to maintain contact with existing customers and highlight possible fraudulent activity.

HACL is part of the HSBC Group and a market leader in the UK specialising in actuarial and employee benefits consultancy, providing opinion, advice and services to pension scheme trustees, employers and individuals. It has become one of the leading employee benefits and actuarial consultancies in the UK.

Following stringent examination amongst stiff competition, including the incumbent, Tracesmart was recently awarded the three year preferred supplier contract. Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director commented, “Our meticulous procedures and thorough understanding of our customers’ requirements has successfully delivered yet another major account. Our existence facility and unique multi-tiered tracing solutions are currently delivering significant benefits to our clients. We look forward to working with HACL to deliver the best possible and most cost effective service available.”

Tracesmart, the Cardiff based data intelligence company, provides a comprehensive and unique facility to trace people, delivered by a team of in-house tracing agents, the service offers a tiered search solution to a growing number of companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small number of organisations to receive a weekly update of the UK Death Registration Information f r o m the General Register Office (GRO) to enhance its mortality screening facility. Approximately 12,000 deaths are recorded weekly in the UK, and this amassed information, combined with Tracesmart’s vast consumer database, drives the company’s proprietary service ‘Existence Alert’. The service is in essence a data cleansing process, which provides a continuous screening facility that identifies deceased individuals and ‘gone aways’ (people that move home without notifying a change of address) at the earliest possible moment, allowing appropriate action to be taken to minimise risk and combat escalating fraud such as the impersonation of the deceased.

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Free PDF Protection Tool

While some companies struggle to protect their PDF eBooks and PDF documents from unauthorized access, many are protecting their PDF documents and files easily and inexpensively. Largely because they have mastered the proven (but little-known) process of protecting their PDF documents with quick and efficient PDF protection methods.

That’s the opinion of BookGuard Pro, PDF eBook security company, and designer of this new free tool, the PDF Protection Analyzer.

“Small and medium sized businesses and individual PDF publishers today need solid, reliable information on what works in PDF security- and what doesn’t,” says Roger Hall, PDF security specialist. “As a freelance online author and PDF security specialist, I have hundreds of people contacting me asking questions such as:

– How can I structure my PDF security process to protect my PDF so my new PDF eBook won’t be copied?
– How can I get more cost-effective results from PDF security?

“I designed the free PDF Protection Analyzer, to give these folks some of the answers. What makes this PDF tool different is this: it’s not based upon theories or untested ideas. Each of the methods built into the PDF tool has been thoroughly tested, and proven in real-world online book and PDF document launches.”

Unlike many of today’s PDF services, Hall points out, this new PDF process tool has been released at no charge. “A lot of companies and individuals can’t afford to hire online security consultants. And it takes time to read an entire security book, listen to a CD or attend an online security seminar,” notes Hall. “This free PDF Protection Analyzer has been created for them, and takes less than 2 minutes to get.”

PDF protection methods analyzed in the free PDF tool include:

– how PDF passwords may be easily compromised
– why PDF security, PDF wrapping and live monitoring of PDF access is essential for most commercial PDF documents
– where to get effective, free help on boosting your PDF protection

Via EPR Network
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