IT worker confidence down

Confidence among IT workers plunged over 12 points from 109.9 to 97.5 in August. This is only the second time in its history that it fell below the base of 100. Sector employees rating their finances as excellent or good fell dramatically from 62 percent the previous month to 47 percent in August.

In addition, only 70 percent stated they were happy in their current jobs, compared to 75 percent in July. U.S. worker confidence fell 5.5 points, taking it to the lowest level on record as the national Hudson Employment Index dropped below the base of 100, also for only the second time ever, to 98.2.

Interland sells server assets

Atlanta-based Interland, a provider of Web sites and online services for small and medium-sized businesses, sold its dedicated server assets to Peer 1 Network Enterprises, Inc., a provider of high performance Internet infrastructure, for a purchase price of approximately $14 million in cash.

Peer 1 Network acquired approximately 8,300 servers, as well as operating facilities in Atlanta, Miami, and Fremont, Calif. The dedicated server assets accounted for approximately 37 percent of Interland's revenues for the nine-month period ending May 31, 2005.

FlickStation, iDEA partner

Atlanta-based FlickStation Media, a developer of software for digital home entertainment, announced a promotion that enables members of the Independent Dealers of Entertainment Association (iDEA) to subscribe to the FlickBuyer DVD purchasing software at a discount of almost 40 percent.

The FlickBuyer software solution analyzes 26 different criteria for each new release and advises the video retailer which titles and how many copies should be purchased, based on each store's budget. In addition, FlickBuyer's new advanced options allow video retailers to customize each store's customer base, using demographic filters. These filters are applied on a store-by-store basis and automatically carry through to consecutive months.

WinRAR chooses SwiftCD

Atlanta-based SwiftCD was selected by WinRAR GmbH for the manufacturing and fulfillment of the new WinRAR Shareware CD release. WinRAR makes file-compression tools.

In addition to WinRAR, the new shareware CD includes 20 other shareware titles, as well as discounts from between 15 and 45 percent on the purchase price of each. Titles on each CD include Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Bitdefender Professional Plus, Spyware Doctor, ACDSee, FolderMatch, FolderClone, Firetrust Mailwasher Pro, Privacy Guardian, Registry Mechanic, Remote Administrator, Outpost Personal Firewall Pro, Printfolder Pro, and Spam Monitor.

Ownersite teams with Sparkfly

Roswell-based Ownersite Technologies announced a one-year agreement with Sparkfly to offer the features and benefits of Ownersite.com to employees of leading Fortune 1000 companies through Sparkfly's multi-channel employee incentives program.

The agreement will further expand the range of services available to Sparkfly's customers by providing access to Ownersite.com at a preferred rate. Sparkfly's clients include The Coca-Cola Co., Delta Air Lines, SunTrust Bank, and The Weather Channel.

EZ Prints CEO noted

Atlanta-based EZ Prints announced that its president and CEO, Jamie Bardin, has been included in Catalyst Magazine's Catalyst 50, which recognizes the top 50 entrepreneurs in Georgia, for the second year in a row.

EZ Prints, Inc is a digital image management and products fulfillment company serving the retail, consumer, professional, real estate, and digital content markets.

Benchmark releases erasure product

Alpharetta-based Benchmark Technology Group, a provider of branch automation solutions and technology management services, released Remote Erasure Management (REM), a data erasure solution that makes it possible to schedule or immediately erase computers and hard drive data from a remote location.

REM is a result of a strategic alliance formed in January, 2005 between Benchmark and Marietta-based Absolute Data Security, the U.S. distributor of Blancco data erasure products.

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