Northrop starts work on IT center
Los
Angeles-based defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. broke ground on
a new information technology center in Chesterfield County, Va..
In addition to Northrop IT operations, the Northrop Grumman
Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center will also house the Virginia
Information Technologies Agency.
The center will have
approximately 185,000 square feet of office space on 28 acres. In
addition to serving as Virginia's primary data center, the facility will
also host a video broadcast studio, a security operations center, a
technology lab, a training room and a fitness center. Construction of
the building is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2007.
United Online debuts PrivatePhone
Woodland
Hills-based United Online Inc. launched a new service called
PrivatePhone, offering a free phone number and voice mail to any area
code in America, without divulging personal information.
Users
may sign up either through the Internet or through a mobile phone. Users
may set up a text-messaging service to alert them when a new voice mail
has been received. PrivatePhone voice mail may be checked through a
phone or via the Internet.
Customers using United Online's
NetZero Voice service may set up direct forwarding to a mobile or
landline phone. United Online is touting the security features of the
service. Because the purpose of the phone number is to serve as either a
voice mail or forwarding number, users may freely publish the number
without fear of the number being used for purposes of identity theft.
United Online provides consumer Internet subscription services
through a number of brands, including NetZero, NetZero Voice, Juno, and
Classmates.
Comtrend releases auto-configuration
tool
Irvine-based Comtrend Corp. released its new Comtrend
Auto-Configuration Server (ACS).
The Comtrend ACS is designed to
interface with all DSL Forum TR-069 compatible customer premise
equipment (CPE) products. The Comtrend ACS will provide telecom service
providers with abilities such as remote CPE WAN Management, secure
auto-configuration, dynamic service provisioning, remote firmware
management, view status and performance monitoring.
The Comtrend
ACS uses an XML protocol for low bandwidth overhead communications with
CPE.
IT worker confidence declines
The Hudson
Employment Index for IT workers edged down 1.1 points to 108.8 in May. A
significant decrease in the number of workers who believed their
finances were improving contributed to the decline in IT worker
confidence. However, that was offset by an increase in the number of
workers satisfied with their jobs. Despite the decline, the latest
reading is considerably higher than last May, when it registered 93.2.
The composite index also fell 5.4 points to 102.3. The work force
was less satisfied with their finances in May, as the percent rating
their situation as excellent or good fell from 45 percent in April to 43
percent.
There was also a three-point decrease to 40 percent in
the number of workers who indicated their personal finances were
improving, taking this to the lowest level since November 2005.
Additionally, the number of workers expecting their employers to
hire returned to 32 percent in May after jumping to 34 percent in April.
Managers also cooled their hiring plans, as the number anticipating a
boost in headcount edged down a point to 33 percent.
IXIA loses marketing head
Calabasas-based
IXIA reported that its vice president of marketing, Alan Amrod, has
resigned and will leave the company at the end of the second quarter.
Amrod has worked for IXIA since August 2003. IXIA provides test
systems for IP-based infrastructure and
services.
TechTarget buys 20/20
Software
TechTarget of Needham, Mass., acquired 20/20 Software
Inc., whose Web site lets companies test out business software
applications.
Los Angeles-based 20/20 Software was founded in
1996 and is not affiliated with an identically named Stamford, Conn.,
firm that sells software for use by photographers..
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