The New SIGMAnet.com Launches on August 1

SIGMAnet's Marketing Team has been working diligently on our new website and is pleased to announce our official launch date - August 1, 2005! Our new website will offer detailed descriptions of our core business practices; Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), Technology Solutions & Services (TSS), and B2B Integration & eCommerce Services, as well as an overview of our strategic manufacturer alliances. We've experienced tremendous growth during the past 19 years and are pleased to showcase the "new" SIGMAnet on our website. Please visit us at www.sigmanet.com after August 1 to learn about the services and solutions that we can deliver to you!

SIGMAnet Achieves Cisco Silver Certified Partner Status

As a leading provider of Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), Technology Solutions & Services (TSS) and B2B Integration & eCommerce Services since 1986, SIGMAnet is pleased to announce that we have been awarded silver-level certification from Cisco Systems). To become a Cisco Silver Certified Partner, SIGMAnet had to meet or surpass the stringent personnel, training, customer satisfaction, specialization, and post-sales support requirements set forth by Cisco.

The program delivers state-of-the-art technical and sales training so that certified partners can increase their ability to deliver services related to the latest Cisco technologies for maximized productivity. Cisco Silver Certified Partners are recognized and rewarded for employing some of the industry's best-trained Engineers who can demonstrate their expertise in planning, designing, implementing and supporting Cisco network solutions. Our team of Engineers are audited annually to ensure that they consistently deliver industry-leading support and maintain the rigorous Cisco standards for network expertise and support capabilities.

As a Cisco Silver Certified Partner, SIGMAnet is the only Southern California-based partner with specializations in VPN Security, Wireless LAN and IP Communications solutions.

Now through October 31, 2005, HP and SIGMAnet are running a special promotion on the HP Sidewinder 4345mfp! If you evaluate a LaserJet 4345mfp and decide to purchase a minimum of 3 additional units, you get the evaluation unit for free - 4 MFPs for the price of 3!

Call your SIGMAnet Account Team for more details today.

Buyer's Lab Special Report: The HP LaserJet 4345xs mfp

In November 2004, HP introduced the LaserJet 4345xs mfp as a “low-cost, high-performance alternative to costly and complex copiers” Carrying a very low base suggested retail price (SRP), at $4,201, and free of any commitment to service contracts, the HP LaserJet 4345xs mfp is the company’s attempt to turn the conventional copier market on its head. Has it succeeded? The answer depends on the volume at which it is run and the applications for which it will be used. This report will analyze the unit’s life-cycle cost, including SRP and the other costs of running the unit (e.g., supplies and maintenance), as well as what the HP LaserJet 4345xs mfp offers the customer in terms of ease of use, feature set and available options, to evaluate whether it can hold its own in the 45-page-per-minute (ppm) copier-based market.

HP offers four configurations of the device (in order from the basic version to the most fully equipped): mfp, x mfp, xs mfp and sm mfp. All four versions are compact and come equipped with copy, network print and scar to e-mail functionality, 256 MB of RAM (upgradable to 12 MB) and a 20 GB hard disk drive (HDD). The xs mfp version, which was field tested by Buyers Laboratory, Inc. (BLI), also comes equipped with two standard 500-sheet paper drawers, a 100-sheet bypass tray, a 50-sheet reversing automatic document feeder (RADF), duplexing, walk-up fax capabilities and a stapler/stacker. Setting itself apart from traditional printer-based devices and from its predecessor, the HP LaserJet 4100mfp, the HP LaserJet 4345xs mfp offers a tightly integrated scanner. Further, although like most printers it feed paper short-edge first, the device is setup so paper flows from right to left (instead of from back to front), giving this device the feel of a traditional copier.

For more information, please click here.

Nortel Launches New Security Solutions

On June 15, Nortel announced new security solutions to provide anywhere, anytime protection, as well as enhanced security for Sabre's Travel Reservations Network with one of the world's largest SSL VPN deployments.

Customers grapple with concerns about protecting sensitive information and intellectual property at the same time as trying to enhance user quality of experience and adhere to regulatory compliance. Nortel is highlighting two security solutions that address these key security concerns while minimizing operating costs and minimizing exposure to risk. Secure Information Access Solution and Secure Multimedia Solution.

Please contact your SIGMAnet Account Team to learn more about Nortel's Security Solutions.

Symantec Patches Veritas Bug

Symantec has released software that fixes critical vulnerabilities in the company's Veritas Backup Exec and Veritas NetBackup software.

A flaw in the Network Data Management Protocol agent, used by the Veritas backup software, could allow an attacker to gain access to the system and download files, according to a Symantec (Profile, Products, Articles) statement.

The Metasploit penetration testing tool kit already takes advantage of this vulnerability, and there are reports that exploits for the flaw are already being used by attackers, Symantec said.

The bug affects a wider range of software than Symantec first reported last week, including NetWare versions of the NetBackup software.

Details on the vulnerability and links to the software patches can be found here

New Security Threat Within?

On the eve of the third anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability law, it isn't just the accountants who are making money.

Chief executive officers, now personally responsible for the accuracy of the company's public reporting, are finding that they can't ensure the fidelity of their financial statements unless they can control access to their computer networks.

And they are finding that the biggest danger to their data isn't outside the computer firewall. It's an inside job.

"We've had the impression that the biggest threat is some 15-year-old compute genius in Helsinki," says Charles Kennedy, an attorney with Morrison & Foerster's Washington, D.C., practice. "But it's the insider they've got to worry about."

Details on the article can be found here

Why HP Integrity Servers?

Be nimble. Be quick. HP Integrity Servers are capable of executing one million transactions per minute* and built to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. Supported by Intel® Itanium® 2 technology, Integrity is the most powerful line of industry-standard servers available today. Providing you with the computing power to adapt, evolve and change faster than anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Find out how HP's range of standards-based Integrity servers can help your business move at the speed of change. Contact your SIGMAnet Account Team today for information on HP's family of Integrity Servers and current promotions.

HP Virus Throttle Secures Your Network

Whether you measure loss by cost or productivity, enterprise security risks are higher than ever. In fact, the loss in productivity from spam alone costs employers nearly $2,000 per year per employee. Viruses also cause huge losses with their "denial of service" attacks, grinding business to a halt. And the endless stream of security fixes and patches that must be managed and deployed put an enormous burden on IT staffs.

As a leading innovator in IT security, HP believes the most effective way to reduce threats, protect privacy and maintain business continuity is for security to be built into every part of your IT systems right from the start, not bolted on afterwards.

HP Virus Throttle, a new feature of the ProCurve Switch 5300xl for ProLiant servers and the HP BladeSystem architecture stops virulent worms dead in their tracks. Also newly available as a defense for the HP-UX 11i v2 operating system is the HP Security Containment Suite. Further, HP Labs is revealing more ways to hobble vicious viruses in the future.

With HP and SIGMAnet, you get trustworthy systems, protected by proactive and innovative security products, solutions and services for comprehensive enterprise security — security that's built into your IT system right from the start.

New Printing Technology Delivers Record-Breaking Speed

It's been five years in the making, fueled by a $1.4 billion strategic R&D investment. The payoff? Scalable printing technology: A new way to deliver record-breaking printing speed and precision from HP.

More nozzles also allow more dots of ink to eject onto a given space — and to do so more accurately — greatly improving image quality.

It's all due to an HP design innovation that fits 3,900 nozzles on a single printhead, more than ever possible. With more nozzles, ink fires onto the page much faster, which greatly speeds printing. More nozzles also allow more dots of ink to eject onto a given space — and to do so more accurately — greatly improving image quality.

It all adds up to increased speed and high-precision printing for the HP Photosmart 3300, 3200 and 3100 All-in-One series of printers — with two of the world's fastest (1) home photo printing devices: the HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One and the HP Photosmart 8250 Photo Printers. Each delivers 4x6 photos in as fast as 14 seconds — cutting current print speeds by almost half. (2) Introduced on July 11, (3) these printers take advantage of the new scalable printing technology that's meant to catapult HP's leadership in the printer market years ahead of competitors.

Contact your SIGMAnet Account Team today for more details on the world's fastest ink-based printers!

Comments or suggestions? Please contact SIGMAnet's Marketing Department at 909.230.7096 or e-mail us at sliu@sigmanet.com