Sunnier Sentiment on Memorial Day Travel

IBM 2012 Midmarket CEO Study Webcast

Join us for the IBM 2012 Midmarket CEO Study Webcast - "Driving Business Partner growth in a connected world," on June 5, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

This webcast will help you understand how Midmarket CEOs are responding to the complexity of increasingly interconnected organizations, markets, societies, and governments - what we call the connected economy.

Register HERE.

Survivor @TayBell25 Tries to Get Rid of #Stigma Surrounding #LungCancer #in

Thank  you, Taylor!

Learn more about lung cancer at www.NobodyDeservesIt.com.

Have you tried the bCase iPad presentation application yet? #IBMPartners #in

[via PartnerWorld] Earlier this month, IBM announced the launch of the Midmarket bCase iPad sales enablement application. IBM bCase is designed for you, our valuable Business Partner, and is a simple, yet powerful tool to help you initiate a business conversation with a prospective customer by delivering impactful presentations via your iPad, Designed from the ground up keeping Midmarket customers in mind, the application will be a robust selling tool in your briefcase.

Click here to view a 10-minute demo video on YouTube that will run you through all the features in this powerful tool and help you maximize your client presentations.

bCase Application Highlights:

• Effectively develop and present business cases whenever you need them, wherever you are, enhancing face-to-face client meetings. 
• Quickly assemble slides, organized by solution areas, that include key customer questions, smarter solutions, product benefits, competitive differentiators, case studies, videos, white papers and more. 
• Choose from hundreds of slides arranged in several areas critical to midsize businesses, including Cloud, BAO, CRM, Security and Virtualization. 
• Assemble presentations and save your favorites for repeated use. 
• Use the web CMS (Content Management System) to create custom slides, edit existing slides and much more. 
• Designed for the iPad--use standard touch, swipe and pinch gestures to be able to quickly navigate around the application in a way you are used to. 
• Send presentations via e-mail immediately using the iPad's in-built e-mail functionality and even print the materials you create for client leave-behinds. 
• Lastly, but not the least, the application is free to download. 

Don't forget to check out the content management system at www.ibm.com/partnerworld/bcase to customize content and push it to your iPad. The content management system was designed to enable customization of presentation content & sharing of content within your organization.

Log in and: 

• Select from slide templates to add your own content 
• Customize pre-created IBM content 
• Select from a mix of IBM & 3rd party assets to add to slides--imagery, whitepapers, videos, etc 
• Once customization is complete, tag content appropriately and slides push automatically to app 
• From the app, build your custom presentations 

Getting bCase
To download bCase, please visit the iTunes store via your iPad and search for "IBM bCase," or simply click here to download the application via launching iTunes. Once you've downloaded the application, sign in using your existing PartnerWorld ID and password.

Needless to say, we will continue to develop the application by adding new features, more slides, new offers and assets and even new solution areas. With this bCase iPad application, you'll always have powerful sales presentations literally at your fingertips, with just a few taps on the screen.

If you like the application, please help spread the word by rating the application 5 stars in the Apple app store. For help, support or general comments, please feel free to contact bCase-Support@in.ibm.com.

Build flexible, sustainable infrastructure w/ room 4 innovation #in order to meet future health data needs.

Revitalizing your Healthcare Infrastructure
by Deanna Nole
This article was originally published on IBM's "Mastering Data Management" blog on May 11th, 2012

Driven by competition and regulations, healthcare leaders are under tremendous pressure to control operational cost, improve service delivery quality and provide a more coordinated and personalized healthcare system.

To bring transformational change in their business, healthcare leaders need reliable and accessible information to prioritize and allocate funding, resources and technology to remain competitive and ensure compliance with regulatory quality measurements.

It is a daunting task to glean the right information from a complex IT environment littered with information silos. Healthcare providers cannot calculate the true cost of care if they cannot correlate data that describes the resources and cost of care provided with patient outcomes and post-discharge patient satisfaction. If healthcare leaders don’t pay enough attention, the silos will multiply and make IT more complex with every changing business need, competition and regulatory requirement.

So, how can we build healthcare data infrastructure that meets the future needs?

Well, it's impossible to design for all future needs out of the gate. Flexibility and adaptability are the keys to a sustainable data infrastructure and remaining innovative and agile to meet your analytics needs. You need to enable resources with tools that allow you to spend more time leveraging insights from the data, rather than spending time managing the data.

To really enable your organization with the right data infrastructure, consider these factors:

• Align business and technical resources with a common target and vocabulary to accelerate progress on your initiatives
• Increase agility and decrease time to deliver new reports to your decision makers with a design optimized for analytics
• Enable department heads with the tools they need to be innovative and collaborative
• Adapt to evolving regulatory requirements to maximize reimbursements and compliance
• Expand analytical dashboards and reports to include emerging clinical areas without re-implementing an entire platform

"All-in-one" data warehouse solutions and Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) may deliver the capabilities needed to support near term, tactical objectives for regulatory compliance reporting for CMS and other government agencies. But they may not support the innovation and collaboration for a healthcare organization to transform care delivery, remain competitive, and optimize quality of care. Packaged business intelligence solutions may not support existing technology design investments, and may require compliance with an application-specific and rigid data model.

Achieving rapid and successful analytical value requires the proper balance of a comprehensive data schema design across clinical, financial, and operational data elements paired with the ability to support existing models and technologies. Only a flexible model structure developed specifically for the healthcare industry can support this goal.

@Frost_Sullivan and @MidmarketIBM to host a #virtualization webcast for midsize businesses. #in

Virtualization for Midsize Businesses: Keep Your Foot on the Accelerator

Event Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 2:00 PM EDT

Could you be driving a wedge between your midsize business’s productivity and innovation without even knowing it? If your midsize business is like most, you have already ‘virtualized’ a portion of your servers and plan to do more, but without transforming the way in which you manage your new virtualized environment you could face another set of problems.

Learn more and register for the webcast HERE.

Health #Analytics: The Next Great Catalyst for the Miracle of Medicine #in

by Basit Chaudhry, MD, PhD - Medical Scientist, IBM Research
This was originally published on IBM's "Building a Smarter Planet" blog on May 18th, 2012.

The U.S. healthcare system is capable of producing breathtaking innovations that drive progress forward.  New frontiers open up on an almost regular basis. This is the “miracle of medicine.” At the same time, however, advancements made at the leading edge of science are slow to diffuse through the system and enormous inefficiencies exist in how scarce resources are used. Our ability to generate new scientific knowledge and develop advanced medical technologies has never been greater. Our ability to apply those innovations rationally in practice has not kept pace, unfortunately.

One of the major reasons for this disconnect has been the limited integration of data into the care delivery enterprise. Too often clinical decisions need to be made based on intuition and opinion alone, leading to significant variations in care and waste. Medical knowledge continues to expand at dizzying rates that push practicing state of the art medicine beyond the cognitive capacity of any individual. The absence of data and knowledge at the point of care helps create a gulf in quality between the science of medicine and it’s application in practice.

To address these issues, the Robert  H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and IBM organized a workshop of thought leaders to address how data analytics can be harnessed to transform healthcare. The purpose of the workshop was to explore how quantitative approaches pioneered in other fields such as operations management, statistics, economics and information science can be leveraged to help create new models for service delivery in healthcare.

While the problems of ever growing costs and variable quality in healthcare delivery are daunting. The good news is that pathways for improvement are emerging. Historically, quantitative data has been difficult to access due to low levels of information technology adoption in clinical care. This is changing rapidly. Over 40% of physician offices and 80% of hospitals have now adopted electronic health records. Large scale clinical and financial data assets are emerging as never before, opening up the possibility for transforming healthcare like industries such as retail and manufacturing have already done.

Digitizing medical records isn’t enough however. For industry transformation to occur, that data needs to be analyzed and the results of that analysis integrated into the care delivery process; knowledge needs to diffuse into clinical workflows and back to patients in a continuous process.  In this way, new insights into how best to deliver care are generated, shared and amplified on an ongoing basis that will make care more convenient, higher value and ultimately more humane.

Fashioning these new data driven approaches to care delivery will be challenging however given how clinical practice has traditionally been organized. The University of Maryland-IBM workshop explored how advanced data analytics can be applied to healthcare to spur innovation in service deliver at the point of care. An example of this kind of breakthrough is IBM Watson for Healthcare. This technology can analyze massive stores of structured and unstructured medical data and provide answers to clinical questions posed in natural human language.

Rising costs and deficits in quality have made transforming the healthcare system a national priority. While the problems are significant, promising solutions exist and are already being put into practice around the country. Innovation is needed but at the same time we don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel. Learning from how other fields and other industries can provide a vital map for changing the value proposition that the healthcare system offers the country.

Drawing insight from data has been fundamental to the advancement of industries around the globe, creating vibrant change such as increasing productivity and improving customer service. Similarly, large scale innovation is possible in how we deliver and pay for healthcare. Analytics will be vital to this transformation as well. The lessons are there. We now have the tools to learn in healthcare as well.

Bringing #hope home.

Lung Cancer "Living Room" Support Group

Are you a newly diagnosed lung cancer patient, or a patient in any place in your diagnosis?  Are you looking for support, patient education and empowerment, help in obtaining second opinions with some of the foremost thought leaders in the world, or just need an informed ear to bend?  Then, contact Danielle Hicks, Director of Patient Advocacy at The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (BJALCF), to learn more about the Lung Cancer "Living Room". 

This monthly support group welcomes patients, survivors, families and friends. The hope is that during the time together, we will share stories, talk through difficulties, give advice that only someone who really knows can give, raise awareness and offer support.  The group also features guest speakers and some of the foremost thought leaders in the world on lung cancer.

The Lung Cancer "Living Room" meets on the third Tuesday of every month in San Carlos, CA.  However, anyone one can join and participate from anywhere in the world via live streaming and chat on UStream.  

For more information on attendig in person or via UStream, contact Danielle.

Tuesday evening, May 15th, I attended my first "Living Room" session from my laptop in the kitchen of my home outside Atlanta, Georgia.  I was amazed at what a wonderful and effective resource this is - from an emotional as well as an informational perspective.  You will not be dissapointed.

Joe Gaeta
President - The Joan Gaeta Lung Cancer Fund (an affiliate of BJALCF)

NYC #DigitalMedia Company Succeeds w/ @IBMAnalytics #in

A New York City digital media marketing firm recently invested $1 million in IBM Netezza in order to move from merely data analytics to Smarter Analytics.  Don’t get left behind your competitors; consider what IBM’s Smarter Analytics Solutions and  Netezza have to offer today.

IBM Netezza’s analytic appliance helps digital media companies like Google, MediaMath, InterClick, AppNexus, AOL Advertising, and 24x7 Real Media better monetize their content and services.  IBM Netezza has developed an innovative new low-cost, easy-to-use solution that enables rapid analysis of the vast quantities of clickstream and customer data that digital media companies already collect daily.

IBM Netezza Digital Media Clients

IBM Netezza’s Analytic Appliance enables a best-of-breed approach to solving common digital media challenges involving ad targeting, yield optimization, attribution analysis, and website optimization.  Ultimately, IBM Netezza’s simple high-performance solution for terabyte-scale data analysis helps digital media companies to better deliver the right messages to the right people at the right times.  Solving this problem translates directly into increased advertising revenue, subscription revenue, and transaction revenue. With its raw performance and simplicity, the IBM Netezza appliance powers real-time, in-depth analyses of year-over-year data to optimize essential digital media solutions such as:

•           Ad Targeting (search, display, email, direct mail)

•           Website Optimization

•           Yield Optimization

•           Click-thru / View-thru Analysis

•           Ad Sales Analysis and Inventory Forecasting

•           Click Fraud Analysis

•           SEM Keyword Portfolio Bid Price Optimization

•           Network Usage Analysis

Contact me today to learn more and to set up an appointment!

#IBM #Mobile Strategy for #SocialBusiness

by Ed Brill
Originally published on www.EdBrill.com, 15 May 2012.

Ed Brill has posted the latest version of the IBM Social Business presentation on mobile strategy. The presentation covers solutions available from IBM software for mobile social business, business intelligence, and commerce, as well as a deep dive on Lotus Notes Traveler, IBM Connections Mobile, IBM Sametime Mobile, IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices (nee BigFix), Lotus Mobile Connect, and custom application development through XPages or IBM Worklight.

I suspect when you review this that you'll find as I did that only IBM offers this range and depth of solutions for the mobile web and social business.

The presentation PDF can be downloaded from SlideShare in addition to being viewed below.

View more presentations from Ed Brill

Are your data backups killing you? Learn about STORServer Backup Applicances today! #in #ibmtivoli

***Updated Information:  IBM/STORServer Business Partner, CHATR Data Solutions, is scheduling a free webinar to go over this amazing appliance on May 23rd at noon.  CLICK HERE to learn more!***
- Joe Gaeta, 5/16/12

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STORServer Backup Appliances are entry level, fully integrated, scalable, solutions for backup and archive. Each appliance includes certified hardware and easy-to-use software for comprehensive, reliable data protection.  This appliance is built on IBM’s hardware and software and sets a new bar for ease of use, automation, and reliability. 

Features include:

• Centralized management
• Single point of contact for training, warranty and support
• Support for most OS, email and database platforms
• Disk-to-disk OR disk-to-tape
• NAS, SAN, LAN, WAN friendly
• Integrates smoothly with most storage devices
• Support for remote and branch offices
• Policy-based data retention
• Automated tape management

Benefits include:

• Quick to install
• Easy to learn and use
• Reduced network-bandwidth
• Minutes a day to manage
• Full backup immediately available for restore  
• Meets RPO, RTO and business continuity requirements
• Scalable - STORServer solves your backup problem "Once and for all"

If you are an smaller enterprise requiring 7TB to 40TB of data storage, STORServer has a solution to get you started AND keep you going as your needs change.

In the New York area?  CHATR Data Solutions is the top reseller of the STORServer appliance.  Check out their STORServer demo video from this year's PULSE Conference in Las Vegas:

Contact me today to schedule an appointment with CHATR Data Solutions, an IBM Business Partner and STORServer expert!

Check out my #IBM Rep Page today! #in

For the latest news and info on IBM Software - including video demos, info on upcoming events and promotions, as well as the ability to text or video chat w/ me - go to www.ibm.com/myrep/jagaeta.

Bookmark it and check back often!

Read the White Paper “How to Select a Backup Appliance” #in

In recent discussions with some of my clients, they’ve been telling me about their challenges around identifying and setting up a smart data backup plan with 24x7x365 protection.  They need a data storage solution that’ll grow with their business and is safe, reliable, secure, and scalable.

If you’re experiencing these same challenges, I'd like to suggest you read the white paper “How to Select a Backup Appliance” so you can be better equipped to make smarter decisions around data storage and backup.

Contact me today to learn more about STORServer and to schedule a meeting with IBM STORServer partner, CHATR Data Solutions.

Join the First Smarter Commerce Twitter Chat on May 23 @2p #in #mmSCchat

by Paul Gillin
This post was originally published on IBM's Midsize Insider blog on 5.9.12.
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First the good news: Internet commerce is a level playing field in which midsize companies can compete with large corporations.

Now the not-so-good news: Empowered customers have more influence than ever. Retailers need to be able to predict market disruptions quickly and react accordingly – or risk losing control over their brands.

IBM Smarter Commerce helps midsize companies optimize every phase of the commerce cycle. It can help midsize businesses create a seamless, optimized system that connects departments like procurement, marketing, sales and more to transform your organization into an empowered, data-driven company. You get the competitive advantage of seeing trends develop and anticipating customer needs before anybody else does.

Is your business ready for Smarter Commerce? Join the conversation on the IBM Mid-Market Smarter Commerce Twitter chat! Our panelists will include some of the top Mid-Market influencers in the industry. IBM Experts, business partners, business owners and managers are all encouraged to join in, ask questions, and share their knowledge in a relaxed atmosphere.

When

Wednesday May 23rd @2PM EST

Topic

The empowered customer is changing the balance of power in the retail industry. 

Is your business ready?

How to Join

The chat can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #mmSCchat

or log on and access the chat on twebevent: http://twebevent.com/mmSCchat