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November 5, 2003 (No.
18)
The NTC News Summary
Edition Sponsor is
NTC Sustaining Sponsor
for this Edition is
Other NTC Sustaining
Sponsors, here.
The next edition of
the news summary is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov.
11.
UPFRONT:
Before Country's
biggest stars strut the Grand Ole Opry
stage for the 37th Annual CMA
Awards tonight, they'll be
Web-streamed (vid-only) from the Red Carpet
outside, for the first time in five years,
beginning 4 p.m. CST, according to CMA Information
Technology Manager Daniel Owen. Still-photo "flip
books" and slide shows will also be featured, with
shots from both stage and carpet.
PERSACIS is founded by
former Medibuy alums Estep and Shah, offering
software and management for OR, ER, supply-chain.
Underlying belief: providers don't make the most
of applications they've acquired, Nash. Bus.
Journal, Oct. 31, p. 4, here. Persacis release, here.
LaVergne-based
Quanta Computer
Inc.'s original-design owner
status, notebook-computer growth, should help
local operations succeed in sustaining local jobs
where Flextronics, Celestica, Solectron
floundered, Tennessean, 1E, Nov. 5, here.
Mandate IT Security
audits? Florida congressman calls ITAA, U.S.
Chamber, TechNet, Bus. Software Alliance into
meeting today (11/5) to discuss his push to
require public corporations to perform IT Security
audits, with SEC enforcement, Washington Post,
Nov. 4, here.
Link2Gov President Ed
Braswell told NTC Monday (11/3) his firm's
State/Local client base nationally has increased
dramatically during the current year. Firm
signed Missouri government for credit- and
check-processing, Nov. 1, Tennessean, scroll down
here. Link2Gov rel., here.
Visiting Murfreesboro
site, Verizon Wireless CEO Denny Strigl
described center's role handling "exceptions"
seeking cell-number portability. He sees rising
wireless data transmission, Tennessean, Nov. 2,
here. Verizon Wireless will spend $1
billion+ on ads, Washington Post, Oct. 31, here.
Cold Feet
Creative's
'self-serve' Emma
e-mail marketing product receives warm
reception in U.S. and abroad, Nash. Bus.
Journal, p. 3, Oct. 31, here.
Proprietary-software
meeting: Nov. 21, NTC President David Condra
will convene a by-invitation meeting of NTC
Members who are creating proprietary software
products they own, re-sell, license, deliver via
web, etc. More than 20 firms have already
expressed interest in exploring the interests of
local proprietary-software creators, with an eye
toward possible creation of an NTC
special-interest group focusing on software
development/marketing. Initial emphasis is on
firms that create products for sale to other
enterprises. If your firm meets these criteria,
please write here or call (615)
743-3168.
Nashville's Cybera
Inc. is early adopter of New
Edge Nets' wholesale bandwidth, Release, Oct. 4, here.
Chordant Distribution
Group releases Chordant
Core Inventory tool to help
music dealers keep hottest tunes in stock,
Nash. Bus. Journal, Nov. 3, here.
Equinox Information
Systems gains PowerNet Global business, Nash.
Bus. Journal, Oct. 31, p. 15, not on web. Equinox
release.
Franklin-based
SDS
Inc. partners with Manatron to land Gwinnett County (Ga.)
business for parcel-mapping and government revenue
management system, BW Release Oct. 30, here.
Private Business
agrees to help sell BankIQ of Louisville,
Tennessean, 3E, Oct. 30, here. Related release, BW Oct. 29, here.
Private Business shows 3Q gain, 3E, Tennessean,
Oct. 31, scroll here.
Related release BW Oct. 30, here.
Smyrna-based
Insequence Corp. announced Sequential Parts
Delivery (SPD) Pro Version
Six, Nash. Bus. Journal, Oct. 31, not on web.
Dell Inc. reportedly
revamping tech help function, Washington Post,
Oct. 30, here.
First Tennessee
Bank migrates
to Fidelity Information Services' operations
outsourcing, part of 5-year deal, here. Bank also partners with Pacific
WebWorks re: Intellipay distribution, BW Oct. 31,
here.
Boult
CummingsHQ will
have video conferencing, IP telephony, Nash. Bus.
Journal, Oct. 31, p. 17, here.
Baker Donelson Bearman
Caldwell & Berkowitz won Web Marketing
Association Standard of Excellence Award for
website, Nash. Bus. Journal, Oct. 31, p. 15, not
on web. Release here.
Brentwood-based Corporate Board
Member Magazine links
"America's Best Corporate Lawyers" listings with
LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's listings, Nash.
Bus. Journal, p. 15, Oct. 31, here.
Mailnet Services is
partnering with J. Nissi to for national push
of Churchmailer.com, Nash. Bus. Journal, Oct. 31,
p. 15, not on web. Also in NTC Oct. 15 summary,
here.
EDS Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) Solutions said Nov. 3 it has
sold 5,000+ licenses for NX Nastran software, in
about 60 days. Nissan Motor site in Mich. is early
adopter. Release, here.
Comdata Stored Value
Systems subsidiary and Salt Lake City's Gift
Card Solutions have integrated an electronic cash
card program for New World Restaurant Group, Nash.
Bus. Journal, Oct. 15, p. 15, here.
HEALTHCARE:
With 3rdQtr cash-flow
positive, HealthStream CEO Frist says firm will
focus on growth, adds sales staff here and
Denver, adds products, seeks increased
utilization, Tennessean, Nov. 3, here. HealthStream reports 3Q loss, Oct.
29, Tennessean, here.
HealthStream release Oct. 28, here.
Thriving Sy.Med,
once "Medilink," doubling Maryland Farms space
as credentialing revenues approach $2 million
target, Nash. Bus. Journal, p. 6, Oct. 31, not on
web.
WebMD Envoy announce
$50,000 fund at Community Foundation to help
nursing-home fire victims, release Oct. 29, PR
Newswire, here.
WEST & EAST
TENN:
Knoxville
News-Sentinel appeals for statewide support for
Tennessee Tennessee Tech Corridor, Nov. 3,
News-Sentinel (opinion), here.
SCB Computer
Technology (CIBER) wins USDA IT contracts totaling
$6 million, Commercial Appeal, Oct. 30, here. SCB sale to CIBER could
mean more jobs, Oct. 29, Commercial Appeal, here.
Cingular leases more
distribution space in Memphis, Commercial
Appeal, Oct. 31, here.
Federal Express
donates $100K to Fire Museum, Commercial
Appeal, Nov. 1, here.
Memphis'
defense-industry "Inventory Locator Service"
website recognized, Commercial Appeal, 10/29,
here.
Oak Ridge Natl Lab
service to U.S. intelligence community has grown
since "9/11," Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 31,
here.
Knox County is
determined to have one of best e-Gov websites,
Knox. News Sentinel, Nov. 3, here.
Memphis Commercial
Appeal changes web URL, Oct. 28, Comm. Appeal,
here.
Ringger.com savvy in
web design anchored in strong interest in client
and community, Commercial Appeal, Nov. 3,
here.
Sharp opens first solar-panel
manufacturing site outside Japan, at Memphis.
Oct. 16 Release.
VENTURE /
ENTERPRISE:
Tech
Ventures: The
availability of funding for early-stage companies
in the tech sector is improving modestly,
according to Tom Wylly, the senior partner of
Brentwood Capital
Advisors who appeared
this past weekend on "Nashville Business This
Week," (Comcast Ch. 50, NewsChannel5+). Wylly said
entrepreneurial fundamentals are once again
important, including a strong cohesive management
team; business ideas that are interesting,
compelling and directly related to critical
customer problems and needs; and, a business plan
that provides some protection in the face of
competition during the enterprise's early years.
Wylly, who is also chairman of the recently
launched nonprofit Nashville Capital
Network (NCN), also noted that NCN
Executive Director Sid Chambless is already
providing an array of services to about 14
companies, ranging from coaching to exploring
angel-funding possibilities.
Vanderbilt turns ideas
into new companies, Tennessean, 1E, Oct. 30,
here.
Claritas
Capital now has
$10 million in its first venture partnership
fund, Tennessean, Nov. 4, 3E, here. Claritas includes RPM Solutions
and DigiScript in its portfolio.
Inflow says its still
pursuing cash-flow positive, announces reaching
positive 3Q EBITDA, Inflow statement, Oct. 30,
here.
EBM deal approved by
shareholders, Oct. 28 PM, Nash. Bus. Journal,
here.
Further coverage: Sid
Chambless named executive director Nashville Capital
Network, The AP via The
OakRidger, Oct. 13, here.
Also, The City Paper, p. 19, Oct. 29, here.
Gaylord $350 million
debt offering snapped-up. Gaylord told NTC (10/30)
that Bank of America was the lead on the deal,
with DeutscheBank, CIBC involved. Tennessean,
Oct. 30, here. City Paper, Oct. 30, p. 18, here.
Nashville Verus
Financial Management does deal with Payment Data
Systems through Verus' Network 1 Financial
unit, securing millions in credit-card
transactions, PRNewswire, Oct. 6, here. Nash. Bus. Journal, Oct. 6, here.
Verus completed Network Financial 1 purchase last
summer, Nash. Bus. Journal, here.
Oakwood Systems
Group, Inc.
named Bud Wainright a business-development
executive for tech solutions in Nashville.
Oakwood says it has 10 consultants in Nashville,
25 clients.
U.S. Ven-cap industry
still holds more than $35 billion in uninvested
capital (in addition to cap held in reserves
for existing operations), according to Thomson-NVCA
study, Wall St.
Journal, Nov. 3, (sub) here.
VCs put tech dollars
into software and services, InformationWeek,
Nov. 3, here. Monitoring, visualizing,
connecting, managing, securing functions are
higher priority.
Lots of venture
capital in DC area, that is "if you don't need
it," Washington Post, Nov. 3, here.
GOVERNMENT:
Gov. Bredesen:
Japanese concerned about TN's workforce,
Commercial Appeal, Oct. 29, here.
Nashville-based FDA
Criminal Investigator Robert
West made a dozen or so
covert Web purchases and performed "4 or 5"
Dumpster Dives in the course of gathering
evidence against a couple who were
subsequently convicted (now on appeal) of Internet
mail fraud in the form of illegal sales of
prescription drugs, and other crimes, according to
The Washington Post of Oct. 30, here. West, a former U.S. Army criminal
investigator before joining FDA, says his track
record in investigations in the mid-South led to
his being assigned to the investigation of the
felons' sale of Viagra, Propecia, Celebrex. "I
would never conduct an investigation covertly
without dumpster-diving," West told NTC
Friday.
Metro's Business
Continuity RFP
03-139 netted proposals from
AT&T, Computer Security Consultants Inc.,
Strohl Systems, Sungard Recovery Service, by the
Oct. 31 deadline.
Metro Council looks at
Internet data disclosure, City Paper, Oct. 29,
p. 4, here.
States flocking to
biotech development like gamblers to lottery
tickets, USA Today, Nov. 3, here.
TODAY is the deadline
for proposals to provide smart payphones at
State-designate locations, under RFP
317.03.103-04 (Reissued),
which will produce a successor to BellSouth Public
Communications as Tennessee's provider. State
aims to net
revenues from the
arrangement, which ensures phone access at key
sites, despite waning of payphones due to
cellphone proliferation.
The Statewide Premise
Wiring, Equipment Installation and Configuration
RFP's deadline for comments is today, also,
and the proposals deadline is Dec. 3, RFP
529/000-06-03.
State Education on
Oct. 31 issued RFP
331.25-001, in keeping with
No Child Left Behind, for Statewide Student
Management Software. Pre-proposal conference
Nov. 12, deadline Dec. 3.
Six potential bidders
attended the Oct. 31 pre-proposal conference for
OIR's RFP
317.03-109, Research &
Advisory Subscription Services in support of
information technology.
To augment TRICOR
inmate data-processing, TN OIR launches RFP
317.03.110
for data-entry services (posted Oct. 27,
proposal deadline, Dec. 10), here. Patricia
Weiland, executive director of TRICOR, said on
"Law: Cases and Comment," Nov. 1 (Community
Access, Comcast Ch. 19, Davidson County), that
TRICOR has revenues of $22 million, annually.
Story related to apparent credit-card theft by
inmate staff working via TRICOR, The City Paper,
Oct. 17, here.
Tennessee part of
Microsoft Corp. settlement, Knox. News
Sentinel, 10/29, scroll down here.
Gov. Bredesen softens
remarks on Lottery hiring, Tennessean, Oct.
29, here.
IT for Logistics is
hottest category for federal spending, Oct.
29, Fed. Computer Wk., here.
More E-gov executive
education: Use capital funds, performance
contracts and user fees to improve IT in court
system, Fed. Computer Wk., Oct. 30, here. Case-management standards,
here.
Companies pursuing
technology contracts under US Homeland Security
funding, Washington Post, Oct. 30, here.
EDUCATION &
PROF.
DEVELOPMENT:
Williamson
Works Executive
Director Bob
Iannacone and others have
been working months with Tennessee Technological
University (TTU) to enable the TTU College of
Engineering to extend varying levels of
engineering research and education, seminars and
related services at one or more sites in
Williamson County. Subramaniam Deivanayagam, TTU's Associate Dean for Graduate
Studies and Research, suggests that more than one
site and varying levels of education are under
consideration.
E-Learning: Vanderbilt School of
Nursing received grants
for nationwide Online health-professionals'
emergency-preparedness programs, including funds
from HHS Bioterrorism Training and Curric.
Development Program. Nash. Bus. Journal, p. 15,
Oct. 31. VU release, here.
Cisco case study on
K-12 school-district IP telephony savings,
Cisco, here.
Computer use by young
people hits 90%, the AP via Knox. News
Sentinel, Oct. 30, here.
Report says former VP
Al Gore's new cable network will be "V.tv,"
New York Observer, here.
Intel joins
Blue-Ribbon Schools of Excellence to honor K-12
schools that use technology, Oct. 30, site
here.
Resources:
During the Security
session of NETWORK 2003, Oct. 30, Panelist
Dave
Chapman, chairman and CEO of
The Northpoint
Group, said his firm's
research shows 68 percent of companies have a
security strategy, but only 11 percent of
companies have implemented strategies, and
fewer than half of that 11 percent [about 4
percent] have tested their strategies in a "real
business environment." Chapman and co-panelists
Ray Wagner
of Gartner
and Bradley Lide of
CyberAngel Security
Services agreed that metrics are
too often absent or misapplied in security
efforts; and, viruses and "bad software" are
still among the most common security
threats.
John Doss, co-founder
and executive vice president, Healthcare
Management Systems Inc., told his NETWORK 2003 audience,
Oct. 30, that in contrast to 1984, when HMS was
launched, enterprise owners are looking for IT
"solutions" with good track record for return on
investment; and, they are interested in enterprise
systems, rather than products that represent
isolated "functionality
fountains."
Gartner announces
Nashville invitation-only CIO event for mid-size
enterprises, April 18-21, BusinessWire, Nov.
3, here.
Nashville-based
NetContent
Inc. CEO Shaun Carrigan sees
diminished reliability of email and growing
difficulty in establishing meaningful
communications with audiences, ECONTENTMAG, Oct.
2003, here.
Dell targets corporate
help desk with support services, Washington
Post, Oct. 29, here. (Also appeared in Tennessean, Nov.
4, 1E.)
Wall Street Journal
begins reporting integrated online Journal
subscriptions with print subscriptions,
breaking aggregate 2-million sub mark, challenging
USA Today for most-read title, Wall Street
Journal, Nov. 4, (sub) here.
HHS produces
research-based tips for Web design, navigation,
etc., to improve access to HIPAA, other data,
Washington Post, Oct. 30, here. HHS guidelines chapter outline,
here.
Security on the
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) front,
Washington Post, Nov. 3 and Nov.
4.
The Technology
Resurgence: Boom or Bust-in-the-making? New York Times, Nov. 1, here.
Washington Post, Nov. 2, here.
Companies seek gains by investing in Information
Technology, USA Today, Nov. 3, here
(article also appeared Nov. 4 in Tennessean, p.
2E).
INFLOW offers Business Continuity white
paper, here.
Northpoint outlines research findings on
Business Resilience and Continuity, here.
Top-ranked government
sites (Center for Digital Government, Oct.
2003), here. Directory of government websites,
nationwide, here.
CIO Magazine reports
on CIO forums on trends, which ended yesterday
(11/4), here.
Strolling among
visionaries, Sun Microsystems' IT security chief
wonders aloud whether "we live, roughly
speaking, in the last generation of human beings,"
given the advance of life-extending knowledge in
biotechnology, New York Times, Nov. 1, here.
Monitoring Metro and
State Requests for Proposals and Bids
State of
Tennessee:
Tennessee Lottery, here.
Lottery procurement policies, here.
Capital Projects
Management,here.
University of
Tennessee:
University of Tennessee
purchasing, here.
UT contracts list, here.
TN Board of Regents IT
Contracts, here.
Cities/Counties:
Metro Nashville/Davidson
County, here.
City of Memphis, here.
Shelby County, here.
City of Chattanooga,
here.
Scheduled
Events: Asterisk ( * ) denotes new or
revised item.
(Nov. 5)
Prof.-Technical Career Fair, Nashville St.
Comm. Coll., details, here.
Exhibitors, here.
(Nov. 5-7) Nashville
Technology Council, "Management Skills for IT
Professionals," Jay Ress of TMA Seminars, TN
Economic Development Center, 8:30a-4:30p., click.
(Nov. 6) NTC
Technology Round Table, "Sarbanes-Oxley: Risk
Assessment and IT responsibility," Steve
Tisdell, Principal, Nashville Management
Group, register, here.
(Nov. 6) Annual Forum,
Memphis Chapter of Society for Information
Management, here.
* (Nov. 6) John
Morris, president and CEO of NetLearning,
is host for the East Tennessee Technology
Council's CEO Council, 11:30 a.m. at NetLearning,
16 Emory Place, Knoxville. For more information,
write here or
call (865) 220-2020. Limited to company
presidents, CEOs.
* (Nov. 6)
"Entrepreneurship and the Small Business
Climate in Nashville," by Office of the Frist
Chair of Excellence in Business at Tennessee State
University, at Willis
Conference Center, 26 Century Blvd. Reception 5
p.m., forum 6 p.m., with panelists Deborah Cole,
president of Citizens Bank; Andrea Conte, First
Lady of Tennessee; William Hapner, CEO of Beacon
Technologies; Harvey Hoskins, founder of Hoskins
& Company, CPAs. Seating is limited. To
register write
or call (615) 963-7391.
* (Nov. 7) Williamson
County Mayor Rogers Anderson convenes CEO Connect
⦥uro;?Consensus for Action� Forum at 7:30
a.m., Cool Sprgs Conf. Cntr. to review results of
focus groups that attracted 175 CEOs and community
leaders, all part of a "Williamson
Works" effort to determine what
business leaders think of county programs,
services, initiatives, problems. For info, write
Bob
Iannacone.
(Nov. 10-11)
Innovation Strategy: Identifying Barriers to
Business, Owen GSM, Vanderbilt, here.
(Nov. 10-12)
Healthcare Delivery Solutions Congress,
co-sponsored by NTC, for details, click.
Speakers announced, here.
* (Nov. 12) Using
Internet to connect with existing and potential
customers, City Paper, Oct. 29, p. 19. American Marketing
Assn.
* (Nov. 12) Northeast
Tennessee Technology Council, Juniper Networks
cosponsor ⦥uro;?IPv6 - The Protocol That Will Save
the Internet," with John Johnson of Juniper.
11 a.m., NE State Community College Library,
Blountville. Details, here.
* (Nov. 12) East TN Tech Council
Technology Applications Roundtable,
5 p.m. EST, for companies for which technology is
vital, but which do not, themselves, create the
technology. Topic: "How to position your
company for the next generation of wireless
business technology." Write here or
call (865) 220-2020.
(Nov. 12-15) American
Society of Civil Engineers, national
conference and expo, Nashville, here.
(Nov. 13) Bureau of
Industry and Security Outreach and Educational
Services Division,
"Essentials of Export
Controls," BellSouth Tower, 7:30 a.m.
registration, program 8:30a.m.-4:30 p.m., details
here.
(Nov. 13) HIPAA Impact
on IT, Ed Miller, CTO of Digichart, AITP
Nashville, register, here.
(Nov. 13) Dr. Duncan T.
Moore, Prof.-Optical Engng., Univ. Rochester,
former Assoc. Director for Technology in The White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
discusses "Establishing
Federal Priorities in Science and
Technology," Jacobs Audit., Featheringill
Hall, VU School of
Engineering.
(Nov. 17-19) TN
Venture Forum, by TN Tech. Development Corp.,
Chattanooga, details, here.
* (Nov. 18) Project
Management Institute, Nashville chapter,
"Value-Based Project Selection and
Prioritization," by James T. Brown Ph.D., SEBA
Solutions: 11:30 a.m. Register www.pminashville.com.
(Nov. 19-20) ITEC,
Memphis. TN OIR Deputy Commissioner Richard
Rognehaugh and City of Memphis CIO Darryl Anderson
are the keynote speakers, here.
(Dec. 3-5) Tennessee
Education Technology Conference, details here.
Related, here.
(Dec. 4) Seminar on
Liability issues for engineers, Tennessee
Engineering Center, Adventure Sci. Center, Don
Friedman of Crow Friedman Group, presented by TN
Society of Professional Engineers, et al, write
ctoler@tnec.org
for details or call (615) 242-2486.
(Dec. 4) NTC
Technology Round Table, "State of Tennessee IT:
Strategic Planning, Project Management, &
Cyber Security," Richard Rognehaugh, Deputy
Commissioner - Office of Information
Resources, State of Tennessee, reception and
dinner. Details, here.
(Dec. 9) Nashville
Technology Council "Holiday Business Mixer,"
Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., Two Doors Down, Demonbreun
Street, cash bar. Map, here.
(Dec. 11) AITP
Nashville chapter meeting, Dr. Sonny Reynolds
(humor). Register, here.
Nashville Technology
Council
For information about
Nashville Technology Council programs, services
and sponsorships:
For previous editions
of "News of Nashville Technology," click here.
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