Get a taste for virtualization, disaster recovery and automated tiered storage at one of Albany’s favorite restaurants.

Thursday, February 4, 2010
11:00 AM – 1:30 PM

Enjoy the best in steak and seafood while you gain insights from industry leaders on simplifying storage management.

Angelo’s 677 Prime
677 Broadway
Albany, NY 12207
518-42-PRIME

Please RSVP no later than February 2.
Space is limited.

Click here to read the full article.

Location:
Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS)
One Empire Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144

For Additional Information Contact:
Art Grimshaw
President – Capital Area Nortel User Association (CANUA)
518-464-8635
grimshaw@excelsior.edu

Data Center consolidations and budget concerns have government entities and educational institutions looking at new initiatives. One of the key initiatives will be using cloud computing technology to drive a shared services model and to create efficiency. Overall management of resources, energy consumption (heating, power and cooling), increased security for data and users as well as lower overall costs have all been key factors in looking at cloud models. In this session, Verizon Business will provide an overview on the enterprise direction for cloud computing, as well as options for securing the cloud.

CATA’s May meeting will feature speaker Rock Regan, a Senior Information Technology and Systems Executive, and former Chief Information Officer for the State of Connecticut.

Meeting Sponsors:

The April 2010 meeting topic was Disaster Recovery with our guest David Snyder. In this presentation Mr. Snyder provided an overview of the differences between Disaster Recovery and Emergency Preparedness as well as recommendations and guidelines for developing a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan.

Meeting Sponsors:

The March 2010 CATA meeting will feature Randy Barfield, VP of Finance and Information Technology at SEMATECH in Albany.

SEMATECH: Accelerating the next technology revolution. SEMATECH, anchor tenant at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering campus since 2003, is a world-leading consortium. Find out who SEMATECH is, what they do, and how they are helping make upstate NY Tech Valley the only place in North America where companies and individuals come for leading edge technology collaboration.

There are no meeting fees for registered CATA User Members. Vendor Members pay $20 per person per meeting. Effective immediately the Non-Member Vendors meeting fee is $40 per person per meeting. Vendors may check the Vendor Member tab on this web site to verify CATA Membership.

Meeting Sponsors:

Unified Communications includes the collapsing of multiple technologies running on separate platforms and servers to fewer platforms and servers and perhaps eventually a single platform.

Technologies that are affected by Unified Communications include: E-Mail, Voice, Mobile Phone, Web Conferencing, Collaboration Software, Fax, Audio Conferencing, Phone, Messaging, and Laptops.

You are invited to hear how the UC trends may differ from manufacture to manufacturer and supplier to supplier.

Participants will include:

• Quentin Kramer from Carousel Industries representing Avaya Bio
  

  Quentin Kramer is the Director of Messaging & Applications for Carousel Industries, where he oversees Carousel’s Unified Communications division.

  Prior, Quentin served as Director of Operations for Enabling Technologies Corp, where he managed the general operations of an engineering team based throughout the United Stated and UK, performing various messaging-related projects for Avaya, Microsoft, and other manufacturers.

  Prior to joining Enabling, Quentin served as Director of Technology for Matrix Technologies, a Washington DC-based Avaya Businesspartner.  In addition, he has served in technical management roles with Baltimore-based business partners Delta Telephone and Cabling, Americom Telephone Systems, and WFG Communications.

• Jim Raymond from DynTek representing Microsoft
• Theodore Martin from NEC Bio
  

  Theodore Martin is Product Manager for Unified Communications at NEC and responsible for definition, requirements, and direction of the Unified Communications desktop client.  He has over 20 years in the telecommunications business which includes Product Management as well as Product Marketing for desktop video, and Product Marketing Manager for Unified Messaging at Nortel Networks.  He has a BS in Electronics Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Management.

• Dan Phoenix from Cisco
• K. Keith Drew from Siemens Bio
  

  K. Keith Drew is a Unified Communications Consultant with Siemens Enterprise Communications. His current focus is implementing Unified Communications solutions; working closely with Siemens’ distributor network.

  Keith has served for more than fifteen years evaluating business processes and designing communications solutions which integrate the many areas of communications and the technologies which empower them.

  Keith was formerly the National Director of Sales Engineering for Inter-Tel Technologies, as well as one of the first 100 Master Certified Novell Instructors, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, a Unix Instructor, and many more. He led the project to create the first movable type for the deaf using computers in 1990. He has, since, designed and successfully implemented 100s of CTI/CEBP solutions to enhance business efficiencies and profitability.

Meeting Sponsors

Our first meeting of 2010 on January 13th. Kevin Ross, the Assistant Director for Technology at the New York State Emergency Management Office (SEMO) was the speaker.

SEMO developed the web based NY-ALERT to provide a robust alert and warning system that uses all known communications devises. The portal allows state agencies, county and local governments, emergency service agencies and institutions of higher learning to provide emergency information on a local, county, regional or statewide basis. Emergency alerting is a core mission of SEMO.

Previously, emergency notifications had to be created for each technology used, resulting in a time-consuming effort, delaying the dissemination of the message by up to an hour. Notifiers can now create the message once and NY-ALERT properly formats the message for up to 17 communication gateways simultaneously-including phone, email, SMS, IM, RSS feeds and website postings. The Notifier selects the target area and gateways to send the message.

Subscriber and notifier feedback led to the development of NY-ALERT Version 2.0, which includes hundreds of enhancement and security features. Version 2.0 debuted in September of 2009.

NY-ALERT now has more than 4.7 million subscribers. Additionally, more than a dozen NYS agencies, including the State Police, National Guard, Homeland Security and Consumer Protection Board use this free-of-charge system as do all of the campuses in the State University as well as the City University systems plus 39 counties.

The annual CATA holiday event was in conjunction with the New York State Forum. There were no sponsors for this particular meeting but we had a speaker. Melissa Ward, who is the Managing Partner of New Ward Development, spoke on social networking.

Social Media Marketing can either be a boon to your business or the black hole of productivity.  Learn the best practices for engaging your community through Social Media and Building your Brand and Business online.  Looking for a loyal customer base?  Hoping to increase your reach without increasing your expenses?  Sit down and take a stroll through the Social Media Landscape with your tour guide, Melissa Ward, Managing Partner, NewWard Development, LLCT as she points out the sites, sounds and potential pitfalls of Social Media Marketing.

This event will feature a carving station and a cash bar. Between the two organizations, we are expecting a large turnout so please be sure to register early.

We look forward to seeing you on December 7th. CATA will return to our normal business meetings on January 13th.