Real-time comms vendors Sonus and Genband to merge
Real-time communications vendors Sonus Networks and Genband have announced plans to merge to create a combined company with an enterprise value of around $745 million. Under the deal, Sonus and Genband shareholders will each take an approximate 50% stake of the combined company. Each Sonus shareholder will receive one share in the new company for each existing share they own, and the company will issue around 50 million shares and a $22.5 million payment to Genband’s shareholders. The two companies had combined revenue of around $680 million in 2016. The companies said the deal combined Sonus’ real-time communication, cloud-based SIP and VoLTE software leadership position with Genband’s network modernization, unified communications, mobility and embedded communications solutions portfolio.
Fujitsu develops automated tech to boost virtual desktop performance
Fujitsu Laboratories has developed automated analysis technology designed to identify the causes of performance degradation in virtual desktop systems. The industry-first technology monitors packets on the network to automatically detect bottlenecks caused by storage without impacting system operations. During a trial of the technology in an environment operating 300 virtual machines, a prototype system was able to reduce the time taken for an operations manager to identify causes of performance degradation to around a tenth of what had previously been required, said Fujitsu. The company plans to conduct a larger-scale field trial in a virtual desktop system operating thousands of virtual machines, with the goal of making the system available as a service in the 2018 financial year.
Just 5% of companies are at the furthest stage of IT transformation
Although 71% of leaders of large companies agree that they will not be competitive without IT transformation, only 5% are fully prepared to meet the IT requirements of a digital business, indicates research commissioned by EMC. A survey by the Enterprise Strategy Group reveals that only 5% of companies are in the furthest “transformed” stage of IT transformation initiatives. The majority of businesses are at the second “emerging” (42%) or third “evolving” (41%) stage, and 12% are still stuck in the legacy IT stage. Among transformed companies, 85% meanwhile believe their organizations are in a strong position to succeed in their market over the next few years compared with just 43% of the least mature companies.
Superloop showcasing high-speed connectivity to HK enterprises
Pan-Asian digital services provider Superloop is using Cloud Expo Asia 2017 to showcase its ability to provide secure and high-speed connectivity to Hong Kong. During the two-day event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Superloop will advertise its private, high-speed connectivity services for data centers, enterprise buildings and cloud providers. Superloop operates a 110km fiber network in Hong Kong connected to 30 sites including the HKEx (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing) data center. The company also operates the TKO Express, the first subsea cable to connect Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island with the data center campus at Science Park’s Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate on the mainland.