SADA President/CEO Featured in TechZulu Interview

Tony Safoian, President and CEO of SADA Systems recently sat down for an interview with correspondent Josh Highland of TechZulu. TechZulu focuses on the technology and media business in Southern California, providing a platform for current news and information in the field via it's online interviews, blogs and other features.

To watch this report, please click here or go to http://techzulu.com/sada-systems-developing-custom-solutions.html.

Tony discussed the cutting-edge, best-of-breed technology solutions that SADA brings to meet their business objectives. He also took Josh through the exciting things that SADA is doing in the software-as-a-service space, most notably with Google Apps.

Also featured was Tony's announcement that SADA is co-sponsoring with Google a free "Breakfast and Learn" session at the City Club of Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 9th. For more information please click here or go to: http://sadasystems.com/sadasystems/aboutsada/newsroom/2008/jul29/

Google Upgrades Gmail for BlackBerry

BlackBerry mobile device users who use Gmail just received some really great new functionality with the latest update to the Gmail client for the device.

You can download the consumer version of the app at http://m.google.com/mail. Google Apps users need to download the Apps version at
http://m.google.com/a/download?dc=gorganic.

Users at PinStack Forums report that a significant change with version 2.0.5 of the app is the ability for a user to store the credentials for multiple Gmail accounts and then switch between the in-boxes for those accounts without having to keep entering a password.

Another cool addition with this version is that you can now copy-paste text within the app.

An important consideration depending on your BlackBerry data plan, Google notes that the device "runs in the background, periodically checking for email." If you're not on an unlimited data plan you may want to shut this process off by going to the app's menu and choose "Exit Gmail."

SADA to present at Angelbeat, Los Angeles (Universal City), Aug 22nd.

SADA Systems, Inc. joins Microsoft and Intel in presenting keynotes.  Please visit www.angelbeat.com to register for this free event.  SADA goes on at 1:30pm.

 

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Register: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER or call our offices at 516-277-2057. FREE to pre-approved* enterprise IT, technology & telecommunications professionals.

Date: 08/22/2008 from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM

Location : Hilton LA/Universal City, 555 Universal Hollywood Drive, 818-509-2029, Free Parking & Wi-Fi, Los Angeles, CA.

Keynotes by Google & SADA on Cloud Computing/SaaS, Microsoft on IE 8 Browser Functionality & Security, Intel on Power-Efficient Chipsets

Program Description: There is a tightly focused agenda (see below) that maximizes attendees' learning. Angelbeat coordinates 14 expert speakers (from organizations listed to the right) who each deliver a short, concise, technical talk on a different issue related to: 1) security and  compliance/ediscovery, 2) networks, wireless & voip, and 3) Infrastructure, storage and virtualization. All content is pre-approved by Angelbeat and prior year attendees to remove fluff, redundant information, etc.

7:30 - 8:30: Breakfast, Registration, Product Demonstration

8:30 - 9:45 IT Security/Compliance
- Anti-Spam, Spyware detection & elimination, and strategies to protect against blended email/web threats and phishing attacks.
- Network architecture and defense-in-depth security solutions: optimal combination of VPN, Firewall, IDS, IPS, Anti-Virus
- Secure remote access, SSL/VPN vs IPSEC, and Network access control (NAC) strategies and options
- Web 2.0, Peer-2-Peer/IM and social networking security risks and solutions
- Data leakage analysis and reporting: monitoring data at rest, in motion and/or in use
- Securing web-based applications against unauthorized access, thereby protecting back-end data
- Email and file/storage encryption solutions to protect confidential data
- PCI Compliance/Standards and eDiscovery methodologies
- PC manageability and security: Automatically patching/repairing/restoring misconfigured or infected desktop's & laptops thru centralized policy without help desk support

9:45 - 10:10 Mobility/Wireless
- Wi-Fi security issues and answers, rogue access point detection and correction
- New Wi-Fi standards including 802.11n and next generation WPA
- Integrated wired/wireless network management architecture
- Virtualized wireless controller systems, for greater reliability and performance
- Secure transfers between Wi-Fi and 3G networks, to eliminate need for re-authentication
- Latency considerations and access point density when using 802.11 networks for VoIP
- Location-based services for enterprise asset tracking
- Wi-Fi guest access for contractors, visitors and guests

10:10 - 10:30 VoIP, Unified Communications, IP-Based Networks
- Unified communications: one platform to manage all voice, data and video messaging
- Integrating PBX, Cell Phone and VoIP voice applications through SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) standard
- Voice/Data/Video combined applications: retrieving voicemail through outlook, using email or im for telephone calls.
- Presence applications: real-time status (at office, home, traveling) of all contacts to eliminate phone tag
- Security considerations: SPIT (spam over Internet telephony), preventing denial-over-service attacks on VoIP networks
- VoIP benefits: lower phone bills, workforce flexibility/productivity, disaster recovery
- Computer headsets/softphones; are desktop/hard phones still required
- Network requirements to support centrally hosted VoIP applications

10:30 - 11:15: Break, Product Demonstration

11:15 - 12:00 Server & Desktop Virtualization, Data Center Consolidation, SaaS, Thin Client Architecture, Storage, Disaster Recovery
- Virtualization capabilities for storage and servers, to permit organizations to simultaneously run multiple applications and operating systems (Windows, Linux, Unix) independent of hardware platform
- Data Center cost reduction thru server consolidation, reduced infrastructure/support expenses and lower power consumption
- Thin client architecture, desktop virtualization, software-as-a-service, and centralized management of PC applications
- Recommendations for matching devices with end user QoS requirements & data center architecture; running video and other bandwidth-intensive hosted applications still require powerful PC's
- Strategies for securing, patching and updating virtual environments
- Analysis of Storage Technology architectures: Fibre Channel, SNA, SAN, iSCSI
- Tiered data storage, management of data-at-rest versus data-in-motion
- Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity; distinction between backing up & actually recovering data
- Best practices and recommendations for matching storage platform/hardware with virtualization
- Data de-duplication issues and solutions for optimal archiving
- Email archiving/storage solutions for compliance with HIPAA, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and other regulatory standards

12:00 - 12:30: WAN Optimization, Physical Infrastructure, Application Acceleration, Video Impact on Network Performance
- Bandwidth management and application acceleration tools for WAN Optimization and data traffic prioritization, i.e. for mission critical transmissions, voice over data, etc.
- Network traffic analysis to identify performance/QoS issues and track potentially malicious activity
- Solutions to address WAN vs LAN speed differential
- Physical layer design recommendations to minimize cabling costs & power consumption
- Overall systems management

12:30 - 1:30: Lunch, Product Demonstration

1:30 - 2:00: Google Enterprise Applications ("Apps")
Google offers a comprehensive array of hosted Enterprise Applications ("Apps") covering email, word processing, spreadsheet, instant messaging and calendar functionality. "Cloud Computing" has received significant interest as an architectural strategy to minimize desktop support/helpdesk costs while facilitating collaboration amongst an increasingly geographically-dispersed workforce. Google is uniquely positioned to offer this service. This presentation will provide an overview of Google Enterprise Apps functionality and security provisions; 0ne of Google's strategic partners SADA systems will discuss how to maintain a hybrid Google/Microsoft infrastructure and deployment scenarions on converting enterprise-class email systems currently running Exchange, Notes, Groupwise, etc. to the Google platform.

2:00 - 2:30: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, Cloud Computing, SaaS Applications
Windows® Internet Explorer™ 8, the next version of the world’s most popular browser for Windows, offers a user experience that reaches beyond of a webpage and brings the variety of online services to life. In this era of cloud computing, software-as-a-service and thin client architecture, IT professionals must have a much better understanding of browser functionality, features and security. Demonstrated features and capabilities of this new release include: 

-  Activities: Activities give users ready access to the online services they care about most from any page they visit, and developers gain an easy way to extend the reach of their online services. It’s as simple as selecting text to get started with an Activity.
- WebSlices: Developers can mark parts of Web pages as “WebSlices” and enable users to monitor information they rely on as they move about the Web. With a click in the Favorites bar, users see rich WebSlice visuals, and developers establish a valuable, persistent end-user connection.
- Safety Filter:  As part of an ongoing commitment to privacy and security, Internet Explorer 8 enhances the phishing filter to provide additional protection against evolving phishing threats. With the Safety Filter, Internet Explorer 8 will now analyze the full URL string and providing greater protection against more targeted and sophisticated phishing attacks.

2:30 - 3:00: Intel Quad-Core Server, vPro Desktop, Centrino Pro Laptop Chipset Platforms
- Power management, energy savings and improved performance with Quad-Core chipset platforms for PCs and Servers
- Enhanced performance of enterprise applications such as virtualization (Xen, VMware) and systems/desktop mgt (Landesk, Altiris, SMS) through new chipset platforms.
- vPro desktop and CentrinoPro desktop semiconductor platforms for remote diagnostic/trouble-shooting without sending a technician to repair a disabled PC.
- Desktop mgt solutions including 100% accurate remote patch update & hardware/software inventory compilation without onsite analysis, from a central console

 

Google Apps SSO Security Deadline: Aug 28th

FYI - If you have not seen this yet, please review.  It's critical that you update all SSO code to reflect the new security requirements, otherwise, SSO will be turned off on this date.  Contact us if you need assistance.

 

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Hello Google Apps admin for <DOMAIN>,

 

We recently notified you about a critical vulnerability involving your

Google Apps single sign-on (SSO) implementation.  Our records indicate

that you are still at risk and must take action.  Please correct this

security risk immediately.

 

For your protection, if you have not secured your sign-in application

by August 28th, 2008 at 12:01 am Pacific Time, we will disable SSO for

your domain.  We would like to emphasize that we do not believe this

vulnerability has been exploited, but we reserve the right to disable

SSO for your domain even earlier if we receive reports that this

vulnerability has been exploited for other domains before then.  This

will protect your data, but your users will be unable to access Google

Apps.

 

To secure your sign-in application, you must include the Recipient

attribute in the SAML response.  Learn more here:

http://code.google.com/apis/apps/faq.html#recipient

 

If your sign-in application is derived from our sample code, please

refer to the latest version of the sample code for the changes you'll

need to make to your own code.  The updates to the sample code are

also described in the link above.

 

If your sign-in application was not derived from our sample code (e.g.

it is a third-party identity provider software), please forward this

information to the developers of the identity provider software.

 

If you have any questions, please email apps-sso-support@google.com.

 

Tony Safoian