Virtualisation helps cut costs

Organisations with fleets of PCs used to running only routine Office applications, e-mail clients and Web browsers will soon come under intense pressure to provide these resources more cheaply, says eWeek.

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is set to mow down those who continue to locally station full-power PCs for routine office workers.

The cycle time to "state-of-the-art" will likely be compressed given the advances being made by vendors and the interest of desktop managers looking for technologies that reduce operational costs, extend equipment life, centralise management and provide productivity improvement to end-users.

Verizon Business has signed a new contract to provide teleconferencing services to government space agency Nasa that could be worth more than $100 million, according to Network World.

Under the terms of the contract, Verizon is to provide Nasa with audio, video and Web conferencing services until 2017.

Although Verizon has provided Nasa with all of its teleconferencing services since 2001, the new contract states the carrier must now also provide high-definition IP video conferencing that will serve as an upgrade to Nasa's current video conferencing system.

The Philadelphia-based Neat Company is marketing a line of software-enhanced scanners that can digitise the mounds of paper cluttering an office, states eWeek.

NeatDesk is a high-speed desktop scanner and digital filing system that scans receipts, business cards and documents all in one batch.

It includes NeatWorks software that identifies and extracts important information and automatically organises it. NeatDesk's removable input tray can scan both sides of up to 10 receipts, 10 business cards, and 10 documents at a time, as well as up to a 50-page document.