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VMS celebrates its 30th Birthday

October 25, 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of VMS v1.0, the first version of the HP OpenVMS operating system. Three decades and three hardware platforms later, OpenVMS is better than ever, and ready to take on the future.

In the years since the release of VMS v1.0, OpenVMS has been the power behind some of the most critical applications around the world, including:

• Processing trillions of dollars of financial transactions
• Sending more than two-thirds of the world's text messages
• Keeping railroads safe and running on time
• Distributing power
• Keeping hospitals and their clinical systems up and running
• Coordinating government and defense operations
• Controlling the manufacture of over 90 percent of the world's microprocessors
• ...and much, much more
• Some of the outstanding achievements in OpenVMS history include:
  • First broadly scalable operating system—OpenVMS was the first operating system to prove that scaling from desktop to data center was practical, and the first to demonstrate that clustered systems could achieve levels of availability well beyond mainframes or fault- tolerant systems, according to Wes Melling, former Vice President of the Digital and Compaq Windows NT and OpenVMS Systems groups
  • First VAX-11/780 system in the United States—in 1977, the first VAX-11/780 system in the United States was installed at Carnegie Mellon University
  • First error correction coded system memory—in 1977, the VAX-11/780 memory design was the first in which error correction and detection code (ECC) was designed into the system
  • First computerized remote diagnosis facility—in 1977, Digital opened the Digital Diagnosis Center (DDC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the industry's first facility for computerized remote diagnosis
  • First VAX 11/780 systems in Europe—in 1978, the first VAX 11/780 systems in Europe were installed at CERN in Switzerland and the Max Planck Institute in Germany
  • First remote delivery of software updates—in 1983, the Digital Colorado Springs facility began the industry's first remote delivery of software updates
  • First voice output—in 1983, entertainer Stevie Wonder introduced DECtalk, the first device offered by a major computer manufacturer that accepted ASCII text from an RS232C terminal port, and spoke the text rather than printing it
  • First corporate Internet domain—in 1985, Digital was the first computer company to register an Internet domain, establishing dec.com; the link is still active today, though it redirects to the HP.com Web site
  • First electronic equipment recycling—in 1996, Digital's Resource Recovery Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire, was among the first environmentally responsible facilities to recycle and dispose of outdated electronic equipment; Digital processed 30 million pounds of electronic materials per year, and less than one-half of one percent went into landfills

IDC releases results

IDC released a quarterly update  to their Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, citing market share figures for the 2nd calendar quarter of 2007 (2Q07).

All of the following market share figures are for the 2nd Quarter of 2007 (unless otherwise noted) and represent worldwide results as reported by the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, August 2007) 

Intel, Itanium and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Windows is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Linux is a U.S. registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. AMD Opteron is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

ICC Wins contract for 24 hour telephone support contract

ICC is pleased to announce that we have just secured a 24 hour contract for one of Europe's largest Telecommunications companies, offering full support for there Alphaserver GS1280 platform, these machine's are located oversea's and has enabled us to expand our presence further into Europe outside of the British Isle's, Original tenders for the contract took place in early 2006, and we were awarded the contract over another three major service provider's. "obtaining this contract once more adds confidence to exisiting and future clients, who are looking for alternative young vibrant support organisations" commented MD Leon Wheeler.

Posted July 2007

ICC carries out customer satisfaction survey

Over the last 3 months ICC commissioned an independent market research company to carry out a survey to over 25,000 companies from large corporates to SME's including existing clients to see what customers looked for in their IT supplier. This survey was carried out in order for us to review our products and services to ensure we were still meeting customers expectations. After obtaining all the information from our customers we are pleased to be able to release the results from this survey that shows that 92% of all customers new and old find that dealing with ICC meets and exceeds all there requirements over other Suppliers.

To see the full survey results please click here.

Posted 05/06/2007

HP Announces OpenVMS version 8.3

HP enhances key attributes of OpenVMS with version 8.3 supporting the latest line of HP Integrity servers and AlphaServer systems. Now, you can achieve higher levels of performance and price/performance.

OpenVMS version 8.3 delivers even greater flexibility and investment protection along with lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and additional virtualization capabilities for HP Integrity servers. New clustering and data-shadowing functions further increase performance levels in disaster-tolerant environments, and additional security capabilities enhance the OpenVMS reputation for secure, rapid application delivery.

With OpenVMS version 8.3, you can choose to deploy HP Integrity servers as your business needs require. The mixed architecture clusters of Integrity servers and AlphaServer systems are fully supported, promoting the integration of HP Integrity servers into an OpenVMS environment at the pace directed by your business needs.

Licensing and service plans for OpenVMS on HP Integrity servers offer reduced complexity, increased cost-effectiveness, and greater flexibility. OpenVMS version 8.3 also supports the full line of HP AlphaServer systems.

Today, more than 1,000 applications are, or will soon be, available on OpenVMS on HP Integrity servers. And the number of available applications is continually growing. The enthusiastic base of HP OpenVMS partners are ready to help you deploy the applications that keep your business running smoothly.

HP OpenVMS is the operating environment of choice for many of the world's most demanding enterprises because it delivers these no-compromise attributes every day, year after year:

• Up to 100% application availability
• Unyielding security
• Robust disaster tolerance
• Scalability to millions of users
• Steadfast reliability
• Ease of management
• Exceptional price/performance

- posted 22 February, 2007

HP Announces HP-UX 11i v3 Operating System

Hewlett-Packlard has introduced a new version of the HP-UX 11i operating system and a new range of HP Integrity servers to help make mission-critical virtualisation practical for businesses of all sizes.

The latest release of HP's Unix operating environment, HP-UX 11i v3, makes virtualisation easier to deploy and delivers mission-critical virtualisation by combining virtualisation and mainframe-class availability, said HP. Also, with HP-UX 11i v3, important applications, including business intelligence and datawarehousing, are now simpler to secure and manage.

Additionally, HP has strengthened its HP Integrity server line-up with a model for BladeSystem c-Class environments and a new rack-optimised unit, the Integrity rx2660 entry-class server.
The HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade is the first Integrity model designed for the HP BladeSystem c-Class portfolio, HP's new blade architecture. And the HP Integrity rx2660 is the lowest-priced Integrity rack-mount server and the most flexible and versatile unit in its Unix server class, said HP.

HP claimed the rx2660 beat similar entry-level offerings from Sun Microsystems on performance when it came to Java application and Java business workloads.
A base configuration of the HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade has a starting US list price of $3,827 (£2,015) and is expected to begin shipping in March. A base configuration of the HP Integrity rx2660 entry-class server has a starting US list price of $4,931 (£2,600) and is shipping now.

- posted 22 February, 2007

ICC become authorised resellers of SUMO thin client products

ICC are pleased to announce that we are now authorised resellers of SUMO thin client products.
Over the last few years we have seen many of our clients moving away from the traditional “dumb terminal” and moving towards windows based terminals. It was therefore necessary for us to choose a product that we believe was a suitable alternative to the terminal products we had sold in the past and after reviewing what manufacturers were offering we have chosen to use SUMO as our preferred and approved product.
Please see our thin client page for more details of SUMO products

- posted 22 September, 2006

ICC wins contract for Aptuit pharmaceutical company

ICC is pleased to announce that they have secured yet another service contract for one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical research companies namely Aptuit at there Edinburgh based site. The service support contract chosen by Aptuit covers their development Alphaserver Cluster.

ICC will be supporting Aptuit 24 hours a day 365 days a year with a 4 hour response level. "securing this contract once again adds another high profile client to our ever increasing support client list, our heavy investment into this area of our business with personnel and in-house facilities, ensures that any future customer, or current customer can be assured they are receiving market leading support without the the usual heavy costs associated with the manufacturers maintenance agreement that so many companies choose to adopt"

"At ICC we are trying to re-educate clients to realise that sticking with the manufacturers for support is not always the most reliable and cost effective way to run their I. T. platform, as companies have realised over the last few years that it is not always the best option to buy equipment direct from the manufacturer, we are confident that with the right attributed and procedures in place we can steer our clients in the direction of using our services, and increasing their cover but also reducing their annual costs"

- posted 11 April, 2006

HP announces last order date for AlphaServer systems

The deadline for AlphaServer final orders is October 27, 2006 with H. P. Options and upgrades will be available for another year past that date, until November 2, 2007. HP wants every AlphaServer customer to have opportunity to make AlphaServer system final orders, if it's appropriate.

HP recommends - for your AlphaServer environments
Generally, AlphaServer customers who plan to continue running their AlphaServer environments should refresh their plans to:
. Update to current operating environment versions where it's practical, and cluster where 2 or more machines are running critical workloads, for optimal ROI.
. Consider AlphaServer GS1280 - a customer favourite for consolidation. Consolidation alone may dramatically improve the ROI for workloads distributed across multi-system AlphaServer environments.

Click here to view HP AlphaServer's evolution/roadmap

- posted 14 September, 2005

H. P. announces Open VMS version 8.2

HP OpenVMS v8.2 is a new release for both HP Integrity servers and AlphaServer systems. This new OpenVMS version enhances its key properties of security, scalability, availability, performance, and interoperability with UNIX.

The ability to deploy various generations of AlphaServer technology while incorporating Integrity servers offers bottom-line investment protection. The combination of HP Integrity servers and AlphaServer systems can enhance your computing environments by capitalizing on the economies of an industry-standard architecture while adding value through HP innovation.

You now have the choice of staying with the AlphaServer platform for years to come, or moving to Integrity servers. Your application investments are protected because the vast majority of Alpha-based OpenVMS applications need only be recompiled, relinked, and tested in order to run on Integrity servers. Moreover, mixed architecture clusters of HP Integrity servers and AlphaServer systems is fully supported, promoting the incorporation of Integrity servers into an OpenVMS environment when you determine it should be done.

OpenVMS v8.2 is now available for HP Integrity rx4640-8, rx2620-2, and rx1620-2 servers as well as for the entire family of AlphaServer systems. OpenVMS will be available on the full line of entry-level, mid-range, and high-end Integrity servers, including the HP Superdome Server, by the first half of 2006.
- posted 3 August, 2005

ICC wins contract for police constabulary

ICC has won the maintenance agreement with a large county police constabulary, covering their administration systems, which operate on Compaq AlphaServers running Tru64 Unix. The contract covers their systems 24 hours a day, 365 days per year on a 4 hour response.

"Obtaining this contract once again adds confidence and commitment from ICC on the service level agreement that has been chosen by our client, strengthening our out of hours support services. This will in turn allow us to tender for other 24 hour contracts because of having the facilities and personnel in place."
- posted 13 July, 2005

ICC purchases new premises

ICC has recently purchased new premises to cope with the increase in sales and services.

"We were looking to relocate to larger premises once more in order to be able to run the service side of the business as more of an individual company separate to the hardware sales side of the business. We are pleased to announce that we have just purchased new premises with floor space of over 20,000 sq ft. This will be split between the two sides of the business so that we can run these independently. The beauty in doing this is that unlike most maintenance companies who have contract agreements in place, they then have to "spare up" on certain products in order to meet the SLA (service level agreement). In having the two companies co-existing in the same building, we are confident that with any contract we take on, we will always be able to meet the SLA because of our immense stockholding. Every part that needs to be exchanged will be available from stock for immediate despatch with one of our engineers 99.9% of the time. This we know from supplying other TPM organisations, is not always the case, which undoubtedly leaves the customer at risk. This is what we believe will put us one step ahead of other third party maintenance organisations."

Completion of the move is expected by mid 2006.
- posted 13 July, 2005

ICC gains ISO 9001 accreditation - 2 Feb 2005

ICC has received ISO9001:2000 accreditation. This approval of standards and procedures furthermore enhances our commitment to quality and business process controls.

Certification adds confidence to current and prospective clients so that they know they are dealing with a company that has strict policies and procedures and a system that has worldwide approval.
- posted 2 February, 2005

ICC financial year end proves another record year

June 2004 saw yet another record year being set by ICC turnover and profit was increased by a further 28% and we also saw an increase in our stock and client portfolio, 2003-2004 saw I.C.C move into new premises which we believe was a major factor to our continued growth and also the continued push into the service sector seems to be paying dividends, over the next year we look forward to introducing IBM to our product range which will open the door for our services and products into new market areas.
- posted 30 July, 2004

ICC completes upgrade project for MFI

ICC completes upgrade project for MFI, for over 5 years we have been supporting the hardware supply of all of MFI’s OpenVMS systems, and at the beginning of 2003 started to configure over 100 refurbished systems that were to be installed throughout the Groups UK stores, this project enabled MFI to increase the life span of there Platform and proven OVMS reliability by another 4 years and improved each stores performance by over 40%
- posted 1 January, 2004

ICC Secures major contract with manufacturing PLC

ICC secures 24hour 365 days a year contract with major manufacturing PLC, Covering their Alpha Platform at their manufacturing plant in Hull, “The contract has been secured and we have migrated our services into our clients site with little or no disruption to the site, and in doing so have cut there annual maintenance agreement costs by 35%,” the contract opens the door for further sites located around the UK and Europe.
- posted 1 December, 2003

ICC moves to new premises

Due to the continued success and growth of ICC over the last 4 years, we have relocated into new premises, these new premises allow us to deal with a higher demand of orders and enables us to extend our testing facilties so that we can handle and increase the number of orders being taken and improve our system build times. Our new premises also allow us to increase our stock portfolio therefore allowing us to become a multi-vendor support company, our customers platforms have migrated, moving from the old days of having one manufacturers brand, therefore to keep in tune with our customers demands we need to be able to support and supply their existing platform but also give them the same dedication and expertise in other platforms, this move enables us to do just that.
- posted 1 September, 2003