Minicom Spins Out its Digital Signage Division; Raises $6 Million from JVP and Aviv Ventures for the New Venture

Today we have some very big news. Here is the official Press Release:

Minicom Advanced Systems, a developer of remote access, KVM, and digital signage solutions, today announced that it would spinout its digital signage division (“MDS”). The new company simultaneously announced that it had raised $6 million to finance its operations independently. The investment, which was led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and joined by Aviv Ventures, will enable the company to broaden its platform from its new offices in Jerusalem’s JVP Media Quarter.

MDS is a leading vendor of media distribution solutions for the Digital Signage and Digital out of Home (DooH) marketplace. According to MDS’ CEO, Ronni Guggenheim, “This investment is the natural next step in MDS’ lifecycle. The support of our investors positions us to explore inorganic growth options and to drive the acceleration of our product roadmap towards the establishment of MDS as a full scale enabling platform in the digital signage market.”

MDS’ technology is currently deployed on over 400,000 screens worldwide, and facilitates the distribution of content to consumers in retail, education, finance, transportation, and hospitality environments. In addition to the company’s headquarters in Israel, MDS has offices in the UK, Switzerland, and the US in order to meet the localized needs of its customers.
Gadi Tirosh, General Partner at JVP, explains that “MDS, with its seasoned leadership, global footprint, and strong operating history from within Minicom, is poised to build a broader platform in this growing but still fragmented market.” JVP typically invests in businesses that apply technology acumen towards the development of new media models, and with its investment in MDS, now enters another segment of traditional media that is on the verge of digitization.

About Minicom Advanced Systems
Minicom Advanced Systems provides KVM remote access, extension and management solutions designed to expedite and simplify IT services. Tailored for IT managers who need secure, centralized, and seamless access to their mixed IT environments, these solutions enable local, remote, in-band and out-of-band access and management. Minicom's unique approach maximizes past investments in IT infrastructure, installation, and training while adding innovative technology, resulting in reduced costs and increased productivity.
Founded in 1988, Minicom is a member of Intel Capital's portfolio of companies. In 2009, Minicom established Minicom Digital Signage. With headquarters in Israel and regional offices in North America, Europe and China, Minicom operates in over 70 countries.

About Minicom Digital Signage
Minicom Digital Signage is the world leader in the manufacture of advanced multimedia platforms. The company’s award winning solutions enable the transmission of rich content from media players to multiple digital displays located hundreds of meters/feet away. They also keep network costs down by reducing equipment and licensing requirements, and better preserving its customers’ systems. Today, over 400,000 screens worldwide are run on Minicom Digital Signage technology. Minicom Digital Signage began as a subsidiary of Minicom Advanced Systems, which has over two decades of experience in providing innovative technology solutions in the manufacture of media distribution and digital out of home multimedia platforms.

About JVP
JVP is one of the leading venture capital funds in Israel. The fund operates from Jerusalem and manages over $780 million. JVP focuses on building market leaders in the fields of digital media technology, including gaming and virtual worlds, mobile media, software and hardware applications and Internet advertising. With leading industry venture partners and consultants in New York, Los Angeles and Europe and an international network of strategic partners, JVP leverages its unique market expertise, its dedicated management team and substantial capital base to build companies with the potential of shaping the global markets.

About Aviv Ventures
Aviv Ventures invests in Israel related technology companies, with a focus on companies providing "high-tech solutions to low-tech industries". The fund seeks to invest in revenue stage companies as they transform themselves from R&D centric organizations into globally oriented companies with customer facing operations. Aviv helps its portfolio companies to bridge geographical and professional gaps as they grow and develop from Israel to world markets.

Media Contact:

Elizabeta Petakovic
elizabeta.petakovic@minicom.ch
+41 44 8238009
http://www.minicomdigitalsignage.com/

Stan Robinson
Stan.robinson@minicom.com
414 N. Wood Ave
Linden, NJ 07036
+1 908 4862100
http://www.minicom.com/

Industry Leaders Form The Data Center Alliance

The Data Center Alliance was formed with Minicom, Wright Line, ServerTechnology, Uptime Devices, and Digi International to fill the information gap in the marketplace by providing a centralized, comprehensive source for building successful IT infrastructures.

The mission of the DCA is to serve as a central repository of data center/server room products and services and to provide IT decision makers with a clear understanding of the different solutions available for their IT infrastructures.

Because each organization has unique IT challenges, whether they are with physical space, power consumption, remote access, or budget, there is no generic solution that adequately meets the requirements of every CIO. Mixed IT environments demand specialized solutions in order to optimize resources.

The Data Center Alliance brings together the best in class IT infrastructure manufacturers into one place where IT decision makers can find the data they need to make smart decisions about their growing data center needs. For companies looking to improve productivity in the fields of power, KVM, network management, remote access, environmental monitoring and air flow, the Data Center Alliance is the answer.

“The Data Center Alliance helps companies find what they need quickly and easily. In today’s complex IT environment, customers welcome simplicity. The program lets companies see all the puzzle pieces in one place. The value of the program is having quality offerings from all aspects of the IT infrastructure in one convenient location,” explains David Zucker, Minicom’s Director of KVM Business Development.

In addition to the value they bring to their customers, members of the Data Center Alliance benefit from joint marketing efforts such as webinars, podcasts, trade shows, and cross promotion via social media marketing. Members also enjoy increased exposure to the right channels through lead generation and heightened brand awareness. By capitalizing on mutual interests, the program opens doors for new business opportunities and market penetration.

“The alliance is the next step in bringing Digi closer to other data center solution providers,” said Brian O’Rourke, principal product line manager, Digi International. “We are integrating each other’s products and working together to provide ‘best of class’ solutions for customers. We provide industry leading console management solutions, and we are pleased to partner with other organizations to help customers better manage their data centers.”

“Wright Line is pleased to continue its long-standing relationship with Minicom and looks forward to participating in the Data Center Alliance. The Alliance serves as yet another vehicle toward additional co-marketing and collaboration initiatives. We’re excited to lend our assistance to projects where our innovative airflow management solutions, including our patented Heat Containment System™, can assist IT professionals in their quest to make their data centers more efficient and reliable,” stated Pete Rumsey, Wright Line’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

“This Alliance helps to bring best of breed product solutions together, ensuring compatibility within the marketplace,” notes Calvin Nicholson, Director of Product Marketing for Server

Technology. “We are proud to be part of this new effort to provide infrastructure monitoring, management and control solutions that increase data center efficiency.”

To learn more about the Data Center Alliance, visit http://www.minicom.com/dca-partners.htm

Minicom Launches Power on Cable™ - a Unique Single Port Power Control Solution

Official Press Release:

Minicom Launches Power on Cable™ - a Unique Single Port Power Control Solution

IT Administrators can use Power on Cable to power on/off and reboot a remote device seamlessly during a secure KVM session

Minicom - a leading developer of IT & KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and datacenter - today announced the launch of a new, Minicom patented single port power control solution. Power on Cable (PoC) is targeted at IT environments that require a complete remote support package of both BIOS level KVM IP access and remote power control. This can include server rooms in which mission critical equipment is handpicked, or ATM machines or unmanned communication centers distributed in far away locations.


The PoC is controlled serially via a Minicom KVM IP gateway thus preventing costly mistakes by ensuring the power commands are sent only to the required device. Its unique and robust “power cord” design meets the stringent requirements of cable management in IT environments and makes it extremely easy to slide several units together and control several devices through a single management interface. The PoC has worldwide compatibility featuring 90-260 VAC 44-66 Hz up to 10Amps, making it also ideal for mixed power environments.

“Power on Cable increases IT efficiency in heterogonous environments, where for the most part power monitoring is sufficient, but there are a handful of mission critical servers that require remote power rebooting and switching” says Benny Hayumi, product manager for Minicom. “the PoC fits nicely into the power strategy of the organization by being a complementary solution to the PDU and by adding flexibility when IT budgets are so tight. The open protocol we are providing enables easy integration with existing management and control systems”.

Power on Cable continues Minicom's unique Real Needs ™ approach of controlling costs by adding remote power switching capability as and when it is needed.


To learn more about Power on Cable and Minicom visit http://www.minicom.com/
*****
Related Material:
Webcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition (22 minutes)
White Paper: Real Needs™ Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Online Demo: Remote IP Access Product Test Drive
Product Page: Power on Cable

Improved Out-of-Band Remote Access for Mixed Linux and Windows Clients Environments

Press Release:

Latest IP KVM extenders and switches provide enhanced security features, wider OS and browser support and a stylish, easy to operate user interface.

Minicom, a leading developer of KVM switches, extenders and access management solutions announced the release of an updated version for its IP based KVM product lines. These provide corporate IT staff with secure, BIOS-level, remote access to mission-critical server rooms and data centers.

Minicom's KVM lines offer enhanced web-based access supported by the highest AES 256 industry leading security encryption standard for safe communication and data transfer together with expanded support for Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers on Windows and Linux platforms.

“Secure, below the OS remote access to the corporate server room is a mission-critical task for business continuity at all times, across any OS or browser” commented Benny Hayumi Minicom KVM Product Manager “Our mission is to provide solutions that enhance the level of IT service in organizations. This we provide with the expanded platform and browser support and the enhanced security that includes a lower number of open TCP/IP ports and an advanced exclusive and active share-mode. Our new client GUI is extremely friendly and simple to operate”.

Customers that have purchased Minicom products in the past will be able to perform a simple field upgrade in order to benefit from these features and benefits.

For an online test drive of Minicom IP products and more information about products and solutions please visit the Minicom Website.

*****
Related Material:
White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology
Webcast: "Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center" (22 min)
Online Test Drive: KVM IP Products Demo

Announcement: Minicom Partners with Alexander Schneider

Minicom recently established a partnership with Alexander Schneider Ltd, the leading solution provider for datacenters, and representatives at the forefront of the Green IT industry in Israel.

Eli Sasson, President of Minicom says: “we are happy to have Alexander Schneider as a part of our international distribution network. The reason they were chosen was because of their professional capabilities to implement advanced solutions in server rooms in most of the leading companies in Israel. Another reason is their reputation for excellent customer support, which they provide 24/7.”

According to Igal Schneider, CEO “the cooperation with Minicom enriches the offerings of solutions that Schneider provides its customers in the server room. Some customers that we currently service are Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Visa Kal, Rafael, Elbit, Nice, Comverse, Checkpoint, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Finance & others…..“Minicom has a wide portfolio that fits with the SMB perfectly; furthermore, the closeness to the R&D center will enable customization of unique solutions for the Israeli market. This is a natural cooperation between both companies that believe in advanced technological solutions along with reliable support to the customer”

About Alexander Schneider Ltd.
As a leader in the field of data center management, Alexander Schneider Ltd. provides hi-performance products and Turn Key solutions for OEM systems and data center infrastructure, offering leading-edge products, integration services as well as engineering and design (NPI) capabilities. Alexander Schneider has been in business since 1963, with operations in Netanya, Israel and Rhode Island, USA.

For more information please visit their website.

Minicom Offers Leasing Program for Today’s Tight Budgets

For Immediate Release: (Applies to North American HQ only)

“We want to introduce you to our new Minicom / Direct Capital Corp Leasing partnership, says Saul Mishaan, President of Minicom in North America, which provides our customers a means to finance Minicom’s equipment. We all realize that budgets are tight and a lot of potential customers either can't get financing or choose not to spend their cash reserve on a capital investment at this time. Leasing can be a very valuable tool to help close more sales.”

“Some of the advantages of leasing are that it saves cash reserves and is profitable the first day the equipment is used as well as allows the customer to get the size of equipment they need, not just what they can afford, said James P. Broom , CEO of Direct Capital (DCC). The tax advantages could be considerable and we can offer 24 hour turnaround on applications. We are very pleased to offer this program to Minicom and you and hope to help in closing more sales.”

About Direct Capital (DCC)

Direct Capital (DCC), headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, is a national finance company founded in 1993 to provide equipment and technology financing to companies of all sizes.

For more information contact:
Direct Capital– NH Headquarters155 Commerce WayPortsmouth, NH 03801
Client Services Team: 800-253-0157Phone: 866-777-0117Fax: 800-875-0312
http://www.directcapital.com/

Minicom Advanced Systems
North America HQ
414 N. Wood Ave
Linden, NJ
Tel: 888-486-2154
info.usa@minicom.com
www.minicom.com