Software News

New product Lavu Local Server (LLS) solves the biggest problem facing cloud-based restaurant point of sale: loss of Internet connection. LLS by software developers Lavu Inc is an in-house server that business owners can rely on to continue daily restaurant operation with or without a reliable Internet connection. LLS is an accessory to the POS Lavu iPad point of sale.

“With our business steadily increasing, POS Lavu has become a vital part of our operation. Adding Lavu Local Server gives us peace of mind knowing that no matter what may be going on outside the restaurant, such as connection issues with our ISP, our point of sale system will be up and running at full speed,” reports Rafael Tigay of Cozy Oaks in Lakeland, Florida. “When running Lavu Local Server everything is kept on our local network which means everything runs a little bit quicker as well.”

Running on Apple technologies, LLS is a dedicated server installed on a Mac Mini computer. Since the server is setup in-house, a business can continue operating even when there is no Internet connection to the cloud servers. As soon as the connection is restored, all of the latest sales data will be automatically uploaded and synced to the cloud.

Real-time cloud-based systems have many advantages over traditional point of sale solutions. With cloud software and services, businesses can now store, access, and manage their sales data remotely, in real-time, in ways that were previously not possible. Yet there is an inherent challenge for restaurants, cafes and bars who use the cloud -- the Internet.

As a platform, the Internet is not perfect; even a perfectly configured system may experience some form of downtime. Internet downtime is the main reason restaurant owner’s are slower to advance to new cloud technologies. Therefore, the challenge for all cloud-based software developers is to protect the flow and processing of data to ensure a business can be productive, even in times of a poor Internet connection.

This Internet “connection” is actually a series of links in a chain, and any one of these “links” can be the culprit that can interfere with business / cloud communication. Besides the wireless routers, points of failure can include the business’ Internet Service Provider (ISP) and point of presence (POP), network access points (NAPs), and then multiple DNS servers and the network routes and server to the final servers, etc.

In addition to speeding up service and bridging the gap during Internet downtime, LLS has other benefits. The LLS Print Queue is an upgrade to the LLS. Print Q utilizes the MacMini as a print server and queues print jobs sent to printers, making sure each individual ticket is sent to the printer before sending the next. Alerts from the Lavu software allow you to address a malfunctioning piece of hardware.

“We understand the concerns with cloud-based POS and are attacking the weaknesses so that our customers can enjoy the benefits with confidence,” said Corey Fiala, lead developer at Lavu Inc. “Our Local Server is just one of the many safety-nets Lavu has set in place to insure confidence in our solution.”

In addition Lavu has improved their service by allocating resources to the following:
     Multiple disc redundancy (Raid5)    Nightly data backups    Load-balanced servers    Database replication

LLS is currently available from Lavu Inc, who recommend contacting a Certified Lavu Distributor to install.

Used globally in 56 countries, POS Lavu was the very first iPad point of sale in the Apple App store. Developed for restaurants, clubs, coffee shops and food trucks, Lavu is full-featured and utilizes cloud technologies. Updates are free, and initial costs are up to seventy five percent cheaper than other comparable options. POS Lavu is regularly featured on Fox network's TV program Kitchen Nightmares. More information is available at poslavu.com

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The Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) trend that has challenged U.S. businesses and universities has reached K-12 schools. As increasing numbers of teachers and students access educational resources via their own laptop, tablet, and smartphone, network security is of growing concern to school districts. A new alliance between SunGard K-12 Education, a leading provider of K-12 software, and Impulse Point, a respected provider of network access security solutions, is offering districts peace-of-mind.

SunGard K-12 Education provides anytime, anywhere access to critical student information through its PLUS 360 suite of products. Now serving more than 8 million students nationwide, the software and technology services company is collaborating with Impulse Point to address a growing concern of its customers regarding the identity and security of mobile devices accessing district information technology resources.

“Today’s K-12 learning environment is being dramatically changed by the increasing ubiquity of advanced technology. More and more, our clients are seeking a solution that will enable them to manage personally-owned devices while maintaining security across their computer network,” says Jay Reed, senior product manager for SunGard K-12 Education. “Impulse Point’s Safe•Connect was specifically designed to allow school districts to cost-effectively address the needs of large-scale, distributed environments.”

Safe•Connect identifies mobile devices and helps ensure that only authorized users are allowed access to network resources. Additionally Safe•Connect can automate the process by which devices are placed onto a secure wireless (WPA2) network and enforces security policies in real-time. The product is one of the most scalable solutions available for controlling network access and offers an easy-to-implement and support endpoint policy management solution. It seamlessly connects into a district’s existing network infrastructure and provides the flexibility to adhere to each school district’s unique computing policy philosophies.

Impulse Point Vice President Brian Herzig welcomes the alliance with SunGard K-12 Education. “Availability to secure computing resources is a key to fueling today’s K-12 learning environment. Since 2004, Safe•Connect has been the solution of choice for managing student personal devices within the education sector,” he says. “Through this alliance, we will offer SunGard K-12 Education’s customers a proven solution that delivers industry-leading ease-of-deployment and management to help meet their evolving BYOD needs.”

About SunGard K-12 Education
SunGard K-12 Education offers software solutions designed to help teachers, administrators, and parents support student achievement. The company’s PLUS 360 products are a single integrated suite of software solutions for the management of student information, assessment and curriculum, special education, and financial and human resources. The suite—which provides anytime, anywhere access to important student information—can be deployed to work together to help meet educational goals and requirements or implemented as stand-alone systems. For more information, visit SunGard K-12 Education at sungard.com/K12.

About SunGard
SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies. SunGard has more than 17,000 employees and serves approximately 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries. SunGard provides software and processing solutions for financial services, education, and the public sector. SunGard also provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services, and business continuity management software. With annual revenue of about $4.5 billion, SunGard is the largest privately held software and services company and is ranked 480 on the Fortune 500. For more information, please visit http://www.sungard.com.

About Impulse Point
Impulse Point delivers the industry’s most scalable and easiest to deploy and maintain Network Access Control (NAC) solution. Safe•Connect is the BYOD solution of choice for large, diverse environments—such as Education—where the “Consumerization of IT” is driving the need to provide endpoint security policy enforcement for a myriad of personally-owned, non-managed, mobile computing devices. Deployed and supported as a managed service, Safe•Connect’s rapid installation, network independence, and track record of reducing help desk calls results in lower total cost of ownership and reduced risk. Customers currently entrust the security of more than three million endpoints to Impulse Point. Visit http://www.impulse.com.

Trademark Information: SunGard, the SunGard logo, and PLUS 360 are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Impulse Point and Safe•Connect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Impulse Point, LLC. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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