New device monitoring and management platform from Direct Source and Zone24x7 provides a more reliable and secure environment for enterprise information

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2009 — With retailers struggling to increase revenue in the wake of an economic downturn, maintaining optimal information technology system performance is a key component for operational management this year.

Direct Source, a national retail systems integration, deployment and services provider, and Zone24x7, a leader in enterprise technology
solutions, have partnered to deliver an enterprise device monitoring and management platform, aimed at tier one retailers. The platform allows system administrators to effectively monitor and manage the entire retail IT infrastructure on site or remotely, effectively decreasing performance management issues that can lead to device downtime. It features a fused management environment for diversified IT infrastructures, including retail point-of-sale systems, peripherals and mobile devices.

“The relationship between Zone24x7 and Direct Source goes back more than 15 years, to the days when signature capture was in its infancy and considered disruptive technology,” said Llavan Fernando, Chief Executive Officer, Zone24x7, and co-founder of @POS. “It is a great pleasure to form this alliance with true professionals, where yet another breakthrough technology, MATRIX 24x7, can positively affect the device management within retail establishments.”

MATRIX 24x7 helps retailers lower network management costs by reducing the downtime associated with failures. Remote management functionality allows administrators to not only monitor and manage the IT infrastructure, but also access and control devices. Notifications, which include device alerts on issues or equipment failures, ensure that quick action is taken to solve network problems before they cause downtime. The monitoring infrastructure also allows problems to be fixed during scheduled downtime, saving time and money, and enabling proactive maintenance.

“Device performance is and should always be top-of-mind with retailers,” said Brad Fick, President, Direct Source. “With MATRIX 24x7’s monitoring capabilities, retailers can not only ensure that business is maintained, they can also lower costs by reducing unscheduled downtime. Through our partnership with Zone24x7, retailers now have an integrated solution that can improve store operations through improved device performance.”

Included in the platform are performance management functions for asset tracking, deployments, applications, users and power consumption. MATRIX 24x7 also helps track peripheral asset inventory to reduce the amount of spare equipment purchased, and the technology features unique device locking and tracing mechanisms that are capable of making the devices more secure throughout the infrastructure.

“MATRIX 24x7 is geared towards companies entrenched in the retail space and as an enterprise 2.0-enabled platform it contains a configurable environment for monitoring, management including rich analytic capabilities.,” said Manjula Dissanayake, Vice President of Global Operations, Zone24x7. “IT administrators can view device health and correct identified faults in the infrastructure easily, which results in significant long-term cost savings.”

Direct Source and Zone24x7 will demonstrate MATRIX 24x7 at the National Retail Federation show, booth # 2143, Jan. 12-13 in New York City.

About Zone24x7

Zone24x7 Inc. is a leading global provider of technology innovation services headquartered in San Jose, Cali., with offices in the USA, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Zone24x7 was recognized as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Windows Embedded Partner due to its excellent technological solution delivery. Zone24x7, with a talented resource pool, delivers innovative solutions and technology advantage for its customers to achieve business success.

About Direct Source

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., Direct Source (www.directsource.com) is a nationally-recognized retail installation and integration services provider for tier one retailers, with an expanding network of more than 1,500 national installation specialists. Direct Source’s flexible in-store solutions are designed to help retailers maintain a competitive edge and improve store productivity and customer service. Not influenced by individual manufacturers, single vision systems or the latest in unproven technologies, Direct Source draws upon its flexible, innovative, industry-encompassing experience to recommend independent solutions, both hardware and software, that help clients operate faster, smarter and more profitably.