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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > January 19, 2009
PDS to acquire Sheboygan firm
Published January 19, 2009 - BizTimes Daily
Oconomowoc-based Paragon Development Systems Inc. (PDS) announced today it has acquired Provident Technologies Inc. of Sheboygan.
Provident Technologies is a Novell Platinum partner specializing in identity management and Linux-based solutions with engineering and sales divisions in Sheboygan, Madison and Milwaukee. Provident also is an authorized sales and service repair facility for Hewlett Packard and Samsung printers, HP workstations, laptops and tablet PCs.
All Provident staff will be joining PDS as part of the acquisition, including chief operating officer Angela Daniels, who will lead PDS's provisioning and platform management software services as a director in the computing architecture group. As part of the transition, PDS will maintain an office in the Sheboygan area indefinitely.
"Provident Technologies boasts rich IT infrastructure expertise, and we are pleased to welcome them to the team," said PDS chief technical officer Austin Park. "The skills added by the incoming group of consultants in open source, Novell Zenworks and Novell identity management solutions will complement our already strong consulting capabilities in configuration management with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager and LANDesk.
"PDS continues to strengthen the Microsoft platform business, which we are well known for," Park added. "But we can now offer our customers more choice with expertise in open source software as well."
Provident's long-term clients include Sheboygan Falls-based Johnsonville Sausage, for which Provident implemented comprehensive Novell identity and systems management solutions to achieve a single point of control for thousands of employee and digital partner identities.
"The merger of PDS and Provident Technologies will enable the company to offer its customers high-value IT solutions, which gives them the flexibility and agility to deliver on their organization's IT objectives," said Joe McLaughlin, vice president of partner and channel sales for Novell.
In response to the growing number of travelers using mobile devices and smart phones, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker introduced a new mobile friendly enhancement to General Mitchell International Airport's Web site.
The new mobile site, www.mitchellairport.com/mobile, gives travelers a streamlined version of the airport's Web site, providing quick and easy information on the move.
"With today's busy schedules, more and more people are turning to their smart phones to get up-to-the-minute information on the airport," Walker said. "This new enhancement makes it easy for travelers on the go to check on their flight, get real-time parking information and much more."
Using the industry's best practices, the GMIA mobile site creates a bandwidth-friendly experience formatted to fit on the smaller screens of mobile devices.
The Web site contains information found to be the most important to travelers, including arrivals and departures status, real-time parking information, directions to the airport and an airport guide. The site also includes a listing of airlines that serve GMIA complete with Web links and contact phone numbers that can be dialed by a cell phone with one simple click.
