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NetApp and Cisco Strengthen Partnership Announcing New FlexPod XCS to Extend Converged Infrastructure into the Hybrid Cloud

New capabilities will increase hybrid cloud connectivity and automation to improve costs and accessibility with native cloud provider integration

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 17 March 2022 – NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), a global, cloud-led, data-centric software company, together with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), today announced the evolution of FlexPod with the introduction of FlexPod® XCS, providing one automated platform for modern applications, data and hybrid cloud services.

FlexPod is composed of pre-validated storage, networking, server technologies from Cisco and NetApp. The new FlexPod XCS platform is designed to accelerate the delivery of modern applications and data in a hybrid cloud environment. FlexPod XCS is the first and only hybrid cloud solution natively integrated across all three major public cloud providers. Additionally, organizations will have the option to use FlexPod-as-a-Service, a pay-as-you-grow pricing model for financial and operational flexibility.

“For years, FlexPod has been helping Presidio customers increase app performance, save software Capex, and decrease unplanned downtime incidents,” said Raphael Meyerowitz, vice president, Engineering at Presidio. “With FlexPod XCS, NetApp and Cisco are providing more flexibility, accessibility and scalability to our customers to deliver a seamless hybrid cloud experience.”

“It is great seeing Cisco and NetApp launching FlexPod XCS together in this hybrid cloud era,” said Jeffrey den Oudsten, Chief Technology Officer at Conscia Netherlands. “Standardization on FlexPod XCS brings rich technologies and huge benefits for us and our customers in various ways, with ability to deliver one point for billing, ordering, support and validated designs. Conscia is determined to facilitate the best hybrid cloud infrastructure for its customers, and together with Cisco and NetApp, we have the best-in-class technology partners helping us to deliver on that promise.”

FlexPod XCS simplifies hybrid cloud operations by increasing accessibility and scalability, extending the infrastructure from an on-premises and edge standard to the hybrid cloud. This new offering lays the groundwork for continued joint innovation that will bring new solutions to market for hybrid cloud, containers, and modern workloads.

FlexPod XCS provides a new set of capabilities to the FlexPod platform:

  • Hybrid Cloud Connectivity: By extending organizations’ data fabric, customers gain the operational certainty of putting the right apps and data in the right place at the right time
  • Automation: Comprehensive infrastructure automation across all lifecycle phases using Cisco Intersight™ Cloud Orchestrator and NetApp automated scripts and workflows to simplify day-to-day IT operations including configuration, deployment, expansion, and infrastructure consumption and optimization
  • Visibility: Providing an enhanced and unified view of all FlexPod components through Cisco Intersight, enabling organizations to respond to their business needs more quickly with more intelligent resource decisions
  • FlexPod-as-a-Service: Lowering initial costs for flexibility and tailoring purchasing options based on budgets and usage
  • New Reference Architecture with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP® (CVO) instances in AWS: FlexPod XCS and ONTAP integration with automation via Cisco Intersight

FlexPod XCS also allows IT departments to gain new insights with full-stack visibility and customized automation capabilities that increase operational productivity. The new FlexPod-as-a-Service consumption model enables customers to have more financial and operational flexibility by aligning costs based on usage.

“Our strategic relationship with NetApp continues to create value for businesses through deep technology integration aimed at solving our customers’ biggest challenges,” said Siva Sivakumar, Vice President, Cloud & Compute Product Management, Cisco. “FlexPod XCS powered by Cisco Intersight delivers key new capabilities for our customers such as automation, visibility and hybrid cloud operations into a single unified platform for modern apps, data, and hybrid cloud services.”

“We are proud of our continued innovation with Cisco as we expand FlexPod’s capabilities that solve for organizations’ unique business challenges,” said Mike Arterbury, Vice President, Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure & OEM Solutions at NetApp. “Building on our twelve-year partnership with Cisco, FlexPod XCS combines our best-in-class technologies to simplify the delivery of data and applications, enabling enterprises to run new services more efficiently at the edge, core or in the cloud.”

FlexPod® XCS is in preview for partners and customers and is expected to be generally available globally in mid-2022.

Additional Resources:

About FlexPod

Trusted by thousands of customers across the globe, the enhanced FlexPod XCS platform brings a new level of visibility and automation that can help propel customers’ journey into hybrid cloud operations.​ Composed of prevalidated storage, networking and server technologies, and management software, FlexPod® XCS is designed to increase IT responsiveness to organizational needs providing intelligent insights to optimize costs and performance, support deployment decisions with cloud-like consumption models, and maintain existing configurations across FlexPod infrastructure. By simplifying the delivery of data and applications, enterprises have an advantage of running new services and workloads at the edge, core, or in the cloud.

FlexPod® XCS pricing is mapped to Cisco Intersight Advantage and Premier Tiers and current FlexPod pricing.

About NetApp

NetApp is a global cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organizations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services and applications to the right people—anytime, anywhere. Learn more at or follow us on , , , and .

NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Many of the products and features described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The delivery timeline of these products and features is subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco or NetApp, and neither Cisco nor NetApp will have liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the products or features set forth in this document.

#NetApp

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

OctaFX extends its trading offer by 25 new cryptocurrencies

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 17 March 2022 – The international Forex broker OctaFX has recently added 25 new cryptocurrencies paired with the U.S. dollar, ready to be traded on its services from 14 March 2022.

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A brief market recap

The whole cryptocurrency market is turbulent since there is no certainty on where bitcoin might go next. After recovering from its low of 34,750 U.S. dollars on 24 February, the world’s first cryptocurrency is in sideways motion with an occasional uptrend with some market participants’ slightly bullish sentiments. At this time of writing, bitcoin hovers slightly above 39,000 U.S. dollars.

Up until recently, OctaFX offered only five cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple), all paired exclusively with the U.S. dollar. From today, anyone can start trading any of the 30 cryptocurrency pairs.

Here is a list of just ten of the 25 new pairs that the global Forex broker has included:
● Solana (SOL)
● Cardano (ADA)
● Binance Coin (BTB)
● Matic (MATIC/POLYGON)
● Cosmos (ATOM)
● ZCash (ZEC)
● Decentraland (MANA)
● Polkadot (DOT)
● Chainlink (LINK)
● Avalanche (AVAX)

These new cryptocurrencies are among the highest in market capitalisation, making them a popular choice for any savvy trader who wants to avoid volatility and best utilise market opportunities.

All of these pairs come with a ratio of 1:25 maximum leverage. To check the complete list of all available cryptocurrencies, please visit the OctaFX official website.

About OctaFX

is a global broker providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers everything one needs to reach their investment goals, providing top-notch conditions utilised already by 7.5 million clients globally.

The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charity and humanitarian initiatives, including improvement of educational infrastructure, short-notice relief projects, supporting local communities and small to medium enterprises.

On a side note, OctaFX has also won more than 45 awards since its foundation, including the 2021 ‘Best Forex Broker Asia’ award from Global Banking & Finance Review and 2021 ‘Best ECN Broker’ award by World Finance.

#OctaFX

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Laos May Cancel Lao New Year Festivities Amid Omicron Outbreak

Laos Issues Eight Regulations for Lao New Year

As daily Covid infections rise across Laos, particularly in Vientiane Capital, the government may decide to cancel Lao New Year festivities.

Open Source Trends for 2022: A Look into the Future of Southeast Asia

‘The State of Open Source Survey’ conducted by Ashnik highlights key insights and technology trends of 2022 in Southeast & South Asia.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 17 March 2022 – ASHNIK, a leading open source solutions provider in Southeast Asia and India, recently released its survey with participation of over 160 cross-industry organizations from the region. The survey captures the growing role of open source, key digital transformation initiatives and technology trends of 2022.

“In the post-pandemic world, enterprises continue to keep up with the digitalization of their infrastructure, processes, people, and customer experiences. IT leaders thus prefer to choose a future-driven approach when it comes to achieving faster innovation and go-to-market. Open source has been a big enabler in the areas of infrastructure automation, cloud, real-time analytics, security and more, making its adoption a key focus for top global organizations. The survey is the voice of several enterprises reflecting the growth of open source, top initiatives driven by it, the rising market share for its services and support, and more – giving a multidimensional understanding of organizational goals.” adds Deepti Dilip, Director – Marketing and Strategy at Ashnik.

The survey indicates that about 82% of organizations today rely on open source to ‘drive innovation’ within the organization; 100% voted ‘ease of adoption’ as the best feature of open-source. Over 95% of respondents cited that open source offers ‘higher security’ over proprietary software.

71% participants preferred to consume open source technologies in the Cloud through a SaaS model, while 53% picked a Hybrid Cloud solution (Public Cloud + Data Centre) as their preferred deployment platform. 74% of participants indicated the adoption of Open Source Databases is set to increase in 2022, with over 59% indicating an increased usage of Community Open Source Databases specifically.

57% of respondents said that the lack of internal open source skill-sets and manpower was a key challenge in their organizations. While 97% desired to have access to service providers and consultants for the success of their projects using open source.

The top open source database technologies to see an increased adoption were PostgreSQL and MongoDB, followed by Redis and Elasticsearch; and the top Kubernetes platforms of 2022 were AWS EKS and AKS.

For more insights on open source trends of 2022, full report here

About the Survey:

The Open Source Survey by Ashnik involved active participation from 160 unique enterprises across Southeast and South Asia. Industries such as BFSI, Government, Telcos, Technology, Power, and Engineering participated to share their views on the trends driving open source adoption. The survey was undertaken by C-level Executives (13%), Senior Managerial roles (57%) and Influencer roles (30%).

About Ashnik:

is a Singapore-headquartered leading open source solutions provider with a presence across Southeast Asia, the US, and India. Since its inception in 2009, Ashnik has delivered open-source technology implementations, and support to over 200 top enterprises in the region; helping them get innovative, agile, and future-ready.

#Ashnik

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Lonely Planet names Japan’s Shikoku top travel region to visit in 2022

TOKYO, JAPAN – Media OutReach – 17 March 2022 – Lonely Planet, the world’s most popular travel guidebook, has ranked Japan’s Shikoku sixth in the regional category of its “Best in Travel 2022” list of recommended travel destinations for 2022.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/shikoku

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The island’s stunning Iya Valley, rugged Pacific coastline, mountain ranges and gorgeous free-flowing rivers all beckon to be explored with many nature activities such as hiking, kayaks, surfboards. Also, it is home to the 88 sacred sites of Shikoku, the most famous pilgrimage in Japan. Tokushima, Kochi, Matsuyama, and Takamatsu offer secluded temples, historic castles and gardens, delicious local cuisine, and modern delights. After the pandemic, please visit Shikoku to enjoy the natural beauty of the island.

For more information on Shikoku: https://shikoku-tourism.com/zh_TW

Shikoku is home to many tourist attractions such as hot springs and natural scenery, but the Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage has been rapidly gaining popularity in recent years. The pilgrimage is approximately 1,200 km long and is one of the few looped pilgrimage routes (not trails) in the world.

【Tokushima Prefecture】
Ryozenji Temple
This is the first stop on the “Shikoku Pilgrimage,” a tour of 88 temples on Shikoku in connection with Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon Buddhism. It takes about two months to make a complete circuit of the four prefectures of Shikoku on foot.

【Kagawa Prefecture】
Goshoji Temple
This is the 78th sacred site on the Shikoku pilgrimage route. The temple was once located below the port of Utazu, which prospered as a port town.

【Ehime Prefecture】
Kaiganzan Iwayaji Temple
As the 45th of 88 sacred places in Shikoku, it is located on the historic sacred mountain. Surrounded by towering rock walls and a primeval sawtooth oak forest, the temple grounds have been designated a national scenic beauty spot. In addition, Kobo Daishi-do Hall was designated as a national important cultural property in 2007.

【Kochi Prefecture】
Tosa Kokubunji Temple
For over 1,200 years, this temple has been surrounded by rich and quiet forests and has carved out a long and storied history.

It was first built in 741 by Gyoki (668-748) at the request of the 45th Emperor of Japan, in the best location in Shikoku.

Myanmar to Accept Thai Baht as Currency Weakens

Myanmar kyat currency (Photo: Depositphotos)

Myanmar is to accept the Thai Baht as currency for border trade amid fears over the strength of the US Dollar and the effect international conflict might have on exchange rates. 

TF International Grasps Multiple Measures to Donate Anti-epidemic Supplies and Support Hong Kong Epidemic Containment Work

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 March 2022 – TF International Securities Group Limited (“TF International” or “the Company”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianfeng Securities Co., Limited (Stock Code: 601162.SH), today officially launched the “TF International · Spreading Love with Warm-heart, Fighting the Epidemic Together social responsibility project to aid Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic work. The Company partnered with the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link (“HKCACL”) and the Police Tactical Unit (PTU), jointly connected with other beneficial organizations to set the project in motion. In addition to donating anti-epidemic supplies, the Company is also actively responding to the government’s appeal to release numerous anti-epidemic measures, while enhancing community anti-pandemic publicity.

From left to right: Mr. HSU Hoi Shan, Secretary General of the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link (

From left to right: Mr. HSU Hoi Shan, Secretary General of the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link (“HKCACL”); Mr. Yong WANG, Chairman and President of TF International; Mr. Chuan ZOU, CEO of TF International; Ms. Bei TIAN, COO of TF International

Since the outbreak of the fifth wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong at the beginning of 2022, the number of confirmed cases has soared to a record high successively. The virus sampling sites of community testing centers have constantly faced the dilemma of severe shortage of manpower and testing resources. Social and economic activities have been hit hard, residents’ daily life suffered from extreme inconvenience, as the epidemic prevention work is eking out under trials and hardship. Many families have been experiencing serious negative emotions and psychological strains. TF International is deeply concerned with Hong Kong compatriots and is profoundly aware of the importance of unswerving determination to fight the epidemic. Adhering to the aim of sharing weal and woe as well repaying to the society, TF International has decided to donate anti-epidemic substances that are currently in short supply to some gravely affected community residents, including [1] : 15,000 rapid antigen test kits, 15,000 high-quality N95 masks, 550 bottles of alcohol spray, numerous sets of hazmat suits and masks, and several air sterilizers, etc. The first batch of materials will be distributed to fundamental communities and nursing homes through HKCACL and will be donated to the Police Tactical Unit (PTU). The “TF International· Spreading Love with Warm-heart, Fighting the Epidemic Together” special anti-epidemic working group will collaborate closely with all its partners, to properly complete this donation activity under the guidance of measures that complied with epidemic prevention regulations. Do the best to support frontline medical and police personnel, strive to benefit the elderly, children, high-risk individuals, and those with financial predicament. Allow love and hope spread more swiftly and extensively, make concerted effort to prevent the virus from further contagion.

Yong WANG, Chairman and President of TF International, stated, “ TF International has entrenched in Hong Kong for nearly seven years. Be ing indebted to the reliance and bolster of clients and partners, our business ha s grown robustly, meanwhile we also have established a sound reputation here. It is always our pivot to positively assimilate into the indigenous culture of Hong Kong, by keeping up sodality with fundamental throng in various districts and circles through corporate social responsibility exercises. It is also the best way for the Company and our local employees to promote mutual trust, express support, and boost cohesion. Hong Kong is the inception port for us to tread in the international financial arena. Hereon, we unremittingly create breakthroughs and notch up fulfilment. It can be said that this city has witnessed the extraordinary potential and possibility of TF International repeatedly. In the trying time of this global health crises, the whole country even the whole world is confronted with unprecedented turmoil in social activities and severe challenges brought by the discrepancy in epidemic prevention policies. Nevertheless, we are totally confident that with the full aid of compatriots across the country and the joint tenacity of all Hong Kong citizens, the virus will eventually be quenched, and our lives will ultimately restore to normal. United by a strong sense of common purpose, we will work shoulder to shoulder to prevail over the epidemic collaboratively!”


[1] The estimated total value of donated materials is about HK$1,000,000, which will be distributed to beneficiaries in different communities in batches. The actual donation materials, beneficiaries and donation time may be affected by the procurement and supply situation, and the community emergency. Therefore, appropriate and essential adjustments might be adopted.

About TF International

Established in Hong Kong in 2015, TF International Securities Group Limited (“TF International” or “the Company”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianfeng Securities Co., Limited (Stock Code: 601162.SH). Through its subsidiaries, TF International holds SFC Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 licenses to strategically diversify its business across a variety of sectors such as wealth management, institutional investment banking, financial market and asset management.

The Company offers turnkey financing services to enterprises, including financial advisory, stock capital market and bond market financing; as well as secondary market trading opportunities to clients through its own one-stop trading platform and professional investment information portal. Meanwhile, it provides asset management of secondary market funds and primary market projects for high-quality enterprises and financial institutions around the world by customising asset allocation solutions based on their actual circumstances to attract quality capital.

TF International has grown to become an important leader and player in the Chinese onshore USD bond market. It holds a dominant position in the issuance of Chinese USD bonds and assets management.

Company website:

#TFInternational

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Focus on ESG Objectives to Lead Hong Kong Market Trends

Stronger demand for green and premium space

  • Focus on ESG-related compliance expected to lead Hong Kong market trends for 2022
  • Tenants to favor premium and green office space
  • Growing demand for automated warehouses, health centers, collaborative workspaces with enhanced virtual interactive tools


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 March 2022 – Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield announced its Hong Kong Market Direction 2022 report today. Responding to real estate industry stakeholders’ rethinking of strategies for 2022, the new report highlights six emerging factors expected to be key to the future direction of the commercial real estate market in Hong Kong in the Year of The Tiger. A renewed focus on ESG-related compliance is identified as the leading trend for the year, with elevated climate-related risk requirements for fund managers now in play. Additional trends determined for the year center on an anticipated revival for premium office properties, developer land acquisitions around the Northern Metropolis initiative, greater automation in the logistics industry, new expansion in the health and wellness sector, and growing demand for enhanced virtual communications and collaborative workspaces.

“The Year of the Tiger is set to bring about a significant transformation in Hong Kong’s commercial real estate market. The emergence of a fifth wave of COVID-19, together with continued strict border controls, has seen investors and corporations looking to adopt new strategies to manage the new normal in commercial real estate business operations. In response, Cushman & Wakefield has worked to identify the key trends we see emerging in the Hong Kong market in 2022. Firstly, we forecast that ESG objectives and greener real estate practices will be more influential than ever, especially as we have already witnessed government-backed SFC regulations to actively engage fund managers to implement climate risks. And, linked to the focus on ESG, multinational firms will be further incentivized to seek green and wellness-certified office buildings, with premium properties then likely to spearhead the gradual office sector recovery,” commented John Siu, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Cushman and Wakefield.

“We also expect developers and investors to actively look for land development opportunities, particularly under the auspices of the Northern Metropolis initiative. In the industrial sector, we see accelerated automation, with greater numbers of logistics companies progressively utilizing robotics and automation in their day-to-day operations. In retail, rising awareness in Hong Kong of health and wellness factors, and greater interest in healthier lifestyles, will spur expansion in gyms, fitness centers and related businesses, sometimes operating with 24/7 service models. Finally, in the light of continued social distancing and workforce preferences, we expect occupiers to upgrade virtual interaction tools, feeding demand for enhanced virtual communications and collaborative workspaces,” added Keith Chan, Head of Research, Hong Kong, Cushman and Wakefield.

To request the Hong Kong Market Direction 2022 report, please click here.

Please download the image here.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 50,000 employees in over 400 offices and 60 countries. Across Greater China, 22 offices are servicing the local market. The company won four of the top awards in the Euromoney Survey 2017, 2018 and 2020 in the categories of Overall, Agency Letting/Sales, Valuation and Research in China. In 2021, the firm had revenue of $9.4 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit or follow us on LinkedIn ().


#Cushman&Wakefield

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.