Networking giant Cisco led a $9.5 funding round of two-year-old application hosting firm SoonR. The move announced on Tuesday is the latest in a series of investments Cisco has been making in small Web 2.0 software firms.

Facing a changing marketplace where business and personal productivity applications increasingly exist on the web, network hardware giant Cisco has spent about $4 billion in the last year acquiring software firms such as WebEx and Reactivity.

In the last year Cisco has acquired about a half-dozen software and service firms, and earmarked another billion dollars to dole out venture funds on small firms mostly in Silicon Valley, but occasionally in China, India and Russia.

The company has invested heavily in software and services startups such as China Communications Services and Russian e-commerce firm Ozon, and has taken an equity positions in Albaba.com.

Business Briefs: Chamber organizes annual trade show

The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the annual Business Expo on March 27 at The Classic Center. Organizers for the 2008 Business Expo have adopted the theme "Let's Make a Deal" and will provide activities throughout the day. The day will start with a networking event, Business Before Hours, and end with award presentations at 4 p.m. The awards will include the annual Small Business Person of the Year.

Combat Training Solutions, a Stephens County company that manufactures simulated explosives for the military, announced that it plans to add more than 30 jobs and invest $1 million to expand a facility in Eastanollee.

Franchise Lawn Doctor Chooses Simplicato for their Email Hosting Needs

Simplicato, Inc. a premier global provider of business email hosting and email archiving, is proud to announce that Lawn Doctor, the nation's leading Lawn Care, Tree & Shrub Care and Pest Control specialist, has chosen Simplicato for their email hosting needs.

Lawn Doctor's previous provider had some obstacles which hindered their ability to run the franchise, and the franchisees email smoothly and efficiently. Here are some of the challenges which Simplicato offered resolution.

CoreSpeed Announces the Creation of a Webinar Series for Leveraging ...

ATLANTA, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- CoreSpeed, LLC, an Atlanta-based provider of branded online community and enterprise social media platforms, is hosting a series of online webinars specifically focused on sharing best practices for online community and enterprise social media. This webinar series, Leveraging Community, is being developed in conjunction with domain subject matter experts and will be focused on introducing the advantages and best practices advice for leveraging online community and enterprise social media for Interactive Marketing, Sales Process Optimization, Customer Support, Interdisciplinary Team Management, Human Resources and Recruiting, Partner and Channel Management, Industry Community Development, as well as, Financial Management.

According to John Linss, President and CEO of CoreSpeed, "The business class online community is about enabling internal employee productivity and empowering the ecosystem of business relationships around the enterprise.

Alentus Corporation Acquires AO Technologies' Columbus Ohio Data ...

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Alentus Corporation, the leading provider of web hosting and managed services, is pleased to announce it has agreed to acquire the data center and managed services clients of Ohio-based AO Technologies, LLC.

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Trend Micro Sees Growth of Underground Cybercrime Economy

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated TSE: 4704, a global leader in Internet content security, published today its 2007 Threat Report and 2008 Forecast.

An underground malware industry has carved itself a thriving market by exploiting the trust and confidence of Web users. The Russian Business Network, for example, was notorious all year for hosting illegal businesses including child pornography, phishing and malware distribution sites.

MaximumASP Development Team Highlighted in Microsoft's Heroes Happen ...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - (Business Wire) MaximumASP, a Microsoft Gold Certified Provider of web hosting and managed IT services, is featured in the Microsoft Heroes Happen Here Portrait Book for their significant impact in bringing new technologies to market.

MaximumASP has immediate availability of all four of the new Windows Server 2008 Editions as options in its dedicated server product line-up.

Moniker.com to Hold Premium Domain Name Auction at PubCon Las Vegas ...

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Moniker, the first and only provider of Domain Asset Management(TM) services, today announced that it will be hosting the first live and online auctions of premium domain names during PubCon Las Vegas 2007, the Search Engine & Internet Marketing Conference, on Wednesday, December 5 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. PubCon Las Vegas 2007 runs December 4 through December 7, 2007 and is the premiere educational conference and industry trade show programmed specifically for web professionals and website owners.

"Moniker.com is excited to bring its premiere live and online domain name auctions to PubCon Las Vegas 2007," said Monte Cahn, co founder and CEO of Moniker.com.