Dell is launching pre-built systems to run SAP’s HANA business analytics software. The systems scale from 1 Tbyte to 4 Tbytes of memory, and are built on the Dell PowerEdge 910, which the company says has the Intel chipset required for SAP HANA. (Read more on Network Computing)

F5 has announced firewall software that runs on its Big-IP Application Delivery Controller (ADC) platform. The software, called Advanced Firewall Manager, provides stateful inspection at the network layer and also runs as a full proxy for HTTP traffic. [Read about this and more news at Network Computing]

Absolute Software is entering the IT service management (ITSM) arena with Absolute Service, which the company said is designed to help enterprises better align IT with business requirements using ITIL best practices to control service levels and predict points of failure. [Read more about this and other news at Network Computing]

Puppet Labs has received a $30 million investment from VMware. The cash infusion will help accelerate development of the company’s product line and expand its footprint globally. [Read about this and more at Network Computing]

Cisco is extending its Jabber unified communications client to virtualized workspaces with its new Virtualization Experience Media Engine (VXME). The software lets virtual desktop users access Jabber collaboration capabilities including voice, HD video, presence and IM. [Read more at Network Computing]

Mobile device management provider AirWatch has introduced mobile application management (MAM) software to help enterprises manage apps on both corporate- and user-owned mobile devices. [Read more about this and other news at Network Computing]

Alcatel-Lucent has announced its software-defined networking (SDN) strategy for 2013, but it’s taking a somewhat different road than other network vendors that have announced support for the OpenFlow standard. [Read more]

Check Point Software recently launched a new suite of services that leverages its ThreatCloud security intelligence infrastructure to protect enterprise networks and provide expert advice on demand. Customers can choose a managed security service for day-to-day security operations and an incident response service that provides support in the event of an attack. [Read more]

Palo Alto Networks has unleashed a slew of security products, including VM-Series, a next-generation firewall platform for virtualized data centers. The company has also introduced mid-range firewall hardware platform, the PA-3000 Series, and the M-100, a dedicated management appliance. The company has also enhanced its Wildfire malware prevention subscription service. All four of these products work with the newly-released PAN-OS 5.0, which Palo Alto said has 60 new features, including increased control for managing SSL traffic and enhanced IPv6 support.  [Read More on Network Computing]

Extreme Networks is boosting its Open Fabric BlackDiamond X8 switches with 40 Gigabit Ethernet and 100 Gigabit Ethernet switch modules. The company also announced support for two software-defined networking applications recently released by Big Switch Networks. The 40GbE-XL module includes 12 ports and the 100GbE-XL module comes with four ports.  [Read More on Network Computing]