Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Friday, June 2, 2017

Web Hosting Firm Web.com.ph Migrates Servers to PH, Taps IPC for Colocation Service

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Web.com.ph, one of the country’s leading e-commerce service providers specializing in domain name registration and hosting, recently tapped IPC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc., a subsidiary of ePLDT, Inc.) to colocate their servers in the latter’s data center facilities. Originally colocated in the United States, the company fully migrated its servers to the Philippines to address connection, stability, latency, and data sovereignty issues.

According to IPC Chief Operating Officer Patrick David R. de Leon, it is imperative for companies like Web.com.ph who rely on the Internet to generate revenue, to have access to stable and secure digital infrastructure. “Businesses of today are turning to digital processes, tools and infrastructure, to meet operational efficiency goals and gain a competitive advantage. We ensure that enterprises, especially those like Web.com.ph who are in the e-commerce space, are not only supported with robust data center and network facilities to cover stability, security, and speed, but are also able to tap into our various digital resources in the cloud.”

Through this partnership, IPC will be hosting Web.com.ph’s servers in their data centers, and will handle the necessary measures to preserve business continuity such as power, cooling, bandwidth, physical infrastructure, data security, among others. IPC’s flagship data center located in Paranaque City is accredited by Japan’s NTT Communications as one of its over 140 Nexcenter facilities around the world. The company is also certified for ISO 9001 and 27001, which pertain to Quality Management Systems and Information Security Management Systems respectively.

De Leon adds that by colocating in IPC’s data centers, Web.com.ph’s customers stand to experience utmost Internet service quality and speeds as a result of IPC's data communications network that’s peered with all major domestic and international carriers in the region. IPC operates its own Asia Pacific network with bandwidth capacity on multiple undersea cable facilities.

Founded in 2004, Web.com.ph, currently serves as the Internet domain provider of over 6,000 clients. This number simply reflects the capabilities of its technical support staff which consists of Red Hat Certified Technicians (RHCT) and Novell Certified Linux Professionals NCLP, who are supported by a number of highly competent webmasters, graphic designers, and web developers.

“With our servers being colocated abroad, it was an ongoing challenge serving Philippine clients due to connection issues. We addressed this with our partnership with IPC. They have the cost advantage along with the stability of the platform. What made us partner with them, to summarize, are: Cost and Top-notch infrastructure,” said John Henry Oseña, President and Systems Administrator of Web.com.ph.

Oseña explained that due to IPC’s colocation service, Web.com.ph has received accolades from their clients. “Since the servers are hosted here, it’s faster compared to our competitors in the US, and our clients recognize this through the stability of their domains. Also, thanks to the happy customers brought by the enhanced connectivity and stability, we’ve had an increase in referrals which in turn helps our company to grow further.”

A local cloud services pioneer in the country, IPC owns and operates three state-of-the-art data centers, located in Makati, Parañaque, and at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. These robust, globally compliant facilities offer full infrastructure and telecommunications redundancy that protect every client’s mission-critical data and applications, and assure uninterrupted operations against connection issues, cyberattacks, and downtime. IPC’s data centers are a part of ePLDT’s nationwide chain of VITRO Data Centers.

Cover Photo: (L-R) Sheila Oseña, VP for Finance and John Henry Oseña, President of Web.com.ph with Niño Valmonte, Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation of IPC at a previously held #DiscoverDigital seminar.

Petron Blaze 100 Euro 6 Tested and Proven in Marathon Performance Run

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Since 2005, market leader Petron Corporation has tested its cutting-edge fuels in real world driving conditions to validate its laboratory findings. This has resulted in fuel innovations that best match the requirements of Filipino motorists, for all types of vehicles, on all types of terrain.

Following the certifications issued by leading global laboratories which rated Petron’s Blaze 100 Euro 6 as surpassing the most stringent fuel technology and emission benchmark in the world, the Philippines’ most advanced gasoline was field tested in a marathon performance run across the length of Luzon.

With Honda as the official vehicle partner, test teams were deployed in two driving modes—hypermiling mode to test fuel efficiency, and normal mode to test the overall driving experience. The six-day run saw the test teams driving up to Ilocos Norte and then all the way down to Sorsogon, before turning back to return to Metro Manila. For the hypermilers, the challenge was to see how far they could go on one full tank of Petron Blaze 100 Euro 6. In normal mode, the cars were heavily loaded with luggage and other equipment, and drivers were asked to drive as they saw fit depending on the terrain and traffic conditions.

Driving a Honda City 1.5 E CVT, the hypermiling team of Raymund Dimapilis and Enrico Mabunay were able to travel an impressive 33.69 kilometers for every liter. According to Dimapilis, their team did not expect to go the distance, saying: “There are a lot of write-ups that say there is no need to get a high-octane fuel beyond the manufacturer’s recommendation. However, this run proved that having a high-performance fuel has its benefits—in our case, fuel economy—when used properly. Another factor is that Blaze is 100% gasoline, so we had additional energy available to go farther.”

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A lucrative job is what most of us dream of having in our life. Certainly, because it promises a comfortable lifestyle, enough to sustain our wants and needs, and for our family.

The job hunting season has already started for many people, particularly the fresh graduates. Thousands of aspirants line up with their resume to land in the job they believe would support their daily living. And for most of them, compensation and benefits are the first criteria in choosing a job.

If you're one of these hopefuls, you should not miss the list of the highest paying jobs in the Philippines. And if you're still studying, you should also take note of this list and the college degrees required to land in any of these jobs.

For the junior executives or those with 5 years of experience, the salary range for the following jobs are impressive enough to lure you into wanting to any of these. If you’re fresh out of college and thinking long-term, now is the best time to consider shifting a career.

To give you a rundown of what job is included in the list compiled from the recent Jobstreet report, here's an infographic from M2Social detailing the highest-paying jobs for fresh graduates and junior executives.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Aside from the first rain in May which is believed to possess healing powers, many Filipinos await this month for an extravagant festival celebrated in most towns across the archipelago, which is the Flores de Mayo. This celebration culminates with the Santacruzan which many, especially the young generation, aren’t aware of. For the millennials and gen z, the procession can be misleading and altogether shocking. One might ask, “Why is she holding a decapitated head?”; “Why is this queen blindfolded?” There are a lot of puzzling symbols that aren't friendly for the unfamiliar. So to help you know the queens and their symbols, here's an infographic from M2Comms.

Roughly translated into English as Flowers of May, this festival is popularly known for the parade of beauties with escorts and flower arcs. But in its essence, Flores de Mayo is a month-long celebration in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It started in the middle of the 19th century following the issuance of the Papal Bull in 1854 that proclaims Mary, the mother of Christ as free of any kind of sin, hence the name Immaculate.

During the festival, a special altar is set up for the Virgin Mary. Devotees would sing hymns and say prayers and most importantly, young girls would offer flowers to the Virgin Mother of Christ every afternoon following the daily novena.

The feast culminates with a pomp procession of beautiful town ladies dressed to the nines and accompanied by a handsome lad, under a decorated bamboo arc. This is what people refer to as Santacruzan. This procession is held in commemoration of the finding of the Holy Cross by Reyna Elena mother of Constantine the Great.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Energy (DOE) under the helm of Secretary Alfonso Cusi has been laying the groundwork in Mindanao in order to deliver quality, reliable, secure and affordable electricity” to the region through the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Energy Undersecretary Wimpy Fuentebella revealed this today during a presentation on WESM in this city. “Sec. Cusi sends his message that WESM is not only for Luzon or Visayas but also for Mindanao,” said Fuentebella.

Fuentebella likened the spot market to “a dating place” to determine compatibility among potential energy partners.

"The spot market is where the demand and the supply of electricity meet so that there will be an increased efficiency in the use of energy.

Fairness and transparency. That is the bedrock of the rules to have a level playing field for the good energy participants to shine," he said during the forum.

The WESM mechanism will also bring more flexibility, progress and, most importantly, enhance the power of choice for the consumers, he added.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Backed by an economy that is rising six percent annually and a booming Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, ePLDT—an industry leading enabler of digital business solutions for enterprises in the Philippines—believes that the Philippine data center industry will experience tremendous growth in the next years as demand grows.

Revealed during the 10th International ICT Awards, the IT-BPM sector is already the second largest source of income in the country generating $25 billion (P1.026 trillion). By 2022, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) expects it to be worth P2 trillion as stated in the 8th International IT-BPM Summit.

“With the massive growth of IT and data in general, players in this sector will need to offload their data as soon as possible—or risk falling behind the competition,” said Nerisse Ramos, the Chief Operating Officer of ePLDT Group. “This is where ePLDT’s expertise and pioneer experience can enable the sector—with the increasing need for colocation, IT-BPM players will find it relevant to secure their data through a robust data center facility that operates based on global best practices with international certifications.”

ePLDT’s VITRO Data Centers are designed based on the requirements of enterprises in meeting global industry standards. It is a network of multiple data centers spread across strategic locations in the country, and are carrier-agnostic to meet redundancy and diverse telco path requirements. These data centers can address all production and disaster recovery requirements within the area as well as those in nearby areas.

All these data centers offer colocation services as well as server hosting, disaster recovery, data security and network management to help companies focus on growing their assets without worrying about data loss.

ePLDT operates its ISO and PEZA Certified VITRO Data Center in Pasig City, which is the country’s first purposely-built Tier 3 compliant Internet Data Center that serves as the global gateway of majority of the top BPO companies, local and international telcos, Over-the-Top (OTT) Players, Content Providers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

What’s more, ePLDT VITRO Data Centers in Makati and Clark are rated-3 data center facilities according to the standards set by Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The criteria is based on the data center’s concurrently maintainable design, which means each component that is part of the distribution path, can be removed, replaced or serviced on a planned basis without disrupting the ICT capabilities of collocated customers.

To date, ePLDT operates nine data centers, including the recently inaugurated data centers in Davao and Clark. By 2018, there will be a total of 10 operational data centers with approximately 9,000 racks with the launch of its second data center in Cebu.

“Overall, an effective data center helps businesses increase profitability by making data easily accessible while maintaining its security, reducing risk, and lowering cost,” said Dave Simon, ePLDT Group Chief Technology Officer. “This is what our VITRO data centers bring to the table.”

ePLDT’s VITRO data centers deliver up to 99.99 percent availability with a maximum outage of 52 minutes per year. Its data center-grade gensets, uninterruptable power supply, switch gears, and transformers are fully redundant to eliminate any point of failure. This allows the company to do concurrent maintenance without power and service interruption on the client’s servers.

On top of these features, VITRO Data Centers are operated and maintained by professionals who are guided by ISO standards such as Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2008), Business Continuity Management System (ISO 22301:2013), Information Security Management System (27001:2013), IT Services Management System (20000-1:2011), and Environmental Management System (14001:2004).

Following PLDT’s partnership with NTT Communications, ePLDT’s data centers in Paranaque, Clark and Makati were recognized as Nexcenter-compliant for adopting its data center design practices and management experience.

“As the country leverages information technology for innovative services, the outsourced data center is playing a rapidly expanding role in job creation and preservation of the health and sustainability of the broader economy,” said Simon. “For the country’s burgeoning IT-BPM sector, this means more opportunities for rapid and unparalleled growth with robust technology to support them through their success roadmap.”

For more details, please visit our website at www.epldt.com.

Summer Con 2017 (Post-Event)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The radiance of the Filipino Youth’s dreams for the nation rivaled that of the sun last May 8-12, 2017 at Villa Soledad Beach Resort, Bolinao, Pangasinan as the 79 participants of the 39th Annual Summer Conference and Work camp for Junior Members and Teacher Advisers. The radiance of the Filipino Youth’s dreams for the nation rivaled that of the sun last May 8-12, 2017 at Villa Soledad Beach Resort, Bolinao, Pangasinan as the 79 participants of the 39th Annual Summer Conference and Work camp for Junior Members and Teacher-Advisers tapped into the potential of the youth and worked towards concretizing the dream of a developed and sustainable Philippines.

This event, which was organized by the CMLI JC-NEB 2017 Illuminate, together with the CMLI Mother Council and TAAPI, featured sets of Commission Discussions, the heart of the convention, which had a truly strong and steady beat to the theme of: Dream Aloud! Empowering a Generation of Visionary Leaders Towards the Sustainable Growth and Development of Our Nation. Throughout the five-day convention, delegates had to go on a quest to reach the paradise that is the City of Stars. Proving themselves to their elders in Egg Land, battling the poisons of the Chaos Capsules deployed by the Huns in the Valley of Dead Dreams, and finally conquering their enemies as they cross the Huns Port and Bridge, the delegates wake up to the realization that the City of Stars is not a place but a vision for their beloved Philippines – which can be the future if they so choose to take this path. Professor Jose P. Dividina, CMLI Project Director, invited the delegates to inculcate this mantra, “I will dream aloud in service of God and country. I will persist. I will win.” And win we did, for the youth, for the nation, for tomorrow, in the realization of this reality.

However, the convention was not only a venue for fun and games, but it also served as an avenue for the Filipino Youth to showcase their skills and talents--both academically and artistically-- in the Competitions for Excellence and Competitions for Entertainment. The Grade School category had Solo Singing and Hip Hop Dancing for their Contests for Entertainment while Extemporaneous Speaking English, Extemporaneous Speaking Filipino, Essay Writing English, Essay Writing Filipino, Photojournalism English, Poetry Writing English, and Poster Making for the Contests for Excellence. Meanwhile, the High School Category featured Solo Singing and Talent Variety Show for their Competitions for Entertainment while Extemporaneous Speaking English, Extemporaneous Speaking Filipino, Editorial Writing English, Editorial Writing Filipino, Essay Writing English, Essay Writing Filipino, News Writing English, News Writing Filipino, Photojournalism English, Photojournalism Filipino, Poetry Writing English, Poetry Writing Filipino, and Poster Making for its Competitions for Excellence.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

He’s proposed, the ring is gorgeous, and now the wedding planning begins. Most brides-to-be start by filling a Pinterest board with gorgeous wedding inspiration, and eventually realise that a dream wedding usually has to come with a pretty generous dream budget. However, since most wedding items are only used once, some savvy brides have started to realise that there’s a treasure trove of affordable preloved wedding items on Carousell.

A mobile marketplace that lets you snap, list, sell in 30 seconds, Carousell is becoming a popular resource for brides to fund their dream wedding, or to let go of wedding pieces as they’ve been holding on because #hugot, but have run out of storage space.

Filipino Carousellers also seem to be warming to the idea of using Carousell to help them prepare for the biggest day of their lives.

A few quick searches and you can find several Carousellers looking to declutter and pass on their pre-loved items as they prepare for a new stage in life.

With more than 1.6 million listings, navigating Carousell sounds daunting. But we’ve narrowed it down to some key categories to get brides-to-be pointed in the right direction.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

To write brilliantly means to turn written words into a real moving picture of views, things, and emotions. This ability demands to be developed, and it takes much time to improve your skills to create a paper of your dream. If you have a white whale to become a good author who is able to compose works that are persuasive enough as well as touching and interesting, you need to learn some common rules for this.

Write it Better

These tips on paper composition will polish your ability to transfer your train of thoughts on paper in a proper way. All you have to do is to read and learn them all.

● Use present tense to enhance the meaning of an action and describe it like it is happening here and now. Thus, your reader will imagine it better. This is a common hack for academic writing tasks. To compose creative papers, it is okay to put ideas in different tenses according to a purpose of an utterance.

● Try to write as often as you can. Constant training will level up the quality of your work. It doesn’t matter whether you write about some profound topics or compose a simple report about how you spent your vacations.

● The majority of people prefer to write at an early hour, as it has a great effect on a paper. Thus, you can have a look at a problem with a fresh eye and tackle a task in a relaxed way. Nevertheless, you may be an exception from the general rule. That is why you don’t have to torture yourself for hours in order to create a line. Find your place and time to write. In this way, this process will become pleasant for you.

● Use synonyms to avoid repetition. The problem of battology is familiar to every writer, especially at the beginning of his or her career. However, a person can cope with it with the help of simple substitution of repetitive words with their synonyms. Be careful, as not every word with the similar notion may fit your verb, adjective, or noun.

Some Peculiarities to Avoid while Composing a Text

To write coherently and perfectly, a person needs to throw away several bad writing habits and forget them as if they were nightmares.

● “Here are” and “there are” statements are too general and boring to put them in any papers. Use more active words instead, for example, “let’s go over this…”.

● Try to omit “that” and “which”, as they are not necessary to be mentioned.

● “Not only…but also” parallelism is okay to put in your essay. However, a small but valuable aspect has to be kept in mind. If a noun follows “not only” part of the construction, then after “but also” we need to put a noun as well. The same is true for verbs, if in the first part we use a verb, the second part should also contain a verb.

● An excessive use of words is harmful to any type of texts. Omit unnecessary adjectives making no sense for your content and idea. It is better to write 15 words instead of 50.

If you are out of time to complete your academic paper you can always find help at our writing service <a essayamerica.com.

Gulf Oil Philippines Launches Bajaj DTS-i Oil in Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Gulf Oil Philippines successfully launched Bajaj DTS-i Oil in a well attended function at Isabela Ball Room , Makati Shangri La on 26th May 2017. Senior officials from Bajaj Auto Limited, Kawasaki Motors (Phil) Corp and Gulf Oil were present during the exciting launch event with Gulf Oil channel partners, their valued customers and Presidents of Rouser Clubs.

Bajaj Auto has expanded its range of Genuine parts and accessories last year to include this new range of Genuine Oil - “Bajaj DTSi Oil”. This oil is specially formulated to keep Bajaj Engines operating at peak performance for longer drain intervals in even the toughest conditions.

This highly refined oil features new technology designed to ensure better protection against engine wear, corrosion and damage. These lubricants have been developed by Bajaj R&D experts & tested extensively to Compliment the Engine technology and Optimize the performance of these Engines. “BAJAJ DTS-i Oil” offers patented formulation for 5000 km long drain interval.

Smooth clutch control, clean engine parts, longer engine life & reduced friction are some of the notable benefits. The oil is available in two variants, 10W-30 (for bikes up to 100 cc) & 20W-50 (for bikes above 100 cc). A strategic tie up has been established between Bajaj Auto Limited and Gulf Oil to manufacture & market this Genuine Oil range for Bajaj Engines.

Under this tie up, these Oils will be manufactured by Gulf Oil, as per the recommended formulation, in Gulf Oil’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and marketed by Gulf Oil leveraging their strong presence in the key markets of Bajaj Auto Limited. After successful launch in various countries including India, Mexico and Bangladesh, this new lubricant has now been launched in Philippines for CT, Discover and all Rouser models.

“We feel proud to introduce Bajaj Genuine Oil in Philippines as it would strengthen our range of premium motorcycle oils and enhance our rich legacy of Quality, Endurance & Passion. ”, said Mr. Arvind Dargan , General Manager , Gulf Oil Philippines Inc. Gulf Oil Philippines with their focused approach in niche segment is growing rapidly among B 2 B & B 2 C segments across the country.

They have more than 30 Channel partners nation wide and supply Gulf lubes through more than 3000 resellers with majority being in Motorcycle Oil segment. Gulf Oil also supports Kawasaki Super Bike Racing teams since 2016 and is becoming more popular with their quality for money values and trusted service performance. Gulf Press.