Just as your pulse is checked during a routine physical, free cash flow is used as an indicator of a company's health. It equals the cash brought in from operations minus the money needed to pay the bills. Think about leftover money in your checking account after you pay this month's bills.

Investors and analysts see this leftover money as a gauge of a company's ability to perform. It is available for transactions such as handing out dividends and working on new products.

Some argue free cash flow is wrongly overshadowed by the emphasis often placed on earnings. Earnings numbers can be manipulated and don't always tell the whole story -- and earnings don't mean much if there's nothing left over after a company pays its expenses. Even if you bring in a six-figure salary, but no money left after paying the bills, are you in great financial shape?

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out free cash flow. To calculate the number, subtract the company's expenditures and dividends from its operating cash flow.

If the free cash flow is written in red ink, it doesn't necessarily signal curtains. This is common for young companies looking to grow. It also could be a result of heavy investments, which in the long run could be worth a standing ovation.

Home / Markets / Industries / Technology

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

EVault and Harland Financial Solutions Provide Credit Unions with Online Backup and Recovery Services

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EMERYVILLE, Calif., Jul 23, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----EVault, Inc., a Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) company and the leader in online backup and recovery, today announced that Harland Financial Solutions has signed more than 40 of its existing UltraData(R) Enterprise core system clients to utilize the new Data Storage Solutions, powered by EVault, since the partnership was first established in June 2007.

In today's evolving financial services landscape, credit unions are faced with the ongoing challenge of managing and protecting ever-increasing amounts of data. These issues, coupled with regulatory compliance and disaster recovery planning demands, have forced credit unions to work more efficiently and effectively, especially in the area of data protection. With the traditional tape backup and recovery process becoming quickly outdated, the partnership between Harland Financial Solutions and EVault enables credit unions to back up their business-critical data, including all UNIX(R) and Windows(R) applications, databases and systems, to Harland Financial Solutions' state-of-the-art Enterprise Services Center. Safe and off-site, the end-to-end encrypted data is available at any time for immediate, user-initiated recovery.

Combining EVault InfoStage(TM) disk-to-disk data protection software with the protected hardware and environment of Harland Financial Solutions' Enterprise Services Center, more than 40 national credit unions, including Marshland Credit Union, Member One Federal Credit Union and Sacramento Credit Union, now securely back up business-critical core system data online, while maintaining regulatory compliance, thereby eliminating the need for tape backups and improving their Recovery Time Objective (RTO).

"Partnering with EVault not only enhances our Data Storage Solutions with one of the industry's most reliable online backup and recovery services, but it also complements our commitment to addressing the pressing needs of our credit union clients and their requirement for immediate and secure access to their data," said Scott Huseman, director of service bureau operations and IT for Harland Financial Solutions. "In the event a recovery is required, we are confident our clients' data will be secure and available for immediate, user-initiated recovery."

Several customers attest to the power and effectiveness of the combined solution:

 "We went from
   a scenario where it would take three to four days to get back up and running, to a scenario where two-and-a-half to three
   hours later, we have our whole system, our online banking and our telephony, back up to almost full capacity, as if nothing
   had happened." Mark Spaw, vice president of IT, Marshland Credit Union "If we had continued to keep the status quo with our
   tape backup, we would have had to question our ability to recover in case of an event or disaster. You don't ever want to
   have to question your ability to recover. We have 60,000 members who are relying on us for disaster recovery. Having the confidence
   to know that, no matter what, their data and your operation is going to be up and recovered - there's no price tag you can
   put on that. With this solution, we have that confidence." Chris Coleman, senior vice president of information technology,
   Member One Federal Credit Union "The Harland Financial Solutions Data Storage Solution is the best, most cost-efficient way
   to protect our credit union - and our members. It takes the human element out, which reduces the opportunity for error; meets
   the auditors' requirement for disaster recovery, and eliminates courier costs and security concerns." Bhavnesh Makin, vice
   president of technology, Sacramento Credit Union

"We've enjoyed an extremely successful relationship with Harland Financial Solutions, and our customers' successes highlight our shared dedication to credit unions throughout North America," said William Da Cunha, vice president, global alliances, at EVault, A Seagate Company. "Harland Financial Solutions' Data Storage Solutions, powered by EVault's leading technology, provide credit unions with unmatched online backup and recovery services and confidence knowing their data is safe and secure."

EVault's data protection technology is used by hundreds of credit unions in North America and is relied on by more than 20,000 customers worldwide, enabling small, mid and large sized enterprises to keep business critical data secure, compliant and easy to manage in both physical and virtual environments across the broadest range of operating systems and applications.

About Harland Financial Solutions

Harland Financial Solutions, Inc. (www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. The company supplies software and services to thousands of financial institutions of all sizes, offering its solutions in both an in-house and service bureau environment. It is a leader in core systems, item processing, enterprise content management, branch automation, customer relationship management, business intelligence, origination and document solutions, risk management, compliance training, financial accounting, open documents, mortgage solutions, electronic funds transfer (EFT), electronic banking and advisory services.

About EVault

EVault, a subsidiary of Seagate Technology, is the trusted expert in comprehensive data protection solutions for over 20,000 small to large enterprise customers globally. Since 1997, EVault's software and outsourced services for backup, recovery, archiving and business continuity have allowed customers to conform to industry-specific compliance and security regulations. EVault's DeltaPro(TM), patented Quick File Scanning, and patent-pending Adaptive Compression technologies make it easy to secure, protect and recover critical data across a broad range of operating systems and applications, delivering the highest performing online backup and recovery solutions available. EVault is the only vendor in the industry that allows customers to choose between 1) licensing and managing software in-house, 2) licensing software and outsourcing the data protection management to EVault or 3) subscribing to Software as a Service offering delivered by EVault. For more information about EVault or to hear what our customers are saying, visit www.seagateservices.com or contact an EVault expert at 877-382-8581.

About Seagate Services Group

Seagate Services provides trusted, single-vendor solutions for the protection, analysis, and retention of electronic information. Our innovative technology combined with flexible deployment options solve the most rigorous compliance and mission critical data management problems resulting in lower costs, fewer risks, and better organizational control for our customers. The Seagate Services' group is comprised of data protection offerings based on EVault's, comprehensive portfolio of software and on-line services for backup, recovery and archiving; Seagate Recovery Services' data recovery, data migration, and data accessibility solutions; and E-Discovery Solutions based on MetaLINCS technology for the intelligent E-Discovery of relevant electronic messages and documents. For more information, please visit www.seagateservices.com.

Seagate and Seagate Technology are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. The Wave logo, MetaLINCS, EVault, Seagate Recovery Services, DeltaPro Quick File Scanning, and Adaptive Compression are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC or one of its affiliates. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: EVault

Seagate Services John Sun, 510-903-7129 john.sun@seagate.com

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