- Another wave of compliance
- 2005 was better, IT security-wise, than its predecessor
- Remote access for the rest of us
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- Advice from Microsoft's own IT shop
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- Does Visual Studio Rot the Mind?
- A look at MySQL 5.0, and key backer of open source resigns
- Crossing lawyers with document management
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
December 30, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The news beat: If you think compliance was a sticky issue in 2005, just wait until you learn what 2006 and 2007 hold in store. "A whole new level of monitoring and record-keeping software," notes Ephraim Schwartz, in New regulations loom large in 2006. It's not just the existing ones, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, either. A mound of privacy bills waits on Capital Hill, about 20 of them, in fact. Among those is a stack of regulations that could necessitate that companies re-engineer isolated business processes and integrate manufacturing into lifecycle management. "Better start working on that. Now," Schwartz advises.
Best of the blogs: Ed Foster is unsettled by the settlement over Sony's copy-protected CDs, and Jon Udell on the blog as resume and autobiography.
Notes from the field: Robert X. Cringely, bitter that Time's persons of the year went to the trio of Third World poverty and disease eradicators Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono rather than to him, doles out another smattering of 2005's tech losers. Count Sony, Microsoft, Bank of America, ChoicePoint, CardSystems Solutions and Citibank among those Cringe brands with the "L" word. And don't forget Steve Ballmer's kids. It seems they couldn't get that Xbox 360, or even just someone to stop by and fix their home PCs blue screen of death.
From the analysts: IT shops need to prepare for the "highly likely" coming of avian flu, writes David Margulius in From the Analysts. Analyst firm Gartner recently issued a strong warning to IT managers, entitled “Prepare Now for a Coming Avian Influenza Pandemic.” The main tasks IT should be undertaking now, just in case avian flu does come: beefing up work-at-home and remote collaboration infrastructure and ensuring communication in case conventional voice and data channels get overloaded.
Quoteworthy: I just don't see get what's so hard about sticking a USB port on a car stereo. Why all the fuss? -- Oliver Rist in Freaky Friday.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 30, 2005 10:58 AM
December 30, 2005 | Comments: (0)
2005 was better, IT security-wise, than its predecessor
Columnists' Corner: Roger Grimes writes in Security Adviser that even though security improved in 2005, malware and buggy code both threaten 2006. "It appears that 2005 wasn’t worse than the previous years. Sure, malware and hackers were as crazy as ever, but when I asked many of my computer security friends if 2005 was better or worse than previous years, every one of them said it was better. Granted, our survey is far from a scientific poll, but the collective responses were surprising nonetheless," Grimes explains.
Hardware: Come January 3, chipmaker Intel will reveal a new branding strategy that will bid adieu to "Intel Inside." The new catchphrase: Leap Ahead.
Applications: CDC Software eyes CRM maker Onyx for takeover, and Onyx executives say they'll meet to discuss bid, but they won't give a timeline of when they'll answer.
The news beat: Despite dire predictions earlier in the season, holiday shoppers rang up a collective bill for $30 billion, up some 30 percent over last year. CSC, meanwhile, grabs $575 million in government contracts, and AOL issues its list of spam lures. On top were Trump and free iPods.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 30, 2005 05:49 AM
December 29, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Remote access for the rest of us
Best of the blogs: While working on a review of enterprise-worthy remote access solutions, Oliver Rist pauses just long enough to take a good look at the options for SMBs. "For the SOHO and SMB set, the solutions we're testing are usually cost prohibitive since often you're just setting up remote access for one or two individuals. So for these folks, you've got two options: a hosted service or a dedicated software solution," Rist explains. The options he describes are: WebEx's PCNow, GoToMyPC, Microsoft Remote Desktop, Symantec's PCAnywhere and VPNs from CheckPoint and SonicWall.
Telecom: A judge upholds the $230 million award that Nokia has to pay InterDigital Communications in a licensing dispute. And Covad settles its antitrust suit with Verizon, ending all litigation between the two companies.
Open source: Matt Asay outlines what he thinks are the most valuable blogs in the open source realm and points out those that are waning.
Security: Some folks might be relaxing this week, but not the malicious hackers busy exploiting a zero-day flaw in Windows. The vulnerability comes from Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 handling of corrupted .WMF (Windows Metafile) graphic files, security firms said.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. Today's topics include the expanding roles that 1U servers are playing, and our final installment of the Technology of the Year winners.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 29, 2005 11:14 AM
December 29, 2005 | Comments: (0)
1U servers are taking on new -- and bigger -- roles in the datacenter. And the final installment of our Technology of the Year winners. 
LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 29, 2005 11:01 AM
December 29, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Advice from Microsoft's own IT shop
Columnists' corner: Skipping the Top 10 of 2005 lists or predictions based on gazing across the next 12 months because "there’s too much good stuff to giggle about without requiring any conjecture at all," Oliver Rist reports on several new documents explaining how Microsoft's internal IT department has improved security using Microsoft software. Yes, you'll find the phrase "dog food" in The Microsoft machine churns on. Topics covered in the document include: better security for remote access, how Redmond's IT folks manage inbound email traffic, spam and malware-infected message specifically. And, of course, Rist couldn't resist inserting one prediction.
Storage: Mario Apicella examines Seagate's acquisition of Maxtor, and asks if it will spell trouble for rivals. "Even the most prudent figures have vendors drooling in anticipation," Apicella writes in Storage Insider.
The news beat: A gunman in Bangalore, India rattles the outsourcing industry by killing one person and wounding 4 others outside the India Institute of Science. Earlier this year, police warned that the software and services outsourcing industry is a potential target for terrorist attack, but even though they have put the city on high-alert and asked outsourcing companies to tighten security, police have not confirmed whether the gunman was a terrorist.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 29, 2005 05:55 AM
December 28, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise Technology in five minutes or less. Today's stories include a look at the PC of 2007, and the second installment of InfoWorld's Technology of the Year Awards. LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 28, 2005 11:28 AM
December 28, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Does Visual Studio Rot the Mind?
Columnists' Corner: Jon Udell calls ECMAScript the "Switzerland of development environments." And that drives into the lingering debate concerning static and dynamic typing. Oh yes, Udell also revisits Charles Petzold's question "Does Visual Studio Rot the Mind?"
VoIP: Microsoft bands together with Softbank BB and Japan Telecom to offer integrated VoIP, e-mail, IM and other groupware services to customers in Japan.
Best of the blogs: An IT recruiter writes into Bob Lewis' Advice Line with a problem: hiring the right people when the pay he has to offer is low. His particular company does not pay IT folks as much as competitors do, but there are strong points to sell to prospective employees, namely the fact that "here, a 45-hour week would be considered going the extra mile." Therein lies an answer.
Hardware: With the new year nigh, Tom Yager makes some hardware-centric prognostications about virtualization and high-performance computing. "I believe that together, these two technologies put us right on the cusp of what I call the HPC datacenter," Yager opines.
Listen now to the audio companion to this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise Technology in five minutes or less.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 28, 2005 11:04 AM
December 28, 2005 | Comments: (0)
A look at MySQL 5.0, and key backer of open source resigns
Hot review: MySQL 5.0 has arrived and, while it adds enterprise-class features that make upgrading mandatory, the open source database's management and development tools fall short. "MySQL 5.0 may not be on the same competitive enterprise playing field as the established big four databases yet, but MySQL admins would be foolish not to implement version 5.0," writes Sean McGown, in Long-awaited MySQL 5.0 makes its debut.
Open source: The Massachusetts CIO who championed the use of OpenOffice resigns, raising the question of whether the commonwealth will still move away from Microsoft.
Best of the blogs: Ed Foster posts several reader comments concerning fair product return policies, including one who found he couldn't take back a defective KVM 14 days after purchase.
The news beat: Looking ahead to early next year, the latest and greatest gadgets head for CES, namely high-definition, portable video and home networking technologies. Toshiba, Hitachi and Renesas consider a joint chip foundry that would serve all three companies. And the Virkel Virus strikes MSN Messenger users under the guise of a sneak peek at the latest beta of Messenger.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 28, 2005 05:57 AM
December 27, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Crossing lawyers with document management
Columnists' Corner: Opposing attorneys walk into a litigation meeting and -- no, this is not the opening of a joke -- they'll be talking about document management systems. That's right: One of two proposed amendments relating to document management software would require attorneys for both parties in a litigation to sit down prior to court proceedings and discuss their clients document management systems. One source Ephraim Schwartz spoke with for this week's installment of Reality Check likened the amendments to Chernobyl. "If you think calling the changes 'Chernobyl' is a bit of hyperbole, well then, you can always sit back, do nothing, and wait for the fallout," Schwartz writes.
Networking: Nortel swallows Tasman Networks for $99.5 million and intends to add the acquired IP routers to its roster.
Best of the blogs: Oliver Rist reviews a 21-inch display from Gateway and finds that "the badly-named FPD2185W is a rock solid, high-end display with a $599 price tag that beats my similar Samsung by almost half." Of all the lessons garnered throughout the past 12 months, Matt Asay writes in Open Resource, his lesson #4 is that support is not a viable business model. And Jon Udell on more tag cloud visualization.
Check out the audio companion to this blog: InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. Listen now!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 27, 2005 11:10 AM
December 27, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Document management goes to court, and we offer a sneek peak at the InfoWorld Technology of the Year winners. LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 27, 2005 11:06 AM
December 27, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Columnists' Corner: "When politics trumps technology, expect the worse," writes our IT Off the Record author, in An IT project without a future. The consequences in this case involved the outsourcing of entire departments.
Security: Another worm is circulating. This time, two Trojan horses are spreading through MSN Messenger and capturing passwords to Spanish banks.
Telecom: NEC is looking to partner or merge with another company around its cell phone business, just not a foreign group.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 27, 2005 05:43 AM
December 23, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Let's face it, not even CIO's have all the answers. Some of them, as one reader explains, think they have all the answers -- and all the questions. Career sage Bob Lewis explains how to handle the CIO who doubles as Mr. Know-it-all. For starters, feed his ego with ideas in a fashion that makes him think those thoughts are his own.
Analysts report: Gartner issued a 'warning' that Windows Vista does not adequately address metadata management and, as such, customers "must have a plan and policy for addressing metadata management before deploying" the forthcoming OS, which is currently in beta.
Wireless: San Francisco puts out some Wi-Fi feelers, asking for RFPs regarding the citywide municipal wireless it is looking to create. RFPs are due back in February so negotiations should begin early next year.
Search: Google reveals more details about the AOL deal, notably a limited liability that will own the $1 billion stake in AOL, and be eligible for an IPO come July 1, 2008.
Applications: A class-action lawsuit against Salesforce.com has been dismissed. The suit alleged that CEO Marc Benioff and CFO Steve Cakebread violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by misleading shareholders prior to the company's initial public offering (IPO). But U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the claims can never be brought against the defendants again, because the plaintiffs failed to prove Benioff and Cakebread violated the Securities Exchange Act.
Don't miss the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. Listen now!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 23, 2005 11:23 AM
December 23, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Gartner warns about Windows Vista, San Francisco moves closer to Wi-Fi, and SCO's revenue dips. LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 23, 2005 11:12 AM
December 23, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft looking to partner against Google
Search: Just when you thought all the buzz about Google taking a stake in AOL might be ready for a holiday break, a Microsoft executive posted on his blog that the Redmond giant is in talks with another 'tier-1' Internet company to architect a deal that would compete with Google. Hmmm, whoever could it be?
Security: Google, meanwhile, was busy plugging holes in its Web site that could expose users to phishing scams.
Legal: Microsoft and Google resolved their differences on one thing: The two companies reached a settlement about researcher Kai-Fu Lee. Terms of the agreement, however, are confidential.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 23, 2005 05:04 AM
December 22, 2005 | Comments: (0)
A present for Ellison, but not for Gates
The news beat: Larry Ellison got an early Christmas gift from Europe when the European Union approved his takeover bid of CRM rival Siebel, but Santa was not so nice to Bill Gates when he delivered news that the EU intends to slap Microsoft with a fine if it does not comply with its antitrust ruling. Then again, Ellison isn't spending the week on the cover of Time's persons of the year issue, either, so I suppose some balance exists in the universe. In response to the EU, Microsoft's top lawyer lashed out, claiming the agency "changes the goal posts and demands another change."
Networking: Lucent will take a $300 million charge on a lawsuit ruling in the bankruptcy case regarding Winstar.
Best of the blogs: What do Monty Python and UDDI have in common? Plenty, opines Dave Linthicum in UDDI is a dead parrot. Monty Python, you see, has a skit about a dead parrot for which UDDI has become something of a, well, a dead ringer.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 22, 2005 11:59 AM
December 22, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-22-2005
FTC catches heat, Microsoft faces fines, and here comes another Santa Claus worm. LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 22, 2005 10:00 AM
December 22, 2005 | Comments: (0)
We can't CAN-SPAM as easily as the FTC might hope
The news beat: When I read the news that the FTC claimed spam has been reduced, in part at least thanks to The CAN-SPAM Act, I wondered why the miracle had somehow overlooked me and my inbox. But I'm not alone. A whole host of vendors and consumers, in fact, are questioning the FTC's claims. The spam problem isn't shrinking, and it might even be at an all-time high. But that seems to depend on whom you ask.
Browsers: AOL is testing a toolbar for Firefox that will offer users a quick route to AOL content and services, and Microsoft says that the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 will support international domains.
Hardware: As the year comes to a close, so have several mergers. Add Fujitsu Siemens absorbing the Product Related Services Division of Siemens AG's Siemens Business Services to that list. True, that's a mouthful, so here's to hoping that they'll shorten the name so customers don't have to say it anymore.
Security: Another Santa Claus worm is making its rounds, this time riding in via e-mail and luring users to open an attachment containing an electronic greeting card.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less.
http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-21-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 22, 2005 05:37 AM
December 21, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Another merger today: IBM grabs Micromuse
Networking: I was wrong. In this morning's post, I suggested that Seagate gobbling up Maxtor might be the final merger of the year. Not so. Late this morning IBM pulled Micromuse into the Big Blue fold, saying that the inherited technologies will help customers manage the mixed traffic speeding through their networks. What's next?
Best of the blogs: The prolific Jon Udell posts an experimental screencast to reflect on the year in tags -- including step-by-step instructions on how he constructed it.
SaaS: While multitudes of folks these days sing the praises of software-as-a-service, one harsh reality of the subscription model came to light when Salesforce.com's service went out, and left many customers in the dark, so to speak. It was not clear how extensive the outage's impact was and, in fact, even though some customers were without service for the better part of yesterday, others reported no problems.
Security: Just in time for Christmas, a Santa Claus IM worm is leaving virtual coal in the form or a rootkit on the systems of AOL, MSN and Yahoo instant messaging users. The rootkit, dubbed gift.com, attempts to shutdown desktop antivirus software and starts collecting the user's information for broadcast over the Internet.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less.
http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-21-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 21, 2005 11:00 AM
December 21, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-21-2005
Everything you need to know about enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 21, 2005 10:00 AM
December 21, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Another storage merger to round out 2005
Storage: In what seems as if it could be the final merger of 2005, Seagate buys Maxtor for $1.9 billion. The companies say combining will enable them to expand the range of products they offer and to save $300 million per year.
Hardware: IDC projects that in 2006 PC growth will slow down a bit, but that it will still remain above the 10 percent mark. The third largest PC maker, Lenovo, recruits the former head of Dell's Asia-Pacific region to be its new CEO. Lenovo also announces that it is buying out its partner's stake in a mobile phone joint venture.
Best of the blogs: Dave Rosenberg's take on Google banning Kozoru from searching. Here is a hint: "I like Google search, but the blind faith really needs to stop."
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less.
http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-20-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 21, 2005 05:25 AM
December 20, 2005 | Comments: (0)
An early look at the Power Mac G5 Quad
Hardware: Tom Yager got his testing hands on Apple's Power Mac G5 Quad and, while most of the review he is working on shall remain secret for the time being, he did offer one preliminary observation. "All I can say now is that the Quad is (ahem) faster than the dual 2 GHz Power Mac G5 that's sitting next to it," Yager wrote in Power Mac G5 Quad changes the weather.
Best of the blogs: Ed Foster dissects Chase's frustrating opt-out policy in The Gripe Line, and Oliver Rist on the virtues of Web-based outsourcing.
The news beat: Yahoo strikes a deal to provide WordPress blogging software to its hosting clients. Sun offers a 60-day free trial for Niagara servers, one-third shorter than the company originally suggested it might be. And best practices are seen as key in IBM's software portfolio.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less.
http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-20-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 20, 2005 11:11 AM
December 20, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-20-2005
InfoWorld Daily Podcast for December 20, 2005 LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 20, 2005 10:00 AM
December 20, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Google stake in AOL could be disastrous
Search: Investor Carl Icahn penned an open letter to Time Warner's board in which he commented that the pending deal between Google and AOL could be "disastrous" if AOL is prohibited from seeking mergers or business deals with other companies.
The news beat: IBM buys Bowstreet and its software for customizing and integrating portals, Oracle outlines a new multi-core pricing policy, and NEC foreshadows forthcoming notebooks based on Intel's Yonah dual-core mobile chips.
Open source: Hewlett-Packard says it will now offer the open source identity management and directory services software OpenLDAP across all of its servers. Though it was planned for January availability, Opera has quietly said that now anyone can download its Opera Mini browser for cell phones. And Novell says that its work with the U.K. NHS, which will see the government organization adopt open source software, is primarily focused on servers.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 20, 2005 06:13 AM
December 19, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The news beat: A look back at the headline-grabbing and the more elusive occurrences in IT during 2005. IBM tightens the links between its Alphablox analytics software and Rational Application Developer and WebSphere Portal Server. Microsoft says it will use the Firefox RSS icon in Internet Explorer 7, and IT vendors align with universities to adopt guidelines for collaborating on research.
Best of the blogs: Now that it has concluded, Greg Nawrocki thanks the SETI project for providing grid computing with a decade of free PR. Dave Linthicum writes that the big push in SOA for 2006 will be to join enterprises with Web 2.0. And Jon Udell weighs in with his predictions for next year.
Columnists' corner: In What will 2006 hold for open source? Neil McAllister predicts what the New Year will and won't bring to the open source movement. What 2006 won't be is the year of desktop Linux, but the OS will show up in a host of other end-user devices. Think cell phones, PDAs and media players. Oh yes, and an increasing number of vendors will claim to open some of their products, which will only serve to confuse customers even more.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less.
http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-19-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 19, 2005 11:25 AM
December 19, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-19-2005
InfoWorld Daily Podcast for December 19, 2005 LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 19, 2005 10:00 AM
December 19, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: A lesson lurks in Google's $1 billion purchase of AOL, Matt Asay writes in Open Resource. "Never, ever trust a capitalist who pretends to be otherwise." The problem, it seems, is that Google promised favored placement of AOL content as part of the deal, something it has never done before.
Special report: The complete guide to hardware and software houses all 309 reviews that the InfoWorld Test Center conducted during the past 12 months.
Standards: IBM, Microsoft and SAP abandon the UDDI Business Registry project, claiming that it is no longer necessary.
The news beat: Venture capital investments this year could meet or surpass the total spent in 2002, and software-as-a-service and open source projects are atop the list. A new glitch is impacting beta versions of IE 7, causing links to come up blank, multiple windows to launch, or the browser to hang, a Microsoft official blogged. Bill Gates, his wife, and rock star Bono are on the cover of Time this week as the magazine's persons of the year for charitable work.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 19, 2005 05:42 AM
December 16, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The 'twisted and unholy' awards of IT
Columnists' Corner: Robert X. Cringely is in the holiday spirit, just not in the same cheery way most folks get. Instead, he's up to his old tricks, doling out the GUI awards -- for Greed, Underhandedness and Imbecility. Apple, Cisco, Google, Intel, SCO and Sony prance across Cringe's own red carpet. Red, as in red-faced. Shamed.
Podcasts: We added two new podcasts to our roster. Victor Garza is now podcasting away at his security-laden Zero Day blog and yours truly is delivering the day's top stories in the InfoWorld Daily Podcast.
Best of the blogs: In Technologies of control, technologies of use, Jon Udell continues the discussion about whether a degree in cinema studies is the new MBA, particularly how it relates to the formidable challenges associated with digital media. And Dave Rosenberg offers some advice for open source startups that is worth reading for those on the user side as well.
Hot review: Rather than the traditional forensics process that many companies use for responding to security events, Guidance Software, with its EnCase Enterpise 5, recommends what it calls 'automated incident response.' In Rethinking incident response, the InfoWorld Test Center found that EnCase offers a strong set of tools that arm security personnel to dive deeply into systems, but also require an investigator skilled enough to ask the right questions.
Security: Victor Garza is in the holiday spirit indeed, but rather than relaxing him the season has got the security expert contemplating. Alot. "I couldn't help thinking that while I was out enjoying the overly merry and slightly inebriated karaoke singers that people were out there spamming corporate networks, creating viruses and trying to penetrate perimeters."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 16, 2005 11:05 AM
December 16, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-16-2005
InfoWorld Daily Podcast for December 16, 2005 LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 16, 2005 10:00 AM
December 16, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Top 10 hurdles for Microsoft in 2006
The news beat: A research firm lists the 10 biggest challenges facing Microsoft in 2006. Chief among those: Marketing Windows Vista. Folks behind the Opera browser dismiss Google takeover talks as nothing but rumor, and Sun Microsystems updates its portal server for Web 2.0.
Security: In the holiday spirit, a worm dubbed Dasher is targeting Windows. Dasher, along with two other recently posted attacks, could crash or gum up Internet Explorer. Is anyone other than me ready for IE 7? (I still can't go full force to Firefox because some of the apps I use most frequently are bootstrapped to IE.)
Open source: The past year has seen significant changes in open source software, perhaps most notably vendors stepping up efforts to simplify usage and licensing while assuring customers that they can be confident in deployments.
Columnists' Corner: Roger Grimes advises his clients to use one or more honeypots -- sticky traps for detecting malware. The reason? Plain and simple, all computer security will fail in one way or another. Honeypots, you see, serve as early warning systems. "As a non-production asset, nothing should ever touch the honeypot -- that way, if something touches it, probes it, port scans, or tries to log on to it, you'll know it's malicious, and you can capture as much information as possible from the initial contact," Grimes explains.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-16-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 16, 2005 05:28 AM
December 15, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Another battle brewing in wireless e-mail realm
Wireless: Visto today is suing Microsoft charging that the software giant improperly used patented Visto technologies in its Windows Mobile 5.0 software for wirelessly accessing e-mail. The suit seeks monetary damages and a permanent injunction preventing Microsoft from shipping Windows Mobile 5.0.
Hot review: The InfoWorld Test Center props open 1U servers from Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, MPC and Supermicro. These slim picks prove themselves to be more than just anonymous nodes in a cluster or Web farm and, instead, pack some of the same features typically found in application or file servers. "With a formatted capacity of as much as 1.6TB, dual 3.8GHz Xeons, 12GB RAM, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, one of these small servers will handle most computing chores short of a full-on database system," writes senior contributing editor Logan Harbaugh.
Best of the blogs: Keeping his screencasting alive, Jon Udell this time collects episodes of NPR's Fresh Air by time-shifting streaming audio to an MP3 format, in A breath of fresh air. A Rube Goldberg approach, indeed, but it gets the job done.
Columnists' Corner: While some folks are already seeing visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, our storage guru Mario Apicella is dreaming about holographic storage, which, he points out, is finally becoming more reality than figment. The specs: A device based on holographic storage will be able to store hundreds of gigabytes or more on a single compact medium, at speeds of hundreds of megabytes per second with a data transfer size about 1 million bits.
The news beat: Startup Medis Technologies, at CES next month, will show off fuel cell power packs that can power or recharge electronic gadgets, Philips says it is open to M&A options for its chip arm, Kazaa owners face contempt charges in Australia, and China's 99Bill to offer payment service for blogs.
Listen now to the audio companion for this blog. InfoWorld Daily Podcast: Enterprise technology in 5 minutes or less. http://akamai.infoworld.com/podcasts/IFW_Daily_12-15-05.mp3
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 15, 2005 11:20 AM
December 15, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-15-2005
InfoWorld Daily Podcast for December 15, 2005 LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 15, 2005 06:41 AM
December 14, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Dell positions itself in a commodity market
Columnists' Corner: Increasing processor commoditization will be an important story in 2006, Tom Yager writes. "They should be as cheap as light bulbs. Well, designer store light bulbs." In particular, Dell will make some adjustments. "In hardware, Dell is looking forward to commoditization in what I believe will be the fastest growing segment of system sales starting in about 2008: large clusters."
Best of the Blogs: Check out Linus Torvalds in Matt Assays's Open Resource, as Torvalds comments on source code, developer craziness, and the makings of successful projects.
Micahel Baum, in IT Troubleshooter, says he is at Interop this week in New York at a special NOC called InteropNET, where 14 vendors are allocating best of breed technologies to run Internet access at the show.
The growing importance of SOAs was a major story in 2005, and has presented opportunities for networking companies like Cisco Systems, says Greg Nawrocki, in Grid Meter. "Today's convergence of virtualization, loosely-coupled services and dynamic provisioning capabilities could accelerate the network's role from mere transport of IP packets -- to central nervous system for the IT infrastructure," he writes.
Quoteworthy: New rules by the European Union that telecoms and ISPs be required to retain customer data for up to two years, "are a "green light for mass surveillance, fishing expeditions and profiling," said U.K. Liberal Democrat M.E.P. Sarah Ludford.
Posted by Jack McCarthy on December 14, 2005 12:44 PM
December 14, 2005 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld Daily Podcast 12-14-2005
InfoWorld Daily Podcast for December 14, 2005 LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 14, 2005 10:00 AM
December 14, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The news beat: Some of the happenings that made our most important stories list won't surprise you; others may rekindle memories so distant you'd have thought they actually happened last year. Inside our piece on 2005's 10 biggest stories you'll find news ranging computing giants, Google, HP and Intel, to the proud up-and comers, such as AMD and Salesforce.com. There are successful, failed, and still-to-happen merger stories, as well as another pick that will likely blossom not before year's end, but sometime in the near future.
Columnists' Corner: Silicon Valley and Hollywood might seem like odd bedfellows, but the two are getting a bit closer than the rest of us should be comfortable with, and the relationship could inhibit Web 2.0's promise of two-way media, writes Jon Udell, in The two-way media Web. "The textual Web has, finally, embraced the two-way model that Tim Berners-Lee envisioned right from the start. That collaborative style is, more than anything else, what the Web 2.0 meme describes. But so long as the tech industry aligns itself with Hollywood's agenda of control, the two-way media Web will remain an elusive dream."
Security: Microsoft fixes 'critical' hole in IE. Thus far, attacks have not been rampant, but users should install this fix soon.
Search: First, a short question: What is SEO? Well, it stands for search engine optimization and that, perhaps, is where the simplicity ends and complications begin. Juan Carlos Perez of the IDG News Service explains how SEO works and lays down some of the basic principles, and what companies should know when considering SEO. Google's blogger, meanwhile, gets blocked again in China and a survey determines that Chinese users widely support controlling Internet content.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 14, 2005 04:53 AM
December 13, 2005 | Comments: (0)
SOA: In this screencast inside a blog post, Jon Udell explores Mindreef's Coral tool for collaboratively building Web services. "In theory the product enables you to record, replay, analyze, simulate, and selectively intermediate XML transactions that touch a mixture of services -- including internal ones that you control and external ones that you don't. How that works out in practice will be fascinating to watch," Udell opines in Test-driven SOA.
Databases: MySQL and Business Objects team up to meld the open source database with a bundle of BI tools. Hewlett-Packard says it will combine 762 data marts around the globe into a single datawarehouse to get a better sense of its own business as well as to learn how it can better service customers.
Telecom: Bell Labs researchers work on new applications for low-cost 4G mobile phone technology, and Vodafone slaps down $4.5 billion for Turkish phone operator Telsim.
SaaS: Ephraim Schwartz explains how the software-as-a-service concept can be taken one step further, in Do-it-yourself software services? In this column, he proposes a hybrid solution that would see customers rolling their own services and, in turn, offering those to partners to consume as services. For instance, Wal-Mart could expedite getting its suppliers to use its SCM application by offering it to them, SaaS-style.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 13, 2005 10:00 AM
December 13, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Columnists' Corner: Sometimes there is more to swapping out a server's power supply than meets the eye, as our IT Off the Record author found on a bone-chilling December night. And sometimes there is more to fix than just the technology.
Security: A new attack could be used to overtake the PCs of any Mozilla Firefox users that have yet to upgrade to the latest version. The exploit takes advantage of a known flaw in the way Firefox processes Javascript.
VoIP: Aligning to battle their common enemy Skype, Microsoft and MCI join forces to build a voice over IP service that will enable calls placed from a PC to connect with almost any phone.
The news beat: JBoss extends its partner training program to certify third-parties to offer training courses on all of its products, Fujitsu harnesses carbon nanotubes as heatsinks, AOL tests a remote access service based on WebEx, and a look at December's coolest gadgets.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 13, 2005 05:28 AM
December 12, 2005 | Comments: (0)
64-bit applications are ready, are you?
From the feature well: Now that 64-bit is a reality, IT shops are faced with an entire set of new questions. Is it time to switch? Will we get performance and stability improvements? Which applications should we turn over first? What issues are likely to arise? "The answer is a mixed bag," writes Leon Erlanger, in Scaling your applications to 64-bit. Erlanger explains just what that mixed bag holds, and recounts the experiences of a few who have delved into 64-bit already. The package also includes Taking steps toward 64-bit processing, and Microsoft updates plans for 64-bit computing, among other pieces.
Columnists' Corner: Fresh from a visit to Dell's headquarters, Neil McAllister contends in Open Enterprise that server virtualization is good for customers and vendors alike, and that Xen just might help Linux slide into the virtualization pole position. Naturally, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts to Xen's momentum.
The news beat: IBM offers an edition of DB2 Content Manager for SMBs. Microsoft details the changes it is making to IE 7 that are designed to improve security. The OECD says that China surpasses the U.S. as top IT goods supplier, and the storage software market rises again in Q3, according to IDC.
Best of the blogs: Dave Rosenberg is on the hunt for a full-time Microsoft SQL Server DBA. Any InfoWorld reader that helps him find one will get some sort of prize.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 12, 2005 11:38 AM
December 12, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Quoteworthy: There are times when I get through the day by looking around the office and thinking, 'My God, aren't the natives here strange.' -- Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist at Intel, on how she never gives up on her day job, describing being at the chip giant as a 'field trip.' -- That quote, and more, can be found in the story 2005: The IT year in quotes.
The news beat: Cisco looks to expand its role in application integration with its new Service-Oriented Network Architecture. BellSouth and 8x8 team up to roll out a VoIP service. And Yahoo buys Del.icio.us for its social bookmarking technology and says the acquired firm will work closely with Yahoo's Flickr photo sharing service.
CRM: With an eye toward winning enterprise-class customers, SugarCRM unveils version 4.0 of its hosted customer relationship management software, while rival Salesforce.com adds Sandbox to its services. Sandbox enables users to test a full parallel copy of their production environment.
Best of the blogs: Bob Lewis offers his two cents on what to do when you put your foot in your mouth, in a meeting, when you are new to a company, and the best ways to recover your credibility. Dave Linthicum, meanwhile, explains why services descriptions are key when building an SOA.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 12, 2005 05:28 AM
December 09, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The news beat: IDG News service writers weigh in with projections of what the forthcoming year will bring. Among the topics at hand: offshoring, security, Google, Microsoft, Linux and, of course, blogs. Back in the here and now, Google adds a public transportation service to its armada, trade groups file to participate in Microsoft's second appeal of the European Commission's antitrust decision, and a pirate peddled some $5 million in counterfeit software.
Notes from the field: The indefatigable Robert X. Cringely eyes up a date with a Match.com employee, pretty much any Match.com employee. Cringe, no doubt, would take her to an ICANN .xxx domain convention. Then they'd swing through Costco to buy an aging Dell PC and a year's supply of toilet paper, just in case she sticks around for breakfast. Hey, If the suit fits, wear it.
Hardware: Lenovo, one year after snapping up IBM's PC division, says it is ready to probe into new markets, such as desktops targeted specifically at U.S. SMBs.
Security: While folks in the Northeast dig themselves out from under this morning's snowfall, in the Pacific Northwest Microsoft is busy preparing for December's Patch Tuesday. This month the company will issue two fixes for the Windows OS, one of them critical.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 9, 2005 10:55 AM
December 09, 2005 | Comments: (0)
One way to kill software piracy
Quoteworthy: I wonder what the effect would be if piracy ended because all software went open source. Would services revenue make up for the loss of license fees? And would developing countries grow even faster? -- Dave Rosenberg, in Software piracy and the global economy.
Security: Every piece of software is a potential vector for attack, writes Roger Grimes, including Firefox, Flash, Google's search bar, iTunes, QuickTime, RealPlayer, and even anti-virus software. Controlling what employees can and cannot download might draw a few whines, but it is for their own good. Many, if not most, companies balk at this advice, Grimes notes in Controlling the uncontrollable user.
Columnists' Corner: Intrigued by the show Grey's Anatomy, David Margulius noticed that the cast makes it appear as if IT has not made any headway in healthcare. But, according to Forrester Research, four out of every five doctors claim that technology "makes life easier," and, what's more, doctors use IT systems constantly. "So if you're an IT worker in the health-care sector, be proud you're helping to save lives but don't expect to ever have a sexy TV show."
The news beat: Today's most acronym-laden headline is Siebel offers CRM services for BEA-based SOA. (Yes, BEA, technically, is an acronym for Bill, Ed and Alfred, I'm told, taken from the three founders' names.) Keeping the TLA theme alive, Ecma moves ahead with the standards process for OpenXML, and is expected to submit it to ISO, Panasonic says it will kill its GSM phones, opting instead to focus on making 3G Linux-based handsets, and Gateway wins its ITC patent appeal over HP, regarding parallel port technology. I know, I know, enough with the acronyms.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 9, 2005 05:31 AM
December 08, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The news beat: Gartner says that CIOs should prepare for the second Internet, which will include technologies such as blogging and podcasting, Gmail gains a 'Web clips' feature that lets users link to various types of content, and Nokia says it intends to open retail stores worldwide.
Columnists' Corner: Microsoft grooms Virtual Server to contend with VMware, writes Oliver Rist, by "incorporating what it sees as the best of its competitors' features with the power it has over the OS." Team Redmond also dropped the ticket for Virtual Server to $99 for the standard R2 edition, and $199 for the enterprise edition. The new features and pricing put Virtual Server "much closer to VMware's venerable throne at the top of the virtual machine heap."
Best of the blogs: Jon Udell, always leading the cutting-edge, inserts a cool video into his blog today. It's of Iona CTO Eric Newcomer speaking about the RPC/doc-literal cultural divide. Dave Linthicum reviews some feedback coming from SOA projects, and notes that there are two schools of thought established: the first chanting "SOA can do no wrong," and the second admitting "this stuff is hard but we're making progress."
Hot review: Sybase's latest incarnation of Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE), now in version 15, meets the need for speed. A number of the updates -- including partitioning, parallelism, and function-based indexing -- improve performance and result in faster querying. Native encryption, however, did not make it into ASE 15, so Sybase's devout will have to hold out for a future release to get that.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 8, 2005 11:12 AM
December 08, 2005 | Comments: (0)
The awful truth about compliance
Special report: At least one expert says that 100 percent compliance is "fundamentally impossible." The situation is dire enough that an IT exec quoted in the feature The awful truth about compliance uttered the words: "Our compliance policy is to pray." Thus spoke Anna Bonaparte, CEO of MailFrontier, reciting what an IT director had told her. Bonaparte even asserts that many companies, realizing they simply cannot comply with all the regulations, are taking a wait-and-see approach, effectively waiting to see who gets nabbed and hoping it's not them. This package also includes a case study on Cisco: Poster child of regulatory compliance, and tips from the compliance front lines.
Columnists' Corner: Let the 2006 predictions begin. Mario Apicella breaks out his crystal ball, probes inside and, instead of merely anticipating what might happen in the next 12 months, offers up some solid advice on how to prepare for and cope with what is coming. Storage security, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, improved iSCSI and serial-attached SCSI are among those. Oh yes, and regarding compliance regulations, though not a new concern for storage gurus, "next year will probably see more companies realize that Uncle Sam's finger is pointing at them."
The news beat: The IEEE approves the mobile WiMax specification, a.k.a. 802.16e, which could allow users to wirelessly access the Internet from anywhere in a given city, NextApp and Compuware discuss plans to unwrap new tools for AJAX and application quality management, NEC creates an e-mail initiated VPN, and BEA lays down a road map for unifying its portal products.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 8, 2005 05:56 AM
December 07, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Gartner: Put BlackBerry deployments on hold
Mobile computing: Analyst house Gartner Group issued a statement warning enterprises to cease giving users new Blackberry devices until it becomes clear exactly how the patent infringement suit against RIM will impact its service. Gartner's advice comes after a U.S. federal judge opened the door to a possible injunction that would stop sales of BlackBerry mobile e-mail devices, and shut down BlackBerry service in the U.S.
Hot review: Sun's newly released Sun Fire T2000 UltraSparc T1-based server is primed for running multi-threaded applications. The T2000 is the middle ground between Sun's big honkin' high-end servers and its lower-performing boxes. On the inside, the UltraSparc T1 "is truly a revolutionary processor."
Best of the blogs: Jon Udell pens a letter to Dear Abby suggesting why employers should consider blogging to be a good practice not only for existing employees, but also for prospective ones.
Quoteworthy: Why is Google weak in nearly everything new it tries to do? Yes, its search is manna from heaven. And yes, that's a big deal: I love Google's search, use it hourly, and shudder at the thought of pre-Google life on the Internet. But Google stumbles on everything else it tries. Some swear by Gmail but, come on, it's a toy compared to Outlook, and it's not even very good vis-a-vis Zimbra/Oddpost. But think beyond Gmail and what do you have? Not much. -- Matt Asay, in Google: Too developer-ish for its own good?
IM: Yahoo's IM gains dial-in and dial-out features that will enable users to rent phone numbers and then receive calls through an IM interface. Vendor IMlogic, meanwhile, warns that a new breed of malicious bots that attack IM is on the loose and spreads by sending instant messages to everyone on a user's buddy list.
Columnists' Corner: Tom Yager's wife gave him an earful, but it wasn't about spending too much time on his computer. "I'm still using a PC. How could you let that happen?" she fired. You see, she wanted a Mac.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 7, 2005 11:03 AM
December 07, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: In the ongoing discussion at his Advice Line blog, Bob Lewis posts 6 rules -- a mere 28 words in total -- for novice project managers, as supplied by an experienced PM.
Hot review: CheckPoint's Integrity and Sygate's Enterprise Protection are both policy-based firewalls that can "monitor other applications for compliance with configuration requirements and send errant machines to quarantine until they can be updated with the latest anti-virus definitions, Windows patches, or other necessities." Either product will serve you well, and the InfoWorld Test Center rated them very similarly in CheckPoint and Sygate corral end points, so the most difficult part just might be choosing between the two.
Columnists' Corner: Voice-enabled interfaces can help automate workflows, writes Jon Udell, but they also typically bring their share of problems. Such as not respecting a user's time, less than graceful ways of integrating people into those workflows, and thus far a lack of integration between voice and data networks. "IVR needn't be as awful as it frequently is, but better IVR will only be a baby step in the right direction," Udell explains in Beyond interactive voice response.
The news beat: South Korea slaps Microsoft with a $32 million fine for violating fair trade agreements, Sybase says it may offer an open source database in China, Time Warner's CEO is now saying that AOL is not for sale, Microsoft touts improved performance of Web apps via its new Windows Server 2003 R2, and Business Objects offers SMBs the option to lease its BI software for $2.33 per day.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 7, 2005 05:36 AM
December 06, 2005 | Comments: (0)
SaaS: While open source is ostensibly the most revolutionary idea to sweep through the software industry of late, combining that with another once-radical idea, software-as-a-service, "changes everything," writes Ephraim Schwartz in The Coming Software Revolution. The caveat: Open source companies have historically operated on margins that are thinner than proprietary companies, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for their futures.
Open source: Helping to minimize risks typically associated with open source software, Red Hat says it will certify and support three open source stacks early next year. Sun Microsystems today plans to tout the open source capabilities and power-saving features of new Niagara-based SunFire servers.
Security: In SMB IT, Oliver Rist takes Microsoft Live's Safety Center for a test drive, and finds that the "results were a little lame, which means this really isn't anything that even SMB administrators can substitute for real client security. Does represent a decent baseline, but needs to get better before it can really act as a standalone."
Best of the blogs: Ed Foster wonders if Microsoft's attitude toward software warranties is rubbing off on its hardware folks. That possibility has become fact in the case of one reader who could not get a Microsoft Mouse that was under warranty replaced. And Jon Udell on Greasemonkeying Google Video.
The news beat: SAP preps Mendocino, software that links its ERP to Microsoft Office, for 40 early adopters to test. A study finds that U.S. residents who tap Google as a search engine tend to be wealthier and have more Internet experience than those who opt for AOL, MSN, or Yahoo. Microsoft says that the research it is doing in Europe is intended to generate intellectual property.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 6, 2005 11:03 AM
December 06, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft ships Dynamics CRM 3.0
Apps: After delays, Microsoft ships the update to its CRM package, known as Dynamics CRM 3.0. The new version brings forth updates some said fill gaps that were the reason Microsoft lagged behind mid-market rivals, including modules for direct marketing and service scheduling.
Columnists' Corner: When it comes to IT product development, motivational tactics are important, to be sure, just not as a substitute for good old-fashioned research: gathering customer requirements, creating a system design plan, or setting a development schedule. Our IT Off the Record writer shows that cheesy motivational practices can do more harm than good.
The news beat: Despite identity theft fears, online shopping is up 24 percent this holiday season, D-Link bolsters its line of security products for SMBs, and eBay gets tricked, by a phony e-mail, into endorsing a phishing attack as legitimate.
Wireless: RFID tags for chickens? Yes, you read that correctly. One manufacturer of implantable microchips for animals is calling for biothermal RFID tags to be used as a way to detect avian flu in chickens. Not that it matters much to those chickens, but new mobile phone roaming services are on the way and, as a result, roaming will be cheaper.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 6, 2005 05:22 AM
December 05, 2005 | Comments: (0)
New service acts as incubator for SaaS startups
SaaS: OpSource creates a program to incubate software-as-a-service startups by offering them free infrastructure and support for six months, while VA Software unveils the SourceForge On Demand service for collaborative development teams.
The news beat: RSA buys Cyota for $145 million to obtain its online antifraud offerings, Adobe acknowledges plans to reduce its workforce through layoffs as it merges with Macromedia, and Mindreef dives into what it is labeling Web services lifecycle collaboration management with the new Coral platform for architects, developers, testers and support people.
Quoteworthy: Oh, please. Which company is it that's being misleading and deceptive? ZoneAlarm has every right to sound the alarm whenever it detects an application that's doing something that could be dangerous -- that's why customers bought it. That its alerts result in removal of 180's programs is the proof that they aren't really the "consent-based applications" 180Solutions claims. If they were, after all, users would be unconcerned by even the most strident warnings of an anti-spyware scanner because they would presumably know what 180search Assistant or Zango is doing on their computers. -- Ed Foster, in Case against Zone Labs is 180 degrees off.
Best of the blogs: The ESB Reference Model put forth by Sonic Software is "noble, albeit selfish," writes Dave Linthicum in Real World SOA. "The ESB technology vendors in general need to come together on a description and reference model that all can agree upon, and customers can understand." In IT Troubleshooter, Michael Baum asks Managing the logic layer is a headache, will it be a virtual migraine? And Bob Lewis offers more advice on what a CIO should present to the board.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 5, 2005 10:58 AM
December 05, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Nick Carr revises 'IT doesn't matter' argument
Special report: Without entirely changing his mind about the core assessment for his IT Doesn't Matter article, Nicholas Carr conceded during an interview that information technology might make a difference, after all -- but only in certain cases. The discussion with Carr is part of a package, When IT puts business in the lead, that includes case studies of JetBlue, Netflix and BNSF Railways and how each uses IT as a competitive advantage.
Security: A new bug in IE enables hackers to scan the hard drives of Google Desktop users to steal private information, such as credit card numbers. Meanwhile, the virus scanning capability that Google added to Gmail is drawing complaints from some users.
Columnists' Corner: The newly-minted Firefox 1.5 "has even got Microsoft running scared," opines Neil McAllister. Even though its Web standards support is not perfect, the open source browser has spawned what McAllister calls Browser Wars 2.0. This time around, it's a reversal of roles and Microsoft is the one that needs to catch up.
SOA: As a successful SOA user Merrill Lynch metamorphoses into a vendor of sorts and sells a Web services interface it built to SOA Software. AmberPoint upgrades its SOA platform and equips it to manage more complex sets of services.
The news beat: JBoss buys transactioning middleware from Hewlett-Packard and Arjuna Technologies to add to its open source roster, IBM says its Workplace will support the Open Document standard, Microsoft plans to tweak ActiveX and IE as a means to skirt patents held by Eolas Technologies, and Arena Solutions refreshes its product lifecycle management software-as-a-service offering.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 5, 2005 05:49 AM
December 02, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Can any company know where all its confidential data is?
Columnists' Corner: When data lingers in the wrong place for too long it can become the key ingredient in a recipe for disaster, writes Roger Grimes in Controlling data leaks. "Can any company really know where all of its confidential data is stored?" Probably not, and the products to help with that have yet to impress Grimes much, either.
Notes from the field: Getting into the holiday season, err, the receiving spirit if not the giving one, Robert X. Cringely wishes for a dish, just not the $600,000 Denverite, Deborah Hale, who is auctioning her house with her inside. Match.com, meanwhile, is being sued for forcing its employees to go on dates, while two Symantec customers have joined the lonely hard drives club. All that and more in Symantec installs snafu, dating site gets sued.
The news beat: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejects NTP Software's claim against RIM in its patent infringement case. A new study investigating the telecom sector determines that customers pay more and receive fewer services where regulators are weak. And Panda fixes a flaw in its antivirus software.
Best of the blogs: For those SMB shops that can't afford or don't wish to pony up for Microsoft's Project, Oliver Rist offers a quick take of Basecamp, which he deems to be "an online project portal that really makes the grade." Jon Udell, meanwhile, blurs the lines between online gaming and hypothetical reality in If I had time for a second life.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 2, 2005 11:14 AM
December 02, 2005 | Comments: (0)
IT governance is for the birds
Columnists' Corner: What IT needs today is strong leaders who can "forge partnerships, drive the right conversations and make tough trade-offs," and not more flowcharts, scripted meetings and decision frameworks, asserts Dave Margulius, in From the Analysts. The problem is that IT governance systems are no a substitute for human leadership.
E-mail: Google is adding virus scanning to its cultish Gmail Web mail service. The new feature will prevent users from sending or downloading infected messages and, what's more, a Google executive said that Gmail is moving closer to exiting its interminable beta stage. Microsoft's research arm, meanwhile, issues a free tool that helps users sift through e-mail in order of importance