- VMware rolls in the FUD
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- The Joe Namath of technology
- Talkback: Is Mac with virtual Windows hard to resist?
- DRM doesn't work
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- When your IT job disappears
- Paving open source's road to verticals
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- Al Gore, green IT and datacenter power threat
February 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: The unchallenged champ of virtualization, VMware, may be showing signs of worrying about Microsoft. Some of those came through in a white paper the company published denouncing Redmond's behavior as anti-competitive. "Many of their technical arguments are just plain silly," Randall Kennedy explains in this Enterprise Desktop post. "I, for one, am glad to see VMware sweat a little."
Columnist's corner: Evoking Shakespeare's romance of a similar name, Tom Yager's A PC Switcher's Tale begins Act I this week with an opportunity he saw in Parallels. That being the chance to present a staid Windows user with that ol' familiar operating system, but inside a Mac OS X Aqua window. "I had migrated her to a MacBook, which rested invisibly on her desk with its lid closed. I told her that, if nothing else, she now had a much faster Windows PC for work." Now comes the watching and waiting. Just don't go looking to Bohemia and Sicilia for the ending to this one.
The news beat: Microsoft will update its antipiracy WGA tool and, in so doing, give customers the benefit of the doubt when it cannot determine for certain whether the OS on a PC is legal. IBM kicks off an effort to ease compute clusters and high-performance computing. And AMD unwraps the 690 PC chip set, its first replete with an ATI graphics processor.
Careers: John West is continuing his discussion on IT mentors by suggesting that now is the time to become one. "Mentors know that there is a strong selfish motivation to helping someone else along," he writes in Leading From the Trenches. Actually, and not to be nitpicky, there are myriad reasons for doing so. Besides all the others, it can help you stay in touch with the ground-floor folks, "giving a glimpse into details you would usually miss."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 28, 2007 11:09 AM
February 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IOActive cancels RFID security talk due to legal threats, Acer chairman forecasts strong PC growth, technology executives push for patent reform, and more
LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 28, 2007 08:07 AM
February 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Apps: Much like quarterback Joe Namath boldly proclaiming that his underdog New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff says that his company, in its 'Salesforce 2.0' incarnation, is going to take on Microsoft as a development platform provider.
Columnist's corner: After accepting a network support job in the District Attorney's office of a major city our Off the Record author found the place such a shambles that not only were all home directories open and available but, worse, nearly every PC was loaded with Napster. A letter to the boss didn't accomplish much and, in fact, it wasn't until 4 months later, when someone else noticed, that IT was called and had to argue with lawyers. Plot twist: the moral of the story is not, as one might presume, to avoid working for attorneys.
Security: Then again, with the dark cloud of threatened legal action over its head, IOActive cancelled a talk at Black Hat that its researcher Chris Paget planned to give about RFID security and secure card maker HID in specific. This is one story that's sure to keep unfolding...
The news beat: Firefox 3.0, due later this year, will bring a handful of new features including offline support for Web applications and improved search capabilities, according to Mozilla. Symantec's vice president of technology Robert Clyde says that the U.S. Congress must pass a data breach notification bill that could help combat identity theft. And open source database vendor Ingres releases Icebreaker which it describes as a tight coupling of the database with only those components of rPath's Linux distribution needed to run Ingres.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 28, 2007 04:47 AM
February 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Is Mac with virtual Windows hard to resist?
In One PC switcher's tale, InfoWorld columnist and chief technologist Tom Yager tells of a friend he converted to a hybrid Mac-PC (via Parallels) machine:
"[I] told her that if she chose to keep using Windows, even indefinitely, I'd make sure that was easy for her. Yet I also explained that I had made it just as easy to explore the Mac platform, and that she couldn’t damage Windows or OS X by experimenting with either one."
Will she make the switch? Stay tuned, he writes.
I suppose price will always be a factor, with PC desktops dirt cheap and laptops hovering around $800 (not as well-equipped, I know, Mac fans.) But With Parallels' update of its feature-rich Desktop virtualization software final as of yesterday, as one solid option... why would she, or some businesses for that matter, not, given the ability to have one machine be either Mac or PC, or both, based on their employee's needs?
Is Mac set for a big boost ahead?
Posted by Mike Barton on February 28, 2007 04:45 AM
February 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: The industry's DRM approach is not accomplishing what it should -- even if you have sympathy for software vendors' need to protect against piracy. A reader recounts in Gripe Line, "one for the record books when it comes to stupid IT designs as far the activation issues I encountered with Adobe." The quandary came about while upgrading from Acrobat 7 to 8, at which point our reader found both the 'Activate' and the 'Deactivate' buttons turned off. A call to the company fixed it but only for a day. That's when the nightmare began.
Special report: iSCSI's star is on the rise. Thanks to lower costs, simpler deployment, and a raft of new products, iSCSI is becoming an attractive alternative to Fibre Channel, particularly for remote offices and SMBs. Lending credence to the cause are new choices in networked storage from the likes of Agami Systems, Hewlett-Packard and NetApp.
Columnist's corner: IT and bean counters are often at odds, it's true, for a multitude of reasons. But that needn't be the case. Instead, IT can actually aid the finance department, Ephraim Schwartz points out, and in more ways than mere spreadsheets. Take the fast close, for instance. As in the closing of books and accounting cycles. "Getting IT and the finance department working together can help drive the success of your business in subtle ways," Schwartz writes. "If your company hasn't realized that yet, it is about time it woke up."
The news beat: Salesforce.com trudges into new ground with its Wealth Management Edition application that integrates customer information with data services. MySQL inks a pact with open source BI provider JasperSoft to arm developers with tools for incorporating reporting into programs they build on top of MySQL. And a U.S. immigration bill increasing the number of H1-B visas permitted could pass both houses by July and ultimately land on the president's desk come September.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 27, 2007 10:49 AM
February 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
11 vendors plant seeds for The Green Grid, IBM and Intel trade jabs, AppleTV delayed, Microsoft swallows medical search engine and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 27, 2007 07:31 AM
February 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Careers: Bob Lewis continues his thread about vanishing jobs by posting one reader's progress report on the matter at Advice Line. Let's just say it starts with a two-day meeting to discuss the future, and ends on a surprisingly positive note.
Data management: I wouldn't typically consider DBAs your run-of-the-mill thugs. But those who use Red Gate's SQL Backup ought to know that ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law. Oh yes, and those licenses are not transferable, under any conditions mind you, to other machines. "I find that not only incredible, but maybe even a bit offensive," Sean McCown proclaims in Use Red-Gate's backup and go to jail? "If I buy a license, I should be able to use it any way I like." And even if Red-Gate doesn't come after you, the auditors still could, he adds.
The news beat: Government CIOs rank security at the top of their concern list, followed by enterprise IT management, efforts to modernize applications. Hewlett-Packard reveals its intent to swallow Polyserve, a storage software provider. And a battle is stirring over the RFID-chip hacking demonstration that took place earlier this year at Black Hat.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 27, 2007 04:50 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Paving open source's road to verticals
Best of the blogs: Open source just trimmed its path toward verticals with a deal between McKesson and Red Hat to create an end-to-end healthcare solution. Matt Asay sizes the pact up as "open source (the Red Hat stuff) with a proprietary application running on top of it," which makes the whole proposition "not as compelling as it could be." Still, it's a good start, he writes in Red Hat goes vertical.
Careers: "One of the best ways to develop, to learn, or to do anything new is to work closely with someone who already has what you want and who is willing to help you achieve your goals," explains John West in Why you need mentors. Not everyone in IT has one because mentors are not always easy to find, but West offers suggestions on how to do just that, beginning with the complementary arts of asking and listening.
Columnist's corner: Sun Microsystems this week turns 25 years old. "To the outside observer, there may be little to celebrate," suggests Neil McAllister in this week's installment of Open Enterprise. At perhaps one of the most critical points in its history, "Sun has superior technology. In the real-world IT market, however, superior technology doesn't always win out. But the other card Sun has in its hand is sheer staying power." Related: Slideshow on 25 years of Sun.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 26, 2007 10:54 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Senior editor Paul Roberts speaks with Paul Kocher, president of Cryptography Research about the security implications of 'supersizing' apps and operating systems, and why cryptographic hacks are not what IT should be worrying about LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 26, 2007 07:29 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Al Gore, green IT and datacenter power threat
Columnist's corner: An Inconvenient Truth won the Oscar for best documentary last night and while on stage Al Gore pointed out that much of the show itself was conducted in an environmentally-friendly fashion. IT, too, is getting in on the eco-action, as Steve Fox points out in The greening of IT. "Today, a gentle trickle of attention; tomorrow -- blam! -- it's on everyone's lips," Fox writes.
Best of the blogs: Ted Samson picks that theme up in his new blog, Sustainable IT, with a post about how IT heavyweights are plotting the green grid. The threat they are up against: half the world's data centers will run out of power by the end of 2008, according to Gartner research.
The news beat: Skype asks the FCC to open mobile networks -- a request that harks back to the landmark 1968 Carterphone decision. Apple, Samsung and Sandisk all get sued in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Texas MP3 Technologies. And Toshiba unveils the first HD DVD-R laptop, but only in Japan for the time being.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 26, 2007 05:47 AM
February 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft must pay Alcatel-Lucent $1.5 billion for infringing on patents for MP3 encoding and decoding technology, in what some are calling the largest patent decision in history.
LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 23, 2007 05:50 AM
February 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
AT&T fights to export software jobs
GripeLine: Ed Foster finds himself in the unusual position of actually rooting for Microsoft to win a lawsuit. In today's GripeLine he examines the implications of the Microsoft vs. AT&T lawsuit now before the Supreme Court and concludes that a win for AT&T is actually a win for offshoring, since "a ruling for AT&T could make it in every company's interest to be able to say the software components of their product were not made in the USA."
The news beat: The case for offshoring received another boost with Primavera's announcement that it is outsourcing agile development of its enterprise project management software. Conventional wisdom has previously maintained that agile development requires close interaction and communication between team members, making it ill-suited to offshoring. And Turbolinux is now shipping its Wizpy handheld, which contains a version of Linux so it can be used to boot a PC into the OS, enabling users to access their files in their own working environment on almost any PC.
Security: Worries about a possible DDoS attack on your enterprise keeping you up at night? Roger Grimes' primer in today's Security Adviser lays out the inner workings of botnets and DDoS attacks, and can help you formulate a defense or outline a strategy for outlasting an attack.
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 23, 2007 05:28 AM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Interview: Google's Rajen Sheth talks Apps
InfoWorld Senior Editor Paul F. Roberts spoke with Google's Rajen Sheth, who manages Google Apps, on the day the company launched its biggest offensive yet on Microsoft's Office suite.
LISTEN!
Posted by Mike Barton on February 22, 2007 09:37 PM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google patches a potentially serious cross-site scripting flaw in its desktop search app that could leave users at risk from outside attack.
LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 22, 2007 06:42 AM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google Apps: Poised to be a contender
The news beat: Google today introduced a major upgrade to its Google Apps hosted suite of communication and collaboration applications. As businesses grow increasingly comfortable with the hosted model, this cheaper alternative to Microsoft's core Office applications could come to be seen as a viable replacement option by more and more enterprises. Apple and Cisco have settled their dispute over rights to the iPhone moniker. Under the terms of their agreement, both companies have the right to use the name. And CEO Mark Hurd issued a clarion call to action, telling analysts that Hewlett-Packard's storage sales organization "just doesn't cover enough accounts." He vows to invest in improving sales coverage and hiring more storage sales specialists to remedy the situation.
Best of the blogs: If understanding how SOA Reference Model and SOA Reference Architecture relate to each other has you confused, today's Real World SOA blog will help unravel the semantics. Dave Linthicum explores the concepts behind the standards and provides context for the SOA issues that have been in the news of late.
Columnist's corner: This week's Enterprise Insight examines an urban myth that says the Internet and computers consume a huge chunk of America’s energy resources. Despite a recent study out of Stanford University that at first glance seems to dispel this belief, David Margulius takes a closer look at the data and concludes "Cyberspace is sucking a lot of juice."
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 22, 2007 06:29 AM
February 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft unveils Vista deployment tools in an effort to improve its new OS's sluggish adoption rate among businesses.
LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 21, 2007 06:26 AM
February 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Reap the benefits of VoIP on cellphones
Columnist's corner: Carriers are working long and hard to forestall the coming of VoIP on cellphones, but DiVitas has opened the door with its MCA gateway device, featured this week by Oliver Rist in Enterprise Windows. And to see the future of computing, check out IBM's latest rev of its Power chip architecture in this week's Ahead of the Curve. Tom Yager argues that Power6 may be more deserving of the headlines that will likely be grabbed by AMD's Barcelona CPU.
Best of the blogs: One of the great things about blogs is being able to comment about content after the fact. Dave Linthicum expands upon the ideas in his Enterprise mashups article in today's Real World SOA blog. And in Test Center Daily we preview Business Objects' newest BI platform release, which has more than meets the eye.
The news beat: The Internet is a reflection of society, and problems of fraud, social abuse, and other online crimes are more social and economic than technical, according to Google's chief Internet evangelist, Vinton Cerf. An IBM veteran has become the first woman to win the prestigious Turing Award, for her work on program optimization. Details of Sony's new digital cameras were leaked on the Internet a week ahead of schedule. And a European consumer group contends that cuts in roaming fees are a mere smokescreen that have had no effect on charges overall.
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 21, 2007 06:01 AM
February 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google is putting the finishing touches on the integration of Docs & Spreadsheets with Google Apps for Your Domain, gearing up to compete with Microsoft Office LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 20, 2007 08:08 AM
February 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Wrestling with the app obesity epidemic
The news beat: Crypto hacks are the last thing enterprise IT should worry about, according to the chief scientist of Cryptography Research. A much bigger problem is the application obesity epidemic fueled by Moore's Law. Microsoft has released a free upgrade for SQL Server 2005 that includes better interoperability with other vendors. And security analysts are warning of a banner ad on Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger that tries to get users to install a "potentially unwanted application" on their machines.
Slideshows: Crackpot idea or visionary theory? The world of IT is no stranger to technologies that push the envelope and reshape how we view the world. In this week's feature and slideshow we look at 12 ideas that just might work.
SOA: It's a scary but exciting time where the line blurs between where the enterprise ends and the Web begins. Enterprise mashups are springing up all over, providing quick and easy shortcuts to lightweight Web applications. The trick will be figuring out how to properly provision and manage the services available for mashups and understanding their purpose in an SOA.
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 20, 2007 05:48 AM
February 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The Google you don't see, can't reach
Gripe Line: As is often the case with large companies, Google has an "impervious, insular side," reports Ed Foster. This particular instance involves a large Texas school district that is "getting a glimpse of just how hard it can be to get any human being at Google to actually listen to a human being who is not at Google." Students and faculty, it appears, were transported directly to Google Canada after the district switched its outside IP block space. And contacting Google is never as easy it ought to be.
Best of the blogs: Earlier in the week I linked to a piece about maintaining balance to keep those sparks of creativity alive. In today's Leading from the trenches post John West continues that subject, turning the discussion toward family and failure -- not such an odd couple -- as they pertain to professional careers, of course. "If you are doing anything challenging, learning anything new, and in general making a difference you are going to have failures. You need a cushion to land on when you fall." In short: seek balance is all aspects of your life.
Notes from the field: What with Apple and Microsoft recommending that users don't mix Vista with iTunes just yet, the ever-inquisitive Robert X. wonders aloud, err on paper, if perhaps Steve Jobs is not the long-lost fifth Beatle. Cringe reports that the fellow whose truck was burned courtesy of Dell's exploding batteries still has yet to receive any retribution from the hardware giant. But the guy has a plan. Elsewhere in iTunes fans out of luck, Dell user shows off burned truck, keep an eye out for an Italian drag queen.
Security: Attack traffic on the Web is growing even more aggressively than legitimate traffic to the tune of a 150-fold increase since 2000, Roger Grimes reports in DNA attack puts Web security in perspective. The recent barrage against DNS servers was "worse than I had been led to believe," but still not as threatening as it could have been. And with more and more business apps residing on the 'Net, the reality is that "if it goes down today, it's going to affect far more than just your ability to check into MySpace or YouTube."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 16, 2007 10:32 AM
February 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Cisco gives Apple extension in lawsuit over iPhone, Microsoft launches video service to challenge YouTube, Nokia to reshuffle workers and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 16, 2007 06:58 AM
February 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: The concept of 'SOA Levels' keeps popping up in his consulting work, and David Linthicum noticed that "one of the common patterns is the fact that many seem to be over-simplifying SOA." Linthicum shares his 5 levels because "we need to begin learn how to categorize the patterns of the architectures."
Data management: If you'd prefer to spend your time doing real DBA work than those manual tasks your boss keeps kicking toward you, Sean McCown points out that you have a decision to make. "If the job isn't going to be as technically fulfilling as you'd hoped, then you need to decide whether it's time to move on," he writes in Get your head right. And if you stay, remember "you're not being paid to be good at your job. You're being paid to do what the company wants you to do."
Telephony: Mobile VoIP is not looking so hot right now, reports Ephraim Schwartz in this Reality check post, and news coming out of the 3GSM show this week is not good for mobile business users. "It's not going to happen any time soon. The carriers are not that anxious to push a technology that undermines millions of dollars already invested in cellular spectrum."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 16, 2007 04:58 AM
February 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Keeping that creative IT spark
Careers: Finding balance between the myriad aspects both of work and life "is harder than it sounds and move valuable than you may think," explains John West in No one dies wishing they had gone to more meetings. "You can't be fresh, creative, and focused if you are exhausted from over work, or if your edge is dulled by focusing on one thing for too long."
Hardware: "I have a theory about a wrinkle that made Dell's crash so dramatic," Tom Yager declares in Dell's dicey fortune. "As AMD's CPUs gained visibility and market share, Dell played Intel for an escalation of what suing investors call kickbacks." Yager continues that Dell is not entirely innocent, "but it got stuck in a web spun by Intel."
The news beat: When handset makers ship devices with Windows Mobile 6.0 a number of them will also be packing the Opera browser. Nokia reveals intentions to shuffle 700 of its workers, many of them in the R&D or sales and marketing units. IBM makes the forthcoming upgrade to its Informix Dynamic Server available for public beta testing. And SAP ends speculation about dual-CEOs taking over by signing Henning Kagermann to stay on as chief through '09.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 15, 2007 11:14 AM
February 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
HP unwraps Unix OS, new servers. Also, Intel will not include Nokia's HSDPA in Centrino, Google indexes Earth files, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 15, 2007 07:51 AM
February 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Your company's weakest security link
Video: Chris Paget, IOActive's R&D director demonstrates the company's RFID card clone, which enables users to snag access codes from a HID card, store them on the device and play them back as a means to dupe HID card readers. Watch it here.
Open source: Even if you don't know it yet, you need the GPL in one way or another. Why? Two critical things are happening, explains Matt Asay in this Open Sources post. "It's not about evil. It's about what works." And, the GPL powers 77 percent of the software on SourceForge.net.
Columnist's corner: Fed up with Microsoft's 'Vs' (Vista, Vienna) Oliver Rist turns his crystal ball away from operating systems and toward telephony. "It's going to be a big year for Wi-Fi and VOIP," he writes in this week's Enterprise Windows installment. Not to say that telecom and cable providers will cease their anti-VoIP game playing when it comes to traffic. But in '07 we'll glimpse "the true potential of fully-converged, highly-mobile voice and data devices." Just don't expect to actually use them, though.
Best of the blogs: Rules engines are one trick IT can leverage within a service-oriented architecture, thereby adding to a core theme of SOA: agility. Before embarking down that 'SOAfied' road, David Linthicum presents three questions you ought to ask.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 15, 2007 05:01 AM
February 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Palm to hackers: Take Treo users' data, please
Security: Since Palm says it will not patch a critical system bug, Treo user Roger Grimes declares, "I plan to get rid of my Treo. Way to go Palm." The problem: an attacker potentially could slip through the hole to access information residing on a locked device. Palm not fixing Treo security bypass vulnerability.
Hardware: With an eye on smaller customers, Oliver Rist picks his favorite notebook. "Getting the most for your buck is synonymous with success, so we take anything with a 'value' prefix seriously," Mr. Rist explains in this SMB IT post. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for hardware vendors. In the case of this little number, though, the anemic feature set so frequently associated with value laptops does not apply. But the sub-$1500 ticket does indeed. Overall, "you're getting exactly what you need for the biz traveler on the go."
The news beat: In yet another analyst statement that merely masters the obvious, Gartner says that CIOs need to hone their business expertise. Ten vendors form the Open Solutions Alliance to spur the use of more open-source technology in the enterprise. And Google drops the invitation-only restriction for Gmail, meaning that anyone can sign up for the service, which is still in beta.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 14, 2007 10:51 AM
February 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IBM, CA ease mainframes, Microsoft tailors .Net for embedded devices, Big Blue issues ECM software, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 14, 2007 08:04 AM
February 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
What's your resume really worth?
Careers: You might not know this, but that paper-based or electronic summation of your entire career actually has a street value -- particularly among 'job board' phishing scammers. Alas, there happens to be a special offer circulating that places a price on your resume only to fool job seekers into handing over personal information which, quite naturally, gets plunked directly into an identity-theft database. "Every job offer via e-mail takes on a suspicious cast," explains Nick Corcodilos in Ask the headhunter. And he links to an invoice that proves it.
Best of the blogs: Moving right along, one reader of Bob Lewis' Advice Line column is in a tight spot. "I've just been quietly shown out of the door of IT. So here's the problem: I'm too young to retire but too old to easily find a new position in IT," he writes. Mr. Lewis offers three choices for our reader, as well as his sympathy and a quarter. "Welcome to the world of business change. It isn't true that all change is good for you ... What is true is that you have to recognize the difference between resisting change and just resenting it." [Ed's note to reader: If you do seek other employment, be sure to check the entry immediately above this one, which includes a link to, oh heck, I'll just place it here: 12 resume posting truths, as published on the World Privacy Forum's Web site.]
Apps: Wizened journalist that he is, Ephraim Schwartz knows that the best way cut through vendor hype is to track down those folks who actually use the technology day in and out. So he set out to achieve just that for software-as-a-service, otherwise knows as SaaS the great. "I've been wondering what it is that's inherent to all or most SaaS applications that makes the model so appealing to midsize and larger companies," Schwartz ponders in The real appeal of SaaS. Just what did he find? As is so often the case, "technology is only part of the story."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 14, 2007 04:06 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Battling over SQL Server backup
Data management: Since DBA's already have native SQL backup as a way to restore data, Sean McCown poses, "why is everyone like Quest and Red-Gate fighting over the SQL Server backup arena?" In short: those "network-level backups (Microsoft DPM, BackupExec and ArcServe) don't allow DBAs to do what they need to do how they need to do it." What's wrong with my wheel? Related: Oracle debuts its first TimesTen release since acquiring the in-memory relational database.
Best of the blogs: Think you've got those vendor lock-in blues? Then consider the U.S. Air Force. That unit got grounded, and brutally, by Powerware in a bold move that ultimately cost you, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, a cool $20 million. What's worse, the Air Force is not the only victim, as Ed Foster reports in Gripe Line. "The sad irony is that this reader's company, and certainly the U.S. Air Force, paid very good money for their Powerware UPS equipment in order to make operations more secure. But by arbitrarily, and even with what appears to be malice aforethought, depriving its customers of a tool needed to keep the power systems running as designed, Eaton makes its UPS systems less reliable."
Columnist's corner: Forced to make up development time the only way he could, by cutting testing, our Off the Record author had to meet the demands of brass that thought it best to sprout a homegrown call center. A consistent 10-second delay in making connections ensued, but "management didn't seem to think it was that important. My boss placed this issue so far to the bottom of my priorities list that I could never get to it." Our writer may seem cursed, but it was four-letter-words that saved the day.
The news beat: T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan says that mobile VoIP services won't become nearly as prevalent as those on PCs. A Belgian court rules against Google News. And Chinese police arrest eight people associated with the release of a computer virus, Panda Burning Incense.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 13, 2007 11:41 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft is busy in the mobile realm with its Windows Mobile 6.0 and PlayReady DRM for wireless devices LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 13, 2007 06:38 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
From the feature well: Virtualization is working its way into myriad network parts, among those: servers, storage, applications, and desktops. With that in mind, Virtualization: Under the hood serves as an owner's manual of sorts about how to get more compute power, keep pace with increasing requirements, reduce desktop management costs, as well as what roadblocks to expect along the way.
Podcasts: Keeping the theme alive, IBM and HP step into the virtualization realm again, with Big Blue announcing z/VM and HP touting several new hardware and software products. IBM's "new release can host more than 1,000 virtual images on a single copy," Marshall explains. Tune into Virtualization Report.
Best of the blogs: While vendors tend to disclaim warranties and exclude damages in their EULA's, one reader of Ed Foster's Gripe Line got to wondering about backup vendors in the reliability business, and whether the good ones might be less likely to slink their way out of such responsibility. After evaluating five such EULA's, in fact, our reader found that there weren't as many differentiators between the EULA's as he might have hoped. "If more people pay attention to what their EULAs say, perhaps the online backup services will differentiate their terms more," Foster suggests. "It would certainly be interesting to see how the EULAs in a product category might change if they were subjected to public scrutiny."
Columnist's corner: As third-party application providers struggle to put out drivers compatible with Windows Vista, Neil McAllister commiserates. "The Linux community feels your pain," he writes in this week's installment of Open Enterprise. "If writing drivers for Vista is really this much of a chore, getting open source drivers for Linux will seem trivial by comparison."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 13, 2007 04:04 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The Dilbert Principle, applied
Best of the blogs: One reader writes that "managers don't care for logic" -- a suggestion that has Bob Lewis espousing in Advice Line that it is not appropriate to become angry in the workplace, ever. Another reader, though, sites examples of when, perhaps, anger is necessary. Collective stupidity is one. Also, managerial bureaucrats. "Anger can be a good thing when applied in the right situations."
Q&A: Microsoft's corporate vice president of development with the Windows core operating system division, Ben Fathi, says that despite bugs already reported, Microsoft is on track to meet its goal of Vista having half the flaws of XP. "Given that there are less than a handful of vulnerabilities discovered, I think that's good progress," he explains in this interview with the IDG News Service.
InfoClipz: In this video, executive editor Eric Knorr breaks down the three types of server virtualization and the benefits that each brings. "It's important to remember that while server virtualization can lower costs, it can actually increase the complexity of the IT environment."
The news beat: IBM unveils Open Client services, including Red Hat and Novell operating system services, with which it hopes to differentiate Lotus from Microsoft Exchange. A zero-day flaw is found in Solaris 10 and 11 that resides within the telnet daemon and could allow a hacker to log in without so much as a password. And at the 3GSM show Microsoft details its PlayReady DRM for mobile devices.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 12, 2007 10:57 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Intel builds 80-core chip, Vodafone deal with YouTube to let customers view videos, Microsoft tells of Vista follow-up, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 12, 2007 07:51 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Truth behind Apple and 802.11n
Best of the blogs: What with all the flap whirling around about Apple's 802.11n enabler, Tom Yager sees fit to get to the bottom of why Apple is charging users for it. "If Apple hadn't come up with this sound solution, you'd have to buy AirPort Extreme -- an extraordinary product, as you'll read in my review -- or wait for Leopard in order to get 802.11n," Yager explains in this Enterprise Mac post. On the upside, it's only $1.99 and "you will never have to buy the enabler again."
SOA: As some so-called 'early SOAs' are just not meeting expectations, the notion of service performance optimization (SPO) is becoming increasingly important. "I guess you can blame a lot of things for poor performance; however I've found the core architecture and design issues are the most relevant variable," writes David Linthicum in Real World SOA. To that end, he offers half a dozen tips on understanding service patterns.
The news beat: Zend Technologies releases the Zend Platform 3.0 PHP application server to enhance commercial deployments. Xerox's research arm Palo Alto Research Center pens a deal with startup Powerset that aims to unveil by year's end a search engine to take on Google. And Intel researchers have built an 80-core chip that the chipmaker claims can crank more than trillions of floating point operations while consuming less electricity than a typical desktop PC processor.
Columnist's corner: Evoking those Dateline episodes where the online sexual predators fall head over heels into virtual love with an undercover law enforcement officer, Roger Grimes explains in this week's installment of Security Adviser that "as the father of four children, including three teenage daughters, I love the Internet." Why? Because, thanks to technology, "we're catching a thousand criminals at a time." Moreover, those who get caught are being locked up faster than ever.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 12, 2007 04:47 AM
February 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
5 ways to commit career suicide
Best of the blogs: Granted, not many people actually want to intentionally murder their own career. But Leading from the trenches author John West seems to know at least three who fit that profile. And so he presents five sure-fire ways to do yourself in, work-wise of course. "If you apply these tips along with a 'can do' attitude and a strong commitment to success you can bring your career to an abrupt halt. With skill, you might even push it over the balance and into decline," West explains." Just "don't be frustrated if you don't get fired" immediately.
Operating systems: No rest for the weary Microsoft marketing machine which, with Windows Vista just getting cozy in retail outlets, is already foretelling of the next client OS. It might be called Vienna, then again it may not. The punch line: Microsoft has already deemed the end of 2009 the timeframe in which it will be available, thereby beginning the continuously repetitive, yes downright redundant, but at times at least mildly entertaining, 'ship-date-slide' as they call that favorite dance in Redmond.
Notes from the field: Carrying snarkily along, our relentless Robert X. Cringely continues beating the campaign trail of Bill Gates' presidential run, even if, umm, Mr. Gates is not technically in the race. Perhaps all those security holes in his past are preventing him from joining. By Cringe's count, the Windows cracks average one per month, but for longer than Windows, or Gates for that matter, has even existed. Michael Dell shows up this week disguised as an eager entrepreneurial college dorm dweller and, separately, Wikipedia proves once and for all that "justice is not merely blind, but deaf and dumb as well." Dell snags a new/old chief; Turner media promo causes grief.
Columnist's corner: Hitachi this week wed long-time partner Archivas and, while the union is by no means secret, the newlyweds are maintaining a certain degree of privacy. "Anyone expecting a product roadmap (as I did) was left wanting more," laments Mario Apicella in Hitachi and Archivas tie the knot. The deal does reveal Hitachi's intents, though, which "shouldn't fail to reassure potential and current customers."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 9, 2007 10:55 AM
February 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The conclusion of IT productivity tips: Avoid these natural born killers. Also, Microsoft to issues 12 sets of fixes come Patch Tuesday, Yahoo 'Pipes' enable users to create mashups, Cisco's router head departs, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 9, 2007 07:04 AM
February 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
All those silly Microsoft CTPs
Best of the blogs: Having installed the Visual Studio Team Edition for DBAs community technical preview and now trying to move to the RTM version has left Sean McCown in something of a no-mans-land. And, no surprise here, Microsoft's only suggestion is to uninstall Visual Studio entirely, along with the .Net framework and WinFX. "VSTE for DBAs is just a plug-in to VS. It requires VS Pro. So, you should be able to keep the host application in tact and just deal with the plug-in," McCown writes in Microsoft's ridiculous CTP upgrades. "MS, here's a hint: whenever you provide someone with beta code, you need to also give them a way to get it off."
Wireless: Sumner Lemon of the IDG News Service takes this first look at Windows Mobile 6.0 ahead of the launch planned for next week. "Microsoft's attempt to make Mobile 6 look more like Vista has resulted in a better-looking piece of software," Lemon begins. "But the most important improvements aren't cosmetic."
The news beat: Cisco buys Five Across for its social networking software, with which Cisco claims it will help enterprises more effectively connect to customers. A new pretexting bill is introduced in the U.S. Congress; the bipartisan proposal would give the FTC authority to investigate and prosecute those who gain access to other people's phone records. According to a Forrester Research survey, SMBs will increase IT spending this year, just not as much as they did in 2006. And Vista Premium PCs sold well in the new OS's first week.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 9, 2007 04:55 AM
February 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Paul Venezia is taking his first crack at the new OS. "After five days or so, I find that it's certainly more attractive than Windows XP, and certainly more annoying with the constant barrage of confirmation dialogs, but I don't hate it. In fact, I'm liking lots of it so far." He shares 10 of his thoughts on Vista beginning with "it's very pretty" and circling back around to, well, those same words in that exact order. Just not without substance in between.
Podcasts: With far and away the best intro music I've heard on a tech podcast, Oliver Rist laments living in Jersey while his host 'casts from sunny Florida. Guests include Tom Kampfer, president of Iomega, then Ryan Malone, vp of Zetera, and InfoWorld contributing editor Brain Chee. "Storage and virtualization apparently go hand-in-hand, but I don't know if that's ever gonna come down to where we are out of the big old datacenter." Tune into Emerging Enterprise.
The news beat: Microsoft issues a sample application to demonstrate what it considers to be the key architectural principles of SaaS. Hewlett-Packard appoints a new general counsel, Mike Holston, who replaces Ann Baskins since she retired in September amid the company's spying scandal. A flaw is discovered in the Firefox browser that could let an attacker into local files. And Nokia offers free mapping and phone search.
Video: Senior editor Paul Roberts speaks with Peter Houston, senior director of identity and access management in Microsoft's server and tools division about what the company is announcing at the RSA show, identity lifecycle management, the technology pieces Microsoft has in that space, and life after the password. Watch here.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 8, 2007 11:04 AM
February 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Part two in our three-parter: 12 IT productivity tips. Also, EMC divulges plans to IPO VMware, Microsoft injects Mobile 6.0 with Office, playing video games may improve vision, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 8, 2007 08:09 AM
February 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: AMD's redesigned x86 chip, Barcelona, "is genius, a genuinely new CPU that frees itself entirely of the millstone of the Pentium legacy. It'll do the same for you," Tom Yager explains. You see, Barcelona is a new CPU rather than merely a doubling of cores or extensions strapped on here and there. Oh yes, and Yager has plenty of other reasons in this week's installment of Ahead of the Curve. "Get ready to be blown away long before its release, which is scheduled for midyear."
Platforms: What do Oliver Rist, Paul Venezia, Jon Udell, a bottle of scotch, and lord-knows-who-or-what-else discuss in a hot tub on Super Bowl weekend? Well, truth is, I don't even really want to know. Do you? Regardless, I'll tell ... a string of jokes along the lines of 'connectile dysfunction.' As in the malformity Windows users have had for some time, but that "Microsoft is trying to address with Office SharePoint and SharePoint Services V3 in general," Rist explains in his look at the collaboration boost Microsoft gave SharePoint. Back to the jokes -- Protectile dysfunction. Detectile, and they continue...
Best of the blogs: Here's a question we all ought to be asking right about now: What should you expect to happen to personal storage gear when you move to Vista? "I ran into a few interesting things in this my first encounter," begins Mario Apicella in A Vista on storage.
The news beat: Cisco reveals intentions to stop upgrading its NAC client, but instead opt to hand over the source code for the Cisco Trust Agent to the open source community within a couple of months. Sun says it will issue an ODF plug-in for Microsoft Office that will translate between the competing file formats. Bush's 2008 IT budget request for $65.5 billion serves as evidence that the administration's actions in the past year are not working all that well, and reflects his priorities to improve cybersecurity. And Microsoft releases a patch created to improve the performance of IE 7.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 8, 2007 04:44 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Careers: The so-called Great Talent Shortage of skilled IT workers is not all it's cracked up to be. Instead, the situation invokes George Carlin's paradox of where to put everything in the world if you could have it, as Nick Corcodilos relates that to resume banks. "The problem starts at the top, with the board of directors: that corporate crew responsible for long-term governance and policy. I wonder what they see from up there," Corcodilos writes in this Ask the Headhunter post. "We don't have no stinking talent shortage."
Video: Executive editor Eric Knorr speaks with Andrew Nash, who is currently CTO of a stealth security startup, but was previously with RSA Security and Reactivity about how XML and identity are changing. "We can't rely on just session-based context and identity anymore, we have to carry the security information ... with the message itself." Watch the interview here.
The news beat: Microsoft pledges to support OpenID and, as such, will integrate it with CardSpace to help reduce man-in-the-middle attacks. IBM adds incentives it hopes will encourage partners to use its open source low-end WebSphere application server and DB2 Express-C database. EMC agrees to acquire Valyd Software, an Indian security company. And a consumer group lashes out against Apple CEO Steve Jobs' DRM letter.
Best of the blogs: A nasty flu has Sean McCown thinking about 'lights out database management.' You know, those questions to answer beforehand so that when you do have to take a sick day you won't return to systems that have blown up in your absence.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 7, 2007 11:16 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
In our top story, the first in a three-part series: 12 quick productivity wins. Also, Samsung agrees to pay $90 million in DRAM price-fixing suit, hackers disrupt two of the 13 root DNS servers, RIM holds onto largest PDA vendor throne despite sales that grew more slowly than overall market, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 7, 2007 07:46 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Second coming of (enterprise) architecture
Podcasts: There seem to be two worlds, the enterprise architecture world ... and the service-oriented architecture guys, David Linthicum explains. Both should happily collide because "in many instances there are procedures, notions and concepts around enterprise architecture that are really needed in SOA and, at the same time, service-oriented architecture needs to understand how to take these concepts and notions and mesh them with existing enterprise architecture today." Tune into Real World SOA.
Best of the blogs: Sacrificial chickens? Karmic rituals? Black art? Bob Lewis is nearly destroying his office (figuratively, of course) while taking on project estimation, or not. "My solution is to avoid estimating," he offers. Instead, transform it into the computed cost of executing a plan. "Projects of any size and scope should always be about helping one or more parts of the business operate differently, not about delivering software that meets specifications."
The news beat: In an attack that began last evening, hackers bring two of the 13 'root' servers managing the Internet's DNS to a crawl, though they did not completely crash. Texas and Minnesota are considering a move to ODF, which would make them the second and third states to adopt the file format standard. And Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the Internet will continue to create public policy challenges as more people move online.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 7, 2007 04:21 AM
February 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
An open source licensing riddle
Best of the blogs: "What's better? A clear explanation that you don't like, or one that is completely unclear?" Dave Rosenberg poses that question in this Open Sources post after spending more than an hour looking up information about obtaining a commercial license to use Sun components in the Mule distribution. No easy answers for this one.
Platforms: Despite all the Windows Vista hoopla, Enterprise Mac author Tom Yager has remained faithful to his chosen platform. Until now, that is, as he directs testing hands toward Microsoft's new OS. "If you came here looking for a satisfying slam of a Microsoft product, you might be disappointed. Or you might not. I'll find what I find and relate it the way it strikes me at the moment," he writes in Introducing the Vista Virgin, a Mac user's journey into Microsoft's new world. "I am operating from the standpoint of one who might consider switching from a Mac to Vista or adding Vista PCs to a Mac shop."
Columnist's corner: When it comes to influence at technology vendors, enterprise IT shops have all the clout, right? Well, perhaps that is changing. "As high tech is lured to the mass market, enterprise customers will play second fiddle," reports Ephraim Schwartz in High-tech's consumer envy. But that's not to say the trend, if you can even call it that, will last very long. "Many of these companies will come crawling back, wherein the new CEO, whoever he or she might be, will talk about returning to the fundamentals."
The news beat: Mikhail Gorbachev pens a letter to Bill Gates asking Microsoft's chairman to aid in ending the trial of Aleksandr Ponosov, who could face up to five years in prison for software piracy. Hitachi Data Systems scoops up Archivas and its online storage management software. And at the RSA show Cisco details plans to enhance its range of security products by better integrating the technologies it has acquired over the years. Or, visit our Special Report: RSA Conference 2007.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 6, 2007 10:53 AM
February 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Dell memo reveals cost cutting intentions, HP buys Bristol Technology, IBM sells Lenovo stock, Bangalore companies face disruption amid protests, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 6, 2007 07:24 AM
February 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Some readers who've been taking Vista for a test drive are encountering interesting problems already, Ed Foster reports in Trying Vista can be trying. The issues range from actually acquiring the product to installation obstacles with Office 2007, to shady dealings with retailers. "There does seem to be a bit of a pattern here, don't you think?"
Columnist's corner: Attempting to break into IT with skills that are "not that strong" and little experience with servers or network administration, our Off the Record author still managed to find a friend-of-a-friend type of gig where the hiring manager didn't expect a lot, and had a salary budget to match expectations. "My first few days went OK. Then, on Wednesday, just as I was sitting down to lunch, our primary point-of-sales application went down." Three years later and, yes, he's still with the company. But that first week is legendary.
The news beat: A leaked memo from Michael Dell reveals that the company has a couple tough quarters ahead, for which he plans to cut costs, managers and bonuses. Oracle and Unisys take their partnership on Linux and SOA a step further with joint engineering sales and marketing to boost systems migrations. And analyst firm W.R. Hambrecht & Co. publishes a research note estimating that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 should strengthen the company's lead in open source when it ships next month.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 6, 2007 04:41 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft warns of a new flaw in Excel, investors sue Dell, NTT DoCoMo's 3G network experiences problems LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on February 5, 2007 08:15 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: The notion that vulnerability metrics are useless is mere technological mythology. "The ultimate truth is that unless you, or someone else, with good experience in security code review examines all the involved source code, you really don't know how secure something is or isn't," Roger Grimes argues in Vulnerability counts do matter. Just look at the numbers associated with IE and Firefox.
Platforms: While Matt Asay doesn't think upgrading to Vista will be as bad as some others seem to, he does write that "what you after upgrading is performance poverty unless you have a new machine." Not really Microsoft's fault, but that and the recent chest-pounding by Gates in Newsweek have Asay contemplating in Bill Gates: we are first, we are best, we are more secure. "I'm not sure what planet Gates lives on."
Best of the blogs: Before the Internet spawned the current crap, (oh, sorry, I mean crop) of marketing scammers, there were folks who push magazine subscriptions. "What's really scary is that they now have the Internet as a tool to use in tracking down more unwitting victims," reports Ed Foster in Invoices designed to deceive. One such trick: sending the freshly-duped subscriber to what one reader calls 'voice jail.'
From the feature well: With all the corporate information breaches these days, it has become clear that the data thief is likely to come from within. A paid employee, that is, rather than a hacker. That's where information leak prevention, a.k.a. ILP, strategies come into play. Roger Grimes and Richard Gincel outline just such a plan in Enemy inside the firewall. One of the fundamental problems, according to a CSO at a Fortune 1000 company, is simply keeping aware of the geographical location of information. "If you don't know where the data is, how can you even begin to protect it?"
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 5, 2007 04:30 AM
February 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The absolute worst vendor of 2006
Reader poll: Picking just one most annoying vendor of 2006 was not easy for InfoWorld readers. Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Verizon were all on the track, but the winner "beat out Microsoft by a hair." The reason: support, or lack thereof. This race was neck-and-neck, and though it placed at second, some voters even took a 'no-more-Microsoft' pledge. Tune into The Gripe Line, and remember that it's not too early to cast your vote for the worst of 2007.
New to our site: This week marks the birth of Career Focus, a blog dedicated to, well, as the name suggests, professional skills, notably strong leadership, effective writing, public and interpersonal speaking, and career management. The second post, for instance, is leading from the trenches because that ability "matters right now even if you don't want to have your name on a parking place some day."
Notes from the field: The Vista snafus are already manifesting, explains one Robert X. Cringely. "Apparently the whole Vista thing has taken Intuit by surprise," even though Intuit can predict tomorrow's stock prices today. Jacques Clouseau, meanwhile, is snooping around on behalf of Dell. But it will take a man of more stature than that to uncover Google's disappearing German site. Vista finally debuts, German Google takes a snooze.
Show of the week: The emerging technology-laden DEMO '07 took place this week and, our writers report, the focus was on people, not technology. That said, a smattering of products went on display, including a battery immune to power fade, one startup's attempt to become the enterprise Skype, and tools for enticing users to generate content. Or, view pictures from the conference floor in this slideshow of DEMO.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 2, 2007 11:35 AM
February 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)
'Shout hack' flaw found in Windows Vista, Yahoo brings local-language portals to India, EU to allocate $65 billion to research funding, Lenovo profits rise, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 2, 2007 07:47 AM
February 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Hiring for IT mediocrity and despair
New to our site: We've added another blog, Ask the Headhunter, penned by Nick Corcodilos. This one will focus on job hunting, hiring, and success at work. Both sides of the fence, in other words. In Nick's first post, Stirring the pot for fun and profit, he explores the reality that "the way we hire and look for work often promotes mediocrity and develops despair."
Columnist's corner: As Brocade digests McData, Mario Apicella does not see fit to celebrate. "There are a few aspects of the deal that still trouble me," Apicella writes in So long, McData. "And I'm not the only one with concerns." The new product roadmap resides atop his list. "I can't help thinking that in shaping its new portfolio, Brocade's focus was more on furthering its strategy than truly keeping an open mind about competing technologies."
Video: Turbolinux this month will begin selling a Linux-based multimedia player. "At first glance it doesn't look different from any other player on the market," says Martyn Williams of the IDG News Service. But this little number also boots a Linux OS and includes Firefox, Skype and OpenOffice. Watch the story here.
Podcasts: Partnerships abound in the virtualization fray this week. David Marshall dissects HP's broadening efforts via channels, and P2V vendor PlateSpin's new partner program. Tune into Virtualization Report.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 2, 2007 04:37 AM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Word that CEO Kevin Rollins has resigned his post as CEO of Dell and that Michael Dell is once again taking over as chief executive may not be as natural as the vendor would like everyone to believe. "This won't fix Dell's problems, and arguably they have gone the exact wrong course to fix them," suggests Matt Asay in Rollins resigns (Business model, not a CEO problem). "The lesson for open source vendors should be clear. 'Cheaper but crappier' is a terrible business model for open source and proprietary companies." And, yes, the Dell Dude is in this one.
Columnist's corner: While life has been relatively stable lately, David Margulius cautions that "we shouldn't get lulled into false complacency," and "we need to be on guard against potentially disruptive events." That, of course, includes IT. A recent PricewaterhousCoopers survey determines that almost half of U.S. multinational corporations have been struck by a crisis over the past three years. "You'd think corporate America would be drilling and girding itself for future disruptions," he writes in this week's Enterprise Insight. But IT runs the middle ground, with approximately half of shops doing so, and that's "not exactly a chorus of affirmation."
Video: IBM and Intel ratchet up their semiconductor manufacturing processes to speed the transition from 65-nanomemter chips to 45-nanometer. AMD gets into the game, too. Watch it here.
The news beat: Microsoft ships SSL VPN software, dubbed IAG 2007, which gives remotes users access to Outlook and corporate applications when they are outside the firewall. California police arrest a software pirate who they claim raked in $750,000 from selling illegal copies of Adobe and Microsoft software, including SQL Server 2000 Enterprise. And the Dell'Oro Group publishes a report predicting that weak voice functionality will inhibit WiMax growth and, in turn, GSM will dominate for the next 5 years.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 1, 2007 10:28 AM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Demo concentrates on people over technology, Michael Dell takes over as Rollins resigns, a Microsoft Zune exec departs, Turbolinux issues media player that boots Linux OS, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 1, 2007 07:13 AM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Save the whale (until the next CTP)
Best of the blogs: One of the first things Martin Heller writes about the working copy he obtained of Microsoft's Visual Studio 'Orcas' community technical preview is that "it probably wasn't worth