InfoWorld Daily | Tom Sullivan » TAG: Professional services

December 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)

The dark side of vendor relationship management

TAGS: Professional services

Best of the blogs: It's a topic nearly everyone in IT has to handle at some point, in fashions large or small, and it's always a matter of some concern: Vendor relationship management. As one reader explains, "it has to do with the ugly reality of vested interests and marginal or even improper relationships." You know the situation. Sporting event tickets, bogus training trips and the such. "My interest in the topic is the degree to which these types of actions prevent the IT organization from reaching its potential," the reader writes to Bob Lewis. Mr. Lewis answers that crawling into bed with a particular isn't necessarily wrong. "Given what it takes to make major changes to IT architecture, strong relationships with strategic providers make all sorts of sense." Vendor relationship management concerns. "IT execs cross the line when the relationship stops being businesslike and starts turning into obligatory perks. Whether solicited by a client or encouraged by a vendor, it generates conflicts of interest and is bad business."

Security: If you're planning to rollout last Tuesday's patches from Microsoft, heed this advice: Be sure to run a full test of IE on internal Web applications, Sean Gallagher explains. IE patch causes crashes. "You may get a rash of helpdesk calls from users confused about why their applications aren't working." Related news: IE, Gmail bugs allow hijacking of accounts.

The news beat: And again NetSuite raises the estimated price of its IPO, now expecting $19 to $22 per share in the auction, where earlier this week it hoped for $16-$19. The worm wiggling through Google's Orkut appears harmless but it does demonstrate the social networking site's vulnerability, as well as that of Web applications in general. And in something of a surprise, oil giant Chevron applies to the 700Mhz wireless spectrum auction, along with AT&T and Verizon.

Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 20, 2007 05:06 AM

September 26, 2006 | Comments: (0)

A new generation of IT services

TAGS: Professional services

Professional services: When thinking about offerings from services organizations, the word 'product' doesn't typically spring to mind. But IBM aims to change that and a tradition of one-off customized services with what it is calling "services products." Big Blue is unwrapping the first two of those today for building converged networks as well as for designing, deploying and managing IP telephony infrastructure.

Podcasts: Nearing some sort of end, Dave Linthicum presents step 10 of his 12 steps to SOA. Select your technology set -- and do so through traditional means. Also, how BPEL 1.1 defeated the purpose of using a standard and why it never worked as advertised.

Q&A: The man charged with building a trust ecosystem around Vista, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security technology unit Ben Fahti, speaks about Vista's progress, and the world beyond Vista -- including two of the half-dozen "big bets" within his unit. Read the full interview.

The news beat: San Francisco to study an alternative to the citywide Wi-Fi plan from EarthLink and Google. Cisco hops on board the enterprise video publishing train. And Nokia unwraps new multimedia phones.

Posted by Tom Sullivan on September 26, 2006 11:18 AM

August 29, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Quote of the day: Those pesky IT addictions

TAGS: Professional services

The 12-step program has become a fixture of American life. In fact, there are now so many recognized addictions — with 12-step programs to match — that you'd think we'd run out of new ones to treat. Not so. In talking with tech movers and shakers through the years, we've identified a pernicious codependency that commonly infects IT organizations: an addiction to consultants. -- Steve Fox. IT consultant addiction.

Posted by Tom Sullivan on August 29, 2006 04:01 AM