April 07, 2008 | Comments: (0)
I've had my head in the clouds the past few days, mulling the nature of cloud computing. Some might ask: Why bother? It's just another marketing concept cooked up by vendors that has no real meaning.
Call me credulous, but I beg to differ. The past decade has been an inexorable march toward Internet technology, and cloud computing is the natural next step in that trend. Here's how Executive Editor Galen Gruman and I circumscribed cloud computing in this week's big feature article: "any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that -- in real time over the Internet -- extends IT's existing capabilities." That includes on-demand computing and storage, software as a service, managed security, Web services in the cloud, and a bunch of stuff that hasn't been dreamed up yet.
I'm fully aware of the fierce resistance in large companies to relying on services outside the firewall. No wonder -- such dependencies often increase availability or security risks. And when you've subscribed to a bunch of services, without integration, you're back to old-fashioned siloed applications, rather than the fully interconnected whole promised by service-oriented architecture. Zero up-front investment in servers, maintenance, and licensing are alluring, but cloud computing has a long way to go before it snags a significant chunk of IT. Major traction has been and will continue to be in small business for quite a while.
Along those lines, I've been waiting for one shoe to drop for a long time: Isn’t Microsoft in a terrific position to deliver an entire suite of desktop and enterprise (i.e., the Dynamics CRM, financial, and business intelligence products) software in one virtualized gulp? Particularly for small businesses? Imagine, flip on your … terminal … and up comes everything you need in order to do business, including Office apps, streamed from Microsoft servers. Perhaps even an on-demand version of Active Directory with identity management could provision users and control access.
Yeah, I know Microsoft doesn't want to cannibalize its desktop business, but won't open source and free on-demand apps from the likes of Google push it in the direction of a complete, subscription-based cloud offering sooner or later? It'll have to compete against an unlimited number of best-of-breed players, of course, across an infinitely large cloud. Aggregators will play an important role in the long run, but ultimately, this sounds like the familiar battle between walled garden and wild Internet, closed versus open. The future may be cloudy, but it's clear the old battles of the past will be fought again.
Posted by Eric Knorr on April 7, 2008 03:00 AM
March 31, 2008 | Comments: (0)
One of my favorite tech adages is "transistors are free." This is a relatively recent saying: adding transistors to a microprocessor die used to incur considerable cost. Today, unless you really go hogwild, the cost of the chip design and mask dwarfs everything else. What's 10 or 20 million transistors here or there when quad-core processors now approach one billion? So chip architects are free to add all kinds of functionality, regardless of whether or not software developers ever get around to utilizing it.
Perhaps that liberating notion went to AMD's head last year, when it played a little too fast and loose with its Barcelona and Phenom chips. The translation lookaside buffer flaw in Barcelona was particularly worrisome; although rare, it was most likely to lock up a system during virtualization. That's not exactly future-proof.
As InfoWorld's Tom Yager notes, AMD finally released a fix for that particular flaw last week. At the same time, the company launched four new Phenom processors: three new quad-cores and its first triple-core desktop chip. AMD is ready to rumble with Intel again. That's a good thing because Intel needs competition.
But as InfoWorld's Bill Snyder notes, the result of all this new horsepower is that hardware has pulled further ahead of software than ever before -- particularly when it comes to multicore chips running desktop applications. You'll find one example of an overpowered behemoth in Andrew Binstock's review of Dell's Precision M6300 laptop this week. As Andrew notes, the ideal user for this "portable workstation" would be a "scientist or engineer who needs the full 3D graphics capabilities." And the Core 2 Duo processor (model T7700) isn't even at the top of Intel's mobile line.
Of course, Andrew likes having all that power at his disposal. I would too if I didn't have to pay for it. Unfortunately, although transistors may be free, new chip designs plus the other hardware that define a high-end system together cost real money. So how about an excuse to plunk down that kind of cash, software developers? Step up to the plate and gimme an irresistible desktop business app one of these monsters can really sink its teeth into.
Posted by Eric Knorr on March 31, 2008 03:00 AM
March 10, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Dirty IT jobs: Somebody has to do 'em
After awhile you recognize the look. Certain IT people I meet have a special demeanor that says "my job is killing me." They may be the jumpy and talkative or they may be subdued, but somehow the haunted look in the eyes is always the same.
This week we honor these high-tech martyrs with "The seven dirtiest jobs in IT." You think your job stinks? We guarantee you'll find some nastier ones in this compilation of waking nightmares.
Dan Tynan, the InfoWorld contributing editor who assembled this unattractive assortment, views these excruciating occupations philosophically: "Honestly, a lot of this stuff is simply low-level grunt work. The IT people I interviewed think of themselves as more skilled than that -- and they are. But their employers can't trust someone else to do it. Either that, or they're too cheap to pay someone else to do it."
The good news is that, at least in Dan's experience, few IT people seem to stick with a dirty IT job for very long. "This is paying your dues. You make your bones by doing this," says Dan. After all, if you're going to rise through the ranks and manage other people, as a rite of passage you should know what it feels like on the bottom rung.
Captains of security
Who knows? You may rise as far as chief security officer. This week InfoWorld Senior Writer Matt Hines looks into what it takes to become a good CSO. As everyone knows, the technical demands of the job have become increasingly complex. The days when you just needed to know perimeter security are long gone. To understand security today, you need to be immersed in everything from encryption to identity management to social engineering. Right?
In fact, the Forrester study that inspired Matt's story sees this as a matter of debate. More important than technical skills are a range of intangibles -- like moral integrity, patience, and business acumen. Character matters in tech leadership positions just as it does everywhere else.
Microsoft's dirty laundry
Speaking of character, what exactly was on the minds of Microsoft execs when they decided to ship a product with known compatibility problems -- and apparently hid them from the public? Internal Microsoft e-mails that have surfaced as a result of a class action suit (in which the plaintiffs claim that the "Windows Vista Compatible" stickers on XP computers were misleading) reveal that Microsoft knew Vista's User Access Control scheme would break XP device driver UI mechanisms.
Contributing Editor Randy Kennedy nailed that story in his blog last week. He also pointed to a fascinating performance comparison between Vista and Windows Server 2008 in "Super Workstation OS" mode. One guess which won.
If all this negative press about Vista leaves you nostalgic for previous OS versions, maybe now is the time to sign our petition to save Windows XP. We're right on the cusp of getting 100,000 signatures, so join the party.
Posted by Eric Knorr on March 10, 2008 03:00 AM
March 03, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Endless demand for richer experience
Few would dispute that AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) has transformed the Web. The technology has always appealed to my frugal side: a capability already built into Internet Explorer was "discovered" years later and exploited by Web developers to enhance the user experience. And as this week's InfoWorld Test Center roundup reveals, developers can get the benefit of AJAX toolkits without having to pay for commercial software.
InfoWorld contributing editor Peter Wayner reviewed seven AJAX toolkits, which were selected as high-profile open source projects out of hundreds. They reflect the wild and wooly world of JavaScript programming, where new frameworks and best practices emerge all the time, and partisans routinely take potshots at rivals. Peter has done his homework here, accounting for suitability to task in his in-depth toolkit evaluations. To get a hands-on feel for these development environments, make sure to check out his excellent narrated screencasts.
As Peter notes, most of the toolkits he reviews are best for adding widgets and other interactivity to Web pages rather than building a full-fledged Web application. The latter is still generally best accomplished with one of the top commercial products. Six months ago, Peter also reviewed JackBe Presto and Nexaweb, which combine AJAX and mashup development environments.
The demands on IT keep rising -- whether greater interactivity for Web pages, or finding a way to deal with fancy new devices that refuse to play by the rules. This week executive editor Galen Gruman explains how to bring the iPhone into the fold for e-mail, calendaring, and security. You don't need to wait for the iPhone SDK, due out later this week.
So much work to do and so little time. Maybe that's why US companies keep finding new ways of getting IT people into the country, despite the failure of the immigration reform bill last summer. As Ephraim Schwartz reports, in a dodgy effort to circumvent the H1-B cap, employers are turning to L1 visas. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Posted by Eric Knorr on March 3, 2008 03:00 AM
February 18, 2008 | Comments: (0)
This week marks the triumphant return of crackpot tech, last year's smash hit, in which we rounded up a motley crew of technology ideas "so crazy they just might work." The reader response was terrific. Not only did we provoke a lively discussion over the true meaning of "crackpot," readers were happy to point out many other dodgy schemes deserving of admiration or ridicule.
This year, Senior Editor Jason Snyder gathered more wild and woolly notions -- some further along than others -- and wrapped them into crackpot tech reloaded. "There are a lot of live wires out there pushing the boundaries of what's technically possible," says Jason. "But what's fascinating about all these out-there ideas is that they show so much inquisitiveness -- and a conviction that sometimes you have to get crazy to tackle deeply entrenched, real-world problems."
As Jason puts its, this year's batch is "part science fiction, part revolutionary implausibilities, and part enterprise possibilities in search of true, practical application." My particular favorite: direct brain interfaces. I've always preferred thinking to mousing around.
Exiting Windows
Is it time to dump Windows? Personally, I'm not ready. But some people get a load of Vista and decided enough is enough.
Your alternatives: Switch to the Mac or switch to desktop Linux. Executive Editor Galen Gruman wrapped this little package together. "If you're going to move from Windows to Linux, that's hard for most users," says Galen. "If you're moving to the Mac, it becomes more of a business question: Can your IT organization properly support the Mac?" Either way, says Galen, there's work involved.
At InfoWorld, we're comfortable with Windows XP. That's why we came up with our Save Windows XP campaign. At this writing, more than 92,000 users have signed our petition to convince Microsoft to extend the June 30 deadline. If you haven't added your name in support, now's the time.
Posted by Eric Knorr on February 18, 2008 03:00 AM
December 31, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Years like 2007 make you glad to have a ringside seat on the technology industry. The top stories of 2007 were full of drama. Vista flopped like an overindulged celebutante. Consolidation in the software industry reached new heights of excess. Google, already the undisputed gatekeeper of the Web, set its sites on mobile devices. And last time I looked, geeks everywhere were still going gaga over the iPhone.
But here at InfoWorld, we specialize in spotting trends and analyzing events that other tech journalism outfits overlook. That's why, for this week's big feature article, we decided to peel back the surface of the news and uncover the Top 10 underreported stories of 2007. As you'll see, we've picked our sleepers carefully, with an eye toward stories we think will have lasting impact.
Contributing Editor Bill Snyder wrote the story, but not before just about every member of the InfoWorld family chimed in. Deciding what we should highlight was a contentious process that lasted over a month. We hope the final article will provide unique insight on what occurred this past year and help you prepare for the twists and turns to come.
Of course, we've made a number of judgment calls (was this the year enterprise software became a buyer's market, or was it last year?), yet I sense the beginning of an InfoWorld tradition. Next year, I promise we'll open up the process in advance, so you'll have a chance to nominate you own underreported stories long before we post our picks. This year, you'll have to content yourself with publicly evaluating the intelligence of our selections – and pointing out the ones you think we've missed.
I'm looking forward to reading and sharing that feedback. After all, you're a vital part of the InfoWorld community. I'm delighted to have you on board as we embark on the wild ride of 2008.
Posted by Eric Knorr on December 31, 2007 03:00 AM
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