Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter articles from August 1999

Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter archives from August 1999

The Next Generation of Online Searching.
August 10, 1999... (TechWeb and Business 2.0 Articles) One of the biggest shortcomings of Internet search engines is that no single engine indexes all sites. Seekers are forced to use multiple engines to hunt down something as simple as a company Web site,...

Future Technologies that Could Change How You Do Business!
August 10, 1999... (Upside, Embedded Solutions Limited, and TechWeb Articles) These five cool new technologies are set to revolutionize the computing world, and each one will have a huge impact on your business. Don't be caught off guard. Get up to speed now...

How to Prepare an Effective RFP.
August 10, 1999... (NetMarketing Article, InformationWeek Column) The effectiveness of your request for proposal (RFP) will determine whether your project is completed on time and on budget. It is surprising, however, how few managers have a thorough...

Managing the Cost of Web-Based Procurement.
August 10, 1999... (InfoWorld and InformationWeek Articles) Web-based procurement is getting a lot of attention from IT managers these days. And why not? According to a recent article, "most IT executives say online procurement software provides about the...

"Web-Based Training: They Learn, You Earn".
August 10, 1999... (A PlanetIT Article) Compared with turnover and hiring costs, training investments are a clear bargain. It's a proven fact that training opportunities are major selling points in attracting and keeping IT staff. Regardless of your staffing...

A Basic Guide to E-Commerce Transactions.
August 10, 1999... (ECWerks Inc. White Paper, Network Computing Online Article) "The challenge of doing e-commerce is huge. But the dilemma is that fall of '99 will be a banner year for e-commerce players. If you are not in by fall of '99, then...

Delegation - the Key to Effective Management.
August 10, 1999... (Edge Online Article, High Technology Careers Magazine Article, Electronic Money Tree Article) Delegation is not a new concept - we all know that it's a huge time saver. Take two minutes right now to assess your ability to delegate...

Plan your Y2K Command Center.
August 10, 1999... (ComputerWorld, EBUSINESS and CIO Magazine Articles) Canada's largest city was offline on Friday, July 16th. A fire knocked out one of Bell Canada's switching centers in Toronto, Ontario. Only 10% of Bell's lines were affected, but millions...

Valuing Your IT Assets.
August 10, 1999... (A ComputerWorld Article) IT assets are littered across your organization's varied departments and business units. The difficulty in tracking and measuring the value of these assets has led many IT managers to avoid the process altogether,...

Three Web Words to Live By - Planning, Planning, Planning!
August 10, 1999... (IBM and Just in Time Marketing Tools) Your Internet strategy is full steam ahead. But is your actual implementation falling in line with what you had planned? And what about your marketing strategy? Considering how quickly the Internet and...

Encryption 101.
August 10, 1999... (Centura and Ritter Software Engineering White Papers) With the onset of mobile computing and e-commerce, the enterprise and its assets are at more risk than ever. Encryption is a key component to protecting those assets. * For an...

Hitting the Road in Style - The Best Business Traveler's Sites.
August 10, 1999... (A PC Magazine Guide and Various Travel Sites) Travel has become a necessity for many of today's corporate executives - maybe you're one of them. But beyond stressing over hotel reservations and rental cars, the modern road warrior has a...

Escape the War Zone - Practice Conflict Resolution.
August 10, 1999... (A Fast Company Feature) Resolving interpersonal conflict can be one of the most difficult and stressful aspects of an IT manager's job. The art of conflict resolution rests in turning potentially damaging situations into productive ones...

Humanize Your Web Site.
August 10, 1999... (A Call Center Solutions Magazine Article) The pervasiveness of the Web makes it a powerful business tool. Yet, if not carefully designed, your site can be a cold and impersonal tool that stands between site visitors and the information...

SOFTWARE : Pump up Excel with Interval Solver.
August 10, 1999... A. Pump up Excel with Interval Solver (Delisoft) For all those rabid Excel users out there (read: anyone in finance or engineering), this is a dream come true. New software from Delisoft turns Excel into a bona fide financial tool. The...

SOFTWARE : Free Y2K Desktop Software.
August 10, 1999... B. Free Y2K Desktop Software (Computer Associates International Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corp.) * Hardware and software inventory. * Metering and auditing of software usage. * Central administration and integrated...

SOFTWARE : Build your own XML Applications.
August 10, 1999... C. Build your own XML Applications (Bluestone Software) * It runs on any platform and has a graphical user interface. * The software allows users to generate XML documents from a database without coding. * It contains XML,...

HARDWARE : Athlon Chip Competes with Pentium III.
August 10, 1999... A. Athlon Chip Competes with Pentium III (Advanced Micro Devices Inc.) We always get excited when we're able to report on new developments in the processor field. AMD has released their 650MHz Athlon chip and it's 13% faster than...

INTERNET/INTRANET : Message Center Lite Targets Small and Medium-Size Businesses.
August 10, 1999... A. Message Center Lite Targets Small and Medium-Size Businesses (TelePost Inc.) Unified messaging is catching on quickly in the business world, which makes this free unified messaging service all the more enticing. Compaq announced last...

SECURITY : Rid Your Company of Rogue Modems.
August 10, 1999... A. Rid Your Company of Rogue Modems (SecureLogix) Security is a hot topic these days. But how can you secure connections you don't even know exist? The TeleSweep Secure scanner from SecureLogix automatically dials phone numbers...

STORAGE : 'Shark' Provides High-Volume Data Storage.
August 10, 1999... A. 'Shark' Provides High-Volume Data Storage (IBM) Storage requirements are mushrooming due to exponential growth in e-mails, home pages, and online users - and it's only getting worse. If your company has been one of the many demanding...

LEISURE.
August 10, 1999... You want to send the perfect message to commemorate that special occasion, but you just don't have the time to get to your local Hallmark store. What to do? Never fear! The online greeting card industry is booming, and as long as Mom's hooked...

Should your Internet Business have a Separate P&L?
August 24, 1999... (CIO Magazine Article & Giga Information Group) The short answer is no. Intuitively it might seem attractive to break out the costs and revenues of Internet business and organize these initiatives as their own business unit. However, a...

AS/400 & Java - Ideal for E-Commerce Apps.
August 24, 1999... (Aberdeen Group and D.H. Andrews Group White Papers) The AS/400e is the most widely used commercial midrange server in the world. Given that IBM has poured more money into Java than anyone else, including Java's creator Sun Microsystems,...

Trouble Recruiting? Try E-Cruiting!
August 24, 1999... (PC World Online Article) IT recruiters in the U.S. don't have to be told the labor market is tight - they deal with the effects of it every day. Traditional methods of identifying qualified candidates just aren't getting the job done....

Y2K May Blow Up Your Boss's Spreadsheet!
August 24, 1999... (PCWeek Article) Think of number Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in your company - are there thousands? More? Often used for financial modeling and forecasting purposes, many firms have invested time and money in building, not to mention...

Common Name Standard: Changing the Way people Surf?
August 24, 1999... (A NetworkWorld Fusion Article and Internet Engineering Task Force Drafts) The complexity of URLs has already surpassed the patience of the average Web user. To help make negotiating the Internet more intuitive, the Internet Engineering...

Portals - Gateway to Heaven, or Passage to Hell?
August 24, 1999... (ComputerWorld, Datamation, and Knowledge Management Articles) Portals have outlived their buzzword hype. What's the proof? A ComputerWorld survey found that 72% of IT managers are using or plan to use corporate portals as part of their...

What to do when your Desk is a Disaster.
August 24, 1999... (Priorities Magazine Article) Can't find your donut? It's lost under the mound of paper on your desk somewhere? If this sounds familiar, we can help. A messy desk usually stems from poor space planning, poor work habits or just plain...

An XML Primer...
August 24, 1999... (CIO Magazine, Datamation and Intelligent Enterprise Magazine Articles) XML (Extensible Markup Language) has the ability to transform business by organizing Internet content so that companies can easily exchange data. Whenever we deal with...

Gigabit Ethernet Over Your Existing Copper Wires!
August 24, 1999... (NetworkMagazine.com, Computer Technology Review, and Gigabit Ethernet Alliance Articles) Gigabit Ethernet's penetration into many businesses has been slowed by one thing: fiber optics. Fiber optic cabling is prohibitively expensive for...

IT Skills Test - A Buyer's Guide.
August 24, 1999... (The TeckChek, Prove It!, and Tekmetrics.com Web Sites) The resume looks great, but how can you tell for sure that this prospective hire really has the skill set you need? And what about that new technical skills training program you...

Are You A Storage Management Star? Test Yourself!
August 24, 1999... (A Trilliant Group Online Tools and the Prove It Web Site) Managing your network storage may not be the most exciting IT issue you have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. But if disaster strikes, storage issues could turn into the most...

The PC Technology Guide.
August 24, 1999... (The PC Technology Guide Web Site) Finding a clear and concise 101 article on a complicated technology issue is a lot harder than it sounds. Yet this type of information is critical when you're trying to sell key tech implementations to...

Y2K Testing.
August 24, 1999... If your Y2K thoughts are not dominated by testing, be it of your IT systems or your contingency plans, you may be running behind schedule. We've compiled a collection of Y2K testing resources to help you pick up the pace or just top off your...

A Complete Guide to Managing Business Ethics.
August 24, 1999... (Various Web Sites) In a highly competitive marketplace where customers have a lot of options at their fingertips, simple factors like reputation can count for everything. With the rapid pace of change and so many organizations living on...

SOFTWARE : PetrOS Provides Alternative to Windows.
August 24, 1999... A. PetrOS Provides Alternative to Windows (Trumpet Software) Anytime we get our hands on a viable alternative to Microsoft products, we get a little excited. This month, an Australian company called Trumpet Software will release PetrOS,...

SOFTWARE : infoHandler 5.0 Keeps you Organized.
August 24, 1999... B. infoHandler 5.0 Keeps you Organized (mdeSoft) This software is ideal for anyone who needs assistance in managing a large volume of documents. mdeSoft's infoHandler 5.0 organizes and categorizes notes, dates, documents, programs,...

SOFTWARE : Countdown Timer II - a Free Reminder Service.
August 24, 1999... C. Countdown Timer II - a Free Reminder Service (Karen Kenworthy) Version 2.0 of Karen Kenworthy's Countdown Timer has appeared and several additions have turned this little gem into a great reminder service. Oh, and did I mention the...

INTERNET/INTRANET : Automated Webmaster Makes Posting to the Web a Breeze.
August 24, 1999... A. Automated Webmaster Makes Posting to the Web a Breeze (Netrics.com) Do you find posting new content to your company Web site to be a pain? Netric.com has developed e-Site - an automated Web publishing tool. Authors attach their Web...

INTERNET/INTRANET : Sales Automation Software for the Internet.
August 24, 1999... B. Sales Automation Software for the Internet (E Corp.) If you're planning to centralize all your contact management on the Internet, check out E-Corp's eXact 1.0. The interface is easy to use - a clear win for salespeople who don't...

INTERNET/INTRANET : Net Privacy Service has Broad Appeal.
August 24, 1999... C. Net Privacy Service has Broad Appeal (Privada) Ever wish you could surf the Net in complete privacy? Web Incognito, an offering from Privada, allows you to do just that - travel from site to site leaving no personal information trail...

NETWORKS : Revive Downed Windows NT Machines Remotely.
August 24, 1999... A. Revive Downed Windows NT Machines Remotely (Winternals Software) The Remote Recover from Winternals Software allows you to repair NT File System (NTFS) -based systems across your network, without needing to run NT (or even have it...

LEISURE.
August 24, 1999... You've invited the boss over to dinner and you want everything to be just right, but you have no idea what wines to serve. Or maybe you're just looking to learn more about wines out of interest. Perhaps you're already an experienced taster and...