Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter articles from August 2003

Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter archives from August 2003

Enhance employee reviews with 360 feedback.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (About.com Articles, CenterPoint Systems Articles, CIO Magazine Article, Personnel Journal Article, Work911.com Article) Done well, 360 feedback can greatly enhance your employee review process. Done wrong, it can lead to paranoia,...

Picking the perfect network printer.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (EnvisionWare White Paper, Lexmark White Paper, Network Magazine India Article, PC Magazine Articles) Networked printers are often critical appliances for many companies. Perhaps this is your first time dealing with server-based...

SPAN the communication divide.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (East Bay Business Times Article, Planet PDA Magazine Article, SPANworks Web Site, SRC Web Site) With the dozens of meetings you and your colleagues are constantly attending each week, knowledge retention can sometimes slide. In...

Hosted CMS: the answer to content management?
August 5, 2003... Sources: (ASPnews.com Article, ASPstreet.com Article, CMSWatch Article, Content World Article) Web content management likely isn't your company's core competency, but it may be something you need nonetheless. If you are having a hard time...

How to break down a project for easy digestion.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (4PM.com Article, C2 Consulting Article, Computerworld Article, Datamation Article, gantthead.com Articles) IT projects fail at an alarmingly high rate for a variety of reasons. Losing track of the timeline of deliverables is one...

Emergency power: keeping the lights on.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Availability.com Article, CPM.com Articles, Energy User News Article) Many electrical infrastructures are aging as consumer demands for power increase. Meanwhile, the reliability of information systems remains ever critical to...

Identity management 101.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Computerworld Article, Information Security Magazine Article, META Group White Paper, Network World Fusion Articles, Rainbow Technologies White Paper, SANS Institute White Papers, SecurityFocus Article, silicon.com Article) As...

A low-cost PBX alternative.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Asterisk Web Site, Digium White Paper, ONLamp.com Article, Packet Clearing House Discussion Forum) Open source software has already proven its reliability in regards to back-office apps (think Apache), and is rapidly becoming more...

Find a steward to clean your dirty data.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (DM Review Articles, Info | Ed White Paper, The Data Warehousing Institute Report) It's been said before but still needs repeating: data quality is critical, especially when deploying a business intelligence (BI) application....

Who's tops in IT?
August 5, 2003... Sources: (BusinessWeek Online Report) It's no secret that the IT industry has fallen on hard times. When choosing a company to be one of your technology providers over the long haul, economic health should be a major selection factor....

Bridging the metadata gap.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (CMSWatch Article) Your company has created a lot of content, and your IT department has been tasked with buying or building a system that will pull it all together in a sensible way. It may sound easy, but it could be one of the...

Free Perl tools.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Free Programming Resources Web Site) Maybe you know a little bit about Perl, or maybe you know a lot. Regardless of your situation, you should have a few Perl tutorials on hand to guide you and your junior programming staff...

Security supremacy: .NET vs. WebSphere.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (@stake Report) A system's security potential is an important consideration in any buying decision, particularly if the system in question is your application development platform. The question takes on even greater significance...

Make calculating WLAN ROI a snap.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Wi-Fi Alliance Calculator) If you're considering installing a wireless LAN (WLAN), performing a simple return on investment (ROI) calculation first will go a long way toward gaining top-level approval from the C-crowd. The...

CRM for the little guys.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (ACCPAC International) ACCPAC's CRM 5.5 is an enterprise solution specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The complete Internet and wireless CRM system supports a wide range of operating systems and can...

HIPAA compliance software.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Avolent Inc.) BizCast 5.3, the latest Financial Relationship Management (FRM) product from Avolent Inc., offers numerous features designed specifically to aid group healthcare insurers with HIPAA compliance. BizCast 5.3 also: ...

The new Mozilla browser.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (mozilla.org) Released last month, Mozilla 1.4 is the latest browser/e-mail client program from the Mozilla Organization. The free, open-source program made PC World's Best of 2003 and won eWeek Lab's Analyst Choice award. The...

A different kind of wireless bridge.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (Orthogon Systems) The OS-Gemini solution from Orthogon Systems is an intelligent broadband wireless Ethernet bridge that offers true point-to-point, non-line-of-site (NLOS) wireless coverage. The FCC-certified platform operates...

Reliable VoIP failover.
August 5, 2003... Sources: (NEC America) NEC America recently released a PBX platform that provides VoIP systems with better reliability by also supporting traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity. The NEAX 2000 IPS-DMR creates...

Auditing your firewall: from flab to fab.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Bennett Todd Article, CNETAsia Article, Information Security Magazine Article) Your firewall's role is to control and restrict traffic to and from your network, but is it doing its job properly? All control systems must be audited...

Impact analysis: the SCO Linux lawsuit.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Computerworld Article, Gartner Group Articles, InformationWeek Article, ZDNet Article) SCO's recent initiation of legal action against Linux distributers and users may have left you lost in a cloud of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and...

Use job fairs to zero in on talent.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (BellaOnline Article, HR.com Article, Recruiters Network Article) IT job fairs are an excellent recruiting alternative to posting ads either in newspapers or online. However, a job fair can also be a huge waste of time, energy,...

Win the war on wardialing.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (@stake Report, IBM Web Site, ITworld.com Article, National Institute of Standards and Technology Report, Packet-Security.com Article, System Experts Report, The Washington Post Article) System admins rarely secure dial-in ports...

Apple in the server room?
August 19, 2003... Sources: (BusinessWeek Online Article, Ecommerce Times Article, Network Computing Article, NewsFactor Network Article) Your next enterprise server could be an Apple. Believe it. Almost 20 years of positioning their products for the...

Backups: gimme shelter.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (InformIT Article, TECS Computer Security Tutorial, WinPlanet Article) Performing backups is one thing; storing them safely is quite another. Don't fudge your disaster recovery plan because of poor storage practices. Learn where...

The latest in laptops.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (CNET Buying Guide and Review, PC Magazine Buying Guide and Reviews, PCWorld.com Buying Guide and Reviews) Notebook computer sales have surpassed desktop computer sales in the U.S. retail PC market. Up from 25 percent of PC sales...

Satellite Internet: orbiting the mainstream.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Contingency Planning and Management Article, MacCentral Article, PBS Online Article, SearchNetworking.com Web Site) Satellite Internet access has been around for some time now, but with little acceptance gained at the enterprise...

More eyes equal better code.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Department of Defense Guide, Dev Shed Article, StickyMinds.com Article, ZDNet Australia Article, ZDNet UK Article) When it comes to programming, four eyes are always better than two. Implement a peer code review program in your...

Managing security in win2K.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (InformIT Article) If you're running Windows 2000 Professional, learning how to manage security accounts and policies is time well spent. InformIT offers an excellent tutorial on doing just that called "Security Accounts and...

Top Carriers? Survey says ...
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Network Magazine Feature) If your company has a heartbeat, then it calls on a carrier to connect it to the outside world. Who's the best of the best? A recent new survey from Network Magazine on North American Carriers gives the...

Free translation tool.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (SYSTRAN Web Site) Your company wants to make inroads internationally, and it needs a multi-lingual Web site to really make things fly. To get you started, take a look at the free online demo of SYSTRAN 4.0. This nifty...

IT buyer's guide for the finance industry.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Wall Street & Technology Web Site) If you don't have an MBA, knowing where to start looking for best of breed applications to help your company crunch numbers and plan strategy can be daunting. Fret no more--turn to the Wall...

Bitpipe honors best white papers.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Bitpipe Web Site) White papers are a valuable and frequently sought out source of IT information. Bitpipe, a white paper aggregator, recently announced the winners of its 2003 White Paper Awards. Papers were evaluated on the...

An open-source spam suppressor.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (SourceForge.net) SpamBayes is a new open-source spam classifier that takes the Bayesian filtering methods developed by Paul Graham (see the Info-Tech article "Selecting a Spam Suppressor") and improves on them to effectively stop...

Move over mouse, here comes MultiTouch.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (FingerWorks) MultiTouch technology, developed by FingerWorks, makes your computer mouse a redundant device. The company offers an array of devices that replace the mouse by using hand gesture-sensing technology to complete...

Wi-Fi from Verizon ... finally!
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Verizon) In collaboration with Wayport Inc., Verizon Wireless is now offering Wi-Fi access to its customers. Internet access will be available for portable devices (using the 802.11b standard) at hundreds of hotspot locations in...

Portable memory that tells the time too.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (Allied Data Technologies) The Tornado USB Memory Watch from Belgium-based Allied Data Technologies combines portable data capabilities with a stylish wristwatch. The watch is available with either 128 MB or 256 MB USB memory and...

ERP for SMBs.
August 19, 2003... Sources: (NetLedger) NetERP is a back-office solution designed for small to medium-sized businesses. Offered by NetLedger, the software provides capabilities including: business insights, order and inventory management, purchasing support,...