Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter articles from May 2001

Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter archives from May 2001

X-treme Programming 101.
May 1, 2001... Sources: CNET.com Article, Extreme Programming Web Site Wouldn't it be great if your programmers could adopt a methodology that would improve efficiency and stamp out defects in software long before they appear in the final product? This is...

Microsoft Office XP: Is It Worth the Upgrade?
May 1, 2001... Sources: Microsoft Articles and White Papers Microsoft Office XP is expected to debut in late June 2001. This gives you just enough time to evaluate this new offering and decide if and when to upgrade. Buying Plan: Use this features...

Get Tough with Personal Firewalls.
May 1, 2001... Sources: CNET Enterprise.com Article, Computeruser.com Article, CoSine.com Article, Network Computing Article, Planet IT Article, RapidContent.com Article A personal firewall is designed to protect a single PC from undesired perusal and...

ETL Tools: Critical to Data Warehouse Success.
May 1, 2001... Sources: The Data Warehousing Information Center Buyer's Guide, DM Review Article, EvalTech White Paper Data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes can take up 70-80% of the time spent on a typical data warehousing project....

Re-think Web Ads: Go Rich Media.
May 1, 2001... Sources: AdsGuide.com Article, BusinessWeek.com Article, E-Marketer.com Article, Ryan Whiteman Consulting Article With online ads failing to live up to their projected revenue-generating potential, companies wanting to advertise online are...

Cash In on Employee Referrals.
May 1, 2001... Sources: hireconnection.com Article, InsiderBiz.com Article, myhrconsultant.com Article, The Standard Article Translating word-of-mouth candidate referrals into new hires could mean big cost savings for your company. Establish an employee...

Mitigate Risk with Pilot Projects.
May 1, 2001... Sources: TechRepublic Article, University of British Columbia Article Running a pilot project translates into reduced risks before committing to full rollout. This is crucial since your IT department should actively demonstrate to senior...

Save Money: Resurrect Latent IT Assets.
May 1, 2001... Sources: META Group Article, MIT Information Systems White Paper, State of Ohio White Paper Do you have a plan to re-use your latent IT assets or are they collecting dust in a storage room? If you can stretch your hardware and software's...

Tech Downturn Offers Something to Smile About.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Boston Herald.com Article, Computerworld Articles, ZDNetIndia.com Article The downturn in the tech economy isn't as gloomy as you might expect. In fact, some savvy IT leaders see an economic downturn as a chance to seize...

A Foundation For IT Management.
May 1, 2001... Sources: InfoTech Research Group The Info-Tech Research Group has always focused on the importance of the "manager" part of the title "IT Manager". Our best articles and resources on management can be found in The Management Toolbox, part...

TCO Assessment Kit for PCs.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Compaq Web Site Costs incurred after initial deployment comprise the largest component of IT costs, notes Compaq Computer Corp. To help IT financial decision-makers get a handle on long-term total cost of ownership (TCO), Compaq...

Top Flight Advice For Software Management.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Software Program Managers Network Web Site Since 1992, the Department of Defense has resolved to "seek out proven industry and government software best practices and convey them to managers of large-scale DoD software-intensive...

Handheld Cornucopia.
May 1, 2001... Sources: PDAStreet.com Web Site Handheld portable computers, or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), are more than just executive toys these days. If you are looking for help in supporting various portable devices, check out PDAStreet.com...

Free Guide For Managing Software Projects.
May 1, 2001... Sources: SoftwareProjects.org Web Site Software Projects.org walks you through what author Bas de Baar sees as the essential steps in a stakeholder-centered management process. These steps include: 1. Principles 2. Project intake...

Brainstorming Best Practices.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Fast Company Articles Don't immediately shoot down a "crazy idea" - surround the room with writing surfaces (easels, giant sketch sheets, whiteboards), write everything down in numbered lists, and never let the boss lead the...

Loudcloud Launches Latest Opsware.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Loudcloud, Inc. Loudcloud has introduced Opsware 2i, an Internet infrastructure service that builds on the traditional Opsware automated monthly service model by extending Loudcloud infrastructure managed outsourcing to...

Red Hat Linux 7.1 Ships.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat this week announced the release of Red Hat Linux 7.1, the latest update to the ever popular Linux distribution, featuring Kernel version 2.4. Release 7.1 includes: * The Network Software Manager, a...

Syncronex ViewPoint Makes Management Simple.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Syncronex, Inc. Syncronex ViewPoint makes it simple to manage, organize, and share enterprise information with your customers, partners, and employees. ViewPoint can be used to build data applications within your portal...

Thinkmap Enlivens Web Sites.
May 1, 2001... Sources: Thinkmap, Inc. Written by and developed for Web designers, Thinkmap is a tool for displaying online data with flair. An item in a Thinkmap client conveys information not just by its text or appearance, but also by the way it...

NAS for Linux.
May 1, 2001... Sources: VA Linux Systems, Inc. The VA Linux 9450 NAS (network attached storage) is designed to provide transparent file sharing across several operating environments, including Linux, Unix, Windows and Macintosh, making it easier for...

Advanced Planning for Killer Presentations.
May 1, 2001... Sources: ITDirector.com You will be nervous. You will make mistakes. What seemed obvious and simple on your desktop will suddenly become embarrassingly complicated in front of an audience of a dozen to 100 trainees. Here are some steps...

A Guide to Killer Boardroom Presentations.
May 29, 2001... Sources: California Air Resources Board Guidelines, Fast Company Articles, Road Tools Web Site, Workingfaster.com Checklist Giving a presentation on the best of days is a nerve-wracking experience, but confronting a team of cynical...

Mediocre Employees: Count the Costs.
May 29, 2001... Sources: CareerLab.com Article, Employee-Employer.com Articles If you're managing an IT department with many mediocre employees, don't think that you're alone. Mediocre employees are those who expend just enough energy to make it through...

Capitalize on Plummeting Printer Prices.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Arackal Digital Solutions Interview, GlobalSource.com Computer Products Article, PCWorld.com Article, ZDNet Article Falling printer prices might be tempting you to add additional peripherals to your system. Still, make sure that...

Vendor References: An Action Plan.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Darwin Magazine Article, The Gadwall Group Article, GartnerGroup Slide Show Presentation, University of New South Wales White Paper Most organizations have been disappointed at some point by a software or hardware acquisition....

How Hackers Defeat Intrusion Detection Systems.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute White Paper, ebizQ Article, Fred Cohen & Associates Article, National Institute of Standards and Technology White Paper Having an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in place is no...

Buying Plan for Speech Recognition Technology.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Darwin Magazine Article, EETimes.com Article, Lernout & Hauspie Article, SpeechWorks.com Calculator, WFSCO.com White Paper, ZDNet Articles Speech recognition technology allows a machine to understand human speech. The technology...

Self-Service: A Winning HR Approach.
May 29, 2001... Sources: The Australian National University Report, CrossWind Technologies White Paper, The Hunter Group Survey, InfoWorld Article, Workforce Commerce Center Web Site More and more organizations are moving basic human resources functions...

Small Companies: Consider Rack-Based Servers.
May 29, 2001... Sources: GartnerGroup Article, Interactive Week Article, TechRepublic Articles, Tech Review Article Rack-based servers have traditionally been used by large service providers and enterprise data centers. However, the rack-based option is...

Savvy IT Certifications.
May 29, 2001... Sources: BrainBuzz.com Article, Certifications Update Directory, Cisco Article, Computerworld Article, PSCU Article Whether you're an IT manager assessing your IT staff and pay ratio or an IT staffer looking to pull in a prettier penny, you...

DevX Judges Java.
May 29, 2001... Sources: DevX.com Special Report If you need to know exactly where Java is today, look no further than the DevX special report "Judging Java." Start with the pull-no-punches review "Server-side Subjects Drop Java's GPA" by Brian Maso. It...

A Roadmap for the Modern IT Department.
May 29, 2001... Sources: London Business School White Paper If you are tasked with building the IT department of the new century, make sure to add the white paper "The New IT Organization: Eight Imperatives" to your reference arsenal. The closed,...

Lay the Foundation for VoIP.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Tolly Research White Paper Convergence is cool, but not easy. Carrying voice over an IP network holds the promise of the streamlined "one-wire-network" for your entire organization. The Tolly Research paper "What You Need to Know...

Hard Drives Go Head-to-Head.
May 29, 2001... Sources: The Computer Paper Article, StorageReview.com Research Center When it comes to hard disk storage, space really is the final frontier. If disk capacity needs are forcing you to consider the high end of the spectrum, these resources...

Software Library for Law Firms.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Lawyerware.com Web Site If you work for a law firm, or if a legal affairs department is one of the units you support, the Lawyerware.com product directory will give you a one-stop shop for downloading software specific to the legal...

Find the Best Local Service Provider.
May 29, 2001... Sources: OmniChoice Web Site Here is the problem: you have a group of employees who need home-based Internet service. You're the IT guru. You should know the best options available for these people. Right? * OmniChoice is a free...

Win2K Service Pack 2 Available.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Microsoft Corporation The second service pack for Windows 2000 is now available. This may be important news to companies that have been waiting for the release of SP2 before moving ahead with Win2K deployment. According to...

Compaq Debuts New Evo PCs.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Compaq Computer Corporation Compaq has officially retired its Deskpro, Armada, and Professional Workstation brands to make way for its new line of business PCs called Evo. The new Evo family sports a streamlined black and silver...

Iomega Breaks Capacity Boundaries.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Iomega Corporation Iomega, the maker of the famous Zip and Jaz removable storage drives, has just released a standalone pocket-sized peripheral drive system with a capacity greater than that of DVD-or CD-writable disks. Called...

WebFOCUS Takes BI on the Road.
May 29, 2001... Sources: Information Builders Inc. WebFOCUS, a Web-based business intelligence (BI) solution, has just undergone an upgrade. Enhancements include: * The ability to support more users through a new Java-based servlet implementation,...

New Web Tablet Features Crusoe Chip.
May 29, 2001... Sources: SONICblue Incorporated SONICblue has just released ProGear, a Linux 2.4x-based wireless Web tablet featuring Transmeta's much talked about Crusoe TM3200 chip. Currently geared toward business users in the hospitality, education,...