InfoWorld.com articles from August 2005

InfoWorld.com archives from August 2005

NetMotion to offer policy management for VPNs; Mobility XE will narrow the VPN tunnel for security.
August 1, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz NetMotion Wireless, an infrastructure provider for remote access to mission-critical enterprise applications, on Monday launched Version 6.5 of its mobile VPN solution. As the enterprise reluctantly gets...

In Brief: MCI acquires Totality; Also in Brief: Vodafone shows new 3G phones from Sharp; BenQ shareholders approve Siemens mobile deal; CA acquires e-mail security vendor Qurb; Zultys announces wireless IP phone; DataViz ships new editions of RoadSync; Novell helps agencies comply with Homeland Security requirements.
August 2, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff MCI on Tuesday announced it is acquiring Totality, a provider of remote managed services for business-critical applications and infrastructure. The terms of the transaction, which is expected to close within 45...

Alien unveils next-generation RFID reader; Company also to partner with IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.
August 3, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Supply-chain infrastructure providers like Alien Technology and Symbol Technologies are prepping now for second-generation, or Gen 2, RFID tags expected in the second half of 2006. They're unveiling more capable...

In Brief: EasyAsk enhances its e-commerce search capabilities; Also in Brief: MCI acquires Totality; Vodafone shows new 3G phones from Sharp; BenQ shareholders approve Siemens mobile deal; CA acquires e-mail security vendor Qurb; Zultys announces wireless IP phone; DataViz ships new editions of RoadSync.
August 3, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff EasyAsk, a division of Progress Software, has released the latest version of EasyAsk for Commerce, which adds more than two dozen new features. EasyAsk for Commerce's synchronized natural-language search and...

Startups vie to make Linux more attractive with bundled offerings; ActiveGrid, Greenplum, SourceLabs offer pre-built configurations to ease integration of open source applications.
August 3, 2005... Byline: Tom Sullivan Integrating open source applications is a task daunting enough to lead some companies toward proprietary products. To that end, a several startups this week revealed plans to offer prebuilt, certified solutions so...

SSA Global to buy Epiphany; SOA underpinnings make for a good match.
August 3, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Midwest software giant SSA Global Technologies, a major player in the mid-market enterprise software space, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Epiphany, a CRM solution provider to the enterprise. Epiphany...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: VMware holds a virtual edge for remote access; Aside from price, Microsoft's Virtual PC and Virtual Server lag behind VMware.
August 4, 2005... Byline: Oliver Rist I just have to say it: I love VMware. I've dinged around with several virtual-machine applications now, including Redmond's own Virtual PC and Virtual Server, and VMware simply kicks booty. I've run Virtual PC on a...

STORAGE INSIDER: A bundle of storage for SMBs; NEC adds more hardware and software to strengthen U.S. presence.
August 4, 2005... Byline: Mario Apicella According to a recent IDC study, U.S. sales of disk storage systems in 2004 came close to $8.7 billion, accounting for more than 38 percent of the worldwide revenue for that segment. Note also that Western Europe...

Neon Systems offers mainframe ESB; Company tackles integration issues.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Looking to tackle the problem of data integration in scenarios involving mainframes, Neon Systems on Monday is shipping what it calls the industry's first ESB (enterprise service bus) for big-iron boxes. The...

Siebel announces plans to support Suse Linux; Deal signed with Novell timed with next version of CRM suite.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Siebel Systems on Monday became one of the last major enterprise software vendors to offer a version of its suite of applications for the Linux operating system. The CRM giant announced it will work with Novell to...

BEA enters WebLogic 9.0 into app server fray; The latest incarnation brings kernel updates, support for more programming models, and administration features.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Tom Sullivan Making the latest kick in the application server races, BEA Systems on Monday slid WebLogic 9.0 onto the speedway. Now generally available, the latest incarnation of BEA's application server comes replete with...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: Does a ratings standard make sense for open source? The Business Readiness Rating hopes to reduce uncertainty surrounding software decisions.
August 8, 2005... Byline: Neil McAllister Some years ago, I installed an application on a plain-vanilla Sun Solaris server. I read the instructions, copied the required files to the server's hard drive, ran the install script, answered a few questions about...

EnterpriseDB set to battle MySQL, Oracle; Product is based on PostgreSQL open source database.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill EnterpriseDB at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco on Tuesday intends to take on MySQL and Oracle in the database market with a product built on the PostgreSQL open source database. The company bills its...

HP exec decries proliferation of open source license types; An official at LinuxWorld also pledges to boost Linux with scalability, availability.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Decrying the proliferation of open source license varieties, a Hewlett-Packard executive on Tuesday urged IBM and Sun Microsystems to abandon their own licenses and back the GNU GPL (General Public...

PalmSource to partner with mobile Linux provider; Company targeting lucrative cell phone market.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Building on its original decision last year to move its OS to the Linux kernel, PalmSource announced Tuesday a partnership with key mobile Linux OS provider MontaVista Software. The two companies plan to promote...

GPL upgrade due in 2007; Patent issues, Web services among issues to be pondered.
August 10, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- The planned upgrade to the GNU General Public License (GPL) will be ready by 2007, according to an industry official involved with the project. Presenting at the LinuxWorld conference on Wednesday,...

Midnight Coders adds AJAX to rich Internet apps platform; Company upgrades its WebORB Presentation Server.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Midnight Coders is shipping an upgrade to its rich Internet application platform, which now supports AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) on the client side and ColdFusion at the back end. Version 2.0 of the...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft unleashes Strider HoneyMonkey on Web malcontents; Anti-malware project and improvements to Internet Explorer show Redmond's thinking more about security.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Oliver Rist I poked a few fun fingers at Vista. Sure, I did. After all, I'm a pundit, and making obvious jokes at the expense of large corporate marketing departments is my job. But apparently, Microsoft is inured to name-blame...

STORAGE INSIDER: Buckle up for the storage security ride; EMC makes a big commitment to building security into its storage systems.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Mario Apicella It might seem unbelievable, but there was a time when cars didn't come with locks on their doors, much less any of the complicated security systems we've grown accustomed to seeing today. I'm not old enough to have...

Developers seek third beta release for Visual Studio 2005; Beta testers cite bugs, but Microsoft is sticking to November 7 release date for final product.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill After having been stalled several times already, it would seem that the last thing developers would want for the Visual Studio 2005 toolset is another delay. Nonetheless, a request from some developers for a new beta...

SECURITY ADVISER: AOL finds spam's silver lining; It looks like spam, it sounds like spam, but the free Hummer contest is for real.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bob Francis Have you received the spam about the free Hummer? No? Maybe it's not out there -- so I'll be the first to predict it: There will shortly be a spam e-mail that offers a chance at a "Free Hummer from America Online...

Microsoft posts new Acrylic design tool preview; XAML backing is deemed critical addition for Windows Vista users.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft on Monday posted the second CTP (Community Technology Preview) of its Acrylic design tool, adding support for XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) to benefit users of the planned Windows Vista OS. ...

OASIS drafts blueprints for SOA; A new set of license-free blueprints will help enterprises plan SOA implementations using carefully crafted examples.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Eric Knorr SOA presents a paradox: Turning applications into platform-agnostic services is a great way to reduce redundancy and accelerate integration, but where can you turn for architectural guidance that avoids the vendor...

Progress Software joins Eclipse; Application infrastructure provider becomes open source tools organization's newest member.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Progress Software on Monday will announce its membership in the Eclipse Foundation for open source tooling. With this move, Progress will follow companies such as Borland Software and BEA Systems in joining the...

JBoss looks to woo commercial app server users; Migration effort eyes BEA, IBM users.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill JBoss on Tuesday will boost efforts to lure users of commercial application servers to its open source alternative. The JBoss Migration Program being unveiled features an assessment to define a migration strategy, an...

VeriSign to pilot Wi-Fi, wide-area roaming; System will enable both data and VoIP.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz VeriSign on Tuesday announced trials at three major universities aimed at integrating on-campus Wi-Fi with any wide-area wireless carrier network, enabling data and voice roaming between networks. VeriSign...

In Brief: First companies pass SAML 2.0 interoperability testing; Also in Brief: IBM contributes open source code to Firefox; EasyAsk enhances its e-commerce search capabilities; MCI acquires Totality; Vodafone shows new 3G phones from Sharp; BenQ shareholders approve Siemens mobile deal; CA acquires e-mail security vendor Qurb.
August 17, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff The Liberty Alliance Project announced that products from eight companies have completed testing at Liberty's recent interoperability conformance event hosted by the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology...

Microsoft offers tool to combine .Net assemblies; ILMerge utility provides integration when developers use different languages.
August 18, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft is offering an upgraded version of its ILMerge utility, which merges multiple .Net assemblies into a single assembly. Functioning with both executables and DLLs, ILMerge provides a capability for .Net...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft lends more help to Windows admins; New tools ease systems management and desktop deployment.
August 18, 2005... Byline: Oliver Rist Another exciting trip to our ANCL (Advanced Network Computer Lab) affiliate lab at the University of Hawaii resulted in more sun burning, female ambivalence, and failed attempts to improve one's physical health. What...

In Brief: ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users; Also in Brief: Apple replaces head of China office; First companies pass SAML 2.0 interoperability testing; IBM contributes open source code to Firefox; EasyAsk enhances its e-commerce search capabilities; MCI acquires Totality; Vodafone shows new 3G phones from Sharp.
August 19, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff ASNA (Amalgamated Software of North America) announced a new version of its Monarch suite that makes it easier for businesses to extend or migrate RPG-based IBM iSeries/i5 applications and data into Microsoft's .Net...

Microsoft demos RSS features in IE 7; Mainstream use of feed subscriptions is an important design goal of the new browser.
August 19, 2005... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN FRANCISCO -- Whether the content streams are eventually called RSS, Web feeds, or some other name, a key design goal of the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 is to let users easily subscribe to blogs and Web sites...

Canadian hospital trades paper trail for patient care; Ottawa Hospital automates proceses.
August 19, 2005... Byline: Rosie Lombardi, ITWorldCanada.com Hospitals should take care of patients, not paper. For many hospitals, however, the manual processes involved in managing the inventory of instruments and tracking them through sterilization cycles...

SECURITY ADVISER: Security by obscurity: It works! Roger A. Grimes steps into the Security Adviser shoes to make a modest proposal.
August 19, 2005... Byline: Roger A. Grimes Have you ever repeated a fact over and over for years only to learn that what you believed was true actually wasn't? I'm still slightly begrudging my mom for cheating my younger self out of sunny pool time with...

BEA upgrading business process integration package; BPEL, links to network management consoles, B2B are highlighted.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems on Monday is announcing an upgrade to its WebLogic Integration software. WebLogic Integration provides business process integration; the upgrade emphasizes links to process tools, network management consoles,...

BEA to buy portal vendor Plumtree; BEA sees Plumtree's cross-platform support expanding its reach in the portal market.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Cathleen Moore BEA Systems is acquiring Plumtree Software, one of the earliest pioneers in the enterprise-portal-software market, for approximately $200 million in cash. BEA has its own J2EE-based portal platform, called BEA...

BEA drops pricing premium for dual-core CPUs; Users to be billed the same as for single-core deployments.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Acknowledging the industry trend toward multicore CPUs, BEA Systems now will treat dual-core processors as a single unit for pricing purposes for customers deploying its middleware, the company said on Monday. BEA...

MSDN users to get early access to Visual Studio 2005 tools; Third beta release is planned for group development component.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Subscribers to MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) will get early access to the general availability releases of the Visual Studio 2005 developer toolset and SQL Server 2005 database. MSDN subscribers can get the...

In Brief: Borland helps software developers better manage change; Also in Brief: ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users; Apple replaces head of China office; First companies pass SAML 2.0 interoperability testing; IBM contributes open source code to Firefox; EasyAsk enhances its e-commerce search capabilities; MCI acquires Totality; Vodafone shows new 3G phones from Sharp.
August 23, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff Borland Software has unveiled a free, online self-assessment tool designed to help organizations manage change that occurs in the software process. Borland's solution addresses three types of change impacting...

In Brief: American Express takes on traveler security; Also in Brief: Borland helps software developers better manage change; ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users; Apple replaces head of China office; First companies pass SAML 2.0 interoperability testing; IBM contributes open source code to Firefox; EasyAsk enhances its e-commerce search capabilities.
August 24, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff American Express Business Travel announced it has enhanced its traveler security programs by offering TrackPoint, a Web-based global security solution. TrackPoint is designed to help managers quickly locate business...

Intel targets health care market; Chipmaker piloting home monitoring devices.
August 24, 2005... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz SAN FRANCISCO -- In a keynote address Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Health Group, formed just nine months ago, laid out for an audience of high-tech hardware and software...

Progress Software eyes service bus link to event-stream processing; Company sees usefulness in service-oriented networks.
August 24, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Progress Software executives anticipate an eventual link between ESB (enterprise service bus) technology and ESP (event-stream processing) to provide business activity monitoring (BAM) in service-oriented networks. ...

In Brief: Oracle postpones opening office in Kenya; Also in Brief: American Express takes on traveler security; Borland helps software developers better manage change; ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users; Apple replaces head of China office; First companies pass SAML 2.0 interoperability testing; IBM contributes open source code to Firefox.
August 25, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff Oracle has postponed the opening of a regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, according to Khalil Hindwan of the company's African operations. The office was supposed to open this month, but when it will open is unknown....

Microsoft set to hail Visual Basic 9.0, .Net query framework; Professional Developers Conference to focus on the future.
August 25, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) next month will discuss a variety of upcoming technologies, including Visual Basic 9.0 and the .Net Language Integrated Query Framework. Online abstracts are...

Sun completes SeeBeyond buy; Company ready to take on SOA endeavors.
August 25, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Having completed its acquisition of EAI vendor SeeBeyond, Sun Microsystems joins IBM, BEA Systems, Sonic Software, and others in seeking to become the vendor of choice in providing enterprises with integration tools to...

STORAGE INSIDER: Simplifying SATA RAID; New Silicon Image chip could make mirroring and SATA pervasive on desktops and add-on storage devices.
August 25, 2005... Byline: Mario Apicella How many drives do you have in your desktop? Most people have just one, and because the additional cost and difficulty associated with adding and managing RAID can be a deterrent both at home and at the office, they...

Google Talk gives boost to XMPP; Once an underdog in the IM standards race, XMPP gains backing from the Web-search giant in a move that may have far-reaching impact.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Cathleen Moore Google's entry this week into the IM space gave a high-profile shot in the arm to the open IM protocol XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). The decision to base Google Talk on the XML-based XMPP...

Microsoft offers Web services development pack beta; Security is critical in upgraded release.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft this week began offering a beta release of its Web Services Enhancements 3.0 pack for .Net, which is focused on security. Microsoft in June had released Community Technology Preview (CTP) builds, which are...

SECURITY ADVISER: Security vendor, protect thyself; When shoddy default security settings leave customers vulnerable, everyone loses.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Roger A. Grimes A subtle trend has been emerging over the last few years and it doesn’t appear to be abating: The number of insecure computer security products is growing. The very products designed to protect us are often...

In Brief: Nsite launches Process Builder feature for SOX compliance; Also in Brief: Tenebril releases anti-spyware solution; Oracle postpones opening office in Kenya; American Express takes on traveler security; Borland helps software developers better manage change; ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users; Apple replaces head of China office.
August 29, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff Nsite on Monday announced a new feature that helps sales and service organizations more easily comply with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Nsite Process Builder is an enhancement to Nsite's Predictive...

FaceTime greets, disarms spyware; Software aims to prevent spyware from calling home.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Tom Sullivan Sometimes the most subtle and accidental applications can open significant holes in an enterprise's security infrastructure. FaceTime Communications is mounting the argument that programs such as instant messaging and...

Symantec, CipherTrust load up security appliances; New incarnations of integrated boxes help make security more strategic.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Tom Sullivan Much like most enterprise-class IT tasks, security can become weaker when a company network is bogged down with too many devices. Management borders on the impossible and IT can never quite get as clear a picture of...

Microsoft makes changes to Visual Studio 2005; Disk-based caching dropped, but revisions called minor.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft has made a series of changes to the Visual Studio 2005 toolset that will be shipping in November, focusing on areas such as disk-based caching, licensing, and security. The laundry list of changes is...

Zend, Oracle move ahead on PHP development; Beta release of programming environment is set.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill Zend Technologies and Oracle on Monday will release a beta version of a product linking Oracle’s database to PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) programming, which is becoming a prominent alternative or supplement to the...

Cisco's IOS upgrade may ease catalyst switches management; Upgrade includes software to automate tasks.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Matt Hamblen, Computerworld Cisco Systems on Monday announced an upgrade of the Internetworking Operating System software for its flagship Catalyst 6500 Series switches, supporting increased modularity that's designed to improve...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: You can't kill TCO; There may be no such thing as an unbiased estimate, but total cost of ownership is here to stay.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Neil McAllister If you think the manufacturer’s sticker gave you a reliable estimate of the city mileage for that new car of yours, you should try negotiating traffic on the hills of San Francisco. You’ll discover...

In Brief: HP offers entry-priced enterprise management solution; Also in Brief: Nsite launches Process Builder feature for SOX compliance; Tenebril releases anti-spyware solution; Oracle postpones opening office in Kenya; American Express takes on traveler security; Borland helps software developers better manage change; ASNA Monarch offers road to SOAs for iSeries users.
August 30, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff HP has added an entry-priced, easy-to-deploy enterprise management solution to its client management portfolio. HP OpenView Client Configuration Manager offers an integrated solution for managing software in...

LogicLibrary, Eclipse make SOA moves; OASIS gains a member.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill With SOA gaining prominence as an IT concept, LogicLibrary and the Eclipse Foundation are embarking on efforts geared toward accommodating this trend. LogicLibrary on Tuesday revealed it has become a member of OASIS....

In Brief: IBM software aids business process management in SOAs; Also in Brief: LANDesk Software updates LANDesk Management Suite; CDW introduces suite of ROI toolkits; HP offers entry-priced enterprise management solution; Nsite launches Process Builder feature for SOX compliance; Tenebril releases anti-spyware solution; Oracle postpones opening office in Kenya.
August 31, 2005... Byline: InfoWorld staff IBM announced software to help businesses easily map IT transactions to business functions by taking advantage of the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) open standard. BPEL Tracking for Tivoli Monitoring for...

Microsoft pitches ESB alternative; BizTalk Server, Indigo gain attention as better integration route.
August 31, 2005... Byline: Paul Krill ESB (enterprise service bus) technology as a category of its own has been gaining increasing numbers of followers lately. Microsoft, however, isn't one of them, according to a position paper that the company recently...