InfoWorld.com articles from December 2004

InfoWorld.com archives from December 2004

IBM gives CICS a boost; New version is designed to work with SOAs.
December 1, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell In a move to modernize its venerable line of mainframe-based CICS middleware, IBM on Wednesday introduced an updated version of its CICS Transaction Server that enables corporate IT administrators to extend the product...

MCI offers disk-based backup services; Other outsourcers pushing disk services.
December 1, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis MCI on Wednesday introduced a new fully managed data protection service based on disk backup designed to help companies with business continuity. MCI’s new Enhanced Smart Backup offering allows companies...

Microsoft, Sun tout progress on interoperability; Vendors provide updates on Web services, Java, hardware cooperation.
December 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft and Sun Microsystems on Wednesday provided a progress report on their interoperability efforts, touting ongoing cooperation on Web services standardization, deployment of Windows on Sun boxes, and other areas....

Object database goes open source; Startup db4objects sets dual-licensing scheme.
December 2, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Startup company db4o bjects next week is releasing its object database, db4o, under an open source format, with the product now available either under the GPL via open source or commercially as embeddable software. ...

IDC: IT spending to grow 6 percent in 2005; Analyst firm predicts that businesses will move more toward 'Dynamic IT'.
December 2, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell In making its annual predictions for the upcoming year, IDC said it expects worldwide IT spending to grow 6.1 percent for 2005, a year which will be marked by "enormous turbulence" and significant consolidation and...

Oracle to tout business intelligence, content management; Vendor show set for next week.
December 2, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Oracle at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco next week plans to focus on its “Data Hub” technology for business intelligence, content management for the masses, grid computing, and integration,...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft remains clueless about fixing IE; Security needs to take priority over bells and whistles.
December 3, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Amazing. Article after blog after newsgroup message on why an increasing spike in the population graph is switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox or some other Web wanderer. All easily summarized like so (picture me...

SECURITY ADVISER: We dodged a bullet this time; Trusting business partners doesn't mean giving their networks a free pass.
December 3, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly It was bound to happen. I'm just glad it didn't happen to us. I'm referring to the incident just before Thanksgiving where British IT media giant The Register found itself embarrassed because its banner-ad...

STORAGE INSIDER: NetApp makes a step toward grid; Network Appliance's Data ONTAP 7G extends virtualization and support for other vendors' storage devices.
December 3, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella Sometimes I wish I had a penny for every megabyte of enterprise storage that is not used or is a redundant copy. If a storage genie granted my wish, I would quickly be rich because in many datacenters a...

Former Sun, BEA execs forge grid venture; Cassatt aims to automate IT, leverage commodity systems.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Former executives from companies such as Sun Microsystems, BEA Systems, and Oracle this week are formally launching a venture called Cassatt, which is endeavoring to automate IT operations, leverage commodity hardware...

CA updates Unicenter offerings; New performance management products come with Web enhancements.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Computer Associates Monday announced the general availability of three Unicenter performance management products for mainframe data management. CA's new products are designed to streamline monitoring and management...

Vertical solutions take hold in CRM; Entellium and Kana include best practices to target key industries.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz As the enterprise increasingly looks for vertical solutions from its CRM vendors, Kana Software with an on-premise solution and Entellium with a hosted solution, will both announce this week industry-specific best...

Oracle puts focus on data integration at OpenWorld; Enterprise vendor rolls up BI point solutions into single product.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz SAN FRANCISCO -- Data integration will be one of the major themes at Oracle's OpenWorld conference this week. The conference itself integrates Oracle's previous applications conference, Oracles AppsWorld with...

Oracle readies major app server upgrade; Java, Web services, ID management, RFID highlighted.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle on Wednesday will introduce Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2, which is being characterized as a significant upgrade to the product with improvements in Java, Web services, and identity...

BEA hails app server upgrade; Company's rollout coincides with rival Oracle’s big event.
December 7, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Not to be outdone by rival Oracle's conference being held a block away, BEA Systems on Monday unveiled Version 9.0 of its WebLogic Server application server, code-named Diablo. Again honing in on...

In Brief: Sleepycat releases Berkeley DB XML 2.0; Lycos Europe pulls the plug on 'Make Love, Not Spam'; Nextance launches Intellectual Property Optimization Suite; Citadel announces product to help combat spyware.
December 7, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff Sleepycat Software this week announced the general availability of Berkeley DB XML 2.0, a major upgrade to its open source database for telecommunication infrastructure and enterprise data centers. This release...

Nortel makes security push; Symantec joins for strategic relationship.
December 7, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Nortel Networks is pushing its security features to the forefront with a series of updated products and a new relationship with security vendor Symantec. Nortel's new security products include new remote access...

Update: OpenWorld Notebook - database, grid control, integration improved; Oracle products unveiled at conference.
December 7, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Oracle at the OpenWorld conference on Tuesday is making several product rollouts, including a new version of its database and grid computing enhancements. Being unveiled is Oracle Database 10g Release 2, which sports...

Siebel unveils SMB go-to-market strategy; Company will partner with IBM and selected VARs.
December 7, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz After a year of pilots and trials, Siebel Systems jumped with both feet into the SMB market Tuesday, announcing a new approach to offer Siebel Professional CRM applications to SMBs (small and midsize businesses) --...

Penguin Computing launches cluster in a box; Blade server features new form factor.
December 8, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Armed with a new form factor and its clustering management software, Penguin Computing on Wednesday launched an aggressively priced Linux-based blade server targeted at the lower end of the market -- a market recently...

Oracle working on database development tool; 'Project Columbus' set to sail next year.
December 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle is working on a tool to provide a complete life cycle for building, managing, and updating database applications, a company executive revealed at the Oracle OpenWorld conference here on Wednesday...

MCI adds managed services; Company offers three service levels.
December 8, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis MCI announced on Wednesday a line of managed LAN services available at three different service levels. The company already offers managed services to about 300 customers, but previously MCI had provided those...

PalmSource to add Linux OS to offerings; Acquisition of China MobileSoft will take company global.
December 8, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz PalmSource surprised the mobile vendor community today with the announcement that it will acquire China MobileSoft (CMS), ostensibly to leverage that company's expertise in building a mobile version of the Linux...

McNealy: Sun still strong on Oracle; Chief executive speaks at OpenWorld conference.
December 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Despite Oracle’s strategic push for Linux- and Intel-based deployments, Sun Microsystems retains its position as the leading platform for Oracle, Sun Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy said Wednesday...

Netline strikes deal with Novell; Deal supports open source collaboration.
December 9, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Netline Internet Service on Thursday announced that Novell has agreed to provide global training, maintenance, and support for its Open-Xchange Server product. As part of the new agreement, Novell has promised to...

In Brief: Cisco acquires startup BCN Systems; MySQL ships new line of visual database tools; IBM adds developer resources to alphaWorks Web site; CompUSA announces alliance with Xdrive; Lycos Europe pulls the plug on 'Make Love, Not Spam'.
December 10, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff Cisco Systems has finalized an agreement to purchase privately held BCN Systems, a provider of networking software design. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $34 million in cash for...

Cape Clear boosts business processes in ESB; Web services messaging specification, Eclipse also enabled.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Cape Clear Software this week is upgrading its ESB with the release of Cape Clear 6, enabling development of business process workflows based on BPEL. The release also supports the WS-ReliableMessaging specification,...

IBM launches virtualization assault on EMC; New product broadens storage options for EMC users.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis IBM on Friday took aim at its primary competitor, EMC, by announcing storage virtualization software that allows EMC users to utilize storage systems from EMC, Hitachi, or IBM. IBM's Virtualization Engine Suite for...

JBoss set to shine with JEMS middleware stack; Open source vendor seeks to fill out product line.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill JBoss on Monday plans to flesh out details of its open source middleware stack consisting largely of existing software technologies, with the company intending to fill out the stack over time. The JBoss Enterprise...

Serena boosts IDEs, collaboration in change management; ChangeMan Dimensions 9 is unveiled.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Serena Software this week announced improvements to its enterprise change management system, Serena ChangeMan Dimensions. The product unveiling is the company’s largest since its $380 million acquisition of...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Ready or not, Windows Server 2003 R2 is coming; 2005 will be the year of OS confusion.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Nothing's ever easy. Microsoft has extended clemency for those few holdouts still purring along with Windows NT 4.0. According to the company, they'll cease free support for the aging OS by the first of the year, but...

SECURITY ADVISER: Certified Ethical Hacker credential proves nothing; Fancy paper a waste of time at best.
December 10, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly A couple of months ago, a reader asked me what I thought of the "Certified Ethical Hacker" credential, offered by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants -- the so-called "EC-Council." The...

STORAGE INSIDER: What's Santa bringing you this year? New storage gadgets and software tools open your home desktop to a torrent of data.
December 10, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella It's the end of the year already -- believe it or not -- and it's time for introspection, time to look back at the past 12 months with a critical eye and to gaze at the future with optimism and expectations, right?...

Cisco branches out with WAF services; Products result of Actona acquisition.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Cisco Systems on Tuesday introduced the Cisco File Engine Series, a line of appliance-based solutions utilizing WAFS (wide area file services) technology designed for branch office consolidation. The new series is...

Cognos launches financial consolidation applications; Modules include templates for best practices.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In response to the latest external reporting requirements from the Feds, Cognos announced this week three additions to its suite of financial applications targeted at the enterprise office of finance. Cognos...

Edify gets VoiceXML certification; Voice activation apps system is approved.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Edify on Tuesday is announcing that its Edify Voice Interaction Platform (EVIP) 9.0 system for deploying speech activation applications has received VoiceXML 2.0 Certification from the VoiceXML Forum. The...

Intellisync to give push e-mail capability for low-cost phones; Carrier solution uses industry standard SyncML for push e-mail.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz The wireless airwaves may get a bit more crowded next year following the announcement that Intellisync's goAnywhere technology, unveiled this week, will give users of low-cost feature phones the same push e-mail...

Oracle user group to welcome PeopleSoft users; OAUG in midst of planning how to help.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz OAUG (Oracle Applications Users Group) president Patricia Dues said today that the organization is in the midst of plans to support PeopleSoft users and the PeopleSoft user group. "The OAUG welcomes them to...

Sun refreshes development tools line; Java Studio Creator, NetBeans, Java Studio Enterprise improvements cited.
December 14, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Refreshing its development tools arsenal, Sun Microsystems on Tuesday revealed plans for upcoming versions of Java Studio Creator and is unleashing upgrades to the NetBeans open source platform and Java Studio...

In Brief: Neon Systems acquires ClientSoft; Systinet brings low-cost Web services interoperability to WebSphere MQ; Cisco acquires startup BCN Systems; MySQL ships new line of visual database tools; IBM adds developer resources to alphaWorks Web site; CompUSA announces alliance with Xdrive.
December 15, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff Neon Systems, a provider of mainframe integration solutions for Microsoft .Net and Java applications, has acquired ClientSoft for $10.5 million in cash and the rights to purchase 1.1 million shares of Neon...

IDC predicts Linux market worth $35 billion by 2008; Strong packaged software growth expected.
December 15, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IDC on Wednesday painted an optimistic outlook for Linux over the next few years, predicting that overall revenue for desktops, servers, and Linux-compatible packaged software will reach $35 billion by 2008. The...

Borland folding C++Builder into Delphi; Company unifying Windows development tools.
December 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Borland Software in 2005 plans to fold its C++Builder developer tool line into the company’s Delphi IDE tool family for Windows application development, thus answering the question about what the company had...

IBM offers developers modeling transition tool; Framework forged on alphaWorks site.
December 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Looking to enable transitions between application modeling platforms, IBM this week is making available the IBM Model Transformation Framework (MTF) on its alphaWorks site for previewing technologies. Integrated...

W3C publishes Web architecture; Organization looks to codify principles.
December 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) this week published a final version of its “Architecture of the World Wide Web, Volume 1” document, looking to set forth codified principles for the Web itself. ...

ZigBee low-power wireless spec ratified; Technology uses mesh networking to send data.
December 16, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz The ZigBee Alliance, an industry standards group dedicated to promoting low-power wireless networks, ratified the first ZigBee specification this week. ZigBee uses an IEEE 802.15.4 radio spec running on the...

IBM BladeCenter specification picks up speed; Company signs up 115 developers.
December 17, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Friday announced it has signed up 115 companies since early September to develop for its eServer BladeCenter open specification it co-authored with Intel. Many of those companies specialize in building...

In Brief: MySQL announces new affordable consulting packages; NetSuite integrates with WorldPay to boost e-commerce; Neon Systems acquires ClientSoft; Systinet brings low-cost Web services interoperability to WebSphere MQ; Cisco acquires startup BCN Systems; MySQL ships new line of visual database tools.
December 17, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff MySQL this week made available three new consulting packages that aim to help IT departments quickly design and implement open source database systems. The packages feature MySQL-certified senior consultants who...

Analysis: PeopleSoft users speak out about Oracle takeover; Top concerns include support, future product direction.
December 17, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz The great debate over the impact of Oracle's hostile takeover of PeopleSoft has all the big industry analyst organizations weighing in. However, in most of the analysis one group's opinion seems to have been...

SECURITY ADVISER: The last dance, again Thoughts on HIPAA compliance, and a new face comes to Security Adviser.
December 17, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly Well, someone's going to have a nice holiday present. I'm just glad this one's not addressed to me. The deadline for complying with HIPAA's data security requirements is just around the corner -- April 2005 -- and...

Cognos aligns with Composite to marry BI to EII; Composite launches Version 3.0 of its information integrator.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan Cognos and Composite Software on Monday joined forces to combine business intelligence (BI) reporting with enterprise information integration (EII) software. The partnership is the latest in an increasingly...

Computer Associates joins Eclipse; Company contributing to test and performance tools project.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Computer Associates on Monday announced it has joined the Eclipse Foundation for open source developer tools. The company will contribute code to the Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform Top-Level Project...

Update: Groove unveils customizable collaboration templates; Rapid Solutions Exchange provides pre-built forms for marketing, HR processes.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Groove Networks on Monday rolled out a set of downloadable templates designed to offer ready-to-use forms for collaborative processes such as marketing programs, competitive intelligence, incident tracking, and HR...

Microsoft plans first Office System developer event; February conference aims to train developers on Office System products.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft is inviting approximately 800 specially selected developers to attend the first-ever Microsoft Office System Developer Conference from Feb. 2 through Feb. 4 in Redmond, Wash. The conference is intended to...

In Brief: W3C issues XInclude 1.0; MySQL announces new affordable consulting packages; NetSuite integrates with WorldPay to boost e-commerce; Neon Systems acquires ClientSoft; Systinet brings low-cost Web services interoperability to WebSphere MQ; Cisco acquires startup BCN Systems.
December 21, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) this week published XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation. XInclude provides a generic mechanism for merging XML documents into a single composite...

EMC gets Smarts; EMC acquires software vendor to help with storage network chaos.
December 21, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis EMC on Tuesday announced it will buy privately held System Management ARTS, known as Smarts, in a $260 million deal that will boost EMC's software portfolio and management capabilities. Smarts is known for its...

Gupta touts alternative to Java, .Net; Team Developer 2005 features Linux boost.
December 21, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Undaunted by the momentum of Java and .Net, Gupta Technologies in January plans to ship an update to its 4GL (fourth generation language)-based alternative, Team Developer 2005, which adds Linux as a deployment platform....

IBM launches WebSphere for global data synch Big Blue claims ease of use as major competitive advantage.
December 21, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Leveraging its acquisition of Trego, an ISV with a product information management system, IBM unveiled additional middleware components to work with the Trego technology to ensure product data synchronization...

Trump buildings to get high-speed wireless connections; VoIP, data, and HDTV will use new GigaBeam technology.
December 22, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz A pact between GigaBeam, Microwave Satellite Technologies (MST) and Trump properties will see ultra high-speed wireless links installed in twenty of Trump's buildings on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The...

Apache Avalon project closes down; Container-based programming effort splinters into separate endeavors.
December 23, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Avalon, an Apache project to build a framework for object-oriented, component-based programming, has been shut down, forking off into several separate open source efforts, an official of the Apache Software Foundation...

In Brief: Rogue Wave Software partners with Sun; Eclipse announces TPTP Release 3.2; W3C issues XInclude 1.0; MySQL announces new affordable consulting packages; NetSuite integrates with WorldPay to boost e-commerce.
December 23, 2004... Byline: InfoWorld.com staff Rogue Wave Software and Sun Microsystems have formed an alliance intended to help enterprises quickly and easily migrate legacy applications to Sun's Solaris 10 OS. The agreement calls for Rogue Wave to port and...

Java “rebel frameworks” touted; Burton Group: Open source projects can be alternative to or supplement J2EE technologies.
December 23, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Java “rebel frameworks” -- open source projects with programming models and APIs that do not conform to the JCP (Java Community Process) standard -- are presenting alternatives and supplements to J2EE...

SECURITY ADVISER: The emperor's new browser; Bob Francis takes over the Security Adviser reins and gives Penn State kudos for recommending IE alternatives.
December 30, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis I don't think we can give Pennsylvania State University all the credit, but they deserve at least a pat on the back. I'm not talking about the storied history of the Nittany Lions, but about the university's...

STORAGE INSIDER: Follow the money; Symantec's acquisition of Veritas fits the trend .
December 30, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella Opening the year with a column on a large merger or acquisition has become almost a tradition. Setting aside the conclusion of the Oracle-PeopleSoft operetta, Symantec gets the spotlight this year. I was...