InfoWorld.com articles from March 2004

InfoWorld.com archives from March 2004

CEO panel says open source keeps IT spending down; Group sees Linux and offshoring as way to reduce costs.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz San Francisco -- The Software 2004 conference here played host to a panel of CEOs who opined on the state of the software industry for an audience of 1,100 software executives. Moderating the panel was Tony...

Microsoft, eBay team to boost e-commerce; Sample code readied on links between Office, trading site.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft and eBay on Monday are teaming to promote XML capabilities that can boost trading on the eBay platform. The arrangement involves using XML in the Microsoft Office System and on eBay to enable developers to...

Fiorano backs Web services spec; BPEL being added to enterprise service bus.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Fiorano Software is adding support for BPEL (Business Process Execution Language), a Microsoft- and IBM-driven specification for linking business processes via Web services, to its enterprise service bus product. ...

Former Oracle head calls on ISVs to change perspective; Lane tells vendors to be service-centric, endorses offshoring.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz San Francisco -- Software 2004, a first time industry event that exclusively addresses the enterprise software industry, was launched Monday with some straight talk from former Oracle president Ray Lane, now...

IBM looks to boost Java apps analysis; Development technology to be previewed.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM on Monday will preview technology for structural analysis of Java application development projects. To be posted on the company's alphaWorks site, Structural Analysis for Java (SA4J) is intended for software...

SCO to sue Linux user; Company to allege intellectual property violations.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Robert McMillan The SCO Group on Tuesday will launch its first lawsuit against a Linux user for alleged violations of SCO's intellectual property, SCO Chief Executive Officer Darl McBride said Monday. SCO has embroiled itself...

Interview: Weighing an interim release to Windows; XP product manager Greg Sullivan discusses XP Reloaded.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Under the project name Windows XP Reloaded, Microsoft is considering how to add functionality to Windows. The discussions could result in an interim release of Windows before Longhorn. Greg Sullivan, lead product...

Verity unveils K2 Enterprise 5.5; Updated search software includes query analytics, event driven indexing.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Verity on Monday rolled out Release 5.5 of its K2 Enterprise search and classification software, adding query analytics and event-driven indexing into the search mix. Release 5.5 delivers the K2E Advanced Query...

IBM open source Java proposal puzzles Sun official; Schwartz stresses platform compatibility.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM's proposal to have the Java programming language offered under an open source format is puzzling a Sun official, who stressed Tuesday that the current licensing program ensures compatibility for the language. ...

Eclipse board names new members; Tools group proceeds after reorganization.
March 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The Eclipse Board of Directors, which guides the Eclipse open source development tools platform, on Wednesday announced four new members, which expands the board to 12 members. Elected were Todd Williams, of...

IBM bolstering mainframe DB2; More than 100 improvements added to database.
March 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill In time for the upcoming 40th anniversary of the mainframe, IBM on Thursday plans to unveil what it calls the most significant release ever of its DB2 database for mainframes, featuring more than 100 new features in...

Serena, Merant to merge; Change management software companies joining forces.
March 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Combining wares in ECM (enterprise change management), Serena Software on Wednesday agreed to acquire U.K.-based Merant for the equivalent of $380 million in cash and stock, pending regulatory and Merant shareholder...

IBM aims new programs at SMBs; Big Blue initiatives foster repeatable solutions that are easier to build, deploy.
March 4, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Trying to further deepen its commitment to its business partners and independent software developers (ISVs), IBM on Tuesday rolled out a handful of new programs and technologies to help them better provide IBM-based...

Macromedia looks to extend Flash technology; Company also readies Flex framework.
March 4, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macromedia has a full agenda of improvements planned for its multimedia application development products, including re-architecting its Flash Player technology and readying the upcoming release of the Flex framework. ...

JavaServer Faces specification is approved; Technology provides for standardized Web apps development.
March 5, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill JavaServer Faces, a standard technology for building user interfaces for Java-based Web applications, is now shipping. In development for two years, JavaServer Faces is intended to enable developers of varying skills...

Train the whining away; Without multiple forms of training, most end-users will resist new features that can enhance their work performance.
March 5, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Two Thursdays ago, only hours before a flight that would take me away from home for several weeks, my desktop decided to corrupt my Outlook inbox. (Yeah, I could have synced it with the notebook earlier, but I had a few...

Employee policy: Trust but verify; Cut workers some slack but don't let your guard down.
March 5, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash I woke up this morning feeling great. I always feel great on my birthday, even though it marks my advancing years. Today was a good one, despite the fact that as I write this, I'm trapped in a cultural wasteland in...

AirMagnet updates rogue detection software; Offering helps locate and disable illegal WLAN access points.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Scott Tyler Shafer Detecting rogue WLAN access points in an enterprise just got easier. On Monday, AirMagnet released Version 4.0 of its distributed WLAN security and performance platform, AirMagnet Distributed. In...

IBM, Dassault integrate middleware, PLM platforms; Deal intended to boost On Demand environments.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Longtime business partners IBM and Dassault Systemes on Monday agreed to integrate their flagship middleware and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, which officials from both companies believe will result in...

IBM buys supply chain software company; Acquisition of Trigo aimed at bolstering Big Blue's middleware strategy.
March 9, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Trying to add more muscle to its supply chain software strategy, IBM on Tuesday announced it has agreed to purchase all the shares of Trigo Technologies, Inc. Trigo, based in Brisbane, Calif., produces product...

Java amendment process is revised; Earlier participation is enabled.
March 9, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The Java Community Process, the official procedure for defining Java programming standards, is being updated to enable earlier participation by developers, JCP officials are announcing on Tuesday. JCP 2.6 is being...

Update: Snapbridge, Teamstudio boost XML, Java; Development tools are released.
March 9, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Snapbridge Software and Teamstudio on Tuesday are unveiling development tools for XML and Java, respectively. Snapbridge is announcing Snapbridge XStudio 2.5, a drag-and-drop development environment for building...

Remote access app to debut; Upcoming product helps manage remotely.
March 10, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Remotely Anywhere has rolled out to beta testers a browser-based remote access and systems management product designed to grant administrators and users complete access to client systems. Called Log Me In, the...

Browsersoft adds Web services 'foundation'; Upgrade ready for its eQ Foundation development product.
March 11, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Browsersoft in June plans to add Web services support to its eQ Foundation development product, which emphasizes application configuration rather than coding. Version 3 of the product will add a Web services...

Jini may be ready to leave the bottle; Java networking technology coming of age, Sun believes.
March 12, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems' Jini technology, which has had a subdued market reception after five years, may be on the cusp of a broader acceptance. The Java-based networking technology is intended to provide for service...

MySQL Cluster gets ready to ship; Open source database gets high availability technology.
March 12, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill MySQL in April will ship MySQL Cluster, a high-availability version of its open source database for deployment across clusters of systems. The clustering package features the MySQL database coupled with a storage...

A look at the leaked Longhorn; The leaked Longhorn Build 4053 wields a slick interface, powerful features -- and a 483MB footprint that's bound to slim down.
March 12, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Generally I'm not a proponent of deep analysis when it comes to alpha-level software. But so much furor has erupted about the recent alpha release of Longhorn, I figure it's worth some type time. For those who missed...

Speaking freely with VoIP; If you know what you're doing, you can make VoIP reasonably secure -- but it's not easy.
March 12, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash My durance vile in the Land of the Mouse last week led to several revelations. The first was that the populace there was living evidence of Overweight America. The second was the reason for that -- all food-related...

Storage for your health; Arrival of WORM tapes is a step in the right direction.
March 12, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella I recently spent some time at the prestigious Memorial Health System in Lufkin, Texas, assisting (as best as I could) a loved one who was ill. Being there made me realize I don't see hospitals, doctors, or nurses...

Interview: Securing Windows; Amy Carroll, a director in Microsoft's Security unit, discusses the company's commitment to improving security.
March 15, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash As director of product management in the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft, Amy Carroll is responsible for making sure that new enhancements to Windows and new versions of Windows are very secure....

IBM rolls out BI solution for banks; Software aids in compliance with Basil II Capital Accord.
March 15, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Monday rolled out new software that allows banks and other financial institutions to connect data repositories strewn across the enterprise, allowing them to integrate, manage, and analyze data generated by their...

IronPort caters to SMBs; Company introduces e-mail gateway appliance to block threats.
March 15, 2004... Byline: Scott Tyler Shafer The courting of the SMB market continues with the arrival of a new e-mail gateway appliance from IronPort Systems. On Monday, IronPort introduced the C10 -- the newest and smallest version of its C-Series...

Factiva aggregates content for market intelligence; IBM WebFountain sits beneath new service.
March 15, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Market intelligence will get even smarter by early third quarter when Factiva is expected to launch an application dubbed Reputation Management. In the early adopter phase at the moment, somewhere between...

IBM signs up first vertical ISVs; First ISVs specialize in energy, utilities.
March 15, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Monday announced it has signed up the first software developer, SPL Workgroup, for its newly announced ISV Advantage for Industries program, a small company specializing in customer care and billing software for...

Computer Associates, AmberPoint embrace MOM; Companies extend Web services monitoring to Microsoft technology.
March 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Computer Associates and AmberPoint on Tuesday are linking their Web services monitoring tools to the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) platform. CA announced general availability of an integration option for its...

Land O'Lakes solves disaster recovery puzzle; Setting up disaster recovery plan led to company honing IT operations.
March 16, 2004... Byline: Juan Carlos Perez Land O'Lakes tried for years to come up with an appropriate plan and infrastructure for disaster recovery and business continuity.The $6 billion food and agricultural cooperative worked with a variety of vendors,...

Offshoring fears excessive, author says; 'Code Complete' author downplays potential effects.
March 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Fears that offshore developers will take jobs away from American counterparts are being overblown, charged a keynote speaker and noted author at the Software Development Conference & Expo West 2004...

Microsoft exec: Open source model endangers software economy; Distinguished Engineer Jim Gray doubts American companies can compete on service if products are free.
March 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- A Microsoft official Monday questioned how the software industry could survive if users are getting software for free through open source. For-profit software companies will struggle for a...

Vignette, Bowstreet launch portal upgrades; Vendors embrace JSR 168 portlet standard.
March 16, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Vignette and Bowstreet separately this week are unwrapping updated versions of enterprise portal products with added support for the JSR 168 portlet interoperability standard. Vignette on Monday launched its...

Interview: Cebit execs see economy picking up; Managing Directors Jorg Schomburg and Mark Dineen discuss the IT turnaround.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash Jorg Schomburg, managing director of CeBit Events Worldwide, the organization that oversees the CeBit show in Germany and subsidiary shows around the world, and Mark Dineen, managing director for CeBit America, spoke...

Lane hails services-based software, open source; Former Oracle president also praises overseas engineering talent.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- In a wide-ranging talk about the fate of the software industry, Ray Lane, former Oracle president and COO and now a venture capitalist, stressed that the industry is maturing to become a service-oriented...

Microsoft embraces open source -- with reservations; Company official stresses Windows business interests.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft recognizes the benefits of open source but is not prepared to turn over its crown-jewel Windows operating system to the paradigm, according to a Microsoft official speaking at the Open Source...

Bevy of Microsoft developer conferences planned; Speech Server product to be introduced.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Developers on the Microsoft platform may be getting an information overload at a group of conferences being held simultaneously in San Francisco next week. The VSLive conference, for Visual Studio .Net developers,...

Programmer veterans ponder past, future; Pioneers of VisiCalc, Excel, Mac speak.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Santa Clara, Calif. - A panel of programmers famous for applications such as VisiCalc and Excel and the Apple Computer Inc. Macintosh operating system mused on where programming has been and where it is going during a...

W3C recommends VoiceXML 2.0; Standards body gives the seal of approval.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Speech recognition received some notice of its own on Tuesday when the W3C gave VoiceXML Version 2.0 its coveted "recommendation" status. The W3C also gave the same seal of approval to the Speech Recognition...

Web services interoperability tools released; WS-I unveils two offerings.
March 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) on Wednesday announced general availability of its tools for testing interoperability with the WS-I Basic Profile for use of Web services. Final versions of the...

Interview: Bob Sutor on IBM's ESB plans; Big Blue's slowly pulls together.
March 18, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell One of the important building blocks in helping IBM construct its Systems Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). Over the past year or so, IBM has been delivering products that would help...

IBM Jazz-ing up collaboration; Project under way to link developers.
March 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM is working on a research project pertaining to collaborative development, called Jazz, which is focused on the notion of presence, said Grady Booch, an IBM Fellow. The concept of presence involves having software...

Legislation may be needed to fix open source IP issues; SCO battles raise legal questions.
March 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Legislative remedies may be needed to address the murky issues over intellectual property that have arisen out of SCO's lawsuit against IBM, an attorney said during the Open Source Business Conference...

SuSE delivers first 2.6 kernel Linux; New version can run 32- and 64-bit apps.
March 18, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to further entrench its credibility as a top tier Linux player, Novell on Thursday became the first vendor to ship a retail version of the open source operating system based on version 2.6 of the Linux kernel...

BEA, Cape Clear tout service-oriented architectures; Project Sierra features long-term plan.
March 22, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill and Ed Scannell BEA Systems and Cape Clear Software are readying initiatives to boost SOAs (service-oriented architectures). With its "Project Sierra" strategy, BEA is mapping out plans to increase support of SOAs....

BEA rolls out Java-based environment; WebLogic Workshop debuts.
March 22, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell and Paul Krill BEA Systems bolstered its Java-based development strategy Monday, rolling out new software that allows corporate and third-party developers to create and deploy any Java or service-based application for...

Novell heralds Linux in the enterprise; NetWare 7 to include Linux, be rebranded as Open Enterprise Server.
March 22, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Salt Lake City-- With the refrain of "Novell is back," the opening keynote address here at BrainShare on Monday made one thing clear: Novell is throwing its full weight behind Linux with the aim of driving the...

Sun, RIM partner to deliver enterprise apps; Java selected to extend applications to BlackBerry.
March 22, 2004... Atlanta -- Sun Microsystems and the creators of the BlackBerry, Research in Motion (RIM), will work together to extend enterprise applications and data to the one million users of the handheld device. The partnership was announced Monday at...

CTIA keynote speakers preach mobility; Powell, Chambers, McNealy optimistic about wireless.
March 22, 2004... Atlanta -- The purported largest wireless show in the world got underway today with a trio of big name speakers riffing on mobility and the promise of wireless technologies as a means to deliver data.

Remote patch management gets critical; Security threats driving technology.
March 23, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Patch management for mobile devices will see two upgrades later this year, one from Microsoft and one from best-of-breed remote management vendor Mobile Automation. Microsoft unveiled last week Windows Update...

Sonic readies fault-tolerant messaging; Enterprise service bus also to be upgraded.
March 23, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sonic Software this spring plans to upgrade its SonicMQ message queuing software with fault tolerance and will spruce up its ESB (enterprise service bus) offering as well. SonicMQ is an enterprise message server for...

ASG teams with TeraCloud for mainframe SRM; ASG adds storage resource management for OS/390 to its lineup.
March 23, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan ASG Software aligned with TeraCloud in a deal whereby ASG offers TeraCloud's SRM (storage resource management) wares. ASG is an enterprise software and professional services provider to Global 5000 companies, and...

Hughes to launch nationwide hot spots; Company will leverage satellite system.
March 24, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Hughes Network Systems on Tuesday unveiled plans to launch a nationwide WiFi network. The company intends to leverage its current satellite communications system, DirecWay Broadband, which serves corporate...

Microsoft focuses on mobile development, Visual Studio; Concurrent developer shows being held.
March 24, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft, in conjunction with several developer shows taking place this week, announced Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition along with a Visual Studio 2005 technology preview and a series of programs to boost Visual...

IT business processes evolving like cities, Microsoft exec says; Official stresses need for standards, service-oriented architectures.
March 25, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Comparing the evolution of IT business processes to the evolution of cites, a Microsoft official at the VSLive conference on Thursday stressed the need for standards to boost electronic business. ...

Visual Studio 2005 to feature mobile devices focus; Handheld apps development to equal desktop development.
March 25, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft with Visual Studio 2005 is pledging to provide mobile application developers with facilities equal to what desktop developers have had, said company officials at the VSLive conference here on...

IBM ESB plans revealed; Big Blue to roll out ESB wares during next 12 to 18 months.
March 26, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Over the next 12 to 18 months, IBM will roll out a series of products and technologies that will help solidify its ESB (enterprise services bus) strategy by more closely integrating its messaging protocols with its...

The virtues of sloppiness; Thanks to a half-hearted notebook wipe, reverting back to it and reclaiming 'deleted' files was a snap.
March 26, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist With a German mother, there was never a chance I'd evolve into a conscientiously neat person. Her iron-willed attention to detail simply dwarfed mine, so I wound up going the other way and fully embracing the slob...

Emulex does gear for SMBs; FC equipment trickles down to SMBs.
March 26, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella It's not a secret that the high cost of HBAs and switches is a bummer for small and midsize businesses, which effectively relegates FC (Fibre Channel) SANs to the high-end market. Recently several FC vendors,...

Gates talks speech, spam; Gartner ITxpo keynote interview charts future tech innovations.
March 29, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN DIEGO -- If Bill Gates gets his way, within 10 years speech technology will be ubiquitous and the unrelenting security headaches of today will be only a distant nightmare. Interviewed by Gartner CEO Michael...

IBM releasing free tools for Java, XML, Unix; Functions enabled such as searching sequential data.
March 29, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM on Monday is unveiling seven free developer tools intended to provide software engineers with advanced resources for developing and accessing applications based on Java, XML, and Unix. The tools will enable...

IBM increasing Eclipse emphasis; Company to increase Rational tie-ins.
March 29, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM plans to further leverage the Eclipse open source tools platform as part of its developer tools strategy during the next 18 months. Shedding light on its product directions, IBM officials on Monday outlined...

Flex to muscle in on Internet development; Macromedia ships presentation server and apps framework.
March 29, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macromedia on Monday will ship Flex, which features a presentation server and application framework for enterprise development teams to build more effective interfaces for Internet business applications, the company...

Sun to ship Early Access version of Java tool; Java Studio Creator moves closer to general availability.
March 29, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems on April 8 will make available an Early Access release of its visual development environment for Java, called Sun Java Studio Creator, Sun officials said on Monday. Previously code-named "Project...

Oracle unveils next round of RFID solutions; Application integration is goal.
March 30, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz As the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry gears up for RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates from giant retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart, enterprise software vendors appear to be in lock step...

SAS unveils new BI platform, apps; SAS 9 takes business intelligence beyond traditional querying, reporting.
March 30, 2004... Byline: Heather Havenstein SAS Institute unveiled its new SAS 9 business intelligence platform Tuesday that includes data integration, enhanced analytics, and refined user interfaces designed to drive BI beyond the traditional querying and...

Update: SAS unveils new BI platform, apps; SAS 9 takes business intelligence beyond traditional querying, reporting.
March 31, 2004... Byline: Heather Havenstein SAS Institute unveiled its new SAS 9 business intelligence platform Tuesday that includes data integration, enhanced analytics, and refined user interfaces designed to drive BI beyond simple querying and...

Sun: Door still open on open source Java; Many issues would need resolution, exec says.
March 31, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill While acknowledging obstacles remain, a Sun Microsystems official on Tuesday left open the possibility that Sun might offer its Java programming language under an open source format. Speaking during a Sun Software...

Interview: ID management enhances efficiency, security; Thor Technologies CEO Alberto Yepez discusses the benefits that come with ID management.
March 31, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash Identity management for the enterprise is all about knowing who you're doing business with and who gets access to information. Alberto Yepez, chairman and CEO of Thor Technologies, a provider of enterprise provisioning...