InfoWorld.com articles from March 2006

InfoWorld.com archives from March 2006

In Brief: IBM readies SOA packages; Also in Brief: Intel to invest $300M in Vietnam chip plant; SOA, Forum integrate products; Ericsson sues Samsung in patent dispute; Sony, NEC to establish optical disc joint venture; Orange offers wireline service; ObjectWeb announces EasyBeans project; Fluke enhances VoIP with Visual UpTime Select update.
March 1, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff IBM at its PartnerWorld conference in Las Vegas later this month plans to help integrators and ISVs build SOAs based on the company's WebSphere platform. The company will offer five SOA Solution Builder Express...

Sun's McNealy to HP's Hurd: Let's get together on Unix; Convergence is proposed for Solaris, HP-UX.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Chairman/CEO Scott McNealy, in an email to Hewlett-Packard CEO/President Mark Hurd on Wednesday, is proposing convergence of HP's HP-UX Unix OS with Sun's Solaris 10 Unix OS. HP, McNealy said, had compelled its...

Panel cites benefits, limits of ESB; Executives from Sonic, BEA, others participate in "ESB-Con: Due Diligence Day" Webinar.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Enterprise services buses (ESBs) are useful for service integration and message routing in SOAs, but users should know technologies such as XML as well as the limitations of ESBs, panelists said in a Webinar Thursday....

IBM lauds voice apps API; Developer software to be released through Eclipse.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill IBM will announce on Friday open source software intended to improve the lot of Web developers building voice-enabled applications. An API is being released for download as part of the Eclipse Foundation's Voice...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft develops some Snappy plug-ins for its Dynamics line; The technology connects Microsoft apps in cool ways, but approach with caution.
March 2, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist Around September of last year, new technology platform announcements were spewing out of Microsoft like last night’s liquor from a high-school freshman. Vista, Avalon, Dynamics, WWF (Windows Workflow Foundation),...

HP Labs India working to bridge TV and Internet; Also in Brief: OSS/J names Vodafone D2 exec as new chair; IBM readies SOA packages; Intel to invest $300M in Vietnam chip plant; SOA, Forum integrate products; Ericsson sues Samsung in patent dispute; Sony, NEC to establish optical disc joint venture; Orange offers wireline service.
March 3, 2006... HP Labs India is working on technology to integrate satellite TV with the Web, according to an executive at the lab. The company will soon be testing with broadcasters a technology that lets a user click on hyperlinks embedded in TV content,...

Borland: Interest, but no buyer yet, for tools line; Executive details intentions, provides progress report on sale of developer tools.(Interview)
March 3, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Deciding to concentrate on ALM (application lifecycle management), Borland Software last month announced plans to sell off its faltering JBuilder Java IDE business, as well as its Windows tools platform, including...

Salesforce.com unleashes Unlimited; New version increases customization capability tenfold.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In a departure from its traditional upgrade schedule that usually coincides with the change of seasons, Salesforce.com today announced Unlimited Edition, a product line that will sit above Enterprise Edition. ...

Convergence of voice and enterprise apps on call; Cisco partners with Citrix, Microsoft to bring IM-like presence and click-to-call capabilities to their hosted and desktop applications.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Mike Barton Fresh on the heels of Cisco announcing at the VoiceCon conference on Monday it had bundled its IP communications products, it unveiled separate partnerships with Citrix and Microsoft to integrate telephony with their...

In Brief: Avaya boosts software, adds SIP P2P phone; Also in Brief: Jcx.Software upgrades PHP editor for Visual Studio 2005; Hitachi Data Systems gets new CEO; Freescale expanding India design center; HP Labs India working to bridge TV and Internet; OSS/J names Vodafone D2 exec as new chair; IBM readies SOA packages.
March 7, 2006... Avaya has introduced new versions of its IP telephony software MultiVantage Communications Applications, adding new call preservation capabilities, “hot desking” for improved mobility, expanded SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for...

In Brief: Telelogic acquires I-Logix; Also in Brief: Avaya boosts software, adds SIP P2P phone; Jcx.Software upgrades PHP editor for Visual Studio 2005; Hitachi Data Systems gets new CEO; Freescale expanding India design center; HP Labs India working to bridge TV and Internet; OSS/J names Vodafone D2 exec as new chair; IBM readies SOA packages.
March 8, 2006... Telelogic announced the acquisition of privately held I-Logix, a provider of modeling tools, for $80 million in cash. While Telelogic has focused on the general modeling space, I-Logix specializes in the embedded space. Telelogic develops...

In Brief: Nexis Web site now gives big-picture view; Also in Brief: Asetek teases enthusiasts with 5.5GHz P4 system; Telelogic acquires I-Logix; Avaya boosts software, adds SIP P2P phone; Jcx.Software upgrades PHP editor for Visual Studio 2005; Hitachi Data Systems gets new CEO; Freescale expanding India design center; HP Labs India working to bridge TV and Internet.
March 9, 2006... Professionals who say “Nexis it” instead of “Google it” on a daily, or hourly, basis will welcome a revamp of the research service LexisNexis’ Nexis Web site, which now offers a new big-picture view across news,...

Skype dials in to business; Skype for Business includes a dedicated Web site and support, new hardware and new features to better manage groups of users and prepaid accounts.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Mike Barton The consumer VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) darling Skype dialed in to small-business and branch office needs Thursday with a new offering, Skype for Business. “We know from listening to our …...

Merger signals outsourcing business changing; American consultancy Darwin Partners is merging with the Chinese high-tech company Suzoft to give it vertical expertise.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz The merger of American consultancy Darwin Partners with an offshore Chinese high-tech company, Suzoft, announced today, is one more proof point that the outsourcing business model is changing. On the front end,...

Oracle delivering graphical database development tool; Company acknowledges being late to the market.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Admitting that this was something that should have happened years ago, Oracle on Monday will make available a graphical database development tool for Oracle databases. Formerly known as Project Raptor, Oracle SQL...

Microsoft collaboration server to ship this month; Considered crucial to Microsoft's ALM platform, Team Foundation Server is coming after seven years in the making.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft's impending delivery of its Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server is the culmination of seven years of planning the company's entrance into the ALM (application lifecycle management) space. Serving as...

SOA, tools wrap: Programs, strategies, tools readied; SOA Software, IBM, BuildForge unveil plans.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill SOA Software, IBM, and BuildForge on Monday are rolling out strategies, programs, and tools to smooth SOA deployments and ease the software development process. SOA Software will enable deployments of its Web...

Agile programming has fallen short, conference told; Author Steve McConnell says while intended to focus on individuals and interactions, agile seems to be mostly about processes and tools now.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Agile software development, which aims to offer a much quicker style of delivering software than traditional methods, has not yet met its promise, Steve McConnell, author and chief software engineer at Construx Software...

In brief: Switchvox brings voice, apps convergence to SMBs; Also in Brief: Adobe offers beta of XMP Toolkit; Lenovo unwraps new partner program; Nexis Web site now gives big-picture view; Asetek teases enthusiasts with 5.5GHz P4 system; Telelogic acquires I-Logix; Avaya boosts software, adds SIP P2P phone; Jcx.Software upgrades PHP editor for Visual Studio 2005.
March 15, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld Staff Switchvox has introduced what it says is the only IP PBX system to offer a Call Event Notification API to allow companies to integrate phone systems with applications for features such as click-to-call from within...

News analysis: Has Eclipse gotten too big? As the organization spreads into more open source areas, some projects will inevitably fail while others succeed, co-founder says.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill The Eclipse Foundation has seen a rapid expansion of its original mission in open source tooling. Starting out with an open source Java IDE in 2001, Eclipse, which holds its annual EclipseCon 2006 trade conference in...

Model-driven development, AJAX shortcomings aired; Executives and others note shortcomings at SD West conference but say the industry is on the cusp of a next generation of dynamic development.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- Interest in model-driven software development and AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is high, but plenty of room for improvement remains for both technologies, according to speakers and...

In Brief: iTKO releases LISA 3 for complete SOA testing.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Caroline Craig iTKO has released LISA 3 Complete SOA Testing Platform, a suite that offers comprehensive testing and monitoring of dynamic Web applications and all of their supporting SOA layers. LISA 3, designed to test...

Microsoft ALM server online next week; Product "a long time coming for us," executive says.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Santa Clara, Calif. -- Saint Patrick's Day is the lucky day for developers awaiting Microsoft's ALM (application lifecycle management) server. Microsoft formally announced on Thursday at the SD West 2006 conference...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: SMBs should consider axing Exchange; Less expensive alternatives, such as Gordano, provide smaller companies with just the features they need.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist As I was writing my feature about strategies for managing Microsoft Exchange, a question naturally popped into my contrarian head: What about something besides Exchange? True, Microsoft is the leading messaging and...

STORAGE INSIDER: Expanding beyond the storage fabric; Brocade and McData set out to prove they're more than just switch vendors.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Mario Apicella Do you still see Brocade and McData as switch vendors? If you do, it may be time for an update, because the two companies have moved their offerings well beyond the fabric. Last year Brocade made a strategic...

In Brief: Sun delivers NetBeans Enterprise Pack for Mac developers.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Caroline Craig Sun Microsystems on Friday announced a free preview version of the NetBeans Enterprise Pack 5.5, Java development tools for Apple's Mac OS X that enable developers to quickly create service-oriented architecture...

SECURITY ADVISER: Port knocking: A security idea whose time has come; Requiring a "combination" before connecting clients to network services is a good idea -- it can't hurt, and it just might help.
March 17, 2006... Byline: Roger A. Grimes Many, many innovations come from the Linux and Unix world. Few are more intriguing to me than port knocking. As a global security plug-in to protect services, it has a lot going for it and few downsides. However,...

Eclipse conference features ALM, rich-client technologies; Multiple projects move in various stages.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill The EclipseCon 2006 conference in Santa Clara, Calif., this week will highlight Eclipse projects in ALM (application lifecycle management), as well as endeavors in rich-client technology, PHP (PHP: Hypertext...

Salesforce.com will join Eclipse; SugarCRM also climbs aboard; Borland buys Gauntlet.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Salesforce.com at the EclipseCon 2006 conference in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday will announce it is joining the Eclipse Foundation, becoming the open source tools organization's first member from the hosted...

In Brief: Sun, Genuitec preview NetBeans GUI Builder for MyEclipse.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Caroline Craig Sun Microsystems and Genuitec, a provider of low cost RAD tools for Java and JEE development, on Monday announced a preview of the Matisse4MyEclipse GUI Builder plug-in. Previously code-named Project Matisse, the...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: Desktop Linux remains a hard sell for hardware vendors; Not even the upgrade headaches of Vista seem likely to counter Windows' inertia.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Neil McAllister Major software updates are always disruptive, and with as many as six separate SKUs for the U.S. market alone, Windows Vista will be no different. As if the launch plans for Vista weren't confusing enough, Microsoft...

In Brief: Sun announces C/C++ support for NetBeans IDE; .
March 21, 2006... Byline: Caroline Craig Sun Microsystems has announced a preview version of the NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack, which allows developers to edit, compile, and build C and C++ applications on multiple platforms, including Solaris, Linux, and...

In Brief: Infravio partners with Layer 7 on SOA governance interoperability.
March 21, 2006... Byline: Caroline Craig Infravio and Layer 7 Technologies announced the integration of Infravio X-Registry Platform, the company's SOA governance solution, and Layer 7's SecureSpan products for governing and accelerating Web service...

Eclipse: Sun still welcome to join; Sun rebuffs invitation; IBM, Compuware unveil wares.
March 21, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- With enterprise application development largely dividing into two camps -- the Java-derived Eclipse faction on one side and Microsoft's .Net on the other -- it would seem that Java founder Sun...

IBM expanding SOA governance offerings; Company believes SOA governance has been defined too narrowly as managing of services in a registry.
March 22, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill IBM is expanding its SOA governance efforts Wednesday with new products and services, featuring best practices and a Rational tool plug-in for configuring governance. The company says it believes SOA governance has...

In Brief: BEA boosts data access technology with Microsoft support.
March 22, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems on Wednesday will announce the release of AquaLogic Data Services 2.1, for unifying data assets from disparate sources. Version 2.1 adds support for Microsoft's ADO.Net (Active Data Objects), enabling native...

Apache chairman: Days numbered for commercial software; Selling services will be the business model of choice, Stein says.
March 22, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- The days of selling software through the traditional commercial model are numbered, as open source is becoming the paradigm of choice, said Greg Stein, chairman of the Apache Software Foundation,...

Java session focuses on Web app obstacles; TheServerSide Java Symposium interactive session focuses on AJAX and need to boost programmer productivity.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Las Vegas -- Obstacles to developing Web applications was a critical issue on the minds of Java developers at TheServerside Java Symposium on Thursday. Web application development technologies include scripting...

Oracle: Open source keeps vendors on their toes; Java conference also features Spring 2.0 framework details.
March 23, 2006... The specter of open source forces large software vendors to stay on their toes and nurtures innovation, an Oracle official said during a presentation at TheServerSide Java Symposium on Thursday afternoon. Noting competitive pressures from...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Start plotting your Vista migration map; It may only be March, but moving to the newest version of Windows takes serious planning.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist Office 2003 to Office 2007. Windows XP Pro to Windows Vista x-of-6. It's all looming on the horizon, and even though that horizon moved to early 2007 as of this week, it's still going to spawn headaches if you don't...

STORAGE INSIDER: Kashya extends its data-recovery parachute; New version of data protection platform allows consistent cross-application recovery.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Mario Apicella You may remember data-recovery solutions vendor Kashya from some of my previous columns. Its KBX5000 Data Protection Platform combines CDP (continuous data protection) and snapshots with a smart set of host agents...

Open source SOAP stacks getting revamped; XFire, Apache tout new wares.
March 24, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill LAS VEGAS -- XFire, an open source SOAP stack used in SOA, is being fitted with enhancements for security, binary attachments, and XML object binding, the developer of the stack said at TheServerSide Java Symposium...

SECURITY ADVISER: Compiling exploit code: a network-security must; Testing exploits will show just how vulnerable your network is -- or isn't.
March 24, 2006... Byline: Roger A. Grimes There are times when network security defenders need to compile exploit code. It is not unusual for more than a dozen new exploits against Windows and Linux machines to be released each day, and unfortunately, you...

Sonic upgrades ESB, touts SOA benefits; Workbench, business process improvements are touted.
March 27, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sonic Software is upgrading its enterprise service buses (ESB) Monday, with the company touting what it calls the industry's only third-generation ESB. Often credited for inventing the term ESB, Sonic views an ESB as...

Cognos to launch enterprise search engine; Technology to search deeper than a mere report title.
March 27, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Cognos today joined the fray with those companies that seek to offer the enterprise better behind-the-firewall search capabilities. In recent weeks, Oracle launched a new in-house search engine and Google a new...

State of Java perspectives offered by Spring Framework author; Rod Johnson weighs in on open source and dynamic languages.(Interview)
March 29, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Rod Johnson holds a prominent status in the Java development community. He is the founder of the Spring Framework for Java, a consultant and author. He wrote the books, Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development and...

BEA seeks to modularize app server; Services would be deployable separately under plan now in conceptual stage.
March 30, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Burlingame, Calif. -- BEA Systems is working to modularize services from its WebLogic Server application server, enabling them to run independently with open source frameworks, a company official said on Thursday. ...

Iona touts service orchestration in ESB upgrade; Artix 4.0 uses Eclipse interface to let users access any database via JDBC.
March 31, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Iona next week will formally launch an upgrade to its Artix enterprise service bus, featuring service orchestration through BPEL (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services) and a single Eclipse-based interface...

SECURITY ADVISER: Encryption for all; Protecting your hard drives will help keep your company from getting snakebit by security breaches.
March 31, 2006... Byline: Roger A. Grimes It’s hard to review a newspaper or security mail list these days without reading yet another story about some slack company losing other people’s financial and identity information. Either the...