InfoWorld.com articles from May 2004

InfoWorld.com archives from May 2004

IBM buzzing about Stinger database beta release; DB2 upgrade has more than 200 new features.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM on Monday will begin an open beta phase for the upcoming release of DB2 Universal Database, codenamed Stinger, which features ease of administration through autonomic computing technologies. Overall, the...

Embarcadero focuses on metadata in data life cycle tools; ER/Studio 6.5 readied.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Embarcadero Technologies on Monday is announcing a June ship date for its ER/Studio 6.5 and ER/Studio Repository 3.0 data life cycle management tools, which are focused on enterprise metadata and dimensional modeling...

OASIS approves XML business documents specification; UBL 1.0 ready for use.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill OASIS has approved Universal Business Language (UBL) 1.0 as a Committee Draft, meaning the XML business documents specification is ready for implementation in commercial and open source efforts. Approved by the...

IBM rolls out Power 5-based iSeries server; System has Virtualization Engine.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Monday took the wraps off its first server fueled by its long-awaited Power5 chip, with the system also containing software to run four different operating system simultaneously including Windows, Linux AIX 5L,...

Firstlogic boosts data cleansing; IQ8 Integration Studio features Web services interface.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Heather Havenstein Firstlogic will unveil a new data quality integration framework next week designed to allow companies to tackle the burgeoning problem of data cleansing commonly faced when data from disparate front-end and...

BlackPearl launches predictive analytics; Company uses domain knowledge to set it apart.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Predictive analytics, still the domain of a few giant vendors such as SAS Institute and SPSS, is also finding support with smaller niche vendors such as BlackPearl, who announced this week BlackPearl B4 for the...

IBM introduces WebSphere Business Integration Server Express; New server aimed at SMBs.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Wednesday put another piece of its integration strategy in place for SMBs (small and midsize businesses), unveiling a new WebSphere-based server that helps users better integrate both business processes and...

Mobile Showcase whets wireless appetite; Show spotlights Mini PCs, tablets, mobility management.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. -- Here at Mobile Showcase 2004, 50 enterprise-focused mobile computing vendors have six minutes to strut their stuff on stage. A variety of corporate wireless devices and software have been...

Shunra boosts distributed apps development; Performance unit testing enabled.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Looking to help developers find code issues early, Shunra Software on Wednesday introduced Shunra/Stratus 2.0, which provides performance unit testing for distributed application code. The release is intended to...

IBM to inject consistency into middleware; Move seen as pre-emptive strike against Microsoft's forthcoming Longhorn.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Monday will outline an ambitious plan to establish greater technical consistency within its line of middleware products. The end goal is to increase the portability of both data and applications across many...

Netli bolsters application delivery; Company adds performance monitoring, business continuity services.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Netli this week enhanced its application delivery network services with the addition of performance monitoring and business continuity services. NetliView is a measurement and reporting service designed to let...

Wi-Fi security standard to require new hardware; 802.11i uses AES encryption.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In June the IEEE is expected to finally ratify the 802.11i security standard that uses for the first time AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) technology, a powerful 128-bit encryption technology. While AES, a...

Making Windows easier to see; Robust Accessibility features improve the Windows experience for visually impaired users.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist "But the fonts just keep going back to the small size!" It's my tech's third visit to this client, each time to supposedly resize the fonts for an older user with vision problems. He finally asked me to talk to her...

Vulnerability vigilence; If you haven't learned to keep your software patched by now, you probably deserve Sasser; but maybe you don't know how.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash It's a typical series of events for a major worm outbreak. First, the early reports from Symantec, followed by more detailed reports, changes in the security level, and the like. Close behind is a flood of e-mail from...

Please, no more storage forecasts; Small businesses can't look too far away to future products.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella In my line of work, having timely information is essential. We all like to know about new products sooner rather than later, and especially before they are released. Nevertheless, I often ask myself, when is soon...

Google unveils new version of Blogger; Online publishing tool receives its first makeover since acquisition.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Google on Monday rolled out an updated version of its Blogger online self-publishing service. The new version features an enhanced dashboard, the ability to post blogs via e-mail, a shared comments function, and...

Macromedia links Breeze to directories; Web conferencing gets integration.
May 11, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macromedia this week began shipping "solution accelerators" for the Macromedia Breeze Web-based collaboration system, which feature sample code and documentation to integrate Breeze functionality with a user's existing...

IBM looks to modernize Cobol; Mainframe apps get Java, SOAP links.
May 11, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM is looking to modernize Cobol applications by bridging its mainframe-oriented Cobol and WebSphere products to EJB and service-oriented architectures. The company will unveil new versions of its Enterprise Cobol...

If you host it they will come, say CRM vendors; 'Just say no to packaged apps' appears to be catching on.
May 11, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz The online CRM space is suddenly getting crowded as two more CRM vendors, Kana and Entellium, are launching hosted services this week. A field that is still dominated by Salesforce.com is now looking to at...

Report: choice of ERP vendor irrelevant to success; Hackett Group analyzes 150 major companies.
May 12, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz A forthcoming study says ERP packages offer few advantages for companies looking to optimize their financial operations. The Hackett Group, a business advisory firm specializing in benchmarking company...

Microsoft unveils final Longhorn road map; Not available until 2007.
May 12, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz With rumors rampant over the release date and what's inside of Microsoft's next major OS release, Longhorn, company executives launched a full-court press on the tech media today, laying out a timetable for its...

Security answers touted at N+I; IM compliance, wireless security addressed at conference.
May 12, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore LAS VEGAS -- Enterprises on the lookout for answers to security struggles have plenty of wares to pick from here at the NetWorld+Interop 2004 conference, as vendors such as FaceTime, RedSiren, and Senforce introduced...

Sun's Project Rave draws raves; Early users tout upcoming Java development tool.
May 12, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Java Studio Creator, the purported easy-to-use Java development tool due from Sun Microsystems this summer, drew raves from some early users Wednesday morning, albeit with reservations about the availability of...

IBM seeks Power developers; Portal planned as first step in community-building.
May 13, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM on Monday will roll out developer resources for the company's Power microprocessor architecture, with the goal of building what the company describes as a community of innovation around the platform. Resources...

Tools give applications the green light; N+I shows off performance optimization.
May 13, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore LAS VEGAS -- Network management is digging into the sweet spot of application performance optimization, as more enterprises move critical applications to the Internet. Here at NetWorld+Interop 2004, Internap, 8e6,...

Grand Central adds non-Internet connectivity; Services network getting frame relay, BPEL-to-Java interoperability.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Hosted integration services provider Grand Central Communications on Monday plans to spruce up its Business Services Network with non-Internet connectivity and improvements in Java functionality. The network is based...

Oracle to go BAM this summer; Company will offer a business activity monitoring app.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz and James Niccolai In response to market demand for more real-time business information, Oracle announced today it will offer a BAM (business activity monitoring) tool, Business Activity Manager, as part of an...

Students uncover new Wi-Fi vulnerability; Attackers could shut down WLAN with just a handheld device.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Students at the Queensland University of Technology Information Security Research Centre in Australia have uncovered a flaw in an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) protocol that allows attackers with a simple Wi-Fi-enabled...

IBM adds partners to Workplace mix; Cisco, PalmOne, RIM tap Workplace Client to develop to a variety of devices.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore IBM on Monday will announce that a slew of partners have signed up to support its new Workplace Client Technology, which was rolled out earlier this week. The Workplace Client is a rich client platform designed to...

A not-so great and powerful wizard; Windows XP's new Smart Network Key wizard is nice to small networks, but better solutions exist for the enterprise.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist My previous column on Windows XP SP2 drew some fire, the gist of which is that a release candidate of SP2 is freely available (although it wasn't at the time of that writing, natch). And why in the name of all that's...

Catching the bad guys; Want to sniff out security ne'er-do-wells? When all else fails, try money.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Wayne Rash German authorities in the state of Lower Saxony were proud of their arrest. They'd captured a German teenager and charged him with loosing the Sasser worm on the world. They reported that the teenager seemed surprised...

Getting ready for the ILM game; Brocade lays out another piece on the storage network chessboard.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella Even the most casual observer would agree that the storage networking world is changing dramatically. Perhaps it's because of new players entering that market with novel ideas, or maybe it's because customer demands...

Telelogic opens Doors to smaller companies; Requirements management package upgraded.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Telelogic on Monday is shipping Doors 7.1, the company's requirements management software, which features a toolkit to tailor the product to smaller companies. Doors provides for tracing and analyzing changes to...

Notebooks ramping up for PCI Express; Laptops with upgradeable graphics on the way.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Nvidia, a leading designer of graphics chips, announced Monday that it has widespread support from the major manufacturers of notebooks for its proposed MXM graphics standard for add-on modules that will be using...

Systinet, Actional hail Web services tools; Systinet's WASP platform is renamed.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Systinet and Actional are boosting their respective Web services wares, and both vendors are adopting an increased focus on SOAs (service-oriented architectures) and management. Systinet on Monday will ship Systinet...

Compuware driving CARS for software quality management; Version 4.1 features Executive Dashboard to boost management-level understanding.
May 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Compuware on Tuesday is releasing Compware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) 4.1, a software quality management tool featuring an "Executive Dashboard" for management-level understanding of quality issues. ...

Tibco touts business activity monitoring; OpsFactor unveiled.
May 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Extending its reach in BAM (business activity monitoring), Tibco Software on Tuesday began shipping OpsFactor 1.0, which provides insights into business operations being orchestrated by the company's business integration...

IBM opens four SOA design centers; New centers bolster SOA initiative.
May 18, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to give its strategies surrounding Systems Oriented Architectures (SOAs) a boost among corporate users, IBM on Tuesday announced it has opened four SOA Design Centers to help corporate users sculpt...

Web services security draft released; WS-I seeks feedback.
May 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) on Tuesday announced availability of the WS-I Basic Security Profile Working Group Draft, an early version of what is intended to be a guide for use of standards in...

BEA ponders SOAs; eWorld show approaches.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems at its BEA eWorld 2004 show in San Francisco next week is expected to tout its strategy for services-oriented architectures, which provide a computing paradigm based on a set of loosely coupled, inexpensive...

Oracle president: Company perceived as annoying; Vendor says what others don't want to hear, Catz says.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- The public's perception of Oracle, that the software vendor is a bit annoying, is disappointing to company President Safra Catz. Speaking at the 2004 SIAA Enterprise Software Summit here on...

Gric changes name, updates software suites; Company adopts GoRemote as name.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan Remote access provider Gric Communications changed its name on Wednesday and updated tow product suites. The company will now operate under the moniker GoRemote Internet Communications, officials said. The new name...

Open source software merits debated; Officials from Microsoft, Red Hat, MySQL, others chime in.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Open source proponents and a Microsoft official had varying perspectives on the value of the open source model during separate discussions at the 2004 SIIA Enterprise Software Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. ...

Oracle, Microsoft forge tool ties; Database to gain tighter links to Visual Studio.
May 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft and Oracle on Thursday announced an agreement intended to result in tighter integration between the Oracle database and the Microsoft Visual Studio .Net 2003 development platform. Through the arrangement,...

Web services message spec touted; Sun, Oracle, others back W3C proposal.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Several vendors including Sun Microsystems and Oracle on Monday announced support for the WS-MessageDelivery specification recently submitted to the World Wide Web Consortium. The royalty-free specification is...

Cape Clear, CA hop on The enterprise BUS; Both companies integrate key products.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell At CA World on Monday, Cape Clear Software announced its intention to integrate its Business Integration Suite with Computer Associates International's Web Services Distributed Management (WSDM) in hopes of providing a...

Macrovision bolsters software license management; Enterprises gain insight into apps usage.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macrovision on Monday is introducing FlexNet Manager, a centralized software license management system for enterprises. Providing management and usage reporting, FlexNet Manager leverages Macrovision's FlexNet, which...

Systems management companies release new wares; Panacya, Indicative detail new product offerings.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan Two companies calling themselves "service-oriented" systems management providers released new or updated products on Monday. Panacya issued version 2.4 of its Panacya Service Center, at the BEA eWorld conference,...

Empirix boosts .Net Web apps testing; e-Test suite backs Microsoft technologies.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Empirix on Monday at the TechEd conference in San Diego is launching e-Test suite 7.0, which focuses on testing of Web applications from the .Net platform. The e-Test suite 7.0 product is designed to provide...

Trifus launches e-learning integrator; Zelos product integrates components of a learning management system.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan Trifus on Monday unveiled Zelos, software designed to integrate the components typically associated with an LMS (learning management system). Zelos handles the integration by translating data between various...

IBM discusses its Workplace vision; Ken Bisconti talks about how the computing platform seeks to marry browser, fat client qualities.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore IBMhas broadened its Workplace architecture for component-based application delivery and placed it at the center of its managed apps vision. Senior Writer Cathleen Moore recently sat down with Ken Bisconti, vice...

ArcSight injects data mining into security; Company launches TruThreat Discovery product for spotting security patterns.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan ArcSight this week detailed a new software product, TruThreat Discovery, that combines data mining technology with security to more effectively evaluate security threats. TruThreat Discovery focuses on picking out...

BEA details Liquid Computing plan; Service-oriented architectures touted.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Declaring an end to the era of integration as it has been known, BEA Chairman, CEO, and Founder Alfred Chuang at the BEA eWorld 2004 conference here on Tuesday rolled out the company's "Liquid Computing"...

MasterCard launches spend analysis tool; Services division of credit card company details Purchase Logic.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Hoping to capitalize on the sorry state of the enterprise to view it own spend data, MasterCard Advisors the professional services division of MasterCard International, will launch this week Purchase Logic, an...

TechEd: Microsoft touts common engineering plan; Common services across Windows Server System products aims to lessen complexity.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN DIEGO -- Microsoft on Tuesday announced the Windows Server System Common Engineering Roadmap, a long term plan for simplifying IT complexity by building common services across Windows Server System products. The...

SQL Server getting security boosts; Company also doubts open source database cost savings.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft at its Tech Ed conference in San Diego on Tuesday will tout plans to add data encryption to its SQL Server database and seek federal government security certification for the platform as well. The company...

TechEd: Microsoft to kill 'Kodiak' code name; Next generation of Exchange to be delivered sooner, in smaller pieces.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN DIEGO -- Microsoft will dump its "Kodiak" code-name that had been tagged to the next generation release of Exchange Server, instead shifting strategy to release individual improvements as they are ready,...

Project Beehive has BEA pondering Eclipse, NetBeans; Company also seeks to expand reach beyond J2EE.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- BEA Systems' decision to offer its WebLogic Workshop run-time framework under an open source format, through its Project Beehive effort, may prompt the company to reconsider its current stance of not...

Report: IBM tightens hold on databases; Big Blue increases lead over Oracle.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM tightened its grip on the RDBMS (relational database management system) market just a little more in 2003, largely on the strength of versions of DB2 that run on its iSeries midrange servers and zSeries mainframes,...

BEA bullish on Taurus transaction software; Tuxedo fitted for improvements.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems with the planned Taurus version of its Tuxedo transaction processing platform is eyeing enhanced Web services support, improved integration with the WebLogic Server application server and boosted security....

BEA shining up Diamond release of WebLogic Platform; Company focuses on SOAs.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN FRANCISCO -- Continuing its focus on service-oriented architectures (SOAs), BEA Systems is mapping out the next version of its WebLogic Platform product suite, code named Diamond. Also referred to as Version 9.0,...

Eclipse to name executive director; Former Oracle official to take over open source tools organization.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill The Eclipse Foundation's board of directors next week will formally name former Oracle executive Mike Milinkovich as executive director of the open source tools foundation. The foundation recently was formed in an...

Macromedia offering Flash Player 7 for Linux; Internet client backs SOAP.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macromedia on Thursday is announcing availability of Flash Player 7 for Linux, a version of the company's rich Internet client that is bundled with Linux operating systems from several vendors and boasts SOAP support....

IBM delivers On Demand services For ISVs; Big Blue gets real about the virtual.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Practicing what it preaches as part of its On Demand gospel, IBM on Thursday announced a new grid-based program that allows developers to virtually access a range of hardware and software resources on an on-demand basis...