InfoWorld.com articles from September 2004

InfoWorld.com archives from September 2004

Iomega REVs backup and recovery; SCSI support aimed at tape backup.
September 1, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Iomega this week unveiled a SCSI version of its REV drive aimed at server backup and disaster recovery applications. The REV SCSI 35GB/90GB drive has native storage capacity of 35GB, but includes a file compression...

SAP to speech enable applications; SAP customers will have a standard way of adding a speech channel to their applications.
September 1, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz On Wednesday SAP moved one step closer to voice-enabling its applications by signing a deal with VoiceObjects, a developer of voice application management systems. VoiceOjbects Factory will integrate with the...

Storage revenues increase in Q2; EMC, Dell, Network Appliance, StorageTex show increase.
September 2, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis The latest storage numbers are in and -- big surprise -- storage spending is up. Figures released from the Gartner on Thursday show worldwide external controller-based disk storage revenue totaled $3.2 billion in...

IBM, Intel open up blade server specs; Open specs to spur add-on development.
September 2, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to accelerate the acceptance of blade servers, IBM and Intel on Thursday will lay bare their jointly developed technical specifications for its BladeCenter platform that will allow developers to customize add-on...

3amLabs delivers free remote access management tool; Product is integrated with SSL VPN.
September 2, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Bolstering its lineup of remote access management offerings, 3amLabs on Thursday debuted three products including a free version of its flagship product, LogMeIn, that helps IT managers locate and manage remote access...

IBM adds iSCSI to SANs; Big Blue is the first top-tier vendor to offer iSCSI technology.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis IBM moved back into the iSCSI (Internet SCSI) market Friday with a new array priced at $3,000 and aimed at the small and midsize business market. The TotalStorage DS300 and its Fibre Channel companion, the DS400,...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Farewell to ThinkPad, hello to style? Stylish gaming notebooks come packed with power but can't cut it for mobile workers.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist It finally happened. All I did was politely ignore a few dozen e-mails, several phone calls, a couple of faxes, and have one replacement notebook stolen, and IBM suddenly had enough. Two burly gentlemen came to visit me...

Macrovision updates software-packaging app; AdminStudio acquired through InstallShield buy.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macrovision this week is upgrading its AdminStudio software-packaging application, which the company acquired when it bought InstallShield in July. Available on Wednesday, AdminStudio 6 handles application packaging...

G-Log to launch integrated logistics application; GC3 combines inventory and transportation management.
September 7, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz G-Log, a logistics software vendor, on Wednesday will announce Version 4.5 of the Global Command and Control Center (GC3) application suite. According to industry analysts and customers, the rules-based...

Hitachi upgrades storage line; New TagmaStore platform can combine 32PB of internal and external storage into a single virtual storage pool.
September 7, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Hitachi Data Systems on Tuesday announced a new enterprise storage lineup with new features such as a virtualization that allows customers to manage up to 32 Petabytes (PB) of internal and external storage. The new...

IBM hails automation in database upgrade; Stinger release set to buzz.
September 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM on Sept. 17 will ship the first major upgrade to its DB2 Universal Database data management platform in nearly two years, focusing on functional automation, advanced clustering, and Web services deployment. ...

DemoMobile highlights service-based computing; Conference showcases latest developments in wireless apps.
September 9, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN DIEGO -- At this year's DemoMobile 2004 conference here, the pulse of the wireless industry is registering a move toward service-based computing, which is about delivering applications and data from a managed...

Emulex, Snap aid IBM storage effort; New products aim at low end of market.
September 9, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Emulex has introduced a new entry-level line of SAN switch products designed for small and midsize businesses and small departmental SAN applications in a large enterprise. The new line has already been adopted by IBM...

Virtual Server becomes reality; Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 to be initially available next week.
September 9, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell After two years of fits and starts, Microsoft will finally deliver its Virtual Server 2005 product, which company officials contend will be an important contributor to its Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), the company's...

DemoMobile 2004: Mobility made easier; Wireless technology conference shows motion control browsing, note capture software.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore SAN DIEGO -- Here at the DemoMobile 2004 conference, about 40 vendors had six minutes each to demonstrate their wireless technology invention to the crowd. Some products, although amazing in description, don't...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Gutting Longhorn is a bad idea; Once again, Microsoft is putting its bottom line ahead of its customers' needs.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist My presidential choices look like an episode of "Fear Factor," my sister thinks the only newsmagazine not influenced by the government is Mother Jones, IBM took my beautiful ThinkPad T40p back, and Microsoft just...

CA polishes up BrightStor products; Integration is key to CA's refreshed storage line.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Computer Associates on Monday announced it is upgrading and consolidating its storage management software line. The computer software giant is offering 13 new versions of its BrightStor storage management line and also...

Web services management vendors combine; Digital Evolution, Flamenco Networks become one company.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Web services management and security provider Digital Evolution on Monday is announcing its acquisition of former competitor Flamenco Networks, which has provided specialized network infrastructure for implementing SOAs...

Intermec unveils first multi-protocol RFID printer; Unit supports EPCGlobal Class 0, 1 and ISO standards.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Intermec Technologies on Monday unveiled a prototype version of a multi-protocol RFID printer in its PM 4i Smart Printer product line at the Frontline Solutions Conference & Exposition in Chicago. Company...

Linux standards base Version 2.0 has C++ support; New version also adds new 64-bit support.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell The Free Standards Group (FSG) on Tuesday will release Version 2.0 of its Linux Standard Base (LSB), a key standard that enables developers to rally around a common programming framework and keeps Linux from fragmenting...

IBM delivers Power-based servers with Linux; Machines will ship with Red Hat or Suse Linux.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM will push its Power5 line of servers down into the low end of the market, taking Linux with it, when it unwraps an aggressively priced series of Linux-only systems on Monday that will go up against the offerings of...

Borland stresses easing software project burdens; Executive talks up Software Delivery Optimization strategy at conference.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- Borland with its Software Delivery Optimization (SDO) plan is looking to enable users to manage software projects like a business, Borland’s Boz Elloy, senior vice president of software...

Microsoft adds to Visual Studio tools line; Refreshed betas also are readied.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Continuing to fill out its Visual Studio tools line, Microsoft on Monday is announcing Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition, intended for developers working in small organizations. The company on Monday also is...

Sun exec: Community brings innovation to Java; Java Community Process, open sourcing of Java discussed at BorCon show.
September 14, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- A Sun Microsystems official at the BorCon conference here on Tuesday touted the Java Community Process (JCP) for amending the Java programming language, but did not have any revelations pertaining to...

LogicLibrary buys BugScan; Security analysis to be linked to software development asset engine.
September 14, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Software asset management tools vendor LogicLibrary on Wednesday plans to announce its acquisition of BugScan, which provides security analysis capabilities to identify code vulnerabilities before application deployment....

Mac-to-BlackBerry synchronization app launched; IAA introduced first product for two-way synchronization.
September 15, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In what may someday may be nicknamed the MacBerry, Information Appliance Associates (IAA) announced this week a product called PocketMac BlackBerry, a synchronization application that will give RIM BlackBerry users...

IBM registers grid computing wins; Grids make inroads into commercial markets.
September 17, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Claiming grid technology continues to expand outside its traditional scientific and research markets, IBM on Friday is announcing that several grid-based commercial projects built on IBM platforms have been launched,...

Oracle readies content management 'Tsunami'; Unstructured data management offering to be rolled into Collaboration Suite upgrade.
September 17, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Oracle later this year plans a major entrance to the content management space with a new product tied to its Collaboration Suite offering. Code-named Tsunami, the product will target the management of...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Legalities and wardriving; The arguments for swiping bandwidth from Mom's Volvo don't fly.
September 17, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist "Can't we just use wireless? C'mon, Oliver. I can get a Linksys wireless card from Staples for $100; what's this $6,000 @#$%?" Yeah, I love wireless networking. I almost never make a sales pitch for it, because I'm...

STORAGE INSIDER: Hitachi's Tagmastore gets the gold; New high-end storage solution challenges competitors and gives ammunition to partners.
September 17, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella Early this month, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) stole the show during a week that was already crowded with several major announcements from storage vendors. I am referring, of course, to the new storage solution named...

Web services software vendors offer SOA package; AmberPoint, Systinet partner to provide discovery, management capabilities.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Web services software vendors AmberPoint and Systinet are now selling an integrated suite of software for service-oriented architectures, featuring products from both companies. The SOA Starter Pack is intended to...

Embarcadero enhances SQL Server backup; DBArtisan Workbench tool is expanded.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Embarcadero Technologies on Monday is unveiling its DBArtisan Workbench 8.0 database administration tool, featuring enhanced backup capabilities for Microsoft SQL Server databases and support for performance metrics in...

Interview: Borland CEO touts software process management; Fuller also talks about Java vs. .Net, Web services, outsourcing.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Dale Fuller, president and CEO of Borland, has been with the company since 1999, when it had temporarily been renamed Inprise. Recently, the company has been touting its ALM (application lifecycle management) strategy...

Hyperion launches Essbase 7X; Suite combines financial and operational analytics.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Hyperion Solutions, a vendor of business intelligence applications, will announce at its Solutions 2004 Hyperion International Conference in Paris this week, Essbase 7X, a greatly enhanced version of its analytic...

JBoss ships J2EE 1.4-compliant open source app server; Version 4.0 readied.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill JBoss on Monday is shipping JBoss Application Server 4.0, which the company is billing as the first open source application server certified as compatible with the J2EE 1.4 platform. Formerly, JBoss had been in a...

Study reveals decline in IT customer loyalty; Many buyers feel trapped in vendor relationship.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz WalkerInformation, a 65-year-old company that focuses on surveying customer brand loyalty, released its 2004 study of IT vendors this week, entitled, “Customer Loyalty Management for Information...

Microsoft adds disk backup support; DPS aimed at Windows file backup.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Microsoft jumped into the disk-based backup and recovery market Monday with the announcement of the Microsoft Data Protection Server (DPS), a low-cost, continuous, disk-based backup and recovery system. More than 20...

Cisco, Veritas roll out storage products; Microsoft to unveil storage initiative at Storage Decisions show.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis IT managers may need more storage to handle all the storage announcements occurring this week at the Storage Decisions show in Chicago. Aside from Microsoft Corp.'s unveiling of a new storage initiative in...

VMWare reveals Ace in the hole; Ace uses virtual machine technology to extend security to the desktop.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Using its strengths in virtual machine technology, VMWare Inc. on Monday unwrapped new beta software for the desktop that allows administrators to more securely deploy and mange work environments outside the corporate...

Dell, Oracle offer server-database bundle; Windows OS also included.
September 21, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Pursuing enterprise departments and smaller businesses, Oracle and Dell Computer are offering a package featuring a Dell PowerEdge server bundled with the Oracle Database10g Standard Edition One database and the...

IBM, PeopleSoft form alliance; Deal locks apps, middleware more tightly.
September 21, 2004... Byline: Stacy Cowley, Ed Scannell SAN FRANCISCO -- IBM and PeopleSoft on Tuesday announced that PeopleSoft will standardize its applications on core IBM middleware products and that both companies will market the joint solutions. In...

PeopleSoft launches deployment tools for IT; A service repository contains 1,500 points of integration.
September 21, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz PeopleSoft at the PeopleSoft Connect 2004 conference in San Francisco on Tuesday unveiled technology dubbed Total Ownership Initiative, which will be integrated into both Enterprise and EnterpriseOne suites and is...

Sun readies tool support for 64-bit AMD systems; Studio 10 release set for release.
September 21, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems plans to release its Sun Studio 10 development tool in the fourth quarter of this year, featuring support for 64-bit applications running on AMD Opteron and Nocona processors, Sun officials said on...

Cape Clear, Neon in Web services deal; Deal aims to better integrate mainframe apps.
September 22, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Cape Clear Software and Neon Systems Inc. on Wednesday announced they are working together to integrate their respective technologies and allow users to quickly integrate mainframe applications and data through the use...

Former CA chief Sanjay Kumar indicted on fraud charges; He and another executive were accused of 'a massive accounting fraud'.
September 22, 2004... Byline: Matt Hamblen, Computerworld Computer Associates International Inc. CEO Sanjay Kumar and CA's former head of worldwide sales, Stephen Richards, have been indicted on charges of securities fraud conspiracy and obstruction of justice,...

IT Product Guide goes beta; Everything you always wanted to know about enterprise hardware and software … in one place.
September 22, 2004... Byline: Kevin McKean InfoWorld and Open Source Technology Group (OSTG), the parent company of such popular sites as Slashdot and SourceForge, are pleased to announce the public beta of a new resource for IT buyers. Called the IT...

Ex-CA boss Kumar pleads not guilty; Kumar says he expects to be exonerated of all charges.
September 23, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Former Computer Associates (CA) CEO Sanjay Kumar pleaded not guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., to charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice involving a multi-billion dollar...

Oracle attracting MySQL users; But converts going in both directions, execs say.
September 23, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Oracle is now seeing the MySQL database user base as an opportunity, unlike two years ago, when Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said users of the open source product are not the people who would buy Oracle because they did not...

Storage Decisions show parades new products; Veritas, EMC, Sun introduce wares.
September 23, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis IT managers may need more storage to handle all the storage announcements that occurred at this week's Storage Decisions show in Chicago as well as several other independent announcements. In New York, Sun...

Mark Logic envisions Open Content Architecture; Company offers open platform for building content apps.
September 24, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Mark Logic this week introduced its Open Content Architecture strategy for enabling enterprise customers to unify and manage unstructured content and other types of enterprise information. The Open Content...

Sun seeks data persistence model for Java; Developer effort would be derived from EJB, JDO specifications.
September 24, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems is looking to make life easier for Java developers by seeking a common ground on a data persistence model. In a letter to the “Java Technology Community” on Friday, specification leads on...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: ISA Server 2004 is a pleasant security surprise; Not known for getting security right, Microsoft seems to have done well this time.
September 24, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist I take a snip here, make a snide remark there, even endure a cheap shot every so often, but for the most part, nothing happens. Microsoft and security are two things that simply don’t want to mix. Such is the life...

SECURITY ADVISER: Decorating with tinfoil; These days, wireless security is less than logical, thanks to lacking standard support and FCC rigmarole.
September 24, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly Wireless is a two-edged security problem. A lot of people are still relying on WEP authentication and MAC (media access control) filtering to secure their networks, four years after WEP was demonstrated to be as...

Compuware readies tools for Microsoft apps development; Application performance, security to be highlighted.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Compuware plans to enhance its suite of products for the Microsoft development platform, with tools to improve application performance, code quality, and security. Debuting next year concurrently with...

Ivory keys in mainframe apps to Web services; GT Software unveils software to link legacy data to SOAs.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill GT Software next week will formally unveil its platform for outfitting mainframe applications with Web services functionality and linking legacy data into SOAs (service-oriented architectures). Conforming to Web...

IBM delivers Masala; Offering features new search capabilities.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore, Ed Scannell IBM later this week will deliver its long-awaited DB2 Information Integrator, code-named Masala, which contains a sophisticated search engine that allows corporate users to dig out and analyze data across...

Qwest adds VoIP to 10 markets; 12 additional cities on the way.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Qwest Communications International has added its OneFlex VoIP services for small, medium, and enterprise businesses to 10 additional markets. The new markets are Albuquerque, N.M.; Billings, Mo.; Bismarck, N.D.;...

SAS launches automated forecasting tool; Application targets vendors with huge number of SKUs.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz SAS unveiled on Monday a forecasting tool, SAS High-Performance Forecasting, targeted at industries that do large volumes of forecasts. The tool is designed for companies with a large number of product SKUs,...

Sun unveils mock Wal-Mart distribution center; Goal is to test tags for 100 percent compliance with retailer.
September 27, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Sun, an early leader in support of RFID, announced today the creation of a retail compliance test center that will simulate a Wal-Mart distribution center in order to evaluate RFID tag compliance for vendors. ...

Mercury Interactive unveils a tool to let users, not just IT, test applications; Business Process Testing adds a new twist to quality assurance.
September 28, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In an effort to reduce the cycle time between application design and testing and when the application is put into production, Mercury Interactive introduced this week Mercury Business Process Testing. The...

Network Physics adds to management line; New devices help enterprises secure the applications infrastructure.
September 29, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Network Physics has introduced a new distributed architecture for its network management and performance line aimed at helping enterprises ensure the integrity and security of the entire applications infrastructure. ...

Microsoft boosts BI; Upcoming and current databases to benefit.
September 29, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft is bolstering BI and reporting features in both the existing SQL Server 2000 database and the planned SQL Server 2005 release. The company has been focused on improving BI in SQL Server for the past few...

Technology aims for cooler datacenters; Syska's SmartServer promises to double rack space capacity.
September 30, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Syska Hennessy, an engineering, technology, and construction company, unveiled this week a unique design for cooling datacenters that would allow companies to pack almost double the number of servers into a...

Sun upgrades J2SE platform; Borland bolsters CORBA, Compuware lays map for supporting Visual Studio 2005.
September 30, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Application developers are getting a raft of new options this week with Sun updating J2SE, Borland upping its CORBA ante, and Compuware detailing products that will work with Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 toolbox. ...

Sun to drive Mustang as future release of Java; Web services, desktop, XML likely to be themes.
September 30, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Fresh from introducing a major upgrade to the Java platform, Sun Microsystems officials on Thursday revealed some details of the next release of Java, code-named “Mustang” and expected in Spring 2006. ...