Computerworld articles from April 2004

Computerworld archives from April 2004

Users cautiously optimistic about Sun-Microsoft accord: welcome improved collaboration, integration promised with settlement of legal disputes.
April 5, 2004... Users on Friday were guarded but hopeful about Sun Microsystems Inc. CEO Scott McNealy's decision to settle his company's long-running legal battle with Microsoft Corp., ostensibly ending years of contention and ushering in a new era of...

More IT jobs to go offshore, controversial ITAA report says: concludes that U.S. economy will benefit from growing trend.(Information Technology Association of America)
April 5, 2004... WASHINGTON More IT jobs will be created offshore than onshore over the next five years, but the overall U.S. economy will get a boost from the cost savings that offshore outsourcing yields. That's the conclusion of a controversial...

RFID tests Wal-Mart suppliers.(radio frequency identification)
April 5, 2004... Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last week confirmed that some of its 18 pharmaceutical suppliers didn't meet a March 31 deadline to put radio frequency identification tags on ware house packs of Class II narcotics. Wal-Mart said it now expects all...

IT execs seek links between SAN devices: vendors tout new products, but IT managers say interoperability is a must.(News)(information technology, storage area network)
April 5, 2004... THIS WEEK'S Storage Networking World Spring 2004 conference will showcase new products from companies like Microsoft Corp. and Snap Appliance Inc. But several users said last week that vendors need to make sure that the technology they develop...

Ladder maker uses Supply Chain tools to climb out of sales hole: software helps ramp down production after shipments to Home Depot end.(News)(Werner Co.)
April 5, 2004... In February, Werner Co. stopped shipping its ladders to The Home Depot Inc. The home improvement retailer was Werner's biggest customer, but the company was able to cushion the blow thanks to its production planning and reporting system. ...

IBM to ease licensing of its Power architecture: strategy aimed at better integration.(News)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... IBM last week outlined a plan to facilitate third-party licensing of its Power architecture as a means of advancing integration of a broad range of systems, from small devices to large servers. Company officials said the ability to...

Revolutionary IT advances surface on new navy vessel.(News)(information technology)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... THE U.S. NAVY has a new ship in its fleet that officers say may be the most technologically advanced vessel produced to date, with IT capabilities that are revolutionizing naval warfare and may play a vital role in military responses to...

McDonald's signs deal for IT support.(Briefs)(McDonald's Corp. - Affiliated Computer Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... McDonald's Corp. plans to outsource management of the IT infrastructure that supports its North American operations to Affiliated Computer Services Inc. Dallas-based ACS said the seven-year contract includes the fast food chain's mainframes,...

IBM buys Candle, adds system tools.(Briefs)(Candle Corp.)(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... IBM said it has agreed to buy Candle Corp., a vendor of tools for managing mainframes and other servers, for an undisclosed price. IBM's Tivoli Software unit already sells mainframe management tools, but the company said it's committed to...

Via e-mail, Gates gives security plan.(Briefs)(Bill Gates)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.'s chairman, sent a group of users who subscribe to an e-mail list a 3,500-word message that detailed the company's plan to better secure its software. Gates also noted that Microsoft will begin a series of regional...

Microsoft expands VoIP in win CE 5.0.(Briefs)(Microsoft Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Microsoft also said its upcoming Windows CE 5.0 operating system will provide expanded voice-over-IP capabilities, including VoIP support for dual-mode cellular and wireless LAN devices. In addition, Microsoft today will announce the formation...

Offshore outsourcers claim low-cost ...(On the Mark)
April 5, 2004... ... advantage is merely temporary. "It's not about competing on price," suggests Prime Joseph, chief operating officer of Allserve Systems Corp. Allserve is based in New Brunswick, N.J., but most of its 3,200 employees work in India. He says...

Gateway enters networking market.(News)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Expanding its efforts to reach IT managers, Gateway Inc. tomorrow plans to announce that it's entering the corporate networking equipment market with a line of wireless access points and low-end LAN switches. The company will offer nine...

Liability concerns prompt corporate P2P crackdown: firms guarding against suits related to illegal music-sharing on their networks.(News)(peer to peer)
April 5, 2004... THE ONGOING worldwide crackdown on illegal online music-sharing is highlighting the need for companies to detect and shut down unauthorized peer-to-peer activities on their networks. Last week, the International Federation of the...

Health system uses BMC tools to cut mainframe upgrade costs.(News)(BMC Software Inc.)
April 5, 2004... After using performance management software to improve batch-processing times for accounting and other functions, the WakeMed Health Network last week said it will be able to upgrade to a new mainframe this month for $850,000 less than it...

Wage inflation unlikely to soon end India's offshore dominance: benefits are still too attractive to unseat it as outsourcing leader, experts say.(News)
April 5, 2004... When U.S. companies look to move IT activities overseas to reduce costs, the labor savings in India are typically compelling enough to keep them from shopping around for IT skills in places like China or Eastern Europe. And even though...

Demand for IT contractors rising slowly.(News)(Corporate Revenue Growth)
April 5, 2004... As corporate revenue growth steadily improves this year, spending on new or backlogged IT projects is also expected to increase. But with IT staffs running lean following three consecutive years of cost cutting, many companies will look to...

Deputy CIO at DHS resigns from post.(Briefs)(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Laura Callahan, deputy CIO at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, resigned on March 26, a DHS spokeswoman said last week. Callahan had been on paid administrative leave since June, when questions surfaced about her academic...

Intel pays $225M to end patent suit.(Briefs)(Intel Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Intel Corp. will pay Intergraph Corp. $225 million to settle a patent dispute, the companies said last week. The settlement grants Intel a license for Intergraph's parallel instruction computing technology. Also, Madison, Ala.-based Intergraph...

Cisco warns users about hacking tool.(Briefs)(Cisco Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Cisco Systems Inc. last week warned users about the public release of computer code that exploits security vulnerabilities in Cisco products. The program could allow hackers to compromise Catalyst switches or machines running the Internetwork...

Unisys mainframe allows pay-per-use.(Briefs)(Unisys Corp. introduces ClearPath mainframe servers)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Unisys Corp. last week introduced a new line of ClearPath mainframe servers, one of which will be available with a pay-per-use pricing model that will cut costs by 20% to 30%, the company said. The ClearPath Plus Libra 500 line includes one...

Best Buy considers IT outsourcing options: may hand over IT, call center operations as it follows path of other major retailers.(News)(information technology)
April 5, 2004... BEST BUY CO. may join the collection of retailers that are opting to outsource a significant portion of their IT operations to major technology services companies. The Richfield, Minn.-based retail chain last week confirmed that it has...

Fortify launches tools for security testing during app development: product suite helps companies find and fix code flaws.(Fortify Software Inc.)
April 5, 2004... Security experts have long maintained that secure coding practices make for secure business applications. To that end, Fortify Software Inc. in Menlo Park, Calif., this week will join a small group of vendors offering tools designed to help...

SAS upgrade offers new tools for IT: aims to ease management of data marts.(News)(information technology)
April 5, 2004... IT managers and SAS users don't always see eye to eye. But SAS Institute Inc. last week released an upgrade of its data analysis software that includes new features designed to make it easier for IT departments to set up and centrally manage...

Gluecode customizes open-source apps.(News)(Gluecode Software)(open-source applications )
April 5, 2004... Gluecode Software last week announced a business automation server package that it's positioning as an open-source alternative to proprietary enterprise portal products such as IBM's WebSphere. Gluecode Enterprise Server 3.5 combines...

Gates suggests 2006 for Longhorn: release of alpha version expected later this year.(News)(Bill Gates )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates last week suggested 2006 as the release year for the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn. Speaking at Gartner Inc.'s Symposium/ITxpo event in San Diego, Gates stopped short of actually setting a...

IBM seeks knockout blow in SCO case: appears confident of no infringement.(News)(International Business Machines Corp.)(The SCO Group Inc.)
April 5, 2004... A recent court filing by IBM demonstrates the company's growing conviction that it will prevail in its legal dispute with The SCO Group Inc., according to lawyers following the case. In an amended counterclaim to SCO's lawsuit filed March...

Show of hands.(Opinion)
April 5, 2004... RAISE YOUR HAND if you're tired of the perpetual debate about how important the CIO role is to the business. (I'm picturing a veritable sea of hands out there.) I know I'm beyond bored with discussions about who's got a "seat at the table" and...

Security's weakest link.(Opinion)
April 5, 2004... A RECENTLY REPORTED security breach involving BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. has the Natick, Mass.-based retailer working with credit card companies to figure out just how many of its 8 million members had their credit card information compromised...

Perfect storm brewing for Microsoft?(Opinion)
April 5, 2004... THERE'S NO DOUBT in anyone's mind that Microsoft firmly controls the PC desktop market for business and consumer users, but a potential perfect storm is brewing. It could allow competitors to turn the tide against the software maker for the...

Boomers to linger.(Readers' Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 5, 2004... IT'S VERY DOUBTFUL that a mass exodus of baby boomers will occur as soon as they're eligible for retirement ["Stay Just a Little Bit Longer," QuickLink 44897]. There are two reasons for this. First, a large percentage of the IT world is...

RFID credit risk.(Readers' Letters)(credit card security measure)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... JAY CLINE'S ARTICLE "The RFID Privacy Scare Is Overblown" [QuickLink 44795] was mostly on target. Where he and I diverge is RFID-enhanced credit cards. I realize that there are risks with handing my credit card to a restaurant employee or using...

Offshoring makes false assumptions.(Readers' Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 5, 2004... I DON'T UNDERSTAND the call by the proponents of offshoring for Americans to become better educated. India, China and Eastern Europe can keep up with us on the educational front. What they have is the ability to undercut our labor costs. ...

Winning the name game: technology tools are helping companies monitor their reputations on the Internet.(Technology)
April 5, 2004... How MUCH is an organization's reputation worth? Just consider the fate of Martha Stewart's company since its founder has been in legal hot water--stock prices battered, consumers on the run and no place to lie low until the scandal fades from...

Data finds a place on the grid: vendor support and standards are just evolving, but companies are looking to share data across grids.(Technology)
April 5, 2004... THE DATA GRID has been playing second fiddle to the compute grid when it comes to media attention. But companies and public institutions searching for better ways to share and manage large amounts of data are beginning to take notice. A...

Search for tomorrow: search engines get smarter, more powerful.(Technology)
April 5, 2004... MOST information junkies would be hard-pressed to name anything that has transformed their professional lives as much as Internet search engines have. The miraculous devices can take your hot topic of the day, scan millions of Web pages and in...

Extensis revises Portfolio 7 Server.(Briefs)(Extensis Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Extensis Inc. in Portland, Ore., announced an updated release of its Portfolio 7 Server for digital asset management. New features include automatic content synchronization, enhanced collaboration and automated workflow tools. Also new are...

Sun offers early access to Java tool.(Briefs)(Sun Microsystems Inc.)(Sun Java Studio Creator application development tool)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Sun Microsystems Inc. announced that an early-access release of its Sun Java Studio Creator application development tool will be available April 8. The tool includes the Java Enterprise System runtime, the Java 2 Standard Edition Platform...

Jasomi updates VoIP controllers.(Briefs)(Jasomi Networks)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Jasomi Networks Inc. in San Jose last week announced an upgrade to its line of voice-over-IP controllers, known as PeerPoint 3.2. New features include enhanced midcall encryption, compliance with encryption standard RFC 3550, improved...

Zend app stabilizes PHP on Windows.(Briefs)(Zend Technologies Ltd)(PHP Hypertext Preprocessor )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Israel-based Zend Technologies Ltd. has announced WinEnabler, software designed to make the PHP Hypertext Preprocessor as stable in a Windows environment as it currently is on Linux and Unix, according to the company. PHP was initially written...

Anta announces VoIP system.(Briefs)(Anta Systems Inc)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Anta Systems Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif., last week announced the Simplicity VoIP System. It includes an IP PBX, a VoIP service switch and business-class phones based on the Session Initiation Protocol. The system can serve from 2,000...

Cheap scanning comes at a price: a global deployment of the free Nessus port-scanning software saves the budget but lacks the reports that management demands.(Technology)
April 5, 2004... VULNERABILITY assessments are a crucial aspect of our overall information security program. We use Nessus, a port scanner that's available free on the Internet, to conduct assessments of our infrastructure. To ensure that we have full coverage,...

Security bookshelf.(Security Log)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 5, 2004... Security Assessment: Case Studies for Implementing the NSA IAM, by Russ Rogers, Greg Miles, Ted Dykstra and Ed Fuller; Syngress, 2004. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This book shows how to conduct security assessments the National Security...

Trusted Network updates firewall.(Security Log)(Trusted Network Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Alpharetta, Ga.-based Trusted Network Technologies Inc. (TNT) this week will introduce a new version of its firewall technology designed for internal corporate networks. The technology combines a user authentication function with policy...

PivX launches security software.(Briefs)(PivX Solutions LLC)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... PivX Solutions LLC has released Qwik-Fix Pro, a desktop security program that the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company says detects and mitigates Windows and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities. The program, which issues "real-time fixes and...

Symbio releases thin-client suite.(Briefs)(Symbio Technologies LLC)(network management application)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Symbio Technologies LLC in New Rochelle, N.Y., has announced a new Linux-based thin-client network management application. The Symbiont Management Suite is a terminal services package that can be set up to let thin-client users access Windows,...

Durham Police use real-time video.(Briefs)(wireless surveillance system )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The Durham Police Department in North Carolina has deployed a wireless surveillance system that provides law enforcement personnel with real-time access to live video from a bank when its alarm system is activated. The system, from Melville,...

Pick your perspective on IT outsourcing.(Technology)
April 5, 2004... OUTSOURCING HAS ANCIENT ORIGINS. It has been the basis for all trade since the birth of organized society over 10,000 years ago. Civilization can progress only by making the best use of resources, wherever they may be available. That makes it...

The wide-ranging CIO: the CIO's realm of responsibility and influence is expanding well beyond traditional IT boundaries.(Management)
April 5, 2004... WHEN THE CEO, chief financial officer and other members of Accenture Ltd.'s partner income board meet to decide how the $1.4 billion consulting firm's profits should be divvied up each year, CIO Frank Modruson has both a seat at the table and a...

Storage education series; Part 3/ a matter of trust: testing storage.
April 5, 2004... The IT manager for a large bank recently approached my firm with a deceptively simple service request. His company was working to build a new data protection capability, and he had created a requirements specification and request for proposal...

No seat in the boardroom.(Brain Food for it Executives)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... AT A TIME WHEN corporations are increasingly reliant on technology, boardrooms are seriously deficient in IT knowledge and experience. Only 5% of the world's largest companies have CIOs on their boards of directors, reports a study by...

Best bits.(Brain Food for it Executives)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
April 5, 2004... The most useful parts of recent business and IT management books: THE BOOK: Blissful Data, by Margaret Y. Chu (Amacom, 2004). I doubt the term blissful data will catch on--somehow I imagine chads floating dreamily in swirls of marijuana...

Things to ponder.(Brain Food for IT Executives)(Customer-Friendliness)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... * In a Gartner Inc. weblog, analyst Rich Mogull points out that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act doesn't regulate corporate intelligence; it merely regulates internal controls and financial reporting. "Companies can take as much risk as they want, make...

Document and content management software is suddenly ranking as a high priority for IT spending.(The IT Economy)(information technology)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... * Document and content management software is suddenly ranking as a high priority for IT spending, probably because of Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements, according to a survey of 50 U.S. CIOs by Merrill Lynch & Co. Other high-ranking software...

Retailers are increasing their IT spending by more than 9% this year.(The IT Economy)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... * Retailers are increasing their IT spending by more than 9% this year, the most dramatic increase since the invention of barcode scanners, says AMR Research Inc. in Boston.

Chief financial officers at the nation's hospitals predict a big, 14% leap in capital spending this year.(The IT Economy)(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... * Chief financial officers at the nation's hospitals predict a big, 14% leap in capital spending this year to fix deteriorating facilities and upgrade technology, according to a survey of 460 hospital CFOs by the Healthcare Financial Management...

Corporate technology confidence index.(The IT Economy)(evaluation)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The index edged upward in February because of optimism about IT spending and hiring in the coming months. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] BASE: 212 corporate IT buyers. An above-zero score indicates more positive responses than negative. ...

Outtakes: a roundup of news and notes about outsourcing's impact on IT jobs.(Career Watch)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... * IF IBM PLANS to add 5,000 jobs in the U.S. this year but move 3,000 U.S. jobs offshore, that still means 2,000 new domestic jobs. Right? Not exactly, according to The Wall Street Journal, which points out that IBM's U.S. outsourcing...

Numbers crunch.(Career Watch; IT professionals)
April 5, 2004... Numbers Crunch 57% Percentage of Cisco Certified Internetworking Experts (CCIE) who reported receiving a raise in the past 12 months $4,875 Average raise received by CCIEs reporting a pay increase 16% Percentage...

Keys to success.(Career Watch; business survey)
April 5, 2004... What are the most critical factors for success over the next 12 months? 1 Retention of key workers 2 Flexible business strategies 3 Partnering with others 4 Getting more from IT 5 Increased available funding BASE: 387...

CIO pay.(Career Watch)(Chief information officers)(Illustration)
April 5, 2004... AVERAGE INDUSTRY COMPENSATION Insurance $223k Finance $220k Computer-related $209k Manufacturing $176k Education $126k Government...

Live! From online! IT training!(Career Watch)(Information Technology)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... BARRY KAUFMAN, chief technology officer and founder of Intense School Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., says the future of technology training is online because it's low-cost and "a step above classroom training." Not surprisingly, then, his...

Splintered confidence.(Career Watch)(ceos and cios survey)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... CEOs and CIOs are out of sync on the confidence meter. A February poll of 182 CEOs by Chief Executive magazine shows CEO confidence down by 5% from January, the steepest decline since early 2003. CIOs, meanwhile, are more optimistic....

Gateway names Lee senior VP of IT.(Briefs)(Andy Lee appointed)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Gateway Inc. announced its new senior management team following the completion of its acquisition of eMachines Inc. in March and named Andy Lee senior vice president of IT. Lee was formerly CEO of Alorica Inc., a software outsourcer that worked...

Pierce moves up at Genentech.(Briefs)(Todd Pierce promoted)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Genentech Inc., a biotechnology company in South San Francisco, last week announced the promotion of Todd Pierce to vice president of corporate IT. Pierce, who has been managing the IT group, will also chair the IT Strategy Council at...

Pentagon unit cited for innovation.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Finance and Accounting Service won the fifth annual Accenture Ltd. and MIT Federal Government Innovator award for technology that delivers public-sector value. The prize recognized myPay, a Web-based...

Vendor offers 'PMO in a Box'.(Briefs; Project Management)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Project Management Solutions Inc., a consulting, training and research firm in Havertown, Pa., has launched a new service to help companies quickly establish and maintain best practices in their project management offices. Depending on the...

Selecting new IT leaders.(Management)
April 5, 2004... ONE OF THE great privileges and responsibilities of leadership is identifying and training the next generation of managers and leaders. Somewhere in between crisis management, contract negotiations, internal politics, status monitoring and your...

IT Careers: education and training.(Advertising Supplement)(information technology)
April 5, 2004... Most folks are working so hard that there's little time to think about adding any more to their schedule. However, adding learning and capabilities has long been the recipe for maintaining marketability among IT professionals. That's...

ITAA's job dream.(Frankly Speaking)(Information Technology Association of America)(Column)
April 5, 2004... HERE'S A COMFORTING BEDTIME STORY: Offshoring won't just save companies money. It will also create jobs. And reduce inflation. And grow the economy. Those are the top-line conclusions of a new report from the Information Technology Association...

She's Baaaaaaaack!(The Back Page)
April 5, 2004... This site's network is hit by the Netsky worm, which begins sending infected e-mails that appear to be from people in users' address books. "Apparently, some people hadn't cleaned out their address books for quite a while," says pilot fish....

Pulling the plug; war stories--and lessons learned--from IT leaders faced with products that didn't work as advertised.(Management)(information technology)
April 12, 2004... The software isn't working--or it isn't scaling up. Users are fuming about delays. Relations with the vendor have become tense. It's time for the CIO to take decisive action. YOUR ORGANIZATION has invested thousands, maybe millions, of...

Sun-Microsoft pact whets users' appetites for more: IT execs want truce to set standard that other vendors can emulate.(News)(information technology)
April 12, 2004... The agreement between Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to improve interoperability was an essential step toward enabling broad adoption of technologies such as Web services and grid computing, users said last week. And they want other...

Identity management will benefit from accord, exec says.(News)
April 12, 2004... The interoperability agreement between Sun Microsystems and Microsoft will make it easier and cheaper for companies to manage user identities across both vendors' environments, according to John Fowler, Sun's chief technology officer. But...

Users question commitment to storage standard: vendors pass tests for management interface compliance; doubts about full support linger.
April 12, 2004... The Storage Networking Industry Association last week said that more than 100 storage devices have passed a test for compliance with a new management interoperability standard. But users were skeptical that they will suddenly be able to easily...

Rift with PeopleSoft splits Quest: two special-interest groups defect from user organization.(News)(Quest International Users Group)
April 12, 2004... Quest International Users Group, the independent organization that has been at odds with PeopleSoft Inc. in recent months, is losing some of its members to the software vendor's main coalition of user groups, raising new questions about Quest's...

Dell, Oracle ink database, server deal.(News)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Oracle Corp. has cut a deal with Dell Inc. to make the server maker its partner of choice for bundling and configuring its database software for sales to the low-end, high-volume marketplace. The companies last week announced an exclusive...

Former CA execs admit to fraud.(At Deadline)(Computer Associates International Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Three former finance executives at Computer Associates International Inc. pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy charges related to improper booking of sales during the company's 2000 fiscal year. Among those entering pleas was...

Sun's cuts prompt processor changes.(At Deadline)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Sun Microsystems Inc. said it's dropping plans to develop an UltraSparc V high-end processor and a chip called Gemini for lowend servers. Instead, Sun will focus on developing a pair of server chips code-named Rock and Niagara. The changes are...

Vendors team on Cobol migration.(At Deadline)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Microsoft Corp. and Micro Focus International Ltd. in Rockville, Md., said they're teaming up to support migration of Cobol mainframe applications to Windows servers. The deal is built around the use of rehosting software developed by Micro...

Foundry launches high-layer switches to help block attacks; products focus on prevention of DoS attacks.(News)(denial-of-service)
April 12, 2004... FOUNDRY Networks Inc. today will announce modular and stackable switches for Layer 4-7 tasks, with a particular focus on corporate security requirements. San Jose-based Foundry will launch two modular switches dubbed ServerIron 450 and...

Group urges feds to leverage buying power to boost security.(News)(united states federal agencies)
April 12, 2004... A working group of representatives from IT trade and security organizations is calling for federal agencies to use their massive buying power to force IT vendors to build more secure products. The Corporate Information Security Working...

IT execs ambivalent about subscription pricing: Sun plans to adopt model for Solaris; lower costs unlikely.(Sun Microsystems Inc.)
April 12, 2004... Software subscription licensing plans, like the one Sun Microsystems Inc. intends to offer for its Solaris operating system, may be appealing to some users. But companies aren't expecting the model to lower their costs. "I can see the...

IT vets reminisce on IBM 360's 40th anniversary.(International Business Machines Corp.)
April 12, 2004... LAS VEGAS As IBM celebrated the 40th anniversary of its System/360 mainframe in Silicon Valley last week, gray hair gave away the IBM 360 veterans attending the AFCOM conference, which took place here at about the same time as IBM's...