Computerworld articles from December 2004

Computerworld archives from December 2004

Users see slow progress on microsoft-sun alliance: vendors provide first update on joint efforts.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... The progress report that Microsoft Corp. and Sun Micro-systems Inc. issued last week on their joint initiatives left some IT managers and analysts wondering when or if the long-term collaboration that the two companies have promised will...

Data center gains may imperil jobs: Gartner says half of IT operations positions could vanish in 20 years; users aren't so sure.(NEWS)(Information technology)
December 6, 2004... In an eyebrow-raising forecast that was met with a mix of skepticism and nonchalance by some IT managers, Gartner Inc. analysts last week predicted that as many as 50% of the IT operations jobs in the U.S. could disappear over the next two...

Lack of tests could block virtualization.
December 6, 2004... Server virtualization technology is expected to play a big role in increasing CPU utilization rates on x86-based servers in the next few years. But attendees at Gartner Inc.'s data center conference here last week said one potential road-block...

Borland replaces IBM tools at EDS.(AT DEADLINE)(Electronic Data Systems Corp.)(Borland Software Corp)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Electronic Data Systems Corp. has opted to replace its IBM Rational application life-cycle management tools with Borland Software Corp. tools, said Borland CEO Dale Fuller. Fuller described the deal in a conference call as "a multiyear,...

Microsoft adds new NT support plan.(AT DEADLINE)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Microsoft Corp. announced last week that on Jan. 1 it will begin offering a fee-based custom support program for Windows NT 4.0 Server. The extended support period for the server product is due to expire at month's end. The new program will run...

Opsware buys Rendition for $33m.(AT DEADLINE)(Rendition Networks)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Opsware Inc. last week agreed to buy privately held Rendition Networks, a maker of network device automation technology. Opsware plans to integrate the Rendition products with its line of IT automation and utility computing software. Once the...

Dell wins $700m pact with Philips.(AT DEADLINE)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Dell Inc. last week was awarded a five-year, $700 million contract to provide hardware and managed desktop services to Dutch electronics giant Philips Electronics NV. The contract calls for Dell to manage desktop computers, printers, office...

CA picks SAP's apps for global ERP system: says rollout will help it fulfill settlement with DOJ, address accounting issues.(NEWS)(COMPUTER Associates International Inc.)(SAP AG)
December 6, 2004... COMPUTER Associates International Inc. last week said it plans to roll out SAP AG's ERP software globally, partly to help meet the requirements of the deferred-prosecution deal CA reached with the U.S. Department of Justice in September. ...

IM spread causing management headaches: financial services firms struggle to comply with regulations, appease users.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... The spread of instant messaging in the financial services industry is causing compliance and technology challenges for IT managers who must not only monitor and archive electronic communications but also root out and shut down unauthorized IM...

E-voting woes force new election in N.C. county: touch-screen errors led to loss of 4,400 ballots.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... Voters in one North Carolina county can return to the polls next month to recast ballots that were lost due to a malfunctioning e-voting machine in the November election. The state's Board of Elections voted last week to allow about 4,400...

IBM linux Servers to support Sybase.(BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... IBM has agreed to support and jointly market Sybase Inc.'s Adaptive Server Enterprise database software on its eServer Open-Power Linux servers by early next year. The move extends IBM's support for one of its DB2 software rivals. The agreement...

EDS wins $480m outsourcing pact.(BRIEFS)(Electronic Data Systems Corp)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The provincial government of British Columbia awarded a $480 million outsourcing contract to Electronic Data Systems Corp. to develop and implement business processes and IT systems. The 10-year deal calls for the EDS Advanced Solutions Inc....

Hackers mock SCO's Linux claims.(BRIEFS)( The SCO Group Inc)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Hackers compromised The SCO Group Inc.'s Web site twice last week, posting messages that mocked the company's claims to own parts of Linux. SCO, a frequent target of online attacks since it filed a lawsuit against IBM last year, acknowledged...

Microsoft probes Windows flaw.(BRIEFS)
December 6, 2004... Microsoft Corp. last week said it's investigating a security flaw in Windows Server that could allow an attacker to gain control over systems running the software. The flaw lies in the Windows Internet Name Service, a network infrastructure...

Isis protects networks from attacks that ...(ON THE MARK)(Secured Services Inc)
December 6, 2004... ... start inside firewalls. And that's most of them, according to the San Francisco-based Computer Security Institute, which estimates that 60% of attacks against networks come from machines within corporate firewalls. As IT managers know all...

Business must be a CIO's no. 1 priority: communicating with business leaders, delivering results are key to survival.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... CIOs MUST demonstrate a strong command of business requirements and the ability to effectively communicate the business benefits of IT projects, and they must deliver projects as promised to gain the trust and respect of senior management,...

New tools show how systems affect business processes.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... Two software vendors today are unveiling packages designed to improve IT services management capabilities in corporations by giving officials greater insight into the relationships between parts of an IT system tied to a business process. ...

Cingular set to deploy 3G network.(BRIEFS)(Cingular Wireless LLC)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Cingular Wireless LLC last week outlined plans to begin deploying a third-generation network with average data speeds of 400K to 700Kbit/sec. and bursts to several megabits per second on capable devices. Cingular said the recent acquisition of...

Apache group may hire full-time staff.(BRIEFS)(Apache Software Foundation)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... The Apache Software Foundation may soon need to hire full-time, paid staffers to keep up with an increasing load of legal work and fundraising tasks, said Brian Behlendorf, a co-founder and director of the Forest Hill, Md.-based group. A board...

AOL adds more IE support to browser.(BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... America Online Inc. has brought out a preview version of a Net-scape Firefox-based Web browser that includes support for Microsoft Corp.'s ubiquitous Internet Explorer browser engine. The new browser lets users easily switch to IE to show sites...

IBM signs pacts, buys Danish firms.(BRIEFS)(AP Moller-Maersk AS)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... IBM reached agreements with two Danish companies on outsourcing deals that together are worth more than $1 billion. IBM signed a five-year agreement with shipping container giant AP Moller-Maersk AS and a 10-year pact with Danske Bank AS. IBM...

HP revives plan for tool to slow viruses: 'throttler' meets a need, say analysts, but client tool may be more effective.(NEWS)(HEWLETT-PACKARD Co.)
December 6, 2004... HEWLETT-PACKARD Co.'s planned launch of so-called virus-throttler software early next year addresses a growing need for tools that can help slow the spread of viruses on corporate networks, IT security analysts said last week. But the...

Cisco, others expand 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches.(NEWS)(Cisco Systems Inc.)
December 6, 2004... Cisco Systems Inc. last week added two supervisor engines with 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports to its midrange and high-end switch lines, and Alcatel and Hewlett-Packard Co. both plan to announce new switches that support the technology today. ...

Blair urges jail time for ID card abuses.(GLOBAL DISPATCHES)(Tony Blair)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... LONDON U.K. PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair last week tried to quell growing concern over the security of the country's forthcoming national identity card program by threatening jail time for anyone caught tampering with the project's massive...

Aussie 'Green Machine' recycles printer waste.(GLOBAL DISPATCHES)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... SYDNEY AUSTRALIANS use 18 million printer consumables per year, and most of the ink-jet and toner cartridges end up as hazardous landfill. But an Australian company has developed a recycling plant that transforms the waste into commercial...

Philippine group seeks U.S. outsourcing deals.(GLOBAL DISPATCHES)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... MANILA A GROUP OF BUSINESSMEN in the Philippines is creating a holding company that will give financial incentives to U.S.-based Filipinos who market the country as a destination for outsourced business and IT services. The group would pay...

Microsoft Corp.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Microsoft Corp. in January will open a research laboratory in Bangalore, India, that will focus on computing technologies for emerging markets, as well as sensors, multilingual systems and geographic information systems. Microsoft's other...

Department of Veterans' Affairs.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Australia's Department of Veterans' Affairs in Canberra is considering dumping Microsoft's Office suite in favor of open-source desktop software for about 3,000 end users, according to a government document requesting bids. * RODNEY GEDDA,...

BT Group PLC.(Briefly Noted)(contracts with European Union institutions)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... London-based BT Group PLG last week said it had won a contract to supply secure IP network services to 15 European Union institutions. The deal could be worth up to $215 million over eight years, BT said. LAURA ROHDE, IDG NEWS SERVICE

Plugfest signals serial devices ready to go.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... More than 100 engineers from storage vendors gathered in New Hampshire last month for a final round of interoperability testing between Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA disk drives, organizers plan to announce today. Vendors said...

Oracle updates BI tools, content manager.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... Amid continued uncertainty surrounding the fate of its multibillion-dollar hostile bid for rival PeopleSoft Inc., Oracle Corp. this week intends to unveil updates to its content management and business intelligence tools, as well as other...

New CEO lays out his priorities for CA.(Q&A)(John Swainson of Computer Associates International Inc.)(Interview)
December 6, 2004... Beleaguered Computer Associates International Inc. brought in veteran IBM executive John Swainson as president and CEO-elect to stabilize the company after the forced departure of predecessors amid state and federal investigations of financial...

CA: confusion already.(OPINION)(Computer Associates )
December 6, 2004... WELL, GOOD GRIEF. Talk about a missed opportunity to send out a message of control and stability. When Computer Associates announced on Nov. 23 that it had found a CEO after seven months of acting-CEO limbo, CA's users had reason to breathe a...

Using PR to win the info war.(OPINION)
December 6, 2004... AS COMMANDER in chief of the Continental Army, George Washington learned a lesson that many IT leaders lamentably come to appreciate too late in their careers: True victory is accomplished not on the battlefield, but in the hearts and minds of...

Supply chain software is no match for profit quest.(OPINION)
December 6, 2004... IF YOUR family is like mine, the week after Thanksgiving usually consists of eating turkey. Lots of turkey. There must be something wrong with our enterprise software inventory and supply chain management application, because this year, we...

Dawning of the converged IP network: intelligent "systems-on-a-chip" earning it accolades.(ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT)
December 6, 2004... Broadband IP network convergence has been redefining itself of late, both as a market and as a corporate strategy. As a result, "We've emerged from the 'kick-the-tires' phase," says John Roese, CTO of Enterasys Networks. "CIOs are seeing...

Driving security.(Letter to the Editor)
December 6, 2004... BRUCE SCHNEIER'S latest opinion piece in Computerworld, "Make Vendors Pay for Security Flaws" [QuickLink 50161], is correct on premise but flawed on proposed solutions. We should make vendors pay for security flaws, but increased liability law...

Fostering creativity.(Letter to the Editor)
December 6, 2004... WHO COULD disagree with Paul Glen's ideas about encouraging creativity in technical staff ["To Each His Own," QuickLink 49487]? However, if someone wants to try his hand at writing, there are no "wrong questions," because any advice you offer...

Sponsor support.(Letter to the Editor)
December 6, 2004... REGARDING Mitch Betts' "Building Bridges: Marketing IT" item in the Oct. 4 Think Tank [QuickLink 49502], I would add a sixth point: Assign skilled and committed marketing division sponsors to all marketing projects, and make the sponsors...

Cool stuff: for the gadget mavens on your holiday shopping list, we present our annual look at some of the great new gizmos available for the office and home and on the road.(TECHNOLOGY)
December 6, 2004... fabulous phones for all BlackBerry 7100t PRICE: $200 Research In Motion Ltd. www.rim.com At long last, a BlackBerry that looks and feels like a phone--and the 7100t handles e-mail as well as its predecessors did. RIM...

Riding the grid wave: Wolfgang Gentzsch says that, eventually, there will be no difference between the Internet and 'the grid.'.(FUTURE WATCH)
December 6, 2004... WOLFGANG GENTZSCH says grid computing will come in three waves. The first, well under way, primarily involves the academic research community. The second, just beginning, brings in corporations as users. The third, still some years off, will...

The password is: useless (probably): a secure password is the first line of defense, but too often they're as easy to crack as your knuckles.(SECURITY MANAGER'S JOURNAL)
December 6, 2004... WHAT GOOD is a fire-wall when you can crack more than 50% of the passwords on the network? It was just a fluke that we ran a password audit last week on our own domain and that of a subsidiary with which we have a full two-way trust...

Keeping tabs on external media.(DeviceLock 5.7)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... San Ramon, Calif.-based SmartLine Inc. is rolling out Version 5.7 of DeviceLock, a tool that lets systems administrators control end-user access to PC devices and ports, including USB and FireWire ports and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters. The new...

Fujitsu focuses on notebook security.(SECURITY LOG)(Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. is emphasizing security features in its new LifeBook $7000 notebook. Among the features offered are the AuthenTec biometric fingerprint sensor device; the Fujitsu Security Panel, which lets users select one of...

Securing Wi-Fi.(SECURITY LOG)(AirTight Networks Inc.)(SpectraGuard)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... AirTight Networks Inc. announced a new release of SpectraGuard, its Wi-Fi fire-wall. The San Jose-based company said Version 2.0 protects against Wi-Fi security threats such as rogue access points, misconfigured access points, clients...

Sterling rolls out services platform.(BRIEFS)(Sterling Commerce Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Sterling Commerce Inc. in Dublin, Ohio, announced its Multi-Enterprise Services Architecture, which is designed to allow companies to extend Web-services-based applications beyond the enterprise. Sterling will offer services for business...

Cisco announces switching platform.(BRIEFS)(ONS 15310 CS Sonet Multi-service Provisioning Platform)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Cisco Systems Inc. announced the ONS 15310 CS Sonet Multi-service Provisioning Platform, a new optical switching system for use on the edge of networks. It's designed to help users deploy services such as private-line and switched Ethernet...

Compuware bundle covers governance.(BRIEFS)(Compuware IT Governance by Changepoint)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Compuware Corp. this week announced Compuware IT Governance by Changepoint, a bundle of software products, including some resulting from Compuware's acquisition of Changepoint Corp. The package is designed to provide a comprehensive view of the...

802.11n's pregame show.(TECHNOLOGY)
December 6, 2004... IN THE Star Wars movie parody Spaceballs, the character Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis) commands his crew to shift to "ridiculous speed" to pursue another spaceship. Ignoring warnings from his crew that the technology is unproven and...

Nokia for business.(Interview)(Advertisement)
December 6, 2004... Working-At-Home Walter Who can blame Working-At-Home Walter for feeling a bit smug as he tunes his radio to the morning traffic report? He's not stuck in that freeway mess caused by the overturned lobster truck. He hasn't even shaved,...

Out of sync: global data synchronization can boost worldwide supply chain efficiency, but achieving it may be complicated, painful and costly.(MANAGEMENT)
December 6, 2004... RADIO FREQUENCY identification may be grabbing headlines as the hot technology in the retail supply chain. But another mammoth initiative was gathering steam long before Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked its suppliers to affix RFID tags to pallets and...

Data synchronization.(GLOSSARY)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... DATA SYNCHRONIZATION: The process of aligning data between trading partners. Updates to data attributes, such as a change in price or the addition of a color, are automatically delivered to recipients who previously synchronized on published...

Global data synchronization network (GDSN).(GLOSSARY)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... GLOBAL DATA SYNCHRONIZATION NETWORK (GDSN): A global registry and network of interoperable data pools that enable the synchronizing of data between trading partners. The global network removes the need for retailers and suppliers to synchronize...

GS1 registry.(new directory from Global Data Synchronization Network)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... GS1 REGISTRY: The centralized directory of the Global Data Synchronization Network. Basic information about products and the companies that make and sell them is registered and stored in the GS1 Registry. "Pointers" are provided to the...

Data pool.(GLOSSARY)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... DATA POOL: An entity that provides data synchronization services, registry services and a single point of entry to the GDSN. Data pools must be certified according to EAN/UCC system standards. Data pools interoperate with the GS1 Global...

Thinktank: brain food for IT executives.(MANAGEMENT)
December 6, 2004... Employees spend an average of 30 minutes per week either trying to fix their own PC problems or working on a coworker's PC problems, according to research by Compass America Inc., a Chicago-based IT benchmarking firm. [ILLUSTRATION...

Career watch.(MANAGEMENT)
December 6, 2004... Toxic Toll A NEW STUDY indicates that 90% of the world's highest-paid and best-educated executives aren't helping their companies increase sales or profits, and 38% aren't providing any quantifiable benefit at all to their organizations....

Just think about it.(MANAGEMENT)
December 6, 2004... MANAGERS, AS A GROUP, tend to be action-oriented. We measure ourselves, our importance and our effectiveness in part by the level of activity around us. The louder the hum of machinery, the faster the shuffle of feet in the corridor and the...

IT risk analysis.(QUICK HITS)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 6, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] How does your organization incorporate risk analysis into your current technology justification process? Qualitative discussion of risk 53% Risk tied directly...

CICS transaction server adds web services support: also offers C++ support as Cobol, Java alternative.(NEWS)
December 6, 2004... IBM last week rolled out a new version of its CICS Transaction Server software that will let users extend mainframe data to service-oriented architectures. CICS Transaction Server for z/OS v3.1 will allow CICS to function as both a...

Numbers game.(FRANKLY SPEAKING)(Correction Notice)
December 6, 2004... DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Last month in this space, I reported on The Standish Group's most recent Chaos survey. I said that only 28% of IT projects succeed, 18% are canceled, and 51% are "challenged"--seriously late, over budget and lacking...

Details, details.(information technology)
December 6, 2004... This database server is suddenly getting slammed with queries--and a support pilot fish soon gets calls complaining that the ERP system won't respond. Restarting it doesn't help, but fish finally finds the culprit: a runaway calculation in the...

Good to great: CIO Joe Amado's focus on leadership, project management and customer service has revved up IT performance at Philip Morris USA.(CASE STUDY)(Chief information officers)
December 13, 2004... THE IT DEPARTMENT at Philip Morris USA Inc. is a poster child for aligning IT with a company's business divisions. Just ask Henry P. Long Jr. Long, vice president of leaf purchasing at the tobacco giant, raves about how IT leaders work...

Powerful partnerships: here's how the Wharton School has leveraged IT vendor collaboration to reap unexpected rewards.(IT MENTOR)(Information technology)
December 13, 2004... PARTNERSHIPS are a fact of life in today's world. Strong IT partnerships have the power to vitalize and even transform a business, provided you follow a clear strategy and manage them carefully. At the Wharton School of the University of...

Finish the feud: how to get users and the help desk to play nicely together.(MANAGEMENT)(role of information technology services)
December 13, 2004... FEW AREAS in business create more sparks, conflict and frustration than the interplay between tech support and its customers. Expectations on both sides are often unrealistic, and appreciating each other's position is tough. Here are some tips...

Career watch.(Q&A)(Information technology services)
December 13, 2004... Holiday Bonus? Humbug! MOST U.S. COMPANIES won't award a holiday bonus this year, according to a survey of 271 U.S. companies by Hewitt Associates Inc., a human resources services firm in Lincolnshire, Ill. But the percentage of...

IBM PC users face uncertain future: some worry about product quality, support after planned sale; others see no big changes.(NEWS)
December 13, 2004... Now that IBM plans to sell its PC division to Beijing-based Lenovo Group Ltd., the big question is whether the companies can keep users from defecting to other vendors--which would put IBM's once standard-setting PCs even further behind systems...

Cisco users see some pricing relief: vendor has lowered its costs, they say, but not across the board.(NEWS)(Cisco Systems Inc.)
December 13, 2004... Cisco Systems Inc.'s prices have typically been higher than those charged by its smaller networking rivals. But some IT managers and analysts said last week that the pricing situation has improved modestly for Cisco customers. Two analysts...

Compliance pressures prod IT to limit use of spreadsheets: business intelligence vendors offer tools to eliminate input errors.(News)(information technology)
December 13, 2004... In the face of tighter regulatory controls for reporting financial data, many IT departments are wrestling to eliminate or control the widespread use of spreadsheets. But many end users are likely to rebel if the ubiquitous tool is taken away...

AT&T wins $174m networking pact.(AT DEADLINE)(global networking contract)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... AT&T Corp. last week won a $174 million global networking contract from Siemens AG. The four-year deal calls for AT&T to provide Siemens with a management framework using AT&T's Business-Direct Web portal. Siemens officials said the portal will...

Nortel, Symantec join to beat bugs.(AT DEADLINE)(Nortel Networks Ltd., Symantec Corp)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Nortel Networks Ltd. and Symantec Corp. last week agreed to jointly deliver products to help companies filter out Internet attacks before they reach servers and other corporate systems. Under the terms of the agreement, Nortel will begin...

AT&T gets $1b Treasury contract.(AT DEADLINE)(AT&T Corp. AT&T Government Solutions contract with Department of the Treasury)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... The U.S. Department of the Treasury awarded a $1 billion contract to AT&T Government Solutions and partners to build a new secure high-speed network for its operations. The network will connect more than 1,000 Treasury locations, linking tens...

Siemens buys WLAN developer.(AT DEADLINE)(Chantry Networks Inc. wireless local area networks.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Siemens Communications last week agreed to acquire wireless LAN start-up Chantry Networks Inc. Terms weren't disclosed. Officials said Siemens will add the Chantry Beacon Works product, a WLAN switch, to its HiPath product line. Siemens'...

Process, integration key to CRM success: some IT managers share lessons from failed projects.(NEWS)(customer relationship management)
December 13, 2004... A STRONG business process, robust application integration capabilities and solid management buy-in are key factors in any successful CRM installation, said users at two events in San Francisco last week. IT managers on panels at Oracle...

Microsoft offers more support for NT Server--at a price: will charge flat fee for security fixes.(NEWS)(Windows NT 4.0)
December 13, 2004... IT managers at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America knew that support for the company's Windows NT 4.0 servers was due to end on Dec. 31. But they hoped that Microsoft Corp. would relent and continue to provide security fixes free of...

BEA and Oracle add SOA tools to App Servers.(NEWS)(service-oriented architectures, application servers)
December 13, 2004... BEA Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp. last week detailed new features in their application servers that are designed to help companies build service-oriented architectures (SOA). BEA announced the beta version of WebLogic Server Version 9.0,...

Start-up building gridlike tools.(BRIEFS)
December 13, 2004... Former Oracle Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and BEA Systems Inc. executives last week launched Cassatt Corp. to build gridlike tools to automate IT operations, leverage commodity hardware and software, and govern network compute cycles. Founders...

Nortel to restate results next year.(BRIEFS)(Nortel Networks Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Nortel Networks Corp. last week said it plans to refile 2003 and first-half 2004 results starting Jan. 10. Nortel said it expects to report unaudited third-quarter results next week, along with updates to its previously announced estimated...

U.K. agency suffers computer mishaps.(BRIEFS)(Department for Work and Pensions)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Some 40,000 computers in the U.K.'s Department for Work and Pensions lost access to their network last month when a software upgrade was incorrectly installed, the latest in a series of computer mishaps that the agency has experienced....

Mozilla releases open-source e-mail.(BRIEFS)(Thunderbird e-mail client)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... The Mozilla Foundation last week released Version 1.0 of its Thunderbird e-mail client, just weeks after launching its Firefox 1.0 Web browser. The stand-alone open-source e-mail application, which has been in development since early 2003,...

Open-source rivals go to the mat ...(ON THE MARK)
December 13, 2004... ... in a middleware smackdown. While it may not produce as bloody a match as the once-epic struggle between Microsoft and Sun did, JBoss Inc. and Gluecode Software Inc. are squaring off for a tussle over which of their open-source alternatives...

IT execs take different paths to align with business units: some tout strong IT guidance; others let users take the lead on priorities.(NEWS)(Information technology executives)
December 13, 2004... SPEAKING before a group of senior IT executives last week, James Woolwine, CIO at Majestic Insurance Co., outlined a governance model that gives the insurer's business units the power to set his technology priorities. He then asked for...

IT cost-cutting shifts to software: enterprises reduce licenses for servers.(NEWS)(information technology)
December 13, 2004... After three years of cutting IT costs through server consolidation and selective outsourcing, enterprise IT shops are now focused on reducing software expenses, according to IT managers and analysts interviewed last week. Several factors...

BT to migrate call centers to VoIP.(BRIEFS)(Communications protocols)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... BT Group PLC last week said it will migrate its U.K. call centers to a new voice-over-IP system over two years. The system will allow 9,700 call center agents at 124 sites to work as one team in a single, virtual customer-contact center. BT...