Computerworld articles from November 2003

Computerworld archives from November 2003

Haunted by the past.(Special Report: Comdex fall 2003)
November 3, 2003... The survival plan that Comdex show organizers came up with earlier this year--to recast the event as one strictly focused on corporate IT--may have been brilliant. But few IT professionals appear to have gotten the message, and lingering...

Shippers face big IT security costs but see future savings: the right mix of tools would boost efficiency.(News)
November 3, 2003... Private port operators and shipping companies in the U.S. will likely be expected to pay for the bulk of the multibillion-dollar effort the government says is necessary to protect the nation's global supply chain from terrorist attacks. ...

Information life-cycle tools appealing but remain distant: better interoperability a first step, users say.(News)
November 3, 2003... IT managers are intrigued by new technology designed to automatically manage data from creation to deletion. But many users at last week's Storage Networking World Fall 2003 conference here cautioned that so-called information lifecycle...

Online: www.computerworld.com.
November 3, 2003... Four Ways to Secure Your Company on a Shoestring Budget SECURITY: Even without a lot of funds for security, there are low-cost steps you can take to reduce risk. QuickLink 42442 Enhance WLAN Security MOBILE/WIRELESS: Two...

Comdex's past may be its biggest obstacle to survival: organizers fail to get message across that show has been refocused for IT.(Special Report)
November 3, 2003... THE CORPORATE IT community appears not to have gotten the message that Comdex/Fall is being recast as a scaled-down event focusing exclusively on IT professionals. And that's bad news for show organizers who are pinning the event's survival on...

Programmers welcome Longhorn demos, but the wait continues: developers would like software to be ready sooner.(News)
November 3, 2003... Programmers expressed keen interest in many of the code-named technologies that Microsoft Corp. demonstrated last week at its Professional Developers Conference here. But the enthusiasm that many shared about the Avalon graphics subsystem,...

Microsoft exec shares details about Longhorn and Indigo.(Q&A)
November 3, 2003... LOS ANGELES Eric Rudder, senior vice president of servers and tools at Microsoft, spoke with Computerworld's Carol Sliwa last week about new technologies that the company detailed at its Professional Developers Conference here. Excerpts...

CA readies suite of identity tools.(At Deadline)
November 3, 2003... Computer Associates International Inc. said it's combining six products from its eTrust security software line into a unified set of identity and access management tools. The plan, which follows similar moves by IBM and other rivals, will be...

HP stops selling its e3000 systems.(At Deadline)
November 3, 2003... Hewlett-Packard Co. ended sales of its HP e3000 midrange systems on Oct. 31, completing a phaseout process that started two years ago. Some e3000 users marked the occasion by holding informal "wakes" at bars and backyard barbecues. HP will...

Problem affects antipiracy tool.(At Deadline)
November 3, 2003... Symantec Corp. said it's investigating a problem that's affecting an antipiracy tool built into its Norton AntiVirus 2004 desktop software. The tool is repeatedly prompting some users to re-enter product activation codes when they reboot their...

Palm completes purchase, spin-off.(At Deadline)
November 3, 2003... Palm Inc. completed its acquisition of Handspring Inc. and spun off its PalmSource Inc. operating system unit into a separate company. Milpitas, Calif.-based Palm also renamed itself palmOne Inc. as part of its deal with Mountain View,...

Outsourcing deals fail half the time ...(On The Mark)
November 3, 2003... ... because most companies lack data on how well internal operations stack up against so-called cheap, external competitors. Pointing to market research by Giga Information Group Inc. and others, Jason Schroedl, director of corporate marketing...

Con Edison unifies network management.(News)
November 3, 2003... Con Edison Communications LLC last week began testing new management software from Hewlett-Packard Co. on the fiber-optic network it operates in the New York metropolitan area, with the goal of unifying management of all devices on the network....

Offshore risks are numerous, say those who craft contracts: due-diligence process needed to ensure security measures, backup plan in place.(News)
November 3, 2003... IT MANAGERS who cut corners in their offshore outsourcing contracts may jeopardize their companies' security and intellectual property and could well undermine expected cost savings, attorneys who negotiate these deals warned last week. ...

Calif. wildfires test backup readiness of IT systems: many companies fend off downtime.(News)
November 3, 2003... The wildfires that ravaged California last week put the disaster preparedness of many companies' IT systems to the test. Those able to report a passing grade were demonstrably relieved. For example, although fires in San Diego County caused...

Federal agencies extend deals with MCI despite its GSA-mandated suspension: some agencies say the extensions are temporary; senator seeks justifications.(News)
November 3, 2003... Several federal agencies recently extended network service contracts with MCI, and one awarded it a small new deal, despite a July decision by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to suspend the company from competing for contracts....

Goodyear hits $100m bump with ERP system: tire maker will have to restate financial results.(News)
November 3, 2003... Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. last week said it's still investigating what went wrong with its financial systems and caused a major accounting blowout at the company. The Akron, Ohio-based tire maker added that it hasn't set a firm target...

Sarbanes-Oxley mandates lead to IT certification push: corporate execs call on IT managers to document controls on finance systems.(News)
November 3, 2003... CEOs AND chief financial officers who are obligated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to stand behind the financial accounting controls used by their companies are increasingly asking operating units, including IT, to certify that they have put...

Companies get more compliance tool options: it's welcome news for those struggling to meet new regulatory requirements.(News)
November 3, 2003... Companies looking for tools to help them monitor their compliance with privacy and other regulatory requirements have a couple of new offerings to consider. IBM Global Services last week announced a service aimed at helping corporations...

Linux group adds 2.6 test release.
November 3, 2003... Open Source Development Labs Inc. said a new version of the Linux 2.6 kernel is available for testing by corporate users and software vendors. The release, called Test9, can be downloaded at www.kernel.org or ftp.kernel.org, the Beaverton,...

EDS has Q3 loss, plans more cuts ...
November 3, 2003... Electronic Data Systems Corp. reported a third-quarter net loss of $600,000 and disclosed plans to cut another 2,500 jobs by the end of next year, in addition to the 2,700 positions it previously had said would be eliminated. The expanded...

... And restates first-half results.
November 3, 2003... In addition, EDS lowered its results for the first half of the year after adopting new accounting rules that require companies to change the way they book revenue from long-term contracts. EDS added a $2.24 billion charge to its first-quarter...

Equinix Inc. in Foster City, Calif.(Short Takes)
November 3, 2003... EQUINIX INC. in Foster City, Calif., said it's subleasing a Web-hosting data center in Santa Clara, Calif., from SPRINT CORP., which is exiting the hosting business [QuickLink 39162]....

Microsoft Corp.(Short Takes)
November 3, 2003... MICROSOFT CORP. has agreed to settle antitrust-related class-action lawsuits filed in five states plus the District of Columbia.

Correction.(News)(Correction Notice)
November 3, 2003... A story that was Dart of the Salary Survey 2003 feature in our Oct. 27 issue ("Boost Your Chances of Getting a Raise") incorrectly identified Katherine Spencer Lee's employer as RHI Consulting. The Menlo Park. Calif.-based company has changed...

'Smart' containers coming this month.(News)
November 3, 2003... NEW YORK As part of the Department of Homeland Security's Container Security Initiative (CSI), a group of shipping companies later this month will begin using new "smart" containers equipped with high tech devices that will enable...

Privacy rules: Y3k?(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... "CITING PRIVACY LAW, Senators Seek Probe of JetBlue," read the headline on our Web site [QuickLink 42295], referring to the airline's legal and publicity problems after handing personal information on some 5 million passengers over to a...

Squeegee IT grows up.(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... IT ISN'T GLAMOROUS, but it works. That's what I think of screen-scraping technology. But I didn't always feel that way. The transition from constrained green-screen legacy systems to sleek Web-based formats replete with Java scripts...

Organize for innovation.(Opinion)
November 3, 2003... ORGANIZATIONAL restructuring is one of the most frequently used tools at an IT leader's fingertips. Sadly, most reorganization efforts fail to significantly improve a department's performance. The search continues for IT organizational...

Insightful look at IT/user interaction.(Reader's Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 3, 2003... PAUL GLEN'S Oct. 6 column ["Stop 'Gathering' IT Requirements," QuickLink 41565] nailed the situation on the head. In my experience, getting the proper understanding between users and technicians is the Achilles' heel of today's business...

Long-term goals must drive budgets.(Reader's Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 3, 2003... SHAME ON CIOs and CxOs who permit security managers to scare them into budget changes ["Scare Tactics No Longer Guarantee Security Funding," OuickLink 42025]. In good times and bad, poor management results in lost dollars and opportunities....

Grid article didn't go deep enough.(Reader's Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 3, 2003... ALTHOUGH I FIND Gary H. Anthes' article "Grids Extend Reach" [QuickLink 41610] very interesting, it is also very narrow in scope. It focuses only on the application layer. The grid addresses other layers of the IT infrastructure as well, such...

Keeping secrets: vendors are rushing an assortment of products to market that monitor and enforce compliance with privacy regulations.(Technology)
November 3, 2003... AS THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS security manager at Community Health Network in Indianapolis, a major part of David McLain's job is to ensure that employees are adhering to the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...

Early riders: although the technology is still being developed, some companies are already using an enterprise service bus to solve problems and save money.(Technology)
November 3, 2003... MYSIA BENFORD'S problem was empty trucks. After delivering animal feed to farmers, trucks from her company, Associated British Nutrition and Agriproducts Ltd., returned without a load. On the way back, they often met or passed other trucks...

WebDAV.(Technology)
November 3, 2003... DEFINITION: Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) is a standardized, platform-independent set of extensions to HTTP 1.1 that allows users to collaborate over the Internet by editing and managing files remotely. AS MORE...

Rogue access point leads to embarrassment: an unauthorized and undetected wireless access point lets a visitor into the corporate LAN.(Security Manager's Journal)
November 3, 2003... MY COMPANY is now down one employee. The person I wrote about last time [QuickLink 41938], who authorities suspected was using his workstation to trade child pornography, was escorted from the premises last week. Since receiving the search...

Security bookshelf.(Security Log)
November 3, 2003... Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box, by Ryan Russell, (ed.), Ido Dubrawsky; Syngrese, 2003. Unlike mast of the security-related books I read, this book is fiction. It's a series of stories, each of which is about 30 pages, that take...

Reactivity offers XML firewalls.(Security Log)
November 3, 2003... Reactivity Inc. last week introduced a family of security appliances designed to secure Web services applications. The Belmont, Calif.-based security vendor's new XML Firewall 2300 series is aimed at helping companies avoid threats such as XML...

Symantec updates ESM security tool.(Security Log)
November 3, 2003... Symantec Corp. last week announced Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) 6.0, the latest edition of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's vulnerability assessment and policy compliance tool. The upgrade is designed to help IT administrators compare...

New apps assess compliance risks.
November 3, 2003... Providus Software Solutions Inc. has introduced new versions of its two risk management applications for Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II regulatory compliance. The products provide financial institutions with a top-down view of potential risks...

Suite monitors web app performance.
November 3, 2003... Visualware Inc. in Turlock, Calif., last week introduced Desktop Management Suite, a set of four applications to track and manage Internet application performance. The components are designed to measure the time it takes a Web page to be...

Cray's Red Storm to go commercial.
November 3, 2003... Cray Inc. next year plans to release a commercial system based on its Red Storm supercomputer at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque. The 10,000-processor, Linux-based system--which costs approximately $90 million--is capable of...

CIOs share the blame.(Technology)
November 3, 2003... A LIVELY DEBATE has been generated by the recent report "CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly," produced by, among other credible security experts, Daniel Geer, Charles P. Pfleeger and Bruce Schneier. The vulnerability of any monoculture--the...

Serving many masters: as the CIO of an automotive joint venture, Joel Gruber has to work with four CIOs looking over his shoulder.(Management)
November 3, 2003... WHEN JOEL GRUBER BECAME CIO at RouteOne LLC, a joint venture of four major automakers, he found himself with more help than he had bargained for. The CIOs of the partner companies--his advisory board--were very opinionated, senior people with...

Developing IT skills 'to go': a national apprenticeship program combines classroom and on-the-job learning to develop skilled IT workers faster.(Careers)
November 3, 2003... YIKES! Waldemar Ramos had just learned that the McDonald's Corp. marketing department needed a complete project plan within 30 days for an IT system supporting its new "I'm lovin' it" campaign. "We didn't even have project requirements at...

Get sales chiefs on your side: sales managers can make or break a CRM or sales force automation project.(Book Excerpt)
November 3, 2003... FIELD SALES representatives are key to the success of any CRM sales suite, but there's another group of users that may be even more important: their sales managers. The sales manager is not only in charge of territory assignments for his...

States' outsourcing to reach $23b.
November 3, 2003... Spending on IT outsourcing by state and local agencies is expected to increase from about $10 billion this year to more than $23 billion by 2008, according to the "State & Local Outsourcing MarketView," published by Input, a Reston, Va.-based...

Ensenda taps IT exec from UPS.
November 3, 2003... Ensenda Ins., a San Francisco-based delivery company, has named Gene Wojciechowski as vice president of technology. He will lead customer and partner integration and other technology efforts. Wojciechowski has 27 years of IT experience,...

Curative health appoints new CIO.
November 3, 2003... Anne Bruce, a former IT leader at IBM, Ernst & Young International and, most recently, eLoyalty Corp., has joined Curative Health Services Inc. as CIO. In her new role at the Hauppauge, N.Y.-based disease management company, she will oversee...

Satisfying IT customers may be a bad idea.(Management)
November 3, 2003... MOST IT DEPARTMENTS I encounter say "customer satisfaction" is among their key goals. Unfortunately, this idea seems to lead too often to poor results. While the sentiments are laudable, the law of unintended consequences seems to interfere....

Big IT cost reductions likely in Bank of America acquisition deal: analysts expect IT workforce layoffs.(News)
November 3, 2003... Bank of America Corp. and FleetBoston Financial Corp. said they will try to minimize layoffs as part of the merger deal the two companies announced last week. But analysts say it will be nearly impossible for the banks to hit a $1.1 billion...

Businessy IT.(Frankly Speaking)
November 3, 2003... A READER WRITES: "I am tired of reading about my job possibly moving overseas! When are you going to write about how American IT workers can best prepare for that inevitability? What IT jobs will be available for U.S. workers? What are we IT...

Sign of a true professional.(Shark Tank)
November 3, 2003... High-priced management consultants need some information at this hospital, so they ask IT pilot fish to run reports and watch as he signs onto the 30-year-old system through a PC terminal emulator. "But I've worked with this system for almost...

Oops!(Shark Tank)
November 3, 2003... Urgent call comes to IT pilot fish from this user, who says his printer "just stopped." "I couldn't figure how it ever worked," fish says. "It had no printer drivers for that network printer." Turns out user wanted to stop printing a large...

None of the above.(Shark Tank)
November 3, 2003... This computer-based training system is screwy, manager tells IT pilot fish. A new hire scored 79%, with 80% as a passing grade, so other workers pitched in to help her when she retested. "Her grade on the retest was 70%," says fish. "A third...

Not the right question.(Shark Tank)
November 3, 2003... It's the 1980s, and senior execs throw a meet-and-greet session for employees when these two computer companies agree to merge. "This was very unusual," says IT pilot fish, "since the senior execs are as imperious a group as you could ever...

The power of the Internet.(Shark Tank)
November 3, 2003... Electricity to this university building must be shut down while electricians move power lines outside. One graduate student asks pilot fish for a flashlight so she can continue working on her laptop in her office. You'll need to run on your...

Wal-Mart suppliers shoulder burden of daunting RFID effort: top 100 face cost, deadline pressures.(News)
November 10, 2003... Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last week drew over 120 suppliers to a meeting it hosted at the Holiday Inn in Springdale, Ark., to detail its guidelines for using RFID tags on shipping pallets and cases of merchandise. Only the top 100 suppliers...

Linux infusion gives Novell a needed boost: users say SUSE acquisition should help stem NetWare maker's market-share hemorrhaging.(News)
November 10, 2003... After years of watching Novell Inc. lose market share to Microsoft Corp. and other vendors, a lot of Novell users are saying the company's decision to acquire SUSE Linux AG could be exactly what's needed to revitalize the middle-aged developer...

Why SUSE over Red Hat?(Q & A)
November 10, 2003... Chris Stone, Novell's vice chairman, spoke with Computer-world's Don Tennant last week about why his company chose to acquire SUSE Linux instead of Red Hat. Excerpts from the interview follow: Did you consider acquiring Red Hat as well?...

Attack on Linux kernel thwarted.(At Deadline)
November 10, 2003... Linux kernel developers said they removed a Trojan virus that an attacker had planted on a server that hosts a copy of the operating system's source code. The kernel file had been changed to allow the attacker unauthorized access to Linux...

PeopleSoft refund offer target of suit.(At Deadline)
November 10, 2003... Attorneys pursuing a shareholders lawsuit against PeopleSoft Inc. filed a motion to block the company from promising refunds to users if it's acquired. The move came one week after PeopleSoft expanded the time frames of the refund offer and the...

Fed cybersecurity policy to be revised.(At Deadline)
November 10, 2003... The Bush administration is rewriting a 1998 policy document on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection to take into account post-Sept. 11 homeland security requirements, sources said. A draft version of the rewrite places increased...

Akamai, C&W to settle lawsuits.(At Deadline)
November 10, 2003... Akamai Technologies Inc. and Cable & Wireless PLC's U.S. unit announced a deal to settle patent-infringement lawsuits related to their rival content delivery network services. No money will change hands. But Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai can...

Banks await software for exchanges of check images: law will allow use of images to settle payments, but IT changes are needed.(News)
November 10, 2003... BANK IT managers last week said a new law that will let electronic check images he used to settle payments could save the financial industry billions of dollars. But the technology needed to support exchanges of images is still under...

Banks' joint ventures make imaging a priority.(News)
November 10, 2003... Check 21 doesn't address exchanges of check images or the replacement of paper-based settlement processes with automated applications. But several development efforts are under way in the financial services industry to help eliminate the need...

Microsoft puts up $5M bounty to nab malicious code writers: virus attacks will cost businesses $12.5B this year.(News)
November 10, 2003... The top target of virus writers, Microsoft Corp., is taking the offensive with a $5 million reward fund intended to catch malicious code writers who are costing businesses billions each year. Law enforcement agencies welcomed the help, and...

Microsoft antitrust case could still benefit Linux: opponents ask for tougher restrictions.(News)
November 10, 2003... Throughout the 5-year-old Microsoft Corp. antitrust case, one of the chief potential rivals to Windows' dominance cited in court arguments has been Linux. And that was true again last week, when opponents of the 2001 Bush administration...

Microsoft issues bug fix for office.
November 10, 2003... Microsoft Corp. issued a "critical" update for Office System 2003, less than a month after releasing the software. The update is designed to fix a bug that can cause problems when users open PowerPoint, Word or Excel files containing OfficeArt...

Cisco sees rise in sales, net income.
November 10, 2003... Cisco Systems Inc. reported a 5% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 76% jump in net profit for its first quarter, which ended Oct. 25. CEO John Chambers said a recovery in demand "appears to be slowly gaining momentum but is still fragile...

IBM offers Lotus tools as a suite.
November 10, 2003... IBM announced a software suite, called Lotus Workplace, that integrates four messaging, collaboration and content management applications. The products have a single user interface and include common navigation features, IBM said. In a separate...

Avaya Inc.(Short Takes)
November 10, 2003... AVAYA INC. said it will develop converged networking products with EXTREME NETWORKS INC. and resell Extreme's switches.

BMC software inc.(Short Takes)
November 10, 2003... ... BMC SOFTWARE INC. announced a tool for managing mainframe databases from its Web-based SmartDBA console.

No-frills VoIP project slashes Costs ...(News)
November 10, 2003... ... at bottom-line-bleeding Agilent Technologies Inc. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of scientific and engineering test equipment has been hemorrhaging cash since the 2001 downturn of the once-hot telecom market. Word inside the $6 billion...

SAP upgrades portal, widens OS support.(News)
November 10, 2003... SAP AG last week released an upgrade of its portal software that runs on operating systems other than Windows NT and includes real-time collaboration tools, such as an instant messaging service. Greg Crider, director of product marketing...

Users still leery of switch to voice-over-IP systems: cite uncertainties about cost savings, ROI of new apps.(News)
November 10, 2003... NETWORKING vendors point to continued growth in the adoption of voice-over-IP technology. But several users last week said they're still skeptical about VoIP's ability to deliver cost savings and the potential value of new applications that it...

Lower telecom prices expected as MCI exits bankruptcy: CEO pledges not to start price war but says vendor will 'protect our territory'.(News)
November 10, 2003... With MCI poised to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early next year, users and analysts last week predicted lower prices for voice and data networking services, if not an outright price war. MCI officials have sought to dispel...

Sun plans to offer third-party tools.
November 10, 2003... Sun Microsystems Inc. said it plans to include third-party products in the two software bundles it sells under a per-employee licensing scheme announced in September [QuickLink 41523]. Initial deals with software vendors are due to be disclosed...

Red Hat launches Linux testbed.
November 10, 2003... Red Hat Inc. released the first version of an unsupported Linux distribution designed to serve as a testbed for the open-source software. The addition of the Fedora Core 1 release is part of a plan under which the Raleigh, N.C.-based company is...

PeopleSoft gets OK to go after Oracle.
November 10, 2003... A state court judge in California ruled that PeopleSoft Inc. can proceed with a libel and unfair competition lawsuit it filed against Oracle Corp. in June. Judge Ronald Sabraw said PeopleSoft hasn't shown that Oracle knowingly interfered with...

Network Appliance Inc.(Short Takes)
November 10, 2003... Sunnyvale, Calif.-based NETWORK APPLIANCE INC. is buying Pittsburgh-based storage vendor SPINNAKER NETWORKS LLC in a stock-swap deal....

Network Associates Inc.(Short Takes)
November 10, 2003... NETWORK ASSOCIATES INC. in Santa Clara, Calif., said it has lowered its revenue by a total of $112.6 million dating back to 1998.

New laws to drive '04 security agenda: devising policies trumps technology.(News)
November 10, 2003... THE NEED to comply with an array of complex data laws will dominate the security agenda in 2004, according to attendees at the Computer Security Institute conference here last week. As in previous years, IT security managers expect to spend...

IT obligations unclear under California privacy law.(News)
November 10, 2003... Four months after new California privacy rules went into effect, more questions than answers have surfaced about what the law requires of IT organizations, according to legal and security experts. And answers are unlikely until at least a few...