InfoWorld articles from August 2001

InfoWorld archives from August 2001

Gambling without risk - Plural's CTO bets on tomorrow's best technology so you don't have to.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... IT IS A QUESTION that keeps CTOs awake at night: How do you gamble in the high stakes of emerging technologies without risking it all? This is a question Simplexity, a telecommunications e-marketplace in Herndon, Va., that wants to dabble...

It was 20 years ago today ... How IBM's decision to use an open architecture for its first PC shaped an industry.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... THE IBM PC was introduced to the world 20 years ago at a press conference in New York on Aug. 12, 1981. Evolving from the MITS Altair hobbyist computer and taking cues from early PCs such as the Apple II, the IBM PC -- and the story behind its...

Directory services come to the fore - User identity and policy data play a key role in Web services.(Product Announcement)
August 6, 2001... DIRECTORY TECHNOLOGY has ascended to a starring role in the network infrastructure landscape as the emergence of Web services and an increased reliance on Web-based applications highlight the importance of identity management and easy access to...

Mining for opinions - Some consider it snooping, but competitive intelligence provides a peek at user thoughts.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... BUSINESSES ARE STARTING to squeeze greater value out of the Internet by methodically sifting through its gold mine of stored user opinion. Through online "competitive intelligence," companies are eyeing every relevant message board, news...

ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES: Moths seek the flame - With sales-force automation tools claiming wireless capabilities, will early adopters benefit or get burned?(Industry Trend or Event)
August 6, 2001... AS ECONOMIC pressures continue to tamper with business growth cycles, the responsibility for pulling the bottom line out of the fire has come to rest on the aptitude of the corporate sales department. But at many companies, the sales force...

SURVIVAL GUIDE: Getting to new insights - Despite arguments against it, only creative flashes of instinct with analytical thinking will garner new insights.(Technology Information)
August 6, 2001... MANAGEMENT SPEAK: I'd like your opinion. TRANSLATION: We've made a decision and want to feel good about it. -- An anonymous IS Survivalist feels pretty darn good about sharing his translation of this bit of management misdirection. ...

SECURITY ADVISER: Crypto law misguided - Adobe eBooks-cracking case highlights U.S. copyright law that stifles free speech and innovation.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... RUSSIAN DEVELOPER Dmitry Sklyarov is now a guest of the FBI, having been charged with violation of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). The feds and Adobe Systems are unhappy because Sklyarov reverse- engineered the encryption scheme...

THE OPEN SOURCE: Scriptless spells disaster - When it comes to backing up systems, relying on SMART can educate you as to the true meaning of DUMB.(Technology Information)
August 6, 2001... MY LINUX-BASED VarLinux.org experienced a disk crash recently. Prior to this, I had equipped my server with two IBM model DTLA 46GB ATA-100 hard drives with SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology); I had planned to use one for...

WINDOW MANAGER: Adobe's copywrongs - Using the FBI against a hapless programmer won't improve weak PostScript-based e-books.(Dmitry Sklyarov arrested for explaing how to defeat the security of Adobe Systems' PDF electronic book)(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... PEOPLE WHO LIVE in Adobe houses shouldn't throw lawsuits. That's a lesson we've learned from the FBI's arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov, an employee of Moscow-based ElcomSoft, a company that easily defeated the security of Adobe Systems' PDF...

WIRELESS WORLD: Handheld finds a voice - Cisco's Aironet wireless network and Compaq's iPaq would make a great telephony solution.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... IF A SALES representative from Cisco rings your bell, don't shout, "No solicitors. Can't you read the sign?" That salesperson may be selling something your company will want to buy. A company called IP blue Technology Solutions...

CTO CONNECTION: Sell solutions to CTOs - A CTO wants to solve his or her company's technical problems, so sell them products that help -- not limo service.(chief technology officer)(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 6, 2001... SOMETIMES I THINK that the acronym CTO stands for Chief Telephone- answering Officer. On a typical day in the office my phone rings nonstop, and as soon as I clear one batch of voice mail messages, the red light on my phone lights up again to...

To the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
August 6, 2001... No horsing around by the pool I CAN'T HELP but be amused by articles about CRM (see "You can't escape from CRM," July 16). The Web is still in its infancy and, appropriate to the age of the medium, it seems that many e-businesses are run...

THE GRIPE LINE: Pay attention to me - The EarthLink-MindSpring merger results are in: Two formerly popular ISPs can't quite get their heads together.(Company Business and Marketing)(Column)
August 6, 2001... IF TWO WRONGS don't make a right, can two rights make a wrong? Perhaps, at least when it comes to ISPs and support. From the early days of the Internet boom, ISPs have been a magnet for gripes about their service and support. And generally,...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: HP knows about hard times.(Company Operations)(Column)
August 6, 2001... THE HARLEY'S BEEN gathering dust since last week, although the e-mails from motorbike fans continue to flood in. If I sold my inbox to a direct-marketing firm, I could make a fortune. Practicing what you preach If I decide I need...

E-BUSINESS PULSE: And the survey says ... Gartner survey says companies are spending as much on IT as previous years and will spend more next year.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 6, 2001... MOST COMPANIES still devote a small fraction of their information technology budget to e-business, and this isn't likely to change soon. That's the word from the experts here at Gartner, and we're not just pontificating. We base these...

ABOVE THE NOISE: Celebrating personal computing's 20th - After two decades, have we maxed out with the PC, or are advancements still waiting for us?(Industry Trend or Event)
August 6, 2001... EVERY GREAT once in a while a series of events conspire to make one more reflective than usual. In my case, it's the recent completion of a month-long vacation, the fact that this week marks my 40th birthday, and the realization that this week...

Will the 'great global grid' succeed the Web?(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Column)
August 6, 2001... Despite the dot-com crash, we have only begun to see the binding power of the Internet. Right now, businesses are largely benefiting from the cheap connectivity of the Internet. The next step is to leverage the computing and human resources on...

RSA snaps up Securant.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2001... RSA Security last week signed an agreement to acquire Securant Technologies for $136.5 million. RSA expects the deal to close sometime this month. Securant's flagship product is ClearTrust SecureControl, which manages user access to systems,...

Intergraph sues Intel.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2001... Graphics chip designer Intergraph filed a lawsuit against Intel last week, claiming that Intel's 64-bit Itanium chip architecture violates two Intergraph patents. The patents relate to PIC (parallel instruction computing), which helps speed up...

Motorola buys networking specialist.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2001... Motorola last week acquired networking specialist RiverDelta Networks. The stock-for-stock deal, valued at $300 million, would send RiverDelta Networks' CMTS (cable modem termination system) technology and more than 200 staff to Motorola. ...

Laptops sport new Intel chip.(Product Announcement)
August 6, 2001... CUTTING-EDGE laptop systems, all spawned by Intel's Pentium III-M chip, formerly code-named Tualatin, are hitting a softened mobile computer market. Laptop computer rivals such as IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Compaq, and Toshiba each...

Taking on Commerce One - A rebranded VerticalNet's latest offerings are seen as MarketSite alternatives.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... COMPETITIVELY, VerticalNet is moving closer to Commerce One in terms of on-ramp, b-to-b e-marketplace capabilities with the rollout last week of sourcing and procurement applications, said industry observers. The Horsham, Pa.-based...

Dell dumps desktop Linux for lack of demand.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2001... Dell has quietly stopped offering the Linux operating system as an option on its desktop and laptop PCs, saying low demand forced the Linux advocate to pull the software from its online stores. The company has seen strong sales of Linux on...

Yahoo updates portal.(PortalBuilder 3.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 6, 2001... Yahoo last week unveiled Version 3.0 of its PortalBuilder software, featuring enhanced integration with enterprise applications and improved standards support. PortalBuilder software is designed to aggregate and personalize corporate resources,...

Microsoft denied antitrust rehearing.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2001... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week rejected Microsoft's request for a rehearing on its decision that the software giant illegally "commingled" operating system and browser code. In doing so, the court denied the...

CM targets Web services - Documentum preps embeddable content management components.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 6, 2001... VENDORS OF content management systems, including Documentum, Vignette, and Interwoven, are carving out a role in Web services, introducing support for open standards and working to layer CM functionality into applications as services. It...

Code Red worm inches along.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 6, 2001... THE CODE RED worm, which has already infected hundreds of thousands of servers worldwide, will continue to spread during the next few weeks, although a clear picture of the situation is not yet available, according to security experts tracking...

Plugging in to the global grid.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
August 6, 2001... JUST AS ENTERPRISES are focusing on how to optimize their IT resources in a slowing economy, a new way to exploit the Internet to connect processors in potentially massive virtual systems is emerging. What some experts are calling the Great...

All aboard the data express - Blazing-fast serial buses can conveniently and affordably speed up peripheral and interserver connections.(Technology Information)
August 6, 2001... ATTACHING PERIPHERALS TO systems usually means wrestling with fat, inflexible cables that seem to be several inches shorter than the job requires. Connecting systems to other systems or peripherals that are more than a couple of feet away often...

Scale storage barriers - ADIC's Scalar 10K grants companies a flexible approach to managing their changing storage needs.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... ENTERPRISE STORAGE PLANNING requires a great deal of insight into the future storage needs of your business. If you overestimate, you end up wasting money on an expensive, large-scale storage solution. If your company buys too little capacity...

IBM 3581 Ultrium Tape Drive.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... THE RANGE OF Ultrium solutions from IBM include single tape drives, comparable to the HP Ultrium 230, as well as autoloaders and libraries with various capacities. IBM's top-of-the-line Ultrium library, model 3584, is a gigantic,...

Plasmon LTO 10.1 Autoloader.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... PLASMON IS ONE of the many companies that participate in the LTO (Linear Tape-Open) licensing program, which gives members the right to resell or manufacture products based on Ultrium technology. The list of licensees, which you can view at...

Tape drives for terabytes - LTO Ultrium units from HP, IBM, Seagate, and Plasmon meet the backup requirements of e-business.(Technology Information)
August 6, 2001... IT WILL HAPPEN to you and you won't like it. Eventually you'll outgrow your tape backup solution. Maybe you have already. Are backups requiring an increasing number of media cartridges? Are they taking far too long to complete? These are...

HP SureStore Ultrium 230.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... HEWLETT-PACKARD exemplifies the scalability of Ultrium technology with its SureStore line, which includes single tape drives, autoloaders, and midsize and high-end tape libraries. The top-of-the-line Tape Library 20/700 packs up to 20 Ultrium...

Database rivals flex their muscles - IBM DB2 7.2 and Oracle9i meet the challenges of mission-critical e-commerce and enterprise computing, taking significant strides in solving integration, accessibility, and reliability issues.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... THE FACTORS THAT drive database upgrades and purchase decisions are more complex than ever. Although price vs. performance still weighs heavy on the decision-making process, strategists must now consider a host of other factors when planning a...

Seagate Viper 2000 Autoloader.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
August 6, 2001... THE VIPER LINE from Seagate ranges from entry-level external and internal single-drive units to the Viper 2000, an 11-slot autoloader that impressed us as an affordable, easy-to-manage, and fast solution. Currently, Seagate does not offer...

Beyond sight - Bob Woods is the global IT director for a multinational, multimillion-dollar company. And he's legally blind.(Company Operations)
August 6, 2001... BOB WOODS' DAYS are not only a blur of activity but of shapes and colors, too. Woods, director of global IT for Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Ampacet, a plastics manufacturer with $750 million in annual sales, is legally blind. With the aid of adaptive...

Internet execs' pay drains the kitty - Study finds that, post dot-com heyday, Internet companies are redefining executive compensation strategies to retain CxOs and drive bottom line performance.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 6, 2001... MORE EVIDENCE THAT cash is king among Internet execs can be found in the Securities Exchange Commission filings of public Internet companies, according to "The Internet Compensation Survey: 2001," a study recently released by Unifi Network, a...

Houston oiling - Anadarko uses Spotfire's analytic tools to make sense of complex data in the search for oil.(Company Operations)
August 13, 2001... WITH MOUNTAINS OF corporate data piling up in the enterprise, one might not think much about analyzing rocks. But that is exactly where Anadarko Petroleum concentrates its analytic efforts. The Houston-based oil-and-gas exploration and...

Integration is power - GE's GXS division shines a light on the integration problem.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 13, 2001... WHERE ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION strategies are concerned, GE Global eXchange Services (GXS), a private offshoot of General Electric, stands uniquely positioned. Boasting revenue it pegs at between $500 million and $1 billion dollars from b-to-b...

Plug-and-play VPN - SmartPipes CTO says he is poised to leverage the company's VPN technologies on a larger scale.(Company Business and Marketing)(Interview)
August 13, 2001... AS THE CTO of SmartPipes, Ray Bell has built an infrastructure for value-added services layered on top of an on-demand VPN. Recently, WorldCom agreed to resell the Redwood City, Calif.-based SmartPipes service as part of an effort to make...

Peer-to-peer looks for its killer app - Will eXtended Relationship Management propel p-to-p into the mainstream?(Technology Information)
August 13, 2001... WITH THE ECONOMIC downturn killing the appetite of many IT shops for testing and implementing new technologies, the peer-to-peer comet that came screaming across high-tech skies last year has lost some of its velocity. But it is not just...

Take your medicine - Integration is like fighting the flu: While you're in the throes, nothing could be more miserable, but battling through it results in many business benefits.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 13, 2001... Integrating computing systems is one of the oldest IT dilemmas: Since the advent of software, companies have struggled to enable their systems to communicate effectively. Like medicine, integration may be tough to stomach, but the results are...

ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES: Delivering due respect - CRM is on the tip of every CEO's tongue, but sales will take a lashing without the buy-in of corporate culture.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... TYPICALLY, I reserve these lines for straightforward technology counsel. This week, however, I was reminded of how ineffectual any IT strategy will be for improving revenue when faced with resistance from corporate culture. The reflection...

SURVIVAL GUIDE: Explaining fuzzy logic - The more you try to explain what core competencies are, the murkier the logic behind the explanation gets.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... MANAGEMENTSPEAK: We have reorganized to focus on our core competencies. TRANSLATION: The things we focused on in our last reorganization turned out to be some of our core incompetencies. -- Clearly, spotting less-than-meaningful...

SECURITY ADVISER: Does hype help? Code Red worm fizzles but reminds admins that patching servers isn't an adventure, it's just part of the job.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 13, 2001... IF YOU BELIEVE everything you read, it's a miracle I got to write this column at all. After all, I'm writing this on Aug. 1, the day the Internet was supposed to melt down under a flood of traffic from servers infected with the Code Red worm....

THE OPEN SOURCE: Beware migration myths - Objections to migrating from Microsoft Office to Linux Office are thin when compared to the benefits.(Technology Information)(Column)
August 13, 2001... I RECEIVED A tremendous amount of positive feedback on my arguments that it is indeed viable to migrate users from Windows to Linux on the desktop (see The Open Source, www.infoworld.com/printlinks). But there were a number of objections. As I...

WINDOW MANAGER: Peer-to-peer pressure - A laptop joining a peer network may slow you down unless you know the secret for keeping up to speed.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 13, 2001... IF A LAPTOP periodically joins your local-area network, it may create an unnecessary amount of delays for everyone concerned if things aren't set up just right. The problem occurs when the laptop is running Windows NT or Windows 2000 and...

WIRELESS WORLD: Who owns customers? Network carriers need gateways to make money; but content providers and customers can do without them.(Technology Information)
August 13, 2001... THE WIRELESS operators do not want to go gently into the night and become -- as it is so inelegantly called -- a dumb pipe. Because they still control the gateways needed to gain access to service suppliers such as your local bank, they are...

CTO CONNECTION: Build better software - The only hope for building better software starts by bringing together the developers and the business folks.(Technology Information)
August 13, 2001... WRITING SOFTWARE is very, very hard and I hate to disappoint everyone, but in my opinion, there is little hope that software development practices will take us much farther in the next 10 years than they have in the past 10. Each year since...

To the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
August 13, 2001... Oh, bother, where art thou? I'VE JUST READ Brian Livingston's column "The missing MCSEs" (see Window Manager, July 30). So what's all the bother? Mr. Livingston seems to equate the expiration of a person's MCSE (Microsoft Certified...

THE GRIPE LINE: Fighting back on the fax.(junk faxes)(Company Business and Marketing)
August 13, 2001... AS YET I have no definitive answers on what to do about junk faxes. From what readers tell me however, it is clear that junk fax broadcasters such as Fax.com pose a much bigger problem for businesses than I had realized. A few weeks ago I...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: You can bank on this news.(rumors)(Column)
August 13, 2001... "LET'S GO SHOPPING!" Amber said with a smile. Like many hardworking, underappreciated techies, I'm not a rich man. But out of the blue I received a small inheritance from my recently deceased uncle, God bless him. The question is what to do...

E-BUSINESS PULSE: Only the strong survive - Continued economic uncertainty will leave specialized e-business providers languishing.(Industry Trend or Event)(Editorial)
August 13, 2001... I ONCE READ in a travel magazine that New Jersey's state slogan should be, "New Jersey: Only the strong survive." Well, this New Jersey native thinks e-business service companies have it at least as tough as the gang from my old neighborhood....

ABOVE THE NOISE: Realizing age-old visions of software - We may finally be close to deriving true value from software without incurring huge costs.(Technology Information)(Editorial)
August 13, 2001... ONE OF THE persistent knocks against IT is that, depending on who you ask, as much as $7 out of every $10 dollars spent on software goes into installing and integrating the software once it's purchased. This always leaves the people who buy the...

FOR THE RECORD: Security can no longer be an afterthought.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 13, 2001... Let's face it, the frequency of Internet-related security breaches is a black mark on the IT industry as a whole. People will say Microsoft should build better security into its oft-targeted products -- and they should -- but that won't solve...

Storage plans prompt warning - Analysts predict antitrust concerns may delay future Windows OS.(Microsoft to delay Blackcomb until 2005)(Product Development)
August 13, 2001... SPECULATION THAT MICROSOFT will delay the next major release of its operating system, code-named Blackcomb, to 2005 has drawn attention to its "unified storage" strategy, which analysts predict will draw antitrust fire. The technology...

The Bug Report.(Lotus Notes, Microsoft Windows 2000 incorporate fixes)(Product Development)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... Bugs and fixes reported to BugNet LOTUS Notes 5.0.7 can make its server hang if using a profile document where the INI variable NSF_DOCCHACHE_THREAD = 1. This has been fixed in Notes 5.0.7a. MICROSOFT Windows 2000 Server and Advanced...

Filling a Web services gap.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 13, 2001... APPLICATION SERVER vendors are gearing up to do battle with IBM and Microsoft in the Web services game by strengthening their infrastructure toolkits and support for standards. Sybase will release this week EAServer 4.0, the latest edition...

Real-time routing speeds Net traffic - Alternatives to the Border Gateway Protocol promise more intelligent data flow across the Internet.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... NETWORK EQUIPMENT makers are looking to new alternatives to BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), the main protocol for routing traffic across the Internet. The new routing technologies promise to quicken data flow and reduce costs. Adoption of...

Cisco Systems reports steep sales decline in Q4.(fiscal 2001)(Company Financial Information)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... Cisco Systems suffered a revenue decline and lower profits for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001, announcing pro forma net income of $163 million, or 2 cents per share, compared to net income of $1.2 billion, or 16 cents per share, in the same...

HP adds Trinagy to network management division.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... Hewlett-Packard announced last week it had acquired privately held Trinagy, a performance management company in Torrance, Calif., for an undisclosed amount. The deal is a boost in HP's mission to deliver integrated network management through...

Sun, Hitachi sign cross.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... Sun Microsystems announced it will sell a storage product based on hardware from Hitachi Data Systems, a Hitachi subsidiary. Both vendors also agreed to cross-license and sell each other's storage software and to work together on support for...

Oracle takes e-biz apps mobile.(Company Business and Marketing)
August 13, 2001... IN AN ATTEMPT to extend the competitive value of its applications and platform, Oracle will mobile-enable most of its e-business applications during the next year by building on the wireless capabilities of Oracle's 9i Application Server. ...

Easier b-to-b links promised - A previously overlooked impediment, connectivity has hindered suppliers.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... SUPPLIERS' CONNECTIVITY needs are gaining greater attention in the b-to-b market as buyers find they must cater to suppliers to tap the true potential of e-procurement. Last week, supplier enablement companies HubStorm and Martquest merged...

Semiconductor sales continue to plummet.(according to IDC research)(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... The global semiconductor market will continue to languish until after 2005, according to research released last week by IDC in Framingham, Mass. Weak PC sales will see a drop in demand causing the first-ever year-over-year decline in PC sales....

PC manufacturers to ship Windows XP early.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2001... Some PC makers are preparing to ship computers and laptops running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system a month ahead of the expected Oct. 25 release date. Compaq Computer confirmed that it will sell computers with Windows XP through its...

DataViz releases office for palm software.(Documents To Go Professional Edition 4.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 13, 2001... DataViz last week announced Version 4.0 of its Documents To Go Professional Edition software for users of Palm OS-based handheld computers. Added in this latest version is the ability to edit Excel spreadsheets and view PowerPoint...

Virus sounds industry Code Red.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... THE ALMOST DAILY onslaught of computer viruses and attacks is prompting calls in the industry to bolt-in better security at the application development stage. Experts say if these escalating concerns among users are not addressed, application...

A tighter grip on handheld data - movianCrypt's automatic encryption for Palm devices doesn't rely on users to ensure mobile corporate information remains secure.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 13, 2001... AS MOBILE WORKERS rely more and more on handheld devices for access to the corporate back end, the fear among IS managers of losing control over corporate data should be shifting to panic. If the handheld device of a sales representative or...

Take the pain out of PCs - DeployCenter 5.0's solid mix of tools can streamline deploying PC configurations networkwide.(from PowerQuest)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 13, 2001... WHETHER YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for a network of 100 or 10,000 computers, deploying configurations to those systems is a tremendous undertaking that drains IT resources. A slowing economy, shrinking budgets, and burdened staffs demand that IT...

A rich dollop of CRM - Quick and easy to implement, salesforce.com bolsters Web apps with affordable customer support.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 13, 2001... CRM PRODUCTS ARE likely candidates for hosted applications. Companies signing up for such services benefit from reduced deployment time and costs. As an added bonus, some vendors such as Oracle, Upshot, and salesforce.com are offering free...

Centralized security key - Authentication Suite 4.0 means managing multiple authentication schemes is easy and cheap.(from BioNetrix Systems)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 13, 2001... IF PLACING YOUR authentication and authorization needs into the hands of a third party -- as with Passport or iChain -- is not for your company, an internal system can prove valuable. Although authentication methods can be as simple as a...

Gunning for Sun - Enhydra 3.52 serves up an affordable, multitiered alternative to the J2EE application development approach.(from Lutris Technologies)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
August 13, 2001... JAVA CAN BE used many ways in Web applications, from the simple, old-fashioned CGI to the complex J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) framework. With help from the open-source community, Lutris Technologies has developed Enhydra, a unique,...

Policing user identities - Implementing a digital identity management system will prove critical for the security of users in global companies.(Microsoft Passport and Novell's iChain)(Product Information)
August 13, 2001... ONE OF THE most difficult things we do as human beings is define ourselves as individuals. This is hard enough to do in the real world; consider the vast amounts of money people spend on cars, hairstyles, and other body modifications to create...

An age-old story - Forget about layoffs -- the problem for IT workers over the age of 40 is just getting an interview.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 13, 2001... "RECRUITERS LOOKED at my resume," Stephen Piscitelli says. "They thought I was well-qualified. They acted interested. I got interviews." But during his two-year job search, 55-year-old Piscitelli of Northern Virginia was not offered a job until...

Lucent's early-out brings questions - As Lucent struggles financially, it offers some management employees early retirement in order to reduce expenditures.(Company Operations)
August 13, 2001... COULD LUCENT FACE trouble with claims of age discrimination because of the Murray Hill, N.J.-based company's recent announcement of early retirement offerings? No, says Sharon Schweitzer, a labor lawyer in Austin, Texas, with Jenkens &...

The back office moves to India - Outsourcing, especially for back- office services, is hot. Even hotter is the new location for outsourcing: India.(Industry Trend or Event)
August 20, 2001... FOR YEARS Indian developers have had a reputation as the offshore programming outsourcers of choice for Western corporations because of their high-quality, low-cost coding help. Now the continued availability of skilled manpower at costs far...

Bucking the trends - Screaming Media CTO stresses communication to stay on top.(Company Operations)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2001... EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT Steven Spencer, CTO of New York-based Screaming Media, to take advantage of the current slowdown in IT spending by using the time to further improve Screaming Media's content delivery offerings. "I've been around long...

Web analytics across the enterprise - Narrowly defined tools are expanding to cover the many channels of e-business.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
August 20, 2001... THE WEB HAS become a critical online artery for many enterprise business activities, but the analytics applied to Web-based computing have not kept pace with the real world, multichannel environment of most companies. To catch up, Web...

Afloat with auctions - Online auctions offer companies another sales channel to unload excess inventory.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2001... AS CORPORATE PROFITS thin out in a sluggish economy, companies are increasingly turning to online auctions as a sales channel for surplus merchandise. A wide range of businesses, including national retailer Ritz Camera, are choosing to go...

ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES: In perfect harmony - The multibroker enterprise is complex, but standards help integration middleware sing the same song.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 20, 2001... INTEGRATION brokers have become the great equalizer in getting diverse computing and application platform environments within the enterprise to hum harmoniously. A broker, a form of middleware, is the software component responsible for routing...

WIRELESS WORLD: One task too many - Carnegie Mellon brain study says hands-free cell phone use while driving is not safe.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
August 20, 2001... CHEWING GUM and walking at the same time may be fairly easy for most of us, but as I wrote more than a year ago in this column, having a hands- free conversation over a cell phone does not mean that your brain is also free. I pointed out that...

SURVIVAL GUIDE: Go Linux desktop now - There's no need to play Microsoft's licensing game by its rules, switch to Linux now and be happy later.(Technology Information)
August 20, 2001... "THE MAN WHO is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is allowed to take." -- C. Northcote Parkinson WHEN YOU PLAY bridge, you sometimes overbid. It may be a sacrifice...