InfoWorld articles from June 2004

InfoWorld archives from June 2004

Adobe to unveil document services platform.
June 7, 2004... Adobe Systems this week will introduce a new Java-based server platform designed to automate and accelerate the flow of information between organizations using PDF documents. In addition, Adobe will unveil several new and updated products...

SilkRoad Eprise: Content management contender.
June 7, 2004... Eprise has been around the CM (content management) space for some time, and the 2004 version puts this Web content management application on solid footing. Having helped manage a large and complex Eprise-based Web site for several years, I...

Hosted collaboration steps to the plate - Documentum, Intuit, SiteScape expand services.
June 28, 2004... Hosted collaboration services from vendors Documentum, Intuit, and SiteScape are expanding to give enterprise workgroups improved project control and finer-grained user management. Documentum, a division of EMC, this week will upgrade its...

IBM gives WebSphere a pick-me-up - XD gives WebSphere a B-12 shot.(Extended Deployment)(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Catering to the computing needs of corporate users hungry for more speed and capacity, IBM last week delivered a beta version of WebSphere software that automates increased performance depending on changing business demands. The new...

Multimedia goes mobile with Flash Lite 1.1 - Macromedia's Flash Lite 1.1 brings rich Internet apps, improved audio to mobile phones.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Macromedia on Monday will introduce Flash Lite 1.1, an update to the Flash Player profile for mobile phones that is intended to expand capabilities for multimedia applications. Designed for service providers and manufacturers, Version 1.1...

Sun visualizes Java with new tool - Company to issue Java Studio Creator at JavaOne developer show.
June 28, 2004... At its 2004 JavaOne Conference, Sun Microsystems will release the much- heralded, so-called easy-to-use visual Java tool, Sun Java Studio Creator. The company will also issue a beta of NetBeans 4.0, an early-access edition of Java Studio...

AOL, Yahoo dump corporate IM products - Service providers opt for partnerships in the enterprise.(America Online, instant messaging)
June 28, 2004... The exodus of IM service providers from the enterprise software market continued as America Online last week announced plans to abandon its AIM Enterprise Gateway. AOL nemesis Yahoo earlier this month made a similar move when it decided to...

The art of successful offshore outsourcing - Forget the hype and get serious about offshoring.
June 28, 2004... Even IT executives who have successfully outsourced parts of their companies' services abroad can tell you the road to profitable relations with offshore partners can be painfully bumpy. Just ask Group 1 Software Vice President of Postal...

Hefty Windows update may wreak IT havoc - SP2's bug fixes, new features is comparable to a Windows upgrade.(Service Pack 2)
June 28, 2004... Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2), due as early as next month, will ring in major software changes comparable to those of a new OS release. The service pack could break current applications, disrupt networking setups, and prompt nontechnical...

To win at offshoring: Start slow, be deliberate - One man's guide to building successful outsourcing relationships.(InfoPower Systems President Jonathan Sapir shares his experience of managing an outsourcing relationship)
June 28, 2004... As do many IT executives who have outsourced applications development work, Jonathan Sapir, president of InfoPower Systems, stumbled at first. "We've been at this for three years, and it's not nearly as easy as people think. It takes a lot...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Singing for my supper - Yahoo's e-mail miscue, Microsoft to the rescue?(meshed briefs)(Elevation Partners hires Bono, Sun Microsystems cuts back facilities for lactating employees)
June 28, 2004... Last week Irish rocker Bono joined Silicon Valley's Elevation Partners - - a VC firm, not Viagra spammers. Although allegedly recruited to help EP identify new entertainment ventures, rumor has it Bono was really hired to sing with the VC's...

CTO CONNECTION: The burden of platform diversity - Multiple platforms keep IT vibrant, but sometimes I wish I only had to manage one.
June 28, 2004... Working in IT involves a certain bit of idealism, which can be either a positive or negative force. When idealism gets out of control, it frequently obscures the practical considerations that make corporate IT work. Take the concept of...

REALITY CHECK: An automated audit for IT resources - Business process management connects the dots between regulatory compliance and IT.
June 28, 2004... As we all know, government works in its own inimitable way. When it comes to compliance with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Uncle Sam doesn't much care what processes you use, so long as you say what you do and do what you say -- and prove...

EDITOR'S LETTER: CA, Samsung brighten our children's future - Two tech companies work for a better tomorrow.(Computer Associates International Inc.)(Editorial)
June 28, 2004... In a week when the news about children ranges from a resurgence of polio in Africa to prescribing Prozac for teens, it's worth remembering that many good things also befall young people. This column focuses on two examples -- significant...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: Space, time, and data - Gussied-up GUIs only go so far in improving user interaction. It's time to consider the time.(graphical user interface)
June 28, 2004... In a column last year entitled "How Rich is the Rich GUI?" I mentioned in passing an intriguing use of fish-eye distortion by the Flash developer Samuel Wan. Similar to Mac OS X's Dock, Wan's fish-eye menu selectively magnifies items near the...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Sun returns to old haunts - Company promises a fresh run at affordable workstations, servers, and Unix with help from AMD.
June 28, 2004... I've never predicted financial ruin for sun Microsystems. But I couldn't see the company regaining leadership in the affordable range of the server and workstation markets. Xeon plus Linux isn't Sun's future. It's too crowded a market to be...

Bridging the Gap Between J2EE and .Net Development.(Java 2 Enterprise Edition)
June 28, 2004... Developers often struggle with the decision to adopt J2EE or .Net for new projects and with good reason. Either choice represents a long-term technology commitment and potential lock-in. So why not use both? JNBridgePro is a Java/.Net...

Business rules management systems - Extract business rules from applications, and business analysts can make changes without IT breaking a sweat.
June 28, 2004... A basic law of technology is that you only get smart results from smart tools when they're used by smart people. Your developers may be great at writing code, but you don't want them making ill-informed decisions about business rules. By the...

New standards open up BRMS - Soon after their academic beginnings, rules-based systems fragmented; these proposed specs aim to standardize the way business rules are expressed and shared.(business rules management system)
June 28, 2004... In the early days of rules-based systems, there were only a few vendors, most of which used some variation of a syntax developed by the OPS (Official Production System) programmers at Carnegie-Mellon University. Each vendor put its own spin on...

Exclusive: Zone Labs Integrity 5.0 firewall offering burns brightly - Latest release delivers greater flexibility, protection.(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 28, 2004... Installing personal firewall software on workstations throughout your company is a good idea, even if you have a firewall appliance protecting your network's edge. After all, you can't anticipate when your network will be infected from an...

Lock down links from anywhere - SwiftLink 1400 offers maximum security and flexibility, if not maximum ease-of-use.(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 28, 2004... OK, so you're not a government contractor operating out of Iraq. Maybe you're just a healthcare company concerned about protecting private information, or you're a technology or pharmaceutical company with intellectual property to keep under...

Toolkit breathes life into static documents - The Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework integrates documents with live data via Web services.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... The new Microsoft Office IBF (Information Bridge Framework), currently in Beta, is a toolset for extending Microsoft Office applications using data look-ups and workflow actions implemented via Web services. Simply put, it combines a...

Java databases get small - db4o, PointBase offer relational, object- oriented options for getting data to PDAs.(personal digital assistants)(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 28, 2004... PDAs sound like the ideal home for database applications. You'd like to carry gobs of information around in your purse or pocket, ready to whip out and reference at a moment's notice, right? That could be an ideal use of Java's "run...