InfoWorld articles from March 1999

InfoWorld archives from March 1999

Market research: Compaq leads in U.S. PC shipments.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... The United States, Western Europe, and Asia will help drive the global PC market to new heights in 1999. The good news for buyers is that for most models, prices will either remain where they are or will fall, according to market researcher...

Cisco ushers in workforce-efficiency pack.(Workforce Optimization suite)(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... Cisco Systems is now offering a set of Internet-based worker-efficiency applications, called the Workforce Optimization solution. The solution is intended to enable users to cut costs, streamline repetitive operation tasks, and assist...

Online purchasing slashes costs.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
March 29, 1999... Attention business shoppers: Did you know that purchasing everything from raw goods to office supplies on the Web can save you money? Although many companies realize they can make money selling on the Internet, a growing number are...

Technology no longer a wallflower at corporate IT dance.(hand-held devices)(Technology Information)
March 29, 1999... Handheld devices that traditionally enter the enterprise via the back door are beginning to gain broad IT acceptance as software services and hardware vendors extend handheld technology's reach. Support is indeed on the way. During the...

Relationship management unites on Web.(new applications emerging)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... A new wave of applications are emerging for customer and internal support that propose to ease the contact experience by unifying various communication channels through a single Web interface. This week at Support Services Conference and...

Platform gains programmers' support.(Linux)(Product Information)
March 29, 1999... Developers may well be the next band of rogues to shake up corporate IT departments by demanding Linux. Particularly when mixed with the Java programming language, Linux is emerging as a contender to win over the corporate developers as a...

FROM THE NEWS DESK.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Editorial)
March 29, 1999... Internet commerce overlooks the basics The biggest long-term problem associated with Internet commerce is that most organizations are failing to take into account the effect this effort will have on their existing business processes. ...

Compaq to modify ProSignia sales model.(Product Information)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Compaq this week will announce a third component to its market strategy for selling its ProSignia product line of notebooks, desktops, and servers aimed at small to midsize businesses. The company will add the Partner Direct program to its...

Y2K tests by ADP help `Keep America Paid'.(Automatic Data Processing tests updates of Year 2000 applications)(Company Operations)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... ADP celebrated New Year's Eve early last week when it set its test computers forward to Dec. 31, 1999, to conduct a year-2000 test with some of its clients and banks. Called "Keep America Paid," the test will run over a five-week period,...

Lucent to unveil LAN convergence switch.(Cajun M770)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Lucent Technologies next week will introduce a high-capacity LAN core switch designed for converged voice-data networks. The Cajun M770 will be equipped with a dual 40Gbps ATM switch fabric to ensure the resiliency needed to support voice...

OMG to update CORBA Component Model.(Technology Information)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... The Object Management Group (OMG) this week at the ObjectExpo conference in New York will provide an update on its forthcoming CORBA Component Model (CCM) specification. Originally slated for a vote last week at the OMG conference in...

Q1 sales for SAP to fall short of target.(Company Financial Information)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Citing weak demand in its key markets, SAP last week said it expects first-quarter software sales to "clearly lag" behind its forecast of 20 percent to 25 percent revenue growth for the 1999 fiscal year. The German software vendor, whose...

IBM's giant PC loss in '98 may signal changes.(microcomputer market is not company focus)(Company Financial Information)
March 29, 1999... The nearly $1 billion loss of IBM's PC group in 1998 is unnerving, but PCs are not IBM's focus, and big is to be expected from Big Blue, analysts said last week. IBM, in its 1998 annual report, recorded revenue of more than $81 billion...

Delayed productivity suite laden with host of enhancements.(Microsoft Office 2000)(company to announce ship date for new package, partnerships)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Microsoft is gearing up for a June release of Office 2000 with a raft of partner announcements and a focus on the desktop productivity suite's Internet and componentization capabilities. According to several sources close to Microsoft and...

Sun to solidify Java definition.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... Like an onion being peeled, the layers of Java APIs and specifications that Sun Microsystems has put forth during the past few years seems like an unending process that never reaches the core. But by the end of this year -- after dozens...

Microsoft makes token effort to settle trial.(in Dept of Justice antitrust case)(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... The proposed settlement that Microsoft submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general last week was criticized by many as an insincere offer that was more of a public relations stunt than anything else. ...

For the record.(Correction Notice)
March 29, 1999... In "Changing course" (March 8, page 68), Inprise's MIDAS technology should have been identified as Multitier Distributed Application Services. Inprise also plans to devote 10 to 15 percent of its staff, or roughly 100 people, to corporate...

New framework to leverage XML.(in future versions of Novell GroupWise messaging system)(Product Development)
March 29, 1999... Novell in 2000 plans to mold its GroupWise messaging system into a component-based platform, anchored by a back-end server and Web-based clients in a framework based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), Novell officials said at the BrainShare...

Novell uses show for Internet, I-commerce initiatives.(BrainShare 99)(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... As expected, Novell made a bold play at last week's BrainShare '99 exposition in Salt Lake City to establish an Internet presence. At the forefront of the announcements was Novell's digitalme technology. Digitalme uses a directory to help...

Lotus to deliver Notes R5 this week after several delays.(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... After much delay, Lotus this week will begin shipping its Release 5 (R5) upgrade of the Notes and Domino platform, meeting its most recently revised delivery schedule. (See "Shipping date for Lotus Notes R5 slips again,"...

Oracle plays to win SAP front-office customers.(Oracle Application InterConnect)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Looking to outrace SAP by grabbing its potential customers in the front-office market, Oracle is offering a link from its sales, service, and electronic-commerce applications to rival SAP's flagship R/3 suite. Oracle wants to sell its...

HP, Netscape push enterprise mail.(HP announces OpenMail 6.0, OpenMail Anywhere; Netscape partners with Wingra )(Technologies)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Hewlett-Packard and Netscape Communications plan to use this week's annual Enterprise Messaging Association (EMA) conference in Dallas to announce product enhancements and migration solutions designed to lure enterprise customers to their...

Internet printing awaits standard.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
March 29, 1999... A new dimension will be added to workgroup collaboration in 2000 when the Internet is used to send files directly to printers all over the world. The Printer Working Group (PWG), which is composed of all major printer vendors, ratified...

Big Blue makes a comeback.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... IBM has overtaken Oracle to regain its lead in the growing database market, according to preliminary numbers released last week in a report by Dataquest. Anchored by strong sales of its AS/400 and S/390 systems, as well as growth for DB2...

InterNIC putsch? New site disputed.(for domain name registration)(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
March 29, 1999... Domain name registrar Network Solutions raised eyebrows and ire last week when all Web traffic to the Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) Web site was routed to the Network Solutions home page. Network Solutions has always...

Alliance: IBM, EMC ink $3 billion deal.(for disk drives)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... IBM's OEM business got another boost last week when Big Blue signed a $3 billion deal to supply fast-rising EMC with its advanced disk storage products. Under the terms of the five-year deal, EMC, based in Hopkinton, Mass., will buy...

Licensing program: L&H licenses speech for the enterprise.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... Speech technology vendor Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) is launching a volume licensing program for its shrink-wrapped goods, including the Voice Express product line and its Power Translator Pro translation products. Although speech technology...

Outsourcing: Cabletron deal farms out manufacturing.(Cabletron Systems Inc)(Company Operations)
March 29, 1999... Cabletron last week said it has agreed to outsource its worldwide manufacturing operations to Celestica as part of its cost-cutting and restructuring plan. Cabletron, a maker of networking equipment, expects to save $80 million during...

AT&T enhances its ATM network services.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... AT&T is extending its ATM services to an end-to-end offering, with local ATM connectivity to be available in 41 cities nationwide by the end of this year. In addition to local ATM service, AT&T announced ATM Transparent LAN Service for...

The stage is now set for AOL, but success isn't certain; Forced Sun partnership could impede progress.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... America Online's recent reorganization has masterfully merged an East Coast consumer-focused content company with Netscape's quick-paced, mostly corporate-focused software company. The resulting bicoastal industry leader stands prepared to...

AOL, Sun team up to tackle Internet commerce.(America Online, Sun Microsystems, Internet commerce software)(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... As part of America Online's acquisition of Netscape Communications and its alliance with Sun Microsystems, the companies this week will announce a functionally independent division focusing on Internet- commerce applications. The...

America Online plans reorganization, layoffs.(Company Operations)
March 29, 1999... America Online announced last week that it is reorganizing into four product groups, including one devoted to Netscape Communications' operations, and that the company will lay off between 700 and 1,000 employees from AOL and Netscape...

Cop software targets big business.(Cerulean Technology's MobileFusion thin-client wireless software)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Cerulean Technology, which sells wireless application software to firefighters and police, plans to announce a thin-client wireless software application for businesses. Called MobileFusion, the product's main business use likely will be...

PIPELINE.
March 29, 1999... ANNOUNCED Hewlett-Packard released last week the HP NetServer 60, designed for small to midsize businesses or remote corporate offices with little or no IT presence. The NetServer 60 offers configuration with a bootable HP Navigator...

Web and XML keep object-oriented databases afloat in a world gone relational.(Technology Information)
March 29, 1999... For some time, the object-oriented database market has languished in a sea of arcane development requirements. But thanks to the emerging Web document standard designed to continue where HTML leaves off -- Extensible Markup Language (XML)...

Laser printers for the week of March 29.
March 29, 1999... Change from Model(1) RAM ppm(2) Low High Average December Apple LaserWriter...

Steve Mills tackles the simplification of big; software, life with Windows 2000, and Linux.(Company Business and Marketing)(Interview)
March 29, 1999... As general manager at IBM's Software Solutions Division, Steve Mills is a key architect of IBM's overall software strategy. In recent weeks, IBM has expanded its focus beyond its own base products, Windows NT, and Java to now include Linux....

WhiteLight heats up strategic data solution.(Analytic Applications Server 2.0 DBMS)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... While many vendors are focusing solely on online analytical processing (OLAP) to support data analysis, WhiteLight Systems is proposing a new model of decision support, called Integrated Decision Processing (IDP), to help companies identify...

WINDOW MANAGER.(new breed of freeware Web browsers emerging)(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Will freeware and personalization bring new life to browsers? For the past three weeks, my columns have described a do-it-yourself method of removing Internet Explorer (IE) from Windows 98, as promoted by www.98lite.net, as well as...

Review: Cross merges PC with paper.(CrossPad XP)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... Taking notes helps many of us recall some of the things we need to know. Being able to share those notes with others, as well as archive them for future reference, can make your work life much easier. But using a laptop or smaller device to...

Review: Fujitsu's Stylistic suits some mobile users.(Stylistic 2300 tablet computer)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... For mobile workers who need computing power on the spot, Fujitsu's Stylistic 2300 tablet computer may fit the bill. Whereas many tablet computers run custom operating systems, the Stylistic is Windows-based, so a vast number of applications...

Review: EzNote slips top features into thin case.(CTX International subnotebook)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... The reviews on page 43 show two examples of what is available in very small computers. But in spite of the attractions of tablets and handheld PCs, there's no need for users to give up notebook systems. One of the latest in the slim laptop...

PIPELINE (1).(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... ANNOUNCED Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group and Epigram, a manufacturer of chips for home networking products, last week announced an agreement to cross-license intellectual property and contribute to a new home networking...

Security and VPN capabilities added.(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... IBM last week announced a raft of products and services designed to help corporate users distribute data and applications more securely via the Internet for conducting electronic business. IBM also unveiled virtual private network (VPN)...

Cable giants on merger path.(Comcast, MediaOne)(Company Business and Marketing)
March 29, 1999... In a deal that would bring together the third and fourth largest cable providers in the United States to create a broadband delivery giant, Comcast said last week it will acquire MediaOne in a stock swap valued at $60 billion. The...

Cisco converges on voice gear.(Cisco Systems' 2600 and 3600 routers add voice support, and the ISR 3303 router for SONet)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Cisco Systems this month is aiming at enterprises and service providers with products for carrying voice, video, and data on one network. Cisco has also announced availability of its first product sets for packet-based telephony in small...

Two telecommunications newsbytes from around the globe.(Technology Information)
March 29, 1999... (Beijing) The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to set four IT-related conditions that China must meet before it is allowed to join the WTO. Heading up the list of conditions...

SECURITY WATCH.(Technology Information)
March 29, 1999... SSH celebrates Version 2, but is a replacement; waiting to bust on to the security scene? A manager of a network of Sun Solaris servers supporting critical enterprise applications and databases noticed an odd program called rpc.auditd...

M10II creates cheap, easy WANs.(from Clarion)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... You have to connect your network to buildings on your campus, across the street, or on the other side of town, but you want to avoid the hassle of laying new cable or leasing another T1 line. You decide to go wireless. If you want speedy...

Domain, Exchange tools round out Onepoint EA.(from Mission Critical Software )(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... Administering a large Windows NT-based network gets complicated when you start delegating user and group authority, or migrating users from one domain to another. Although NT 4.0's native domain architecture gives you some administration...

Promising TAS allows universal access to Unix boxes.(TotalNet Advanced Server)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... If you are looking to provide universal file and print access to your Unix-based servers, few products are as comprehensive as Syntax's TotalNet Advanced Server (TAS) 5.4. TAS offers the broadest file and print connectivity capabilities on...

Powerful CommercePath 2.0 gets least-cost routing, load balancing.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... CommercePath is no desktop lightweight. It provides fax services to applications on mainframes, minicomputers, and LANs. With it, you can fax as many as 6,000 pages per hour, and it supports 96 channels per server. Through its support for...

Catalyst 2924M XL delivers full IOS support.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... Cisco Systems' dominant position among network players is no secret. Cisco maintains its position in part by constant innovation and improvement across its product lines. Its latest switch release, the Catalyst 2924M XL is no different,...

PIPELINE (2).(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... ANNOUNCED Bright Light this week is announcing spam-filtering partnerships with Netscape, Software.com, Excite, and Juno. Bright Light's Bright Mail Anti-Spam Service, which filters unsolicited junk e-mail messages, or spam, will be...

Ironside CEO Bill Lipsin tackles online sales strategies for IT managers.(Company Business and Marketing)(Interview)
March 29, 1999... Whether you are a buyer or a seller, business-to-business commerce offers unprecedented opportunities and challenges for IT managers. To discuss the issues, InfoWorld Senior Writer Matthew Nelson recently sat down with Bill Lipsin, president...

Andromedia pumps up Web marketing, measurement; Products for analysis, personalization.(ARIA 3.0, ARIA Enterprise 3.0, ARIA eCommerce 3.0)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... Internet-commerce vendor Andromedia is targeting the growing needs of online marketers by shipping new products to help Web sites with data gathering and personalization. Online marketing is different from traditional marketing and sales,...

Web sites worth checking out.(Directory)
March 29, 1999... Apple's Open Source Projects - www.publicsource.apple.com Apple Computer jumps on the open-source bandwagon with a site for developers. Visitors can access information on and source code for Darwin, Apple's open-source release of the Mac OS...

NET PROPHET.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Glitzy Webbies paint only a partial picture of the Internet's future San Francisco's politically and sartorially brilliant mayor, Willie Brown, was a fitting host for the third annual Webby Awards earlier this month, where what people...

Software offers more flexible administration and improved usability, but still has minor drawbacks.(NetMind Technologies Enterprise Minder 3.0)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... If you are interested in keeping track of your competitors' latest moves, your vendors' lowest prices, or your company's ever-changing policies, then I recommend you consider Enterprise Minder 3.0, NetMind Technologies' Web-page monitoring...

Review: eTeam takes a crack at dynamic messaging; Price makes it best for smaller groups.(Infocast)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... Collaborating on a project with a group of people who work in different locations can sometimes be a frustrating experience, especially when e- mail is the primary source of communication. E-mail is great for dashing off quick messages, but...

FORUM TALK: Is GNOME 1.0 ready for the market?(Editorial)
March 29, 1999... These edited excerpts from InfoWorld Electric's forums provide a sample of the lively debate that takes place there. For the full discussions, go to www.infoworld.com and click on the forums button. Enter GNOME "To anyone...

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF.(Editorial)
March 29, 1999... InfoWorld 100 focuses on those leading companies into the next millennium This year's NCAA basketball tournaments triggered thoughts of another annual event for me -- our search for InfoWorld 100 companies and the people driving their...

PIPELINE (3).(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... ANNOUNCED HAHT Software last week said it will integrate Novell Directory Services (NDS) into its HAHTsite application server, thereby enabling customers to provide rich user profiles in conjunction with Web applications. The...

Professional services companies take various approaches to tackle Web jobs.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 29, 1999... Businesses tackling Web development projects face two conflicting realities: Time is always short, and such projects are inherently complex. Although professional services companies are increasingly offering "fixed time-fixed price" packages...

Mentors Corner: Renault trucking enhances direct sales through Web.
March 29, 1999... Manufacturers of complex products, such as cars or trucks, have long relied on a direct sales force to hold customers' hands during the sales process. But as consumers seek to empower themselves by getting more product information online,...

Y2K bugs will bite in 1999.(GartnerGroup report)(Industry Trend or Event)
March 29, 1999... The gap between leaders and laggards has widened among organizations addressing the year-2000 issue, according to a report released last week by market research company the Gartner Group. In 1998, IT spending on year 2000 increased from...

TSI updates Mercator EAI tool.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 29, 1999... TSI Software hopes to strengthen its position in the enterprise application integration (EAI) field by expanding the footprint of its flagship product, Mercator, and with a recent acquisition. Mercator 2.0 for SAP's R/3 enterprise...

Client Management Software 4.0 leverages existing; data stores for comprehensive customer support.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... It is undeniable that the most critical activities in any company revolve around customer relationship management (CRM), because your company's reputation rides on every contact. However, effective CRM pulls many diverse company resources...

TEST CENTER RX.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Policing the Internet: If your users can't surf responsibly, you may have to monitor them Question: I manage a network consisting of approximately 120 clients. We are a Microsoft Windows shop with Windows 95 clients and NT 4.0 servers....

ON THE EDGE.(undocumented NetWare process for automatic installation)(Technology Tutorial)(Tutorial)
March 29, 1999... Preparing for Y2K means a NetWare client software update across the enterprise With Jan. 1, 2000, quickly approaching, many of you are probably already pulling your hair out trying to make certain that all changes required to avert...

Guide to Access 97 provides a solid foundation for database users.(Review)
March 29, 1999... Microsoft Access 97 is a useful but frustrating product for someone who has not had much database design or creation experience. Most books I have read on the subject have been limited to Access itself and how to work within Access....

Ten steps can streamline the process without sacrificing quality.(IT hiring)(Industry Trend or Event)
March 29, 1999... Will Rogers' quip -- "Even if you take the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" -- is nowhere more true than in IT hiring. Competition for good workers in today's job market is tough, and if one company's hiring process...

Employers can help workers with personal problems.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 29, 1999... When an employee's personal problems seem to be affecting on-the-job performance, managers need to address the issue head-on. "You don't want to lose a good employee because they're having personal issues," says Keith Gilbert, IS project...

IS SURVIVAL GUIDE.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 29, 1999... Respect and understand new ideas to separate the good ones from the bad MANAGEMENT SPEAK: We are aware of it. TRANSLATION: We had hoped that the fool who started it would have forgotten about it by this time. -- This week's...

THE GRIPE LINE.(Industry Trend or Event)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Beware vendors bearing Y2K upgrades: They might not be all they seem to be As we've seen, some vendors are quite blatant about taking advantage of Y2K to force you along their upgrade path. Others, however, like to at least give the...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD.(gossip)(Humor)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Rose is back and checking her voice mail, but is there a message for Bobby? Rose is back from Mexico, looking tan and fit. I picked her up from the San Francisco airport, and we went to her apartment where she was gratified to find 17...

DOWN TO THE WIRE.(Technology Information)
March 29, 1999... Don't know a Boolean search from shinola? You'd better Ask Jeeves for help I'm a sucker for natural language interfaces. I've been waiting for them to catch on ever since I got my hands on a copy of Symantec Q&A for DOS, which had a...

FROM THE ETHER.(Company Business and Marketing)(Column)
March 29, 1999... Intel, Wave, and Novell are busy building identity infrastructure for the Net We too often trust the wrong people, and sometimes the right people too much. We are slow to admit what we don't know. But most of all, we are...

Customer relationship management: Shorten your sales cycle.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 29, 1999... In a mercurial market, time is money. A solid customer relationship management solution can save your salespeople time so they can close more sales, giving your company a competitive advantage. IN THIS ANALYSIS BaanFrontOffice 98.4...

Dell Computer and Dragon Systems.(direct sales of Dragon's Naturally Speaking Preferred speech-recognition software)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 22, 1999... Dell Computer and Dragon Systems announced Monday that Dragon's Naturally Speaking Preferred speech-recognition software is now available through various Dell direct sales Web sites, including giga buys.com, where the product sells for...

Intel last week introduced its InBusiness Print Station.(print-sharing device)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 22, 1999... Intel last week introduced its InBusiness Print Station, a print- sharing device designed to provide affordable print-sharing capabilities for small business customers. The Intel InBusiness Print Station allows customers to share printers...

NEC has introduced its third-generation Versa LX series.(notebook computers)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 22, 1999... NEC has introduced its third-generation Versa LX series of notebook computers, featuring Intel's 366-MHz and 333-MHz Mobile Pentium II processors, the ATI Rage LT Pro video chipset with 8MB of video RAM, and an Accelerated Graphics Port for...

Xeon launch spawns application overhauls.(Intel Pentium III Xeon chip)(Product Announcement)
March 22, 1999... Unified support from hardware vendors is fairly commonplace when Intel introduces a faster processor. However, last week's Pentium III Xeon unveiling saw an influx of software vendors anxious to tout the processor's potential to provide...

Street Prices 17-inch monitors for the week of March 22.(News Briefs)
March 22, 1999... Change Dot from Model(1) pitch Low High Average November Apple Studio Display 0.25mm $479 $589 $504 N/A(2) CTX VL710 ...