e-Business Advisor articles from August 2002

e-Business Advisor archives from August 2002

Wireless woes: the usability, interoperability, and business challenges involved with taking e-business applications to cell phones are more serious than most want to admit. (Mobile Business Advisor).
August 1, 2002... CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY promises to take e-business applications well beyond the office walls. However, there are challenges to building and deploying mobile apps for e-business. What stands in the way? Usability issues, interoperability...

Novell + SilverStream Software = Web services. (trends/standards/product).
August 1, 2002... EVEN THOUGH NOVELL ONE NET WAS ANNOUNCED two years ago, the company has had a tough time establishing itself as a key Web services player. To move up quickly and strongly, Novell is acquiring SilverStream Software, a well-respected Web services...

Oracle scoops up WebGain TopLink. (trends/standards/product).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Oracle has acquired WebGain TopLink, a suite of tools that helps developers link Java applications to databases. TopLink consists of three components: a runtime framework to map Java objects to relational data sources, a visual mapping...

IBM tool targets wireless "war driving". (trends/standards/product).(IBM Distributed Wireless Security Auditor)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Do tech managers know where all their wireless LAN access points (AP) are? Since they can be plugged into a LAN and stashed almost anywhere, even by users, they can be a challenge to manage internally. Meanwhile, strangers can be discovering...

More shakeout in the web application server market? (trends/standards/product).(HP to retire its middleware line)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... After completing the acquisition of Compaq, HP told financial analysts it would soon retire its middleware line to make its software group profitable. HP has been giving away the Netaction Java application server it acquired in October 2000...

Linux wars echo Unix wars. (trends/standards/product).(initiative to develop UnitedLinux)
August 1, 2002... To combat Red Hat, which some feel is the de facto standard Linux, Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, and Turbolinux have partnered to create UnitedLinux. They intend to streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform...

Focus on your customers; get away from stovepiped data repositories. A consolidated view of customer information helps you better serve your customers, market to them more efficiently, and increase customer loyalty. (Customer Relationship Management).
August 1, 2002... IF YOU THINK OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL companies around the world--GM, Wal-Mart, IBM, CISCO, etc.--they all have one thing in common: loyal customers. It can cost ten to twenty times as much to acquire a customer as to retain one, so it's easy to...

Take legacy applications to the Web; put the building blocks in place: organize your architecture and skill sets. (Architecture).
August 1, 2002... THE INTERNET IS THE PRIMARY business channel 'for most companies. The ideal business model for the majority of companies is to have their customers, whether businesses or consumers, place orders through the Internet or independent real-time...

New technologies, New problems; what's the key to decreasing Web application failure factors? (Web Application Management).
August 1, 2002... HAVE ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY made your life easier or more complicated? Tricky question, isn't it? Indeed, as Web applications mature, the problems they create are growing up right along with them. This puts unprecedented stress on IT operation...

Help users help themselves: business productivity tools only go so far. As your data grows more complex--and it will--you have to find a way to give users safe, efficient access to centralized data. (Business Process Management).(Column)
August 1, 2002... RECENTLY, A DEVELOPER complained to me about "Excel hell." Intrigued by the colorful description, I asked him to elaborate, and he said he was concerned about the proliferation of automation solutions built on tools such as Microsoft Excel. He...

WAP vs. WJMS: Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Wireless Java Messaging Service (WJMS) are technologies for transmitting data from servers to mobile devices. Find out about the pros and cons of each. (Mobile & Wireless).(Wireless Application Protocol 2.0 and Wireless Java Message Service)
August 1, 2002... MY ARTICLE, "THE PITFALLS OF J2ME" in the April issue of E-BUSINESS ADVISOR, outlined some of the problems you should be aware of when moving to the new wireless packet data space. Unfortunately as you might expect with any batch of new...

Database archiving basics: monolithic databases are slow and tough to manage. Use these archiving guidelines to slim them down. (Database Management).
August 1, 2002... IN THIS ISSUE OF E-BUSINESS ADVISOR, you'll find two articles singing the praises of centralized data: Terrance A. Crow's article, "Help Users Help Themselves" on page 20 shows how centralizing storage can help you make data more user-friendly...

Security "open" corporate networks; mergers, acquisitions, and multi-company collaboration are increasing the need to secure critical integrated applications from unauthorized use, both from external and internal sources. (E-Business Security).
August 1, 2002... MOST E-BUSINESS SOLUTIONS today blur the line between the insider world of trusted users and the outside world of potentially hostile attackers. The primary purpose of multi-tier architectures is to open the corporate network to the external...

Partnering for protection: ISPs and their customers must work together for stronger network security. (Network Security).(Column)
August 1, 2002... THE PREVALENCE OF DENIAL-OF-SERVICE (DoS) attacks shows that cyberterrorism is alive and well--and that e-businesses and their service providers aren't doing enough to stop it. Unfortunately, most of corporate America and ISPs seem to only...

Policies and strategies for mobile devices. (Security).
August 1, 2002... Today, mobile devices such as handheld PDAs and laptops are essential business tools. They help employees be more responsive to customers and increase productivity. For corporations that recognize the potential of these devices, many...

Microsoft EULA forbids .NET benchmarking. (e-Biz Buzz[TM]).(end user license agreement)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... When installing security patches to Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer, Buzz decided to actually read the "Supplemental End User License Agreement for Microsoft Software" ("Supplemental EULA"). He was amazed to find: "You may not disclose the...

Dangerous digits. (e-Biz Buzz[TM]).(faking fingerprints)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Do you want to crack the security of an expensive biometric fingerprint reader? Do you have $15 for some common household items? Tsutomu Matsumoto, a University of Yokohama engineering professor, takes molds of real fingers and lifts...

Lessons not learned. (e-Biz Buzz[TM]).
August 1, 2002... Online PR service Internet Wire has done it again. It published a fake press release suggesting biotech firm Cel Sci is close to a cure for cancer. The stock price jumped as trading rocketed to five times the company's average volume. Internet...

Thank you for installing Microsoft worm .NET. (e-Biz Buzz[TM]).(worm in the Korean-language versions of Microsoft Visual Studio.NET)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Microsoft customers have long-suffered from design vulnerabilities that allow viruses and worms to wriggle into systems. Since the solution is yet more "update" software from Microsoft to plug the wormholes, the last thing you want is for...

"Secure" spam? Give buzz a break. (e-Biz Buzz[TM]).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... During Buzz's daily spam mass-delete, one message caught his eye. It used the common spam trick of putting Buzz's e-mail address in the headers, and in the To and From fields. Figuring observant folks would spot this, the bold spammer tried to...