The future of storage is in the
metadata--and always has been
There's a significant shift in storage
fundamentals afoot, and it's not SAN and NAS.
Metadata promises to turn static, monolithic
data repositories into malleable storage clouds
that are more accommodating of the way end users
prefer to organize information for retrieval and
that have the flexibility IT managers need as
their physical hardware needs
evolve.
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STORY
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A better model for enterprise
software
Forget what
you think you know about enterprise software,
writes IQNavigator's John Martin. The new
business model for enterprise
software--Business Service
Providers (BSP)--combine quick
implementation, zero technology or customization
costs, and much lower ongoing costs to
deliver higher value to customers at a small
fraction of the typical TCO. Martin predicts
that BSPs will even find success in larger
enterprises that need quickly-implemented,
low-investment, best-of-breed solutions for
specific processes. His concepts sound much
easier said than done when trying to integrate
with an existing infrastructure until Web
services become pervasive.
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COMMENTARY
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Siebel heads out on acquisition
path
Siebel Systems took
another bold step toward competing in the
hosted business applications market this week
when it agreed to acquire software-as-service
company UpShot for up to $70 million in cash.
Earlier this month, Siebel announced a
pay-by-the-month software program called Siebel
CRM OnDemand, a simplified version of the
company's full-blown CRM applications. Can the CRM
giant, which has been losing business to start-up
software-as-service providers like salesforce.com,
RightNow, and Employease, stop the downward
slide by moving downstream in the CRM market?
Siebel also has bought the assets of business
applications maker Motiva.
READ FULL STORY
See
also: The next big software
transition
Stepping
stones to Office-bound enterprise
apps?
Oracle builds in single
sign-on
Catering to the
increasing importance of identity
management for enterprises, Oracle has
joined a growing cadre of security-minded software
providers by introducing a security component for
its database and application server products that
manages access privileges to corporate networks
and Web sites. Earlier this week, BEA
Systems announced plans to offer application
security, while IBM and Sun offer
identity management tools with their Java-based
application servers. You can expect a lot more
consolidation in the identity management and
single-sign-on space in the coming
months.
READ FULL STORY
OK, maybe we should kill IPv6
altogether
Some of the
Web's most prolific netizens warned us that if
IPv6 was delayed much longer, the day would come
when alternatives to the Internet would begin
to sprout up. Thanks to Juniper
Networks, that day may already be here.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based network equipment
manufacturer is floating an idea that it calls
the infranet: a
more-secure-than-the-Internet global
network that company officials claim is
neither a public Internet nor a private network
and that would be an attractive alternative to
companies looking to protect trade secrets and
transactions.
READ FULL STORY
Ready, set, secure your
systems
Digital
Defense Test 2003: Last month, we gathered a
panel of experts to tackle the latest security
challenges while a live audience of IT execs
answered real-time poll questions. Now, you can be
part of the Webcast--watch, learn and take the
polls. In Digital Defense Test 2003, you'll see
three scenarios based on real security breaches,
learn how the experts deal with the crises, and
test your own security knowledge.
SEE FULL REPORT
| Review |
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Strong support from IBM
With
a strong three-year warranty and excellent
service options, IBM's dull but
well-supported ThinkCentre A50p targets
IT managers and SOHO workers. |
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| Commentary |
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Riding the open standards wave to lower
costs
Donald Doane: Microsoft
has been promoting the advantages of proprietary
software in a highly-financed campaign, but
open source makes IT simpler, more
affordable and gives customers more bang for
their buck. |
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| SURVEY |
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Employees 'more of a disaster threat
than terrorists'
Employee blunders
and hardware and software failures are more
of a worry for IT managers than the much-hyped
threat of terrorism when it comes to disaster
recovery planning, according to a new survey.
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| FEATURE |
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Digging for nuggets of
wisdom
Researchers are increasingly
putting computer muscle into a technique called
text mining, hoping to find clues and
patterns in a library's worth of documents.
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Face to Face: Unisys CEO Larry
Weinbach
What's on
the minds of CIOs? Infrastructure security
and decisions concerning decentralized versus
centralized IT operations, according to Unisys
chief Larry Weinbach. In our exclusive
interview, Weinbach discussed his big bet on
Windows in the data center, scaling up
versus scaling out server architectures, the
current climate for IT spending, and his take on
outsourcing.
WATCH THE WEBCAST
Wringing costs out of external
services
In the
post-bubble era, the smartest companies are
figuring out how to get more cost efficiency,
visibility and leverage in their external
supplier relationships. With outsourcing
growing at a rapid rate, and the intense focus
on ROI, services procurement and management is
likely to make the short list of initiatives
that get budget approval in the coming
year.
READ FULL STORY
The next frontier for app server
supersuites: Security
With this week's rollout of Web
Logic Enterprise Security, BEA is fueling the
convergence and consolidation of application
security and identity management. The basic
goal behind frameworks like this one is to
provide a single security management interface
to all of an enterprise's
applications.
READ FULL STORY
Feeling insecure? Microsoft has another
plan
To get its
customers "secure and keep them secure,"
Microsoft will focus on adding new security
technologies to its products, educating its
customers, and improving its process of
releasing patches, CEO Steve Ballmer pledged
Thursday. But, the company adds, it will take
time to fully implement this
much-anticipated plan for combating security
threats.
SEE FULL
REPORT
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