News

Open Source CRM Delivers More Control, Less Cost

IT leaders who can get past the idea that open-source CRM software doesn't cost enough say they like the power and flexibility of owning their own code.

The Accountability Trap

Accountability without authority is a recipe for failure. Here's how to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

BlackBerry Users Get a Gaggle of New Google Mobile Features

Google mobile search gets more BlackBerry-friendly, with improved results, enhanced navigation and related search terms. If you're searching the Internet with your RIM smartphone, the user experience should get a lot better.

Trendlines from 7/01/08: New, Hot, Unexpected

In this issue: SAP skills gap; CIOs' campaign donations; Mash-ups; Virtual worlds; and CIOs Reap Realignment Benefits.

Deadline for PCI Compliance Is Now

These tips can help you make sure you are PCI compliant and tell you what it may cost your company if you aren't.

Microsoft Releases Hypervisor Users Call Fast, Stable, Efficient

Microsoft announces it will release Hyper-V to manufacturing; VARs and end users laud its performance and ease of use, though Microsoft's management tools have not yet caught up.

Brownfield Development: An Agile Approach to a Waterfall Problem

The "Brownfield" application development lifecycle differs from that of the traditional waterfall method employed on large-scale developments and instead utilizes a more agile approach, write the authors of Eating the IT Elephant, in this s

Veeam Connects Virtual and Physical Management Tools

Virtualization management tool vendor Veeam acquires nworks; new software connects VMware management tools with HP OpenView and Microsoft System Center Operations Manager.

Embotics Aims to Make Managing Mobs of VMs Easier

Virtualization tools vendor Embotics today launches version two of its V-Commander product, which automates lifecycle management of virtual machines.

Hyper9 Virtualization Management Tool Debuts

New Hyper9 search-based management software discovers and manages virtual machines and their physical hosts; free download designed to complement to VMware Virtual Center tools available in September.

Make Your Leadership Messages Memorable

To be heard, leadership messages must reflect your organization's vision, mission and values to your audience — and not your ego.

Endpoint Security Holes an Open Door for Attackers

A free online scanner reveals that most corporate endpoints fail even basic security tests, according to a Sophos report.

Open-Source SOA Proves Valuable to Business Processes

A presenter from JBoss at the Red Hat Summit itemized the stages of service-oriented architecture, showed how businesses are benefiting today from the company's SOA platform and offered SOA predictions for two years in the future.

Virtualization and Linux: Red Hat Unveils New Vision

Red Hat announced a trio of virtualization initiatives today and staked out its own turf in the virtualization battle. Here's a look at what these technologies mean to you, starting with the new Embedded Linux hypervisor.

Study: Companies Need Better Enterprise Search

While vendors such as Google and Microsoft have offered companies search appliances, a new study contends that IT organizations have not utilized them. Instead, employees have been forced to use different search engines spread out across disparate ap

Mobile Payments: 71 Percent of Consumers Say “No Way” to Online Shopping, Banking via Mobile Devices

Less than ten percent of respondents to a Unisys survey say they've used a mobile device for online banking or commerce. One big problem: Smartphone users donu0019t trust telecomm companies.

VMware and Rivals Focus on Application Performance Management

VMware, Vizioncore, and other vendors and standards groups are quickly adding application performance management (APM) capability into their software and benchmarks as users are increasingly concerned about the availability of resources for applicat

IT Leaders Can’t Get No Job Satisfaction

A job satisfaction survey finds that of all functional executives, IT leaders are least content with their jobs, according to ExecuNet. Read on to find out why.

Microsoft SharePoint: Project Management Answer for a Multi-Million Dollar Construction Effort

How do you manage the reams of paper and complicated project management timeline related to a $170 million building expansion? For the Van Andel Institute and their consultants, Microsoft SharePoint proved the answer to staying on time and on budget

Rentable Virtual Infrastructure: Right For You?

A service provider supplies the equipment and manages the infrastructure and operating system, and you just pay monthly fees. Is rentable virtual infrastructure a smart fit for you? SaaS companies are among early customers.

Trendlines from 6/15/08: New, Hot, Unexpected

In this issue: Low-cost laptops; Wi-Fi on campus; Africa eyes outsourcing; Execs on globalization; Software piracy on the rise; and CIOs and social responsibility.

Microsoft’s CardSpace Attacked by Researchers

Research shows Microsoft's CardSpace is vulnerable.

Google: Four Trends Will Move Applications to the Web

Cloud computing is for real, and it's being fueled by four big trends, including horizontal collaboration among end users, Google Enterprise exec tells attendees at the Enterprise 2.0 conference.

How to Manage the Generation Gap

Understanding Gen Y, Gen X and baby boomers, and how to get the best from each.

Which Virtualization Technologies Are Ripe: Forrester’s Picks

A new report from Forrester Research ranks 17 virtualization technologies on whether they're ready for prime time or too green for picking.

Use Committees Constructively and Bust Bureaucracy

When committees don't work, it's because they're being misused. Here are some simple rules for burying bureaucracy by putting committees in their proper place: as venues for collaboration, not rule making.

VMware, Tripwire Offer Free VM Configuration Tool

Free Tripwire ConfigCheck tool sifts through the hundreds of configuration settings within VMware's ESX Server, identifies possible problems, and provides guidelines on how to fix them.

Customer Data Should Drive IT Decisions

Universal Orlando's CIO challenges market assumptions to drive business in a shrinking economy

Optical Networking Market Tops $3B; Offers Companies Better Data Traffic

Communicating at the speed of light means better reliability, faster traffic flow and even better security because photons ncan't be hacked. How can you go wrong?

Open Source is Entering the Enterprise Mainstream, Survey Shows

The statistics from a CIO.com survey make it clear: Open-source solutions are becoming more commonplace in corporate IT, if not precisely mundane. The study also identifies where the friction is in business open-source adoption, and which application

Citrix and Partners Debut Products at Synergy: Wrap Up

Catch up on the new Citrix, HP and ClearCube offerings.

Study: Apple, Nokia, Dell Tops Among Global Supply Chains

AMR Research's annual list of the top 25 supply chains puts Apple at the top for meeting iPhone demand. Procter & Gamble, IBM, Wal-Mart, Toyota top list of global manufacturers and retailers. Read who else is on the list.n

Crushed by compliance tyrants

Inaccurate Information Gleaned from the Web Costs IT Departments Time and Money

A survey commissioned by Safari Books Online finds that IT professionals spend as much as two hours each workday searching the web for information they need to do their jobs. Unfortunately, the information they get isn't always accurate and lead

Developers Rate Satisfaction with Their IDEs

Programmers spend a huge amount of time in the integrated development environment, where they write, debug and optimize their applications. A new Evans Data report identifies the IDEs that make developers say, "Boy, do I love this tool!"

Trendlines from 6/1/08: New, Hot, Unexpected

In this issue: Net neutrality; SaaS in the enterprise; Airlines and broadband; Business execs and IT; State of the CEO; Pitney Bowes goes mobile; and Google's new CIO.

Mobile Web 2.0: Gen Y Embraces Mobile Social Networks

Where does your company need to be to reach Gen Y? On their smartphones: The number of people using phones to access mobile social networks should jump from 210 million users today to 975 million in 2012, according to new research.

New VMware Certifications for Architects: Competitive Weapon?

VMware uses knowledge as a weapon in the developing virtualization market battle with Microsoft and Citrix. New certification is aimed at architects, not technologists, moving VMware expertise up the management ladder.

Cisco Systems’ New Client/Server Messaging Protocol Announced

Are your developers using SOAP, CORBA or EJBs? You might want to take a look at Etch. It's language-, platform- and transport-agnostic, and Cisco is planning to release it as open source.

Survey: Enterprise 2.0 Apps Seen as Useful to Business But Confusing

Despite companies acknowledging that they must embrace social software such as wikis, blogs and social networks, many struggle with how to implement and measure their success.

Don’t Lead With Your Ego

A big ego can be a bad thing when it comes to leadership. Here's how to keep yours from getting in the way.n

Mobile-Related Security Threats On the Rise

More than half of information security staffers say risks related to mobile devices and remote workers are up significantly compared to a year ago, new research says. Combine more mobile people with more corporate data passing beyond the corporate wa

Business Software Applications Complex and Hurt Productivity, Study Finds

Traditional enterprise software difficult to use and learn, according to study of mid-market companies by software vendor IFS.n

VMware Makes Thin Client Moves

VMware certifies more thin clients for use with its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, offers thin clients packaged with Sun WAN technology, and rolls out new professional services for desktop virtualization.

Gartner: Ninety Percent of Virtual Worlds Projects Fail

Despite a high failure rate by first adopters, Gartner sees an important future for virtual worlds as a tool for internal collaboration.t

How to Improve Disaster Recovery Plans

Now's a smart time to revisit your enterprise disaster recovery plans. Thanks to techniques including virtualization, WAN optimization and email backup appliances, CIOs have better disaster recovery options and more negotiating power with vendor

Trendlines from 5/15/08: New, Hot, Unexpected

In this issue: Sesame Street and Open Souce; More demand for wireless; Xerox goes green; ROI vs. TCO; Starbucks seeks feedback; Hacking the election; BPM obstacles; and Unified Communication by the numbers.

RealMatch Brings Online Dating Model to Job Boards

If you're a job seeker tired of hoping employers will find your profile on job boards, or if you're an employer tired of dealing with the deluge of unqualified candidates who come in through those same job boards, then RealMatch may be righ

Young Girls Not Interested in IT Careers Due to Lack of Female Role Models, RIM Study Finds

The number of young boys who've considered pursuing a career in IT is double that of young girls, who don't perceive enough strong female role models in the space, according to a study from BlackBerry-maker RIM.

Why You Need To Plan for Innovation Today

Jeff Hutchinson, Groupe Danone's CIO for North America, created an innovation team to explore technologies that are key to the future of the business