July 8, 2004
The Convergence (or Not) of Security and Operations Event Monitoring
Event monitoring is of interest from both a security and an operations perspective, but to date they have tended to be implemented separately with different toolsets. This joint interest has given rise to vendors and enterprises exploring the convergence of these two capabilities. Although overlaps in technologies, requirements, and processes exist, significant differences remain, which will impede full convergence indefinitely....

June 15, 2004
Sun and Fujitsu Fire Up a New SPARC
Last week, Sun and Fujitsu announced the convergence of their Enterprise 64-bit platforms. The move strengthens the overall SPARC position in the data center as a viable alternative to IBM Power and HP/Itanium Unix platforms. ...

June 3, 2004
A Practical View of Cisco Services
Cisco network services are considered among the best in the industry, yet enterprises must employ aggressive negotiation and procurement tactics to maintain leverage and decrease total services spending....

May 28, 2004
Aligning IT to Meet CFO Priorities, Part 1: The Priorities
The control of the CFO has expanded while changing in focus during the past three to five years. Although many CIOs report to CFOs, the IT group/CIO must re-examine its competency in supporting finance and understand the major triggers for concern....

May 28, 2004
Aligning IT to Meet CFO Priorities, Part 2: The Role of Services
The control of the chief financial officer is continuing to expand and change, driven by business and regulatory demands and a need to better leverage IT. External businesses, IT services, and service providers will play key roles in addressing such challenges....

May 25, 2004
NetWeaver and the New SAP Vocabulary
Despite the impressive concept and compelling long-term vision of NetWeaver, SAP clients are facing a non-trivial learning curve, as with any new technology and corresponding terminology. Business and IT leaders must value the opportunities of deploying one or more NetWeaver components....

May 5, 2004
Collaboration: The Future Is Contextual, Process-Centric, and Community-Driven
Collaboration strategies are shifting from a focus on tools to an eye on improving process performance. Improving work practices within business processes requires collaboration "in context" while tapping into communities of practice as sources of best practices and innovation....

May 4, 2004
Highlights From Siebel User Week in Cannes, France
The third release of Siebel’s 7x architecture, Siebel 7.7, is not quite a major release (users will have to wait for Siebel’s next-generation architecture), but it offers more than a typical point release....

April 28, 2004
Incorporating Basel II Requirements Into an IT Corporate Governance Framework: Part 2 - The Services Dimension
Given the effort's complexity, urgency, and ongoing nature, it creates a natural opportunity for supporting business and IT services. Providers must do their homework and develop meaningful service offerings, and users must understand providers' appropriate roles relative to Basel II compliance....

April 23, 2004
The CA and the Fury
CA announced Wednesday the resignation of Sanjay Kumar as CEO and chairman of the board of Computer Associates. In the same announcement, Kumar was appointed to the newly created position of chief software architect....

April 23, 2004
CRM Update Circa 2004: Part 3 - Key Technology Trends
Amid an improving economic environment and the resulting resurgence in CRM spending, a sound, future-looking CRM application and technology strategy (tied to a CRM business plan) is a prerequisite for success. A few key technology trends will impact user decisions during 2004/05....

April 20, 2004
Social Computing: Getting Ahead of the Blog
Strategists should assess business, organizational, and technological implications of "blogging" (and social computing in general) before chasing another tool under the allure of improved information/expertise sharing, collaboration, and community building....

April 7, 2004
The Maturing of Linux Management
Treating Linux as a separate technology silo requiring individual management is not the answer. However, Linux does have some unique needs....

April 7, 2004
Letter From Lotusphere: Part 2 - Portal in the Details?
At the heart of Lotus's plan is a strong commitment to a Workplace client technology and WebSphere Portal, which should open debates in every organization about the future of client and portal strategies....

April 6, 2004
IM Killed the Radio Star
Collaboration efforts are wonderful opportunities for experimentation and business process redesign. CIOs should exploit collaboration technology test beds to better partner with business and general counsel peers....

April 5, 2004
Is "Stable ERP" an Oxymoron?
After going live with ERP, management will be anxious to know when the ERP system has reached a steady state (if ever). As part of the project plan, IT and line-of-business executives must define what "stable ERP" means, and when it can be achieved....

April 1, 2004
Avaya Global Services: Targeting the Business Problems of Communications
Avaya's recent analyst day focused on its dual thrust of evolving into a solutions provider from a products firm and driving its services offerings into the higher realm of addressing communications-centric business process requirements and pain points. ...

March 29, 2004
Siebel UAN: A Process- and Partner-Centric Approach to Integration - Part 2
The Universal Application Network (UAN) is Siebel's enterprise application integration initiative. Along with analytics, UAN is critical to Siebel's strategy of expanding and deepening its application and technology footprint within enterprise accounts....

March 26, 2004
Complicated Compliance
Compliance is increasingly cited as a major driver for information technology investments. However, the focus is on a few high-profile examples, while requirements from various countries and more industry-specific requirements receive little attention, despite their similar impact on IT....

March 24, 2004
META Trend Update: The 2004 Campus LAN
In 2004, IT organizations will renew investment in networking projects that had previously been put on hold, with an emphasis on voice and data convergence, wireless LANs, network security, and high availability. The network is becoming increasingly rich in services, and capacity is no longer a key buying consideration when evaluating a next-generation enterprise network....