In-Depth
October Industry News
Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Winner! Congratulations Zig Berzins!
Congratulations to Mr. Zig Berzins of Deloitte & Touche, LLP, who was the winner in a drawing for a Palm Pilot, compliments of ESJ and MERANT MicroFocus. Mr. Berzins’ name was drawn randomly as a "thank you" for participating in a Web Access Survey. The survey was designed to provide empirical data on how mainframe-based organizations use the Web in making business decisions. "Understanding our users is fundamental to providing our best in class solutions," stated MERANT’s Megan McDow, "and Enterprise Systems Journal is a great vehicle for communicating to our audience." Congratulations Zig Berzins!
*****
Networking Remains Technology’s Hottest Job Category
Chief information officers (CIOs) have rated networking as the nation’s hottest information technology (IT) specialty. In the semi-annual RHI Consulting "Hot Jobs Report," technology executives nationwide said demand for networking professionals remains strong with their organizations, with the job category receiving 22 percent of the vote. The need for help desk/end user support professionals intensified as CIOs ranked these technology skills second, rising to 16 percent from 12 percent in March 1999. Internet/intranet development was identified as the third-most requested job skill, receiving 16 percent of the survey response.
The "Hot Jobs Report" tracks job growth in information technology through a survey of more than 1,400 CIOs nationwide. The study was developed by RHI Consulting and conducted by an independent research firm, which polled CIOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. RHI Consulting is a leading specialized consulting services firm placing information technology professionals on short- and long-term basis.
"The request for experienced networking professionals to help maintain and expand network infrastructures remains strong," says Greg Scileppi, Executive Director of RHI Consulting. "Internet usage, a growing mobile workforce and emerging communication technologies are fueling the current need for systems upgrades and application deployment. For project management and systems analysis, network administrators, engineers and supervisors are the job titles most in demand nationwide."
Scileppi notes that for the first time, CIOs ranked help desk/end user support above Internet/intranet development as the second-most sought-after job category. "Companies are actively hiring local area network administrators who can support systems migration to Windows NT, as well as those who can maintain a newly implemented electronic commerce site," he says.
The need for experienced Web site developers also remains solid. "As electronic commerce becomes more profitable, and companies conduct both external and internal business operations online, the number of jobs for Web administrators skilled in developing Internet and intranet applications will further escalate," Scileppi says. Job titles in the Internet category mentioned most frequently by CIOs include systems administrators and project managers.
*****
BMC Launches Recovery and Storage Management Business Unit
BMC Software introduced the Recovery and Storage Management business unit to deliver unique enterprise solutions to help customers maximize business continuity. This unit was formed to help customers manage the explosion of data and e-business along with emerging technologies, such as Storage Area Networks (SANs) and intelligent storage.
"We have formed the Recovery and Storage Management Business Unit to increase our ability to respond to the rapid changes caused by electronic commerce and new storage networking technologies. We have gathered together a team of experts who are creating storage and recovery solutions that support BMC Software’s application service assurance strategy," says Vic Mahadevan, Vice President and General Manager of BMC’s Recovery and Storage Management. "While many of our initiatives involve groundbreaking technology and market expansions, we enter this market with a strong existing solution set delivering significant revenues to BMC Software."
Rapidly changing IT environments and competitive business climates demand a comprehensive, integrated approach for managing recovery and storage. In order to simplify the purchase of these solutions, all recovery and storage management products will now be marketed and sold under the RESOLVE brand. RESOLVE by BMC Software delivers storage management and application recovery through this family of products that includes SQL-BackTrack and SpaceView, along with traditional recovery solutions and support for intelligent storage architectures.
Contact BMC Software at (800) 841-2031, or visit www.bmc.com.*****
$32 Billion Predicted for E-Statement and EBPP Market by 2005
In a study comissioned by Killen & Associates, the Xenos Group, an e-commerce document presentment software company, announced that the total size of the electronic statement and electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) market in North America will increase from $2.5 billion in 1998 to $31.7 billion in 2005. The electronic statement segment is emerging as one of the fastest-growing components of this market, increasing from $500 million in 1998 to $8.2 billion by 2005. It is estimated that e-statement issuers (banks, brokerage houses, utilities, etc.) will spend $3.3 billion of that on software – $1.8 billion on applications alone.
"The e-statement market in North America is emerging as one of the fastest growing presentment markets with average annual growth rates ranging almost 50 percent through 2005," says Michael Killen, President of Killen & Associates.
The Killen study indicates that the number of statements presented electronically worldwide will increase at an average annual growth rate of 65 percent – from 1.8 billion in 1998 to 59 billion in 2005, when it is expected that a cumulative share of 70 percent of all statements will be presented electronically (instead of on paper). For more information, visit
www.xenosgroup.com.*****
Cap Gemini, Oracle Partner to Target CRM Market
Cap Gemini and Oracle Corporation announced a worldwide partnership to jointly deliver integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs utilizing the Oracle CRM 3i suite of applications. The companies intend to develop, market, sell and implement products and services and provide collaborative solutions to joint clients. Additionally, Oracle and Cap Gemini will leverage their respective geographic strengths in response to the global need to implement CRM solutions quickly and effectively.
A recent survey conducted in the United States and Europe by Cap Gemini and International Data Corporation showed a high level of corporate awareness regarding CRM. More than 65 percent of the companies surveyed are aware of CRM-enabling technologies, 28 percent are in the CRM planning or implementation stage and 12 percent are in the operational or production phase of a CRM project.
"Market research clearly shows the potential CRM market is huge," said Craig Brennan, Senior Vice President for CRM, Oracle Corporation. "This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for us. We have found Cap Gemini’s depth of commitment to CRM impressive. Oracle, with the introduction of Oracle CRM 3i, has delivered an extremely compelling, complete CRM product suite. Working with Cap Gemini, we expect to make major inroads in the global CRM market."
Cap Gemini already has the largest Oracle practice in Europe and is rapidly expanding in the United States and Asia. Currently, more than 3,600 Cap Gemini professionals provide Oracle services to clients as part of an applications business that grew 30 percent in 1998. The new relationship will leverage off of the strength of this Oracle and Cap Gemini strategic alliance.
Bob Scott, Director of Electronic Commerce and CRM at Cap Gemini Group, said, "CRM not only encompasses sales force automation and call centers, but extends into areas, such as market segmentation, campaign management, new channels, mobile sales, field service and Computer Telephone Integration. Oracle’s arrival in the CRM marketplace with a suite of modules is timed perfectly. Cap Gemini is a well-established leader in the implementation and exploitation of e-commerce, and Oracle’s e-business strategy of truly scalable CRM products gives Cap Gemini more scope to choose an appropriate solution for customers." For more information, visit
www.usa.capgemini.com.*****
Candle Extends MQSeries Management Market Dominance
Candle Corporation underscored its market dominance in the MQSeries system management market, pointing to Wintergreen Research’s "Middleware Messaging Markets, Strategic Positioning and Market Forecasts from 1998 to 2003" report that shows Candle has 54 percent market share – more than twice the share of its nearest competitor, BMC. Candle also introduced significant enhancements to its Candle Command Center (CCC) Management Pac for MQSeries, including Tandem platform support and enhanced functionality. The CCC Management Pac family enables users to quickly and automatically detect, correct and prevent potential problems to reduce development time and critically ensure high-performance application availability.
Candle’s complete line of MQSeries solutions and services provides support from day-one installation to maximizing MQSeries capabilities throughout the enterprise. The enhanced CCC Management Pac offers new MQSeries support for the Tandem platform. Additionally, both CCC Management Pac and CCC Admin Pac support MQSeries on the following platforms: OS/390, AS/400, Microsoft Windows NT, OS/2, AIX, Sun Solaris and HP-UX.
For more information, contact Candle Corporation at (800) 843-3970, or visit www.candle.com.
*****
E-Commerce Cost Savings to Reach $1.25 Trillion by 2002
According to Giga Information Group, electronic commerce will provide total annual cost savings of $1.25 trillion in industrialized nations by 2002, with half occurring outside the United States. Using Internet technologies will reduce or eliminate many costs by improving core business processes.
According to research conducted by Giga Information Group, global businesses in industrial nations had e-commerce-driven cost savings of $17.6 billion in 1998, with the majority, $15.2 billion, occurring in the United States. U.S. cost savings will reach more than $600 billion annually in 2002.
Traditionally, cost savings produce greater profit margins – typically 60-80 percent, depending upon implementation costs – than increases in sales revenue. As a result, Giga estimates that in 2002, U.S. businesses will see between $360 billion to $480 billion in profits from Internet-based cost savings alone. For more information, visit Giga Information Group’s Web site at www.gigaweb.com.