Software


The Road Ahead of Microsoft

Microsoft’s epic struggle against the United States Department of Justice presents perhaps the single greatest obstacle to its dominance of Web services.

Cahners: Enterprise IT Spending Down 18%

According to a new report by market research firm Cahners In-Stat, business IT spending is expected to drop this year, the first down year in over ten years.

IBM Announces Third Quarter Earnings

Big Blue was less than blue as it announced its earnings yesterday. Although earnings per share were down 17% from a year ago, the company remains wildly profitable.

Compaq Introduces New AlphaServer

Yesterday, Compaq Computer Corp. took the wraps off its new AlphaServer, introducing the first 1GHz Alpha processor. The AlphaServer ES45, a four-way server, and the AlphaServer SC45, a clustered version, are midrange Unix servers designed for technical computing.



BMC Targets DBAs With DBXray

Most monitoring and management tools target system administrators, meeting their needs by showing high-level information about what’s up and running. Database administrators have a different set of concerns to keep their systems healthy, and BMC Software Inc. takes DBA needs into account with DBXray.

AMD Preps 64-bit Processor

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is expected to release details today concerning its forthcoming 64-bit “Hammer” architecture. Unlike Intel Corp’s Itanium, Hammer chips will continue to use the x86 instruction set, allowing full interoperability with software written for current 32-bit processors

Gartner Group: Storage Networking Will Rise

At its Gartner Symposium last week in Orlando, Fla. Gartner, Inc. said it expected to Storage Networking to rise in numbers, as administrators need better ways to manage storage.

Security Angst

Enterprise managers, your end users are teenagers now; they’re running amok and defying authority simply because they can. They’re doing it subtly by playing on the Internet and by obscuring their non-business use of your systems, and aggressively by destroying property when disgruntled. Ignoring these threats from within will only encourage them.

Shipshape E-business

Even today, storms and other factors make predicting ship arrivals an inexact science. That means data that tracks ship movements is golden, especially if your business depends on it.

IBM, Hummingbird Launch New Portal Applications

IBM Corp. and Hummingbird have launched portal applications to improve access to corporate data and end-user customization.

Microsoft’s Visual J# .NET Hits Beta One

Microsoft Corp. is expected to release Beta One of its Visual J# .NET language and development environment. It is designed to bring Web Services and other .NET technologies to Java developers.

Crystal Decisions and SAP Join Forces

SAP AG said yesterday it was integrating Crystal Decisions Inc’s data reporting tools into some of its mySAP products. The integration gives the software a ready-made way to look at data, obviating the need for a third party tool.