Bio / Lifestream / Archive
Alexander Wolfe
Upcoming Events
Live Events
- I Can See Clearly Now - E2 Conference Boston
- Get practical strategies to build a solid plan for profitability and success - Mobile Commerce World - Mobile Commerce World
- Learn how to enage customers through mobility - Mobile Commerce World - Mobile Commerce World
- Learn how to best integrate mobile commerce with your current systems -- Mobile Commerce World - Mobile Commerce World
- How to Choose a SaaS Vendor - E2 Conference Boston
This Week's Issue
Free Print Subscription
SubscribeSpecial Issue
Current Government Issue
In this issue:
Subscribe Now
- The Government CIO 25: These influential and accomplished government IT leaders are finding ways to be cost efficient and still innovate.
- Rethink Video Surveillance: It's not just about networked cameras anymore. New technology provides analytics, automation, facial recognition, real-time alerts and situational-awareness capabilities.
- Read the Current Issue
Featured Whitepapers
Featured Reports
IT Pro Ranking: Enterprise 2.0 Vendors
April 09, 2011
Social applications in the enterprise are moving up the adoption curve--and newcomers own this market at the expense of big tech vendors.
Wolfe's Den: Intel Inches Into Its Next Big Market
January 27, 2011
Diversifying beyond the PC, Intel's multi-billion dollar embedded computing push envisions Atom processors in millions of appliances, Smart TVs, and other connected devices.
Wolfe's Den: Talking Enterprise 2.0 With Jive Software CEO Tony Zingale
January 10, 2011
If you don't embrace a social platform in the next year or two, you'll probably be out of a job, says the chief executive of the company which wants to provide that platform.
Wolfe's Den: Top Technologies To Watch In 2011, Part 1
January 03, 2011
A shift in the way we think about security, along with predictions about the death of the desktop, the rise of the "Internet of Things," and HP's rebound from the Hurd scandal are on our columnist's list of prognostications for the new year.
Server Den: HP Fires Back At Oracle: 'Ellison Bought A Money Losing Business'
December 10, 2010
Hewlett-Packard appears to have had enough of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s bashing, and is answering back in a statement that minces no words.
Wolfe's Den: Cisco Seeks To Rule The Cloud
December 07, 2010
The networking behemoth intends to automate cloud deployment, as spotlighted via its just-announced partnership with BMC. We chat with Lew Tucker, Cisco's chief technology officer of cloud computing, who talks about cloud-o-nomics, interoperability standards and how Cisco aims to be the go-to supplier of equipment to cloud providers.
Wolfe's Den: Why Oracle's Sun Servers Are Sinking (And Why That's A Good Thing)
December 02, 2010
Gartner reports scary Q3 sales news for the server business Oracle took control of when it acquired Sun Microsystems, but Larry Ellison's focus on optimized systems such as Exadata is the reason Oracle needn't worry.
Wolfe's Den: Airport Scanner Patents Promise Not To Show Your 'Junk'
November 29, 2010
Rapiscan, the company supplying the controversial x-ray backscatter screeners, has won a patent for a machine which detects threats "with minimum display of anatomical details." Its competitors, and body scanner pioneer Martin Annis, are also pursuing enhanced privacy approaches. Here are the technology details.
5 Airport Body Scanner Patents Stripped Down
November 29, 2010
Here's a deep dive on five patents applying X-ray backscatter technology to airport contraband detection. These screening machines have been much in the news recently, amid controversy regarding both their effectiveness and the amount of radiation exposure to which travelers are subjected. The patents we'll look at are from prime players in the airport body scanner field. This list is led by Rapiscan Systems Inc. , of Torrance, Calif., which in 2009 won the TSA contract to supply whole-body imaging scanners to U.S. airports. Also included is Martin Annis, a pioneer in body scanning who founded American Science and Engineering Inc. (ASAE) of Billerica, Mass. in 1958. In 1980, Annis was awarded one of the first personnel scanner patents. Finally, L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems Inc., of Woburn, Mass., has sold numerous explosives detection devices to the military and vied for the TSA contract. Selected diagrams from five patents are included to illustrate inventors' efforts at enhanced privacy, through which explicit body part imagery is replaced by a mannequin-like view, as well as to show attempts to reduce traveler exposure to x-rays through more sophisticated radiation source arrays.
Top 5 Reasons Intel Is Winning And 4 Potential Pitfalls
November 16, 2010
Wins include the dominance of the Xeon server processor and research into data centers on a chip, while stumbling blocks center on a second-place communications chip business and settling on a potential successor to CEO Paul Otellini.
Enterprise 2.0: Cisco Broadening Quad To Cloud
November 10, 2010
The networking powerhouse is poised to extend its Unified Communications-centric collaboration product, currently available as a hosted version for large enterprises, by adding a cloud-based iteration aimed at the SMB market.
You're Invited To Take InformationWeek Analytics' Enterprise 2.0 Survey
October 31, 2010
Do you E2.0? If so, I need your help. InformationWeek Analytics is conducting a survey to determine what's important to you when you're choosing Enterprise 2.0 applications, and how vendors stack up against a list of criteria rating the performance, applicability, cost, and reliability of their software.
Top 5 Tech Trends For 2011
October 23, 2010
Big ideas heard at the InformationWeek 500 conference include a renewed focus on innovation, the importance of data visualization, and the ongoing agony of maintenance fees.
Top 5 Reasons Windows Phone 7 Will/Won't Succeed
October 16, 2010
Our columnist makes the possibly contrarian assertion that, with Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is reinvigorating the smartphone. Read his take and see if you agree or not.
Innovation Mandate: An Interview With Craig Barrett
October 02, 2010
The former Intel chairman thinks 'we have our priorities a little bit wrong'
HP Taps Ex-SAP Head Leo Apotheker As New CEO
September 30, 2010
Leo Apotheker, who unexpectedly resigned as CEO of SAP in February, has been named to replace Mark Hurd.
AMD Apparently Absent From Oracle Blade Server Plans
September 23, 2010
Sans any official word from Oracle, the sun has seemingly set on the use of AMD Opteron processors in the company's Sun Servers. Even though Oracle won't comment on the issue, word has been circulating since spring, when I posted Oracle Seen Axing AMD Opteron On Sun Servers. Recently, I received an e-mail from an Oracle customer, which seems to provide corroboration that AMD is done on Sun.
Enterprise 2.0 Watch: Salesforce.com Upgrades Chatter
September 22, 2010
Another salvo in the battle for social enterprise market- and mindshare is being fired on Wednesday, when Salesforce.com takes the stage at Oracle OpenWorld to unveil what it's calling a major upgrade to its Chatter collaboration tool.
Unlocking Intel's $50 CPU Upgrade Program
September 21, 2010
Sometimes you can't win for losing. Intel is getting hammered by the Web-o-sphere for purportedly ripping off consumers by selling a $50 upgrade to unlock some hidden processor features, when the chip behemoth's main intent is to help its authorized system builders earn a little extra cash. Read on for a possibly deeper dive than you may be interested in.
Hurd In, Phillips Out As Oracle President
September 06, 2010
Oracle has hired former HP CEO Mark Hurd to be its president, replacing Charles Phillips, who has resigned. Hurd will take the reins of Oracle's strategy of combining software and hardware, as it battles IBM.
Server Technology Hits A Crossroads
September 06, 2010
Highlights of exclusive InformationWeek Analytics research as it appears in "State Of Server Technology 2010," our report evaluating changes in the server market motivated by the push to consolidate data center systems, get power and cooling costs under control and make the most of the cloud.
Slideshow: Best Of Social Enterprise Patents
August 07, 2010
Select Enterprise 2.0 intellectual property filings from Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, as well as a couple of lesser-known social tech vendors.
Wolfe's Den: Mad Rush For Enterprise 2.0 Patents
August 07, 2010
Vendors are vying to lock up rights to the social-enterprise. Here's a selective look at cool patent tech from Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, OpenText , and SAP, as well as two surprising newcomers.
In Cutting Off Hurd, Is HP Spiting Its Face?
August 06, 2010
Our Wolfe's Den columnist wonders whether Hewlett-Packard's board isn't taking the easy way out--and potentially reducing future shareholder value--by forcing CEO Mark Hurd to resign.
Google Missing Enterprise 2.0 Future By Killing Wave
August 05, 2010
You can't be a serious player in the upcoming Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 world if you don't have a communications and collaboration platform. That's why it's alarming that Google is pulling the plug on further development of Wave, even though they're saying the technology will appear in other products. This is where one sees the failure of their model of throwing betas against the wall to see what sticks. They should've toughed this one out, not waved a white flag of E2.0 surrender.