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John Edwards Does YouTube. This Could Get Interesting
Count on political Internet video to get a lot more exciting than Democrat John Edwards' announcement posted this week. What if the Kerry Swift boat controversy of the last presidential campaign played out on YouTube? It all might even get hot enough to spark some interesting business uses of Internet video.
In Focus: Our Top-15 Stories of 2006
Practical advice once again trumps trend stories and news analysis in Intelligent Enterprise reader appeal. Check out some of our most insightful stories of 2006.
AT&T Concessions Bode Well For Consumers And Businesses Alike
The long dragged-out battle over net neutrality took a decisive turn last week. Anxious to push through the largest telecom deal in U.S. history by the end of the year, AT&T made some serious concessions to the critics of its proposal to buy BellSouth. Most notably, the telecom giant assured members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it will not discriminate--either positively or negatively-
Software as a Service Meets Business Intelligence
Hosted systems can expand access to analytic information. But Ventana Research recommends evaluating SaaS models for particular business needs and to determine how they can work together with internally deployed BI applications.
Get A Second Life
Now that 2006 is fast slipping away, everyone has turned on their nostalgia and is eagerly looking back at the "top" stories of the last 12 months. I usually find these kinds of pieces interesting, but instead, I want to look at what I think will turn into one of the top trends of 2007.
The Return Of Spam
In recent weeks, you've probably noticed the return of an old pest: spam. For almost two years, it seemed as if spam might finally be on the decline. Remember when Bill Gates said that by 2006, "spam will be solved"? Well, that was all going well until a few months ago when spam struck back.
Don't Worry, It's Not Socialism
We're starting to see the emergence of new economies in the Internet in which the exchange of money isn't the straightforward path from customer to merchant that we're all used to. This has led to some alarmed hand-wringing about socialism, when in fact what we're seeing is the good ol' free market at work in strange and new ways.
Nature's Failure Shows Limits Of User-Generated Content
The publication Nature is abandoning an experiment with open, online peer review to help vet scientific research before publication. It highlights a question being asked with more skepticism about user-generated content attempts: Why should I generate content for you?
Plenty Of Dumb To Go Around
A U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Web site Supercrosslive.com should be prohibited from providing direct links to live audiocasts of motorcycle races. Get out a big bucket of dumb, people, because there's plenty to go around for everybody in this case.
Fear Is Driving Users From Desktop To Web
The author of my favorite desktop application that I'm not using anymore kicks off a discussion of why applications are moving to the Web. Nick Bradbury of NewsGator, author of the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, says it's because people are afraid of installing software on their desktop.
Scoping Out the Emerging Spreadsheet Management Market
Ventana Research expects applications that perform spreadsheet management to evolve into a $500 million market by 2011.
Atlanta Licenses Cognos BI
The City of Atlanta has licensed Cognos's business intelligence platform as the software foundation of its citywide performance management initiative.
NetSuite Launches Online Employee Self-Service Center
Online software provider NetSuite has launched an employee resource management service that the company says reduces costs and boosts productivity by enabling workers to perform project-related chores, and access human resource-related documents.
Microsoft Wins Hands-Down For Most Disappointing Product Of 2006
Many tech newspapers and magazines have year-end wrap-ups of the best products of the year, and at least one does a wrap-up of the biggest vaporware of the year, but I don't know anybody who's doing a wrap-up of the most disappointing products of the year -- products that were hyped like crazy, and which (unlike vaporware) actually materialized, but proved to be duds once the vendor showed us what was actually behind
The InformationWeek Weblog Community Sounds Off
The community discusses the death of outsourcing advocate Sunil Mehta, tools for getting the most from two PCs, outsourcing security, upgrading Windows, and getting around Windows activation.
Has Blockbuster Finally Found The Hammer To Crush Netflix?
TechCrunch thinks it has, as Michael Arrington, a self-confessed former "die-hard Netflix fan," notes in a post explaining why he's canceling his Netflix membership. He says the recent announcement by Blockbuster that you can now return mail-order rentals at the store tips the balance. Also helping make Blockbuster more attractive: Allowing customers to use the free rentals for movies or games, generous free-
Journalist's Interview Interrupted By Attack Of Flying Genitalia
CNET interviewed Ailin Graef, aka "Anshe Chung," about her experiences amassing more than $1 million in virtual property inside the game Second Life. As is Graef's practice, she did the interview inside the game, specifically in the news bureau CNET has opened inside Second Life. What happened next is something that I'm sure never happened to Lois Lane. I'll let CNET tell it thems
Internet Searches Still A Consumer-Dominated Activity
For all the discussion of Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines in the IT trade press as an increasingly essential business tool, use of the technology to search the Web is still the unquestionable domain of consumers.
Record Companies Drop File-Sharing Lawsuit Against Internet-Illiterate Mom
We're learning the rules: If you're Internet-illiterate, the recording industry will back off of suing you for music piracy. Likewise, you won't be sued if your dad is president of a record company. However, if you're dead, you better watch out.
Companies Have Aggressive Plans for Business Intelligence
Research points to significant growth in the use of BI services in the year ahead.
SmartClose For Windows Saves Time Shutting Down, Re-Starting Programs
The free Windows software SmartClose solves one of the most annoying problems with Windows XP: If you're used to working with a lot of applications running in the background, it's a long, tedious process to shut them all down, and another long, tedious process to start them all up again. SmartClose automatically shuts down running programs and services with a few mouse clicks. It also saves the list of running programs to a "snaps
Tools For Getting The Most From Two PCs
I recently joined the ranks of, well, probably most of the computer-using adult world: I now have two computers that I use on a regular basis, one that I use primarily for work, one primarily for leisure activities. That leaves me with the need to find easy ways of getting information from one to the other, including browser settings, e-mail, and the occasional document. Here's what I've found works best.
Digg Unveils New Features
Digg unveiled some new features today designed to make it easier for us to keep up with news and harder for us to get any work done. Users will be able to rank podcasts the way they now rank news stories. TechCrunch notes the significance:: "The Digg team isn't putting it this way, but it's clear that this is an experim
BI-Powered Wine Guide Helps You Pick the Right Bottle
Business intelligence is a great decision-support tool, so why not use it to pick the best wine for your holiday meal?
Leveraging RFID Data: IBM's New Websphere RFID Information Center
IBM unveils its solution for company's looking for technology to deal with the "data tsunami" from sensors and radio frequency identification tags.
VMware's Rosenblum: Virtualization Means Changes
Mendel Rosenblum, Stanford University operating system researcher and chief scientist at VMware, is an approachable, brainy uncle kind of figure. For example, he pauses to think about a question instead of just automatically answering it.
SOA for Business Intelligence Isn’t Well Understood
Ventana Research explains how building a service-oriented architecture for business intelligence depends on understanding what a complete infrastructure for SOA is, and how to properly evaluate technical solutions for BI services.
What Does 2007 Promise?
Earlier this week, futurist and technology guru Mark Anderson hosted his annual SNS New York dinner, a high-level gathering of VCs, investment bankers, journalists, technology entrepreneurs, and others, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Elbowing Through The Holiday Crowds At Online Stores
Shopping for holiday gifts online sure seemed the perfect panacea. No crowds, no squinting down cluttered aisles, no jerk who just took that parking space I had my eye on. But even online, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas shopping in the bricks-and-mortar world. In other words, lost time, difficulty finding what you want, questionable customer service, and just general annoyance.
Ready Or Not, Time To Upgrade Windows
One of the more baffling objections to open source is the fear that the user won't be able to find support. Users fear they'll find themselves abandoned, with no vendor to turn to when they run into problems. Users see proprietary software as a safer alternative. But, in fact, proprietary software vendors abandon their users all the time. It's a standard business practice -- if you're a proprietary software vendor, and you want to force your users to buy into your product upgrade, jus
Wal-Mart Can Laugh Off KO By Elmo T.M.X.
Lots of people like to take their shots at Wal-Mart. Few knock it out like Elmo did Wednesday, when a crush of shoppers pursuing the giggling toy knocked walmart.com out briefly. But count on Wal-Mart to get the last laugh this holiday season.
Craigslist Flummoxes Financial Analysts
The Internet is on fire with controversy There's been some interesting discussion around Craigslist's appearance at a financial analyst conference, wherein Craigslist flummoxed the assembled pundits by saying that they don't have any plans to charge for listings (beyond the limited charges they already make).
They don't plan to accept advertising support a la Google AdSense.
They don't have any plans to maximize revenues.
They just plan to keep
How To (Partially) Get Around Windows Activation
The Tomorrow Times has a tip on how to continue using your computer even after the Windows activation period has expired.. You won't be able to do everything, but you can get access to your files, browse the Web, and use some programs. It's actually easy: When starting up the system, start up the Narrator functionality for the visually disabled, and use that to start the browser, which will, in turn,
CompuCredit's Tech Mix Tackles Risks, Claims and Fraud
A credit card giant demonstrates why BI, business process management and business rules are a powerful (some would say inevitable) combination.
Dashboard: Enterprise Platform and App Giants Take Web 2.0 to Heart
Hype or not, all this vendor action suggests Web 2.0 will find some life inside the enterprise.
BEA Offers Preview Of WebLogic 10
The key component of BEA's platform for service-oriented architectures is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of next year.
Dashboard: Business Objects Deal Nets On-Demand Expertise
Last month's acquisition of software-as-as-service (SaaS) provider Nsite gives Business Objects a leg up in on-demand delivery.
Dashboard: Vendors Jump on e-Discovery Bandwagon
The courts just got tougher on companies that don't have their informational houses in order. And software vendors large and small are scrambling to demonstrate how their products will help companies accomplish just that.
Mission Intelligence: Reader Resolutions for the New Year
We asked our readers to list their most important IT goals for 2007. Although security takes the lead again, improved stability and better productivity are also concerns. One reader summed up his goals concisely: "Simplify, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY!"
Readers' Choice Awards
Value, reliability and broad applicability. These are the hallmarks of our subscribers' annual pick of preferred vendors. Check out the winners and runners-up in 37 categories.
Seven Trends for 2007
Kicking off the new year, we're going for seven trends that represent the kind of moving and shaking in business and IT that will have repercussions beyond just the next release. Forget the little stuff--we're talking tectonic shifts.
Intalio Plans To Release BPM Tools As Open Source
The Redwood City, Calif., company plans to offer the BPMS Community Edition under the Mozilla Public License starting in the first quarter of 2007.
Entrepreneur Discusses The Choice Of Firefox Vs. Internet Explorer
With resources limited, Alex Iskold had to choose between his startup developing its tool for smarter Web browsing, BlueOrganizer, for the Firefox browser or for Internet Explorer. Iskold considers picking Firefox the right move for his business-and his beliefs.
The Future Of The Internet May Be Decided Before Christmas
The merger of BellSouth and AT&T requires the approval of the Federal Communications Commission. Up until Election Day this looked like a mere formality. But an unexpected attack of honesty on the part of a commissioner and the Democratic Congressional victories could actually torpedo the deal. Look for the FCC to do everything it can to force a decision that advances AT&T Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr.'s campaign to take ownership of the Internet before Congress changes hands.
Death Of Digg Predicted
Jason Calacanis says that Digg's top contributors are taking payola:: "A PR/marketing firm confirmed with me that they had a number of the top 50 users on digg now on the payroll--and this wasn't a totally insignificant firm."
Allchin: When I Said I'd Rather Use A Mac, What I Really MEANT To Say Was....
Jim Allchin's got some 'splainin' to do: The co-president of Microsoft's platforms and services division is attempting to explain away a quote in a 2004 e-mail that recently came to light, wherein Allchin says if he didn't work for Microsoft, he'd use a Mac.
Allchin says he made the comment "for effect" and says, "Taken out of context, this comment could be confusing."
Hmmm... let's take a look and
Intalio Boosts Open Source Modeling, BPM
Business process management system vendor Intalio late last month announced the donation of a BPMN modeling tool and a "BPEL4People-based" workflow framework to the open source community. The BPMN modeler is now available under the Eclipse Public License, while the Tempo framework is available under the Apache Software License. Both of these donations are important, but in different ways. Here's why.
On-Demand Vendor Xactly Partners With Integrator Pervasive Software
Xactly plans to embed within its sales-compensation management application Pervasive Software tools for integrating Xactly's software-as-a-service offering with customers' back-end systems.
They're Giving Away The Product, But Making It Up In Volume
If you're selling information on the Internet, it doesn't matter how much people get for free -- the only thing that matters is how much you sell. The recording, movie, and commercial software industries don't understand that, but Jimmy Wales does. Wales co-founded both the not-for-profit Wikipedia and for-profit Wikia, which announced a bold new strategy to
Q&A: Amtrak's SOA Offers Better Connections
Amtrak runs on legacy mainframes. To get up to date and serve multiple distribution channels without ripping and replacing, the railroad has embarked on integration and services-oriented architecture initiatives. Thomas Krotchko, director, Web architecture, explains why it's now easier to integrate, change apps and forge partnerships.
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2021 State of ITOps and SecOps Report
This new report from InformationWeek explores what we've learned over the past year, critical trends around ITOps and SecOps, and where leaders are focusing their time and efforts to support a growing digital economy. Download it today!
Monitoring Critical Cloud Workloads ReportIn this report, our experts will discuss how to advance your ability to monitor critical workloads as they move about the various cloud platforms in your company.
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