Virtualization Set For Desktop Surge In 2009

InformationWeek Daily - Monday, Feb. 2, 2009

California IT Budget: Disaster In The Making? I love California -- I swear I do -- but to call the state's current IT situation a monumental disaster would be to insult the words "monumental disaster." Despite a $40 billion state deficit, California is nevertheless planning nine "strategic" projects scheduled to consume 58 years and $3.6B. You would think that with California in a financial crisis so severe that tax returns are being withheld (at least temporarily), there's no way they'd try to sneak through even one multiyear, nine-figure, big-bang IT project, right? Well, technically, that's true -- they're not trying to sneak one through; they've got nine of those reality-distorting black holes in the works, and here they are with client, duration of sentence, and public-money requirement: Financial system: 11.8 years, $1.6B Strategic Offender System: 5.7 years, $416M Home Support Services: 10 years, $298M Automated Welfare System: 3.8 years, $263M Child Welfare System: 7.3 years, $254M Motor Vehicles IT Modernization: 6.8 years, $207M Consolidate IT Infrastructure: 2.9 years, $191M HR System: 6.1 years, $179M ERP for Prisons: 4.5 years, $176M Just to assure you: there are no misprints in those figures above -- that is indeed 11.8 YEARS, and 10 YEARS, and a total of $3,600,000,000. So I think it's only right that as we awake from our California dreamin', we should hear from plucky California CIO Teri Takai, who was recruited by California from Michigan, where as state CIO she achieved some great things. A week ago, Takai posted a note on the state's Web site under the heading "Information technology has a bright future in California" in which she said in part: "By creating a more consolidated IT organization, we can better manage our equipment, personnel, and purchasing while optimizing the use of technology and ultimately providing more services for the people of California." Ms. Takai, best of luck with your efforts -- I applaud your courage. But I also think you should be more honest with the great people of your wonderful state and level with them about the chances of success some of these projects have, and about the inevitable revisions in budgets and priorities you'll have to make, and about the toll the state's and the country's fiscal crisis will have on your ability to deliver, no matter how sincere and focused your efforts might be. You need to make your way with not just courage and intensity but also with respect for your fellow citizens and the burdens you are asking them to shoulder -- and if you choose to manage those expectations with honesty and transparency, you and California's many millions will be better off for it. Feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comment section. Bob Evans [email protected] www.informationweek.com
"Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it." -- George Orwell
Virtualization Set For Desktop Surge In 2009 The push for cost savings will sweep virtualization solutions from VMware, Microsoft, Citrix and others past the server, onto the desktop and into the cloud. Get Ready For Windows 7 Microsoft says its next operating system will be lighter, simpler, and faster. We take a first look at the beta and ask people whether it's living up to the initial billing. The reviews are mixed. Free Download White House Expects Digital TV Delay Until June The transition, which was mandated by Congress, is now scheduled to occur on Feb. 17. Footprints Of Google's GDrive Spotted A reference to Google's long-rumored online storage service was spotted in a JavaScript localization file associated with Google Pack, Google's free software bundle. T-Mobile Confirms G1 Successors T-Mobile will release more G series smartphones this year, but it will face a crowded field as Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson will have Android-powered handsets as well. Super Bowl Fans To Stay Connected At Big Game ADC reports it has deployed 19 main hubs, 23 expansion hubs, and 109 remote antenna units in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to handle as many as 10,000 to 15,000 simultaneous calls. Public Radio Goes High-Tech To Raise Cash A small device known as the Radio Bookmark allows listeners to electronically jot down specific news stories, talk shows, music, and other broadcasts for later review over the Internet. Smartphone Market To Grow Despite Economy Apple and RIM are expected to take advantage of the increased adoption of smartphones, according to ABI Research. Hollywood Has A Lot Riding On Steve Jobs Jobs, who is taking a six-month medical leave of absence from his CEO job at Apple, is both hailed as a savior and loathed as a monopolistic Goliath in Hollywood. NASA To Offer Free Zero-Gravity Flights The space agency plans to work with private industry to test technologies in weightless conditions. Chipmakers Face Demand Reality Check Semiconductor investors are behaving like the worst is over and it's up from here on for a sector where stocks plunged 70% from their peak last year. NEC To Cut 20,000 Jobs Worldwide The company pinned its financial troubles on the economic recession that caused a slowdown in spending among businesses and consumers. Sales Up, Profits Down At ACS Dallas-based outsourcer reports mixed results for second quarter. Nortel Axing WiMax, Trimming Partnership With Alvarion The decision raises questions about the long-term viability of mobile WiMax as it gears up for full-fledged competition with LTE. All Our Latest News See InformationWeek's daily breaking news on your mobile device, visit mobile.informationweek.com and sign up for daily SMS notifications. ---------- This issue sponsored by Global Knowledge Save $400 on IT & Business Training Register online for one of this month's Featured Courses and save $400. This month's selection includes Project Management, Cisco, Microsoft, and VMware training. informationweek.com/global/091108 ---------- Evaluating a New technology? Need Real World Answers? Get them directly from your peers and industry leaders at InformationWeek Forums. These technology specific events will immerse you in real life issues and solutions and provide peer to peer networking to answer your specific questions. informationweekevents.com ---------- Want it all - in one place? Get it at InformationWeek Reports Technology reports - for IT Professionals by IT Professionals. With hundreds of reports in 15 plus technology areas, you will find the research you need, when you need it. Easy to search and download - bookmark it today! informationweekreports.com ---------- 2008 InformationWeek Strategic Security Survey This year, it's all about managing risk. That's the overall finding of our 2008 InformationWeek Strategic Security Study, which quizzed nearly 2,000 IT professionals about their plans and priorities for securing their companies' assets. strategicsecurity.techweb.com/ ----------	White House Expects Digital TV Delay Until June Footprints Of Google's GDrive Spotted T-Mobile Confirms G1 Successors Super Bowl Fans To Stay Connected At Big Game Public Radio Goes High-Tech To Raise Cash Virtualization At The Desktop? Examine how more than 250 companies plan to adopt server virtualization technology in this recent InformationWeek Research report, Server Virtualization. The BI Explosion Examine the business intelligence strategies of 500 companies, including deployment drivers and challenges, spending plans, and vendor selection, in this recent InformationWeek Research report. There's Money Up In Them Thar Clouds There's lots of buzz about the Google cloud storage solution -- the GDrive -- as references to it continue to pop up in various programs. When it arrives, will consumers rush to give up their data to the ether? Surprisingly On-Target Internet Predictions From 1981 And 1969 Check out these two nifty videos, created long ago, that surprisingly get it right about how we use the Internet routinely today. First, a video from 1969 that covers most of today's digital lifestyle in a few short minutes, including Internet shopping, webcams, bill paying and banking, and e-mail. Primary Storage's Three Faces Primary storage has three faces. There is active data and inactive data; both of these data sets actually consume space, which we can compress and then remove. Then there is the third face, with the capacity that is allocated but not in use. Each needs to be handled in a different way. Broadband Stimulus No Panacea The nation's leaders plan to spend $6 billion on expanding broadband access, but it's unclear how their efforts will pan out. Google Adds Features To Firefox Toolbar Google is offering up a second beta of its toolbar for the Firefox browser. The new version has several new features, including a new tab page. Cisco Gets Energy Wiser Cisco's new EnergyWise technology, which measures and manages energy consumption on just about everything on the network, is, indeed, wise. But it's going to get a whole lot wiser and useful early next year when it will be extended to the management of HVAC and other building systems. Amazon Web Services Help Fuel Blow-Out Quarter As the economy crumbles around it, Amazon.com yesterday reported fourth-quarter financial results that blew past Wall Street's expectations. And, though details are sketchy, it appears that Amazon's cloud services grew at nearly double the rate of overall sales. No Longer Co-Dependent:: Personal Computing And Business Virtual Desktops Desktop virtualization is not like what it sounds. It does not start with a one-by-one conversion of each user's desktop from a straightforward piece of hardware to one that runs only a virtual machine. RIM: We've Shipped 50 Million Smartphones I received an e-mail from Research In Motion's media relations team this morning. In it were some interesting facts. The first of which is that this month, RIM shipped its 50 millionth BlackBerry. Wall Street Journal Revives Dell Smartphone Rumors Last night The Wall Street Journal ran a piece claiming that Dell is set to enter the smartphone business as soon as next month. The paper reported that Dell is eyeing Windows Mobile and Android. Fannie Mae Logic Bomb Makes Case For Strong IDM The indictment of an IT contractor working at Fannie Mae, who schemed to destroy the data on 4,000 servers, confirms what we know: bad economic times and layoffs are perilous, and identity and access management has never been more important. Real-World SOA: Definition, Implementation and Use of SOA with CentraSite Web services are having a dramatic impact on improving enterprise architecture and application development practices. This paper highlights three sample case studies illustrating how Fujitsu's CentraSite delivers SOA solutions. Forrester Consulting: Unified Communications Delivers Global Benefits This Forrester Consulting study shows how Unified Communications (UC) makes it simpler to contact others over any device in any location, enhancing business agility, cutting costs, and boosting employee productivity. Forrester finds that UC is already delivering major savings for organizations around the world in retail banking, manufacturing and education. Download the full report for free. Software as a Service Research Report No longer a niche software delivery model, software as a service (SaaS) can help small and midsize companies get access to enteprise-class software functionality without having to commit enterprise-level capital resources. Download the full report for free. The Internet & The Developing World The evolution of the Internet has been full of surprises - surprises that have sometimes resulted in radical changes in the commercial landscape, such as the arrival of Amazon, eBay, Google, YouTube, and Skype. Could one of the next big surprises turn out to be linked to developing countries? Read the full report for free from InternetEvolution.com Featured Jobs: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories seeking Software Engineer in Pullman, WA Hebrew Senior Life seeking Senior Network Analyst in Dedham, MA Agilent Technologies seeking NPI Project Manager in Shanghai, CN Osram Sylvania seeking Channel Marketing Manager in Danvers, MA ITT seeking Systems Architect in Fort Wayne, IN For more great jobs, career-related news, features and services, please visit our Career Center. Try InformationWeek's RSS Feed Discover all InformationWeek's sites and newsletters Recommend This Newsletter To A Friend Do you have friends or colleagues who might enjoy this newsletter? Please forward it to them and point out the subscription page. Not a current InformationWeek magazine subscriber? Apply now for your FREE subscription to InformationWeek. InformationWeek is the weekly magazine that combines the goals of business with technology to help you make the strategic decisions that affect your company's bottom line. Apply for 50 issues of InformationWeek (a $199 value) at no charge! You are subscribed as %%email%%. To unsubscribe from, subscribe to, or change your E-mail address for this newsletter, please visit the InformationWeek Subscription Center. Update your subscriber profile.
This issue brought to you by Vision Solutions and TechWeb: This report includes the input of over 2,000 companies running AIX and IBM i (i5/OS) environments regarding their data protection, recovery and optimization technologies and strategies. tinyurl.com/9uz4n4
Note: To change your E-mail address, please subscribe your new address and unsubscribe your old one. Keep Getting This Newsletter Don't let future editions of InformationWeek Daily go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam white list: [email protected] If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks. We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy. InformationWeek Daily Newsletter A free service of InformationWeek and the TechWeb Network. Copyright (c) 2009 United Business Media Limited 600 Community Drive Manhasset, N.Y. 11030 © 2009  |  United Business Media Limited  |  Privacy Statement  |  Terms Of Service