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The article offers information on the International Business Machines (IBM) Corp.'s foundation for 100 years of success in the technology business. Steve Mills, IBM senior vice president, states that the adaptation aspect of the company and its culture is its foundation. Al Hilwa, analyst at IDC, states that its transition to costumer focus and its strategic build-up of the segments of the technology industry including software, services, and hardware made it successful. INSET: People: The Key to Innovation.

The article announces awards given to computer companies including 2008 Products of the Year Award to Dell, Network Storage category award to WebApp's and Network Infrastructure to Cisco Systems.

The article features the major and leading computer companies worldwide. These include AT&T, Cisco Systems, Google, Intel and Microsoft. AT&T is a company that continues to offer things that people want and continues to grow its third-generation footprint including High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). Cisco System is widely recognized as one of the biggest enterprise networking company because it is recognized as one network equipment maker. Google is a leading search vendor and hopes to become a primary provider of broadband Internet Access. Discussed are the details of other companies' profile.

The article provides information on various considerations when purchasing laptop computers in the U.S. Security, durability and usability were among the factors that must be considered first-hand. It is suggested not to purchase laptops which have only two gigabytes (GBs) of random access memory (RAM) and, in terms of storage, it is wise to purchase an item with a dual-core processor and at least a 120GB hard drive. Other factors to consider include battery power per charge, long-term durability and data protection capability. In addition, it is essential to note the basic laptop warranties and support offered with the purchase.

The article focuses on the result of the surveys conducted about top IT initiatives and priorities of companies for 2008 in the U.S. According to the author, a survey conducted by Ziff Davis Enterprise Editorial Research shows that delivering better service to customers is one of the companies top initiative for 2008. Furthermore, a survey conducted by CIO Insight on the top business priorities of the IT organization for 2008, shows that 35% out of 251 respondents prioritize delivering better service to customers, 35% for improving business process and 31% for contributing to the creation of new business strategies. Other information related to the result of the surveys are also mentioned.

The article examines the reasons underlying the slow migration of users to Windows Vista, a computer operating system from U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. that was released in November 2006. Among the reasons underlying the slow adoption of the operating system by customers are its expensive hardware requirements, incompatibility to other applications, high installation trouble for limited benefits over its predecessor Windows XP and the upcoming launch of Service Pack 1. Another cited barrier to Vista's adoption is its increased complexity, which Microsoft users complained about its User Account Control feature as nuisance and intrusive.

The article discusses the move of information technology (IT) companies to address the increasing demand of virtual machines in the U.S. Microsoft Corp. vice president of infrastructure server marketing Bob Kelley states that their Windows server 2007 and Hyper-V can address customer issues as well as support disaster recovery and business continuity. Oracle Corp. executives stresses that their new product offers low cost server virtualization, scalable and efficient service than other technologies available. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems Inc. chief executive officer, states that their new platform can support different types of environments which will be released in an open source community.

The article discusses the independent system builders' endurance in the middle of tough competition in system building in the U.S. According to the author, independent system builders also known as white box have dominated in the computer industry during the late 80s. Today, there are only four of them left in the business, this can be attributed on the rise of laptop computers said David Dauod, analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC). Furthermore, it has also been suggested that independent system builders should have fresh inventory to build updated technology as well as to produce more spares for repairs.

The article offers five steps to building or reinstituting a data storage center by the eWeek. According to the author, the first step to build/rebuild a scalable yet green storage data center is to make sure that all the key executives and board members get it and are behind the project far in advance. The second step is to choose location carefully since location of a storage data center is as important as what goes inside it. Third is to design it green since green data center is one in which the lighting/cooling, mechanical and computer systems are designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact.

The article examines the competition between operating systems. In 2001, Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP dominated the market and was tagged as the only desktop operating system in the U.S. Today, OpenOffice.org has grown into a viable competitor to Microsoft Office. Moreover, the author claims that OpenOffice.org can force Microsoft toward a more open file format strategy. In the field of operating systems, Microsoft's newest client operating system, Windows Vista, has been overpowered by Linux operating systems.

The article offers tips on how solution providers cope when their technology vendors merge or get acquired by the other firm in the computer industry. It is stated that the situation may result to distrust and fear to face new management and procedures. The author suggests that to counter distrust and fear, vendors must obtain a viable integration plan, communicate regularly with its partner firm and be prepared to incorporate some facets of the acquired organization's operations. A chart that depicts several merger & acquisition (M&A) activities including Oracle Corp. with Hyperion Solutions Corp., Microsoft Corp. with Tellme Networks Inc. and Vector Capital Corp. with SafeNet Inc. is also presented.

The article reports that information technology (IT) solution providers are no longer providing free IT assessments for customers. Solution providers say that the customers are recognizing the value of information technology assessments and are willing to pay for them. The customers are assessed because the initial engagements evolve into long-term relationships. Creg Starr, Chief Operating Officer of IT services company See-Comm, says that the payment for services promotes respect for the solution provider and customers take the provider seriously. Steve Feldman, president of Illinois-based solutions provider Graphtech Systems, says that assessments are the next frontier in services.

The article focuses on the uncertainty of application service providers regarding Microsoft Corp.'s new operating system, Vista. It discusses the three categories of uncertainty related to the operating system. The three categories are the hardware requirements, security and its interaction with other complementary Microsoft products. According to solution providers, Vista requires basic processor and graphics memory to run and support software drivers. Therefore, it will require existing computers to be upgraded. However, it has improved its security system by enabling the system administrator to regulate access to any data by users.

The article discusses transitions of IT solutions provider into managed services provider (MSP). ASI System Integration and ABC computers are switching to managed services business model. The transition offers larger potential profit margin but can be disastrous without proper planning. It requires complete reinventing of the business, retraining of sales and technical staffs, developing marketing plans and adjusting of accounting and billing processes. Mark Romanowski of ASI Systems Integration explains that the transitions is not as easy and simple.

The article announces the 6th Eweek Excellence Awards recipients in the high technology industry in the U.S. in 2006. The Analytics and Reporting award was given to the Cognos 8 Business Intelligence 8.1.1 of Cognos Inc. The Visual Studio 2005 Team System of Microsoft Corp., has won the award for the Application Development category. The Aqualogic Service Bus 2.1 of Bea Systems Inc., has received the Business Integration Systems award.

The article focuses on the significance of trusted functionality on operating systems. Trusted operating systems have been used in the past to lock down the most classified and confidential information in an organization. Several computer companies are already functionality in their mainstream products. The author evaluates different kinds of operating systems with trusted functionality from several companies including Sun Microsystems Inc. and its Solaris 10, Red Hat Inc. and SELinux, Novell Inc. and AppArmor.

This article reports that Atlanta, Georgia-based hospitality product distributor Springfield Corp. opted for Siemen's HiPath OpenScape to replace its legacy private branch exchanger-based phone system. HiPath OpenScape is a voice over Internet Protocol-based presence-aware real-time communications software suite, which provides a view of all users and their voice, instant messaging, e-mail, or video devices. It also reports that Engage Inc. created a product that would offer HiPath OpenScape as a hosted service. The embedding of HiPath OpenScape into a hosted service is suited for small and medium-size businesses like Springfield.

This article focuses on developments related to the field of information technology. Enterprise and academic systems are equally challenged by thickening jungles of system complexity and massive flows of data. Research facilities are also IT customers as well as innovators, with technical sophistication that often leads to early adoption and provides potential lessons learned that may benefit less aggressive sites. Mere continuation of the Moore's Law trend to greater physical density of devices is not an attractive option, even if it were physically possible. The Internet itself demonstrates this general approach as its packet-based communication relies on connection and transfer protocols, such as TCP/IP and Ethernet, that are designed to function "well enough" rather than requiring perfection to function at all. Enterprise buyers should be increasingly prepared to discuss their tolerance for error rates and variabilities in system performance, rather than expecting single-valued measures of performance in system specifications. Not merely in metaphor but also in direct application, biology and biochemistry may contribute to the creation of IT hardware.

This article provides information on several new products related to the computers. With the release last year of its AMD64 technology, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. made it possible for 32-bit applications to run natively in 64-bit operating environments and address more than 4GB of memory, greatly increasing application performance and scalability. At the time of the release, Intel Corp. was promoting its Itanium architecture and downplayed the significance of 64-bit capabilities on the x86 architecture. International Business machines Corp.'s compact 1U xSeries 336 offers impressive scalability and manageability, as well as solid redundancy features. The two-way xSeries 336 will be a good choice for scaling 32-bit applications in server farms or cluster environments. Sun Microsystems Inc.'s affordable sun fire V40z offers solid performance, strong management and good scalability. The Sun Fire V40z will be a good fit for enterprise shops looking to upgrade midtier x86 servers or getting ready for 64-bit migration. INSETS: Mainstream 64-bit application support is scarce;New chips are boon to workstations.

When it comes to choosing any enterprise application, there are always many hurdles to overcome and issues to consider to make sure the product people buy is right for the organization. But when the enterprise application in question is a Web content management system, the hurdles often are much higher and the issues harder to understand. One of the biggest issues is figuring how much Web content management your company needs. With many enterprise applications, its impossible to go too big. For the most part, if a company needs only a low-end or midrange solution but purchases a high-end product, it can still get the job done. With Web content management, on the other hand, too much product can lower productivity and make Web content more difficult to manage. This is because many high-end products are less focused on simple ease-of-use and deployment features and are instead more concerned with bringing order to massively complex operations. Adding to the confusion is that there is a good midtier of Web content management applications that can serve some low-end needs and some high-end needs.

After reviewing representative responses from more than 30 anti-spam vendors, the periodical "eWEEK" and service provider WiseNet invited six companies to show what they could do to help WiscNet solve its spam problem. In addition to comparing products side by side, they wanted to evaluate the different methods of implementation: software, hardware appliance and service. It became clear to "eWEEK" and the WiscNet judges that this technique is an effective compromise that allows technology such as header and message analysis to catch the vast majority of spam without incurring a reputation for capturing good e-mail and sending it to the bad e-mail hopper. INSETS: Anti-spam eVal judges;Educate end users.

Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange 2003 definitely delivers more value to administrators than previous versions of the messaging server. However, the hurdles of Active Directory and system migration still remain high at upgrading from Exchange 5.5. Exchange System Manager, the snap-in for MMC (Microsoft Management Console), has a number of improvements that allowed us to quickly navigate to controls and resolve problems. On the reliability side, Microsoft has improved the Mailbox Recovery tool to support disaster recovery scenarios in which Active Directory user account information and Exchange mailboxes no longer synchronize.

This article compares various enterprise application portals (EIP). While ATG portal 6.0 includes all features most companies look for in a standard EIP, the product is unique in that it is built on top of the Relationship Management Platform of Art Technology Group Inc. This provides some benefits, especially in customer and employee self-service capabilities and in personalization. WebLogic Portal 8.1 of BEA Systems Inc. provides some of the best portlet and application development tools found in any portal. CleverPath Portal of Computer Associates International Inc., which has its roots in the old MyEureka portal, is a highly capable platform, if lacking somewhat in flash. INSET: Portal index.

With a pressing need for protection of Web applications from attack, Information Technology staff can turn to a new class of specialized firewalls that do a great deal to protect Web servers, Web applications, and connected internal servers and databases from attack. Firewalls reviewed are — Kavado Inc.'s InterDo 3.0, Sanctum Inc.'s AppShield 4.0 and Teros Inc.'s Teros-100 Application Protection System (APS) 2.1.1. All three products go through an Hyper Text Markup Language parsing phase where they learn the form field, application structure and cookie usage for each Web page. Credit-card-blocking features of Teros-100 APS support real-time recognition of American Express, Diners Club, Discover, Japanese Credit Bureau, MasterCard and Visa credit card numbers, and we could use the product to configure a Web application to never be able to transmit a credit card number or limit each Web page to contain a single credit card number. InterDo 3.0 offers less flexibility in its control over arbitrary uniform resource locators because it has no ability to define a site entry point.

Focuses on the introduction of Windows Server 2003 by Microsoft Corp. Goal of the company behind development of the software; Features of the Windows Server 2003; Reasons to upgrade Windows 2003 from Windows 2000 Server; Advantage of Effective Permissions tab for system managers. INSETS: Windows upgrades give 64-bit computing a big push;Microsoft Windows road map;Shadow Copies, VDS ease storage management;Windows Server 2003

Analyzes the performance of several tablet personal computer (PC) using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system. Description of the hardware of different PC; Advantages of the tablet PC manufactured by Toshiba America Information Systems Inc.; Factors effecting the success of the PC; Statistics for tablet PC disk performance.

Focuses on the effort of computer suppliers in the United States to deploy partner relationship management (PRM) in order to solve distribution channel conflicts. Improvement of the relationship between suppliers and channel partners; Cost of PRM implementation.

Presents updates related to computer hardware and software in the United States as of December 2000. Selection of the proposed Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm called Rijndael; Importance of bandwidth management for companies adopting voice over Internet protocol; Advantages of using Java as a Web application development language.

Focuses on business relations between computer consultants and computer vendors as of October 23, 2000. Information technology consumers' concerns with the closeness between consulting firms and vendors; Merger talks between Hewlett-Packard Co. and PricewaterhouseCoopers. INSET: One integrator balances objectivity.

An interview with Ray Ozzie, chief software architect of Microsoft Corp., is presented. When asked about the idea that Microsoft should release more products, he says that he never heard that allegation before. He thinks that any company, even Microsoft, has to find the right balance of being a contributor and user of open source. He shares that he is not an expert on matters involving DSLs and their effectiveness.

An interview with Steve Sicola, former general manager of the Seagate Technology ASA group, is presented. He stated that it takes prior relationships to approach potential customer, and he does to people just like what politics did. He added that customers knew what they were looking for, and they should talk about the features of the product such as its warranty. He emphasized that by creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts and by integrating and taking it to the next level. INSET: Inside the ISE.

An interview with CEO Michael Dell and storage chief Praveen Asthana of Dell Computer Corp. is presented. When asked about which segment of hardware business of Dell Computer Corp. such as personal computers, servers or storage systems, has been its fastest-growing years, they refer to storage systems. They shared that the company has been known the world over for building personal computers and high-quality application servers.

The article focuses on the new trend in the information technology (IT) value-added reseller (VAR) sector in the U.S. The new trend in the IT channel is noted to involve technology solution providers launching and marketing their products and services to peers and competitors. Providers' assumption of the vendor role is observed to be driven by declining profit margins, distrust of some manufacturers and their goal to address the IT needs of client that were ignored by software vendors. Among the solution providers who network with other VARs as partners are SL Powers, Zenith Infotech, XiloCore, Computer Connection and AllConnected.

An interview with Joe Tucci, chairman, president and chief executive officer of EMC Corp., regarding the new trends in the technology industry and future of information technology (IT). When asked about the plans of the company, he reveals that EMC intends to stay in the infrastructure field. He suggests that with infrastructures the company can accomplish its growth strategies. He believes that IT spending for 2008 will be positive because of the continuous support of consumers.

The article focuses on the partnership of Redemtech Inc. and K12 Inc. Generally, Redemtech Inc. manages information technology assets for businesses and equipment deemed unusable, which they sell or recycle to avoid liability for damage to the environment. Meanwhile, K12 Inc. specializes in educating the students in monitoring and tracking computer equipment. In addition, Redemtech and K12 have collaborated to figure out business and technicalities and to find out on which computer equipment is to be junked, recycled, or sold.

The article announces the release of two of Microsoft Corp.'s unified communications strategy in the U.S. The company's products include Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 which are geared in bringing together a broad range of communication options including voice, instant messaging and video, into a single, consistent experience. Because of such innovation, other computer companies such as Dell, Nortel and Ericson plan to roll out similar strategies and products of their own. According to Rob Enderle, prinicipal analyst at Enderle Group, the move taken by Microsoft is considered a major game changer.

The article focuses on the move of solution providers to develop new solutions to be applied to cellular wireless in the U.S. One solution provider that has decided to enter the cellular wireless market is Global On-Line Computers, which has invested about $45,000 to explore the possibilities of network access from anywhere coupled with back-office information technology (IT) integration. In addition, solution providers are adding virtual private networks (VPN) client software technologies to the overall cellular wireless solution.

The article focuses on the issue concerning the confusing marketing terms and acronyms use by the information technology (IT) vendors. According to the author, several of the jargon terms which have been used by various IT vendors to deliver the message intended to sell products and services are often baffling to the customer. Corey McFadden, managing partner at VAR Infradapt, denotes that the issue is a problem to the industry. He stresses that the problem is due to the rapid hiring of the IT companies of marketing professionals with little technology knowledge.

The article focuses on the strategic efforts of chief executive officer Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corp. to draw innovations, renew management structure and offer new services. According to Dell, the company is looking to provide services in terms of a whole enterprise solution which addresses the customer's needs. The chief technology officer Kevin Kettler added that addressing customers problems is a key focus of the moves the company has made. Lew Moorman, the senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, claimed that he is interested in what it can do to innovate after being left behind by Hewlett-Packard Co.

Information about the topics and issues addressed at the panel discussion entitled "Network Access Control: Industry Giants Debate the Future," during the RSA conference in February 2007 in the U.S. are discussed. During the conference, industry players including Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corp. and the Trusted Computing Group focuses on gearing up their respective network access control (NAC) frameworks. They also addressed certain issues related to the immaturity of NAC technology. INSET: Cisco wrote the book on NAC.

The article offers news briefs related to the computer industry. According to research companies Gartner and IDC, in the third quarter of 2006, Hewlett-Packard Co. overtook Dell Computer Corp. as the top computer vendor worldwide. Microsoft Corp. has recently launched the new operating system Microsoft Vista. Oracle's buying spree continues with the acquisition of Siebel Systems in January 2006.

The article presents a sample of the request for proposal (RFP) that can serve as a basis of a NAC Systems RFP. The eWEEK Labs presented a set of model questions that focuses on system capabilities, policy creation and system maintenance, support, cost-benefit analysis, reporting and others. Moreover, eWEEK Labs discovered that NAC solutions can increase its effectiveness when used to control the unmanaged trusted users that work for the organization that can prevent application downtime or failure.

The article presents a case study of a solutions provider company called Bluedog. Bluedog, a Dublin, Ireland-based systems integrator and software developer helped the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) upgrade its IT client/server system. It was called in to modernized FTC's consumer information system (CIS) by developing a service-oriented architecture. FTC's problem stemmed from its decade-old system that could no longer handle the number of users accessing its CIS which handle different types of complaints such as consumer fraud and identity theft. The upgrade was completed in 10 months with a budget of $1.2 million.

The article discusses about regulatory compliance management in the information technology industry. Indelibly at present, companies should act in accordance to several regulatory compliance, ranging from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to industry-specific regulations to security best practices and to internal corporate governance, in order to continue operation. In the IT industry, it is the primary duty of IT managers to deal with these compliance practices. Compliance in the IT industry revolves around these specifications which include the storage, content management, e-mail and collaboration management, ID management and authentication, security and vulnerability scanners, and system and network management.

The article evaluates the WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router, a new access point and adapter based on the 802.11n draft which was developed by Linksys Corp. in the U.S.

The article presents views and insights of Jim Locke, founder of the Small and Medium Business Technology Network, concerning the importance of partnership for smaller value added resellers (VAR) in the U.S. Partnering is important to smaller VARs because it gives them a range of opportunities and lets them appear bigger than they are. It offers information on how to evaluate potential partner and provides tips for choosing a VAR that make sense. The author also discusses the importance of knowing how the partner works beyond their technical capabilities. INSET: Group helps VARs, integrators grow.

The article reports that Bill Graff, senior manager of infrastructure for Cerner Works, the remote hosting business unit of Cerner Corp., is trying to outrun a data avalanche. Graff's real challenge is to help maintain information ability, support service-level agreements and brace its storage architecture against the daily onslaught of data squeezing its capacity. It offers information about Information Classification Management and information lifecycle management which will be key topics during the Storage Networking World conference. INSET: How IT managers can avoid storage-tier tears.

The article focuses on the continuous growth of the information technology industry in India that eventually require some changes in most technology services companies. Companies such as Infests Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. has lead the industry that has grown 200 times in revenue in the last 15 years. With this, the continuous growth of the industry in India need to innovate and the need to globalize. This challenge companies to develop changes wherein the world can see Indian companies establishing in the customers' own countries with offices staffed with local employees. Customers will also see Indian companies zealous to develop their own patent, intellectual property and license and will start to sell their own software products.

The article reviews the productivity suite software Word Perfect Office X3 from Corel Corp.

This article focuses on Orchestria Corp.'s Active Policy Management 3.1 computer software used for business communication. But the software's complexity ensures performance and adaptability that will provide value for companies that need to monitor message-based communications. APM 3.1, available now, is priced at $200 per user. APM's rules-oriented approach delivered a level of accuracy that will pay off for companies willing to make a substantial upfront investment in building good policies. APM has another major advantage over traditional email compliance tools: When client agents are used, the product can stop policy-violating e-mail messages before they reach the mail server, thus keeping them out of the archive. APM gives companies a number of deployment options and covers a broad range of applications. APM focuses on Microsoft Exchange environments, with both the server-side Exchange agent and support for Microsoft Outlook in the client agent. The APM agent worked well in tests, causing no noticeable performance hit on the client. APM let client agents be remotely distributed, but companies don't necessarily have to deploy client agents. INSETS: Questions to ask;Orchestria Active Policy Management 3.1.