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The article presents information on business process management (BPM) computer software. BPM starts with process modeling. Process modeling is a business-driven exercise wherein current and proposed process flows are documented in detail, linked to quantifiable performance metrics, and optimized through simulation analysis. Such optimized models automatically generate the skeleton of the information technology implementation in the process designer of a BPM suite. Process designer is a graphical development tool that incorporates human workflow, application integration, and business rules to develop an executable process solution.

Novell, the former undisputed leader in proprietary networking software, is banking on Linux and open source to rescue its business from years of decline. Where once it seemed fated for obscurity, Novell is determined to regain its former status by transforming itself into one of the industry's leading open source vendors. Novell first aligned itself with the open source community when it launched its collaborative development site in early 2003. But it was not until Novell purchased open source desktop software vendor Ximian in August 2003 that the company's new direction began to solidify in the public eye. Then in January 2004, Novell acquired SuSE, the leading Linux vendor in Europe and the number 2 player worldwide, after Red Hat. But even though it seems to be holding all the right cards, Novell faces tough odds. Tough competition from Microsoft and dwindling support from third-party developers have caused Novell's once loyal base to look elsewhere for infrastructure needs. Unless it can win back the loyalty of the industry, Novell's Linux-centric message could fall on deaf ears. Novell's fortunes were not always so dire. At one time, its name was synonymous with personal computer networking. INSET: The End of the Line for NetWare?.

The article discusses how to avoid disrupting corporate strategy through information leak prevention (ILP) strategies and software. With the protection of information assets fast becoming a challenge of top priority, ILP soultions abound in the market that includes Vontu 5.0, Reconnex iGuard 2.1 and Oakley Networks Sureview 3.3. According to the Privacy ClearingHouse, the top ILP threats include stolen computers, hacking and inadvertently exposed information on Web sites. In addition to that, one in three incidence of data loss is attributed to company insiders. Thus, the need for ILP is of utmost importance for companies to avoid expensive and embarrassing information leaks.

This article deals with the emerging open source model in the enterprise world. The rewards facing those willing to lead information technology into new open source territories includes a broad support community, greater flexibility, and more control over critical technologies. In addition, a strong community typically continues even if individual contributors pull out, making dependence less risky than on software from a vendor that may later go out of business, change technology direction, or be acquired by a company with a different agenda. However, waging the good fight for open source in the enterprise is not without its hazards. A deep in-house technical knowledge is needed for the most effective use of open source.

Reviews the software products eBlaster 3.0 and Spector Professional Edition from SpectorSoft. INSET: How Much Monitoring is Enough?.

The article reviews the Akimbi Slingshot 2.2 software from Akimbi Systems.

Reviews the XOsoft WANSyncHA 3.71 software from XOsoft. INSET: XOsoft WANSyncHA 3.71.

The Groove Virtual Office 3.0 software from Groove Networks helps users share documents, track issues, hold ad-hoc meetings, and access legacy-system data. Groove Networks has not simply repackaged existing collaboration technology. The developers turned their understanding of the virtual workplace into a solution that defines a way of working. That a user can be productive without much training speaks to how well Groove Virtual Office's user interface presents and integrates its many features. The SharePoint workspace exercised another Groove 3.0 strength, users have the ability to work offline. Additionally, many Groove 3.0 services are exposed to the Windows file system. As a result, users do not need to create a workspace or change their daily habits. The functions take fewer steps and work faster than Groove 2.5, but the Forms tool received special attention in this release and thus should be of interest to businesspeople. Nontechnical users can take a Groove Forms template and modify it with the built-in graphical designer. The finished form, which can give an executive overview of sales figures, is then added to a workspace. There are notable changes to the Enterprise Management Server of Groove 3.0, the component that handles authentication, and synchronization.

Provides tips on investing in metrics counters of application performance management (APM) solutions. Importance of defining metrics; Ways to aggregate metrics; Keys to leveraging APM.

Presents information on the corporate social networking software released by different software companies. Contact Network; Interface Software; ZeroDegrees.

Reviews the Advanced Server 3.0 enterprise software from Red Hat.

Reviews the Kontiki Delivery Management System 3.0 application software from Kontiki.

Discusses the rebirth of hosted software vendors. Factors that are driving the rebirth; One deficiency of the emerging hosted model; Challenges facing hosted software vendors; Key to hosted software vendors' growth despite challenges.

Focuses on the shift made by managed services providers into licensed software providers as of June 2002. Availability of the Command Center infrastructure of NOCpulse as a licensed software model; Licensing deal between Loudcloud and EDS for Loudcloud's software entity called Opsware; Features of digitalOps managed services automation platform; Business continuity offerings from Digex's SmartContinuity.

The author reflects on issues related to the computer industry. He offers an overview of a study by Jupiter Research on companies that plan to deploy a Weblog authoring system in 2006, many of which are trying to leverage Weblogs to generate word-of-mouth marketing opportunities. He comments on upgrade cycles made by software vendors.

The article presents a case study on the application by the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) of the business process management software. IDA is an organization that evaluates technology in accordance with the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002. One of the goals of IDA was to be able to adjust processes as needs arose. Moreover, IDA wanted to change or retrograde applications that were already under review. The product has enabled IDA to use fewer people to monitor where things are. Furthermore, applications are not held up for lack of knowing where they are.

The article presents the views on two experts on the possibility of designing a personal industry-specific application and deploy it in a software as a service (SaaS) model. According to Steve Beda, executive vice president of Accuship, a spend-management service provider to the transportation industry, there are no major obstacles to building the application personally. Making sure that all parties fully agree on uptime performance, disaster recovery, monitoring and intrusion protection is important if one opts to share a service among partners and clients. Adam Gross, director of product marketing at Salesforce.com, has a different view. He says that a company cannot build a true SaaS application unless it invests a huge amount of money in creating a multi-tenant database that can support multiple customers on a single instance of the hardware, software and network stack.

This article deals with the launch of products and technologies from software company, Microsoft Corp. Most remarkable about the move is the sheer volume of products slated for the second half of 2006, from the new Windows Workflow Foundation to Visual Studio 2005 and a slew of application programming interfaces, and Vista and Office 12--the first time since 1995 that new versions of Windows and Office will arrive simultaneously. On the other hand, Microsoft is rolling out Project Atlas--tools that support AJAX-style applications in the browser and a bundle of services.

Reviews the Sapien PrimalScript 4.0 software from Sapien. INSET: Sapien PrimalScript 4.0.

Evaluates the Inside Threat Manager 3.0 unobtrusive server-agent solution from Oakley Network. Key features; Mechanism and application; Cost.

Presents news briefs related to the computer industry in the U.S. as of April 2005. Concept of the Release 7 of CRM OnDemand from Siebel Systems; Information on the Plumtree Analytics Server from Plumtree Software; Update on the professional graphics-software applications to be introduced by Adobe Systems.

Reviews the RedDot CMS 6.1 computer software from RedDot Solutions.

Presents news briefs related to the computer industry in the U.S. as of February 2005. Recruitment of Brad Wilson by Microsoft Corp.; Concept of the financing options launched by IBM; Market performance of handheld devices globally in 2004.

This article presents an update on new IT products as of January 17, 2005. Business Objects unveiled its Business Objects XI (Extreme Insight), the first version of its software following last year's acquisition of Crystal Decisions, to completely integrated Business Objects' BI software with Crystal Reports. Meanwhile, Red Dot Solutions this week will deliver a new version of its LiveServer content management solution, which features several new integrated technologies including its Verity search capability. Version 2.2 contains new enhancements that allow administrators to configure the product to their respective environments more flexibly, thereby making it is easier and faster to deploy. Pervasive Software last week introduced Pervasive Postgres, an open source database that the company plans to back with application migration for independent software vendors and end-users, training, administrator certification and related data management and integration software. Moreover, Microsoft is expanding its hosted Exchange to include instant messaging and collaborative online workspaces. Previously, the offering consisted of Exchange Server 2003 and was called the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Exchange 2003.

This article looks at the significant role of open source software within the computing industry. Some of the products available within the consumer electronics industry may be difficult to operate so vendors offer online support services. However, when the author experienced an unanswered support requests to vendors, he turned to open source. A Google query for sourceforge vx4400 yielded this first result: Welcome to BitPim. On the BitPim project site, he found not only sync software for Windows, Linux and OS X, but also useful documentation, including an online help system. Although BitPim can import and export various contact formats, it as yet has no similar support for calendar events. Because the site is written in Python and uses the wxPython cross-platform graphic user interface library, it is open and easily extensible. BitPim's developer, Roger Binns, thinks the same way the author do about managing collections of simple objects.

This article comments on the advantages and disadvantages of open sourcing and outsourcing software. Custom-developed software built on reliable open source frameworks wins the day when the benefits of slick commercial software cannot outweigh the licensing costs. On the other hand, when done for the right reasons, outsourcing can save money and reduce unnecessary distractions for in-house information technology (IT) teams. Outsourcing is becoming increasingly attractive in two particular scenarios. The first instance deals with outsourcing relatively generic functions that rely on widely used commercial software packages that require specific expertise and near-perfect uptime. In these scenarios, it is difficult to run these systems noticeably better than an outsourcer. The second, more interesting emerging scenario is the Web-based hosted service with a well-documented Web services API, an offering pioneered by Salesforce.com with their sforce platform. In this type of outsourcing arrangement, users get all the benefits of a core service without having to own software or hardware, but they retain the option to extend the system to address specific needs of their business. Platforms such as sforce dispel the notion that outsourcing is about cramming a variety of square-pegged businesses into a single hosted round hole. In areas where outsourcing does not make sense and IT needs to build custom functionality unavailable in commercial products, open source is an increasingly viable choice.

The self-support and developer communities that vendors built and foster, or ones that bubble up in spite of vendors, are becoming a customer's best friend. Most vendors are turning top-level customer support and developer relations into profit centers. Large-scale accounts and major partners expect excellence in these areas. Although every major software vendor is creating small to midsize business (SMB) editions of its products, the SMB customer experience is quite different. Either customers must pay support charges grossly disproportionate to license fees, or they must settle for second-class support. Although SMBs can't demand weekends on vendors' private yachts, they should assert their significant influence on software companies. The needs of SMBs, enthusiasts, casual developers, and small-scale enterprise deployments overlap in ways that make communities essential. An example is Apple. Apple hosts vibrant open forums with very little moderation and aids third-party community sites even if they break disclosure rules or rag on Apple now and then. Apple's responsiveness bodes as well for businesses as it does for students and open source hackers. Microsoft Corp. is starting to reach out in some ways like that of Apple's such as releasing services for Unix, holding developer contests and giving once-expensive session DVDs to all attendees.

This article discusses the importance of recorded screen sequences to software developers in terms of providing feedback. The free Windows Media Encoder 9 from Microsoft Corp. can capture a demonstration of any Windows application. A growing number of vendors now use Flash video to augment the obligatory lists of customers, features, and benefits that they publish on their marketing pages. Prospect buyers of a product crave access to the experiences of users of that product. So in addition to published reviews, users seek out written accounts in Usenet newsgroups, in order to tap into those experiences. Now users can not only write about those experiences, but they can also share them directly without much more effort than it takes to capture and post screenshots. Users will not just post glowing testimonials. They will also begin to document, in excruciating detail, the usability nightmares they are forced to endure. Video, in the hands of civilians, has the power to bear witness in ways that cannot be denied. On a scale that includes the kinds of human rights abuses documented by witness.org, bad software does not even move the needle. But clueless developers should not be surprised when users start holding up the mirror of accountability.

This article reports on the plan of Groove Networks to launch the Version 3.0 of its secure collaboration software in early 2004. Groove Version 3.0 will feature bolstered end-user and developer functionality, simplified admittance to collaborative workspaces and greater leverage of existing corporate infrastructure. The product's starting point, Groove LaunchPad, is designed to bring common tasks related to workspaces and contacts to a single location and will tap presence-awareness capabilities to display user and workspace activities. Users will be able to drag and drop a name from LaunchPad to invite another user to a workspace. The updated version will also include secure file-sharing technology that will allow standard Windows file folders to be automatically synchronized across any number of personal computers and to be shared among multiple users across firewalls. Using Web services, the technology may eliminate the need for e-mail attachments by allowing remote file-sharing and collaboration to occur directly within the Windows Explorer. The Forms tool in the software will allow users and developers to easily create applications than can capture, search, track measure and report on information. INSET: Widening Workspaces.

This article describes several license management software from various manufacturers. Built on Absolute Software's CompuTrace PC tracking and loss control technology, AbsoluteTrack provides software license tracking and a range of system-management functions, delivered either as a service or as Windows enterprise software. Compliance Suite by Altiris generates a detailed audit report of installed software, with additional support for Unix clients and laptops. Software License Manager by Engagent provides a central database for software licensing tracking and management. AppTracker by Fortis Software monitors software license information using intelligent agent software installed on Windows clients. ManageSoft 6.9 is a complete software life cycle management solution for personal computers, server and mobile devices. Software license compliance and application usage monitoring are two of over 120 asset-management reports offered by Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003. Afaria by Xcellent is an integrated systems administration package that supports management of software licensing and inventory, security policies, business processes and systems configuration.

This article reports on the plan of Microsoft to launch an updated version of its Windows Server 2003 server operating system before the Longhorn version of the system expected by about 2007. The company is unlikely to introduce an update to Windows Server 2003, according to Jeff Price, senior director for Windows Server product management at Microsoft. The components in the update are likely to include Windows SharePoint Services, Windows Rights Management Services and the Group Policy Management Console, which have been released as Windows Server 2003 Feature Packs since the operating system was launched in April 2003. The company has yet to decide on naming, packaging and a delivery date for the update. Pricing is also undecided. According to Al Gillen, research director for system software at IDC, users like to have an updated release of Windows Server 2003. The news of an updated release of Windows Server 2003 comes a week after Microsoft confirms that it is pondering ways to add functionality to Windows HP after the release of Service Pack 2 in late 2004. The discussions, under the project name Windows XP Reloaded, could result in an interim release of Windows before Longhorn, but Microsoft could not confirm such a plan. INSETS: Between Now and Longhorn;Windows Server 2003 Update.

Explains that the SCO Group is creating enemies with its disdain for the Linux open source operating system. Contention of SCO Group that the open source system is a threat to the U.S. economy; Argumets made by SCO Group to the U.S. Congress against Linux.

Reviews the performance of the software Application Server 10g from Oracle.

Addresses the challenges of contributing to open source software. Differing priorities that govern open source and in-house developers; Bureaucratic hurdles to the desire to give back to the open source community; Views of Jonathan Bollers, vice president and chief engineer at Science Applications International Corp., on the issue.

Reports on the plan of the IBM to shift development away from its software brands toward cross-brand application packages tailored for specialized industries, as of December 8, 2003. Features of the company's forthcoming middleware packages for insurance and retail businesses; Components of the offering; Views of analyst Josh Greenbaum on the efforts of IBM to vertizalize its systems software.

Evaluates the Lotus Notes 6.5 and Domino 6.5 collaboration software from IBM. Improvements in Notes 6.5; Features and capabilities of Domino 6.5; Costs.

Reviews the DevPartner Studio Professional Edition 7.1 computer software from Microsoft Corp.

Focuses on enterprise information integration. Integration of IBM and webMethods; Background on the Big Blue integration technology of Cross Access; Details of the Integrated Composite Application Network suite of SeeBeyond. INSET: Information Integration.

Addresses issues concerning the decision of the European Commission to approved software patents, and its potential impact on the computer software industry in Europe. Approach used by several software providers to comply with the patent system; Advantages and disadvantages of the software patent legislation in Europe.

Presents an article about personal computers. Release of Power Mac G5 and AMD Athlon FX-51 reference systems; Concept of speed bump; Efforts of software developers to promote their products.

Presents news briefs on the computer and computer software industries in the U.S. as of August 25, 2003. Partnership of BEA Systems with Altova to integrate XMLSpy 5 with BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1 development software; Upgrades of the functions of Contact Network 2.0 knowledge management database software; Introduction of the myCOE service from Electronic Data Systems; Key features of the IBM Lotus Workplace for Retail Store Operations software from IBM.

Discusses the marketing strategy of computer software applications vendors. Details of the need for vendors to continue innovation; Importance of listening to customers; Cost-effectiveness of solutions being offered.

Presents news briefs on the computer software industry in the U.S. as of June 2003. Support given by Microsoft Corp. to SQL Server and FrontPage 2003, through aligning with iWay; Features of the OpenView tool from Hewlett-Packard; Lawsuits filed by J.D. Edwards against Oracle Corp., seeking to block the bid of Oracle for PeopleSoft.

Focuses on the fusion of the collaboration software of companies with application development tools to streamline the building of software across geographical boundaries. Integration of the virtual collaboration software of Groove Networks with the asset mapping and discovery engine of LogicLibrary; Assets created during the development life cycle; Deal between Yahoo and BEA Systems to add instant messaging and presence awareness to the BEA WebLogic Workshop development environment.

Reports on the Succession Enterprise Software Version 3.0 of Nortel Networks. Company helping Nortel deliver applications to IP phones over the Meridian 1 and Succession 1000 systems. INSET: Succession Enterprise Software Version 3.0.

Presents information on the Ximian Desktop 2 computer software from Ximian. Key features; Price of the software; Benefits of the software. INSET: Ximian Desktop 2.

Reports on the updated version of the K2 Developer software platform to be launched by Verity. Applications infused in the updated version; Locations wherein there is an explosion of information in the enterprise; Features added to the platform.

Reports that hosted software vendors (HSV) are entering diverse categories as customer relationship management, human resources management. Challenges facing HSV; Effort to make the HSV model more inviting to would-be customers.

Criticizes the failure of U.S. computer companies to adapt to market demands as of November 2002. Action taken by top businesses to guard their positions; Challenges faced by top software companies; Outlook for companies that try to defeat the advance of open source software through the legal system.

Focuses on the initiatives to be launched by BEA Systems company at the e-World 2001 conference to enter the application market. Objective of the company in launching the initiative; Areas of enterprise aimed by BEA for its WebLogic; Information on the company's WebLogic Enterprise 6.0, Campaign Manager for WebLogic, Tuxedo 8.0 and WebLogic Collaborate Enabler for RosettaNet.