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Posix is still evolving and success will depend on how well you follow the rules. Here's what to watch for. Early adopters of Posix-compliant VMS say that, with only a […]

What's one of the most significant challenges facing database managers today? The need to incorporate different forms of information--including text, graphics and video--into their applications. Database managers will soon have […]

INDUSTRY STATIC FOR 1991 AS WORLD ECONOMY COOLS Most MIS managers are viewing their 1991 budgets with the mixture of fear and apprehension. After all, much of the world is […]

TP MONITORS DELIVER MORE USERS FOR LESS COST Although relational databases have become critical elements of most organizations, the cost of deploying this technology tends to escalate dramatically as more […]

HOW X TERMINAL DOLLARS MAKE APPLICATIONS SENSE At first glance, many system managers might have a problem with paying more than $1,000 for an X windows terminal. After all, an […]

CIM GIVES MANUFACTURERS SAVINGS OVER LONG HAUL Increased global competition, drastically shortened product life spans and the need to cut costs are driving manufacturers to find ever-better ways of creating […]

INCREASED BACKBONE TRAFFIC PUSHES USERS TOWARD FDDI Like age-hardened arteries, the Ethernets of corporate America are soon going to clog. More users, more data, faster computers, workstations and network-dependent applications […]

Two-dimensional graphics has become a universal element of computing, found everywhere in graphical user interfaces and in applications themselves. Meanwhile, 3-D graphics remains limited to specialized applications such as CAD, […]

Mis managers looking to integrate fast X window devices based on RISC processors with existing DOS and Macintosh applications are evaluating a suite of tools designed to give them the […]

Concurrently sharing access to applications across multiple desktop systems is an old-fashioned idea that has its roots in traditional minicomputer systems. But the real challenge for moving to groupware involves […]

Few MIS managers would deny the potential benefits that client/server computing could bring to at least some aspects of their business. In theory, client/server computing combines the price/performance of workstations […]

The RMS file may still be alive and well at most DEC sites, but increasingly, the database management system forms the core of an organization's information system strategy. Relational database […]

There was a time when capacity planning for a system just took a little common sense. Lots of activity on one of your disks? Buy a faster subsystem. Response time […]

The difficult choice facing MIS managers these days is not whether they should decentralize their accounting operations, but which platforms they should employ to achieve their distributed computing goal. With […]

By most accounts, imaging if destined to become increasingly important in commercial and scientific/technical computing. Imaging applications range from the relatively simple digital storage and retrieval of paper documents to […]

Although many MIS departments are still in the throes of bringing their old applications into the relational database fold, proponents of object-oriented databases are already projecting their technology as the […]

Over the past several months, radical shifts in the structure of the computer industry have fundamentally changed the competitive relationships of every major system manufacturer. In a scenario somewhat reminiscent […]

As multivendor, distributed computing environments proliferate, system management has become something of a crucible on which MIS directors must forge efficiency in the face of diversity. Clearly, the advantages that […]

In theory, computerized project management is fairly simple: It's the task of organizing and directing resources to meet a specific, onetime objective. But when software-driven program evaluation and review techniques […]

DESKTOP MANAGERS TAKE GUIs TO THEIR GOLDEN AGE As the latest workstations arrive bundled with graphical user interfaces such as Motif from the Open Software Foundation (OSF) and Open Look […]

EXPERT SYSTEMS PAVE WAY FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING As competition becomes increasingly complex, many companies have discovered that the knowledge their employees accrue is one of their greatest assets. Compared to […]

RDBMS SECURITY: A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Security is an issue that all system managers worry about but precious few want to discuss in detail. No manager wants to admit that […]

BUILDING A WHOLE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS In these ecnomically bleak times, with everyone talking of recession and tight budgets, maintaining sprawling legions of corporate data centers […]

RDBMS FORMS THE BASIS OF FINANCIAL CONTROL TOWER Combining accounting software with the information stored in distributed relational databases can provide an organization with a tremendous financial boon. By creating […]

SAVINGS ON DEMAND: DISTRIBUTION PLANNING Like its close conceptual cousin Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP), Distribution Resources Planning (DRP) is an attempt to gain control over the processes that govern the […]

OPTICAL DISKS SAVE SPACE, TIME, MAINTENANCE COSTS As both a technology and a finished product, optical disk storage is still in its infancy. Optical disks remain significantly more costly than […]

FINDING THE PATH TO THE BEST DATA DELIVERY PLATFORM Choosing a database management system is one of those purchasing moves that consultants gently call a 'career decision.' To put it […]

GATHERING STORM OVER CLIENT/SERVER COMPUTING Today the aggregate MIPS scattered across desk tops in most organizations are equal to and sometimes greater than the total MIPS stashed away at the […]

ADDED DIMENSIONS SPRUCE UP SPREADSHEETS After a slow 1988, VAX spreadsheet buyers can look forward to more action in 1989. Within a few months, DEC is expected to begin delivering […]

VMS tuning and performance monitoring software can identify trends before they become full-blown problems, making it easier to change system performance parameters and see the results of those changes quickly. […]

NEW YORK - Three significant product features were highlighted during Oracle's announcement last week of version 7 of its relational database. Oracle intends to support distributed databases, add two-phase commit […]

Advances in the SCSI interconnect design incorporated in the SCSI-2 specification increase the types of supported devices, boost throughput and increase the maximum length of SCSI bus connections. In the […]

While many other industries slouch through a business slowdown that is the fiscal equivalent of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the health care industry is booming. And that translates into more work […]

For many MIS managers, the movement toward RISC-based workstations is as inevitable as the adoption of desktop computing in the first place. In the commercial application arena once held captive […]

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. -- Performance Software has enhanced its application performance testing tool with the release of version 3.0 of V-Test, company officials said. V-Test automates software testing and performance measurement […]

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- As part of an overall drive to address vertical applications, SAS Institute has released software intended to speed the review and analysis of drug trial data. SAS/PH […]

DEC's recent announcement of low priced-workstations incorporating enhanced graphics is a clear signal that the company intends to go after the multimedia market. Multimedia technology, which combines voice, video and […]

When the Object Management Group (OMG) announced its specifications for the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (Corba) standard for distributed object-oriented applications, it was flanked by several companies and consortiums […]

NEW YORK -- IBM and Apple Computer last week detailed plans for their joint desktop systems development project, which will combine Apple's operating system expertise with IBM's AIX operating system […]

MIAMI -- The release of SQL*Net version 2.0, which provides a platform-independent transport protocol for applications; and a demonstration of the long-awaited version 7.0 of Oracle RDBMS, which is based […]

Patent litigation has been a longtime staple of the DEC marketplace. In the interest of protecting what it describes as its intellectual property, DEC has aggressively defended its patents against […]

As expected, DEC has announced strategic partnerships intended to improve connectivity between PC LANs and Ethernet backbones running DECnet and TCP/IP. DEC plans to open its Pathworks networking software through […]

Despite its age in an industry that tends to favor the latest and greatest, Lotus 1-2-3 is still the favorite at DEC sites using spreadsheet software running on various operating […]

IBM, HP to challenge DECmcc Director NEW YORK -- IBM and Hewlett-Packard announced at a press conference last week that IBM has licensed parts of HP's OpenView network management software […]

IBM clustering fails to match VAXclusters Six months after its introduction, IBM's clustering system has received only lukewarm reception, largely because the IBM clustering scheme fails to offer many of […]

Trade-in program for HP workstations may haunt DEC, IBM, Sun NEW YORK -- Fulfilling expectations that had been building for months, Hewlett-Packard at a press conference last week released the […]

IBM upgrades high-end RISC server line with 25MHz boxes NEW YORK -- IBM last week introduced additions to its RISC System/6000 series of computers, but did not produce a low-end […]

Massively parallel system adds statistical database SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Maspar Computer has introduced statistical database software designed to run on the company's MP-1 massively parallel computer. The statistical software, called […]

BANKERS EXAMINE COST OF SURVIVAL It's been a turbulent year for the banking industry. Widespread failure of savings and loan institutions and a few major banks has forced the remaining […]

Ultrix 4.0: Weak sister among Unix derivatives Although the number of Unix systems has been growing, the success of Unix has been due largely to the price/performance benefits of the […]