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As this decade draws to a close, companies can be placed into one of two broad categories based on their information systems: companies who are implementing packaged applications software or [...]

Certificate of Merit BEC/Allwaste is a rapidly growing earth-moving company that has ongoing projects all over the country. But management realized there were gaping holes in the accounting/ business system [...]

The growing heterogeneity of client/server environments and current state of tool immaturity challenge the skills of IT organizations while increasing management and support costs. Selectively outsourcing nonstrategic client/server tasks that are not performed cost-effectively in-house helps IT managers close the skills gap and improve productivity, reduce costs, and focus on core competencies and initiatives.

Project management is an integrated and comprehensive process of planning, implementing and controlling projects that could readily be used to make client/server systems work as they were designed to be. The latter can be costly, time-consuming and unduly complicated when implemented inadequately. Thus, good project management practices should serve to rectify these problems. Contrary to common thinking, project management is not an outdated concept and fits perfectly with the newer information systems.

Most enterprise app dev tools can build an n-tier partitioned app, But the business problems you can solve with that partitioned app vary markedly from tool to tool. LIKE SO […]

Systems Administrators at Texaco's refineries faced a nasty problem: Oracle databases were ballooning in size, causing users problems as they reached table- and index-size limits, while runaway processes dragged down […]

E.D. Jones and Co. CIO Rich Malone discusses some interesting aspects of his company's planned transfer from mainframe computers to a client server open architecture environment. Malone stressed that the company paid careful attention to user inputs in deciding which type of client server systems to implement. He added that the primary goal of the shift towards client server systems was to enhance customer service through better exchange of data between E.D. Jones' central office in St. Louis, MO, and its more than 3,200 branches.

In the government offices of Santa Clara County, Calif., client-server systems grow like weeds along the freeway. The county, home to a good chunk of Silicon Valley, spends an estimated […]

Virtual local area networks (VLANs) decrease management costs associated with moves, adds and changes and improve the performance of client-server applications. However, the latter benefit has also been attributed to LAN switching. The need for either the VLAN method or the switching method can be assessed through application fingerprinting audit, with RMON probes used in collecting the fingerprint data. Although VLANs are useful in both the change management and client-server performance, users are advised to use application fingerprinting to guide their decision making., VLANs are the rage--at least if you're a vendor. Here's one approach to deciding if they really medet your needs. The first industry conference devoted entirely to Virtual LANs (VLANs) [...]

CIOs can facilitate their companies' shift to client/server technology without entirely discarding legacy systems by using surround strategies. Basically, surround strategies allow technology executives to compensate for the shortcomings of legacy systems by substituting client/server technology only for certain parts of the system. This is achieved by dividing legacy systems into presentation, process and data layers. The new and old components of the system are then made to communicate with each other via screen mapping, process mapping, legacy data application or legacy data servers.

Distributed computing offers numerous potential benefits for growing business organizations. These include enhanced information accessibility, reduced paperwork, greater data accuracy and security and better decision making. However, as Texas Commerce Bank N.A. is discovering in the course of its shift from mainframe computing to client/server technology, distributed data involves numerous challenges. Experts' advice on effectively managing distributed computing systems are presented.

Erik Goldoff, a computer specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, once nearly lost track of $1.5 million worth of client-server equipment. Randall Kessenich, the local […]

Welcome to the client-server frontier, where the old rules don't apply and the new ones aren't finished yet. To find out who's on the leading edge and why, one financial [...]

Client-server networks have helped corporations streamline their operations integrating information technology with business operations. However, many companies have become too dependent on such networks and thus suffer major financial losses or operational problems when network disasters occur. Network administrators should establish efficient disaster plans that focus on prevention though redundancy and recovery., The goals of streamlining operations and enhancing competitiveness have driven corporate decisions during the past few years, and information technology (IT) has been used to achieve these objectives. In some [...]

Back then, they called that kind of stuff 'operations management,' with names like 'data center management,' 'systems management,' 'performance management,' and 'network management.' A locker full of down-in-the-engine-room mainframe tools […]

Distributed computing in a client/server environment has changed the role of management into one of lesser authority but with more personal interaction with personnel. The employee empowerment that comes with reengineering calls for greater leadership skills from middle management, helping employees adjust to the new system and ensuring that communications are maintained at a personal level. Managers are also called upon to guide their staff towards the company's greater goals.

Robert Knepp doesn't pretend to know everything about distributed client/server computing. But the IS manager says he does know one thing: the tools that are available today for performing key […]

A demonstration is presented on how to automate generating and emailing Word documents through ASP.NET and MySQL. ASP.NET can be used to provide a Web-based system, one need both a user interface and back-end code. Further, MySQL database is searched to determine which clients are actively trading and when the next inspection is due.

The adoption of packaged client/server applications can cost firms millions of dollars, with significant amounts of money spent on 'help' vendors such as systems integrators and computer consultants. The industry is now moving into a new era wherein help vendors' services are transforming into fixed-time implementations with fixed-prices. New trends concerning packaged client/server applications in firms such as the implementation of component-based applications from multiple vendors, piece by piece replacement of applications, and the creation of industry specific applications are expected to influence firms' use of help vendors.

Careful evaluation of an Internet application's features and conformance to standards helps an organization more effectively meet its current and emerging communication needs.

Desktop management is the most costly and difficult aspect of client/server architecture management. Two major strategies may be used in managing desktops. Under the 'fat client' approach, the full operating system is put onto the desktop. This enables the desktop to run all or most of the processing for an application while servers are responsible for managing access to shared data and peripherals. The 'thin client' approach, on the other hand, puts only minimal processing capability on the desktop. All application software resides on servers, where it is easier to control and test., No pain, no gain. Let's shape up those desktop clients Of all the problems involved with managing today's client-server environments, desktop management is the most costly and difficult. Each desktop [...]

The CFO Looks you straight in the eye and asks the tough question: 'End of the day, bottom line, are you going to spend more money on client/server computing than […]

The susceptibility of present client-server environments to serious bottleneck problems underscores the need for hierarchical architectures that will improve the scalability of client-server systems. This type of architecture uses localized superagents for processing and filtering management information. The superagents also reduce the amount of network traffic between the manager and the managed elements., Cracking the scalability conundrum with hierarchical and client-server approaches It's been five years since the first generation of open management platforms (OMPs) and management software entered the market. While they've [...]

When client/server systems bog down or don't operate as expected, IS managers tend to check everything but the clients. Several months after revamping every aspect of its computer operations, a […]

Client/server deployment requires one piece of hardware you probably won't find in the computer store: a new hat rack. The challenges of setting strategic directions and policies, establishing standard platforms, […]

Adapting the data contained in mainframe, or legacy systems into client/server systems would require using programs that provides an interface between the two systems. If the data is too extensive to be reduced for client/server use, middleware programs such as universal gateways and application program interface technologies will allow workstations access to legacy systems. Both types of middleware have limited applications depending on the type of legacy system in place.

CLIENT-SERVER IS A FALSE IDOL, BUT CULTURAL CHANGE TAKES TIME I'M WRITING THIS JUST BEFORE PASSOVER, THE JEWISH HOLIDAY commemorating the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. The story […]

301 Gregson Dr. Cary, NC 27511 (919) 379-8000 Fax: (919) 379-8100 stratech.com Business: Strategic offers its clients a comprehensive range of solutions from the network and hardware to software and [...]

IS managers at time, inc. were caught in a catch-22. They needed to monitor performance of a network that supports about 8,000 users at 40 sites for the publishing division […]

The year 2000 is coming, but in the client/server world no one seems too worried. Both users and the budding year 2000 compliance industry, made up of service firms and […]

Lessons from the field can help you achieve success. Client/server computing is how business is being conducted today. It gives us the access to information that we never thought possible [...]