Outsourcing
Information Week, 9/30/02: Utility Computing's Payoff
Outsource operations or buy on-demand access to CPUs, storage, and other resources
By Larry Greenemeier
When several vendors last year began touting utility computing as the right model for buying server capacity, storage, desktop services, and applications, not many companies were willing to take a risk on an unproven pricing scheme in an uncertain economy. Utility computing hasn't taken off the way EDS, Hewlett-Packard, or IBM imagined, but Hurwitz Group predicts that businesses will spend $12.3 billion this year on the infrastructure, resource-management software, and services to create utility-computing environments.
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IT Management
Internet News, 9/30/02: Study Confirms CIOs Still Struggle
By Gretchen Hyman
Even though the role of chief information officers (CIOs) has become integral to the majority ofssss companies in the U.S. and Europe, their jobs aren't getting any easier, a new study concludes. In fact, ensuring that business objectives and the applications that support them are in alignment is an ongoing hurdle for IT executives, and for some a losing battle.
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Internet News, 9/27/02: Study: E-mail to Double by 2006
By Christopher Saunders
If businesses and consumers already feel under pressure when coping with the current volume of e-mail, they almost certainly won't be cheered by new findings that suggest that the volume of e-mail will double by 2006, according to researcher IDC.
In a recent study, the consultancy concluded that the number of e-mails sent will grow from the present level of 31 billion a day to 60 billion in just over three years.
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Giga, 9/26/02: Windows Desktop Migration: Planning and Proper Tools Are Key
David Friedlander
Migrating users to new Windows desktops can be an expensive and time-consuming task for IT. Desktop settings, user profiles, user data, application settings and other information will need to be transferred to the new PC. In most organizations, disparate data, unique PC configurations and a lack of tools to assist with the migration make it a cumbersome, manual task. Clients should be prepared to take an inventory of desktop assets and software, develop a migration policy and select a tool to automate migration. Inventory is often accomplished with desktop management tools such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) or LANDesk’s products. However, these tools typically lack robust migration capabilities, so users will need to evaluate other tools. Based on discussions with vendors and Giga clients, Altiris eXpress and PowerQuest PowerDeploy Suite offer the most robust functionality for managing Windows desktop migrations during an enterprisewide upgrade.
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Microsoft
cnet, XP gains share among Net surfers
By Margaret Kane
Twenty percent of Net surfers are now using Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, according to market researcher WebSideStory.
The research company said Windows XP is the second most popular OS among Internet users, behind Microsoft's Windows 98 with a 37 percent share. Windows XP's share is up from 2 percent in the first week of November 2001, and Windows 98's is down from 50 percent at that time.
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Computerworld, 9/30/02: Microsoft SMS 2003 Beta Gets User Nod
Early adopter Marathon Oil hopes for reduced network traffic, support costs
By CAROL SLIWA
Microsoft Corp. today will release a beta version of its Systems Management Server 2003 software, providing the enhanced support that corporate IT departments have been seeking for mobile clients.
Users are anxious to get their hands on the new version because the aging SMS 2.0, which shipped four years ago, didn't work well when distributing software to PC and laptop users on dial-up connections.
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Giga, 9/26/02: IT Trends 2003: Managing the Microsoft Windows Platform
Thomas Mendel
A number of factors, including new product introductions from Microsoft and increased user awareness of the need for more centralized management control of the Windows environment will drive deployment of Windows management products in 2003.
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Security
ZDNet, 10/1/02: FBI aims to patch security holes
By Robert Lemos
The FBI and a prestigious computer-security research group are set to announce new initiatives to keep companies up to date on the most threatening software vulnerabilities.
The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center and the SysAdmin, Audit, Networking and Security (SANS) Institute, a research and education organization made up of government, corporate and academic experts, will unveil the initiatives Wednesday, exactly two weeks after the Bush Administration released a draft for comment of the National Strategy for Securing Cyberspace.
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Computerworld, 9/30/02: Web site defacements hit all-time high in September
By David Legard, IDG News Service
The number of Web site defacements has reached an all-time high, with more than 9,000 attacks this month, according to London security consultancy mi2g Ltd.
The figure is 54% higher than August's figure of 5,830 defacements, which was itself a record high, mi2g said in a statement.
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Internet News, 10/1/02: Bugbear/Tanatos E-mail Worm Detected
By Ryan Naraine
A mass-mailing worm with keylogging and backdoor capabilities is squirming in the wild and software security experts are warning of possible hacker intrusions into infected systems.
According to an advisory from F-Secure, the Bugbear/Tanatos worm copies itself to Windows System directory with a random name (JFMV.EXE for example) and adds a startup key to the Registry.
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Giga, 9/26/02: Four Responses to Risk
Michael Rasmussen
Risk management involves responding to risks to bring them in line with business expectations. Some organizations are more risk averse than others — this has a lot to do with industry, geo-political climate and company culture. Each organization needs to decide what level of risk is appropriate for the organization, business unit, process or system, and manage accordingly.
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Giga, 9/26/02: IT Trends 2003: Identity Management
Jonathan Penn
The primary forces driving the identity management market are the benefits of product integration, the need of organizations to establish tighter cross-enterprise relationships and the expansion of identity management to encompass greater business functionality.
Market leadership among identity management vendors will be determined by vendors’ ability to deliver broad identity management capabilities through integrated product portfolios or strong partnerships, to provide identity management solutions for federated environments and over Web Services protocols and to expand the relevance of identity management to other business issues, such as data privacy. Vendors failing to attain or retain leadership positions may succeed through unique features that will sustain them as best-of-breed players, but will most likely either experience diminishing strategic relevance in the market or exit the identity management arena entirely through acquisition or retrenchment.
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