Desktop Outsourcing
Giga, 6/12/03: IT Trends 2003, Midyear Update: Desktop Outsourcing
Robert McNeill
Desktop outsourcing has grown visibly during the last six months due to an increased number of pure desktop outsourcing deals and the renegotiation of many existing deals. The slight upturn in agreements is in part because of the lag in the outsourcing cycle that occurs within the end-user organization, from the creation of a project team to the point of vendor win and announcement, which can often take eighth months or longer. However, desktop management continues to be seen as a repeatable and commodity process that is mature and non-strategic, and as such a prime outsourcing candidate in many CFO-driven IT organizations.
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Outsourcing
Optimize, 6/03: Sourcing In The Right Light
Right-sourcing, not necessarily outsourcing, is the best way to strategically execute critical business processes.
by Ravi Aron
If the Web and network technology have had a transformational effect on business, then what exactly has been transformed? In the heady days at the turn of this century, pundits and punters alike seemed to think that electronic markets were going to change the way companies reached customers. Dot-coms, eyeballs, traffic, and the like were all the rage.
Businesses have been transformed, but not exactly as most of us envisioned. One big change not on radar screens a few years ago was the re-emergence of business-process outsourcing (BPO) and other sourcing options as a corporate mainstay. Many people talk about the obvious economic drivers for the shift to outsourcing today, but Web technologies played a big role, too. Even as the Nasdaq soared and then sank, advances in networking and telecommunications were quietly gathering steam without the fanfare of dot-com mania. These advances have let large systems talk to each other seamlessly through Internet middleware, such as Web services. And the ubiquitous and cheap availability of bandwidth, combined with gains in seamless connectivity, helped transform business.
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Utility Computing
Gartner, 6/13/03: Hype Cycle for Utility Technologies, 2003
A desire for improved productivity and cost management continues to motivate utilities' technology investments. Security mandates following the attacks of Sept. 11 are also driving IT investments.
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Business Process Outsourcing
Gartner, 6/13/03: Comprehensive BPO Is in Its Infancy: Buyer Beware
Business process outsourcing providers dynamically seek to offer solutions that encompass several discrete
processes. Buyers must understand the maturity of comprehensive offerings to make successful purchases.
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IT Management
ZDNet, 6/16/03: Equal rights for CIOs
By David Becker
Companies get the most bang for the buck from information technology when they treat it like any other part of their business, according to a new study by research firm The Hackett Group.
The report, "Profile of World-Class Information Technology," surveyed more than 2,000 companies, including more than 80 percent of the Fortune 1,000. The survey, to be released next week, rated companies according to their track record in using technology to achieve business goals, with the top 25 percent classified as "world class" IT performers.
General conclusions are that companies make better use of IT budgets when they don't let technology workers operate in a vacuum. By using technology changes as a prompt for reviewing overall business processes, top performers achieve better returns with fewer resources, said Allan Frank, co-author of the report and president of Hackett parent company Answerthink. Installation of a customer relationship management system, for example, could be an impetus for streamlining a company's procurement procedures.
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Giga, 6/13/03: IT Trends 2003, Midyear Update: IT Asset Management
David Friedlander
What are the current key drivers and trends in IT asset management for 2003?
The IT asset management (ITAM) market is undergoing a recovery sooner than initially expected. Giga clients have expressed a renewed interest in ITAM during the past six months, though many customers are focusing on a specific pain point, such as lease management or software compliance to reduce costs. Enterprisewide ITAM requires a much more significant investment, and growth in the broader market remains slow.
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Infoworld, 6/16/03: Interview: Altiris extends management reach
Linux capabilities bolster PC, PDA support
By Mark Jones
While more glamorous companies have struggled to weather the economy, Lindon, Utah-based Altiris continues to forge ahead with its systems management offerings. Executive News Editor Mark Jones caught up with Altiris CEO Greg Butterfield to discuss the competitive landscape for the company's products.
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Mobile
TechWeb, 6/16/03: TI Spins Bluetooth, WLAN Combo
By Patrick Mannion
With mobile handsets and PDAs as a target, Texas Instruments Inc. is pulling its wireless LAN and Bluetooth silicon together with a proprietary algorithm and a three-wire bus that will allow simultaneous operation of both air interfaces. The hardware and software solution is designed to overcome the well-documented interference associated with the co-located radios, while minimizing size, cost and power consumption.
TI's solution, due in the third quarter, will go up against the TrueRadio chip set of Mobilian Corp. (Portland, Ore.) and the Blue802 chips from the team of Intersil Corp. (Milpitas, Calif.) and Silicon Wave Inc. (San Diego). Both the TrueRadio and Blue802 chips are available now.
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Security
Computerworld, 6/16/03: Hacker tips CERT's hand on Linux/PDF flaw
Confidential CERT information was also leaked in March
By Paul Roberts
Confidential vulnerability information managed by the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University has again been leaked to the public, following a flurry of such leaks in March.
The latest information concerns a flaw in PDF readers for Unix that could allow a remote attacker to trick users into executing malicious code on their machines, according to a copy of the leaked vulnerability report.
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