Outsourcing
Computerworld, 10/30/03: Net execs are bullish on outsourcing
Story by Denise Dubie
OCTOBER 30, 2003 ( NETWORK WORLD ) - Bertucci's Inc.'s James Lux told an audience of network managers recently that he turned to outsourcing to quickly and inexpensively connect the restaurant chain's 90 locations with voice over IP, speed credit card transaction processing and support online applications.
"IT is a hard sell in my business. Restaurant people care about good food and service, not about how to manage routers," Lux, vice president of IT, said at an event sponsored by Vanguard Managed Solutions. "I have to make a good case to spend more money in IT."
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IT Management
Giga, 10/28/03: Domain Name System Sourcing Options
Thomas Mendel
What are the different options for enterprises as far as sourcing the internal and external DNS is concerned?
There are three general ways for companies to source the internal and external domain name system (DNS):
1. DNS as a service
2. DNS-only products
3. IP address management (IPAM) products
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Security
Computerworld, 10/30/03: Four ways to secure your company on a shoestring budget
Advice by Peter H. Gregory
OCTOBER 30, 2003 ( COMPUTERWORLD ) - Blaster, Nachi and SQL Slammer are modern plagues that strike wired businesses with increasing regularity. But even if these cataclysms have failed to bring in more budget dollars, you, the security professional, are still expected to keep company networks and assets protected. Here are four steps up you can take, using zero capital dollars, that will visibly reduce risks and improve your security program.
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Computerworld, 10/30/03: Enhancing WLAN Security
Opinion by Rajit Gadh, UCLA; Sridhar V and Kalyan Rao, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
OCTOBER 30, 2003 ( COMPUTERWORLD ) - The recent proliferation of high-speed wireless portable devices has resulted in a significant demand for wireless LAN. While WLANs offer tremendous flexibility to the mobile user, compared to their wire-line equivalents, WLANs are more susceptible to security threats because data is transmitted through the air.
While encryption technology provides protection against most security threats, intruder-generated security threats are still possible. Two types of intrusion threats that are easy to launch are traffic monitoring and passive eavesdropping.
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Microsoft
Internetnews.com, 10/31/03: Microsoft Revises 'Critical' Patches (Again)
By Ryan Naraine
For the second time in as many weeks, Microsoft has issued major revisions to several 'critical' security patches because of problems associated with Debug Programs (SeDebugPrivilege).
The weekly tweaks to the company's first monthly mega-alert have become an embarrassment for the software giant, which promised in early October to issue updates on a "very unpredictable schedule."
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Infoworld, 10/30/03: Longhorn backs thick client model
Avalon, WinFS, Indigo pillars attract PDC spotlight
By Eric Knorr
Longhorn, the forthcoming version of Windows, made its first public outing at last week's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles.
Not due until 2005 or 2006, Longhorn represents Microsoft's determination to strengthen its desktop stronghold by fostering a new generation of Internet-aware applications.
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Baseline, 10/31/03: Suite Returns
The Microsoft Office 2003 launch on Oct. 21 included plenty of proclamations from chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates and other honchos about how the new suite of word-processing, mail and presentation software can enhance productivity.
But the most interesting item may be a white paper by Microsoft that tries to measure (and market) the financial benefits of the latest version of Office.
According to that white paper, also released Oct. 21, "organizations that deploy Microsoft Office system solutions achieve both dramatic cost reductions and high returns by generating work process improvements."
So what kinds of returns is Microsoft promising? Try a median internal rate of return of 142 percent (range: 46 to 460 percent), a median payback of 8 months (range: 3 to 19 months) and a median net present value per user of $4,000 (range: $280 to $65,000) according to the white paper. Office 2003 is also supposed to allow individuals to reclaim two hours of their week through fewer keystrokes and faster document creation.
Sounds impressive, but there are caveats. For starters, those metrics were derived from a Microsoft-funded study by Navigant Consulting based on a small sample of 14 companies. Meanwhile, if you really want Office to "light up" with its eXtensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities, it helps to have Windows Server 2003, says Will Golding, director of marketing and communications for Microsoft's information worker product management group.
In fact, a true calculation of Office 2003's benefits should include the price, training and installation costs of an upgrade to Windows Server 2003, analysts say. Of the 14 companies in the white paper, most had the most recent server software such as Microsoft Office Infopath 2003 and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Portal Server 2003 riding shotgun with Office.
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Utility Computing
C|net, 10/30/03: The new IT confusion
By Philip Brittan
Big platform vendors such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard are promoting the panacea of "grid" and "utility" computing.
But widespread adoption still depends on the computer industry getting its definitions straight and clearing up the lingering customer confusion about these two related--but separate--concepts.
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