Utility Computing
Infoworld, 10/31/03: Software hosting is causing tremors
Utility computing may shake up the reseller channel and touch every corner of IT
By Ephraim Schwartz
IBM's OnDemand e-business hosting initiative is picking up steam. Case in point: Siebel's partnership with Big Blue to sell CRM OnDemand and Siebel's purchase of UpShot, a hosted CRM competitor of Salesforce.com.
If the concept of buying software as a service, also known as utility computing, takes off, the repercussions will touch every part of the IT industry, including the reseller channel, and particularly VARs (value-added resellers). And if it changes how companies buy software and how software is supported, it affects IT. Or should I say it will affect those still left in the IT department?
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Internetnews.com, 10/31/03: Utility Computing: Perceptions and Reality
By Mark Berniker
As enterprises try to cut costs and improve efficiency, utility computing is becoming an attractive data center model for procuring transaction-based IT services. But one investment bank says hype and reality need to be reconciled.
While the market for utility computing is still in its initial stages, several major computer hardware manufacturers are devoting sizeable resources to develop server automation and allocation products, including IBM Corp. (Quote, Chart), Hewlett-Packard (Quote, Chart) and Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart).
"Utility Computing is still at its 'evangelical stage' and many vendors are largely 'priming the pump.' We sense the true economic advantages of Utility Computing today remains more of a marketing rather than an economic reality," Deutsche Bank wrote in a research note issued on Friday.
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Microsoft
Infoworld, 10/31/03: While waiting for Longhorn, the new Exchange 2003 is well worth a look
Enhanced manageability stands out, and not surprisingly, some features require an Outlook upgrade
By Oliver Rist
Why are all my fellow pundits suddenly so concerned with whether or not Microsoft can deliver its next-generation client on schedule? Of course it can’t. That’s part of the ongoing charm of Microsoft. "Delivery by 2006" means late 2006 to mid-2007. We know it. Microsoft knows it. What’s the problem?
Taking a closer look at what Microsoft has already delivered is far more interesting. I’ve been using Office 2003 for a while now, and overall, it’s an agreeable upgrade -- but then again, I didn’t shell out any bucks for the upgrade. Running Exchange 2003 RTM (release to manufacturing), on the other hand, made more of an impression, though I will say that Outlook 2003’s embedded spam killer, speedier auto-complete and its blocking of HTML messages (unless you click on the message body) all combined to make a noticeable difference.
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Security
C|net, 10/31/03: New worm poses DoS attack threat
By David Becker
Security experts warned Friday of a potentially harmful new e-mail worm that is slowly spreading among corporate and home e-mail users.
The Mimail.c worm, a variant of an earlier pest that achieved modest distribution by posing as a message from a company's information technology staff, was first detected late Thursday and managed to infect a handful of PCs.
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