Outsourcing
Computerworld, 1/8/04: Signs of offshore backlash growing
Story by Ryan B. Patrick, Computerworld Canada
As the trend of IT outsourcing continues to grow, organizations may find themselves traversing a tightrope between their customers and cross-cultural considerations.
It's a lesson Dell Inc. is currently learning. The Round Rock, Texas-based firm has been aggressively shifting its IT support to centers in countries such as India. But when Dell last November redirected some of its help support calls from call centers in Bangalore, India back to the help desks in the U.S., it was a direct response to customer concerns.
Complaints about the quality of technical support caused the company to move support for its Optiplex desktops and Latitude notebooks back to U.S. call centers in Texas, Idaho and Tennessee, according to Dell. Enterprise customers not only complained about a difficulty in understanding accents, but also claimed that the support staff was delivering scripted responses and lacked the ability to tackle complex IT issues, apparently drove the decision.
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Desktop Computing
Computerworld, 1/8/04: CIOs, analysts expect strong PC replacement cycle in '04
Outdated systems and rising support costs are pushing companies to upgrade
Story by Thomas Hoffman
Ever since the economy began to stumble in mid-2000 and companies began trimming IT spending, industry watchers have wondered how long organizations would stretch the lives of their desktop hardware before beginning widescale upgrades.
That day may have come.
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C|net, 1/8/04: IBM turns inward with Linux desktop project
By Stephen Shankland
IBM's chief information officer has directed the company to begin an internal project to evaluate Linux for use on desktop computers, a further endorsement of the open-source operating system.
A November memo from CIO Bob Greenberg said IBM Chairman Sam Palmisano has "challenged the IT organization, and indeed all of IBM, to move to a Linux-based desktop before the end of 2005." IBM's actual plan, however, is not so bold, spokeswoman Trink Guarino said Thursday.
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Security
Computerworld, 1/8/04: Microsoft Word file security flaw uncovered
Story by Paul Roberts
A researcher posted instructions for circumventing a password feature in Microsoft Corp.'s popular Word word processing program.
The feature is designed to protect the content of specific elements of Word documents, such as forms or comments, from reviewers. However, a user can find and erase the password for the feature by saving the Word document as an HTML file and then viewing it with a simple text editor, according to a security alert posted Saturday to the Bugtraq security newsgroup.
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