Outsourcing
Line56, 1/29/04: IT Outsourcing Value
New research from AMR explains where it lies, how to build on it, and where the marketplace is headed
by Demir Barlas
Outsourcing is supposed to save companies money. That's why, whether locally or offshore, IT outsourcing has been garnering so much attention; and that's why a new AMR Research report (entitled "You Can't Outsource Outsourcing Management") is of particular interest.
The report found that, while IT outsourcing is either active or in consideration at a majority of companies, only 30 percent of all companies are pleased with their cost savings. Given that cost savings are the main business argument behind outsourcing, that's a very small number.
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IT Management
Infoworld, 1/30/04: IT grows out of control
Ever-increasing complexity is forcing IT to relax its tightly held command
By Tom Yager
Technology is out of control. Or at least, it has achieved a level of complexity that puts it out of reach for most humans, and increasingly, even IT professionals.
In our everyday lives, we take for granted the technological safeguards that protect us. We accept the limitations imposed by these safeguards because they bring us a measure of convenience. I don’t mind being unable to raise the power of my microwave oven or disable its door locks so I can warm everything in the room.
If you feel like you’re losing control, don’t fight it; just let it go. IT users, administrators, and management are holding tightly to the reins that keep their systems and services on the air. Complexity is forcing IT to choose between fine-grained manual control or self-running solutions that strike a balance between safety (or reliability, or availability if you prefer) and convenience.
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Security
C|net, 1/30/04: Slouching toward Big Brother
By Bruce Schneier, CTO, Counterpane
Last week the Supreme Court let stand the Justice Department's right to secretly arrest noncitizen residents.
Combined with the government's power to designate foreign prisoners of war as "enemy combatants" in order to ignore international treaties regulating their incarceration, and their power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without charge or access to an attorney, the United States is looking more and more like a police state.
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C|net, 2/2/04: MyDoom downs SCO site
By Jeff Pelline
The MyDoom computer virus knocked out SCO Group's Web site on Sunday, and the company expects the massive denial-of-service attack to continue until Feb. 12.
SCO said an onslaught of data had made its Web site, www.sco.com, "completely unavailable." The attack began Saturday night and by Sunday morning the software firm's site was completely flooded with requests, Utah-based SCO said.
"This large-scale attack, caused by the MyDoom computer virus that is estimated to have infected hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, is now overwhelming the Internet to requests www.sco.com," Jeff Carlon, SCO's director of information technology, said in a statement Sunday.
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Microsoft
ZDNet, 2/2/04: Windows plan underscores Microsoft struggle
By Ina Fried
A move by Microsoft to extend support for an older version of Windows underscores a new reality for the software giant: Convincing customers to upgrade is becoming much more difficult.
Earlier this month, Microsoft backtracked from a decision to end support for Windows 98 and other older Windows versions, pledging to continue support until 2006.
While many customers applauded the move, some analysts said that the decision may be more than an act of goodwill. According to recent surveys, about one-quarter of all PCs run Windows 98 or older versions of Windows. "Better to have people stay on Windows 98 than to start investigating things like Linux," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
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