Opinion

SOA Expert Podcast Show 41…SOA vs. BPM and When are you Done with your SOA?

SOA Expert Podcast Show 41…SOA vs. BPM and When are you Done with your SOA? Listen to the latest SOA Expert Podcast…

So long, FireFox

I've had a bit of a crisis recently. Although I use FireFox almost exclusively on all platforms, I find that I just can't take it on OS X any more. With the release of 1.5, I've found that FireFox is simply too much of a resource hog o

NetApp gets ready to invade the SMB market

A new product line and a dedicated structure say the company means (small) business

IT services keep hope alive

The software industry may be increasingly predictable, but services just keep getting more interesting

Microsoft kills the WinFS dream

Server admins' hopes fade as better Windows file system management goes the way of the dodo

Blue Pill is an attention-whoring non-threat, period

I can't believe I even have to address this. The "Blue Pill" (BP) AMD Secure Virtual Machine (SVM) root exploit is a scam. It poses no threat to any PC secure from physical access and where administrative privileges are tightly contro

Making architecture happen

Dear Bob …Enough already! You've written a lot recently about good architecture and bad kludges. We all know that good architecture is important and that kludges are bad. That doesn't help very much without some practical advice for CIOs

Open government meets IT

Public data, made available electronically, can empower the citizenry in unique ways

The tech worker’s contract to nowhere

Agencies that promote contract-to-hire positions put everyone else at a disadvantage

When you step into a kludge/Who or what do you go nudge?

Dear Bob …I really enjoyed your article on kludges ("The Kludge Index," Keep the Joint Running, June 26, 2006).  But I have a question:  what do you do when you step in someone else's kludge?  I'm a ju

Man-Made Security Woes

Time is right to bargain with Microsoft

As desktop software becomes less important, companies have leverage over the software giant for a better enterprise agreement

Devilish details dash software project

Only his partner had the insider knowledge needed to finish the app. Guess who was left holding the bag

The Last Genuine Copy of Windows XP

When will the last genuine copy of Windows XP fail to successfully run Microsoft's ever-growing gauntlet of anti-piracy weapons? If you think about, it would seem to be just a matter of time until all copies of XP are deemed counterfeit. The onl

The end of the era at Microsoft can’t come fast enough

With the changing of the guard, Microsoft has an opportunity to rethink its attitudes toward open source

Too tired of 2.0

First the "next wave" moniker was clever, then it was useful. Now it's just plain annoying

Longhorn: More than just hype

For Windows IT managers, Longhorn is a must-have upgrade

A Microsoft .Net progress report

Much was promised to enrich the development environment for Microsoft programmers. And despite platform delays, much has already been delivered

Anticipating the new Active Directory

The Windows Server 2003 version of Active Directory, although improved, is still tough sledding. The Longhorn version could be a big change for the better

Anti-malware features key to Vista’s value

Vista’s security upgrades and strong administrative tools are vital stepping stones in Microsoft's evolution

A Poll on Travel Websites

What's the best way to make online travel reservations? Should you use Expedia, Orbitz, or Travelocity? Or is it better to make your reservations directly through the website of the airline, hotel, car rental company, etc.? I don't know the

How to handle a too-influential outside consultant

Dear Bob …I've been on my job for ten years as a one-man IT department — official title is Systems Administrator.  Been great, people are good, pay is reasonable, love my job.  A year ago we were 'blessed' with a n

Software’s big shake-up

First Plattner, then McNealy. Now Gates. Who’ll keep the flame in these companies?

Hackers keep hacking because they can

Point-solution security products miss the underlying reason for poor security: lack of authentication

Gates on the fence, Nokia makes scents

Microsoft chair to say "Hasta la vista" shortly after Vista

PDA Breaking Point

Are PDAs designed to fail? Or at least are their tenuous USB connections intentionally engineered to decrease the life expectancy of the unit itself? That's what one reader, following up on our discussion of what unopenable blister packs reveal

VoIP: The next frontier

VoIP expert Jeff Snyder , a chief analyst at Gartner, reveals what the future holds for converged communications

Microsoft steps in to VMware’s virtualization arena

Multivendor backing gives VMware the edge, at least for now

Building VoIP into the enterprise

There is no killer VoIP app, but here are four killer business cases where voice and data integration is transforming the way things get done

The full promise of VoIP edges nearer

VoIP's biggest benefits will come from voice-integrated data apps

Can a federation tackle the data management puzzle?

Partners are aiming to be the alternative to single-vendor solutions. Will it fly?

When does SOA stop being worthwhile? Part II

Joe McKendrick elaborated on my last post pertaining to the fact that SOA will have a diminishing return, and you need to figure out when that occurs….

Alternatives to the chain of command?

Dear Bob …A semi-theoretical question about how to organize IT: Does the chain of command pyramid have an alternative?  The best teams I've worked on were relatively flat and they were silent because everyone knew what they had to do.

Tech careers are on the wrong track

Discounting ingenuity makes it impossible to retain an impassioned workforce 

Franchising the energy web

IT must play a crucial role in addressing the energy crisis

Support your local whistle-blower

Fail to offer a way to report policy violations and you could suffer the consequence in court

Hiring heads-up: Watch out for phonies

HR loves him, the CEO is impressed. But you'd still better check those credentials twice before you make a job offer

Ernst & Young Lauds Spyware/Spamming Outfit

One of the problems with the spyware fight is it's often very hard for those who don't look closely to tell the good guys from the bad guys. That's the mistake recently made by accounting giant Ernst & Young in bestowing one of its

Team System for DBAs First Look

I got a copy of the new VS Team System for DBAs at TechED last week and went to install it this evening. The install went flawlessly… that is, until I went to run it. There's just nothing there. I see the documentation in the Visual Studio pro

The kludge index

In a comment posted on the kludging thread ("About kludging," June 14, 2006 and "Fixing an interface kludge … or not," June 15, 2006) Stephen Bounds wrote:Since Kludging could (in theory) hire someone to write a single replaceme

Are SANs really as infallible as vendors would have you believe?

When Building a SOA, How Do You Know When You’re Done?

Just thinking over the weekend, as those building SOAs in their organization…how do they know when to stop, or slow down? I mean, you can service enable and orchestrate the entire enterprise, perhaps your supply chains as well, but I doubt the cos

Life after Gates

What kind of software will Microsoft build under Ray Ozzie?

How to evaluate risk management solutions

Scrutinize any potential solution carefully before you make a commitment. After all, the point is to reduce risk, not to introduce new risk factors

Calculating IT risk, navigating compliance

No one can afford to lock down everything and comply with the letter and spirit of every regulation. So put the most resources where liability is highest

Patent overload hinders open source innovation

Even a major player like Sun has to struggle through intellectual property entanglement to push its open source DRM initiative

Best practices for managing IT risk

Get to know what your employees are really doing all day and create a hierarchical list of your greatest points of exposure

Is Paid E-mail Another Reason for AOL to Fail?

One should never be too quick to attribute AOL's failures to help customers to ulterior motives when sheer and abundant incompetence will suffice as an explanation. Still, one reader couldn't help wonder if AOL's pay-to-send e-mail pro

SOA Article in CIO Magazine

Christopher Koch, at CIO did a good write up on SOA. This article was more realistic than many articles on the topic, defining the real value and what’s really going on. I've always found that there is a bit of mystery when it comes to SO

Waffling on grid computing

Management’s lack of interest may help explain limited demand for grid-enabled apps