Opinion

Maximizing the business value of SOA

Steps in business processes map to digital services, which can then be recomposed into new process-driven applications on the fly

Dilbert knows SOA

A service-oriented architecture starts with a dialogue between business and IT

Ultra, indeed.

A few weeks ago, Alan Zeichick took a look at Sun's new Ultra 20. The Ultra 40 didn't ship in time to meet his deadline, although I received an eval unit last week and decided to follow up. Buying a new server is like buying a car. You hem

Handling a boss who works short hours

Dear Bob  … I use your book, Leading IT: The Toughest Job in the World, for my university classes. An interesting question come out of our discussion of your chapter on motivation.  "We work in a separate building from the bi

SOA and ROI Talk Next Week and the Info World Conference

Just a reminder, I'm speaking at the Info World SOA conference next week, you can find the information here. I'm excited about this talk, I'm speaking about SOA and ROI. A pretty controversial topic. Here are some blog thoughts on SOA

SSL Trojans getting ever nastier

Based on increases in Trojan technology, frequency, Roger predicts a major bank heist is on the horizon

Experts offer fresh perspective on offshoring IT

At a time when data is in short supply, a new report yields in-depth findings

Other Design Considerations

Of course there are other things you need to design into a service including management, and security. You need to design a service with points of management to allow those that leverage the service to include it into their management infrastructure.

Don’t neuter the Net

Net neutrality legislation would stop bandwidth providers' power grab

Optical and tape drives duel for archiving dominance

Vendors may push alternative archive technologies, but disk drives are getting high praise from the low-end market

Measuring strategy

Dear Bob …We have a really tough time measuring the implementation of strategic initiatives. If you're short of column ideas, I'd definitely read that one! (Of course, I read them all, so I'll read that one twice!)- In need of some m

Where to Start Troublshooting Your Open Source Stack

Apple products go wild

With little enterprise news to tout, Steve Jobs tests the limits of his Midas touch

Tools for enterprise mashups

New Firefox add-ins are powerful tools for developing composite Web applications

Development project becomes “March to Hell”

When the time line is impossible and the requirements keep changing, experienced managers look for the exit

Paid e-mail plan raises the people’s ire

AOL and Yahoo's plan to charge fees for messaging inspires righteous indignation — but why?

Plug-and-play appliances reshape IT landscape

All-in-one devices help IT keep it simple

Community development breathes new life into old gadgets

Open source software can add features to electronic gizmos that their manufacturers never thought of

DNSBL Stats

For an upcoming article, I found that I wanted to gather some statistics on DNSBLs such as spamhaus.org, sorbs.net, and so forth. In order to get that data, I wrote a sendmail milter in perl that simply matches inbound relay IP addresses and catalogu

Getting staff to own their processes

Dear Bob …Thanks for the quick reply to my last question ("Clarifying levels of manager ability," Advice Line, 3/1/2006).The [chair-maker] metaphor reminds me of my technical days in automotive manufacturing (15 years ago) when â&eu

An SSL trojan unmasked

Analyzing an especially dastardly trojan's inner workings produces startling — but useful — results

Network firewalls top wish list for security cops

On a side note, Microsoft OneCare beta became a OneScare experience

VoIP on demand

Don't have the time or inclination to fire up a VoIP system in-house? Then call a provider

eDiscovery sets sights on cutting legal fees

EMC combines products and services in a paperless compliance solution that's no laughing matter

Microsoft develops some Snappy plug-ins for its Dynamics line

The technology connects Microsoft apps in cool ways, but approach with caution

Clarifying levels of manager ability

Dear Bob …Regarding your recent Keep the Joint Running titled "Leadership musings," (2/20/2006) I'm not sure I follow you on ranking managers, specifically, #5 ("Effective managers who are also excellent leaders build organizati

Sidestepping the analog hole

Even the most sophisticated digital security measures can't ignore our analog human nature

Internet at every TV may make for a gated Web

Media hubs will change the way most Americans navigate the Web, but what role will vendors play?

Filling the void left by baby-boomer techies

As an aging workforce retires, companies must cope with the inevitable brain drain

Deciphering IT corporate-speak

When your boss asks you to "take it to the next level," get your résumé in order

Dealing with a backstabber

Dear Bob …I was promoted a couple of years ago. Some members on the team did not like it and I went through the usual office politics and jealous behaviour by the team members, including "Mr. B." from the same team. Soon after that, Mr. B

Does open source matter?

Maybe what enterprise IT really needs can be found in the changing model of the commercial software business

Business process outsourcing: IT makes the call

IT needs to have a seat at the outsourcing table. And increasingly, business is welcoming the input

Dealing with layoff jitters

Honesty, preparation, and training are the best ways to deal with employee dislocation

IT’s input on outsourcing

For the good of the business, IT must have a stake in the business process outsourcing discussion

Why SaaS is like Craigslist

I caught this article in Fast Company about Craigslist. Get this: "…there was the complaint that the site is hurting the newspaper business, stealing away those who would buy classified ads. According to Nightline, this shift has created an an

Handling a big initiative from headquarters

Dear Bob …I work at a plant location for a Fortune 500 company, and during my time I have seen an incredibly capable IT team build value and enable the business better than anywhere I have ever worked. High accountability wasn't how we got thi

Web 2.0 and innovation — the enterprise strikes back

Vertical search gets a welcome boost from a company you may not have heard of

Google videos nixed, Sony seeks a fix

What happens when limitless power meets limited brain cells?

Malware dissection 101

Disassembling and analyzing security exploits reveals their threat potential — here's how to start your investigation

Microsoft builds a beta ISA 2006

Better Active Directory integration and improved manageability boosts ISA 2006's perimeter role

Getting to know SAS

Refuse to be confused by serial attached SCSI — or the multiple new products that put it to good use

Getting smart about languages and libraries

Developers spend too much time untangling programming languages and their related code collections

What virtualization is — and what it isn’t

Rosetta and Virtual PC for Mac are good case studies in technology that is not virtualization

When the CEO departs

Dear Bob …I'm the head of IT in our not-very-big company. The CEO just announced his departure. The Board will name an interim CEO to serve until a new one is found – they're hoping they have someone by Sept. 1. Advice for what if any rol

It takes an extraprise to secure your business

Never mind the front gate, your company's biggest vulnerability could reside far outside its walls

One bad decision derails payroll system upgrade

It's tempting to cut corners when a deadline looms, but you'll pay the price later

The ABCs of BPM

With a BPM system, you can detach business logic from infrastructure to create new applications quicker than ever before

Evaluating anti-terror technology

The boom in anti-terror technology led to a flood of proposals — and the Institute for Defense Analysis turned to BPM to sort them out

Google makes its move on the enterprise

The search darling's lost love — but it's mooning over corporate data