Open-Source Licensing
An open-source software license permits users to read, access, change and reuse the source code of a software product.
Stories by Mark Hall
Enterprises eye Mac OS X
The bad news for Macintosh supporters is that the IT jury is still out on how Mac OS X fits into the enterprise. The good news is that at least some IT managers are deliberating with open minds.
Decision-Support Systems
Decision-support systems are interactive computer-based tools used since the 1960s by decision-makers to help answer questions, solve problems and support or refute conclusions.
Web services open portal doors
As a single, easy-to-use entry point for employees, customers and business partners, portals have proved to be effective, if somewhat limited in their capabilities. Linking back-end applications to a portal, especially one outside the firewall for customers and partners, is tough integration work. However, Web services some of the hottest technologies on IT's horizon are beginning to upgrade the humble portal from a simple, personalized GUI view of limited applications to a vital hub for enterprise application integration.
TCO: Linux delivers on big iron
When Joe Poole looks at his IBM zSeries mainframe, he doesn't just see a powerful system running traditional corporate workloads. He sees a distributed Linux environment that's starting to save his company big bucks.
Web analytics get real
Real-time Web data analysis is gaining acceptance for business decision-making, but the complexity of creating real-time applications still keeps most projects small. In an era of instant gratification, it's only natural that IT managers are finding themselves pressured to deploy real-time Web analytics systems. But beware: Any trek into the Web's real-time world will be one populated by legacy, batched data, as well as rapid-fire, up-to-the-click information.
IT execs prod more value from transactions
IT executives from retail and manufacturing companies agreed yesterday that customer relationship management systems mesh well with supply chain data to keep costs down and increase business opportunities. But retailers have an advantage over heavy manufacturers, despite having far more customers to track, they said.
CRM analytics: The integration challenge
Having an integration road map is the best way to navigate through the deployment terrain of CRM analytics. With failure rates of almost 50 percent for implementations of CRM applications and CRM analytic projects, it seems likely that the integration map is the one that many companies leave behind.
Industry group agrees on XML model
With so many versions of XML being promoted, it's no surprise that a standard for the standard was announced on Monday.
Staples' CIO warns IT about innovation 'frenzy'
In sharp contrast to the uninhibited hawking of cutting-edge technology on the Comdex show floor, Staples Inc. CIO Brian Light cautioned IT users here to "get back to basics" when considering future technology purchases.
User interfaces still need work
Mark Rolson is a vice president at Frogdesign, the company that designed the physical appearance of the Macintosh computer, took part in a revamping of SAP AG's R/3 business applications and most recently helped hone the look and feel of the user interface (UI) in Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows XP operating system. Rolson spoke with Computerworld about UI design issues, including problems posed by the Web.
Intel taps P2P technology for cancer research
Intel Tuesday announced a peer-to-peer technology initiative designed to further cancer research by enabling PC users with Internet access to donate unused compute time to help solve medical research problems.
ASPs tout advanced e-business security
When FMC Corp. recently sold 40 boxcars of soda ash, one customer used a browser to enter confidential order information directly into the company's SAP AG system - or so he thought. What the customer really used was a sophisticated secure proxy server from service provider Aventail Corp.
Inactive directory
Grand visions in computing require simplistic explanations. Pity they don't work that well. In the 1980s, IBM's majestic breadth of operating environments was supposed to be unified under its famed Systems Network Architecture. SNA was to bring all IBM's technologies together. Well, eventually. Uh, sort of.
Compaq's new technology reduces data warehouse query time
Compaq Computer Corp. has unveiled the details of its Zero Latency Enterprise (ZLE) technology, a product and service combination that it said can turn weeks-long data warehouse queries into real-time database responses.