When the security benefit group's IT department hit the streets in 2004 to try selling a homegrown service to external customers, there was skepticism in the ranks. "I can't say anybody believed we would actually make a sale," CTO Brent Littleton says.
I appreciate when a vendor succeeds at developing a very good application. But what I find more admirable is when a vendor recognizes the deficits in its solutions, makes no excuses, and quickly goes back to the drawing board to make that app excellent.
Enterprise search is much like air and water: Users expect it to be available without a second thought. Google and ISYS continue to perfect their enterprise offerings to do just that.
Choosing an enterprise search product is often fraught with compromise. If you, say, pick something with a simple search interface to appease users, administrators will likely be restricted in indexing databases or customizing results.
Enterprise DRM (digital rights management) shares DRM's basic concept of controlling content use. However, it goes beyond unauthorized-copy protection to help stop sensitive information from being read, altered, or shared outside an origination -- while not interfering with users' work, including their ability to collaborate with colleagues. As such, it's an important complement to other data leak solutions, such as network scanners.
Advanced features and source code access reduce risk to enterprises.
Introduced in 1989, IBM Lotus Notes 7 stays true to the original's ideals of efficient collaboration. In this release, Notes email and calendar entries are even easier to manage, and the Domino 7 server embraces more standards, including Web services, so developers can expose Notes databases to external systems. The already outstanding platform support is broadened with desktop Linux for email and calendaring -- as well as systems management.
Dig beneath the headlines of recent data security breaches and you'll discover many are the result of hidden metadata left in documents, such as tracked changes or authors' names. Most data-leak products will catch these problems, but they are costly, complex systems that can hinder worker productivity.
Because IT departments need to balance security enforcement with user needs and cost, Workshare Protect 4.5 is worth considering as one part of a data-leak strategy. It's a desktop application that protects against e-mail leaks by removing sensitive information from attachments.
Scalix and Zimbra leverage AJAX to deliver enterprise-class messaging.
Watchfire WebXM 4.0 expertly manages Web ssecurity, accessibility, and compliance issues.
Enterprise CMSes (content management systems) do a fine job helping business users update Web page text and rollback changes when necessary. But that's just one facet of maintaining an engaging site. Unfortunately, few tools currently exist for overseeing changes to intricate applications such as shopping carts and Web-enabled self-help. True, most IT shops employ systems management tools such as Microsoft Application Center to deploy custom programming of this nature. These products, however, usually work with particular file types and often lack controls mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley and other legislation.
World and economic conditions combined with technological advancements continue to alter the business-travel landscape.
Eprise has been around the CM (content management) space for some time, and the 2004 version puts this Web content management application on solid footing.
Does your organisation often turn to portals in an attempt to manage the sprawl of Web-based applications? If so, you may be all too aware that these projects can fail to deliver their anticipated ROI. That’s because IT managers overlook the need to extend core functions — content management, search, and security — to the applications that appear within a portal. As a result, companies often settle for a portal that provides a decent user experience for a few locally hosted functions. However, the portal doesn’t provide an overarching administration framework, nor does it help you lower development and maintenance expenses.
Despite all the communications technology that most organizations use, a good deal of corporate knowledge still gets passed around the traditional way: by chance. If workers happen to see each other in the hallway, they might exchange a few words -- but if not, they won't. Clearly it's not wise to entrust your enterprise's future to such an informal and unpredictable arrangement.