Techworld.com Applications Features

Oracle offers compression to DBAs

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:55:00 GMT

Faster processing for those without money to burn

Oracle's powerful new HP Oracle Database Machine comes with 168TB of storage, a new method of retrieving data more quickly and intelligently, and - gulp- a hefty $2.33m (£1.26m) price tag.

Unified communications won't displace insecure IM

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:29:00 GMT

Dealing with clients often means leaving the light on for AIM, Skype and the like.

Today, its Office Communications Server software handles a million IM conversations per month. That has lessened employees' use of outside IM services but hardly eliminated it, according to IT director Oyvind Kaldestad.

"We are encouraging people to use Office Communicator for all internal IMing," he said. "But we are a client-driven company and some of our customers...

Touchpaper questions IT readiness for EuroSOX

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Guidance offered to Europe's version of Sarbanes-Oxley.

Asset management company Touchpaper has released a white paper examining the impact on European companies of the EU's version of the Sarbanes-Oxley act.

The lowdown on the Techworld product awards

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Why the winners won

One of the hardest tasks that the judges in the Techworld awards have to do is assess the winners of the product awards. It’s a particularly difficult task because often we’re judging between products that offer very different technologies for very different users – how, for example, do we distinguish between a router aimed at the small business which offers little in the way of features but which comes at a fantastic price and easy configuration?

Audio processing is on the move

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Mobile telephony and Bluetooth headsets have given new urgency to research into auditory processing.

There is a quiet revolution underway in audio processing - although it's quiet only in that the developments are mainly aimed at eliminating troublesome noise and echos. To find out more, we talked to a few of the companies leading the charge.

HP winning VMware-Microsoft virtualisation battle

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

About time.

It seems about time - after a week that included the release of yet another beta of Microsoft's Hyper-V, Citrix' release of sometimes-free desktop virtualisation, a raft of VMware announcements about desktop virtualisation and announcements from too many other companies to mention - to announce the winner in the David/Goliath pissing match that is the fight for dominance in the virtualisation market.

Automatic for the programmer

Thu, 22 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

William Scherlis, on the progress in software development.

William Scherlis is a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Institute for Software Research there. He specialises in software assurance, software evolution and technology to support software teams. He has a long association with NASA and the US Department of Defense. Scherlis spoke with Techworld's sister publication Computerworld's Gary Anthes about progress in software development.

The future of enterprise search

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

An eye on Google, of course.

A startup company called Powerset gained a slew of headlines last week when it launched a beta version of its search engine, which like other offerings employs natural language processing, allowing users to search sets of information in the form of questions.

Problems with monitoring virtual infrastructure

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Key environments and tools.

The problem with monitoring performance of a virtual infrastructure is not necessarily a lack of tools, but a lack of knowledge about what to monitor, and how.

5 IT skills that won't boost your salary

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

It no longer pays to be a PC, NetWare or HTML expert.

Technical skills may never die, but areas of expertise wane in importance as technology advances, forcing companies to evolve and IT staff to forsake yesterday's crafts in favour of tomorrow's must-have talents.

5 things to consider before committing to SAP

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Strategies and challenges.

Installing SAP applications is no picnic. Employees who are capable of deploying and maintaining SAP software are in high demand and practically form a whole profession by themselves.

Kagermann reflects on his years at SAP

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Notes from the SAPPHIRE US conference.

SAP co-CEO Henning Kagermann took centre stage at this week's SAPPHIRE conference in Orlando, but that may not be the case next time around, as the veteran company leader enters his last year on the job.

With Determina, VMware drops fortress mentality

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:00:00 GMT

And tries to undo the Blue Pill confusion.

VMware says it's received a bad rap when it comes to security.

5 ways to build your virtual office

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Make the most of Web-based applications.

When it comes to running a business, our feet are firmly on the ground but our data and software are increasingly in the cloud.

How size affects your view of unified comms

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

In-house or outsourced?

Europe's large enterprise and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) see the dilemmas and challenges of unified communications rather differently, according to a recent advisory report from Current Analysis, based on surveys and analysis of the European market.

The truth about people and cameras

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Beware the pitfalls of videoconferencing.

With the rise in adoption and availability of enterprise videoconferencing systems comes a warning from IT pioneers: Thinking this technology is simply plug-and-play will lead to disaster.

Microsoft finally clears throat about services

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

But SaaS, by any other name...

The deadline Microsoft gave Yahoo for making a deal or facing a proxy fight came and went this weekend without a word from either party. But even if Microsoft doesn't succeed now in its bid for Yahoo, the company made clear last week, both in private meetings with reporters and in public comments, that it's determined - come hell or high water - to move forward with its services strategy.

Software-as-a-service now on menu of large companies

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The end of software as we know it.

Although some would trace back the roots of software as a service to mainframe timesharing, what we would now call SaaS, or on-demand computing, is really experiencing its second coming.

Apps security testing tools growing more popular

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Major changes in market are reshaping process

Providers of applications security testing tools say business is taking off, as more customers are building such capabilities into their development lifecycles and large platform providers have picked off some of their closest rivals.

WAN war breaks out over changed file formats

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

A changed file format has sparked off a fierce war of words between users, WAN acceleration vendors and the software company involved.

Online conference paints telepresence green

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Saving the planet, as well as business travel costs?

Pushing telepresence as a way to cut the cost of corporate travel isn't working too well so the industry is looking to promote the video/audio technology as a way for businesses to embrace green principles, according to speakers at a recent telepresence conference.

Hands up everyone who likes Office 2007's user interface?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:00:00 GMT

What went wrong with the UI and other strange tales.

Hands up everyone who likes Office 2007's user interface? Apparently everybody does, including the billions of people who tested during the long decades of its genesis, or so said Microsoft on launch day.

Industry sceptical on Microsoft's new-found openness

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Adopting 'wait and see' approach

Microsoft's commitment to open up its APIs and communications protocols and reach out to open source developers polarised opinions much like Microsoft itself has historically polarised the industry.

Opening up APIs is smart PR move for Microsoft

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Is the company trying to do the right thing?

If Microsoft really carries out on its new interoperability promises, it could repair its tarnished reputation in the technology industry and help the company get out of its own way to compete more effectively with Google.

Building a case for e-discovery

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Email discovery saves construction firm money.

When your company is involved in nine or 10 lawsuits a year, the lack of an effective email discovery system can easily cost you thousands of dollars, John Buraczyk says, from personal experience.