Archives


The autonomic promise

Some of the world’s largest technology companies are spending huge sums to solve a problem that has been talked about for years -- providing computing resources on demand, and allowing automatic maintenance and updating of systems without human intervention.

Product Briefs

A look at software tools and technologies on the market.

Risk and respect

IT may not draw more respect, but with the growing attention to regulatory compliance, IT folks -- and software firms, in particular -- may command more scrutiny than many have been accustomed to.

Analysis: Oracle helmsman on a tear?

Oracle must deftly compete with IBM, SAP and Microsoft. But right now, Oracle head Larry Ellison’s touch is far from deft.

Books in Brief: Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach

Update tackles the problem of defining software requirements by outlining six key phases in defining a software system’s requirements.

Perspective on XML: What is this ‘agility’?

The pitch on the buzzword “agility” is that software development can be more like a maneuverable motorcycle than a lumbering locomotive.

Analyst’s Soapbox: Is it lock-in or is it commitment?

Gary Barnett asks whether lock-in truly is the demon we all make it out to be or whether it is just a case of being afraid to tie the knot.

5 stories about XML and integration

Users find value -- and challenge -- in the handy markup language that could.

Reporter’s Notebook: Risk is real

It is quite possible that the notion of the real-time enterprise will confront the IT development manager with a risk-reward problem of the kind that can make or break a career.

Books in Brief: Web services from a business perspective: A review of “Web Services: A Manager’s Guide”

New book advises when to use Web services and when not to use Web services.

Change, always change

As they become intrinsic to software development within the enterprise, software configuration management tools meet new capabilities.

New ways to test packages

Off-the-shelf software has changed the world of application integration. Top tool suppliers are forging hooks to ease the pain and to set the stage for better integration testing across the board.

Q&A: Objects meet VB .NET

ADT’s Jack Vaughan spoke earlier this year with Deborah Kurata of InStep Technologies Inc. about the migration of Visual Basic developers to .NET.

Goyal takes Lotus helm

ADT’s Jack Vaughan spoke recently with IBM’s new Lotus group head, Ambuj Goyal. He talked to us from his offices in Sommers, N.Y.

When in the cycle does formal testing begin?

A recent survey by the Cutter Consortium finds that ‘generally speaking, testing starts late.’

Dow Chemical uses Optane to fine-tune SAP

Company uses the Optane tools to alert them when SAP is unavailable to users.

Product Briefs

A look at software tools and technologies on the market.

Book excerpt: A Web services guide

Web services expert Anne Thomas Manes pushes through the hype to explain the particulars of the emerging technology and how it can best be used by development organizations.