How are things?
Microsoft Entering Major Product Cycle
Forbes - Mar 15, 2006
com portal, ERP and CRM application, Windows Mobile 5. "New products and technology synergies across all business segments create significant leverage that makes Microsoft a compelling investment and positions the company to deliver above-average growth in comparison to their software peers," said Breza. Over the next year and a half, Breza said he expects above-average growth in "major battlegrounds" such as Business Solutions, MSN, Mobile and Embedded and Home and Entertainment.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/currencies/2006/03/15/microsoft-vista-0315markets04.html
VoIP buddies: Cisco, Citrix, and Microsoft
InfoWorld - Mar 13, 2006
Cisco gave that trend another push last week at the VoiceCon conference, when the company unveiled its Cisco Unified Communications system, a big enterprise bundle that includes voice, e-mail, text, collaboration, videoconferencing, and IM-style presence capabilities. Shortly after, the company announced separate partnerships with Citrix and Microsoft to integrate telephony with their network and desktop applications. Microsoft will integrate its Office Communicator 2005 and SIP-based Office Live Communications Server with Cisco’s new unified system. The integrated technology will support “click-to-call” capability and the ability to transfer computer or desk phone calls from Office Communicator. Murli Thirumale, group vice president of Citrix Gateways, said Citrix was collaborating with Cisco to voice-enable a range of its hosted enterprise applications, including on-demand CRM provider Salesforce. “These two worlds -- applications and telephony -- have largely been separate,” Thirumale said... Microsoft will integrate its Office Communicator 2005 and SIP-based Office Live Communications Server with Cisco’s new unified system. The integrated technology will support “click-to-call” capability and the ability to transfer computer or desk phone calls from Office Communicator. Murli Thirumale, group vice president of Citrix Gateways, said Citrix was collaborating with Cisco to voice-enable a range of its hosted enterprise applications, including on-demand CRM provider Salesforce. “These two worlds -- applications and telephony -- have largely been separate,” Thirumale said. “There are many IT managers around the world who want to voice-enable their apps. ”Thirumale added that the relationship would first focus on integration of its Citrix Application Gateway and Office Voice products with Cisco’s bundle.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/13/76233_11NNcisco_1.html
Rise of the machine
The Age - Mar 10, 2006
Bound by strict privacyguidelines and legislation that regulates how agencies access whatinformation, the idea of a single-view-of-citizen remains ananathema to most arms of government except intelligence, lawenforcement and revenue agencies. To this end, the ATO is porting its legacy client managementsystem onto the Siebel 7 platform to allow easier, faster accessfor taxation officers to the records of taxpayers. Despite this rather large deployment, government users seem shyto nominate the use of Siebel along with other noted CRM-typevendors, with by far the majority citing in-house developments(rising from 118 users in 2004 to 154 in 2006) over the nearestbranded vendor offering of Data Works. Financials softwareWith the core business of government being to collect andadminister money through Australia’s various state and federalrevenue and finance agencies, there is plenty of hay to be made byfinancial software providers. This is one application area that Microsoft has yet to master asFinanceOne continues to post the highest number of respondent usersof 112 in 2006, up convincingly from 79 in 2004. Oracle comes in second at 84 for 2006, also posting considerablegains from 65 users in 2004. SAP comes in third on 71 for 2006, upfrom 65 in 2004.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/management-focus/rise-of-the-machine/2006/03/13/1142098385715.html
CIO News Alerts
CIO - Mar 9, 2006
com" >CIO
—
Technology buyers were drawn to this year’s CeBIT trade show by several emerging technologies that could help reinvigorate the tech sector after several years in the doldrums. Many of the product announcements here suggested that VoIP (voice-over-IP) and RFID (radio frequency identification) are entering the mainstream, while Web-based CRM (customer relationship management) systems and open-source software have already hit their stride. "Things are rushing by quickly these days. You have to be here to stay on top of everything," said David Kolochter, an IT administrator with German waste management company Umweltservice Bochum GmbH. He was here to look at the new features in Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 database, released late last year, to decide whether it is worth his company upgrading its 20 or so servers from SQL Server 2000. The buzz around new technologies contrasts with recent years, when businesses were focused more on cutting costs than buying products that would help gain an edge over competitors, attendees said... "Things are rushing by quickly these days. You have to be here to stay on top of everything," said David Kolochter, an IT administrator with German waste management company Umweltservice Bochum GmbH. He was here to look at the new features in Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 database, released late last year, to decide whether it is worth his company upgrading its 20 or so servers from SQL Server 2000. The buzz around new technologies contrasts with recent years, when businesses were focused more on cutting costs than buying products that would help gain an edge over competitors, attendees said. "The economy is getting better, there are more products coming--I think things are getting interesting again," said Michael Rable, a technical marketing engineer with content management vendor Open Text, here for his 10th CeBIT conference. Boris Zuberbuhler was here to find an online sales system for his printer supplies company, Pelikan Hardcopy (International) AG. He wants a "complete solution" from a single vendor that will plug into Pelikan’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, from SSA Global Technologies’ Baan division.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=18947
Fixing Engineering's Gender Gap
BusinessWeek - Mar 14, 2006
Women have succeeded in larger numbers in fields such as physiology, biology, and social sciences, and they are having increasing success in starting small businesses. Increasingly, engineers and technologists have an advantage in reaching the top, yet in these fields women constitute the smallest minority. THE NEXT APPLE?Duke University board member Kimberly Jenkins says she often felt lonely and isolated as she rose through the ranks of Microsoft (. It wasn't that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer weren't supportive, but it was a constant struggle to fit in and adapt to the dominant male culture. She found equal challenges at NeXT, a software company run by Apple (.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2006/sb20060314_760860.htm
Oracle trying to cover all its (data) bases
CNET News.com - Mar 14, 2006
It makes sense, Lee agrees, to offer an open-source version of Oracle that competes with open-source database rivals such as MySQL and Ingres. In addition, Oracle can better integrate its applications with open-source code, meaning customers have another option to stay with the company. "For example, a Siebel customer could still use its CRM system, whether it's with an Oracle database or an open-source one. "
Fusing acquisitions together
One of Oracle's bigger tests, Lee adds, will be connecting its acquired product lines together into one coherent software suite. The company has shown it can keep customers by offering them lifetime support on applications they currently run. The biggest issue will be what happens when these customers have to upgrade. Will they turn to SAP or view Oracle as a long-term software provider? "The biggest challenge will be the post-sale services and building long-term relationships," says Lee... For instance, Adobe Systems has given Macromedia executives a number of high-level positions as the companies merged products and business functions. Despite Oracle's acquisitions, Whitehouse notes that there are few executives who would be considered logical successors to Ellison. In fact, two of Oracle's acquisitions--Siebel and PeopleSoft--were run by former Ellison adversaries, Thomas Siebel and Craig Conway, respectively. "Look at how Adobe restructured after the Macromedia purchase," says Whitehouse. "The products dovetailed nicely and many important positions were filled by Macromedia people.
http://news.com.com/Oracle+trying+to+cover+all+its+data+bases/2030-1069_3-6048656.html
Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 10, 2006
Now let's take a look at the portfolio and some of the
moves we made this week. One quick note: Ones are stocks we would buy now, while
Twos are stocks we would buy only on a pullback from
current levels. And as a reminder:
-- A Game Breaker is going to change the landscape of an
industry, as Intel, Microsoft and Wal-Mart did in their
sectors. Investors can make big money in these stocks by
getting in before the crowd. -- Inflection Point stocks have a broken business model
that's on the mend but has yet to be recognized by the
market. Investors who recognize a turnaround early can
pocket strong returns. -- Stealth Stocks are often unknown names to the general
public, but can be hugely profitable investments,
especially when they score well in the Alpha component of
our proprietary rating system... 95%,
Inflection Point): Lawson is a leading provider of
enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that
integrates data from different departments within a
company and makes it accessible for quick analysis. There
was nothing company-specific to report this week, and
Lawson Software shares traded flat. We believe that the
company remains on track to meet or beat its operating
margin target of 15% for the year, reflecting successful
execution of its operational turnaround plans under CEO
Harry Debes. Lawson's previous two quarterly earnings
reports were ahead of analyst forecasts, and we expect
this trend to continue and drive the stock closer to $10 a
share. In light of that, we find the current quote to be
attractive for purchase.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603101701.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966
CeBIT: RIM Adds Instant Messaging to BlackBerry Server
PC World - Mar 10, 2006
HANOVER, GERMANY -- The latest version of Research In Motion's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, introduced at CeBIT on Friday, supports enterprise instant messaging and supports the development of applications that mobilize corporate applications, RIM says. Enterprises that upgrade to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4. 1 can allow mobile Blackberry users to exchange instant messages with users of Microsoft Windows Messenger,. Another new feature allows administrators to wirelessly push data to a new BlackBerry handset for users who have lost their old one, without them having to return to base. Previously, the user would have used a wired connection to a desktop to download their data to a new device, says Charmaine Eggberry, vice president of RIM's European enterprise business unit. The new server also supports BlackBerry MDS Studio, a development tool for creating applications... Previously, the user would have used a wired connection to a desktop to download their data to a new device, says Charmaine Eggberry, vice president of RIM's European enterprise business unit. The new server also supports BlackBerry MDS Studio, a development tool for creating applications. BlackBerry customers are increasingly extending applications other than e-mail, such as CRM (customer relationship management) applications, to their BlackBerry devices, Eggberry says. The new server combined with BlackBerry MDS Studio is aimed at helping developers create the applications, she says. Currently, 60 percent of the existing 60,000 BlackBerry Enterprise Server users already enable access to corporate applications other than e-mail, she says. Additional Security RIM also showed a Bluetooth-enabled smart card reader that can be used to further secure BlackBerry handsets. Customers place the reader near their BlackBerry.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,125030-page,1-c,instantmessaging/article.html
Councils to share IT know-how
VNUNet.com - Mar 13, 2006
The National Computing Centre (NCC), Microsoft and Dell have announced plansfor an IT Proof-of-Concept laboratory at the NCC’s Manchester offices. The labwill be run by the NCC for UK local authorities to test systems and share bestpractices. Three systems are available initially. These are an information-sharingapplication used by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system atRotherham Council; and a local government customer relationship management (CRM)system in use at Doncaster, Derby and other authorities. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the NCC... The labwill be run by the NCC for UK local authorities to test systems and share bestpractices. Three systems are available initially. These are an information-sharingapplication used by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system atRotherham Council; and a local government customer relationship management (CRM)system in use at Doncaster, Derby and other authorities. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the NCC. “We all hear about more and more new technologies, butwhat transforms our perceptions of the possibilities is hands-on experience,”said Andy Hopkirk, the NCC’s head of programmes and projects. Nigel Bates, head of local and regional government, said local authoritiescould save up to 90 percent of their current IT management costs through betterutilisation of resources. In a related move, the newly formed Active Windows Integrator (AWI) UserGroup will meet in May to discuss the sharing of scripts and knowledge.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2151792/councils-share-know
Bye.
