Analysis

Convergence Idea Gets Serious with Live Mesh, Analysts Say

4/29/2008

Analyst reaction last week to Redmond's "Live Mesh" initiative can be deciphered in one of two ways. On the one hand, it's an old idea, namely "convergence," with new buzzwords. On the other, it means that industry leader Microsoft has become serious about playing hard ball with its more nimble competitors, working to simplify the end user experience in a Web 2.0 era. Read More

MySQL Keynote: An Open Source Love Fest

4/17/2008

Sun Microsystems's acquisition of MySQL was "a billion-dollar vote for the LAMP stack." That's how former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos, now senior vice president in Sun's Database Group, characterized the deal during his keynote speech at this week's MySQL Conference and Expo. "It's a game-changing move in the industry, and we can all be proud that it's happening," he said. Read More

Will the CafeScribe Acquisition Give a Boost to Electronic Textbooks?

4/16/2008

The digital textbook is one of those technologies that seem obvious but can take a long time to gain traction. In March, the concept got a boost when long-time textbook distributor and retailer Follet Corp. acquired Salt Lake City-based Fourteen40, and, along with it, CafeScribe, a Web site in its beta phase of offering electronic textbooks. Read More

CIOs See Declining Budgets in Q1

4/10/2008

Although IT budgets are expected to grow in 2008 overall, about a fourth of CIOs in the United States reported decreases in their budgets in the first quarter of 2008, according to a survey released by Gartner this month and highlighted at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo: Emerging Trends event this week in Las Vegas. Read More

Microsoft Faces Skeptics at Open Source Conference

4/8/2008

Nearly a year and a half after striking their improbable alliance to provide better interoperability between open source and Windows-based platforms, Microsoft and Novell told developers last week that the pact has yielded technical benefits but there's still work to be completed, particularly on the interoperability between the two companies' enterprise directory platforms. Read More

Blackboard Vows To Press On

4/2/2008

Despite last week's apparent setback in the Patent Office, Blackboard is vowing not to go down without a fight even as Desire2Learn and the Software Freedom Law Center--the two groups that sought to have the patent revoked--celebrate victory. We have the first interview with Blackboard's chief legal officer, Matthew Small, since the action. He discussed Blackboard's plans moving forward and why he sees that patent as still being valid and strong. Read More

Honeywell Survey Shows Security Convergence Popular but Elusive

4/1/2008

A survey by Honeywell released in March reveals that although some organizations are integrating physical security measures such as video surveillance and access control with traditional IT security system, significant barriers to convergence still exist. Read More