Rewrite the Rules About Writing ...

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October 31, 2005 (Computerworld) -- ... business rules. The first new rule? Get IT out of the equation. That's what David Straus suggests. Straus is senior vice president of sales and marketing at San Mateo, Calif.-based Corticon Technologies Inc., which develops an array of software designed to let

STRAUS: Get IT out of business-rule-writing business

business analysts and managers turn their own business rules into executable code. According to Straus, "anyone with a logical mind" can use Corticon's Rules Modeling Studio tool. He says a business rule consists of a condition and its values, plus an action and its values. End users point and click their way through the software and use everyday English to complete the form that creates the rules. Once they're happy with a new rule, they compile the code and test it for logic flaws. Corticon's software checks all the possible combinations of conditions and actions in the rule. By the end of November, the company plans to add an Analysis Server to its product line. The new software can be used to create what-if scenarios prior to building business rules. Pricing varies based on the implementation, but Straus says an average value of a Corticon sale is about $25,000 for 15 seats.
Shed some light on the state of your ...

... IT development projects.

WESKER: Offers "early warning system" for IT

Lighthouse, a new service from Artifact Network Inc. in Baltimore, monitors IT projects and gives CIOs, project managers, tech staffers and other corporate execs user-specific dashboard views of everything from milestones achieved (or not) to how far along you are on defect remediation. Artifact CEO Mark Wesker likens Lighthouse to "an early warning system" for troubled projects. Budget-minded managers might get warnings about project costs, while development managers will be notified about bug-fix rates. By clicking on the red warning buttons, you can drill down to the specifics of the crisis at hand. The service integrates with Microsoft Project. Artifact is developing a Web services interface and will add custom reporting functions to a version of Lighthouse that's supposed to be ready early next year. Subscription pricing varies by user, but an unlimited-projects and unlimited-users option runs $2,500 per month.
Revenge tool from Microsoft gives you . . .

... the power to make its developers feel your pain. Called WSYP (for "we share your pain") and created by Microsoft Corp.'s U.K. branch, the new tool lets you enact some justice upon specific Microsoft developers whose programming flaws have caused you headaches. Microsoft has created an instructional video on how WSYP works, and it's worthy of everyone's attention. (Go to www.microsoft.com/uk/technet/itsshowtime/sessionh.aspx?videoid=9999, then click on the "See a preview" link.) WSYP is an excellent model that other software vendors should emulate - if not with a similar tool, then at least with, shall we say, the same attitude.
Mac Mini gets a PC cousin for ...

... Windows and Linux.

Mini PC, plus needed accessories

The Mini PC from AOpen America Inc. in San Jose is due to reach retail shelves in late November. The device, which is 6.5 in. square and less than 2 in. high, will come with a Celeron processor, two USB ports, an Ethernet link, built-in wireless networking, a CD-ROM drive and a DVD burner. The system also can be configured with up to 120GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. According to Chris Liu, vice president of product marketing at AOpen, the little PC will appeal to business users who need systems to run kiosks or digital signage. Liu says a Linux model will retail for $399, while a Windows version will cost $499. The monitor, mouse and keyboard are sold separately, of course.
The best BitDefender beta tester can give ...

... his liver a workout with the prize: 1,000 German beers. You could win after putting the beta version of an upgrade of Softwin SRL's BitDefender Mail Protection for Enterprises through its paces. The Bucharest, Romania-based maker of antivirus software for Linux has posted a few simple rules for the contest, which ends Jan. 15. Testers register online and post bugs that they find to the beta-test mailing list. Softwin's developers then review the found flaws, and the company's judges rate the number and severity of the bugs to determine the winner. Oh, and in addition to drinking Bitburger or Beck's to your heart's content and liver's distress, you'll also win a trip to Romania -- where, Softwin claims, you'll get to meet Count Dracula. However, your blood-alcohol level might scare him away.

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