Computerworld -
... with software that measures the effectiveness of your programmers. You won't need extrasensory perception to know how well your application development teams are working if you use a new tool that keeps tabs on their activities, claims Pamela Roussos, vice president of marketing at 6th Sense Analytics Inc. in Raleigh, N.C. She says 6th Sense's namesake software includes
plug-ins for dozens of popular development tools, such as Eclipse, Visual Studio, JBuilder, Emacs and even the venerable vi editor for Unix systems. The plug-ins monitor key performance metrics that indicate how well a given programmer or team is doing, according to Roussos. For example, 6th Sense has devised the concept of Active Time, which tracks keyboard and mouse clicks for specific files so you can know precisely how much work takes place on them in any given period of time. Flow Time is 6th Sense's metric for when developers "are in the flow" for 20 or more minutes on a given task, Roussos says. You also get to see which of your app dev tools are being used and which are gathering digital dust. By Q4, 6th Sense will let you flag specific thresholds so you can be alerted when development lags or exceeds the milestones, Roussos says. Annual pricing starts at $980 per developer.
AJAX bolsters security for ...
... delivering apps to end users. One of the hottest trends among Web application developers is using AJAX -- Asynchronous JavaScript and XML -- to manage the display of data on an end user's screen. Gregory Murray, AJAX architect at Sun Microsystems Inc., contends that the technology is ideal for corporate applications where security is a high priority. For one thing, he says, browsers that run AJAX-enhanced applications don't need plug-ins, which often are required when IT wants to shift established client/server programs to execute within a browser. The AJAX model eliminates the added security headaches that plug-ins bring, Murray claims. And although fledgling AJAX apps are known for good performance, Murray suggests that future browsers will be equipped with AJAX rendering engines to further improve application performance.
Nabeel Youakim, a vice president at Citrix Systems Inc., says AJAX development also fits nicely into the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company's method of virtualizing applications by running all of their logic on a centralized server while letting a browser manage the display of information locally. "We deliver the last mile of access to the user in an AJAX environment," he says.
When your only real property is ...
... intellectual property, protecting it is vital. But not every start-up can afford to build a fully secure data center to guard its intellectual crown jewels and document that it's complying with government regulations. That's especially true for biotech start-ups, says Warren Perry, a compliance adviser at Qumas Ltd.'s U.S. headquarters in Florham Park, N.J. To help them, Cork, Ireland-based Qumas this month will begin offering its Qumas Compliance Suite as a hosted service. The company's software will be loaded on a user-owned server but managed at a secure third-party hosting site, Perry says. The software ensures that end users are accessing the latest versions of documents, and it controls and tracks who reviews the information. It also lets users submit data electronically to regulatory agencies. An average installation costs between $150,000 and $200,000. Hosting fees are additional.
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