Latest on Enterprise IT: News, Features, Opinions and More  Hitachi releases first 25nm SLC SSDs for storage arrays
Hitachi GST announced the Ultrastar SSD400S.B, which uses high-endurance SLC NAND flash memory to create an enterprise-class drive that also comes with native encryption. Hands on: HP's Enterprise Database Consolidation Appliance
This new appliance from Microsoft and HP can bring in all database instances from around the network and host them in a fault-tolerant device with lots of features -- and a hefty pricetag. Insider (registration required) Macs take on the enterprise
Change can often be slow. It took many years for the Mac to begin to even threaten the PC in the enterprise. It is still a slow process, but Apple is making up ground on Microsoft. The new help desk: Agile, educational, efficient
Whether it's a 'teaching moment' or a system that provides more efficient ticket tracking, the help desk is getting a much-needed assist in some shops. Firefox 10 relieves add-on updating pain
Mozilla today patched eight vulnerabilities in Firefox as it shipped the latest iteration in its rapid release schedule. When ERP is botched, CFOs must act
While ERP projects go awry for many reasons, each incident reveals its own set of troublesome repercussions, financial and otherwise. Apple forcing IT shops to "adapt or die"
Many IT departments are struggling with Apple's "take it or leave it" attitude, based on discussions last week at MacIT, which is Macworld|iWorld's companion conference for IT professionals. Will this be the year of Apple in the enterprise?
All of the big trends in IT right now -- cloud computing, mobile solutions and the consumerization of IT -- look good for Apple as it slowly worms its way into the enterprise. Columnist Ryan Faas explains why it's happening now. In Search of an Energy Yardstick
We take a comprehensive look at the new green-IT metrics for measuring data center efficiency and productivity from The Green Grid and other industry groups. Insider, registration required. Apple breaks Microsoft's 'lock' on enterprise workers, argues analyst
The iPhone may have opened the door for Apple in the enterprise, but it was the one-two punch of the iPad and revamped MacBook Air in 2010 that really did the trick, an analyst said today. SAP's HANA in-memory database will gain ability to run ERP this year
SAP plans to roll out support for the ERP module within its flagship Business Suite product family on the HANA in-memory database platform in the fourth quarter of this year, executive board member and technology chief Vishal Sikka said in an interview Wednesday. No more historic SLA reports: Get it (and fix it) in real time
Businesses of almost all types are increasingly dependent on service providers for network connectivity that consistently delivers certain performance characteristics. In addition to basic service availability, these characteristics increasingly include peak, average and minimum bandwidth utilization, latency (delay) and latency variation (jitter), and packet loss -- all of which can affect operational efficiency and end user satisfaction. This is especially the case with Ethernet-based service offerings employing packet transport to deliver E-LINE services operating at speeds up to tens of gigabits per second. Wireless bandwidth: Are we running out of room?
Soaring demand for wireless bandwidth is putting a squeeze on the wireless spectrum. Experts are divided on whether it's a temporary crunch or a full-blown crisis. Gamification goes mainstream
Adding game-like features to applications can keep users coming back for more, bemuse them or alienate them. But forget zombies and orcs.
Startup Piston 'ready for fight' with VMware
Having just released its new cloud operating system, Piston Cloud Computing finds itself in a contentious position -- and company co-founder Josh McKenty says that is exactly where the company wants to be. Out with SOPA, in with cloud
Count us among the critics of SOPA and PIPA, the two ill-conceived bills that were intended to protect American firms against copyright infringement by foreign websites. Hire a vet? IT Says Yes
Microsoft, Siemens and AT&T are just a few of the corporations discovering the value of veterans' tech training, global perspective and surprising arsenal of soft skills. The New Rules for Enterprise Apps
To be successful today, enterprise software must be more user-friendly, get updated more often, and offer users outside your company more transparency than ever before. The Grill: John A. Benanti and Donald Stanton
Deputy Commissioner of Technology and Support Services John A. Benanti and Assistant Commissioner Donald Stanton talk about how technology fits into the operations at the New York City Fire Department, one of the largest fire departments in the world. (Insider, registration required.) Former NASA OpenStack researchers enter private cloud market with Piston Enterprise OS
Piston Cloud Computing co-founder Josh McKenty has laid out the same objective on several occasions, from speaking to attendees at the inaugural OpenStack design summit to addressing friends and colleagues at his company's launch party: "Let's finish where we started." Oracle calls school's revised lawsuit over software project a 'transparent ploy'
Oracle is asking a judge to throw out some of the claims made in a lawsuit filed against the vendor by Montclair State University over an allegedly failed ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) software project, according to a filing made this week in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. How to cope with HTML5's dueling standards bodies
Pay no attention to those chattering consortia -- when it comes to charting a course for HTML adoption, the browser is the new standard. SAP buys training software from Germany-based Datango
SAP has acquired software from Datango that will allow it to add multilingual online help and training materials to enterprise software applications. The Agile Infrastructure
To keep pace with a fast-changing business environment, these companies are ditching inflexible legacy systems in favor of software as a service and cloud computing. Are they getting the speed, flexibility and cost savings they thought they would? Insider, registration required. Lawsuit claims Epicor's two-year effort delivered 'useless' software
Beverage distributor Major Brands is suing Epicor, alleging the ERP (enterprise resource planning) software vendor failed to deliver a satisfactory system after years of effort and significant cost overruns, and then offered a solution that would force the company to install a new version that hadn't yet been completed, pushing back the original "go-live" date by four years. Cyber insurance offers IT peace of mind -- or maybe not
Cyber insurance can help mitigate damages after a breach, but it's no substitute for top-notch security, IT pros say. Cisco sending enterprises to the cloud
In an effort to accommodate enterprise users looking to implement private and hybrid clouds, Cisco in the coming months will unveil an "integrated" WAN routing system of existing, but enhanced, products. A closer look at Lenovo's enterprise and hybrid ultrabooks
Cashing in on the ultrabook excitement at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Lenovo has rolled out four of its own slimmed-down models, including one geared specifically for the enterprise. Mobility, video and cloud will drive network revenues up 8.7% in 2012, IDC says
A perfect storm of growth in enterprise mobility, video consumption and cloud infrastructure will come together just in time for a major refresh cycle in 2012, driving worldwide enterprise network revenues to $39.4 billion by the end of the year, IDC predicts. Infor CEO Charles Phillips discusses software vendor's remaking
Infor CEO Charles Phillips mostly kept out of the limelight after landing the job in October 2010, following a high-profile stint as co-president of Oracle. Apple enterprise sales of Macs, iPads to jump 58% this year
Apple will sell an estimated $19 billion in Macs and iPads to enterprises in 2012, a 58% jump over the year before, a research analyst said today. IT Staffers Shed 1,500 Pounds
Kaiser Permanente's 'CIO Challenge' pumps up IT morale while promoting healthier lifestyles. Grow Your Own Data Center With Colocation
Colocation is becoming a popular option for quickly adding capacity to an aging data center. But it's not as simple as throwing servers at a new site; be prepared to spend at least three months searching for a vendor and planning the steps of your migration. Self-service IT
Sure, today's end users are pretty tech-savvy, but do they have the technical and business chops needed to take full advantage of self-service technologies? The Grill: Indranil Ganguly
Indranil 'Neal' Ganguly, vice president and CIO at CentraState Healthcare System, is helping to communicate the benefits that technology can bring to healthcare and shape public policy on the issue. Insider (registration required) Mozilla to launch enterprise Firefox this month with 7X slower pace
Mozilla on Thursday said it will kick off a slower-paced Firefox release schedule for enterprises at the end of this month. Insider (registration required) Ultrabooks, expected to be hot at CES, could be boon for enterprise IT
With ultrabooks poised to be the hottest devices to come out of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, analysts say the new hardware should be a boon for enterprise IT shops. Bandwidth bottlenecks loom large in the cloud
To avoid problems, get your networking staff involved early and often, and make sure to test apps the correct way. Why enterprise software will never be the same
It's a stretch to call 2011 a truly transformative year for enterprise software, given all the old warts that remain, from large-scale IT project failures to creaky legacy systems that will take years and great expense to replace with the latest-and-greatest. Mozilla persuades Firefox 3.6 users to dump old browser
Mozilla's upgrade call last month pushed more Firefox 3.6 users to grab a newer edition than any month since June 2011, a Web metrics company said over the weekend. Cloud SWAT teams
Cloud computing poses unique security challenges. Here's how cloud-specific 'security incident-response teams' could help governments and large enterprises respond to malicious activity and make the cloud more trustworthy. Insider (registration required) Judge tosses racketeering claims in Marin County lawsuit against SAP
A judge has tossed out a number of claims in a California county's lawsuit against SAP over an allegedly failed ERP software implementation, including the claim that SAP had engaged in a racketeering conspiracy with Deloitte Consulting, which served as a systems integrator on the project. Tech luminaries we lost in 2011
A look back at the lives and contributions of 13 technology pioneers, including Dennis Ritchie, Ken Olsen and Paul Baran, who passed away in 2011. See many of the luminaries featured in video interviews. Oracle Q2 net income jumps 17 percent, but hardware sales slump
Oracle's net income for the second quarter ended Nov. 30 rose 17 percent to US$2.2 billion, with software sales rising but hardware-related revenue falling, the company reported Tuesday. Revenue for the quarter rose 2 percent to $8.8 billion. SAP, Google gearing up Google Apps, Business ByDesign integration
SAP and Google executives on Tuesday provided a preview of the companies' plans to tie their respective cloud-based business applications together, but a number of details have yet to be finalized. Top 10 Small Business Tech Predictions for 2012
From more affordable virtualization to cloud everything to gigabit wireless to NAS appliances, small businesses have a lot to watch for in 2012. To help you plan for the year ahead, check our picks for top tech trends of 2012 -- all cast with the needs of small businesses in mind. 10 biggest ERP software failures of 2011
With the year drawing to a close, one thing seems abundantly clear: There are still an awful lot of ERP and other software projects running off the rails out there. ERP makes a comeback
Most big companies rolled out their first ERP systems more than a decade ago. Now one in four businesses plans to upgrade or roll out a new ERP system 10 questions for Box CFO Dylan Smith
-- Name: Dylan Smith, co-founder and CFO The Grill: Doug Cutting
Hadoop creator Doug Cutting says he expects the surge in interest in the big-data storage and analytics framework to continue. IT's winning (and losing) job titles
In today's work environment, IT jobs are increasingly found outside the IT department, embedded in other business functions, with the employee working alongside technology-savvy business colleagues. Paul Glen: Want to own the future? Build rich relationships
Technologies come and go, says columnist Paul Glen, but the ability to connect business and technical people will always be the rarest and most valuable skill an IT professional can offer. (Insider, registration required.) CIOs describe their ideal job candidates
Thanks to rapid-fire industry change, it's hard for IT workers to plan their careers. We asked four IT leaders about their current hiring needs and the "dream" resumes of candidates who could fill those positions. (Insider, registration required.) Thornton A. May: Sustaining your career during unsettled times
Columnist Thornton A. May sees an evolving world of IT work, where what you did and what you learned isnt the career decision point. These days, what you can do and what value you can create is where the new action is. 6 job-hunting tricks for a Web 2.0 world
A new Computerworld survey shows that some 53% of IT workers are looking for new jobs, yet many of them are new to job hunting in a Web 2.0 world. Here are six tips from recruiters and savvy job finders. IT workers' top 4 dream employers
Computerworld asked 431 IT workers where they dream of working someday. Here's a look at the work environments of the four companies that came out on top. Securing the daisy chain
Some cloud computing vendors outsource parts of their services to subcontractors, who may in turn outsource to others. Here's how to know who has your company's data and how secure it really is. Insider (registration required) IBM buys Emptoris for contract managment, supply software
IBM has signed a deal to buy supply and contract management software vendor Emptoris in another bid to fill out its growing catalog of business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce technologies, the company announced Thursday. Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the first quarter of next year, were not provided. University accuses Oracle of extortion, lies, 'rigged' demo in lawsuit
New details have emerged in Montclair State University's lawsuit against Oracle in connection with a troubled ERP (enterprise resource planning) project, in a court filing that includes more information about Oracle's alleged failings and also accuses the vendor of extortion as well as "inducing" the institution to take on the implementation. SAP spells out vision for HANA-driven software architecture
SAP executives provided new details about the company's plan to make the HANA in-memory database the focus of a sweeping reinvention of its software architecture during an event in Boston on Tuesday. SSD shipments leap 66% in Q3, revenue doubles
SSD shipments rose 66% between Q3 2010 and this year, and revenue from PC SSD sales and enterprise systems more than doubled. Auditor: Big Aussie SAP project behind schedule, over budget
A major SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) software project being conducted by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities has hit a rocky patch, with projected costs for the first phase ballooning from A$153 million (US$157 million) to A$210 million (US$215 million), according to a new report by the Australian state's auditor. Fernando Gonzalez
Fernando Gonzalez, CIO at San Francisco-based Byer California, is happy to be working at a private company, without shareholder pressure, and with an IT team whose members are all in one location. But Gonzalez also revels in the constant and evolving challenges of IT. When IT Gets to Play
IT skunk works are alive and well -- not so much as a place to hide experimental projects from a stifling corporate bureaucracy, but as a place to reward hard work, build employee loyalty, breed innovation, learn about risk, conduct pilot projects and educate in this time of rapid-fire tech change. The Real Costs of Cloud Computing
Moving and storing data and integrating and testing applications are all costs you need to plan for when moving to cloud computing. Update: SAP pays $3.4B for cloud vendor SuccessFactors
SAP America said Saturday that it is paying US$3.4 billion in cash to acquire SuccessFactors, a provider of cloud-based human capital management tools. Mobile mania spurs demand for unified communications
Unified communications isn't easy or cheap, but for companies that want to differentiate their customer service, it's becoming a must-have. Insider (registration required) Customer sues Epicor after ERP software project attempt ends in 'big mess'
A would-be Epicor customer is taking the ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendor to court over a "big mess" of a software project that it says ended up battering its bottom line instead of improving operations. The cloud security checklist
To choose the cloud service provider that best matches your company's risk tolerance, you should first develop a checklist of security mandates and required features. Experts explain how. Insider (registration required) 3M, Infor in legal battle over millions in software fees
In a case that hinges on interpretations of software contract language and the respective rights of customers and vendors when it comes to third-party support organizations, 3M wants a court to declare that it doesn't owe Infor millions of dollars in fees. Mohawk Fine Papers builds integration-in-the-cloud
The paper manufacturer says it has saved millions by leveraging a cloud service brokers service oriented architecture and by using it as a central integration point for all of its B2B transactions.
Salesforce.com unit launches stand-alone database service
Salesforce.com's Heroku division has launched a stand-alone version of its PostgreSQL-based database, giving developers a "battle-tested" way to build applications with the cloud platform of their choosing, the company announced this week. SAP could benefit from social networking company acquisition
Enterprise software giant SAP could be close to buying a social networking company, according to Constellation Research analyst Ray Wang. Software vendor says partnership with SAP led to stolen trade secrets
Former SAP partner Wellogix is accusing the vendor of stealing its trade secrets and swindling it out of lucrative software projects, according to a lawsuit Wellogix filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Key executives leave Lawson Software after Infor acquisition
Three key Lawson Software executives have left the company in recent weeks, just several months following Infor's acquisition of the company and the retirement of CEO Harry Debes. Social Media Success Is Still Elusive
Companies are using social networks to connect with customers, but it remains unclear what 'success' means in this new media and how to go about achieving it. Better Windows Support Due on IBM Mainframes
IBM said its mainframes will soon be able to manage Windows applications, bridging one of the last major divides in data centers. Joe Spagnoletti
Joe Spagnoletti, senior vice president and CIO at Campbell Soup, recently earned the Fox IT Leader Award from Temple University's Fox School of Business and Management. Here, he talks about technology's role in business world. Off to a Fast Start
There's heightened interest in agile BI, a rapid development methodology for creating BI systems that involves the end user as early and as often as possible -- and thus saves time and effort. Insider (registration required) IT's age problem
IT workers over 50, or even 40, are having a tougher time than their younger colleagues staying fully employed. Is it age bias or something more complex? When Cybercriminals Attack
Criminal hackers are industrious -- they stay up late devising new ways to attack individuals and businesses. Watch out for cyberattacks that can turn smartphones into spam bots, shut off electricity to homes and businesses, jam GPS signals and more. Site tracks 'love,' 'hate' of SAP, Oracle and other software vendors
Enterprise software vendors have been rushing to build or buy "sentiment analysis" technologies that can analyze the tone of what people are saying about companies and brands on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Enterprises slow to join voice-recognition surge
Questions remain about whether or when enterprises will start widely deploying voice-recognition technology on mobile devices, partly because internally developed, specialized apps would have to be built to overcome issues like background noise that could corrupt its operation. Insider (registration required) Cisco goes mobile with collaboration tool updates
Cisco is updating two of its enterprise-level collaboration tools in a bid to move beyond the desktop. Facebook users reel from porn spam attack
After being bombarded with hard-core pornographic and violent images on their news feeds, some Facebook users may change how and if they use the social network, according to industry analysts. How to Achieve Global ERP
In today's rapidly changing and globalized business environment, even traditional mid-market companies are becoming global enterprises -- but without the large IT organizations and structures of traditional, large scale multi-nationals. Linux loses its luster as a darling among developers
The simplicity of Apple's OS X development tools, if not their price, is enticing enough to cause some developers to leave Linux behind. Insider (registration required) Is Google+ or Facebook better for business?
While Google+ could find a lucrative niche in the social networking world among enterprise users, Facebook has a head start. SAP promises innovation for customers
SAP has promised its customers a wave of innovation in coming years. Hire a vet? IT says yes
Microsoft, Siemens and AT&T are just a few of the corporations discovering the value of veterans' tech training, global perspective and surprising arsenal of soft skills. Can Windows Play Well on the iPad?
A new Citrix SDK helps Windows software developers solve a big problem: How to extend desktop apps to the iPad and iPhone in a way that doesn't turn off mobile users. Oracle accused of 'scare tactics' in Rimini Street case
The lawsuit between Oracle and third-party support provider Rimini Street has heated up further, with new allegations that Oracle is "abusing" the pre-trial discovery process and using "scare tactics" against customers in order to hurt Rimini Street's business. Google starts rollout of Google+ for businesses
Google is getting ready for businesses to start jumping aboard its Google+ social network. After Jobs: The Enterprise?
CEO Tim Cook should seriously try to get Apple into the enterprise market. Greg Schwartz
Greg Schwartz, CIO at USAA, talks about how mobile is redefining the business, how increased regulation has refocused IT resources, and how USAA is engaging customers through social media. Legacy Application Fixer-Uppers
Justifying the cost of legacy software replacement isn't easy. Here's how three shops approached the issue. One common theme: identifying business challenges and opportunities. Big data goes mainstream
Like the cloud, the concept of 'big data' is the subject of a lot of hype and means different things to different people. Here's what it really means, who's really doing it, and what it could mean for the future of data mining. Insider (registration required) IT Workers With Heart
More and more companies are offering paid time off to employees who want to do volunteer work for charities -- either on their own or as part of company-sponsored initiatives. Oracle's best-of-breed strategy, as described by president Mark Hurd
Oracle President Mark Hurd spoke with IDGE Chief Content Officer John Gallant about Oracle's strategy and why the company is uniquely positioned to help IT leaders deal with the difficult challenges they're facing today. Insider (registration required) Employees Refusing to Use Clunky Enterprise Software
Today's tech-savvy workers won't use IT's desk-bound enterprise applications. They want mobile access to corporate data via intuitive interfaces.
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