Tuesday, December 27, 2005

A survey of 400,000 web users by Chicago based Hostway, indicates that customers are increasingly annoyed by web site inconveniences such as pop-up ads, and are now more likely not to return to a site where they encounter such difficulties. This is a warning for e-marketers. E-Commerce News: Best of ECT News: Pop-Up Ads Top Web Surfers' Pet Peeve List

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Following yet another incident of tapes containing private customer information being lost while in transit, ABN Amro Mortgage Group has decided to discontinue transporting tapes by courier, wherever possible. Instead they have decided to send the data encrypted over secure networks. It makes sense from a security viewpoint. By encrypting the data and sending it over secure networks, the company can retain control over the level of security in place. Also, the security can be established at a higher level than trying to control physical tapes being shipped around the country. ABN Amro eyes electronic data transfers after tape loss incident - Computerworld

Monday, December 19, 2005

The problems of Research in Motion with its Blackberry and charges of patent violations have been well publicised. Not so well publicized have been the shortcomings in the US patent system that made all the legal actions possible. This article is from the New Yorker: The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Virtual conferencing - the real thing where a board room is re-created virtually - has been slow in coming. HP has introduced a new version, but it's expensive. However, the technology is there to make such systems work, and in time they will be affordable for most companies. InformationWeek > Videoconferencing > HP Unveils Virtual Conference Rooms > December 13, 2005

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Pay per view television is here in the form of downloadable purchasable TV shows and specials, courtesy of Apple's iTunes online store. Will it change the way we watch TV, or will it simply offer another alternative? The Impact of Emerging Technologies: More Mobile TV Shows

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

The battle betwen Kazaa and the Australian record companies over music sharing and copyright issues goes on, with charges that Kazaa has failed to comply with recent court orders to install filters on their systems. Globetechnology: Kazaa accused of ignoring orderGlobetechnology: Kazaa accused of ignoring order

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A recent study carried out by CFO Research indicates that upper management is undervaluing IT project management. This is a surprise, since there have been so many well publicized events arising from large project failures. Risk Denial from the Top? - Project Management - CFO.com

Friday, November 25, 2005

iTunes, Apple's online music store, has reached the ranks of the top ten music retailers in the US for the first time. It reflects the growing interest in online music by the general public, the popularity of the iPod, and the connectivity of digital music through devices like the iPod and MP3 players to conventional stereos and other music players. The report also illustrates a clear message for the music industry. They can only deal with the internet by embracing it, not fighting it. InformationWeek > Online Music > iTunes Leaps Into Top Music Retailers > November 22, 2005

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Shoppers are still worried about shopping online because of security concerns. A recent report of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft suggests that as many as 40 % of shoppers are deterred by this concern. The Globe and Mail: Security worries on-line shoppers

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

B2B is still ahead of B2C in the same ratio it was in 2000. Volume has grown though. The Globe and Mail: Business-to-business rules

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Google has gone into the Web Metrics business. As always, they'll prove to be a strong competitor. Google Expects Analytics to Click with Advertisers

Friday, November 11, 2005

Cybersource has released its 7th annual survey of online fraud and predicts that fraud will amount to $2.8 Billion in the US in 2005. This is up 8%. Clearly a need for stronger anti-fraud measures is needed. A summary of the report is at: http://www.cybersource.com/news_and_events/view.xml?page_id=1425

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Eurostat has released a study on internet usage that confirms the known splits based on age, and education. It also points to a split based on employment status, with the unemployed making less use of it, although intuitively one would expect that as the unemployed would normally have less access. EUROPA - Eurostat - Home page

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

VoIP technology has a great potential for cost savings and a more efficient use of networking infrastructures. But using Internet technologies to carry phone calls also raises some security concerns. Globetechnology: The dangers of VoIP
Mobile phone operators in Europe and Asia have been using mobile payment systems for quite a while. A new alliance between Canadian mobile operators could help to bring a standardized m-payment system to Canada. Globetechnology: Canadian carriers back mobile e-payment

Saturday, November 05, 2005

RFID seems to be relentlessly moving ahead. This article fouses on its holiday usefulness. E-Commerce News: RFID : Retailers Using RFID for Better Holiday Customer Service: "This year has seen a dramatic increase in RFID implementation in the United States and Canada, a trend that is predicted to continue. The research consultancy Frost & Sullivan predicted in its World Retail RFID Markets Report that the retail-specific market for RFID will grow from US$400 million in 2004 to almost $4.2 billion in 2011."

Thursday, November 03, 2005

US Passports will be the latest and possibly one of the most significant applications of RFID chips. The chips will contain all the information normally contained in passports and will eventually lead to the replacement of passports by e-passports. U.S. Passports to Receive Electronic Identification Chips
Education has been going hi-tech for some time. However, there is an increase in the innovative use of technology in classrooms, such as the inclusion of wireless devices to enable the students to interact more effectively.Globetechnology: The rise of e-classrooms

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Recent studies show that employees waste as much as two hours per day on the internet, doing things unrelated to their jobs. More employers are looking at ways to address this productivity issue, including installing controlling software and establishing appropriate policies. However, its a landscape full of mines, with issues like freedom, privacy and morale. InformationWeek > Employee Internet Access > How To Control Employees' Internet Use > October 27, 2005

Friday, October 28, 2005

Could Microsoft, Google and eBay put Bell and the other big telephone companies out of business? - - Maybe. This article gives some insight into why that could be. Globetechnology: Microsoft as a telco?

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

In 2002, Sears bought Land's End in a reported attempt to upgrade its image and its slice of the upscale market in the online end of its business. Since then, it hasn't gone well, and there are thoughts among analysts that the reality is that the move downgraded the image of Land's End, causing a loss of as much as $1 billion to Sears. It's not over yet, and it's a problem for Sears. http://www.wisbusiness.com/printerfriendly.iml?Article=43392

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

AOL has been around for years, and some would say is a remnant of the early days of the internet when there was a perception of a need for guided tours and controlled environments for internet users. However, it has struggled along. Time-Warner, its current owner, is still trying to figure out what its strategy should be. It's a tough question. AOL: In Search of a New Strategy - Knowledge@Wharton

Sunday, October 23, 2005

A new initiative by the US Federal Government is intended to get universities and others to revamp their systems so that all internet activity can be monitored. The way it would work is that all outgoing message packets would be gathered before reaching the internet and sent off to a government database for monitoring. The universities are protesting the move because of the cost. The bigger issue, however, is one of civil liberties. This could be the Orwellian Big Brother of the information age. And given that one of the prime objectives of any terrorist group is to force the target government to adopt unpopular and repressive measures, thus undermining its stability, it could be playing into the hands of the terrorists. Colleges Protest Call to Upgrade Online Systems - New York Times

Friday, October 21, 2005

Podcasting is being used by MovieTickets.com to preview movies. This is an interesting commercial application of Podcasting, and will surely be part of a long line of other commercial applications. InformationWeek > Online Video > MovieTickets.com Launches Podcasting Feature > October 20, 2005

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Acer has developed a laptop that includes a VOIP phone. Another example of technological convergence, something we will see more of in the communications area. Acer laptop includes VoIP phone inside - Computerworld

Monday, October 17, 2005

Research in Motion has achieved a major coup by striking a deal with palm to have the RIM software used in the palm Treo. Both the Blackberry and the Palm are very popular and combining their forces in this way will be a benefit to both companies. The Globe and Mail: Palm to use RIM software on Treo

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

In a significant move to strengthen the security of its Paypal payment system, eBay has announced the pending acquisition of Verisign's payment gateway business and the formation of a strategic alliance with Verisign. eBaqy had already taken measures to beef up the security of Paypal, but this is a large step that will have a strong effect on security, but also allow more options to be offered to customers.BetaNews | eBay Acquires VeriSign Payment System

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Traditional telephone companies are facing a challenge from technology, particularly the internet, of epic proportions. Competition is about to get brutal and business models will have to be revisited - and changed. The Globe and Mail: The battle for your home phone
Research in Motion has lost its appeal to the US Court of Appeals for a re-hearing of the patent infringement case it lost last year. It means that RIM may not be able to continue selling its popular Blackberry in the US market. At issue is the old spectre of extraterritoriality - specifically the reach of US patent law. During the latest appeal, The Canadian government filed an amicus curia brief, but the US courts have consistently found against the Waterloo based company. The Globe and Mail: RIM faces loss of U.S. market for BlackBerry

Thursday, October 06, 2005

iPods that play video? It looks like they are on the way. Apple Stirs Product Speculation over Oct 12 Event
Travel agencies have been a type of business that has run the risk of being disintermediated by the march of the internet, and the opportunity it provides for travellers to book their own travel requirements online. The agencies have had to reinvent their business model as a result, trying to find new ways to add value. As with many other types of business under similar pressure, the answer lies in part in embracing technology, not trying to fight it. In the case of Bestattravel.com, this is at the root of their new approach. BestAtTravel: Transforming a Travel Agency with Leading-Edge Technology

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Cell phones have been touted as a payment system for some time. However, the idea and the actual practice is much more advanced in Europe and Asia than it is in North America. Some, however, are trying to change that. Use Your Cell Phone Instead of Your Credit Card - Yahoo! News

Monday, October 03, 2005

The long term strategy of Google is keeping everyone guessing. Are they trying to build an internet megalith that can rival Microsoft? Or do they have more modest goals? One thing is sure - if the past is any indication, their goals are not modest by any reasonable standard. CNN.com - Where might Google go next? - Oct 3, 2005

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Coming up with a governance system for the internet that is not so dependent on US government control has been an objective of various stakeholders around the globe for several years. A major initiative in this matter was the creation of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) which issued its report in July '05. The report identifies a number of areas that require improvement, such as spam control and privacy in the WHOIS databases. Although the report is an important step forward, The controversy is ongoing. Working Group on Internet Governance

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Laptops are soon to exceed desktops in number. Mobile and wireless is the technology of choice. Decline of the Desktop - Computerworld

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

What's the future of DEll? Recent downgrades by analysts might not be in touch with the reality of Dell's opportunities. And how does it compare to Apple? Particularly the iPod business. There are interesting questions of e-business strategy here. Face value | Technology's Mr Predictable | Economist.com

Friday, September 23, 2005

Technology is evolving at breakneck speed. New electronic gadgets are arriving in the market every day. But can consumers keep up? The Upgraded Digital Divide: Are We Developing New Technologies Faster than Consumers Can Use Them? - Knowledge@Wharton

Thursday, September 22, 2005

New efforts are being made to improve computer security using quantum cryptography, which mirrors quantum physics. Globetechnology: Data encryption about to make quantum leap

Monday, September 19, 2005

Computerworld has just published a special report on Business Intelligence that is very comprehensive and relevant. Take a look: Computerworld Business Intelligence Special Report

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Wireless Broadband is going bigtime with the recent announcement of Rogers and Bell to cooperate on a huge new wireless network for two-thirds of all Canadians. It's more evidence of the trend to wireless for all communications. CBC News: Rogers, Bell join forces to build national wireless network

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Location based services for wireless PDA's and cell phones have been lurking in the background for years, but now they are making it into the mainstream, with the use of GPS to produce maps to tell you where you are and how to get where you're going and where you've been. Lots of potential there. InformationWeek > GPS Services > Maps On The Move > September 12, 2005

Monday, September 12, 2005

Oracle has announced its forthcoming purchase of Siebel Systems, with an expected closing date in early 2006. It'll immediately make them the #1 CRM provider in the world, and add some interesting strategic choices for them. Oracle is already one of the biggest in Integrated Systems, and their stronger CRM positioning will make a difference in the marketplace. Oracle to buy Siebel Systems for $5.85 billion - Computerworld

Friday, September 09, 2005

Internet pioneer, Vinton Cerf, has joined Google to form part of their team in their quest to build a new internet based computing infrastructure. Internet Pioneer Vinton Cerf Joins Google

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Apple has introduced a new phone that seems a natural for young people - it holds about 100 songs, and uses iTunes software. iTunes has become one of the larger purveyors of internet music worldwide. They also introduced a new and even smaller version of their iPod. Globetechnology: Apple takes wraps off iTunes phone

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Microsoft has announced a new strategy for mid-sized business applications. It involves tailoring its applications to the roles of people in the business - a roles based model - and consolidating its existing ERP lines into a single one called Microsoft Dynamics. They plan to acquire a larger share of the mid-sized business market. InformationWeek > Microsoft's ERP Strategy > Gates Lays Out Strategy for Building Better Business Software > September 7, 2005

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Here's another report on the Australian decision regarding Kazaa. Court orders Kazaa to stop pirates
The music piracy story isn't over yet. Another court has found against the file sharing interests - this time Kazaa - and there's a new move afoot to update the laws in Canada to make it clearly illegal. It's already illegal, but the laws are not clear enough at this time. CBC News: CRIA wants tougher internet piracy law in Canada

Friday, September 02, 2005

eBay is having a growing impact on small business, as shown by a survey carried out by A C Neilsen in July. The number of people replying on eBay sales for their primary or secondary source of income has grown by 68% over the past two years. Study Shows eBay's Small Business Appeal

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Bearing Point has devoted its entire issue of its Financial Services Technology Journal to digitization, a comprehensive view of integration of business processes using a stack of digitization services. The Bearing Point site is an excellent source of good information, where you can easily create your own customized page for current technology management information. You need to register to gain access. BearingPoint - FS Technology Group

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Gartner's Hype Cycle Report for Emerging Technologies, released in August, makes interesting reading. Especially notable for accountants is that XBRL is highlighted as a major new trend. For eBusiness, the "New Web" will have major implications. Gartner's Hype Cycle Special Report for 2005
Edgar Online's Liv Watson has written an excellent white paper "XBRL: The Changing World of Financial Reporting", which is available at the following link. EDGAR Online - FEI Webcast

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

For two years, Skype has been lurking in the background of technology keeners, searching for mainstream use but not quite making it. During that time, Microsoft's MSN has been growing by offering audio and video services that allow conversations between PC's. The potential of computers to supplement and even replace telephones has been there for some time, and it is through services like Skype that this could occur. Not likely a replacement, though, because cell phones are becoming more like little computers, so it's more of a type of convergence. We're watching what is happening with cell phones and other handhelds. We also need to watch what happens with PC services like Skype and MSN. The Hype over Skype: Can It Go the Distance? - Knowledge@Wharton

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

With the increase in online fraud, and the trends in information technology to greater use of wireless technologies, including RFID, RSA sees a bright future for encryption. They definitely have a point. RSA Security Sees Hope in Online Fraud

Monday, August 22, 2005

The German government has announced a plan to enhance IT Security, in recognition of the growing number of malicious attacks on systems by hackers, phishing and viruses. It's a worldwide problem, and companies need to recognize it. Combine this with the need to protect private data on systems - there are stories almost daily of significant compromises in this area - and the trheats to IT systems need to be re-evaluated. Many companies simply have not given recognition to the risks they face in the contemporary environment.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

On the face of it, e-business in China is booming. Meg Whitman, Chairperson of eBay, has said it's a necessary win. There are limits, however, and in fact, despite the great size of the population, e-business commercial activity in China is small. It's the potential for the future that's grabbing peoples attention.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

As more evidence of the spread of wireless, airlines are getting into the act. We can expect this to become the norm over the next few years, making it possible to stay connected in the air. Wi-Fi in the Sky - CFO Magazine - August Issue 2005 - CFO.com

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

It's axiomatic that a company needs a good website to sell online. There are many elements to a good website, but one of the basics is that it can enable the fast delivery of orders. This requires an online store, fed by an electronic catalogue which in turn is fed by the back-end system that looks after the logistics for materials and services. It follows that e-catalogues are a critical link, and companies that have a good one always have an edge. Witness the success of Sears and Lands End, traditional catalogue operations with highly successful websites. Bangkok's Independent Newspaper

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

With all the fraud going on in the internet, such as phishing, pharming and so on, people are looking for new authentication techniques. Passwords are not enough. This has been recognized in corporate settings for some time, thus the increase in biometrics, and other stronger techniques. Biometrics don't work for internet sites but there are some alternatives emerging. Life Beyond Passwords - Alarmed - CIO

Sunday, August 07, 2005

When Chinese computer maker Lenovo announced earlier this year that it was acquiring the PC division of IBM, a new model for globalization emerged: Combine the world-class management capabilities of an American corporation and the world-class manufacturing capabilities of the largest Chinese computer manufacturer, and you have a truly transnational company. USA Today tech columnist Kevin Maney describes the Lenovo-IBM deal as a major step in the transition from American Century to Chinese Century in this article for Wired Magazine. Wired 13.07: The New Face of IBM

Thursday, August 04, 2005

There will likely be a growth in wireless services over the next couple of years. Canada and the US have long been behind the Europe and Asia in the use of cell phones and other wireless devices like the Blackberry for such things as payment systems and location based marketing and other services. Now, however, the networks are being upgraded and the equipment being made available is better. More importantly, numerous organizations, like Google, eBay and Paypal are looking at new services that will likely be attractive to users, if the experience in the rest of the world is any indication. It will be an interesting time for mobile business, with new strategic opportunities. Globetechnology: E-commerce's next challenge

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Zigbee is making it big in the field of wireless monitoring of equipment. The trouble is, it's expensive, especially in comparison to RFID. However, the expectation is that it will drop considerably in price over the next few years, and since it's more dynamic than RFID, it's use is expected to grow.Sensors Working Overtime - Technology - CFO.com

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Drop shipping is a decades old technique. But it has been popular in e-commerce, because it avoids the need for warehouses. Or does it? As Amazon found out in its early days, there can be fulfillment problems associated with drop shipping, when the supplier can't deliver on time. Also, there's the problem of what to do with returns, which often can't be returned to the supplier. It's still useful, but it's not a panacea.E-Commerce Techniques: Drop Shipping

Monday, August 01, 2005

When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, it began as a whimper. It has sure made up for that! When it started, there was something called the internet, but only a few people could actually use it because it required a lot of technical expertise. It was Internet software that Sir Berners-Lee developed, and the creation of the first web browser (Mozilla by Netscape Corp) that made the internet accessible to people generally.The Globe and Mail: The humble beginnings of the World Wide Web

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Online retail sales are booming, and small and medium businesses are trying to find ways to capitalize on this trend. IBM has been focusing on tools to help SMBs to launch profitably into the cyber world of retailing. IBM Targets SMB Market

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The growth of Wikis, blogs and RSS on the net has engendered a new era of user-added value. This poses opporutnities for business. It may mean the development of new business models, based on user input. Perhaps not unlike the era of user self-service? Higher Learning - Wikis, Weblogs and RSS: What Does the New Internet Mean for Business? - Higher Learning - CIO

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The music recording industry may have found its new business model, which it has desperately needed since the original napster ran amuck with illegal downloads. Now, legal music downloads have tripled in the first half of 2005, with illegal downloads rising only 3%. It's good news for the industry and the artists. The legal downloads generally sell single tracks, but give the user the choice of buying single tracks, or whole albums - still often called CD's (I wonder how long that will last?). E-Commerce News: Personal Tech : Report: Legal Music Downloads Triple in First Half of '05

Monday, July 25, 2005

Universities in the US are increasingly combining business degrees with technology degrees. It's based on the idea that modern managers need deeper IT skills to properly do their job. It's an idea that has been around for several years, but not one that has fully hit the mainstream. However, with the growth of e-business and the use of technology in business generally, it seems an obvious course to take. It is particularly needed in MBA programs, and one could argue, necessary to their continuing relevance. 2 for 1: Colleges eye combining tech, business degrees - Computerworld

Thursday, July 21, 2005

XBRL International has announced the release of a new working draft of its XBRL GL taxonomy. This taxonomy enables the tagging of data at the GL and journal entry level. It is expected to be particularly useful in linking different and disparate systems. Since XBRL is an XML taxonomy specifically intended for Financial and Business Reporting and has been identified by the SEC and others as the prime technology for data tagging for these purposes, it is expected that XBRL GL will become an important part of Financial Reporting Control Systems. XBRL releases new version of its GL taxonomy

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

As if copyright laws in the internet age weren't hard enough to cope with, a new amendment to Canada's Copyright Act, if passed, could possibly make it illegal to allow your search engine to cache webpages - you could end up in jail according to some lawyers. In Canada: Cache a page, go to jail? | CNET News.com
A couple of major legal firms have gotten into hot water over privacy issues, showing once again the minefield that firms must navigate in the face of the privacy laws in the age of the internet. Globetechnology: Firms get wrists slapped over privacy breach

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Yet another entry into the internet business model sweepstakes is Podcasting. Based on the popular iPod, Podcasting uses the internet to send out radio programs that can be created by anyone and that can be time shifted (i.e. listened to at a time convenient to the listener). How to make money on it is the issue. People are looking at the traditional options for internet content - advertising and subscriptions. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1239

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Is technology running your life? Is it making you run so fast you don't enjoy life? If so, you have lots of company. One answer is to make sure you turn it all off for a day or two once in a while. BBC NEWS | Technology | Time to switch off and slow down

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

If you use your cell phone for internet browsing, things should get better. A new naming system using a "mobi" suffix has been approved that will enable people to recognize sites specifially designed for phones. CNN.com - New .mobi Web suffix�for phones - Jul 11, 2005

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

In a review of a new book by John Markoff, called "What the Dormouse Said", this article tells an interesting story of the early days of computing, from the invention of the mouse to character based screens. It tells how computing graduated from number manipulation to knowledge management, one of the great quantum leaps of history. The Dream of a Lifetime

Thursday, July 07, 2005

The International conference on System Sciences has produced a paper that contains a timely proposal on business stakeholder analysis. hicss,Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'05) - Track 1: "As the Web is used increasingly to share and disseminate information, business analysts and managers are challenged to understand stakeholder relationships. Traditional stakeholder analysis approaches fail to accommodate the rapid Web growth while existing business intelligence tools lack analysis capability. This paper proposes an automatic classification approach to business stakeholder analysis on the Web. "

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

A paper has been published in Global Perspectives dealing with three accounting issues of particular interest to e-commerce firms: 1. Expensing versus capitalizing web site development costs;2. Auction sites fees – amortization versus recognizing all at once; 3. Barter transactions – when is the fair market value known? Global Perspectives

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The CBC has put togeher a fascinating collection of articles from the past thirty years that show the history of the internet age in Canada. for anyone with an interest in e-Business history, it's interesting reading. Inventing the Internet Age - Science and Technology - CBC Archives
There has been a lot of publicity recently about identity theft, loss of personal data and the like. Now it seems this is causing a decline in online sales, as customers lose confidence in the security of the online system. It's another reason why the whole issue of security over private data needs to be addressed.Security Breaches Cause E-Commerce Confidence to Wane

Monday, June 27, 2005

Cryptography is gaining in importance as concerns about security and privacy continue to make headlines. It seems that new and better technologies may be nearing the marketability stage, and that's a good thing for e-business. A Quantum Leap in Cryptography

Thursday, June 23, 2005

CVS Corp, a US Drug store chain, has a customer loyalty card called Extracard, which is used to gather information about customer purchases. Companies often use such information for their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Data is gathered and analyzed to find better ways to serve the customers. In itself, it's a worthy exercise. But it's critical to provide tight security over such data about customers, especially drug store purchases, which can include sensitive items. In the case of CVS, a consumer group found that the data could be easily accessed by anyone who had a card number so CVS had to cut off internet access to the data until they fixed the problem. It's yet another example of the need to make sure that the privacy of customer information is protected with strong security measures. Globetechnology: Security flaw exposes CVS data

Monday, June 20, 2005

For years, Cell phones have been used for making payments in Europe and Japan. But North America has been behind in this trend. That may be changing as efforts to launch new payment schemes using cell phones and pda's get serious. There's also much more coming.Globetechnology: Cellphones now playing role of wallet
If you're interested in doing business in China, whether e-business or conventional, you might want to check out the site alibaba.com. It has an impressive array of contacts in all industries. B2B has been flourshing in China, as has the domestic economy, and the opportunities are impressive indeed.Open Sesame? Or Could the Doors Slam Shut for Alibaba.com? - Knowledge@Wharton

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Indigo reports profits almost doubled, with one of the reasons being that online sales of books rose almost 25%. Store sales remained almost flat and in some cases declined. Books has always been a prime area for online sales. Indigo made some big moves a few years ago, with their stores, but maintained a strong website. That seems to be paying off. CBC News: Indigo fiscal 2005 profit more than doubles

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Watch out for that grafedia! Next time you're walking a street and see a yellow arrow by a building, you can find out the history of that building by sending a text message to the number on the arrow with your cell phone. The return message gives the history. It's an intriguing idea with lots of possibilities. CNN.com - New graffiti bridges worlds for cell user - Jun 14, 2005

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

In an interesting development, Napster and Ericsson have entered into an agreement to enable music to be ported directly to cell phones. It may well be that cell phones will become the vehicle of choice for music downloads in the future, given their popularity with young people. Globetechnology: Napster, Ericsson plan downloads on the road

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

It's very notable that wireless is growing in use, and eventually the masses of wires we see around will disappear. Also interesting, however, is the fact that some cafe owners are taking wireless out of their cafes, because laptop users can be antisocial. It's all part of determining when and where continuous wireless computing will prevail. Society will need to map it out, and it's fair to say right now that we don't know the answer. But it will be interesting finding out.Tech Coast - The Gathering Wave of Wirelessness

Monday, June 13, 2005

Technology is playing a major role in the efforts of large companies to conform to the demands of Sarbanes-Oxley, particularly the section that requires the executives to sign off on their company's control system. similar legislation in Canada is found in the Investor Confidence rules of the Canadian Securities Regulators. E-Commerce News: Business : Technology To Aid SOX Compliance Headaches Abounds

Friday, June 10, 2005

The world of technology has long been led by computer games. Advances in graphics, for example, can be heavily attributed to games technology. Microsoft may have been on the right track when it decided to lead its initiative into the digital living room with a games console - the xbox 360. It extends well beyond games, and may be the leading edge of a new era of convergence in the home. Ultimately, everything in the average home will be run through a wireless computer network - tv, stero, telephone, games, computers as we now know them - all will be under one system. That's a prediction. Tune in Tomorrow for the Digital Living Room? - Knowledge@Wharton

Monday, June 06, 2005

Bluetooth is starting to make some headway. according to the experience at the recent computex show in Taipei. Computex: Bluetooth wireless technology starts to show some bite - Computerworld

Friday, June 03, 2005

The adoption of VoIP for telephone service is gaining the attention of more companies. It not only reduces the direct cost of telephone calls, it can result in other cost savings, and at the same time result in better customer service. A combination that is hard to beat. Transferring your call

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Rogers Communications is emerging as a major competitor in the telephone and internet market. Bolstered by the emergence of VoIP as a viable technology, offering telephone over the internet, and the prospect of expanding its cable internet business over phone lines, Rogers will enjoy the best of all worlds. We can expect the traditional carriers - Bell and Telus - to be scrambling to deal with the new shape of the industry. Globetechnology: Rogers touted as next force in phone market

Thursday, May 26, 2005

A stolen computer in winnipeg may be yet another example of the need to take strong security precautions to protect private data. CBC News: Stolen computer contains personal info of thousands

Friday, May 20, 2005

We hear a lot about the bad stories, but not often enough about the good ones when it comes to ERP implementations. Here's a good one. Home Depot has announced a major increase in its implementation program to go global with the retail and supply chain integration features. It'll substantially increase Home Depot's competitiveness. The announcement was made at SAP's Sapphire conference, taking place this week in Boston. InformationWeek > Supply Chain > Home Depot To Increase Use Of SAP > May 18, 2005

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Only five years ago, the United States was the leader in the use of the Internet but now, that place has been taken over by Japan and increasingly by China. the implications are tremendous, since broadband internet will form the basis of economic prosperity for the next decade or more. The Clinton/Gore administration moved the US to the forefront with their Internet Infrastructure Initiative, but the current administration dropped the ball, and the price will be high. The US is now the only advanced country in the world without a broadband infrastructure policy. Lets hope someone picks up the ball and starts running. In Canada too.Foreign Affairs - Down to the Wire - Thomas Bleha

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

In potentially one of its most important rulings in a long time, the CRTC has opted for limited regulation of VOIP telephone service. This will have the effect of creating a level playing field for the use of VOIP based telephone service to consumers. Established telephone providers like Bell and Telus will not be able to undercut the emerging competition and all will be subject to the vagaries of the market. It means that new VOIP providers will be able to offer competitive telephone services over the internet, creating serious competition. One likely result will be the reduction in the cost of all telephone service for consumers. CRTC decides on limited regulation for VoIP telephone services to foster competition

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Jim Carroll says we need Masters of Business Imagination, not Masters of Business Administration. Innovators, not administrators. He's got a point! The Masters of Business Imagination Manifesto - Futurist, trends & innovation expert Jim Carroll - Keynote speaker, author, columnist
About ten years ago, when the internet was in its infancy, some pundits were saying it would change "everything". They may not have been far off. The banking industry has already undergone a revolution, with more to come. The telephone industry is on the brink of massive change, as VOIP spreads into mainstream usage. Next its the television industry, as personalized TV is about to be made available through broad band connections. Next Via the Internet: Tailored TV To Suit Every Taste

Monday, May 16, 2005

There's a major initiative afoot, sponsored by the W3C to make web browsing on mobile units like cell phones and PDAs a more satisfying experence. It's called the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI). While web browsing has been available for several years, principally using the WAP protocol, it has not been very user friendly, has been difficult to read and not particularly useful. Many people feel it has much commercial potential, and maybe this new initiative will unlock some of it. E-Commerce News: Internet: Consortium Promises To Improve Mobile Web Experience

Friday, May 13, 2005

A blogger conference in Nashville has delved into the question of whether blogging is a form of journalism and can benefit from journalism techniques. Or are they just a way for people to express their views. They may or may not be news. They don't share the same due process, but as one participant pointed out, they do gain feedback and even edits from their readers. One thing for sure. They're something new and they don't necessarily fit a traditional mold. CNN.com - Bloggers' conference emphasizes tools of reporting - May 9, 2005

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Everyone is aware of the tremendous surge in growth of industry in China over the past few years. Not everyone is as aware of the growing role of e-commerce and the potential that is seen in China by e-commerce companies in other parts of the world. They are paying more attention to China now, and can be expected to do so even more as time goes on. E-Commerce News: E-Commerce: Internet Companies Look to China

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Recently there was an incident in several New Jersey banks where bank employees were involved in a plot to sell private information of bank clients. The information would then have been resold to lawyers and collection agencies. The banks share some responsibility for this, since it's up to them to do everything they can to protect private information of their clients. Although they can't ensure the honesty of all their employees, there is quite a lot they can do, including implementing security procedures, like encryption, and making sure as few employees as possible have access to private information. This article spells out some of these safeguards. Bank Systems & Technology : Security Pros Respond to New Jersey Bank Breach

Monday, May 09, 2005

There's a debate going on in Philadelphia on the merits of its new Municipally owned wireless network. A few months ago, the city of Benjamin Franklin announced the proposed development of a new wireless network that would cover the whole city and be free to all users. The city leaders argue that it makes broadband internet available to all and will be a boon to the development of the struggling city. Others say the service could have been provided more effectively and efficiently by the private sector. When completed, the project is planned to cost about $10 million. This debale will be repeated many times across the continent before a general resolution of the issue is found. It is absolutely true that broadband internet is a basic and necessary element of infrastructure. But the question is - Who should provide it - the public sector or the private sector?Globetechnology: U.S. city cuts strings from corporations' Net

Friday, May 06, 2005

E-mail management is one of the biggest technological issues facing organizations these days. It involves, as the referenced article below points out, much more than just managing spam. An e-mail firewall makes it possible to do a better job of managing both incoming and outgoing mail. Also, it offers a way of tracking and logging e-mail, for those cases where it might be needed in a legal action down the road. E-mail management deserves careful attention. Thinking of buying an e-mail firewall? - Computerworld

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Major league Baseball has gone into e-business in a big way, with its Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM). A killer website that compliments the sport and business of baseball is used to sell products, tickets, and of course offer scads of information about the game. MLBAM has also made use of CRM to enhance its profitability. Overall, e-Business has gone a long way to help in saving a game that a few years ago was in trouble. In a League of Its Own - E-COMMERCE - CIO Magazine Apr 15,2005

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

XBRL International holds conferences regularly to discuss the use of XBRL in electronic financial reporting and filing. Recently a conference was held in Brussels and the presentations and results are posted on its website. More recently, a conference was held in Boston on the theme of Better, Faster, Smarter Business Reporting Using XBRL. eXtensible Business Reporting Language is a tagging methodology based on XML which promises to revolutionize financial reporting - bringing it into the age of technology and making possible the timely reporting of data elements as well as financial statements and other financial documents. The results of the Boston conference should be on its site (http://www.xbrl.org/PastEvents/) in a few days.

Monday, May 02, 2005

The Information Technology Advisory Committee of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants has issued a new white paper called "20 Questions Directors Should Ask About Information Technology Outsourcing", which adresses major questions organizations face in the outsourcing process. Also relatively new on this site is a new white paper on "IT Control Assessments in the Context of CEO/CFO Certification" IT Advisory Committee

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is in theory built on Web Services stringing business processes together, but it may not be happening this way. Some organizations are using older technologies, like EAI and not making the investment required in Web Services. This may be a mistake for the long run. Web Services offers far more flexibility than the alternatives. Start with the Logic - Pundit - CIO Magazine May 15,2004Service

Monday, April 25, 2005

PDA's like the Blackberry have been making strong inroads into the e-mail world. However it seems more possible now that some and perhaps much of this market will be taken over by cell phones. Vodaphone has issued a new service in Europe, and Rogers is considering one in Canada. If this happens, it will make serious competition for PDA's e-mail, simply because many more people have cell phones than PDA's. InformationWeek Weblog

Friday, April 22, 2005

A new cyberterrorism Center - The Cyber Incident Detection Data Analysis Center (CIDDAC) is opening in the US to act a buffer for critical industries by offering high end intrusion detection systems. the idea is to monitor attempted intrusions and gather data about them to forward to the legal agencies such as the FBI. It is felt the companies will be more amenable to a private non-profit organization monitoring their system than agencies such as the FBI. Intrusion Detection has been a major IT issue for several years, and of course has assumed considerable importance since the rise in terrorism of recent years. Likely this new service is a harbinger of other initiatives to come. U.S. gets new cyberterrorism security center - Computerworld

Thursday, April 21, 2005

The Economist Intelligence Unit has released its annual report on the E-Business readiness of countries around the world. Scandinavian countries continue to dominate the top of the list because of their solid infrastructures. The US has moved up to number two spot, because of the growing strength of its broadband and mobile connectivity. Extended Enterprise > Online Retailing and Ecommerce > Europe blazes trail for e-biz boom

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Security continues to grow in importance, in the face of privacy concerns, identity theft and other threats. Passwords are a poor answer, as anyone who has to manage 30 different passwords for 30 different systems knows. Also, crackers are used to getting past them. Biometrics is the likely answer. Newer technologies, like the new IBM T42 laptop have fingerprint accesss built it. Soon, your fingerprints will be needed to access the corporate network, bank machines and many other facilities. While people will continue to be concerned with having themselves fingerprinted, nevertheless, it will be common in a few short years. That's a prediction! A Touchy Subject - CFO IT - Spring 2005 Issue - CFO.com

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Are newspapers obsolete? Will they be replaced by online news? It's clear that traditional newspapers are experiencing declining readership and need to embrace the Internet. But how do they do that? Do they offer the news for free? Or do they require people to subscribe to their online offerings? Or perhaps get them to buy individual articles? The impact of the internet on the newspaper industry is a classic case of e-business re-invention - the need for companies in the face of increasingly intrusive technology to reinvent themselves by creating new business models. Globetechnology: Web growth, innovation threaten papers

Monday, April 18, 2005

Auditors have long been the bane of the iT department's existence. That may be changing, partly because of Sarbanes-Oxley and the increased role of internal auditors in making sure the systems are adequate. Some, perhaps many, companies are benefiting as a result.Wall Street & Technology : Internal Auditors

Friday, April 15, 2005

A recent Fraud case in India has focused attention on the need for taking precautions with security when engaged in outsourcing to foreign sources. It's a risk that may not be receiving the attention it deserves by some companies. Fraud Case Focuses Unwelcome Attention on Indian Outsourcing

Thursday, April 14, 2005

As another example of the forward movement of XBRL, Software AG and Rivet Software are collaborating to produce software that records and stores information using XBRL. XBRL is attracting the growing attention of regulators around the world, including many taxation authorities and securities related agencies, including, notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the US InfoWorld: Software AG, Rivet Software collaborate on XBRL: March 29, 2005: By : BUSINESS : DATA_MANAGEMENT
Although outsourcing has been common in the past few years, companies are finding it can be hard to maintain standardization of business processes, especially in international environments. The implication is that core processes need to be kept in house, according to participants at a recent Informationweek Conference.InformationWeek > Business Processes, Global Sourcing > Safeguarding Business Processes Is One Challenge Of Global Sourcing > April 12, 2005

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

VOIP is being tried by numerous major players, but there are unresolved issues regarding the use of the technology and technical issues. Wall Street & Technology : Two Worlds Come Together

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

There's an interesting new XBRL website called XBRLCentral and a related blog at this location: XBRLCentral
There are interesting questions arising out of the search engine world, where Google has risen quickly, but is meeting stiff competition. One of these questions iis whether Google needs to go open source in their approach. it also raises again the question of whether Microsoft is becoming more vulnerable to competition by remaining proprietary, and maintaining a control position with proprietary software. Eventually, competitors will find a way to launch newer, more modern products to compete effectively. Google and the Coming Search Wars, Revisited

Thursday, April 07, 2005

GE has several ERP systems and needs to knit them together. They are considering outsourcing the whole thing - a monumental effort. InformationWeek > Outsourced ERP > GE Mulls Massive ERP Implementation > April 6, 2005

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

VoIP marches on, and the CRTC has just ruled that it must include 911 capabilities. That'll help make it more mainstream. Globetechnology: VoIP must offer 911, CRTC rules

Monday, March 28, 2005

The new wireless standard 802.11i is gaining ground because of its enhanced security protocol, which replaces the old WEP protocol included with 802.11b, the most popular standard to date. There is some thought that the new standard may even be useful for financial services firms. Wall Street & Technology : Wireless Spec Gaining Traction In Financial Services

Sunday, March 27, 2005

File Swappers on the internet may want to rethink their position, since Canada may be declaring it illegal in the near future. While this issue is likely to go on for some time, it is likely in the long term that the practice will be recognized for what it is - stealing. Globetechnology: Canada considers file-swap crackdown

Thursday, March 24, 2005

The AICPA has created a tremendous IT site that covers a wide variety of IT and e-business topics, including XBRL, top technologies, and IT based controls for Sarbanes Oxley. Also, there's a discussion forum included. Information Technology
The world's first global Accounting Summit will be held in Dubai on May 29 - June 1, 2005. It will be attended by representatives of countries aroiund the world that are members of the International Accounting and Reporting Standards bodies. The Summit is a recognition of the incredible speed with which accounting standards are going global. The meeting will also include XBRL on its agenda. XBRL is an XML application that is rapidly gaining acceptance as a means of reporting and filing electronic information. It is backed by a global network of companies and organizations.First global accounting summit to be held in Dubai | World Accounting Summit
Google is being sued by a French news agency for infringing on copyright material in its Google News Site. The internet has long been a cause of struggle between the entrenched rights of copyright holders and freedom of information. Some feel that all information on the net should be free, but it is generally acknowledged that most of the content is copyrighted, and therefore subject to copyright laws. The issue then becomes whether a particular use of such material constitutes "fair use". There are many sites that could be affected by the outcome of this lawsuit. Globetechnology: AFP lawsuit tests fair use of material by Google

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

There is a lot of effort going into compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, but it appears that there are some real benefits to be had for the companies.InformationWeek > Compliance > Gaining Strength From Sarbox > March 21, 2005

Monday, March 21, 2005

Security has been dogging eBay and it's high on the agenda at this week's conference of eBay professional sellers. InformationWeek > EBay Security > As EBay Sellers Convene, Security Dominates Agenda > March 17, 2005

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Cell phones have a future much broader than simply talking on them. In Japan, people are using them to read books. Globetechnology: Japanese cellphone users turn to literature

Friday, March 18, 2005

A new Gartner study points to a need for less reliance on passwords for greater security and more on stronger authentication methods because the breaking point is being reached of the capacity of users to remember them, causing more users to write down their passwords. Passwords Are Near the Breaking Point

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Accenture Labs says the key to controlling identity theft is biometrics. The Future of Identity

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Accenture has this article on their website that points to the growing use of speech recognition technology in a variety of applications. According to the author, SRT has come of age. Fast-improving Speech Recognition Technology Pushes Dramatic Business Innovations
Identity theft has become big business. Here's a good rundown. The New Face of Identity Theft - CFO IT - Spring 2005 Issue - CFO.com

Monday, March 14, 2005

Online auctioning of unused space on trucks moving around the country is a natural business concept that could have lots of takers. uShip.com thinks so. E-Commerce News: E-Commerce: Online Shipping Auctions Gearing Up for Long Haul

Friday, March 11, 2005

A new Ipsos-Reid survey shows that spam dropped last year from 68% of e-mails received to about 50%. It's the first time in four years the volume of spam has dropped. The Globe and Mail: Inbox nightmare near end?
Here's a good up-to-date article from the Wharton School site on the growth and potential of RFID. Did you know RFID was actually invented in 1948? Who Gains, Who Loses, from RFID's Growing Presence in the Marketplace? - Knowledge@Wharton

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Last year, BearingPoint started a new proprietary journal - The Financial Services Technology Journal - which provides state of the art information on the strategic use of technology. You can download a copy from their site. There are now two issues available. BearingPoint - FS Technology Group

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

The World Economic Forum along with the Economist Intelligence Unit has issued a report tracking the pace of technology deployment with major societal trends, which makes for some interesting reading. Here's a summary. The World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers 2005

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

A new Gartner Study shows that Outsourcing may not be the best way to save money. In fact, 80% of the companies that outsource to save money will fail to do so. Of course, there might be other valid efficiency based reasons to outsource. Gartner: Outsourcing costs more than in-house | CNET News.com

Monday, March 07, 2005

We've heard a lot about digital convergence over the past decade. But now it's happening all over. Here's a good summary of some of the ways in which it is showing itself. BW Online | June 21, 2004 | Big Bang!

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Pay-per-click advertising on the web could be rife with fraud. The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising > Advertising: Web Marketers Fearful of Fraud in Pay-Per-Click
A recent industry conference has highlighted the need for internationally accepted standards for the deployment of RFID. There are hopes that this will happen and that the ISO will adopt such standards. RFID interoperability still problematic CNET News.com

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Remember the browser wars? They may be coming back. Netscape is releasing a new version of its browser. It lost the last round, after converting from its original incarnation as the original browser - Mosaic. And Firefox is making a dent in Microsoft's market share. Globetechnology: Netscape revamps browser to counter IE

Friday, March 04, 2005

Canadians receive an average of 7000 spam e-mails per year, according to a recent article in CAmagazine. It's costing huge dollars.You�ve got junk
Michael Dell has advised the government to stay out of imposing restrictions on the use of computers and other devices to play music and movies. He stressed that he is opposed to the pirating of digital property. Globetechnology: Hands off digital devices, Michael Dell tells regulators

Thursday, March 03, 2005

The Anti-PHishing Working Group is an international association dedicated to the elimination of fraud and identity theft on the internet from phishing, pharming and spoofing. Their site contains up-to-date reports on the extent of such activities.Anti-Phishing Working Group
New legislation tables in the US - The Anti-Phishing Act - will levy stiff penalties against phishers. Up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. This article also has a short discussion on the new practice - pharming.InformationWeek > Phishing Laws > Phishers Would Face 5 Years Under New Bill > March 2, 2005

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Walkmans with phone and photo capabilities? It had to happen. It's another example of digital convergence. E-Commerce News: E-Commerce: Sony's New Walkman Features Phone, Camera

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Friday, February 18, 2005

Napster continues to struggle to find a business model that will work. They recently introduced a subscription model, allowing access to streaming music, but common software enables the streams to be copied and stored on users' PC's., potentially threatening the new approach. The troubles of the music industry with technology are far from over!Subscription Music's Curious Silence

Thursday, February 17, 2005

The FTC of the US has released its Annual Fraud Report, in which, among other things, it reports an increase in identity theft, amounting to losses of as much as $548 million in the US alone.
FTC: Identity theft, online scams rose in '04 - Computerworld

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Management of Broadband is an issue that most companies (and people ) are concerned about. Accenture has released a short report and recommendations to think about in this effort. See the article here: What�s Influencing Broadband Buying Decisions?

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Firewalls continue to grow in importance. And there are numerous vendors who are in the business of providing them, led by Cisco. ITBusiness.ca

Monday, February 14, 2005

After a three year hiatus, web based IPOs are coming back. It's not a return to the dot.com bubble days, thank heavens, but perhaps a saner market. There are some interesting new offerings as outlined in this article from last summer.BW Online June 21, 2004 IPOs

Friday, February 11, 2005

Soon we'll be hearing about two new wireless standards, 802.11u and 802.11v, both under development by the IEEE to improve existing wireless networks InformationWeek > IEEE 802.11 Standard > IEEE To Amend Wireless LAN Standards > February 9, 2005

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act requires companies to attest to their internal controls. They are struggling with the extent to which IT is an issue. Of course, most systems are computerized and therefore IT controls are an important part of the overall system of controls. The problem is where and when. Also, there's a problem finding the expertise to answer these questions. IT role in Sarb-Ox problems is unclear - Computerworld

Monday, February 07, 2005

The wireless market is worth watching these days. HP has announced a new forthcoming product line to compete head to head with the high-flying Blackberry, called the HPaq Mobile Messenger. It should be interesting! ITBusiness.ca

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Some Asian banks are moving to biometrics to counter rising fraud involving ATM's. The new systems scan vein patterns in customers' palms before they can use the machines. The Japan Times Online

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Eliminating spam in the US costs about $22 million per year, according to a recent study. Globetechnology: Deleting spam costs billions: study
Blogs are getting to be a big thing in the distribution of news and commentary on news events. The blogs that will be covering the US State of the Union Address, and the readers they will attract is a case in point. CNN.com - Bloggers get set for State of the Union - Feb 2, 2005

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

The use of search engines to get your website known and to attract visitors is well known to be critical. However, not everyone knows how to make best use of the search engines. Here's a list of what not to do. Using search engines -The 5 Most Common Search Engine Mistakes - WEBSITE TRAFFIC - Magazine - Darwin Online for Informed Executives

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Microsoft has officially announced a new search engine to be introduced tonight at midnight to compete with Google and Yahoo. This is going to be really interesting!Globetechnology: Microsoft officially enters search engine fray
Walmart has been pushing RFID, but is it enough? RFID: Plenty of Mixed Signals

Monday, January 31, 2005

With the rumours that Google is going into the Web Browser market heating up, it could herald a showdown between Google and Microsoft. The stakes are high, more so for Google than for Microsoft.Project Googlefox

Friday, January 28, 2005

Data Leakage, i.e. security and privacy breaches from external and internal sources, is a growing concern of companies, partly because of the fact it is growing and partly because of the privacy legislation that sets the stage for legal actions when leakage occurs.Staying Afloat by Plugging up Data Leakage

Thursday, January 27, 2005

When buying a new laptop with wireless, or setting up a new wireless network, the question arises which protocol is the one to go with - 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g or one of the emerging new ones, such as 802.11n. The short answer is that 802.11b (the original WiFi) is still as good as any for the foreseeable future. g is faster, but most people don't need the speed. n is still unproven and may have compatibility problems as does a.CNN.com - Alphabet soup of Wi-Fi choices - Jan 26, 2005

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Outsourcing has been an issue in the US and particularly during the last election because of the perception that it transfers jobs out of the country. In reality, however, outsourcing has significant benefits for both the country doing the outsourcing and the one on the receiving end. Here's a summary of some of the benefits to India. Two Sides of Outsourcing

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Like many modern e-businesses, Adidas needs to integrate its supply chain. It's adopting Linux as a common platform so it can do this. Here's a short explanation: ITBusiness.ca
XBRL is gaining ground and has considerable promise for the advancement of electronic reporting of business and financial information and interoperability of enterprise systems. Here's an interesting update:Lifting the lid: XBRL seen easing financial analysis - Computerworld

Monday, January 24, 2005

The US Government's Federal Trade Commission has won courrt injunctions against several companies regarding the distribution of pornographic spam. It's considered a significant victory in the ongoing fight against spam especially of this most odious variety. Government Moves to Stop Internet Advertising for X-rated Spammers
Metro Group, the world's third largest retailer, has completed an implementation of RFID tags, and expects to reap substantial benefits from the improved stock control.InformationWeek > RFID implementation > World's Third Largest Retailer Completes Warehouse RFID Implementation > January 20, 2005

Friday, January 21, 2005

Computerland has published a special report on the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which is comprehensive and contains several case studies of the ways in which it is being used. It is projected to expand considerably in use over the next year. Current applications are focusing on cost savings, particularly improving communications within companies while cutting phone costs. Computerworld Networking Special Report

Thursday, January 20, 2005

It's a little known fact that the new Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft makes heavy use of RFID tagging to enable the electronic monitoring of parts on the plane and speed up their maintenance and replacement. RFID has taken off in the past year or two in a variety of e-business applications, many of them devoted to the tracking of various inventory items and maintenance parts.InformationWeek > RFID, radio-frequency identification chips, Airbus, aircraft, jet airliner, FedEx, aircraft maintenance > Airbus Delivers Its RFID-Enabled, Next-Generation Aircraft > January 19, 2005

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Businessweek has come up with Seven IT Trends for 2005. Among them are hi-tech TV, the move of China into chip-making and, encouragingly, an upsurge in hiring in the IT sector, something that has been on the downside for several years, after the bubble burst in 2001BusinessWeek Online: Technology Special Report

Friday, January 14, 2005

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is having a big effect on enterprise systems. It is an approach to loosely linking various software services to achieve greater flexibility for users. A service is a unit of work done by a service provider to achieve desired end results for a service consumer. The following linked article defines it in some detail. webservices.xml.com: What is Service-Oriented Architecture?
Microsoft is moving to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as are many of the competitors in the enterprise systems sector. It's a big trend, and Microsoft's move will make it bigger. InformationWeek > Microsoft CRM > Microsoft CRM Moving To Services-Oriented Architecture > January 13, 2005

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

The power lines already in place throughout the industrialized world can be a good infrastructure for transmitting data. Researchers at Penn State say they have developed such a technology. If so, and if it proves viable, it could have a major impact on the availability of the internet and data network lines for companies. Converge

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

A significant new study has been released by Pew Internet & American Life Project (available at http://www.pewinternet.org) titled "The Future of the Internet". Resulting from a questionnaire sent out to over 1000 people, the study confirms that the use of the internet over the years to 2014 will grow dramattically, will take over ALL of the media coming onto the home and will be a major driver for new approaches to education. It's worth a careful read.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Google is doing great. It's one of the biggest success stories of recent years. But can it withstand a strategic assault from Microsoft? It's vulnerability lies in the ease with which e-business customers can switch suppliers. Welcome to Technology Review

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Here's another reminder that those e-mails you send need to be written as though they are in the public domain - because they may be! Globetechnology: E-mail used as weapon in court case

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Concern about privacy, security and identity theft are all intermingled and continue to be serious in the minds of many. Computerworld has published a list of top five privacy concerns for 2005, based on a survey by the Ponemon Institute. Phishing and identity theft still rank high on the list. Top 5 privacy issues for 2005 - Computerworld