Australian etailers looking for technology change
New research from Forrester shows that 50% of Australian online retailers are planning to change their eCommerce platforms within two years. But mobile access is not a priority for most of the companies responding to the survey.
The main problem cited by Forrester is that retailers have tended to choose an eCommerce platform without realising how much sales growth would occur, and they are now running into the limitations of the originally selected software.
Top 10 Cloud Computing Complaints
As the popularity of cloud computing is taking off, so have questions and complaints from IT professionals who are using — or considering moving to — the cloud. Industry leaders answer some of the main concerns that they hear from IT staff about the cloud.
Gripe #1: "Wait, this isn’t really infinite, is it?"
One of the big draws of cloud computing is the ability to start small and then go big at a moment’s notice. But this elasticity should not be mistaken for infinity.
Hewlett Packard trumps Dell with $1.6bn bid for 3PAR
Computer maker Hewlett Packard (HP) has launched a $1.6bn (£1bn) bid for data storage firm 3PAR, trumping a $1.2bn offer made by rival Dell last week.
Along with IBM, the two firms are looking into more profitable business areas outside of making computers.
The bids come as part of a glut of merger and acquisitions activity in the technology sector, including last week’s $7.8bn bid for McAfee by Intel.
The HP bid pushed Wall Street higher in early trade, before shares lost ground.
Deconstructing Virtualization and the Cloud
It’s been nearly two years since the term "cloud computing" leaked into the IT lexicon and still many leading experts in the field are struggling to come up with a definition.
That has to be a testament to either the cloud’s broad impact on all manner of enterprise functions or the fact that it is a nebulous term signifying everything, or nothing at all.
Either way, the hunt is still on for an exact, or at least a satisfactory, definition of what the cloud is and what it isn’t.
How to Move Enterprise Applications Safely to the Cloud
Before moving enterprise applications to the cloud, you need to be sure that your expectations are realistic and your objectives match what the cloud can deliver. The following are five best practices based on my experiences working with enterprise customers—from their initial exploration of cloud possibilities to the deployment of specific applications they’ve migrated to the cloud.
Best practice No. 1: Determine your cloud objectives
CompTIA Partners with Industry Coaches
IT industry trade association CompTIA has announced that it will begin working closely with industry business coaches in an effort to provide members with their counsel, mentoring, and services.
During its recent Breakaway 2010 trade event in San Antonio, CompTIA convened a summit of leading business coaches from across the IT channel. Summit participants discussed ways to make coaching more accessible to solution providers. They also addressed training in the channel and shared ideas for future development.
XTuple Expands to the Cloud
XTuple, a provider of commercial open-source business management software, has announced the release of a new version of its flagship product along with an expansion of the xTuple cloud service. The new features of the open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) software include a Quickstart Wizard for setup and an xTuple desktop, with graphical, customizable workflows for sales, CRM, accounting, and manufacturing. The xTuple desktop also allows users to create their own favorite places in the application and set up summary dashboards of key business metrics.
Three new editions of xTuple’s open source ERP software are available:
Intel in $7.68bn McAfee takeover
Intel will pay $7.68bn (£5bn) in cash.
Under the terms of the deal, Intel said it would pay $48 per share in cash for McAfee, almost 60% higher than its closing price on Wednesday.
Through buying McAfee, a leading security technology firm, Intel intends to build security features into its microprocessors which go into products such as laptops and phones.
The two companies said they had been working together for 18 months and that, should the takeover pass regulatory and shareholder approval, the first new products would be revealed early next year.
Microsoft ‘Orleans’: A New Cloud Development Platform?
Security Makes Crummy Case for Windows 7 Migration
On August 10, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) issued its biggest-ever set of “Patch Tuesday” security bulletins and fixes. Redmond posted 14 new bulletins, in addition to the bulletin posted August 2 after another vulnerability became public.