For Security & Risk Professionals

Know Your Code: How Static Analysis Tools Make Applications More Secure

by Chenxi Wang, Ph.D., Andrew Jaquith, November 20, 2009

Many companies, besieged by audit findings and application vulnerabilities, recognize the benefits of eliminating security vulnerabilities early in the software life cycle. For this reason, static analysis technologies for analyzing code-level security . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

What Type Of Market Research Online Community Vendor Should Tech B2B Market Researchers Use?

Three Choices Exist, Dependent On Budget, Usage Pattern, And Support Needs

by Brad Bortner, November 19, 2009

Market research online communities (MROCS) are the next wave in qualitative research, due to their combination of new qualitative research capabilities and ability to provide cheaper faster results. There is, however, buyer confusion about what type of . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009

IBM Cognos, Oracle, SAP, And SAS Lead, With Clarity Systems In Close Pursuit

by Paul D. Hamerman, November 19, 2009

In Forrester's 89-criteria evaluation of business performance solutions (BPS) vendors, we found that IBM Cognos, Oracle, SAP, and SAS Institute led the pack because of their breadth of functionality and strength of their business intelligence (BI) foundations. . . .

For CIOs

Inquiry Spotlight: Retail Point-Of-Sale Systems, Q3 2009

by George Lawrie, November 19, 2009

Retail line-of-business executives know that technology plays a central role in helping to deliver improved customer service with increased margin. They look to CIOs to push what were once purely tactical point-of-sale (POS) systems to become solutions . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

TechRadar™ For Infrastructure And Operations Professionals: Infrastructure Virtualization, Q4 2009

I/O Virtualization Enters Its Growth Phase

by Galen Schreck, November 16, 2009

Every major category of IT infrastructure has been endowed with some virtualization capability. Although virtualization can make your IT environment more cost-effective and agile, the underlying technologies have matured at different rates. Furthermore, . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Low-Hanging Fruit That Service Operations Teams Should Consider Now

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 13, 2009

Some IT organizations are confident that they can weather the storm of our current economic situation. Others believe they can maintain their current staffing level, and some are saying that they can maintain their current IT technology investment levels. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Q&A: New Workload Adoption On System z Mainframe

Why Linux, Why Mainframe, What "Best Fit" Workloads?

by Brad Day, November 13, 2009

Over the past six quarters, IBM has been very busy turning out a raft of customer case studies on new workload adoption on its System z mainframe, letting customers tell their feature/function/benefit impetus for deciding on the System z mainframe as . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Q&A: The New Math For New Mainframe Workloads

Can IBM's Solution Edition Series Get You To A Beer Budget?

by Brad Day, November 12, 2009

Justifying the transitioning of a wide variety of application types to a mainframe environment requires substantial upfront investigation. Migrating to a mainframe has become increasingly cost-effective thanks to the refresh to IBM's new quad-core System . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

In-Database Analytics: The Heart Of The Predictive Enterprise

by James G. Kobielus, November 12, 2009

Visionary organizations are adopting an emerging practice known as "in-database analytics," which supports more pervasive embedding of predictive models in business processes and mission-critical applications. With in-database analytics, enterprises migrate . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Aligning Your VMware Licensing Strategy With Your Broader Virtualization Plans

by Christopher Voce, Galen Schreck, November 12, 2009

It's not easy for enterprises evaluating their licensing options with VMware. In addition to worrying about the mechanics of how an enterprise licensing agreement (ELA) fits with your internal deployment plans, you need to consider a shifting competitive . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Do Your Software Contracts Permit External Use?

Buyers Should Act Now To Avoid Excessive, Unexpected Charges For Basic Third-Party Access To Their Business Systems

by Duncan Jones, November 12, 2009

Many IT sourcing managers are facing unexpected additional software costs because they have used their enterprise systems to work more closely with third parties, only to find that their license agreements include unreasonable extra charges for, or even . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

SAP Will Retrench With NetWeaver

SAP Will Focus On New Analytics Opportunities, Not Stack Wars

by John R. Rymer, November 12, 2009

Pop quiz: What is SAP's direction with NetWeaver? We couldn't answer that question either, so we traveled to SAP's TechEd conference in October to find out. NetWeaver is an also-ran in enterprise middleware but is vital to the many organizations that . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Content Management Suites, Q4 2009

Traditional Players Continue To Lead, While Microsoft Makes Inroads

by Stephen Powers, Brian W. Hill, Craig Le Clair, November 12, 2009

In Forrester's 70-criteria evaluation of eight enterprise content management (ECM) suite vendors, we found that IBM, Oracle, EMC, and Open Text lead due to breadth and depth of functionality and a continued focus on end-to-end ECM needs. Strong Performer . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Unified Communications Vendor Selection Criteria

Many Categories Of Products Make Vendor Selection Challenging

by Elizabeth Herrell, November 6, 2009

Unlike most commercial software applications that have a preset number of features, unified communications (UC) provides a software framework for linking multiple discrete applications on a common platform. UC integrates enterprise mobility, conferencing, . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: US Online Video Platforms, Q4 2009

Brightcove And Ooyala Lead A Maturing Market

by Bobby Tulsiani, November 6, 2009

In Forrester's 37-criteria evaluation of online video platform vendors, Brightcove and Ooyala lead the pack with their end-to-end product offerings that target organizations of all sizes. VMIX and Kaltura follow closely behind with comprehensive offerings . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Market Overview: Network Access Control (NAC)

Evolving NAC Market Focuses On Features That Provide Operational Efficiency

by Usman Sindhu, November 3, 2009

Network access control (NAC) is high on the security professionals' wish list, but few are able to justify the business case for it. Complex deployments, too many architectural options, and a quickly changing vendor landscape have pushed most NAC deployments . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Identity And Access Management, Q4 2009

Oracle, CA, And IBM Lead, With Novell And Sun Microsystems Close Behind

by Andras Cser, November 3, 2009

In Forrester's 79-criteria evaluation of identity and access management (IAM) vendors, we found that Oracle, CA, and IBM lead the pack because of a rich IAM portfolio (both organically developed and acquired), an understanding of a rapidly changing market, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Oracle Services Providers, Q4 2009

IBM And Accenture Lead; Infosys, Oracle, and Deloitte Are Strongest In Key Areas

by Liz Herbert, October 30, 2009

In Forrester's 60-criteria evaluation of Oracle services providers, we found that IBM and Accenture led the pack because of the overall breadth and depth of their Oracle services resources across applications and industries, and the breadth of services . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Caveat Emptor: The Best And Worst GRC Platform Customer Experiences

by Chris McClean, October 26, 2009

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs have a high corporate profile, requiring approval and often participation from top executives. For risk professionals who perform well in the spotlight, that's good news — but failures also attract more . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Market Overview: PLM Deployment Support

New Offerings From Vendors And Service Providers Lower Implementation Hurdles

by Roy C. Wildeman, October 21, 2009

As companies pursue a more ambitious agenda for product life-cycle management (PLM), the complexity of their application deployments is on the rise, creating a host of new integration, data migration, and customization challenges for application development . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Shifting Sands Of IT Compel A New Landscape For IT Automation Tools

by Glenn O'Donnell, October 16, 2009

Automation is critical to the efficient and consistent execution of nearly all businesses. Ironically, while IT is the organizational entity responsible for automating business execution, it remains woefully manual in its own internal execution. To attack . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Oracle Buys Sun Microsystems — And Its Identity Management Portfolio

What To Look For From Oracle, And How To Respond

by Andras Cser, October 13, 2009

Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems' identity management (IAM) portfolio was largely unintended — the assets that lured Oracle to buy Sun were Java and its hardware business. Once the acquisition closes, Forrester expects that Oracle will migrate . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Tech Horizons: OpTier, A Step Toward Business Service Management (BSM) 2.0

Is Business Transaction Management The New BSM?

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, October 5, 2009

BSM is firmly established now as a way to manage IT as a business tool rather than as a collection of fragile technologies. In this transformation of IT into a service provider, technology is only one element of the equation and is no longer the only . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Find Help With Health Risk Assessments

Product Profiles For 10 Standalone HRA Solution Vendors

by Elizabeth Boehm, October 2, 2009

Health plans, employers, government agencies, and other healthcare stakeholders use health risk assessments (HRAs) as a means of understanding a population's baseline health behaviors and attitudes as well as for assessing progress over time. The growth . . .

For CIOs

State And Local Government: Find ARRA Support In PPM Tools

Keep ARRA In Your PPM Purchasing And Expansion Plans

by Tim DeGennaro, September 30, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed in February of 2009, has caught many state and local governments unprepared. With billions in available stimulus funds, these entities are faced with the challenge of complying with new ARRA tracking . . .