eWEEK EDITORS

Software companies searching to differentiate their products for managing customer relationships have started pitching speed of implementation. When Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said recently that he could give a business customer relationship management globally in 90 days, San Francisco software consultant Eric Kintz was skeptical. The typical time for installing CRM systems has been more […]

Some enterprises may not be ready for the cost and complexity of Internet Protocol phones, but theyre still drawn to the savings and features of voice-over-IP systems. VoIP without IP phones? Its a route that a growing group of equipment makers and service providers believes makes sense. There are trade-offs, of course: Some of the […]

In a newspaper profile some years back, the irrepressible but demented pulp magazine publisher Myron Fass explained why his “death books”—instant postmortems on dead celebrities—sold so well. Ordinary people, suggested Fass, actually want famous, talented people to die, because no matter how insignificant their own lives are, living nobodies are inherently superior to dead somebodies. […]

Well, that was fast. Much like a summer storm that comes roaring in from nowhere and leaves just as quickly as it hits, the high-tech market upheaval seems to be abating. Of course, thats brave talk as I sit in my office typing these words. Who knows what Wall Street will do between now and […]

Call it a victory for the silent majority. Before the shouting subsided at AT&Ts annual meeting in Cincinnati last week, holders of 96 percent of the companys shares voted to take a giant step toward breaking up AT&T. Under the approved company resolution, simple majority approval — not two-thirds — is all that will be […]

Sun Microsystems is trying to build momentum for a mix of nonproprietary solutions and industry standards to make systems management Internet-friendly. The effort, which will be rolled out over the next two to three months, will consist of nonproprietary solutions and industry standards from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). The initiative is a response […]

Lucent Technologies last week landed a DSL deal with the only regional Bell that Alcatel had failed to win, and that could make the courtship of the two equipment behemoths just sweet enough to make a marriage. The two companies were intensifying talks during the weekend, with predictions that a deal could be done by […]

In the bloodbath that electronic commerce has become, online travel has remained one of the few industries to not only survive the dot-com shake-out, but to thrive. As Internet companies close by the dozens each week, consumers continue to swarm to Internet travel sites and airlines Web sites in record numbers, searching for bargain airfares, […]

Oui for Covisint Another major automaker has hitched its wagon to Covisint. The giant automotive exchange spearheaded by DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor and General Motors announced that French automaker Peugeot Citroën has decided to join the initiative and will take out an equity stake. The size of the investment was not disclosed. Consultants Consolidate Consolidation continues […]

Chief Information Officer, Ameritrade Technology Group Age: 40 Degree: Bachelors degree in math and computer science from the College of William & Mary Favorite TV show: NBA playoffs Stress reliever: Playing basketball James Ditmore joined online brokerage firm Ameritrade Holding in 1999 and has overseen the investment of $100 million to re-engineer the companys technology […]

Peugeot Links With Covisint PSA Peugeot Citroen, the sixth-largest carmaker in the world, has jumped onto the Covisint bandwagon. Sort of. Peugeot last week said it will join the online marketplace—and take advantage of the sites collaborative e-commerce, supply chain management and e-procurement capabilities—but that it will use its own supply chain platform and link […]

Vermont Sen. James Jeffords exit from the Republican Party will dramatically affect the debate on key Internet issues such as privacy, e-commerce taxation and telecom deregulation. With Democrats now controlling the Senate, Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, D-S.C., again takes the chairmanship of the powerful Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Hollings is a foe of […]