John S. McCright

A new vendor consortium hopes to move grid computing beyond the world of science and into the world of business. The Enterprise Grid Alliance, which was formally launched on Tuesday, will provide reference models, security recommendations and specifications targeted to enable enterprises to run computing grids that run within an enterprise. “We are primarily concerned […]

Plumtree Software Inc. is applying its expertise in portal presentation software to composite applications in an effort to help enterprises streamline business process automation. At its Odyssey user conference in Hollywood, Fla., next month, Plumtree will lay out a plan for enhancing its tools so that Java and .Net developers can integrate third-party applications and […]

SAS Institute Inc. is pushing the limits of forecasting up and out with a new application that extends into the millions the number of products for which it can simultaneously predict demand and that automates more of the analysis tasks so that less-sophisticated analysts can use the product. The Cary, N.C., company this week will […]

A company called 3am Labs Inc. this month will release its trio of LogMeIn hosted services that provide tools that not only connect remote employees to their office PCs but enable IT administrators to set access policies for those users. The basic LogMeIn offering enables users to tap into the applications on their office PCs […]

Oracle Corp. on Monday will unveil upgrades to its CRM (customer relationship management) software that seeks to make sales an enterprisewide activity, rather than simply the occupation of a single department. The Redwood Shores, Calif., companys namesake Sales, Marketing, Partner Relationship Management and e-Commerce applications, which are part of the Oracle 11i.10 enterprise software suite, […]

Adaptec Inc. is expanding its breadth of storage offerings with the purchase of Snap Appliance Inc. The two companies announced the $100 million deal Tuesday afternoon, saying that together they will be able to provide data storage solutions that connect anywhere on the network to any size company. Snap brings to Adaptec its new storage […]

Microsoft Corp. and NetSuite Inc. are trying to attract potential small- and midsize-business customers with upgrades to their respective business application suites that give users greater control. Microsofts Great Plains 8.0, released last week, provides some 120 enhancements targeted at distribution, manufacturing and project accounting. In addition, usability enhancements are included throughout the suite. Version […]

Workbrain Inc. is looking to take human resources software way beyond simple staff scheduling and employee time tracking with new analysis, integration and user interface enhancements to its namesake work force management platform. Automating and systematizing work force management enables enterprises to be more responsive to customers and save money by enabling them to pinpoint […]

Banks upgrading their IT infrastructures to comply with new regulations that require them to report financial data using the XBRL specification may find that, with a little additional work, they can get a lot more for their buck. Systems integration and professional services companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC are urging their banking and financial services […]

Sales of database software are back on the rise according to top market research firms, but revenue growth in 2003 was not explosive. International Data Corp. and Gartner Dataquest in recently released reports pegged annual growth in overall DBMS (database management system) revenues at 7.6 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. However, both firms said that […]