Larry Dignan

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, spurred enterprises to new kinds of thinking about disaster recovery. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall Aug. 29, 2005, in New Orleans, devastating the Gulf Coast and killing more than 1,300 people, forced enterprises to rethink their disaster recovery plans once again. A year after Katrina, enterprises should be […]

Chips Intels branding faux pas? Intel hasnt transitioned a chip brand since 1992, and Prudential Equity Group analyst Mark Lipacis believes the playbook is a bit dusty. In an Aug. 6 re–search note, Lipacis said the ramp of Intels desktop performance chip Core 2 Duo will be slower than expected due to brand confusion and […]

Dells battery recall couldnt have come at a worse time, with customer service waning and Wall Street increasingly growing impatient with the PC giants earnings misses. The good news: Dells main supplier, Sony, is expected to foot most of the bill for recalling 4.1 million batteries, analysts said. Late on Aug. 14, Dell announced a […]

GAO report The IPv6 lag According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, federal agencies are lagging in their transition to IP Version 6, which will expand the amount of available space for the procedure that defines how information is moved across networks. In August 2005, the Office of Management and Budget issued a […]

The network neutrality debate, which is expected to surface again this fall, is a faux issue that if mandated by Congress is bound to become a mess. Count me in the camp that Congress do nada about net neutrality. “Net neutrality” is a term few can agree on. For Google, Yahoo and eBay, mandating net […]

Wireless Devices galore In five years, consumers worldwide may have so many wireless devices that theyll need Batmans utility belt just to carry them around. Thats the conclusion of Boston-based research company Strategy Analytics. Strategy Analytics on July 26 released “Wireless Home Devices Global Market Forecast.” The biggest take-away: Over the next five years, consumers […]

Federal resources The paper trail The Paperwork Reduction Act is buried—in paper. Thats the take-away from the Government Accountability Office testimony before a congressional subcommittee. The Paperwork Reduction Act was designed to minimize the burden on the public when the feds ask for various forms to be completed. Bottom line: Theres still plenty of paperwork, […]

It may be time to give your vendor a squeeze—and not the affectionate kind. With the second-quarter earnings season in full bloom, its becoming clear that there are a few potholes in technology spending. Sales cycles are getting longer. Growth forecasts are coming down. Whats it mean for you? Potentially, some leverage. All customers should […]

A few questions to ponder as you kick off the week: Do you know your offshore providers disaster recovery plans? Do you have the plans in writing? Have you integrated your service providers plans with yours? Can your company adapt if youve farmed out business processes and your service provider suddenly cant deliver? Those are […]

Financials Intels tug of war There are two things we know about Intel. For starters, it is being hurt by encroachment from Advanced Micro Devices. And Wall Street isnt a big fan—Intel has been one of the worst performing stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year. According to some prognosticators, the companys woes […]

Security Homeland headache Nearly half of federal technology executives have no integrated plan to meet the Office of Management and Budgets latest homeland se-curity requirement, according to research company Input. The requirement, known as HSPD (Homeland Security Presidential Directive)-12, requires standard forms of personal identity verification for all federal employees and contractors. The deadline is […]

Darel Myers is a storm chaser. Myers, technical equipment manager for Allstate Insurances 10-year-old national catastrophe team, brings mobile connectivity via satellite-equipped mobile homes and a bevy of laptops whenever a disaster—be it a tornado, a hurricane or an ice storm—strikes. “Theres never an off-season,” Myers said. “Just because its not in the media doesnt […]