Mel Duvall

About

Contributing EditorMel Duvall is a veteran business and technology journalist, having written for a variety of daily newspapers and magazines for 17 years. Most recently he was the Business Commerce Editor for Interactive Week, and previously served as a senior business writer for The Financial Post.

A Green IT Infrastructure Case Study: Monsanto

Agriculture powerhouse Monsanto learned to use technology to genetically modify seeds-including corn, cotton and soybean-so farmers can generate greater yields per acre and weather drought while using fewer herbicides and pesticides. In 2003, Monsanto undertook an analysis of its data center storage and processing capacity needs. Retrofitting the data center was considered, but the company […]

Top 25 Most Energy Efficient Supercomputers

The Green 500 list compiled by researchers at Virginia Tech is intended to draw attention to idea that designers of supercomputers should pay more attention to the energy consumption, not just speed or computational prowess. “In the world of supercomputers, the thinking has traditionally focused entirely on performance,” says Virginia Tech associate professor Wu Feng, […]

Retailers on Shopping Spree for New Software

STORY HIGHLIGHTS: 85 percent of all retail purchasing decisions are made at the store shelf Retailers are expected to spend $10.4 billion on software by 2011 76 percent of retail software implementation will be hosted at a central location Top three retail software vendors in 2006 were: SAP ($210 million), Oracle ($205 million) and Microsoft […]

High-Tech Marketing Marks Black Friday, Cyber Monday

Shoppers are expected to set their alarms early Friday morning to hit the stores in droves, but theyll also find a few goodies waiting for them in their e-mail inboxes, too. In what has been an increasing trend in recent years, online retailers are preparing a wide range of promotions and deals to capitalize on […]

Does GE Have the Best IT?

The $163 billion global conglomerates information-technology strategy and performance mirror the companys corporate philosophy—to be the leader in the markets in which it operates. The I.T. group follows a number of best practices. But how good is it? At General Electrics annual meeting in Greenville, S.C., in late April, Jeffrey Immelt, the companys CEO and […]

5 Questions for New Teradata CEO Michael Koehler

NCR announced plans this week to spin off its Teradata data-warehousing subsidiary as an independent company. NCR, which is best known as a provider of ATMs and retail checkout machines, had sales of $4.5 billion in 2005, excluding Teradata. The Teradata division, one of the biggest players in the data warehousing and business intelligence market, […]

SOA Big on SAP and IBM Agendas

Enterprise software giant SAP is looking to bolster its position in the service-oriented architecture arena, by launching a variety of consulting services aimed at helping customers transition to SOA. The new consulting services will help customers develop a road map to transition their enterprise systems to SOA, according to Bernd-Michael Rumpf, head of SAPs Global […]

KPMG Names New CIO

Global consulting firm KPMG on Aug. 29 announced the promotion of Stuart Campbell, head of the firms audit and advisory services practice, into the additional role of CIO. KPMG chairman Mike Rake said Campbell, 53, will lead the firms global technology initiatives and sit on its international executive team. He will also continue to be […]

Accenture Commits $450M to SOA

Technology consulting firm Accenture said on July 19 that it will invest $450 million over the next three years on developing new capabilities in service-oriented architecture—further proof of the technologys momentum in big business. As part of the investment, Accenture will create a new research lab, develop a blueprint for SOA implementation and expand SOA […]

Supervalu Bags Former Target CIO

Grocery giant Supervalu has hired retail industry veteran Paul Singer as its CIO to assist the company in digesting its recent $17.4 billion acquisition of the Albertsons grocery chain. Minneapolis-based Supervalu last week named Singer, who served as CIO of retailer Target from 2000 to 2005, as its new CIO and senior vice president. He […]