Renee Boucher Ferguson

With initial RFID deadlines from retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. past, the fervor around the electronic tagging technology is quieting—in part because of the elusive benefits of radio-frequency identification data. The lull, however, has done little to slow investments in the technology by major software developers IBM and Microsoft Corp., both of which have […]

At Parametric Technology Corp.s annual PTC User World Event in Orlando, Fla., this week, the company will launch the next iterations of its Windchill product development and collaboration suite and Pro/Intralink data management suite. Windchill is a component of PTCs product development system. The big change with PTCs Windchill 8.0 and Pro/Intralink 8.0 suites is […]

At the Uniform Council Code Inc.s annual user conference in Grapevine, Texas, this week, WebMethods Inc. will announce new software aimed at helping retailers and suppliers better exchange, integrate and manage data points defining each product they have in common. The WebMethods Integrated Retail Solution is geared to helping users at both ends of the […]

A group of smaller, more nimble ERP companies are breaking into the hosting game in an effort to give midsize businesses the same tools that traditionally have been available only to large enterprises. This week, Mitsui & Co. Inc., in New York, the U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., will announce the launch of […]

Reva Systems, a small startup thats been in stealth mode for the past year, announced Monday an interesting project involving RFID device implementation and management. In addition to officially launching itself as a radio-frequency identification company, Reva Systems Corp. released the details of its “TAN,” or Tag Acquisition Network, a network-centric architecture for implementing and […]

At its first Business Process Management Summit in Arlington, Va., June 6 and 7, IT research firm Gartner is taking a unique tack in educating attendees, mixing business analysts and IT professionals in the same bowl. “We found 85 percent of the [BPM] work being done is human-to-human; 15 percent is IT. The reality is […]

Lawson Software Inc. announced Thursday the acquisition of Swedish ERP software developer Intentia International AB in an all-stock transaction that amounts to about $480 million. The company also announced that its CEO, Jay Coughlan, will be stepping down. An 18-year veteran of the company, Coughlan served as Lawsons CEO since 2001. He will be replaced […]

As part of its move to help ISVs sell more of their wares—and, in turn, more IBM hardware, storage, middleware and services—IBM announced this week new resources to develop software delivered as a service. The initiative is part of IBMs ISV support program, which the company bolstered with an additional $100 million investment earlier this […]

Following up on its promise to release at least three data hubs this year, Oracle Corp. announced its Product Information Management Data Hub last week, the second such release since the concept was announced in January 2004. The data hub, part of Oracles Fusion middleware stack announced last month, enables companies to aggregate, clean and […]

RFID framework developer OATSystems Inc. announced Wednesday a partnership with chip manufacturer Intel Corp. designed to help increase the adoption of RFID in the retail sector. Dubbed the Retail RFID Leadership Initiative, the two companies will work together to pound out a long-term road map for retailers and retail manufacturers looking to implement an RFID […]