Stories by Ted Smalley Bowen

  • Software for hire

    Despite the apparent mushrooming in the number of application service providers and attempts by several big vendors to recast themselves in this role, the obvious benefits may still be elusive to potential customers.

  • Lotus woos developers

    Lotus this week will seek to rally its developer community behind Notes and Domino as an open and versatile platform worthy of a critical role in the developers' business plans, even as it fends off increased competition and an uncertain upgrade rollout.

  • Java standardisation discord heightens

    The politics surrounding the standardisation of Java boiled over two weeks ago, casting doubt on how and when the technology will become enshrined as a set of industry specifications. The discord threatens the already controversial efforts of Sun Microsystems to shepherd elements of the Java platform through the standards process via the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

  • Lotus finally delivers Notes R5

    After much delay, Lotus Development has begun shipping its Release 5 (R5) upgrade of the Notes and Domino platform, meeting its most recently revised delivery schedule. Customers are now able to order and download the final product code for R5 of Notes, Domino, and the Domino Designer development suite, according to Lotus spokesman Paul Davis. CD-ROMs will hit the loading docks shortly, Davis said.

  • IBM turns to channel to fuel file systems sales

    Looking to boost its enterprise file systems software sales, IBM is turning to its channel partners. IBM at its Decorum '99 conference here yesterday announced the addition of its Andrew File System (AFS) software to the roster of components available to its business partners creating I-commerce applications, and has created a program under which existing resellers of IBM computer-aided, three-dimensional, interactive application (CATIA) manufacturing software will be authorised to resell IBM's Distributed File System (DFS) software.

  • Borland CEO oversees changing course

    Since joining Inprise in 1996, then Borland International, CEO Del Yocam (pictured) has overseen several acquisitions and reorganisations designed to focus the company's resources on enterprise tools and the middleware market. Prior to taking over at Inprise, Yocam presided over a turnaround effort at Tektronix, and served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Apple Computer. Ted Smalley Bowen sat down with Yocam to discuss the future of Inprise.

  • CA sketches services blueprint

    While Computer Associates (CA) scans the market for acquisitions to push its services business into the first tier, the company continues to draft ambitious plans to transform itself into a product company that can credibly offer vendor-neutral services.

  • Lotus to beef up services organisation

    With IBM's help, Lotus is adding muscle to its professional services corps. The IBM subsidiary is relaunching as a single entity its services organisation, which has consisted of separate groups for consulting, support, and education, according to Tim Dempsey, vice president in charge of Lotus' worldwide business partner program.

  • Lotus refines eSuite productivity package

    Lotus' set of lightweight Java-based productivity applications, eSuite, appeared on its way to becoming a trivia question as a result of the less-than-overwhelming success of the network computer. Now Lotus officials are banking on the addition of a Windows version of the suite, as well as promising projections for NC adoption in 1999, to propel eSuite to pervasiveness.

  • IBM pushes new messaging

    IBM is adding publish-subscribe messaging to its MQSeries platform, providing as part of the core product a feature previously available only from Big Blue's partners, such as Tibco. IBM has begun beta testing its publish-subscribe software at some customer sites with MQSeries Version 5, said Taf Anthias, chief technology officer of IBM's MQSeries group, in England. Version 5 began shipping in October on some platforms.

  • HP refines its OpenView strategy

    Promoting its role in the delivery of IT services, whether by internal systems departments or external providers, Hewlett-Packard last week used its OpenView channel partner event in Boston to detail a raft of product updates for network and applications management.

  • Lotus readies Beta 2 of Notes front end

    Still on track for year-end delivery of the Notes/Domino product set, Lotus will next week distribute the second beta version of its Notes front end. Beta 2 represents the nearly feature-complete Notes Release 5 client, and marks the first test release of the new Notes Macintosh client, Blair Hankins, director of Notes product management, said. Key among the modifications in Beta 2 is enabling of the Headlines feature of the redesigned Notes 5 interface.

  • Fixing ERP contracts the way to go

    Competition for the business of installing and integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications is increasingly resulting in fixed-price and fixed-schedule contracts.