Software

Find news, reviews, how-tos and tips on business software ranging from enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) to collaboration tools and mobile apps.

Microsoft server and tool upgrades demand CIOs' attention

Posted May 25, 2012 - 10:03 am

CIOs and IT directors tracking the barrage of major upgrades for Windows and Office also need to stay tuned to the refresh cycle for Microsoft's servers and tools, including Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, System Center 2012 and Visual Studio 11.
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Microsoft's upgrade avalanche a challenge for IT pros

Posted May 25, 2012 - 10:03 am

Microsoft is in the midst of an unprecedented, massive upgrade cycle for its enterprise software products, a refresh wave that represents a major challenge for CIOs and IT managers responsible for charting their companies' technology strategy.
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How to make PHP apps scale

Posted May 25, 2012 - 6:09 am

The most popular language for Web apps, PHP tends to buckle under heavy loads -- unless you opt for cloud scaling and a NoSQL back end
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Tech guns for hire: 5 places to find skilled IT contractors

Posted May 23, 2012 - 3:42 pm

Need outside help for your next IT project? It's easy to hire tech freelancers online, but how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Here are the resources and tips you need to know about.
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IT should forget development, focus on requirements and release management

Posted May 21, 2012 - 10:13 am

Despite all the changes to application lifecycle management (ALM), IT organizations are doing just fine when it comes to core development processes. It is the "bookend" processes of requirements management and release management that need help.
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Unified communications still fragmented

Posted May 17, 2012 - 2:23 pm

The technology may get a big push from mobile adoption, but integration among multiple UC components is still a tough slog.
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10 essential performance tips for MySQL

Posted May 14, 2012 - 2:06 pm

From workload profiling to the three rules of indexing, these expert insights are sure to make your MySQL servers scream.
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Open source search applications move toward the enterprise

Posted May 7, 2012 - 11:41 am

With the explosion of unstructured data, companies are looking for more options for enterprise search. Here's a look at the benefits and limitations of open-source search-enabled applications.
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Open-source cloud frameworks: A work in progress

Posted May 7, 2012 - 11:38 am

Here's a look at the growing list of open-source platform-as-a-service providers and how IT managers can decide where the technology fits best in their organizations.
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BYOD policy bites vacationing CEO

Posted May 1, 2012 - 7:05 am

Mimecast CEO Peter Bauer recently found himself at the intersection of consumerization and IT management, falling victim to personal data loss as the result of the internal management policy he himself helped establish.
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Master MySQL in the Amazon cloud

Posted April 30, 2012 - 6:15 am

Amazon Web Services offer new challenges and flexibility for database admins -- here's how to avoid the pitfalls and tune for performance
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PHI security demands leave life coach feeling doomed

Posted April 26, 2012 - 7:10 am

Thriveworks CEO says technology hasn't kept pace with laws demanding eternal security of digital data.
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Best practices for selecting storage services for big data

Posted April 25, 2012 - 10:07 am

Big data is fueling the need for ever-growing storage repositories. If you're looking to meet scalability concerns without breaking the bank, selecting a storage platform that can meet the needs of big data can be a challenge--but it doesn't have to be an overwhelming one.
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7 programming myths -- busted!

Posted April 23, 2012 - 10:04 am

Even among people as logical and rational as software developers, you should never underestimate the power of myth. Some programmers will believe what they choose to believe against all better judgment.
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How to use Hadoop to overcome storage limitations

Posted April 19, 2012 - 8:50 pm

Big data is all about storing and accessing large amounts of structured and unstructured data. However, where to put that data and how to access it have become the biggest challenges for enterprises looking to leverage the information. If you haven't yet considererd the open source Hadoop platform, now's the time.
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Big data in the real world isn't so easy

Posted April 16, 2012 - 2:10 pm

The pundits make it sound so simple. But CIOs wrestling with overwhelming amounts of unwieldy data know that 'big data' is a big challenge that requires high-quality data, new approaches to data management and more processing power. But the payoff could be a strong competitive advantage.
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Open for business: It's the year of the corporate app store

Posted April 16, 2012 - 6:11 am

As smartphone and tablet usage skyrockets, IT seeks a way to distribute its own apps
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How the cloud democratizes and complicates disaster recovery

Posted April 11, 2012 - 12:02 pm

When it comes to disaster recovery, the cloud is showing itself to be a mixed bag. CIO.com's Jeff Vance explains how the great shift in technology has both lowered the entry barriers for DR technology and given smaller businesses what could be a dangerous sense of false security.
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What's the fastest browser? Maybe you're measuring wrong

Posted April 11, 2012 - 8:00 am

There are a host of benchmarks that measure how fast your browser renders HTML or runs JavaScript -- but for real-world performance, the browser's memory footprint may be the most important.
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Intuit brings big data to small businesses and consumers

Posted April 4, 2012 - 8:38 pm

When you think Big Data, products such as QuickBooks and TurboTax may not spring to mind. However, Intuit's 'Big Data for the Little Guy' initiative lets individuals and businesses make queries on the data Intuit has collected from its (willing) users.
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Big data torpedoes sales forecasts, can cloud tools fix the problem?

Posted April 3, 2012 - 9:42 pm

Many sales teams have access to automation tools for better visibility. However, when you consider that the average sales rep has from 20 to 50 open sales opportunities at any given time, using those tool have unintended consequences such as escalating the 'Big Data' problem. Cloud-based services may hold the answer.
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Governance at the speed of change

Posted March 29, 2012 - 4:16 pm

The right approach to governance -- using real-time metrics -- can enable more reliable applications, more agile IT, more satisfied business owners and, ultimately, happier customers.
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Outlook 2010 cheat sheet: Quick reference charts

Posted March 29, 2012 - 4:14 pm

New to Microsoft Outlook 2010? Find your favorite commands from earlier versions of Outlook with these charts.
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CIOs overcome shortage of business analytics talent

Posted March 27, 2012 - 3:00 pm

Business intelligence, analytics and big data are all the rage. But those enterprise endeavors require staffers with solid business knowledge, statistical expertise and presentation skills--skills many IT pros don't have. Here's what CIOs are doing to get them.
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5 business analytics tech trends and how to exploit them

Posted March 26, 2012 - 2:48 pm

Big Data. Faster infrastructure. Falling costs. Mobility. Social media. CIOs at John Hancock, Shopzilla and other organizations say these IT trends are transforming how their companies process data to gain valuable business intelligence.
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SoftwareWhite Papers & Webcasts

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Activities Streams Base An Integrated Social Layer

The enterprise social software market is exploding thanks to converging trends of consumerization, cloud, and mobile. In this must-read report, "The Forrester Wave: Activities Streams, Q2 2012", Forrester Research Inc. evaluated five social software vendors with core strengths in the stream based on the overall strength of vendors' current offerings, a clear product strategy, and vendor market presence. In a detailed look at the space, Forrester named Yammer as a leader.

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ESG Lab Review: HP 3PAR Peer Motion Software

This ESG Lab review sponsored by HP + Intel documents hands-on testing of HP 3PAR Peer Motion Software's distributed volume.Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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Deliver Cost-Effective Business Continuity with Extreme Capacity

IBM DB2 provides application cluster transparency technology that equips organizations running OLTP applications with the ability to deliver high availability and continuous uptime for transactional data, plus the flexibility and capacity they need to remain competitive.

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What Developers Want: The End of Application Redeploys

Eliminate application restarts in Java with JRebel! JRebel is a JVM plugin that eliminates application redeploys from the Java development cycle, a process that takes over 10 minutes of coding time away from developers each working hour, according to a recent survey. Just code, refresh and see everything instantly.

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