Sandra Gittlen

As enterprises large and small ramp up deployment of new applications to employees, business partners and customers, they are feeling the pressure to outsource software delivery to best-of-breed providers rather than develop and manage solutions in-house. Such an approach has its advantages. “SaaS providers have individuals on staff who are dedicated to making sure a […]

While more industries are taking to the software-as-a-service model, experts warn that offloading your applications does not mean offloading responsibility. “It’s important to understand that even if you go with a hosted service, you still have to manage the quality of that application,” says Irwin Lazar, analyst with Nemertes Research. In the SaaS model, applications […]

Service-oriented architecture is set to surpass a 60% adoption rate among enterprises in North America and the European Union, according to research firm Forrester. But early adopters and experts warn newcomers that SOA is still in its infancy and there are still a lot of mistakes to be made. “The biggest mistake people make is […]

For Jon Lucenius, information security analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., there’s nothing like a manual code review to shore up holes in programs. But since his time is at a premium, he’s learned to rely on the next best thing: automated source code analysis tools. “Applications today are at such a great size and […]

If IT executives were wondering how video-on-demand would effect their network, the immense popularity of YouTube.com is giving them a clear idea. “I am sure that YouTube and other on-demand video sites are having an effect on network performance with regard to Internet speeds and also overall bandwidth,” says Chris Ferski, vice president of IT […]

IT managers seeking end-to-end visibility for the enterprise are one step closer with a new wireless standard. ZigBee, or IEEE 802.15.4, is a low-power, short-range wireless technology that can be used to integrate sensor and sensor-based systems – such as lighting, security and HVAC – with other parts of the enterprise. (The name “ZigBee” comes […]

As voice over IP catches on in large enterprises, companies are pushing the technology out to their smaller offices to reap the rewards of four-digit dialing, site-to-site calling and other cost-saving and collaborative features. But experts warn preparation in five key areas is critical for success. “Managing technology at branch offices and remote offices consumes […]

Data backups had always been an Achilles heel for Prabhakar Sonparote. As director of IT for Synovate, Inc., a market research firm based in Chicago, Sonparote had the difficult task of deputizing researchers in the company’s 29 offices across North America to perform tape backups. “We couldn’t afford to keep an IT person in each […]

For Donna VanHousen, senior director of IT at ViaHealth in Rochester, N.Y., Power over Ethernet (PoE) has been a godsend. But she warns that ignoring best practices for this new technology could create a nightmare. VanHousen is in the midst of a wireless rollout at two hospitals that are part of the ViaHealth regional healthcare […]

For Cherokee Nation IT manager Jon James, the choice of AirMagnet, Inc.’s Laptop Analyzer 6.0, which won in the wireless software category in Datamation’s Product of the Year 2006 awards, is a no-brainer. James, who is based in Tahlequah, Okla. with the tribal nation, has used Laptop Analyzer for three years and is a devout […]