Although the entertainment industry faces unprecedented challenges, and while it’s unclear which business models will survive, the future is an exciting place for businesses with potential for significant growth in consumer demand for entertainment due to the proliferation of delivery channels and new devices. In the future, consumers will be able to receive content of their...

After spending nearly USD 20 billion over the past three years to acquire more than 25 software companies, Oracle's Chief Executive Larry Ellison is still hungry for more. After a quarter's gap of silence on acquisitions, the Redwood Shores company added performance management software solutions company Hyperion to its shopping bag 2007. The Hyperion acquisition is a sign of the consolidation wave in the Business Intelligence (BI) software market.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides the design framework to integrate siloed applications so that their functionality can be accessed as services on a network. Most commonly implemented through standards-based, technology-neutral Web Services, SOA breaks down monolithic applications into a suite of services, implementing functionality in a modular fashion. The article also throws light on how SOA allows the creation of services and composite applications that exist independent of the underlying technologies.

Every analytic application, reporting function, Web service, back-up and disaster recovery system, and client application depends on the rapid, accurate availability of data. Most organizations now need instantaneous access to real-time data, in fact, to meet business goals and maintain high customer service levels. That means batch updating is out. The days of Sunday server shut downs and offline updates are over for companies that traffic in huge volumes of data and real-time transactions....

Digital Lifestyle aims to create a world in which information and entertainment flow to the consumer or business user, where, when, and how they need it. It is a blend of the familiar and the new, using phones, computers and television for new purposes from music and movies, to business networks, to learning. The result is a Web, desktop and mobile experience, for all activities relevant to users and customers in all of its markets. In the article you see the digital fifestyle as providing the triple play of services—video, voice and data, from one source...

Gone are the days when business managers would request an application, and then leave IT to determine how long it would take to build, test and deliver an optimal application back to the business. Today’s reality is budget constraints and …

Symantec's take on Security 2.0 is focused on its own product line, partnership for services with VeriSign (for 2-factor authentication) and Accenture (for risk assessment and management). Unlike Web 2.0, this concept does not have the underpinnings of a movement that can eventually usher power back to the user and radically change the face of how information security is practised...

The geographically dispersed nature of Asian software development means that collaboration and integration tools are vitally important. This is why where ALM tools come into play—making software easy to use and accessible to a wider pool of people, by reducing the complexity and taking the mystery out of delivering large projects.

Look around any Fortune 1000 organization and you'll find a variety of service desks and/or help desks for both employees and external customers. Perhaps you'll see one or more IT help desks – one for logging routine HR matters, one for logging manufacturing defects, and another for customers to call with product-related problems...

The evolution of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is looking to change the face of telecommunications and carriers are seeing the need to break out of their legacy infrastructures and the necessity to partner with IT companies to enable the proper implementation of IMS standards to meet the demands of the consumers.

Server virtualisation involves running multiple images, termed virtual servers, on a single physical server, so it appears to the application environment that each virtual server is a separate dedicated physical server...

An Information Lifecycle Management program helps you prioritize and align business data over its entire lifecycle – from creation to storage to deletion – so that it generates the maximum amount of value to your business.

The effective use of IT to address changing business requirements are central to any company’s ability to compete, and this holds especially true in the banking industry today. With the advent of new technologies and the use of the Internet to achieve tighter integration with customers, financial institutions can bank on the potential of IT to enjoy high returns on investment...

The era of personalisation is upon us. Dynamic content including television programmes, mobile phone ringtones and music can now be delivered, even wirelessly, on demand. While personalisation is a popular end user request, it is also being driven by service and content providers...

Tele-networking, or telework, refers to working away from the office using remote access networking technology. Teleworking can raise worker productivity in a distributed enterprise environment but deployment can be demanding. Streamline your implementation with these handy tips...

The global business arena is a diverse and dynamic one, constantly buffeted by changes in customer trends, government regulations and larger social-political issues. Every year, IBM conducts an annual survey of more than 1,400 executives worldwide to find out what are the critical issues of...

The same data pipelines which make outsourcing possible also import a black box of risks from your business process outsourcing partner. Learn how your organisation can use enterprise risk management to manage risky externalities...

We expect our application lifecycle management tools to be well integrated. So why are we so worried about upgrading those tools? This is because when we do, the integration breaks. The Eclipse Application Lifecycle Framework (ALF) Project is going to fix that once and for all...

With so much emphasis on SOA these days, there is a heightened focus on its deployment, success and demonstrable ROI. In fact, Gartner states that the worldwide market opportunity for SOA, including software and services, will continue to grow through 2008 when it is expected to reach USD 143 billion...

Middlesourcing is a term that helps to illustrate how firms in Singapore and SE Asia can benefit from the technology waves in China and India, and create a new niche area for business. As a regional hub (with similar time zones with that of India and China) with a wired-up populace and strong...