Clint Boulton

IBM has formally joined the red-hot federated identity fray, revealing new single-sign on software that helps enterprises safely let users tap into their computer resources. Tivoli Federated Identity Manager (FIM) allows users to set up accounts and sign on to use internal and external services across a company and its partner Web sites. Users on […]

IBM moved to one-up EMC’s Clariion line by unveiling a midrange storage server that pipes data at 4 gigabits per second. EMC countered by unveiling a four-node Centera box for archiving fixed content. While product upgrades are frequent among storage system vendors, IBM’s TotalStorage DS4800 cracks the ballyhooed 4 Gb mark. Most competing machines ferry […]

Delivering new forms of computing to customers has been frequently analyzed and discussed by high-tech companies looking to more efficiently offer resources. While some vendors have whipped up technology to help customers obtain more computing power at the touch of a button or the throw of a switch, none have reaped great success at selling […]

BEA Systems’ service-oriented architecture (SOA) plan will kick into overdrive this summer when the company unveils new software next month in New York City. The new product line will build on the announcements the company made last year, wrapping together its WebLogic Network Gatekeeper software for authenticating network identity; Liquid Data XML integration software and […]

IBM’s plan to cut 10,000 to 13,000 jobs will help the company improve its services offerings, an analyst said. Judith Hurwitz, president of research firm Hurwitz & Associates, said the move was a realistic attempt by IBM to get leaner and meaner while getting its services personnel closer to customers. She said the move is […]

IBM unveiled new integration software from its purchase of Ascential Software and a records management application to help customers meet compliance demands. Big Blue took the covers off its new WebSphere Data Integration Suite, code-named Hawk, which is the result of its integration of Ascential software. Businesses can use the software to construct enterprise data […]

Storage switch maker Brocade Communications Systems has acquired software management startup Therion Software for $9.3 million in cash. Brocade made the buy after working with Therion for more than a year on server configuration and management software. Brocade is mum about further details, promising only to unveil new software written as a result of the […]

The market for software piped over the Internet as a service reached an all-time high of $4.2 billion in 2004. That sum was nearly 40 percent greater than the total in 2003, according to IDC. Like its Web services cousin, software as a service (SaaS), in which applications are piped over the Internet at a […]

UPDATED: Brocade Communications Systems believes in wide area file services (WAFS), a storage technology that helps companies exchange content between data centers and branch offices with little latency. The switch maker agreed to invest $7.5 million in WAFS specialist Tacit Networks for a minority ownership and will offer the startup’s WAFS technology to its customers. […]

Using the packaging and pricing model from its Java Enterprise System (JES), Sun Microsystems is offering its storage software as a whole portfolio or four separate suites. The company also trotted out a managed storage services program and updated its grid storage offering. The news came as part of the company’s quarterly Network Computing ’05 […]

UPDATED: HP will pay EMC $325 million under an agreement that settles patent infringement allegations between the two data storage companies. HP can satisfy its payment to EMC through the purchase for resale or internal use of complementary EMC products, such as the VMware product line, over the next five years. EMC and HP also […]

Microsoft has created a Web services software platform to make call center operations run more efficiently and cost effectively for service providers. The Customer Care Framework decreases average call times by removing extraneous data requests and delivering more accurate information faster to agents who helm call centers. With Web services as the core architectural approach, […]