Michael Hickins

The use of software-as-a-service (SaaS) for supply chain management (SCM) is gaining traction, and early adopters are reaping the rewards of faster implementation times, quicker returns on investment and lower costs. According to a new study from Aberdeen Group, more than 50 percent of enterprises surveyed are either using or considering using on-demand applications as […]

Lycos has joined the burgeoning free voice-over-IP (VoIP) fray by offering the service to its users. But that’s not all the feisty search contender is rolling out in its bid to gain mindshare with the lucrative 18- to 25-year-old crowd. It’s hot on the trail of offering communication and entertainment features, too. Brian Kalinowski, chief […]

Emboldened by a growing appetite for its products in the enterprise server market, Microsoft is launching an aggressive push in the education and state-and-local government markets. And its got its eye on customers of Novell’s Netware (current and former) as part of its market share plan. A recent report from IDC showed that for the […]

IBM is planning to launch a new worm-detection solution on Monday that takes the “honeypot” technique of fighting worms to a new level, internetnews.com has learned. The project, code-named “Billy Goat,” assigns a server a large number of unused and unadvertised addresses, according to a document seen by internetnews.com. Most traditional virus-fighting tools depend on […]

Few issues have generated as much teeth gnashing among small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) as regulatory compliance in the post Sarbanes-Oxley era. And cost has been the principal reason. IBM says its hosted solution, called IBM Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting (WBCR), will help companies meet their requirements without cratering their budgets. However, the […]

Yahoo has introduced Yahoo Messenger with Voice, its own offering in the burgeoning computer-to-phone space and Voice over IP race. The service follows similar services by Skype, AOL and Microsoft MSN by allowing customers to make and receive voice calls through their personal computers to landlines and mobile phones. Although it is arriving a little […]

UPDATED: Analysts are pondering whether Ask Jeeves may have an asking price after weak earnings results by its parent company, IAC/Interactive Corp. , which also semi-announced a name change for the search engine. IAC reported strong fourth quarter results, but the search engine component of the business is lagging behind other segments, such as retail […]