DOJ pushes FBI to share data
The U.S. Department of Justice is pushing the FBI and its other operating units to speed up and expand their efforts to share a wide array of information with outside law enforcement agencies via a centralized database called OneDOJ.
The plan has raised the hackles of some privacy and civil rights advocates, who said the DOJ will need to work hard to ensure that the increased information sharing doesn’t infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans. The DOJ has pledged to support a set of common standards and remain vendor-neutral, allowing state and local governments to use any compatible systems.
Compuware acquires Proxima
Compuware has acquired service management software maker Proxima Technology for about US$31 million. Detroit-based Compuware picked up the Proxima to augment its own Vantage software suite, which provides various applications to monitor network, systems and application performance. Proxima, which has about 70 employees, developed its Centauri technology to helps IT organizations more easily link the business impact of service delivery failures. Compuware executives said the buy would add to the Vantage suite the “foundation for automated service-quality improvement based on ITIL and Six Sigma methodologies. Compuware officials also said the Promixa acquisition would offer customers more tools to manage the user or customer experience.
Oracle moves to simplify pricing
Oracle Corp. is creating a unified set of pricing schemes for its myriad applications that users hope can simplify what has become a complex maze. The updated schedule, announced in mid-December, streamlines the many licensing options that came with several major Oracle acquisitions in recent years. The new list consolidates the pricing plans into four programs that cover all of Oracle’s product lines. Buyers of applications shipping prior to last month’s announcement can choose between the new scheme and an old one.
