Denise Dubie

Cisco and Microsoft typically come to mind when talking network equipment and operating system software, respectively. Yet in 2007 these vendors separately could solidify their roles in the management world as well.

Priscilla Milam, associate vice-chancellor of IT operations for the North Harris Montgomery Community College District in The Woodlands, Texas, parlayed a part-time job in her college

Employees performing ineffective searches and wasting time looking for information can cost companies up to 10 percent in salary expenses, research shows.

Spiceworks recently made available a new version of its management software free for download for small-to- midsize customers looking to add help-desk and community capabilities into their daily monitoring of IT systems.

After a delayed closing of its US$4.5 billion acquisition of Mercury Interactive, Hewlett-Packard Co. quickly got to work publicly restructuring the company to support its now doubled software division.

IBM introduced new services the company says will let customers more quickly and securely set up thin-client computing environments and reduce money spent maintaining desktops.

GroundWork Open Source last month showcased the latest version of its flagship software that the company says now provides better reporting and network management features. GroundWork

As IT infrastructure becomes more complex and supports advanced applications such as VoIP and wireless, technology vendors must help enterprise network executives simplify the management and security of their IT assets, said John Swainson, president and CEO of CA.