John Dix

When was the last time you saw a keynote speaker at a technology conference get a standing ovation?

Search tools have simplified our lives in many ways, so why not network management? So reason the founders of Splunk, a start-up that has released a search product to make sense of logs and other types of event information generated by systems as they go about their business.

One of the topics creating a buzz at the recent SatCon satellite conference in New York was the imminent launch of an Inmarsat satellite that will deliver broadband connections to magazine-sized portable transceivers. The six-ton Atlantic Ocean Region I-4 satellite lifted off last month. Once tested, it will serve as the platform for Inmarsat

MCI this week used the VON Conference & Expo in Boston to announce a Managed IP PBX service with partners NEC and Cisco. The service is targeted at companies with 200 to 5,000 users and complements other VoIP offerings in MCI's existing Advantage Portfolio, including its Hosted IP Centrex service.

With a nod from the judge overseeing MCI's bankruptcy proceedings, the carrier has been cleared to emerge from Chapter 11 early next year.

IT spending won't ratchet up in the second half and companies are more cost-conscious than ever, but...

Are you paying $0.02 per minute for on-net voice? If not, maybe it's time to bring in some expert help. With carrier bills still accounting for a large part of the network budget, it's hard to ignore the claims of telecom negotiating pros who say they are helping clients chop huge chunks out of their voice, wireless and data bills.

By now you're familiar with the recent Harvard Business Review story