Mari-Len De Guzman

With the announcement of a new person at the helm of Brampton, Ont.-based Nortel Networks Corp., analysts believe the company is shifting gears and moving forward to strengthen its hold in the increasingly converging IT and telecom markets. The departure of Nortel president and CEO Bill Owens may be less of an indication of his leadership strength, but more of a signal that Nortel is now "focused on growth and revenue, and leveraging technology," according to Roberta Fox, senior partner, Markham, Ont.-based Fox Group Consulting.

Disk is definitely in. At least, that's the way the data back-up and recovery market has been moving recently, according to industry experts. Between this year and next year, there is "a very clear trend" towards disk as primary back-up and recovery tool, said Gartner analyst Ray Paquet at a recent international forum sponsored by Symantec Corp.

Improved customer service - and not lower cost of telephony

One year, a simple upgrade and the rollout of new IBM server systems

From a company that started out on the path of consolidation much earlier than their counterparts, here's a piece of advice from ERP vendor SSA Global: "Don't consolidate for the sake of consolidating." The big danger a company can get into when consolidating is to lose sight of the whole business perspective, according to Graeme Cooksley, executive vice president, Chicago, Illinois-based SSA Global.

Attackers have found a new vehicle for launching attacks targeting client-based computer systems, and traditional network defenses are no longer sufficient to protect against these breaches, a recent security report said. According to the latest Internet Security Threat Report from Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec Corp., over half of the attacks reported over the past six months infected Web application technologies. Seventy four per cent of these attacks involved exposure of confidential information such as keystroke logging software and Trojans.

IBM Corp. yesterday announced a new software and services suite with multi-level support for service oriented architecture (SOA)

Oracle Corp.'s spate of acquisitions has, so far, failed to deliver the promise of significant financial gains and increased market leadership for the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company, according to an industry analyst. Oracle's buying spree