Development

Gone are the days when organizations were hooked into making huge software purchases, and were more enticed by vendor promises than the actual return on investment (ROI). Those days have long been replaced by smaller, incremental investments in software with an unyielding eye on the bottom line. Within this environment, organizations have been becoming more open and receptive to new ways of using software.

This year will see every top vendor working to overhaul its application suites to realize the benefits of SOA (service-oriented architecture), a methodology for connecting software components through standards-based Web services in order to ease IT integration. According to Forrester Research Inc., 77 per cent of large enterprises will be actively implementing SOAs by the end of this year. But don

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Symantec Corp. and Kaspersky Lab Ltd. have been stung by criticisms of their cloaking techniques by Mark Russinovich, the software expert who created a stir last year by exposing Sony BMG Music Entertainment's covert use of anti-piracy rootkit features and their security risks.

It will take some convincing for Wall Street to feel comfortable with Symantec Corp.'s US$13 billion acquisition of Veritas Software. The company's stock has lost nearly half its value since the acquisition. But for Symantec Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman, the combination of the storage and security software giants represents a brand-new opportunity: the chance to build a world-class research organization.

Chris Maunder started The Code Project six years ago with the aim of creating a Web site for developers done right. Today this resource for Visual Studio users garners 1.7 million unique page views monthly.

A critical skills shortage is holding back the widespread use of service oriented architectures (SOA) and the promise of a new era of interoperability, according Tony Clement, the Australian Wheat Board's (AWB) enterprise architecture and planning manager.

Adopting a service-oriented architecture (SOA) promises to transform rigid networks into flexible, agile application services delivery platforms that compile disparate IT components on the fly to meet business demands. The concept appeals to many. But many IT executives still have trouble identifying the practical steps needed to achieve an enterprise SOA. Vendors are more than willing to jump in and help out.