JFieb,
the quote you posted is part of the body listed below. (As always, gotta give credit where credit is due).
Good Morning! Today is Feb 2. And this is ...
------------INFORMATIONWEEK DAILY--------------
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1) Top Stories:
- Dell To Build Oracle8i-Based Web Servers
- TriSpan Guarantees Custom Net Sites In 90 Days Or Less
- Vendors Expand Customer Contact Portfolios
- IBM Gives The RS/6000 More Power
- EMC Heads New Storage Area Network Alliance
2) Tech Stocks: Database software vendor Oracle got a slight
boost, up 3-3/4 to 59-1/8, following the company's announced
plans for a three-for-two stock split. But overall, the tech
sector seemed to be napping as the Nasdaq edged up 4.34 to
2510.23. The Dow fell 13.13 to 9,345.70.
3) Calendar: "If I had only known, I would have been a
locksmith," moaned scientist-inventor-philosopher Albert
Einstein. Year 2000 worries got you wishing you'd chosen
another profession? These upcoming conferences offer keys to
surviving the crisis.
TOP STORIES
_______Dell To Build Oracle8i-Based Web Servers_______
Dell Computer has signed on to build "appliance" servers
loaded with the Oracle8i database for running Internet
business applications, said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison during
a keynote speech at the NationsBanc Montgomery Securities
Technology Conference yesterday in San Francisco. The
disclosure follows an announcement last Friday that Hewlett-
Packard also plans to build the appliances, previously code-
named Raw Iron.
The Web servers, due in March or April, are intended to
simplify the process of configuring servers and loading
software. "With the 8i appliance, you just plug it in and
turn it on," said Ellison as he clicked through the
management console on a prototype of the device. The
servers, which use four Intel processors, run the Oracle
database on top of a microkernel from Sun, Ellison said.
Ellison, who maintains that custom-configured machines are
too expensive and require too much support from IS staff,
said the appliances will likely come in a minimal number of
configurations, probably "small, medium, and large ... but
won't be custom made." Although he would not specify
pricing, the 8i appliances will be "lower-cost than SQL
Server with Windows NT," he said, taking a poke at rival
Microsoft. Dell server officials were not available for
comment late Monday. -- Tom Davey
___TriSpan Guarantees Custom Net Sites In 90 Days Or Less___
TriSpan Inc. yesterday rolled out 3Bridge, a bundle of
Internet products and services that promises to build, in 90
days or less, an intranet or extranet site delivering
customized information to users.
3Bridge, priced at $300,000, uses the customer's choice of
Microsoft or Netscape Web server products. For customers of
the service, TriSpan will build what it calls an "electronic
affiliation site" that represents a stepping stone between
static information and electronic commerce. The site will
deliver customized data based on a user's personal profile
and/or security level, but will not offer sales
transactions.
3Bridge is a commercial version of a customized package that
TriSpan has completed for customers such as Rosenbluth
Travel and Affiliated Distributors, a network of industrial
products distributors. Also yesterday, TriSpan officially
changed its name from Icon Solutions Inc. -- Clinton Wilder
_______Vendors Expand Customer Contact Portfolios_______
Vendors are increasingly rolling out products focused on
letting customers contact an organization through a variety
of new media, such as the Web and E-mail.
MATRAnet Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., yesterday unveiled
M> WebTouch 1.5, a Web-based call center product that routes
E-commerce customers to the proper agent based on a number
of factors, including which Web pages the customer has been
viewing. For example, customers who are browsing women's
clothes will be routed to an agent that specializes in
women's sales. M> WebTouch is available through the MATRAnet
sales force. An E-mail version is priced at $10,000 and
includes unlimited agent seats. A version that works with
live agents is priced at $15,000 and includes five agent
seats. Additional agent seats are available at $495 each.
Also yesterday, Quintus Corp. introduced eContact, a suite
of products that lets call centers manage and route several
kinds of customer correspondence, and also personalize
service based on a history of how the customer interacts
with the call center. With eContact, customers can use
voice, voice over IP, interactive voice response and speech
recognition, facsimile and imaging, and E-mail to contact a
customer-service representative. EContact will be available
March 1, with pricing starting at $500 per user. Server fees
start at $40,000, while connectors are priced starting at
$15,000 per channel. -- Mary E. Thyfault
____________IBM Gives The RS/6000 More Power_____________
IBM yesterday released its newest RS/6000 SP supercomputer.
It's based on the Power3 microprocessor, which IBM says can
process 2 billion operations per second.
With the Power3 SP, IBM is doubling the performance while
keeping the price about the same. The SP is made up of nodes
that customers can purchase in a building-block approach. It
can consist of just one or two nodes, all the way up to
thousands of nodes, used in government projects for high-
tech projects such as simulating nuclear explosions. Each
node is priced about $50,000 and can contain one or more
Power3 RISC-based microprocessor.
One analyst says IBM with the Power3 is now able to compete
with Unix leaders Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems.
"They don't win benchmarks, but they stay in the ballpark
with benchmarks," says Joyce Becknell, director and Unix
analyst for the Aberdeen Group. "With the Power3, IBM is
raising the performance and capability, and we'll see
significant upgrades among the customer base."
-- Martin J. Garvey
_______EMC Heads New Storage Area Network Alliance_______
An alliance of storage vendors has formed to promote
interoperability between heterogeneous components operating
across a storage area network. The FibreAlliance comprises
12 vendors, including EMC; Hewlett-Packard's storage
division; Fibre Channel hub and switch vendors Ancor
Communications, Gadzoox Networks, and Vixel; and software
vendors Legato Systems Inc. and Veritas Software Corp.
All charter members of FibreAlliance are working on software
specifications that become a standard Management Information
Block (MIB) within each vendor's management software. Each
vendor writes its own commands for how its product --
whether a storage-management software program for backup, a
host bus adapter between server and storage, or a Fibre
Channel switch -- operates and will interoperate with other
storage devices. If successful, the FibreAlliance MIB will
ensure member products all work with each other. Once
specifications are completed, they will be submitted to
industry boards such as the Internet Engineering Task Force
and the Storage Networking Industry Association.
"The thing that's brought us together is the goal to be
first to market," says Don Swatik, VP of product management
for EMC. "The time has come to stop talking about how great
SANs will be in the future, and start delivering solutions."
-- Martin J. Garvey
Correction:
In yesterday's edition of the InformationWeek Daily, the
speed at which Compaq's new AlphaServer DS20 can move data
between server and outside disk storage was incorrect. It is
500 Mbytes per second.
For more IT news, see InformationWeek Online at
informationweek.com
************************************************
TECH STOCKWATCH (brought to you by the
InformationWeek 100)
Symbol.....Company...................Close Price....% Change
Yesterday's Winners:
ICO.....InaCom.........................14-5/8........+12.0%
AMD......AMD...........................24-15/16......+8.7%
DELL.....Dell.........................108.............+8.0%
ORCL.....Oracle........................59-1/8........+6.8%
PSQL.....Platinum Software.............11-7/16.......+5.8%
Yesterday's Losers:
DCTM.....Documentum....................21-1/4.......-8.9%
IFMX.....Informix......................10............-8.6%
HYSL.....Hyperion Solutions...........17-9/32.......-8.1%
MICA.....MicroAge.....................15-5/8........-7.1%
CHKPF....Check Point Software.........45-3/8........-6.4%
These results are based on the InformationWeek
100, a select sample of influential technology
companies. For updated stock quotes of the
InformationWeek 100, visit
informationweek.com
************************************************
CALENDAR
o March 29-31, Year 2000 National Symposium Series, The
Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans: Get guidance and insight to
bring your Y2K projects to a successful completion; phone
508-393-3266 or visit brainstorm-group.com
o April 21-23, How To Prepare For Year 2000 Customer
Concerns, Complaints And Disruptions, Westin River North,
Chicago: Focus on anticipating, preventing, and minimizing
Y2K-related problems through contingency planning; phone
800-882-8684 or check out iqpc.com
o May 18, Year 2000 Critical Business Issues: Making Plans
For A Soft Landing, Denver Hilton South, Denver: Learn what
to expect as the millennium approaches, how to identify
critical stakeholders, and how to make contingency plans;
phone 978-470-3880 or go to dci.com
For more IT shows and events, visit
InformationWeek Online Date Book at
informationweek.com
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CMP CAREER DIRECT
High-tech job opportunities nationwide
1) CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE--TX. IXC COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
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lendingtree.com
4) High Tech Jobs Online. Use DICE, it works!
dice.com
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~~~~ Sponsored by CANDLE CORPORATION.~~~~
Do you need to detect problems before they explode into a crisis?
Two choices: Get a crystal ball or LET CANDLE SOFTWARE
ALERT YOU WHEN YOUR APPLICATION SLOWS DOWN (before
your users get on the phone!). ENTER TO WIN a report on your
company's application response. Visit us at:
candle.com
=============================================
__________________________________________________
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