enterprise

RIM responds to BlackBerry ban in Middle East

Research In Motion says its customer information is secure despite reports that the company may make some concessions to the United Arab Emirates to loosen up the data security on its BlackBerry networks.

On Sunday, the UAE said it would block e-mail, instant messaging, and Web browsing on BlackBerry devices starting October 11 if it fails to reach an agreement with RIM to bring BlackBerry services in the region in line with UAE telecommunications regulations. Reports also say the Kuwaiti government has asked RIM to cut off access to porn sites, and Saudi Arabia wants RIM's Messenger app shut off.

Facing a ban of key services, RIM is reportedly considering some concessions to address the UAE's concerns over the tight security of the BlackBerry network, according to Reuters, citing reports from several newspapers. The UAE has complained that the strong security used to encrypt the data of BlackBerry customers violates its own regulations and prevents it from monitoring such data in the name of national security.

But on Tuesday, RIM issued a statement to its customers, telling them that their data is secure.

In its statement, the company explained that data on its BlackBerry Enterprise Server network is encrypted so that no one, not even RIM, can access it. RIM added that it would be unable to "accommodate any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key since at no time does RIM, or any wireless network operator, ever possess a copy of the key." The company explained that it doesn't possess a "master key" nor does any "back door" exist that would allow RIM or a third party to gain access to the key or the data.… Read more

Task master

For some professionals, keeping track of what's going on in the workplace is as simple as using the calendar and to-do list in Microsoft Outlook. For others, there are numerous employees, clients, projects, tasks, and details that need to be managed. Easy Tracker 2009 Enterprise - Time & Billing Manager is a comprehensive project management tool that gives both employees and supervisors the tools they need to keep track of what needs to be done and the time spent doing it.

Easy Tracker is actually comprised of a suite of applications, including the Pro and Lite versions and a … Read more

Jive Software makes its social enterprise move

Jive Software is getting cozier with Twitter and Google in an effort to grab the lead in so-called social business.

In a series of deals (statement, Techmeme), Jive said it is putting its software on the Google App Marketplace. in addition, Jive is licensing the Twitter Firehouse and integrating it with its core suite. The general theme: Provide access to 65 million Tweets a day via its social business software.

Add it up and Jive's effort is to be more like a Facebook for the enterprise and integrate real-time data into business apps. Sound familiar? It is. Multiple companies--namely … Read more

VMware teams up with Novell on Suse Linux

VMware will standardize its virtual appliance-based products on Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server, a move intended to help ward off a growing threat from Microsoft.

Under the partnership, announced this week, customers buying certain vSphere licenses will be eligible to receive a subscription to Suse Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) patches and updates for SLES instances deployed in vSphere virtual machines. The companies are also working to make it easier to port SLES-based virtual machines across clouds.

VMware offers virtual appliances--self-contained virtual machines preconfigured with an OS and the application--as a way of making them easier to deploy and maintain. … Read more

Cloud computing's secret sauce

Vivek Kundra, the federal government's first CIO, said recently that he likes cloud computing because it provides "access to powerful technology resources faster and at lower costs."

That's a great reason and perhaps it will be the key underlying drive behind cloud computing's increased popularity as an IT delivery mechanism. But should it be the reason? That is, are there other, better reasons to move to the cloud?

Yes, there are. Among them, as Dan Woods points out, is the increased control that end users, and not just IT, gains over critical IT infrastructure. While … Read more

Sleek and simple editor

Image editors are a dime a dozen these days, and a lot of them just aren't worth messing with. Image Editor and Converter Pro, however, is. It's not going to replace Photoshop, but it's a well-designed program that puts the most common photo-editing functions at your fingertips.

The program's interface is clearly modeled after Office 2007, which makes it extremely easy to navigate. Users simply open the image they want to edit and access the program's various tools through a set of well-organized tabs. The Edit tab contains basics, such as rotation, flipping, cropping, and … Read more

McAfee updates firewall hardware for enterprises

McAfee announced Tuesday the release of its new Firewall Enterprise 8 appliance, touting it as the next generation in firewall devices. The company is targeting the new firewall at security administrators trying to protect their networks from the growing threats of malware and hackers.

IT administrators will be able to set up and enforce policies to filter out thousands of different applications that can sometimes sneak past traditional firewalls, according to McAfee. By tapping into McAfee's cloud-based services and networks, users of the new Firewall Enterprise hardware should be able to keep up with newly developed malware and other … Read more

Meat the crew of the Starship Enterprise

Looking at this decidedly non-vegetarian Enterprise model, you might think, "Well, gee whiz, how hard can it be to make a replica of Captain Kirk's starship?"

It's not as easy as it looks. Trust me. This one looks much sturdier than the one my friend and I tried to make for a gingerbread house contest back in high school. Pro tip: Gingerbread does not, in fact, support the weight of the peppermint stick warp nacelles.

Nor does making a gingerbread Enterprise make the ladies flock to you.

(Via Gizmodo)

Gartner: Blended enterprise architecture on the way

Companies are not only aware of the number of enterprise architecture designs but will soon embrace their diversity, according to a new report from analyst firm Gartner.

Gartner analysts predict that 95 percent of companies will support multiple approaches to enterprise architecture (EA) by 2015 and that the majority of clients will need to support a mixture of more than one of these approaches based on their business needs.

The important thing to note is the realization that enterprises will have no choice but to blend these architecture types into one larger strategy. Gone are days of attempting to strictly … Read more

Mobile propping up enterprise IT

Despite Gartner projecting a 5.3 percent increase in IT spending in 2010 over 2009, and IT vendors reporting rosy earnings, venture capitalists have been moving away from investing as much in enterprise IT in the past several years. As The Wall Street Journal reports, IT represented 53 percent of VC deals in 2001 but it has plummeted to 33 percent in 2009.

It's not as if those VCs are holding their money. They're actively investing in health care, green tech, and other sectors...

...like mobile.

The irony with mobile is that while it's siphoning away VC … Read more