By Computerworld Philippines Staff
August 27, 2010

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has announced a new security gateway, the Series 80 Appliance, designed for remote and branch offices and delivering 1.5 gigabit performance for under US$2,500. The new Series 80 Appliance is based on the Check Point Software Blade Architecture and provides the same security and flexibility enjoyed by larger offices and enterprises.

Check Point Series 80 Appliance includes several software blades including firewall, IPS, VPN, anti-virus and anti-malware, URL filtering, anti-spam and email security software. The new appliance delivers the best price/performance in its class with less than US$1.6/Mbps for firewall and US$5.6/Mbps for IPS. In addition, it offers the highest port density with 10 GbE ports to manage the entire branch network in one appliance and come in a small desktop form factor ideal for remote branch offices. The Series 80 Appliance is based on Check Point security technologies that today secure 100 percent of the Fortune 100.

“Enterprises are demanding more protection, faster performance and increased simplicity to protect their entire network from data centers to the smallest branch offices,” said Dorit Dor, vice president of products at Check Point Software Technologies. “Our new Series 80 Appliance is stronger in security, faster in performance but smaller in size and price and provides companies greater security at the ends of their network, the branch offices.”

The Check Point Series 80 Appliance can be activated in one single click by corporate IT and then deployed locally within minutes without additional corporate support. Security administrators can define policies for branch offices from a single, centrally located Check Point Security Management console. These policies, along with other security profiles, can be automatically applied to remote office Series gateways to simplify deployment, reduce IT overhead and maintain strong security consistency.

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LONDON - Intel said Thursday it plans to acquire security vendor McAfee in a cash deal valued at about $7.68 billion and aimed at enhancing the chip maker’s mobile strategy.

Both boards of directors have approved the deal, and McAfee is expected to become a subsidiary within Intel’s Software and Services Group. McAfee develops a variety of security software for end-users and enterprises, including antivirus applications, firewalls and intrusion protection systems.

Intel said that the current approach to security does not address the full range of Internet-connected devices, including TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines. “Hardware-enhanced security” will be needed to counter increasingly sophisticated threats, said Renée James, Intel senior vice president, and general manager of the group.

McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt wrote in a blog post that “current cybersecurity model isn’t extensible across the proliferating spectrum of devices.”

“The industry needed a paradigm shift, incremental improvements can’t bridge the opportunity gap,” DeWalt wrote. “There is no better partner that we could have found than Intel.”

Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini said during a conference that the deal illustrates what Intel regards as the three most important pillars of computing today: energy efficiency, Internet connectivity and security. Everywhere Intel sells a microprocessor is also an opportunity for a security sale as well, he said.

“We believe that security will be most effective when enabled in hardware,” Otellini said. Intel will continue to work with other security vendors as well, he said.

Security technology needs to be combined with hardware in order to deter new threats, said James during the call. Intel will bolster its hardware with technology that comes from McAfee’s current products, she said. The first results of that collaboration will be announced next year, she said.

The deal is expected to close after McAfee shareholder approval and regulatory clearances. Intel said the acquisition will have on a GAAP basis a slightly dilutive effect on its earnings in the first year of operations and a flat effect in the second year.

McAfee generated approximately $2 billion in revenue in 2009, and has about 6,100 employees. The company has had double-digit growth over the last year and was an attractive acquisition target, and rumors had been circulating for some time, said Ruggero Contu, senior research analyst at Gartner.

But an acquisition by Intel is surprising, Contu said. “I would have thought that in terms of synergies, I would have thought other players would have” been better positioned to integrate McAfee into their operations, he said.

Intel would be wise to continue McAfee’s successful consumer security software business, as it has been bringing in increased revenue, Contu said. In terms of the overall security market, the acquisition is likely to have an impact on Symantec, as it is McAfee’s most direct competitor, Contu said.

“We’ll see how it shakes out,” Contu said.

The deal brings Intel a wealth of security technologies, such as encryption, data loss prevention and Web messaging, said Chris Christiansen, program vice president for analyst IDC. McAfee has a large network security business, and its engineers will now have access to Intel’s manufacturing processes, advanced engineering capabilities and chip designs.

The premium price paid by Intel for McAfee indicates there may have been a bidding war, which is likely to spark a frenzy of acquisitions from other players such as Oracle and IBM, Christiansen said.

“I can’t imagine that the unsuccessful bidders will simply just go away,” he said.

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Computerworld Philippines
July 20, 2010

The likelihood of businesses in Asia Pacific to lose customers who are dissatisfied with their contact center interaction to the competition in 2010 is as high as 47%, says an annual Contact Center Consumer Index 2010 report generated by callcentres.net and commissioned by Avaya.

The report found that 10% of dissatisfied respondents said that they had already switched their business elsewhere. These figures come from the annual Avaya Contact Centre Consumer Index 2010 report generated by callcentres.net and commissioned by Avaya. It surveyed 1797 consumers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan.

Respondents were asked about their overall satisfaction with their last call to a contact center. A good 69% said they were satisfied while 18% said that they were dissatisfied. Australia topped that list with close to a quarter (24%) of dissatisfied respondents. Across the region, respondents who did not feel strongly happy with their last interaction with a contact center blamed the inability to resolve their problem or because it took too long to resolve their call. Singapore was the only market where respondents felt that a long holding time was the primary reason why they were unhappy. 36% of all respondents regard poor customer service as a key factor in switching to a competitor.

“We have conducted this survey with Avaya for three years and the trend is clear,” said Dr Catriona Wallace, Director, callcentres.net. “There is a strong and growing correlation between a customer’s contact center experience and their loyalty. Indeed in Asia Pacific a customer having a single poor contact center experience results in a 47% chance that the customer will move his or her business to a competitor. These are compelling results confirming the strategic importance of the contact center,” she added

A quarter of respondents (24%) believed that a quick response time is what a company’s contact center should offer to them to be rated truly excellent. This is an increase from 21% a year ago. Other determining factors are politeness (13% of respondents Vs. 10% a year ago) and having access to a knowledgeable customer service representative (10% of respondents Vs 14% a year ago). The most significant driver of customer engagement in Asia Pacific is the ability for the contact center to resolve the customer’s enquiry during the first call or contact, which is technically known as first call or first contact resolution.

“The 2010 Contact Center Consumer Index shows what consumers want when they call into a Contact Center,” said Chong Win Lee, Avaya APAC Contact Centre Solutions Leader at Avaya. “Organizations must tailor customer service strategies to meet the requirements of an increasingly demanding customer base. If a company understands the level of service its customers expect and enables this through the channels and technology the consumer wants to use, the business can truly differentiate itself by being a Customer Service Leader – meaning better retention and new customer acquisition.”–Melba Bernad

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
July 13, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Consumer Reports magazine today said it won’t recommend Apple’s iPhone 4 because of major reception issues when users touch the external antenna. One analyst called the publication’s conclusion a “black eye” for Apple.

“When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side — an easy thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal,” said Mike Gikas, the publication’s senior electronics editor in a blog post Monday. Consumer Reports non-recommendation — “Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4,” Gikas said — is the latest in a series of knocks against the iPhone 4 over reception problems.

Complaints from consumers about the iPhone 4 dropping calls surfaced within hours of the smartphone ’s launch last month. Apple quickly acknowledged that holding the iPhone 4 can diminish the signal but offered only generic advice, telling users to “avoid gripping it in the lower left corner” or “use one of the many available cases.” A week later, Apple admitted that the iPhone 4’s signal strength formula was flawed and promised to update the software.

Consumer Reports’s Gikas dismissed that explanation as a red herring. “Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4’s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software,” he said.

The magazine tested three iPhone 4s in its radio frequency (RF) isolation chamber, where a cell tower emulator was used to simulate real-world signals. Gikas said that the publication’s engineers also tested several other AT&T phones in the chamber, including the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. “None of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4,” he said.

Gikas said that the tests hinted that “AT&T’s network might not be the primary suspect” in the iPhone 4 woes, quashing talk by some that the U.S. carrier is largely at fault.

“Consumer Reports carries some weight,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. “But I’m not sure how many people are actually reading it. Certainly, not many 20-somethings are.”

Still, the magazine’s testing and conclusion is bad for Apple on several levels. “This is a black eye for Apple,” Gold said. “Now people can say, ‘See, we told you it has reception problems.’”
Gold speculated that the antenna issue either escaped Apple’s notice, or that the company knew of it and still released the iPhone 4. “This is basic cell phone 101,” he said, referring to testing Apple should have done prior to launching the smartphone. “RF [radio frequency] is a sort of like black magic, so in order to make sure [handsets] work, cell phone makers have beta devices in the real world running around.” But Apple, with its fondness for security, may have skimped on that part of its pre-release testing.

Consumer Reports also concluded that covering the antenna gap — the small scores in the steel band near the bottom of each side of the iPhone 4 — with duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material helps reduce the reception problem. “It may not be pretty, but it works,” said Gikas.

That advice contradicts an antenna engineer’s take two weeks ago that suggestions to tape over the gaps were just “hokum.”
Consumer Reports continued to recommend 2009’s iPhone 3GS. Last year’s model is priced at $99 in an 8GB configuration, and is available at Apple’s and AT&T’s online stores.

“To me, [the reception issues] are fundamental problems that show Apple didn’t properly test the iPhone 4,” said Gold. “And I’m not so sure that the software update will fix it.”

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Melba-Jean V. Bernad
Computerworld Philippines
July 8, 2010

Banks offering mobile payment services must wake up to the threat of malware viruses or risk having to play catch-up with criminals, Ovum has warned.

A new report by the independent technology analyst states that banks should work with mobile network operators and handset vendors to improve security. In addition, they should plan for living with malware and always assume the possibility of an attack.
Graham Titterington, principal analyst at Ovum and report co-author, believes doing nothing is not an option.

“Mobile networks may be intercepted either by breaking the wireless encryption mechanism or by hacking into the wired backbone of the network where encryption is not mandatory under telecommunications standards. IT malware that compromises back-end servers, but is harmless in the wireless environment, may be passed through the mobile banking interface,” said Titterington.

Ovum believes defense has to be designed incrementally to a level that is at least equivalent to that deployed in Internet banking. However, mobile security must not be simply a copy of Internet security. While many of the concerns and strategies are similar, the approach must be tailored to the characteristics of the channel and the way in which it is used.

In addition, security must not detract from usability. Ovum believes security must be unobtrusive enough not to interfere with normal transaction flows, but at the same time provide users with the confidence to know that their banking activities are protected.

“Banks must adopt a ‘defense in depth’ strategy to detect and limit the effects of an attack,” said Titterington. “Network vulnerabilities can be avoided by adopting end-to-end encryption of transactions, independent of any encryption provided by the network operator.

“The main objection to this in the past has been the limited computational power of the mobile device, but the time has come to reject this argument as mobile devices become more powerful. Encryption, while not a panacea, protects against eavesdropping, message alteration, and ‘man-in-the-middle’ attacks.”

The report adds that banks should be particularly rigorous in checking the creation of new payment mandates, while emphasizing ease of use when making further payments using an existing payment instruction. It recommends that banks should consider offering to reverse payments made in error, as they do with direct debit payments, even if fraud is not proven.

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By Computerworld Philippines Staff
June 29, 2010

We are I.T. Philippines, Inc. (WIT), a satellite service provider based in the Philippines, claims it has successfully provided satellite services for the 79% of the Municipal and Provincial Canvassing Centers in the Philippines’ 1st Automated Elections.

BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) was primarily used to transmit data from remote polling centers, while VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) was used in municipal and provincial canvassing centers. In some instances, BGANs were used to transmit data from polling centers located in urban areas due to reliability challenges of the Telcos.

We are I.T. Philippines, Inc. (WIT) was contracted by Smartmatic TIM to provide turnkey satellite connectivity services after a lengthy international tender process. More than 600 VSAT and 5000 BGAN services were used by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) to render secure and reliable connectivity services, thus making this the biggest single deployment of satellite services in the world.

“The service provided by WIT was crucial at the Canvassing level bringing electoral data from polling centers to 680 places using VSATs and others 681 Canvassing centers using BGANs. Additional to this, 4,819 polling centers where assigned BGANs as the transmission media. These figures represented 79% of the Canvassing Centers, a percentage that shows the importance of WIT in the success of the project,” said Angel Diaz, Telecoms Manager of Smartmatic TIM.

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By Emmanuel Amador
June 29, 2010

The best IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) locations in the Philippines were feted awards at the Recognition Night for the Top Ten Next Wave Cities 2010, held at the Cebu Sports Club last June 22 in Cebu City. Topping this year’s list was Davao City, followed by Sta. Rosa (Laguna) and Bacolod City.

The ranking was based on the Next Wave Cities (NWC) scorecard, an evaluation system established by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Iloilo City, Metro Cavite, Lipa City, Cagayan de Oro City, Malolos City, Baguio City and Dumaguete City placed fourth to tenth on the list respectively.

In addition to naming the Top 10 BPO locations, the NWC evaluation also moved Angeles-Clark from Next Wave City status to an Established IT-BPO Hub, joining Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. Metro Cebu and Metro Clark were also recognized as Centers for Excellence.

The general criteria of the 2010 NWC scorecard are the availability of graduates and workers, infrastructure, cost, and business environment. These criteria were further broken down to consider relevant factors such as the presence of higher educational institutions, capacity to absorb new employment requirements, quality of roads, access to domestic and international air travel, the presence of fiber-optic network providers, availability of property sites, cost of labor and office space, regulatory fees and taxes, vulnerability to natural disasters, reliability of utilities, the peace and order situation, and the presence of PEZA-approved facilities and ICT councils.

In a short presentation during the event, CICT Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III noted the importance of the IT-BPO sector to the continued growth of the region. Chua pointed out that the sector had not only recovered from the global financial crisis, but was still growing and providing more jobs that allowed workers to stay in the Philippines.

BPA/P CEO Oscar Sañez followed up with another presentation on managing IT-BPO growth through the NWC initiative. He noted that the availability of qualified and competent local talent was still the most important factor for choosing the Philippines as an outsourcing location.

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By Emmanuel Amador
Computerworld Philippines
June 28, 2010

The University of Cebu (UC) and IBM Philippines launched a partnership called the “Earn As You Learn” (EAYL) Program in simple ceremonies at the school’s Banilad campus in Cebu City last June 22.

The first of its kind in the Philippines, the UC-IBM partnership is based on a successful collaboration between IBM and the University of Ballarat in Australia. The EAYL program consists of a new undergraduate course that combines a specialized curriculum with real-world experience in a professional IT environment. The EAYL is incorporated into UC’s eight-semester degree program, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology - Professional Practice.

IBM worked with UC to design the new course, recommending subjects to supplement the curriculum. IBM training material on topics such as business conduct, data security and privacy, database management, data analytics, and software quality assurance will also be provided. IBM subject matter experts will lecture on special topics and conduct continuous training for UC faculty.

“We are excited to work with one of the giants in the IT industry,” said Ms. Candice Gotianuy, UC Chancellor. “When IBM approached us and inquired if we were interested, we didn’t just say yes, we asked ‘when?’”

The EAYL officially began at the start of the 2010-2011 school year last June 15 with 16 scholars. The scholars were formally accepted into the program at the launch event, which was attended by the scholars’ parents’, top IBM executives, school and city government officials, and the media.

This is something exciting for both the university an the students,” said Dr. Ofelia Maña, UC - Banilad Campus Director. “If we provide our students with the right IT skill set and relevant work experience, we help ensure a healthy pipeline of competent IT graduates for the future,” she added.

GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION

The partnership with UC is part of IBM Philippines’ geographic expansion efforts to reach new markets and transfer technology beyond its traditional Metro Manila client base. “Global demand for IT is growing is growing now more than ever. It spurs economic growth across all industries and economies. This collaboration will help address issues that collectively impact the IT industry,” said Mr. James Velasquez, President and Country General Manager of IBM Philippines. “It will help bridge gaps and address the shortage of competent IT professionals in Cebu City.”

Velasquez further explained that what would attract further investment from large players such as IBM would be a city’s openness to innovation, responsiveness to the demands of industry, and cooperation from the local government.

The launch was also attended by outgoing Cebu City Mayor and Congressman-elect Tomas Osmeña, who expressed appreciation for the new and timely training opportunities brought about by the EAYL program. Osmeña noted that for the first time, Cebu was not facing a shortage of jobs but instead a surplus of job openings particularly in the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry without qualified candidates to fill them.

“We can’t keep on doing the same old routine of just cranking out graduates without a clear idea of where they will be going,” Osmeña said. He added that he was confident the new local administration of Cebu City would work with the private sector to train competent graduates who can qualify for high-paying jobs.

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Stephanie Overby
CIO US
June 11, 2010

What a difference a year makes.

In a few days, the Black Book of Outsourcing will release its annual ranking of the most dangerous outsourcing spots around the globe, as perceived by outsourcing buyers and corporate development leaders. The research, which also recognizes the most reliable offshore outsourcing hot spots, is chock full of changes in the rankings.

Not surprisingly, Karachi, Pakistan, Medellin, Colombia, and Juarez, Mexico earned the dubious distinction of most dangerous outsourcing hubs this year, given the growing geopolitical issues, crime and corruption, the threat of terrorism, and currency fluctuations associated with those cities.

But Bogota, Colombia–2009’s most dangerous city for outsourcing–now sits somewhere in the middle of the 160 outsourcing destinations included in the survey. And five of the six Indian cities cited last year as risky bets now rank securely among the 25 safest.

The annual survey of offshore outsourcing location risk, conducted by the Datamonitor Group (formerly the Brown-Wilson Group), asked 3,100 corporate development leaders, including more than 400 outsourcing customers, to indicate their company’s inclination to consider specific offshore locations for outsourcing (including IT outsourcing and BPO). The survey also asked respondents to rank those cities on various perceived threats and weaknesses, including geopolitical risk, terrorist threats, climate concerns, legal maturity, environmental waste and pollution, IT and telecom infrastructure security, and crime rates.

For Bogota, whose scores in the areas of local strife, corruption and organized crime, unstable currency, and unprotected infrastructure improved in 2010, the rise in the rankings may be the result of a targeted public relations effort.

“Bogota conducted a message-focused media campaign to separate itself as a safer city from the rest of Colombia and as a location with decreasing risk potential,” explains Datamonitor Research Director Doug Brown, noting that the government commissioned reports from consultants, trumpeted improving crime statistics, and purchased advertising.

“[Looking at] actual statistics, Bogota has made some noted improvements in areas which threaten business operations, but it’s difficult to say if this perception increase is the result of marketing or actual progress,” Brown adds.

India’s gains may be more reality-based. Terrorist attacks, infrastructure problems, monsoons, and American protectionism in 2008 may have created a more negative image of the sub-continent last year, says Brown, but positive experiences helped to improve corporate leaders’ image of India’s outsourcing hubs. Tier two cities Chennai and Pune rose the most of any locations in perceived safety in this year’s survey.

“Clearly, Chennai and Pune made major strides at improving their local police organizations, positively affecting safety for vendor operations in those locations,” says Datamonitor Research Director Scott Wilson. “Vendors have passed news of these improvements along to their clients while maintaining cost advantages.”

Infrastructure stability in those two cities has also improved, with customers reporting fewer outages, Wilson adds.

Prague, Czech Republic, Warsaw, Poland, and Brno, Czech Republic ranked as the top three safest cities for outsourcing in 2010, while Singapore fell from the top spot to number seven. Both the Czech Republic and Poland boast skilled IT workforces, centers of excellence set up by major multinational corporations such as Accenture and Cap Gemini, and an influx of Indian vendors selling IT outsourcing and business process services to western Europe.

Manila in the Philippines and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia both skated off the most dangerous list for the first time thanks to the success of some key vendors, which put a shine on each city’s standing, says Brown.

Brazil’s metropolises also made strides year-over-year with Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia (both named dangerous in the 2009 list) finally joining Sao Paolo as safe outsourcing spots. Brown credits Rio’s and Brasilia’s improved rankings largely to the “halo effect” of Rio’s winning bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Efforts to reduce crime and corruption, increases in rural workforce training, and a maturing legal system also buffed Brazil’s image, he says.

Johannesburg, while still perceived as dicey, has fallen from third most dangerous city last year to 24th in 2010 as South Africa hosts the World Cup.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, cities that plummeted the most in the annual location risk survey and are now perceived as more risky included Montevideo, Uruguay, Mexico City, Budapest, Hungary, and San Jose, Costa Rica. “Mexico City was hurt by the crime and violence of the border cities,” says Wilson. “The further from the US/Mexico border, the better the perception of Mexican outsourcing locations.”

Meanwhile, Montevideo, Budapest and San Jose simply haven’t produced enough cost savings, skilled workers–or flashy ad campaigns–to increase their attractiveness to outsourcing buyers, says Wilson. He notes that no real changes occurred in each city’s actual risk year-over-year, which leads to an important point: The Datamonitor survey respondents’ take on particular outsourcing hubs aren’t always accurate. Brown and Wilson fact-checked several categories against actual data from such sources as the United Nations and the CIA Fact Book and uncovered several discrepancies.

For example, while those polled said Lagos, Nigeria, Lahore, Pakistan, and Medellin, Colombia were the least safe in terms of violent crime and police protection, in reality Costa Rica, India and Sri Lanka had the fewest police per capita, and the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Brazil had the highest violent crime rate, according to March 2010 statistics from the CIA World Factbook.

Also, Lagos, Lahore and Medellin were thought to have the least secure IT infrastructure, when in fact Bangladesh, Belarus and Ghana have the dubious distinction of the fewest secure internet servers per capita, also according to March figures from the CIA. Lagos, Lahore and Medellin also ranked high in poll taker’s minds when it came to terrorist threats, when Israel, Colombia and Thailand may in fact be more vulnerable, again according to March CIA data.

The survey results demonstrate that when it comes to outsourcing, assumptions often trump actuality. “Even the perception of risk factors such as high crime, corruption or terrorist threat can paralyze a region’s offshore business momentum,” says Brown. “That required sense of security can be destroyed, even in the most vibrant and progressive of communities, entirely on what is perceived by the corporate decision maker.”

The 25 Riskiest Cities for Offshore Outsourcing in 2010

1. Karachi, Pakistan
2. Medellin, Colombia
3. Juarez, Mexico
4. Cali, Columbia
5. Tijuana, Mexico
6. Lahore, Pakistan
7. Jakarta, Indonesia
8. Lagos, Nigeria
9. Dhaka, Bangladesh
10. Chittagong, Bangladesh
11. Amman, Jordan
12. Khulna, Bangladesh
13. Faisalabad, Pakistan
14. Rawalpindi, Pakistan
15. Port-au-Prince Haiti
16. Managua, Nicaragua
17. Chihuahua, Mexico
18. Ljubljana, Slovenia
19. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
20. Bandung, Indonesia
21. Kingston, Jamaica
22. Tel Aviv, Israel
23. Colombo, Sri Lanka
24. Johannesburg, South Africa
25. Accra, Ghana

The 25 Safest Cities for Offshore Outsourcing in 2010

1. Prague, Czech Republic
2. Warsaw, Poland
3. Brno, Czech Republic
4. Krakow, Poland
5. Toronto, Canada
6. Halifax, Canada
7. Singapore, Singapore
8. Dublin, Ireland
9. Kiev, Ukraine
10. Chennai, India
11. Pune, India
12. Wuxi, China
13. Monterrey, Mexico
14. Sao Paolo, Brazil
15. Bangalore, India
16. Beijing, China
17. Santiago, Chile
18. Brasilia, Brazil
19. Mumbai, India
20. Dalian, China
21. Chandigarh, India
22. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
23. Cebu City, Philippines
24. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
25. Kolkata, India

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Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has announced new UTM-1 Edge N and Safe@Office N appliances delivering gigabit firewall performance starting at just US$750. In an easy to deploy desktop solution designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses and branch offices, the unified threat management appliances deliver enterprise-class security, including firewall, Intrusion Prevention (IPS), anti-virus, anti-spam, web filtering and remote access connectivity.

The new UTM-1 Edge N and Safe@Office N appliances are based on the same Check Point technologies that secure 100% of the Fortune 100. These appliances include tightly integrated security and networking features, such as Gigabit Ethernet supporting high-performance networking capabilities and seamless 3G and wireless connectivity supporting the latest IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi standards.

“Small and mid-sized organizations increasingly face the same challenges with security, networking and compliance as larger enterprises, but have far fewer resources to manage such requirements. This is especially challenging when businesses need to establish secure and reliable communication with remote offices, such as retail outlets, branch offices or with broadband teleworkers,” said Dorit Dor, vice president of products at Check Point. “UTM-1 Edge and Safe@Office solutions enable customers to benefit from better security and leading performance in an appliance that is simple to manage and can be deployed in less than 10 minutes.”

Check Point UTM-1 Edge and Safe@Office appliances are all-inclusive, turnkey solutions. UTM-1 Edge enables customers to centrally manage thousands of remote sites from a single enterprise console, ensuring branch offices remain just as secure as corporate sites. With Safe@Office, customers benefit from integrated security and connectivity features out-of-the-box and can be easily managed by a MSSP, providing truly simple deployment for organizations with minimal IT resources. Each appliance comes with built-in management, security updates and support, providing the perfect blend of simplicity and security for small and medium businesses and branch offices.

Check Point UTM-1 Edge N and Safe@Office N appliances can be purchased through the Check Point worldwide network of value-added resellers.

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By Peter Sayer and Chris Kanaracus
IDG News Service (Paris Bureau)
June 2, 2010

PARIS - Hewlett-Packard has announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs as it restructures its enterprise services business and automates the services it offers enterprise customers.

The company has spent the last 20 months integrating EDS, the consultancy and services business it acquired in 2008.

As part of the restructuring, HP will consolidate the data centers and management platforms it uses to deliver enterprise services, taking the opportunity to automate many aspects of its work. That automation and consolidation will allow it to eliminate around 9,000 jobs, it said Tuesday.

The job cuts will come over a number of years, and will force HP to take a charge of around US$1 billion against revenue over the same period. HP expects the changes to result in savings of between $500 million and $700 million after reinvestment.

The first wave of the EDS integration focused on rationalizing legal entities and eliminating redundancies, Cathie Lesjack, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said during a conference call Tuesday. As HP learned more about the business, it has discovered new ways to gain efficiencies, Lesjack said.

After closing on the EDS deal, HP announced plans to lay off about 24,600 workers over three years. HP said at the time it would replace about half of those positions. The cuts announced Tuesday are not part of those reductions, according to a spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, HP believes that over the next five to 10 years, the services industry will be defined by automation, which helps from both a cost and quality perspective, executives said.

“The real value to the client comes through automation,” said Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP’s Enterprise Business division.

The expected savings will help HP expand its push into areas like private cloud infrastructure services and desktop-as-a-service, according to a statement.

The planned job cuts aren’t as severe as they may look, according to Livermore.

Livermore noted that they will occur over multiple years, and that average attrition rates for services businesses is “usually in the high single digits.” HP also plans to hire 6,000 workers as part of the new services initiative.

HP’s move is a natural one given the market forces in play, according to one industry observer.

“This is part of a larger transition at work, with larger vendors establishing cloud-like automated data centers to serve as targets for application off-loading,” said Redmonk analyst Stephen O’Grady.

HP made a big step in that direction in 2007, when it purchased data center automation vendor Opsware for $1.6 billion. The company feels good about its management software portfolio, but plans to make further acquisitions, particularly of the “tuck-in” variety, Livermore said.

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Computerworld Philippines
May 21, 2010

Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site, has ranked fourth in the top 10 most popular phishing targets on the web, overtaking even Google, the IRS and RapidShare, leading secure content management solutions developer Kaspersky Lab said in its latest report.

Company experts Darya Gudkova, Elena Bondarenko and Maria Namestnikova who compiled Kaspersky Lab’s 2010 first quarter Spam Evolution Report said it was the first time that phishing attacks on a social networking site has increased extensively.

“Facebook popped up unexpectedly in fourth place. This was the first time since we started monitoring that attacks on a social networking site have been so prolific,” the authors said in the report.

Currently, Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites with more than 400 million users globally. Having stolen users’ accounts, the fraudsters can then use them to distribute spam, sending bulk emails to the account owners and their friends in the network. This method of distributing spam allows huge audiences to be reached.

Additionally, it lets the fraudsters take advantage of the social networking site’s additional options, like being able to send different requests, links to photos and invitations, all with the advertisement attached, both within the network and to users’ inboxes. Also, while registering accounts, users enter their data (for example, an email address) which the spammers can add to their databases.Facebook accounted 5.7% of the phishing pie. It is more targeted than top search engine Google, which ranked fifth with 3.1% attacks followed by the United States’ revenue service IRS with 2.2% and one of the world’s largest file-hosting sites, RapidShare with 1.8%.
More than half of the phishing pie was taken by e-commerce payment site PayPal with 52.2% followed by online auction and shopping site eBay with 13.3% and banking institution HSBC with 7.8%.
Meanwhile, the report said that during the first quarter of the year the percentage of phishing emails averaged 0.57% of the total volume of spam email traffic, which averaged at 85.2%.
The report also stated that Asia remained the leading source of spam among continents with 31.7% and followed closely by Europe 30.6% of spam being distributed from its territory.
By country, the United States of America maintained the lead with 16% followed as followed by India 7% and Russia 6%.

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By Jon Brodkin
Network World (US)
May 14, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Microsoft was never exactly in danger of losing the office software market to new rival Google, but Wednesday’s release of Microsoft Office 2010 and related products will ensure that Microsoft remains the top choice of enterprise IT executives, analysts say.

Microsoft Wednesday announced worldwide availability of the 2010 editions of Office, SharePoint, Visio and Microsoft Project, along with new Web-based capabilities designed to stem the momentum Google has achieved in the cloud software market.

For businesses looking to save money and relieve pressure on its IT staff, Google Apps will remain a viable option, analysts say. But so far, few companies are choosing Google over Microsoft and enhancements to Office may make them even less likely to do so.

“In the business space, it’s hard to see what Google’s advantages are,” says Forrester analyst Sheri McLeish. “It’s really, at this point, Google’s turn to try to woo away Office customers. To date, we haven’t seen from large businesses a strong desire to move away from Office. It meets their needs, even though it is costly from a licensing prospect.”

Google’s had great traction with Gmail, McLeish notes, and has released many updates to Google Docs and other office tools in recent weeks that close some of the functionality gap between Google and Microsoft.

But as of today, only 4% of businesses are supporting the enterprise version of Google Apps, whereas 81% of businesses support Microsoft Office 2007, 57% support Microsoft Office 2003 and earlier versions, and 10% support the open source OpenOffice. While Google gets almost all the media hype surrounding cloud-based office tools, Forrester’s survey has Google barely ahead of Zoho, another online office suite, which is supported in 3% of businesses. The numbers are based on 115 enterprises and small-to-midsize business customers surveyed in the first quarter.

Office 2010 counters some of Google’s innovations in Web-based applications and concurrent editing of documents, says Burton Group analyst Guy Creese. Tight integration between Office and SharePoint will make it easier for enterprise users to collaborate, he says.

“Office 2010 is no longer just the productivity suite. It’s a full-blown collaboration system now,” Creese says.

Microsoft is still in danger of scaring customers away with higher prices and punitive licensing terms, however. For businesses that don’t need all the capabilities of Microsoft Office the $50 per user per year price of Google Apps will remain very attractive, Creese says.

“If someone is looking at Google Apps to save money, the new version of Office is not going to change that one iota,” he says.

Part of Microsoft’s value proposition is the suite of Office Web Apps, which let users store, edit and share documents online. Office Web Apps will now be available to all “Office volume licensing customers,” or through a separate subscription, Microsoft said.

Google is making its own marketing push this week with multiple blog posts touting the capabilities and low cost of Google Apps. In one such post, titled “Upgrade Here,” Google tries to convince customers to use Google Docs in addition to Microsoft Office rather than as a full replacement.

“This week Microsoft will take its Office 2010 suite out of beta. If you’re considering upgrading Office with Office, we’d encourage you to consider an alternative: upgrading Office with Google Docs,” writes Google enterprise product management director Matthew Glotzbach. “Of course, you probably already own Office 2003 or 2007 (or maybe Office 2000?), and there’s no need to uninstall them. Fortunately, Google Docs also makes Office 2003 and 2007 better. For example, you can store any file – including Microsoft Office documents – in Google’s cloud and share them in their original format (protected, naturally by Google’s synchronous replication across data centers). Plus, in the coming months, Google will enable real-time collaboration directly in Office 2003 and 2007.”

Google’s pitch, that it can be both a replacement for Microsoft and a Microsoft add-on, reflects the reality that the vast majority of businesses have already installed Microsoft Office and would find it difficult to rip their deployments out. Google’s decision to run Gmail directly in the Microsoft Outlook client is a testament to the fact that business users like Office, McLeish says.

But with Microsoft increasingly offering online options, businesses looking for a hybrid approach may find it easier to go with just one vendor. While Microsoft’s Web applications don’t have the rich capabilities found in the packaged software version, Creese says “the visual fidelity is very much higher than it is in Google Apps. If you bring up a Word document in a browser it looks exactly the same as it does in the regular Microsoft Office.”

For most businesses that adopt alternatives to Microsoft Office, they will simply be used as complementary tools, not replacements, Forrester found in its survey.

One-third of businesses plan to upgrade to Office 2010 within a year, and two-thirds plan to do so within the next two or three years, McLeish writes in a blog post. The decision for many is a no-brainer because their current licenses contain provisions for the upgrade to 2010, and the Web-based capabilities make the new version more attractive, she writes.

“With Office 2010 workers at last have the ability to access, edit, and share their Office content anywhere with an Internet connection by saving files directly to Web Apps for business or SharePoint 2010,” McLeish writes. “Microsoft gains here by offering more options for access to its apps, whether online or offline, web-based or desktop-bound.”

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By Chris Kanaracus
IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)
May 13, 2010

BOSTON - SAP is buying mobile and database vendor Sybase for roughly US$5.8 billion, the company announced Wednesday.

The all-cash offer of $65.00 per share amounts to a 44 percent premium over Sybase’s three-month average stock price, according to SAP. Sybase’s board has voted unanimously in favor of the deal, which requires clearance by antitrust officials, SAP said.

The pending deal would significantly expand the technological portfolio of SAP, which is known most of all for its ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.

“They’re investing in two areas they think will be important for them,” namely mobile technology and in-memory databases, both areas where Sybase is strong, said Ray Wang, partner with Altimeter Group.

In-memory processing is a particular interest of SAP co-founder and chairman Hasso Plattner, who has predicted it will reshape the enterprise application arena thanks to the performance improvement it can provide over databases that must read from and write to disks.

In a statement, SAP said its own in-memory technology would boost the capabilities of Sybase’s database platform.

Meanwhile, the deal raises questions about SAP’s relationships with other mobile technology companies, such as Research in Motion, said 451 Group analyst China Martens via e-mail.

“They made a big deal of when they announced the relationship with Sybase about how it was nonexclusive and how they hold very dear the partnership with RIM,” Martens said. SAP formed a strategic partnership with Sybase in March 2009 focused on mobile applications.

Sybase’s database is a less common option for running SAP applications in part due to historical compatibility issues with older SAP platforms. In addition, SAP currently sends lucrative business toward rival Oracle, as it resells the latter’s database. Those dynamics could change with Sybase’s technology coming under SAP’s roof.

But SAP will also gain a new doorway into financial services, where Sybase has a strong presence.

Both companies’ product road maps will be preserved, as will their development groups, but “the opportunity to cross-collaborate” will be there, SAP said.

Company officials are scheduled to discuss the deal further in a conference call Wednesday.

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Computerworld Philippines Staff
May 13, 2010

Uratex, a family-owned Philippine-based business which specializes in foam, plastic and metal products for the automotive, industrial and domestic consumer markets, announced that they have gained significant improvements in profitability and operational efficiency since partnering with IBM and Bayantrade. Their collaboration was to implement an SAP Business All-in-One solution on an IBM System x server, leveraging the business benefits of IBM System Storage and the operational strengths of IBM DB2 software. The ERP solutions initially ran at just two sites but grew eventually across the entire organization, composed of 11 manufacturing sites with around 1,600 employees.

Each Uratex manufacturing site had its own business system, and even between locations there were difficulties in exchanging information. Sales order information would frequently be re-keyed several times into different production systems, and overproduction and overstocking inventories was common. In addition, each unit operated its own general ledger, inventory, point of sale and order handling system.

With the SAP solution in place, finished goods inventory was cut by 90 percent from two months to five days, releasing cash to the business. The integrated order-to-cash process ensured that production volumes match sales orders, reducing waste and increasing efficiency.

Uratex chose SAP Business All-in-One largely for the embedded business practices, and chose to run it on IBM technology because of its excellent reputation for quality and reliability.

The SAP software runs on an IBM System x3650 server, more than capable of handling the workload of the entire Uratex group, as it can be upgraded to meet the rising workload via disk capacity increase, offering a stable and reliable solution for continuing operations. Uratex selected IBM DB2 to provide information management as it offers easy database integration with SAP applications and easy database administration, which will help reduce costs and boost efficiency.

“Before, we literally had tens of thousands of products, and a large order might be manufactured across several sites. Multiple data entry was a waste of effort and it tended to introduce errors, so sites would often over-produce ‘just to be on the safe side,’ so to speak,” said Peachy Medina, Managing Director of Uratex.

Medina relates there was no embedded process control. For example, when an under-pressure sales person could not find the correct product code, it was quicker simply to enter a new code in the relevant field in order to process the order. Or again, if a customer returned an order, it was easier to generate a credit and sort out whether the goods had actually arrived at a later stage. “In both cases, although we offered speedy and helpful customer service, our lack of discipline made it very hard to identify true profitability and improve our business processes,” Medina explained.

According to Medina, the solution has immediately resulted in better process controls and a simpler way of working that makes it easier for the company to build the business.

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By James Niccolai
IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)
April 30, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Google’s top energy executive has offered some simple steps for making data centers more energy-efficient, including raising the thermostat to 80 degrees Fahrenheit — or 27 degrees Celsius — to cut down on cooling costs.

Data center staff at some companies walk around in jackets because the buildings are kept so cold, said Bill Weihl, Google’s “green energy czar,” at the GreenNet conference in San Francisco on Thursday. “In our facilities, the data center guys are often wearing shorts and t-shirts,” he said.

The tips he offered have been batted around at data center conferences for a few years, but it’s likely that many companies still aren’t making use of them — especially to the degree Google does at its own tightly-run facilities.

By taking fairly basic steps, most data centers could lower their PUE to 1.5, Weihl said, compared to an industry average of 2.0 or more. PUE, or Power Usage Effectiveness, measures the total energy consumed by a data center against how much actually reaches the IT equipment.

Cutting energy use in data centers has become critical for many businesses. Capacity constraints, rising energy costs and the threat of carbon legislation have made the issue an urgent one for some companies.

The first place to look for savings is in the cooling and power distribution systems that account for about half of data center energy consumption, Weihl said.

His first tip is to keep cold air used for cooling servers separate from the hot air that gets generated after cooling. This hot aisle/cold aisle containment is often done with a plastic roof laid over the server aisles and heavy plastic curtains, like those used in meat lockers, at each end for access.

Some companies are already doing this in large data centers. Google appears to do it even in smaller server rooms, judging from a photograph Weihl showed of a “small, couple-of-hundred-kilowatts” facility. The photo showed large metal plates as well as the plastic curtains to contain the aisles.

He also suggested running data centers at higher temperatures. Google typically runs its data centers at 80 Fahrenheit, he said, compared to a norm of 70 degrees or lower. “Look at the rated inlet temperature for your hardware. If the server can handle 90 degrees then turn the heat up to 85, even 88 degrees,” Weihl said.

His third tip, “giving your chillers a rest,” requires a bit more work. Chillers, which are basically giant air conditioners, can be supplemented with fresh air cooling — using outside air to cool the data center — and evaporative cooling towers, which use water evaporation to aid cooling, much as the human body uses perspiration.

He also recommends virtualization to improve utilization rates, turning on the power management tools that come with most equipment, and investing in newer, more power-efficient equipment. “In almost all cases it’s worth your money to buy a more efficient component up front, then you’ll save in energy costs over the life of the equipment,” he said.

PCs, printers and other client devices account for the biggest share of emissions from IT and communications gear, Weihl said, citing The Climate Group’s Smart 2020 report. “But the data center side is growing a lot more quickly, and that’s something we’ve got to get a handle on.”

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Computerworld Philippines Staff
April 29, 2010

JMango, an international mobile company, announced today that it has formally opened its Manila office, choosing the Philippines as its international headquarters for the development of mobile applications.

JMango Chief Executive Ilan Oosting said the Philippines is an excellent location for us to expand our Asia-Pacific and global operations as the skills levels are very high. We see exponential growth for our business and we plan to hire many more local workers,” said Oosting, revealing that the Philippine team, under the guidance of general manager Neil Matheson, has already starting to produce some world-class mobile apps.

“The Philippines currently has 73 million mobile users, and we plan on being at the forefront of delivering customized mobile applications to this market, with several already slated for release in the near future,” noted Oosting.

JMango said it had formally created a Philippines subsidiary company and planned to make Manila its global software development base. JMango also announced today that it has formed an alliance to send sports content from the oldest news agency Associated Press to the millions of mobile users in the Philippines.

“Associated Press has the best sports content in the world and we know there are millions of sports fans in the Philippines that love their basketball and boxing,” said Oosting. “Sports fans will now be able to get the latest sports news and information sent direct to their mobile phone.”

The local Philippines workforce of JMango has developed the software code, customized the sports content for the mobile screen, and worked hard to deliver a mobile app that represents a world first in terms of being able to be used on any handset, said Oosting.

JMango has operations in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. The company’s mobile application technology allows any application to run on all of the dominant mobile operating systems, including Java, Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, iPhone and the Google Android operating systems.

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By Chris Kanaracus
IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)
April 29, 2010

BOSTON - Oracle’s unlimited license agreements (ULAs) can make great sense for companies that want to use a lot of the vendor’s software, but a number of potential pitfalls can get buried in the fine print, according to a new report from Forrester Research.

The topic of ULAs is especially timely, as Oracle is in its fourth fiscal quarter, meaning the company is scrambling to sign deals before the fiscal year ends.

Oracle ULAs usually last for three years, upon which they revert to a normal model based on metrics, or a new ULA is negotiated, Forrester said in the report, which was authored by analysts Duncan Jones, Liz Herbert and Rory Stanton.

ULAs have their benefits for both Oracle and customers, Forrester said. Customers can deploy software as they wish, rather than having to be parsimonious with a fixed number of licenses. They also don’t need to spend time managing licenses to ensure compliance.

In turn, Oracle gains because customers are more likely to standardize on its products, shoving competitors out of the picture.

However, “calling the contract ‘unlimited’ doesn’t make it so,” the report adds.

Customers should scrutinize ULA clauses that cover licensing scope. Language providing coverage not just for the customer but also other entities, such as majority-owned affiliates and 50 percent joint ventures, should be included, the report notes.

ULAs must also have some type of mechanism for adding or removing products, as customers may find they don’t have all the software they truly need or that they have unnecessary software, as the agreement unfolds. Ideally, the same discount off list price agreed upon for the original ULA, which is often substantial, should apply to new purchases, Forrester said.

Oracle’s frequent acquisitions present another issue for ULAs. The report cites an example of one unnamed ULA customer who “found that Oracle’s
acquisition of BEA had made some of the products obsolete, and so it faced an excessive cost to switch to equivalent BEA functionality.”

ULAs should provide some protections against such scenarios, according to Forrester: “If Oracle subsumes your product within a different product that you haven’t licensed, you should be able to use, install and upgrade to that new product, provided you don’t use functionality that wasn’t in the one you bought.”

Miro Consulting, a Woodbridge, New Jersey, firm that advises clients on Oracle contract negotiations, finds that many end up unhappy with the ULAs they sign, according to company President Eliot Arlo Colon.

There are three crucial tasks customers interested in a ULA must complete before putting pen to paper, Colon said.

First, they “need buy-in from different business areas, not just IT. You need at least one unbiased person to do a sanity check,” he said.

“The second thing, and this is the hardest thing for CIOs, is you want to go into this and pretend you’re a startup or entrepreneur,” Colon added. “If I’m an entrepreneur, and this is my startup business, and write an agreement from scratch, what would I do?” This approach will help a customer avoid blithe acceptance of seemingly boilerplate contract terms, he said.

Finally, ULAs are much more complex than many people realize, Colon said. “Whatever time you think you’re going to need, you probably need to double it.” In fact, companies should start at least a year in advance of signing a deal, he said.

Ultimately, ULAs simply must be placed into the proper perspective, according to Colon.

“You’re still getting a tremendous amount of product at a very low cost,” he said. “It’s a very complex, custom volume agreement. If you take it from that standpoint, you have to see if it makes sense. For some clients it does.”

An Oracle spokeswoman declined comment.

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By Nancy Gohring
IDG News Service (Seattle Bureau)
April 29, 2010

SEATTLE - Hewlett-Packard plans to buy struggling phone maker Palm for US$1.2 billion.

The announcement, which came just after the U.S. stock market closed on Wednesday, follows rumors this week of a number of suitors, including Lenovo and HTC, vying to buy the iconic brand.

Palm last year released a new operating system, WebOS, that now runs on two phone models. But amid tough competition from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android phones, Palm struggled to sell the phones. During its last earnings call, Palm said it had a large inventory of phones that hadn’t yet been sold and that future earnings would be lower than expected.

The acquisition should provide a much-needed infusion of cash to maintain development of Palm’s technologies. “The focus now goes from financials to what the devices can actually do,” said Chris Hazelton, an analyst at the 451 Group.

HP said it will increase the $190 million that Palm spends each year on research and development, and fund additional sales and marketing activities.

“We intend to invest heavily in product development and go-to-market capabilities to drive this market,” said Todd Bradley, vice president of HP’s personal systems group and formerly a CEO of Palm, during a conference call to discuss the deal.

While HP hopes to gain a bigger slice of the growing smartphone market, it also hopes that Palm’s technology can help it make inroads in the fledgling market for slate computers. “We see additional opportunities beyond smartphones,” Bradley said, mentioning slate, or tablet, computers. Palm’s WebOS currently runs only on phones.

The slate market could be a key growth area for HP, said Jack Gold, analyst with J. Gold Associates. “Since tablets are primarily front ends to the Internet, it allows HP to deploy many cloud-based services from which it can generate revenues, including those in an app store, streamed services, etc.,” he said.

Using WebOS instead of Windows on an HP tablet would represent new competition for Microsoft. HP has already said its first tablet will run on Windows 7.

HP also sells Windows Mobile phones but has a very small presence in that market overall. “HP’s Windows Mobile phone business is dying a rapid death,” Gold said.

Bradley said vaguely that HP will continue to be a strategic partner for Microsoft, but it was unclear whether he meant in the phone business or only the PC business.

Buying Palm to boost its phone business, rather than designing new phones to run on Microsoft’s latest phone software or choosing Android, could save HP time and expense, Gold said. “Palm brings HP a modern and competitive platform that is already designed, implemented and in production. This saves HP many R&D dollars as well as dramatically accelerates time to market,” he said.

Palm offers a “treasure trove of technology that can be leveraged in future products,” said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT Research. “It seems like a relatively inexpensive risk for a potentially rich return,” King said.

If HP succeeds in building a stronger Palm, it will be a “formidable competitor” to Google, HTC and Nokia, Gold said. “Relatively unaffected by this acquisition will be [Research In Motion's] BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone, at least for the foreseeable future. They have their own user bases and market segments that are unlikely to find WebOS compelling,” he said. Still, HP has a strong presence with enterprises, where it may have luck selling Palm devices, he said.

Not all analysts think the acquisition is a good move though. “HP needs a strong presence in mobile, but Palm doesn’t deliver that,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research. HP would have done better to try to hire away Palm’s people individually for a much lower price, he said. With the acquisition, HP is getting the Palm brand and intellectual property, neither of which HP needs, Golvin said. In addition, he doesn’t think that the WebOS platform is “viable in the long term in the face of competition.”

HP expects its scale and global reach to help drive down the cost of making WebOS devices and boost sales. The company also hopes to foster the WebOS developer community to drive more applications for the platform. There are currently 2,000 applications available to WebOS phone users.

Palm’s OS and hardware are solid, Hazelton said, but a series of missteps and bad timing left the company badly in need of a backer. Its new phones were introduced after the iPhone already had significant traction and Android devices were on the market. “Then [Palm] went with the wrong carrier. If they’d gone with Verizon and launched within days or weeks or even a month or two after their first announcement, it would have been good for them,” Hazelton said.

Instead, Palm launched with Sprint, which has been blamed for failing to adequately promote the Pre, the first handset with the new operating system. Palm announced the new software in January last year and began offering the phones in June.

Hazelton expects HP to retain the Palm brand, and possibly to give the company some autonomy to operate essentially as its own entity. HP said Palm will become a business unit within the company.

Palm is best known for essentially creating the PDA (personal digital assistant) market, with the iconic Palm Pilot. The company began to lose its footing when the PDA market tapered off and Palm was slow to transition to the smartphone business. The last of its remaining founders, Ed Colligan, left the company last June.

Palm’s current CEO, Jon Rubinstein, will stay with the company. He is perhaps best known for his part in developing the iPod for Apple. HP would not describe any retention program that might require Rubinstein to stay for a certain period of time after the deal is completed.

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Computerworld Philippines Staff
March 3, 2010

HP has announced that after eight years with company, Bernadette Nacario is leaving her post as country general manager of the personal systems group (PSG) effective April 8, 2010. “Ms. Nacario has decided to pursue an exciting opportunity outside HP,” said HP in a statement.

Nacario rejoined HP in 2004 as country general manager for both personal systems group (PSG) and imaging and printing group (IPG). In the middle of 2006, she requested to focus on PSG to drive the business unit to the next level of growth.

Over the past few years, she has strengthened partner and customer engagement and gained their confidence. During her 6-year stint, HP PSG won key strategic accounts to gain strong market share for PSG’s business. She also led the team in developing industry-leading & innovative programs such as the “HP My Backyard” & “HP Island.”

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
February 23, 2010

Local wireless service provider Smart Communications, Inc. has unveiled the world’s first ever TV Internet surfing service – the Smart Bro SurfTV – launched today by its subsidiary Smart Broadband, Incorporated.

In a press briefing held at the Shangri-La hotel in Mandaluyong City, Smart executives said SurfTV is a small box device that connects to a TV set to provide Internet access using Smart Bro’s nationwide coverage.

Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor of Smart, explained that whenever plugged into the RCA port of a color TV set, SurfTV turns an ordinary TV into a multi-tasking machine – providing a ready-to-run Internet experience where users can surf, chat, email and do other online tasks.

Vea said the target market for SurfTV are the households that have TVs. He described the TV as “the most ubiquitous home appliance” in the Philippines today, as it is present in almost 93% of households, in contrast to the PC which is only present in 18% of households. He added that in the Visayas and Mindanao areas the number drops to about 11%, which he said is not a good score.

“According to the ITU, about 25% of the global population has access to a personal computer. Moreover, our neighbors in Asia are all aggressively pushing both computer usage and Internet access for their citizens,” He said. “In Singapore, for example, 80% of households have at least one PC and many have two or more. Malaysia’s number of PC and Internet penetrations are in their 60% and 70% range.”

Danilo Mojica, head of Smart’s wireless consumer division, told reporters that Smart Bro SurfTV comes in a boxed set complete with a keyboard, mouse, remote control, and a Smart Bro USB stick-type modem with a prepaid SIM pre-loaded with PhP100 worth of load. The entire kit costs PhP4,500, while Internet access costs PhP10 for every 30 minutes.

Mojica said the Smart network has an Internet speed of 7mbps.

Although prices of PCs and laptops have gone down in recent years, Mojica said cost remains a significant barrier for basic desktops and the new netbooks that still sell around Php15,000 to Php20,000 pesos. “This is roughly the entire monthly income of the average Filipino household.”

The executive claimed the Internet has significantly changed over the last 10 years with the different habits of users, especially Filipinos, who use it for social networking activities, education, business, entertainment, and multimedia tasks, among others.

“The Philippines has been the fastest growing area for Facebook last year. And there were around one million Smart Bro subscribers at the end of 2009, the largest in the industry,” Mojica said, adding Smart’s GSM cellular network distribution points have scaled to 1.2 million nationwide.

Vea believes Filipinos are ready for the Internet, judging on how much videos Filipino users upload to Youtube, or how many terabytes worth of photos they share online. He said with SurfTV, household TVs will certainly add up to the variety of devices that are now available for Internet access, such as desktop computers, laptops, cellular phones, and other handheld devices like the PSPs, iPods and iPads.

According to a survey conducted by Smart, which was based also with SurfTV’s pilot testings in Bataan, Kalibo and other provinces – parents, especially mothers would prefer their children to do their Internet surfing at home rather than in Internet cafes.

Smart executives said they will address data storage issues for SurfTV in the near future.

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
February 3, 2010

It’s all back to ground zero for the Department of ICT (DICT) and Cybercrime bills as their chances of becoming a law were officially shut down in the Senate on Tuesday.

“I was informed no more bills will be taken up on the last session day of the Senate. It appears our journey has come to an end,” said Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, chairman of the Commission on ICT (CICT). “Thanks to all those who supported us along the way.  I guess it’s up to the next administration to pass our ICT bills.”

The Senate’s legislative calendar for the present administration officially ends today, February 3, but no more bills will be taken up.

Roxas-Chua, who was present in the Senate’s session on Tuesday, told members of the CyberPress club that it is “so possible” for the ICT bills to be approved if only the Senate chose to act on it.  “If only they want it approved, they can do it, right here and right now,” Roxas-Chua said.

The CICT chief said that of the various bills that were tackled in the Senate’s last eight sessions, there have been no developments on the ICT bills. He noted the Senate spent a significant amount of time on the C-5 issue linking presidentiable and incumbent Senator Manny Villar.

Villar, who described himself as the “brown taipan” in business circles, surprised everyone in the Senate on Tuesday with his privilege speech defending himself on the C-5 controversy. The episode, which was later dubbed as the “Villar Show” ate a lot of time in the Senate’s second to the last session on Tuesday, overriding the opportunities for pending bills to be passed.

‘UNSEEN FORCE’
Roxas-Chua said the DICT and Cybercrime bills were in the period of interpolation since last week but no developments took place. Many of the bills’ supporters expressed that an “unseen force” may have kept the ICT bills in the Senate hanging.

Besides countless presidential requests, the ICT bills earned fervent support from local ICT advocates and practitioners who, along with CICT, vowed to attend the Senate’s last nine session days since it resumed on Jan. 18.

Among the staunch supporters of the ICT bills are CICT, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) and the CIO Forum (CIOF).

Former CICT commissioner Dondi Mapa said that CICT itself could be in danger of getting abolished. 

“That same ‘unseen force’ may even cause the CICT to be abolished by the next president,” Mapa said. “Let’s just hope that whoever becomes president in June does not abolish the CICT.”

Only recently, supporters of the ICT bills said the one that hampered the DICT bill was the request for interpolation of Senator Mar Roxas who never interpellated on the bill since he registered for it in September 2009.

Reports said many government stakeholders saw the need for a Philippine DICT as it will help the country in becoming a world-class IT hub focused on the further development of ICT skills, e-governance, universal IT access, and building businesses around open source technology.

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
February 2, 2010

Staunch supporters of the Cybercrime and Department of ICT bills are beginning to believe that an “unseen force” may be preventing the passing into law of the two proposals pending in the Senate, despite countless presidential requests and fervent support of local ICT advocates and practitioners.

The bills’ supporters, led by Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, chairman of the Commission on ICT (CICT), are starting to believe that someone or some people with great influence are keeping the ICT bills in the Senate hanging.

And with only two session days left, supporters are beginning to accept a poor ending. They are officers and members of CICT as well as leaders of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) and the CIO Forum (CIOF).

Roxas-Chua, who regularly gives public updates on the bills via his Facebook (FB) account, reported that although the ICT bills are lined up for interpolation, a single discussion has not yet been taken and their enactment into law appears to be bleak in the present administration. He vowed to be present in the Senate’s last nine session days since its legislative calendar resumed last Jan. 18.

“Sorry folks, another day wasted,” Chua said in his FB status on Monday. “There seems to be an unseen force preventing our bills from being taken up.”

Chua said there are many bills that were tackled in the Senate since Jan. 18 but, unfortunately, the ICT bills were not among them, despite being certified as “urgent” by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last Wednesday.

Last Monday’s session was the 7th consecutive session day in the Senate which Chua and leaders of the said ICT groups attended. Chua said the Senate’s discussion on Monday was spent on the C-5 controversy linking presidentiable and incumbent senator Manny Villar.

In a recent interview with Computerworld Philippines, supporters of the DICT bill said the interpolation request of Sen. Mar Roxas is the only thing that holds the bill’s enactment into law. They said that although Roxas registered to interpolate on the bill in September 2009, he has yet to speak for the bill.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who registered to interpolate like Roxas, already gave her piece on the issue in September last year, supporters said.

Some supporters also commented that the Senate’s treatment of the DICT bill is a complete opposite of the treatment given by the House of Representatives who passed HB 4300 for the same purpose two years ago in 2008.

Computerworld Philippines tried to reach Roxas for comment since Thursday but hasn’t received a reply as of writing. He was present during last Wednesday’s session but immediately left after the roll call.

Chua said CICT is willing to do some adjustments on the DICT bill if ever Roxas, a known critic of the bill, has any objections. However, he said the problem stems from having no discussion on the matter at all.

As for the Cybercrime bill, Chua said it might have a better chance than the DICT bill since they are not aware of any oppositions.

Within the two session days left in the Senate, the ICT bills will have to be approved on 2nd and 3rd reading and reconciled with the House versions in a bicameral conference. If the bills fail to pass, lawmakers will have to do it all over again in Congress in the next administration.

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Veronica C. Silva
Computerworld Philippines
February 2, 2010

Oracle Corporation’s office in the Philippines on Thursday introduced to the local press its latest middleware, which was developed with the strength of its acquisition of Bea Systems in 2008.

Launched worldwide in July 2009 and regionally in October 2009, the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g already counts top bank Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank) and the Bureau of Customs among its numerous clients in the country.

Chin Ying Loong, general manager for ASEAN, Oracle Fusion Middleware, said the launch of the new product in the local market is a commitment of the software giant to bring its latest innovation to its customers in the country.

“With Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, our customers will benefit from the increased performance and centralized management of a modern infrastructure, enabling them to drive down costs, improve efficiency and differentiate their organization from competitors,” said Ying Loong.

Oracle Fusion Middleware integrates disparate systems and applications of enterprises and even business partners. As an open and integrated middleware, the new product brings together the different functionalities of Oracle and Bea Systems.

Oracle acquired Bea Systems for US$8.5 billion particularly to enhance the Oracle Fusion Middleware. Oracle said customer feedback has prompted the acquisition as customers noted the efficiency in working with the middleware of the two companies.

Speaking on the acquisition back in 2008, Oracle President Charles Phillips said “it (the transaction) will accelerate the adoption of Java-based middleware technologies and SOA; advance innovation in enterprise applications infrastructure software; extend our strategic relationships with customers and partners; and increase our penetration in key regions like China.”

Ying Loong said the new product is designed to solve important business requirements of today’s enterprises, including rich Internet applications, business process management, enterprise team and social computing, application customization, identity and compliance management, and systems consolidation.

It was also designed to exploit current technology trends such as multi-core processing, 64-bit operating systems and large memory, virtualization and cloud computing, and storage.

“It optimizes technology trends to protect customer investments,” added Ying Loong.

He noted that industries such as telecoms, banking and manufacturing already have made investments in several IT systems and applications. The middleware can be used to integrate these different systems and applications, thus, customers’ previous IT investments need not go to waste.

Oracle Fusion Middleware has complete components, which can be bought separately but when integrated together, they can work together. Among its components are development tools, user interaction, enterprise performance management, business intelligence, content management, service-oriented architecture and process management, application grid, enterprise management, and identity management.

Customers with the version 10g can seamlessly upgrade to version 11g, said Ying Loong.

Oracle Fusion Middleware is designed to support large or small datacenters alike.

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
January 28, 2010

Supporters of the pending Senate Bill 2546 which intends to create the Department of ICT (DICT) said the interpolation request of Sen. Mar Roxas is the only thing that’s holding the bill’s enactment into law.

And with only three legislation days left, image of the longtime dream for the government department starts to fade.

Indeed, the senator’s request was to interrupt, to speak about the pending bill, but many didn’t expect that such interruption will keep the DICT bill hanging.

CICT chief Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, accompanied by the bill’s supporting groups recalled on Wednesday that Roxas registered to interpolate on the bill since September 2009 along with Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. The female senator already gave her piece a few days after registration but Roxas remained silent on the issue until last Wednesday’s session.

The House of Representatives passed HB 4300 for the purpose of a DICT two years ago in 2008.

For their 6th straight session day in the Senate since the sessions resumed last Jan. 18, CICT officials and the bill’s supporters could only share deep sighs – as each session would end with almost no development on the pending bill.

Together with CICT, the supporting groups that religiously attend the Senate sessions were the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) and the CIO Forum (CIOF).

The bill’s supporters expressed doubt on the senator’s reason in postponing his interpolation on the bill, since months have already passed and there is still no word from him on the issue.

Roxas was present during the senate session’s roll call on Wednesday but immediately left, missing anew his chance to interpolate on the DICT bill which he requested himself last year.

OPEN FOR ADJUSTMENTS
Chua told Computerworld Philippines that CICT is open to adjust some of the clauses in the pending bill if Roxas has any objections. Yet the problem stems from having no discussion on the matter at all.

“We’re open for any adjustments or removal of clauses in the bill, but first of all, we need to know what they are. We need to discuss,” Chua said, noting the DICT bill is in the period of interpolation anyway.

Proposed since 2001, critics of DICT’s creation described it as “redundant” and a “bloat to the bureaucracy.”

Chua, however, claimed that most of CICT’s budget today goes to the salaries of employees, yet the commission’s function is almost like a department, as it caters to “half of the communications function” of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). CICT recently regained power over the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

If DICT is approved, it will take over the National Computer Center (NCC), Telecommunications Office (Telof), and the Communications Planning Service division.

HOPE LINGERS
Chua and supporters of the bill said they plan to push for DICT and Cybercrime bills until the last session day of the Senate’s legislative calendar, which will most likely be on Feb. 5, as it marks the beginning of the campaign period for national elections.

The CICT chief said with only three session days remaining, he’s asking for the “full presence” of DICT supporters, as the two ICT bills will have to be approved on 2nd and 3rd reading and reconciled with the House versions in a bicameral conference within that span of time.

“Many bills were tackled today but unfortunately, our bills were not among them,” Chua said Wednesday. “It’s looking pretty bleak, but we’re not giving up yet.”

Chua said if the ICT bills don’t pass in the Senate, it will all be back to zero in the lower house in Congress in the next administration.

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By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
January 25, 2010

Despite a slight decline in global demand for IT professionals in early 2009, recruitment for IT workers remain remarkably high, the CEO of a local IT jobs website remarked recently.

“IT today is as vital as any key unit or department of the organization, so there is always a need for tech professionals,” claimed Gina Duminy, President and CEO of itprosasia.com. “The market is picking up and we should expect more opportunities to open up here and abroad.”

Despite the stability in IT professionals recruitment, Duminy pointed out that the last decade saw a slight decline in enrollment for IT and other related disciplines. “IT as a course of study will always be up against the healthcare and other service-oriented disciplines,” she explained, emphasizing that despite this, players in the IT and BPO space are continuously underscoring the fact that there are many opportunities for professionals here and abroad.

Data from three months’ worth of job postings since the site’s recent relaunch suggest that employers demand programmers from the market the most, followed by technical support representatives, Java developers, analysts and application architects.

On technology demanded by employers, .NET takes the top spot, with PHP, HTML, J2EE, and Java following suit. “This is a very interesting indicator as it mirrors what kind of technologies businesses are investing in terms of software, for instance. It mirrors what technologies businesses are actually dependent on,” Duminy elaborated.

Duminy said they were able to identify this critical information due to the recent revamp of their jobs site, which used to be called itpros.ph. “[In the new site], we have already laid down all key expertise or skill categories and all the possible tools or technologies they may be using are outlined,” she clarified.

The revamped site, which had a soft launch last October 2009, is the product of a “long and tedious process that all started with an extensive review of the old itpros.ph,” according to Duminy. She said the new site incorporates elements gathered from user feedback from tech professionals and employers, such as a simpler presentation of job postings, and a cleaner front page design.

Postings on the website are also grouped depending on skills sets or technologies that potential employees may have. “This way, it would be much easier for them to define who they are, what they are capable of doing and at what level of expertise,” Duminy added.

Itprosasia.com pulls from a resource of about 800 HR practitioners it gathered from its previous incarnation, and utilizes such resources to offer specialized services such as Career Lounge, a career cocktails for experienced techies and T/EX, and the Technology Jobs Expo, a job fair for IT professionals. “We know the issues affecting the industry and in our own way, do best to contribute in helping find solutions,” Duminy added.

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
January 20, 2010

Time maybe running out for the creation of the Department of ICT (DICT) in the Senate, but hopeful members of the Commission on ICT (CICT) had a sigh of relief on Tuesday with the passage of the Cybercrime bill in Congress.

The House of Representatives passed on third and final reading on Tuesday House Bill (HB) 6794, popularly known as Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2009. It seeks to address crimes committed via the Internet such as child pornography, illegal hacking of Web sites, phishing, data fraud, and the like by imposing corresponding penalties.

Once a law, the Cybercrime Act is expected to deter rising incidents of illegal, malicious and life-threatening acts committed through the Internet.

The bill mandates for the creation of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center under the Office of the President.

“We very much welcome the approval of the Cybercrime Bill by the House of Representatives and we are very grateful to the congressmen who recognized the importance of this measure,” said Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua, chairman of CICT.

He said it is now up to the Senate to finally make the Cybercrime bill a law.

Chua, who has been attending the Senate sessions since Monday, has called on the public, particularly through his Facebook account to rally behind the approval of the ICT bills, namely the Cybercrime bill and Bill 2546 which mandates the creation of DICT.

“If you believe either of these bills will be good for the ICT industry and the country, please join us in the Senate,” Chua posted on his Facebook status on Monday.

Prominent people from public and private sectors, the academe, IT industry, and even the media have been sending their last hurrahs for DICT’s creation through Chua’s FB site. This, as the CICT chief would regularly post in his FB status that he “is headed to the Senate again to push for the DICT and Cybercrime Bills. Will today be the day?”

And like the many people who were annoyed by the Senate’s lack of quorum last Tuesday, the CICT chairman expressed disappointment as he feared that if the ICT bills don’t pass in the Senate, lawmakers would have to start from scratch in the next administration.

The Senate’s regular session resumed on Jan. 18 and it is scheduled to adjourn on Feb. 5 which is the official start of the campaign period for national candidates.

Clamored for almost eight years now, DICT’s creation would result in the take over of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology, the National Computer Center, Telecommunications Office and the Communications Planning Service division. It will also take over the communications-related functions of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

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By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
January 14, 2010

Intel on Wednesday formally launched in the Philippines its latest family of core processors, namely the Intel i3, i5, and i7 chips which the company claims are faster and smarter when it comes to performance.

Some of the chips boast of Intel’s turbo boost technology for laptops, desktops and embedded devices, said the company.

Adam King, director of product marketing and business operations, Intel Asia Pacific, said more and more people are now craving for a fully digital lifestyle citing the increase of the IT consumer market in 2009. For instance, online video consumption went high-end to mainstream from year 2006 to 2009.

“PCs are becoming an inner growth in one’s life. In fact, in Asia Pacific, 50% of users, aged 18 and above all play online games. Today is so yesterday,” King said, claiming what used to be just a futuristic vision of IT advancement and users has now become a reality.

However, unlike before when users had to remember name combinations of processors, Intel has made the names of its new products as simple and identifiable, which, aside from the turbo boost also does hyper-threading technology. The features allow a computer to automatically adapt to whatever a user does. The applications feel faster, and the PC is more responsive even in multi-tasking, such as simultaneous functions of music, movies, photo editing and social networking.

Intel’s turbo boost and hyper-threading technologies allow each processing core to run multiple “threads,” providing amazing responsiveness and great performance, balanced with industry-leading energy efficiency when processing several tasks simultaneously.

The recent introduction of i7, i5 and i3 chips likewise coincides with the arrival of Intel’s groundbreaking new 32 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process – which for the first time in the company’s history – will be used to immediately produce and deliver processors and features at a variety of price points, and integrate high-definition graphics inside the processor. This unprecedented ramp and innovation reflects Intel’s $7 billion investment announced early last year in the midst of a major global economic recession.

Intel is unveiling several platform products, including more than 25 processors, wireless adapters and chipsets, including new Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 processors, Intel 5 Series Chipsets, and Intel Centrino Wi-Fi and WiMAX adapters that include new Intel My WiFi features. More than 400 laptop and desktop PC platform designs are expected from computer makers based on these products, with another 200 expected for embedded devices.

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By Computerworld Philippines Staff
October 29, 2009

MobileXtreme! The Big Apps Competition, a nationwide search for the most innovative mobile applications has been launched by IPVG, Ayala Technology Business Incubator, GlobeLabs and MegaMobile Inc., the mobile communications business unit of IPVG.

As an aggregator, MegaMobile welcomes mobile concepts and developed products (preferably the latter) for applications that run on the Java (J20) platform. The competition will be facilitated through an official web-based portal where contestants can upload their entries, which can consist of applications under the following categories:

Category 1: Games and Entertainment
- Entertainment, fun and games

Category 2: Enterprise and Productivity
- Enterprise and productivity solutions; applications that address business needs as well as home and work productivity needs of individuals

Category 3: Cause-oriented
- Cause-oriented applications, news and public service, applications that address needs of underserved and marginal sectors of society (ex: farmers, fishermen)

The competition will present a chance for developers to showcase original applications. The best entries will receive infrastructure support from IPVG to help develop their ideas into full blown commercial products, plus a chance to have their products launched commercially through IPVG and MegaMobile. Category winners will also receive a bonus cash prize of Php 50,000 each.

To kick off the competition and issue the official call for entries, a one-day conference dubbed as MobileXtreme! The Big Apps Competition - Opening Forum will be held on November 7, 2009 at the UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub Conference Room in Quezon City, from 1PM to 6 PM. Keynote speakers for the said conference will include representatives from IPVG, MegaMobile, Ayala Foundation and representatives from the IT industry. The Opening Forum will be free of charge and potential contestants can learn firsthand what the board of judges will be looking for in the entries and what the experts’ insights are on current and emerging mobile trends.

MobileXtreme! will run from November 2009 to February 2010. Online learning materials, discussions and forums at the competition’s official portal will be held simultaneously during this period.

Deadline for submission of entries will be January 10, 2010.

Finalists will be invited to the MobileXtreme! Awards Night – Open Tech Party to be held on February 26, 2010 at the main lobby of the UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub in Quezon City.

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By Paul Krill
InfoWorld (US)
October 29, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft will unveil this week several open source initiatives to boost interoperability between Microsoft technologies, such as Windows 7, Windows Azure, and Silverlight, and open source technologies, including the Eclipse tools platform and Java.

Although the company has at times been viewed as the commercial opposite of the open source movement, the company’s latest gestures to the open source community show Microsoft is willing to make moves that can assist open source devotees build products that rely on Microsoft’s products. Microsoft is working with Tasktop Technologies and Soyatec in projects and technologies unveiled Tuesday.

“This is part of our ongoing efforts to make our products more open,” said Vijay Rajagopalan, principal architect for the Microsoft interoperability strategy team.

In partnership with Eclipse solutions provider Tasktop, Microsoft is looking to enhance the developer experience of Eclipse on the newly released Windows 7 platform. Support is being extended to run the Eclipse IDE on Windows 7 and also to build Windows 7 applications.

The two companies will develop updates to the Eclipse IDE to incorporate features of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The intention, according to Microsoft, is to ensure that the “improved” productivity and user experience of Windows 7 will be available to developers using the Eclipse IDE and also to desktop applications built on the Eclipse platform.

Developers will be able to access Windows 7 functionality such as Jump Lists from the redesigned Windows 7 task bar. Jump Lists enable access to Eclipse-specific functions. Also, the project will extend Eclipse Standard Widget Toolkit to integrate Windows 7 features such as task bar display of progress and search widget integration. Updates also will modernize the look and feel of Eclipse to match the Windows 7 user interface experience.

“We are working with Tasktop to improve the developer experience on Windows 7,” Rajagopalan said.

Tasktop will contribute enhancements to the Eclipse that will be available under the Eclipse Public License for early access in the first quarter of 2010. General release is planned for the Eclipse Helios technology release train in June 2010.

Windows remains a critical platform for Eclipse users, stressed Mik Kersten, CEO of Tasktop. “Over three-quarters of Eclipse downloads are of the Windows distribution,” he said.

“This joint effort between Tasktop and Microsoft is going to bring those new enhancements in Windows 7 into the hands of Eclipse IDE users,” Kersten said.

Microsoft also is announcing an open source plug-in, called Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse, to give PHP developers more flexibility in developing Web applications for the Windows Azure cloud platform. The plug-in, available as a free download, features wizards and utilities for writing, debugging, and deploying PHP applications to Azure.

“Essentially, it’s an open source plugin that will enable PHP developers using Eclipse to create PHP Web applications,” Rajagopalan said. The technology is available for download.

The existing Windows SDK for PHP is bundled into the Eclipse PHP project through the plug-in, which also includes a Windows Azure “storage explorer” to browse data contained in Azure tables, blobs, or queues.

Despite its Eclipse endeavors, Microsoft still has no plans to join the Eclipse Foundation. “I think we’ll continue to explore opportunities to work with them,” Rajagopalan said. “At this stage, we haven’t made any decision to join the Eclipse community.”

Also being unveiled is Windows Azure SDK for Java, providing tools to help Java developers use Azure. The SDK leverages Windows Azure Storage services for storing data and offers development methods for writing Web applications.
“We are releasing the Java SDK for Windows Azure so that Java developers who are running on-premise applications or other cloud applications can [also] use Azure storage,” said Rajagopalan.

Soyatec partnered with Microsoft on both Eclipse Tools for Windows Azure for PHP and Windows Azure SDK for Java. Microsoft and Soyatec also have released a 1.0 version of Eclipse Tools for Silverlight, which is a plug-in for Eclipse-based developers to build rich Internet applications that leverage Silverlight.

Included in the project is support for Macintosh and guidance on interoperability between Silverlight applications and Java-based Web sites and Web services, including REST, JSON, and other standards, Microsoft said. A customer technology preview of the plug-in was offered in March.

A Microsoft-Soyatec road map calls for spring 2010 availability of version 2 of Eclipse Tools for Silverlight, featuring support for Silverlight 3.0 and offline application capabilities.

With its initiatives, Microsoft is reaching over to the “other side” — the open source developers, said analyst Al Hilwa of IDC. “[However,] it’s a question mark” as far as how many developers will take Microsoft up on its accommodations, he said. But Microsoft’s efforts are commendable, even if the company does have its own self interest in mind, Hilwa said.

“At the end of the day, this is not a charitable organization per se. I don’t expect them to be, but the important thing is there’s different ways to interpret what may be in their interest,” he said. “Now, they’re taking a more open view of what’s in their interest.”

For example, Microsoft is trying to extend adoption of Azure to Java developers, Hilwa noted. “They’re saying it’s not necessary that you have to be a .Net developer to take advantage of Azure,” said Hilwa.

Microsoft has been on a campaign in recent years to make accommodations for open source. The company cited developments such as its Windows Azure for PHP effort and Restlet Extension for ADO.Net Services to bridge Java and .Net. The company also is working with Zend, IBM and others on Simple API for Cloud Application Services, an open source project for cloud interoperability.

The company in the past, however, has irked open source devotees with endeavors like forging an intellectual property agreement with Novell pertaining to Linux.

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