February 2004

FEATURES
COVER FEATURE
Identity crisis
From hospital wards to the boardrooms of oil companies, biometric technologies are being used to authenticate access to IT systems.

VENDOR PROFILE
Insatiable desire
Microsoft wants to be a $10 billion enterprise applications software vendor. That has implications for its customers and for the IT industry as a whole.

MANAGEMENT
Bridging the gap
The great divide between the business and the IT department is closing as more organisations appoint business relationship managers.

LAW
Exit strategy
Heightened merger and acquisition activity in the IT industry is forcing many customers to terminate their supplier contracts.

PERSPECTIVE
ANALYSIS
Defying evolution
A surge of mainframe orders by large organisations in recent months has confirmed the longevity of ‘Big Iron’.

Q&A
McDonald’s
The fast-food chain’s IT chief for the UK, Steve Tiley, is pioneering the use of sophisticated business intelligence software.

INFLUENCER
Hot property
Ralph Yarro, the CEO of venture capital company Canopy Group, has enraged some sections of the Linux community.

LEGAL COUNSEL
Over protective
There are ways around new laws that seem to preclude the processing of customer data offshore, says Eduardo Ustaran of Berwin Leighton Paisner.

DEAL WATCH
A cashback transaction
Sainsbury’s has decided to take its IT function back in-house. But some doubt the move will save the retailer much money.

INDUSTRY
SECTOR OVERVIEW
Group effort

Collaborative technologies are enabling businesses to work seamlessly across geographically dispersed locations.

COMPANIES
Month in review

A round-up of the month’s key IT industry news, including Linux users sued by SCO and the antitrust ruling against Oracle’s takeover of PeopleSoft.
Infoconomy Index

Company analysis
An in-depth analysis of the events shaping leading technology companies.
Siebel Systems
Progress Software
SCO
Oracle
Sun
Altiris
Intelliden

WIRELESS FOCUS
Mobile enterprise

An examination of some of the recent developments in the mobile communications sector
Windows opening
Data breakthrough
Return fair?

FINANCE
Financial report

Analysis of the latest quarterly results from some of the industry’s key players.

M&A
Recent deals in the global IT industry, including the takeovers by US companies of the UK’s Avellino and Merant.

DEPARTMENTS
Letter from the Editor
Companies should consider whether to embrace biometrics, says Kenny MacIver.

Readers’ letters
More on escrow agreements, Linux, flexible software licensing and thin clients.

UPDATES
Insider
Highlights, facts and inside stories from the frontiers of the information economy.
Chipping away
Windows springs a leak
Quarter of a million jobs to move offshore, says report
To forgive, divine
IT labour market still stagnant
Non-IT execs make more buying decisions

RESOURCES
Industry trends
Numbers, trends and research from the global information economy.
Handheld market
European outsourcing market booming
Business intelligence
Slow rise in IT spending
Compliance risks

Crib sheet
A primer on the technologies and companies behind records management.

Last word
IT project failures continue to dog business, says Andrew Lawrence.

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Ben Rossi

Ben was Vitesse Media's editorial director, leading content creation and editorial strategy across all Vitesse products, including its market-leading B2B and consumer magazines, websites, research and...

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