InfoQ Homepage Business Content on InfoQ
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New Windows Essential Business Server Targeted to Midsize Businesses
Microsoft has created a new server, called Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS), which combines management, messaging and security features into one integrated multi-server solution. The new server is targeted to midsize businesses with reduced IT staff personnel of 1 to 3 persons.
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Architecture Life Span:Implications on Business and how to build more Long-lasting Architecture
Introducing the concept of architectural shelf life, Dan Pritchett defines the average duration of an architectural life span. Stressing that failing to evolve the architecture at the end of its life span may have important business implications, he provides some advices that aim at facilitating architecture update with new technologies and patterns, thus making architectures last longer.
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Opinions: Why Most Social Software Fail and how to Avoid it
According to Clay Shirky, the success key for social software is “a brutally simple mental model [...] shared by all users”. Referring to it as Shirky’s law, Michael Nielsen analyzes why programmers often fail to obey it. His arguments as well as the discussion that has followed provide interesting insights into pitfalls that need to be avoided for building successful social applications.
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Using Open Source in your Business: Myths and Clarifications
A white paper “10 Myths About Running Open Source Software in Your Business” was released by ActiveState. It promotes rational approach to open source software and refutes some common misconceptions about its quality, its usage and its place in today’s industry. The authors believe that open source adoption is inevitable but they advocate for a more structured approach to its implementation.
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Thoughts On Software Architecture and Corporate Structure
Many important challenges faced by a software architect for a large company have as much to do with the organization as technology. In a recent blog entry, Dan Greenblog drew parallels between the principals behind software architecture and effective organizational structures.
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Opinions: What is The Optimal Business Model for Today's Web?
What is the optimal business model for today’s web? Opinions diverge in a series of articles around this issue. While authors seem to share the conviction that simplicity is the key in web environment, they do not necessarily put the same meaning into this term. Is less really more? Or should it rather be more with less? And how do we achieve it?
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Progress Software Acquires IONA and Mindreef
Progress software acquires two companies: IONA Technologies and Mindreef, in an effort to augment their SOA Portfolio. The portfolio consists of products in the following categories: enterprise service bus (Sonic ESB), enterprise messaging (Sonic MQ), data interoperability (DataXtend), Mainframe integration (Shadow), Complex Event Processing (Apama) and SOA management (Actional).
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Agile Practices with the Highest Return on Investment
Return on Investment is a critical factor for decision making pertaining to following a particular software development practice. The post summarizes the ROI benefits of Agile and the inexpensive practices which lead to highest return on investment.
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Could the Solution to IT's Problems be less IT-Business Alignment?
The never ending debate about the role, the relevance or the organization of IT has added yet another frustration moment. Susan Cram, an industry expert, shared the 8 things -she thinks- we hate about IT. In her analysis, she points out a surprising remedy: avoiding the IT alignment trap.
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Presentation: Steve Jones on "Driving IT from the Business"
In a presentation recorded at QCon London, Cap Gemini's Steve Jones explains his concept of a business service architecture. Topics covered include how to apply SOA to existing systems, the problems one runs into when SOA is driven by technology, and the structural and organizational impact of business-driven SOA.
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Article: SOA in Healthcare
In a new article, based on a chapter from the book "Service Oriented Architecture Demystified", Girish Juneja, Blake Dournaee, Joe Natoli & Steve Birkel discussthe benefits of applying SOA to heterogenous environments in the healthcare domain. Focusing on a domain instead of technology perspective first provides an interesting view on the business motivation for SOA.
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Understanding Business Value
Aside from "Agile" itself, "Business Value" may be one of the most widely used buzzwords around the floors of any fresh agile project. But, how many of these projects actually have a good understanding of what they really mean when they're saying it? Joe Little presents his thoughts on this very question.
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Presentation: Anne Thomas Manes on the Business Value of SOA
In this presentation, recorded at QCon, Burton Group research director Anne Thomas Manes talks about how to make the business case for SOA. Her talk covers explaining SOA to non-technical business people, various approaches for selling SOA to management and gaining funding for SOA investments.
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Sun purchases MySQL: Perspectives and Analysis on the Impact
In a move which caught many off guard, Sun Microsystems announced that it would be acquiring MySQL AB, the company which owns and develops the MySQL database, for $1 Billion USD. InfoQ analyzed the announcement and reactions and spoke with Kevin Harvey, Chairman of the MySQL board of directors, to learn more about this deal and what it may mean for the future.
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SpringSource Announces Commercial Software Strategy, Spring Integration
At The Spring Experience yesterday, SpringSource (the company behind Spring) announced their commercial software subscription strategy as well as Spring Integration, a new EAI framework. Spring Certification will also be coming in 2008. InfoQ video interviewed Spring founder Rod Johnson & SpringSource COO Neelan Choksi to get the news from the source.