research.cramsession.com/Data Management

Small Business Data Protection

The need for protecting data is universal – whether a small to mid-size business, the largest enterprise data center, or an individual. The recognition of the value of information and the impact of data loss has reached the point where repeating it is no longer required. The issue now has turned to how to protect the data.

Mailbox Size Management in 4 Easy Steps

This paper provides information which will help you to plan a solution for your mailbox size. Planning Modification to any email system takes just four easy steps.

Managing PST Files from Discovery to the Archive

As the need to retain corporate data has increased to meet regulatory requirements-- and best practice may dictate email meeting certain internal policies-- the very existence of PSTs is putting email more and more "at risk. So what can you do about PSTs?

The Critical Role of Data Consolidation for Your Data Protection Systems

This strategic view is the proverbial "gold" that can be mined from your data protection systems; it is the asset that will enable IT management to prioritize activity to bring activities in line with business objectives and communicate policy compliance to corporate officers and data owners.

Storage Management Simplified with Virtualization

Imagine a world where storage management is simplified; everything works together; there are no configuration issues when upgrading, and vendors all cooperate to allow information to be easily stored and retrieved seamlessly. This was a reality in the mainframe world, but the deployment of open systems shattered these concepts.

CMM and CMMI: Show Me the Value!

Is there any value in the CMM® and CMMI® Absolutely! Find out how CMM and CMMI can be used to improve your organization's processes and achieve project success.

The All-In-One Data Management Solution for Developing, Executing and Monitoring SAP Data

In today's world, your SAP system has moved to center stage for managing all of your Corporation's mission-critical applications on a global basis. SAP controls the books, manages the inventory, produces the product and oversees the entire the sales process. Recognizing the importance of SAP is central to the success of your overall enterprise.

Extending XML-based Services Beyond the Perimeter

The vast majority of IT professionals and business people agree that security is the leading concern for SOA and XML messages and most quickly realize that SSL is limited by not providing content security, auditability or reliability. This paper will discuss how to extend SOA beyond the perimeter through high performance.

Architecting the Infrastructure for SOA and XML

This white paper introduces the requirements for an XML infrastructure that is designed to ensure the opportunities and benefits of SOAs and Web Services can be realized.

Service Virtualization: Key to Managing Change in SOA

Load balancers, name servers (e.g. DNS), even stock brokerage services are existing examples of virtual services in the worlds of networking and financial services. This paper will introduce the concept of virtual services for SOAs and provide details of the characteristics of virtual services that enable SOA success.

Keeping Up Your SOX Compliance and Turning IT into a High Performer by Improving Change Control

This paper covers the implementation, disclosure and ongoing evaluation of internal controls for SOX compliance with a focus on the role of IT, as well as the penalties for non-compliance.

Top 10 Points to Consider in a Business Integration Vendor

Selecting the right business integration vendor is a challenge. While it is essential to focus on what is critical for your company, it is also important to evaluate vendors using a common set of metrics. This document uses customer feedback taken from a broad portfolio of evaluations to offer key factors and considerations to use when selecting an integration software vendor.

Centralized and Offsite Backup

Mitigate risk and lower costs by letting your disaster recovery replica server double as a server for performing an offsite backup. This informative white paper will teach you how...

IT Challenges in the Business Continuity Market

This white paper address the challenges that IT professionals face when implementing a geographically distributed data configuration and the features that a comprehensive replication solution must provide to answer these challenges.

Deploying an Operational Business Intelligence Architecture

The best business intelligence solutions use a data integration framework to optimize data access and BI processes at the source: the systems that run the business.

Achieving Compliance- Meeting Today's Reporting Requirements With Business Intelligence Technology

Learn about the challenges and solutions for meeting the reporting requirements faced by today’s organizations, with attention to formal government legislation, industry-specific regulations, and internal corporate governance.

Establishing a Culture of Measurement – A Practical Guide to Business Intelligence

This paper serves as a synopsis of Information Builders' philosophy of business intelligence. By using this paper as a model, you'll learn how to establish a culture of measurement and begin a powerful cycle of continued improvement within your organization.

The Cost of a Question – Examining Total Cost of Ownership for Business Intelligence Solutions

Reduce the purchase, maintenance, and implementation costs of business intelligence by standardizing on a single solution that meets all of your reporting and information delivery needs. This paper compares the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of BI solutions from Cognos, Business Objects, and Information Builders.

Service-Oriented Architecture ( SOA ) – A New Alternative to Traditional Technology Integration

Service-oriented architectures are being heralded by industry analysts and vendors as the only viable way to overcome the complexities involved in creating agile, reusable business systems. This paper examines the basic premises underlying SOAs.

Butler Group on iWay Service Manager

iWay Service Manager is a complete integrated design environment. From an end-user perspective, it is simply a complete management solution that can be used with the graphical interface to design process-centric applications, without the need for developers to understand or map to the underlying infrastructure.

The Role of ESB in SOA: Creating a Loosely Coupled Integration Architecture

This paper discusses the relationship between ESB, loose coupling, and the effort needed to align IT with business process owners in order to ensure a successful SOA implementation in any organization.

An Agile Framework for Fast, Flexible, Low-Risk Service Deployments

Can service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles untangle the complexity of today's business integration requirements? This paper provides an overview of the promises and realities of collaborative SOA environments, and describes how iWay SOA Middleware solutions make the benefits of an SOA achievable, while protecting investments in already-in-place applications, middleware, and information systems.

Solving the Data Quality Problem

This paper examines the nature, cause and impact of data quality problems in typical IT system implementations. It argues that the extent and impact of poor data quality is largely misunderstood and often ignored.

Making Mass Changes to SAP Data in Record Time with Minimal Resources

This paper describes some of the best practices that many companies have adopted and are able to make mass changes to SAP data in record time with minimal resources.

Empowering Business Users to Automate Transfer of Spreadsheets to SAP

This white paper describes how many companies are realizing significant productivity gains by empowering the business users with tools to transfer their own data between spreadsheets and SAP.

Upload Excel Data to SAP: 7 Best Practices

This paper describes 7 best practices that many companies have adopted in automating the upload of Excel data into SAP. Adopting these best practices will alleviate many of the pains that business users and IT analysts face in uploading Excel data to SAP.

The Storage Area Network Goes Global

As the demand for bandwidth grows, so does the reach of networks. Users need to access data globally, from multiple locations around the world, quickly and transparently without breaking budgets. Data centers locked into servicing only local users unnecessarily constrain growth and expansion.

Converging Text and BI: The Case for a Content Mining Platform

This white paper describes how the Clarabridge Content Mining Platform avoids the pitfalls of previous approaches to unstructured analysis, and capitalizes on lessons learned from solving similar problems in the structured domain.

Business-Oriented Architecture: Combining BPM and SOA for Competitive Advantage

In this paper, we will discuss the benefits of BPM and SOA in more detail and show how leading companies have recognized that implementing BPM and SOA together gives them unique capabilities.

The Banking Data Warehouse and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

This white paper outlines the components of the Banking Data Warehouse (BDW) and how they assist financial institutions in addressing the data modeling and data consolidation issues relating to the SOX regulations.

The Definition of a Business Service for Customer Data Integration

This white paper will define different vendor approaches to developing business services and the relative cost implications of each approach for the customer.

Advanced Global Name Recognition Technology

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the issues, requirements, and technologies available for automated advanced name recognition.

WebSphere Customer Center Product Positioning Paper

This paper gives the reader an overview of the functionality of IBM's WebSphere Customer Center, and explains why IBM is the strategic partner that more Fortune 500 companies select as their strategic platform for Customer Data Integration.

IBM's Banking Data Warehouse and Basel II

This white paper will outline the components of the Banking Data Warehouse (BDW) and how they assist financial institutions to address the data modeling and data consolidation issues relating to the Basel II Capital Accord.

Controlling Excel Chaos With Business Intelligence

This paper describes how to leverage WebFOCUS business intelligence software to generate Excel spreadsheets directly from enterprise data sources, consolidating large amounts of data, performing complex calculations, and creating advanced structures like PivotTables.

Master Data Management: The Myth of a Single Vendor Platform

Master Data Management is a cohesive strategy for managing all master data domains. Where is your organization most likely to derive business value from a Master Data Management solutions? This report answers these questions and details the path forward: Adaptive Master Data Management.

How to Sell Skeptics on the Value of Master Data Management

This comprehensive report addresses industry-specific issues for the Financial Services sector, Insurance, Pharmaceutical companies, Retailers, Manufacturing, and High-Tech.

Business Intelligence for Mid-Size Organizations: It's Not Just for Industry Giants

Download this step by step guide to learning how mid-size companies can benefit from Business Intelligence. You'll learn the benefits of BI and why mid-size companies need it for effective decision-making and improved results.

Simplified Data Protection for Small to Medium Businesses

Once a business clears the financial hurdle and begins to plan their data protection strategy the choices can appear daunting. Do they select tape or disk? Apply differential or incremental backups? How much will a new system cost and how much time will it take to implement? What data should be included in the backup? This article attempts to address these concerns.

Effective Content Analysis for Email Inspection & Control

Organizations are struggling to enforce both mandatory regulatory rules as well as internal corporate policies governing email content and distribution. One of the biggest obstacles is determining whether or not the content of an email, or its attachment, is subject to any policy rules or restrictions. This whitepaper describes the techniques required to perform intelligent, accurate content analysis and the shortcomings of most current approaches.

Another Year on in the ILM Journey

Quocirca conducted two surveys separated by 12 months that looked at the data management infrastructure of UK and Irish businesses and how this was linked to their ability to respond to the whims of the regulators. In the year between the two surveys a lot had changed.

Implementing Energy Efficient Data Centers

It is possible to dramatically reduce the electrical consumption of typical data centers through appropriate design of the network-critical physical infrastructure and through the design of the IT architecture. This paper explains how to quantify the electricity savings and provides examples of methods that can greatly reduce electrical power consumption for optimal data center efficiency.

Why Master Data Management Vision May Fail

Master Data Management (MDM) has made the CIO's technology short-list. This paper addresses issues related to data governance, the business master, building on proven success, and ROI.

Archive Management Service Protects Data and Saves Time

Organizations face a double whammy when it comes to data archive management. On one hand, the volume of digital and paper archives is growing exponentially. Industry analysts report that digital hard disk storage has grown 85 percent a year over the last eight years and 2.7 billion new sheets of paper are filed into folders every day.

Business Success Dependent on Data Protection Capabilities

Disruption to your production environment is costly, and any loss of information can be disastrous. Consequences may include loss of revenue and company reputation, lower shareholder confidence, potential exposure to business continuity risk, or sanctions and fines for noncompliance with regulatory requirements. Organizations need an effective and reliable way to safeguard corporate information in the wake of an unforeseen downtime event.

The Increasing Role of Compliance Mandates: Archive Management

Many organizations have no policies in place for retaining, managing, and purging documents. This paper looks at some of the basic components of a document strategy—retention, management, and destruction—and highlights some of the current compliance drivers that make it all necessary.

Information and SOA: Gaining Greater Insights Through MDM

Information management, which includes both data and content management, is an essential building block for Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). By taking a service oriented approach to information, you can achieve much greater value from your information assets.

PCI DSS Compliance with Tripwire

Find out step-by-step what it takes to become compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), and how Tripwire can help your company achieve and maintain PCI compliance.

The PCI Data Security Standard

Learn about the validation requirements of the payment card industry's data security standard (PCI DSS), including administrative and technical elements of the program, and the potential sanctions for failure to comply.

PDF/A and the Document Retention Landscape

Read this whitepaper to learn about PDF/A and how it must be implemented in conjunction with tools and applications to manage records according to the various business practices and recordkeeping processes today's information-dependant organizations employ.

Unmasking the Complexities of Data Sync: Understanding Retailers' Options for Reaping Benefits

Major retailers and mass merchandisers are turning up the pressure on their trading partners and even other retailers to implement Global Data Synchronization (GDS) within their organizations. These advocates see GDS and participation in the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) as the best path to improving the timeliness and accuracy of their supply chains, particularly once these efforts are broadly supported across the retail supply chain landscape.

The Future of B2B Leaders: The Transition from Operations to Business Value Drivers

This white paper provides an overview of the growing opportunities for EDI managers and coordinators. It highlights how their role can change from being responsible for implementation of technologies for operational activities to being infrastructure leaders. It shows how they can deliver increased efficiencies and velocity for value chain automation, which increases visibility, control and agility for a business.

e-Life Sciences 2010: Enabling a Trusted Electronic Value Chain

This white paper presents a solution framework for Life Science Organizations that want to implement enterprise digital trust management to protect their electronic value chain.

The Digital Signature Paradox

Digital signatures aren't enough. This paper posits that data integrity needs to be redefined within the context of a time-sensitive mechanism.

Electronic Signature Assurance & the Digital Chain-of-Evidence

This white paper defines the life cycle of an electronically signed record and describes the requirements for handwritten signature-equivalence throughout its retention period.

Gaining Maximum Value from Information and Data

Mid-sized organizations have similar issues to large organizations when it comes to the storage and management of information and data, yet they often have limited capability to attract, retain and maintain the skills that large organizations will use in managing their data assets. There is a strong need for more effective tools that will enable mid-sized organizations to manage their data assets and gain the greatest value from them.

Informatica Announces Salesforce.com On-Demand Solution: TDWI

On-demand computing is apparently in demand, at least in the eyes of data integration specialist Informatica Corp. The Switzerland of data integration, as some have called it, just announced availability of its first on-demand offering, which is specifically designed to handle data from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) stalwart, Salesforce.com.

Interview: Don Tirsell, Product Marketing, Informatica

Don Tirsell, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Informatica, discusses "complex data," their recent acquisition of Itemfield, and how Itemfield's technology fits into Informatica's overall data integration platform.

Interview: Karen Hsu, Informatica

David Loshin, consultant and author talked to Karen Hsu about Informatica's data quality, unstructured data and data governance solutions. Karen highlighted customers like Navteq and Humberside Police's innovative use of Informatica.

Driving A Single View of The Customer

The purpose of this white paper is to outline the importance of data quality with reference to single view of customer. In any organization SVC is the foundation of successful customer relationship management (CRM).

Seven Steps to Successful Data Migration

In Informatica's data migration podcast, Arvind Parthasarathi spoke with editorial director, James E. Powell. He explores "the seven steps", what IT does wrong, what keeps IT from getting started and what one can do to improve the odds of data migration success.

Critical Success Factors Deploying Pervasive BI

The goal of pervasive BI applications is to take the data that produced the back office ROI of more than 400% and deliver it to front-line employees in a form appropriate to their job functions – with similar results. There are thousands of business process steps in a typical enterprise where pervasive BI insights can be added. What are leading companies doing with pervasive BI?

The Impact of the New FRCP Rules on Your Business

Have you adjusted your data retention policies and electronic discovery procedures to comply with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)? Learn how email archiving can help you with these electronic discovery requirements.

How to Ensure That Your Employees Will Want to Use CRM

In this paper, learn how with the right CRM solution, information workers can increase productivity, improve customer service, and boost collaboration, while the business simplifies complex processes, increases sales, and reduces costs.

Survival of the Fittest: Move Beyond FTP

In a world where only the fittest survive, Axway can help. Our Managed File Transfer Survival Guide gives you a step-by-step plan for building a business case to ensure your success in managing the integrity of your data infrastructure. Download your complimentary survival guide today!

Enhancing SQL Reporting Services with Double-Take

Although SQL Server offers options for database protection and recovery, none of them is intended to provide a complete disaster recovery solution. Make sure you’ve take the time to develop a high availability and disaster recovery plan to cover unforeseen catastrophes that might threaten your database in the future. When recoverability matters, depend on Double-Take Software to protect and recover business critical data and applications.

Service-Oriented Data Access: Building Interoperable, Robust & Reusable Data Services

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an approach to organizing IT resources and data to meet the changing needs of the business. Implementing SOA depends upon the IT organization being able to build interoperable, robust, reusable, and composable Services that abstract the underlying application functionality and data in the organization.

Middleware in Action: Industrial Strength Data Access

This independent technology assessment by Ken North, the industry expert on databases and middleware, presents a top level view of the role of data access middleware and its importance. It discusses the defining characteristics of premium data access middleware, such as features that affect performance and scalability, and includes a checklist of critical features.

Milhouse Engineering Manages the O’Hare Airport Project with GlobalSCAPE WAFS

In 2005, O’Hare International Airport began a project to relocate and modernize a 2.1 million ft.² runway. Five independent firms worked on the project design with the IT/data management led by Milhouse Engineering and Construction, Inc. Milhouse implemented GlobalSCAPE WAFS which mirrors critical files to all sites. This provided fast local access to all project files automatically without any administrative burden and with no delays.

Information Security for SMBs: Ensuring End-to-End Care of Data Assets

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can benefit from the expansive use of information technology (IT) just as much as their larger counterparts. Indeed, in many cases they have to, because to trade they need to interact with business partners of all sizes and IT failure affects not just internal users but those of third parties.

Master Data Management: Extracting Value from Your Most Important Intangible Asset

This SAP Insight explores the importance of master data and the barriers to achieving sound master data, describes the ideal master data management solution, and explains the value and benefits of effective management of master data.

GlobalSCAPE Gives Williams Lea a Competitive Edge

Williams Lea is a leading global provider of customized corporate information solutions. The company needed to reliably, easily and securely transfer sensitive files and implement a system to share files and ensure a business continuity/disaster recovery plan. Today, Williams Lea uses the GlobalSCAPE’s Enhanced File Transfer (EFT) solution to provide secure protocol support and encryption to protect data in transit and at rest.

GlobalSCAPE WAFS Helps To Fill the Pipeline at Jordan and Skala Engineers

Jordan & Skala Engineers is a growing company with 5 offices. It needed a scalable solution to optimize their network and their resources as more and more work was distributed across sites. Using GlobalSCAPE WAFS files mirror instantly in real time using byte-level differencing. So as soon as a file is saved or closed, the file deltas appear in every other location on the network. Users are never waiting for files to upload, download, or open across a network.

GlobalSCAPE WAFS Passes the Test for PHR+A

Patton Harris and Rust and Associates has 13 branches. Management and IT needed a way to help these offices work on projects together to optimize company resources. Using GlobalSCAPE WAFS gave PHR+A fast file access across branches using minimal system resources. No management is required as it operates in the background and real time byte level differencing not only reduces bandwidth usage and spikes but also the changes are sent as they happen – not when they are needed.

How AON Simplified and Automated Files Transfers with GlobalSCAPE

AON’s Human Capital division needed a better way to automate their data transfer processes. They wanted a simple yet flexible system that didn’t require customization to adapt to growing needs. They wanted to consolidate their sensitive data transfers and ensure the security of this data and to provide integration with current workflow and key legacy applications. AON deployed the GlobalSCAPE EFT (Enhanced File Transfer) server.

Milhouse Engineering Manages the O'Hare Airport Project with GlobalSCAPE WAFS

Optimizing File Sharing & Data Back Up Over Wide Area Networks

Disaster can strike when you least expect it. So how do you back up and maintain control of your data and still provide access to data in a distributed organization? The challenges are clear...large and growing amounts of data need to be distributed across many sites yet complications such as bandwidth usage, file coherence, version consistency, and file latency all result in lost productivity.

Make Sure You Have Answers to IT Questions After Major Disasters Strike

In preparation for disasters, it’s critical to have a backup site that can be used if your primary location goes down. Does your business have the right procedures and equipment to recover after a disaster? Get answers. Download this article about a new enterprise data center and learn more about protecting your IT infrastructure.

IT Users Discuss New Ways to Protect Enterprise Data

This paper chronicles the implementations of three enterprises that represent a diverse set of industries (Financial, Legal and Technology). The IT managers responsible for protecting company data had the foresight to recognize the growing gap between their business continuity requirements and the ability of tape-based backup systems to meet those requirements.

ESG Lab Report: Data Deduplication and Disk-to-Disk Backup Systems - What to Know and Ask

While disk-to-disk (D2D) backup systems have been widely accepted as functionally superior to tape, they still carry a significant cost penalty. However, with the addition of data deduplication technology, D2D systems now provide compelling operational and cost efficiencies, thanks to increased manageability and reduced storage and bandwidth needs.

TCO Comparison Report: Reducing Costs in the Data Center

Is backup and recovery unnecessarily draining your budget and resources? This report measures the TCO of an enterprise environment using various data protection models, including tape, virtual tape library, and data deduplication solutions. Learn how each stacks up in this comparative report.

The ROI Case for WAN Vaulting - Extending Disk-to-Disk to Offsite Disaster Recovery

Systems and storage expert Barb Goldworm describes the benefits of deduplication and disk-to-disk (D2D) backup for disaster recovery (DR) and how these techniques are extended to deliver cost-effective offsite data protection. You’ll learn the benefits of deduplication and D2D backup, how D2D can be extended to deliver cost-effective offsite data protection and DR, and how to build a business case for WAN vaulting.

Symantec NetBackup Design Best Practices with Data Domain

This white paper walks you through how Data Domain integrates with NBU, including planning and sizing considerations, operational considerations, offsite replication, and other integration basics so you can get the most out of this powerful solution.

Evaluating Data Deduplication Solutions: Looking Beyond the Hype

Data deduplication is without a doubt one of the hottest technologies in storage right now. However, with many different deduplication approaches from various vendors - each hyping their own unique benefits - you can get caught up deciding on the factors that are most important for your organization.

Deduplication Comes of Age

Advanced Single Instance Storage (A-SIS) deduplication can help you reduce storage consumption up to 95%. A behind the scenes look at how this free technology leverages the NetApp WAFL® file system to conserve disk space while keeping system overhead low.

Virtualizing Storage for VMware Success

If you’ve virtualized your servers but not your storage, you’ve done only half the job. Learn how FAS deduplication and other NetApp technologies can help you cut storage costs in half, reduce your VMware RTO to minutes, and increase your overall operating efficiency.

Combining Deduplication and VMware Disaster Recovery: Cascading Savings Improves Cost Effectiveness

The shift from physical servers to consolidated, virtualized server infrastructures has had undeniable IT benefits. However, the rapid move to VMware has caused traditional approaches to disaster recovery (DR) to become outmoded and added a layer of complexity to DR implementation.

WebSphere MQ Delivers Real Value Today and Tomorrow

Ensuring that data can be exchanged between disparate systems reliably and with speed and transactional integrity is a difficult trick to pull off. And it gets even trickier when things don’t work as anticipated. Yet this is exactly the challenge IBM has addressed for over a decade: first with IBM MQSeries® and now with IBM WebSphere® MQ.

Achieving Rapid Data Recovery for IBM AIX Environments

Planning for recovery is a requirement in businesses of all sizes. In implementing an operational plan that ensures that both data and applications can be recovered, IT personnel are generally confronted with several challenges. Do you have a plan that meets your recovery requirements to your satisfaction? Read this paper to learn more about the ideal plan for IBM AIX Environments, and whether your plan is complete.

Guidelines for the Evaluation of Enterprise De-Duplication Solutions

This document is intended for the use of Enterprise1 Storage Professionals, focused on Data Protection — Backup, Restore,DR and Archive operations — who are interested in evaluating the potential impact of de-duplication technologies to their business. There is much hyperbole associated with de-duplication. The purpose of this document is to help readers distill the essence from the hype, as the basis for sound decision-making.

Evolving Standards for Managed File Transfer: Do Recent Secure File Transfer Standards Measure Up?

Business to business (B2B) process integration demands secure and reliable communications between companies. Traditionally, sensitive data has been shared between organizations over dial-up connections, dedicated point-to-point links or Value Added Networks (VANs). This paper details the high level file transfer requirements and contrasts them with the capabilities of different types of solutions.

The Why, What, and How of Managed File Transfer in Business

This paper will examine how organizations like yours are meeting the challenges of finding more secure and reliable ways to manage file transfers. It isn't our goal in this paper to take you into a detailed technical discussion of file transfer; rather we will give you some of the concepts and terms so you can understand the significant technical challenges and solutions. In that way, you'll be more equipped to develop the right solution for your organization.

WDS and How it Can Accelerate and Simplify Your IT Infrastructure

Finally – some clarity in the application acceleration and WAN optimization space. Find out how WAFS, WAN optimization, compression, and Web acceleration technologies have come together into one powerful solution: Wide-area Data Services (WDS) in the white paper. Download today and dive into the technical specifics of WDS and understand how it can accelerate and simplify your IT infrastructure.

Business Intelligence for Consumer Products: Actionable Insights for Business Decision Makers

While historically consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations have made significant investments in data collection and integration, much of the data stored in their IT infrastructures has not been analyzed or deployed to further the firms' business performance. Those enterprises that learn to effectively harness the vast quantities of information generated by their IT systems - both within and outside the corporation - will enjoy a substantial competitive advantage.

Business Intelligence for Decision Makers: Actionable Insights for Business Decision Makers

Although many organizations have made significant investments in data collection and integration (through data warehouses and the like), it is a rare enterprise that can analyze and redeploy its accumulated data to actually drive business performance. In the years to come, as globalization and increased reliance on the Internet further complicate, accelerate and intensify marketplace conditions, actionable business intelligence promises to deliver a formidable competitive advantage to firms that leverage its power.

Leveraging Information for Innovation and Competitive Advantage

Think differently about information. Information is not just stored in your customer databases, file systems, content management systems or applications (e.g., ERP, CRM, and SCM). Information resides in many different repositories including custom applications, e-mails, digital images and reports. You need to make sure you are leveraging all your relevant information no matter where it originated, no matter what its format, and no matter where it resides to help your organization innovate, compete, provide service and grow.

The New Information Agenda: Do You Have One?

The lack of trusted information - information that is accurate, timely and relevant - is on the minds of CEOs and senior executives around the world. The cost and complexity of managing increasing volumes of data and content, combined with the need to provide trusted information to every user for every transaction, is driving CIOs to rethink their approach to information delivery.

IBM Multiform Master Data Management: The Evolution of MDM Applications

IBM Multiform Master Data Management manages master data domains - customers, accounts, products - that have significant impact on the most important business processes and realize the promise of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). IBM is the only vendor that delivers an integrated MDM product with significant out-of-the-box functionality for each MDM usage style - collaborative, operational and analytical - across multiple data domains, thereby managing the complete data lifecycle.

Master Data Management: Effective Data Governance

Organizations with data-sharing environments, complex information and systems hinder business responsiveness and decision makers’ ability to make informed decisions. This white paper will describe how engaging in a master data management (MDM) project enables effective governance of data - specifically master data - and achieves maturity in key categories of the IBM Data Governance Maturity Model.

Snap-in, Grid-Based Data Integration: IBM Information Server Blade

This white paper, authored by industry analyst IDC, explores the problems confronting IT organizations today as they seek to bring data together from disparate sources in order to achieve better information coherence, operational efficiency, and more effective overall governance. Specifically, the paper considers the problems posed by the complexity of "data integration" technology in terms of its configuration and maintenance. It looks at the utility of a grid computing approach in providing scalability and manageability for "data integration" and considers how an appliance approach can further reduce cost and risk for customers.

Advances in Data Warehouse Performance

WinterCorp analyzes IBM's DB2 Warehouse and how it addresses twin challenges facing enterprises today: improving the value derived from the torrents of information processed every day, while lowering costs at the same time. Discover why WinterCorp believes the advances in data clustering strategies and intelligent software compression algorithms in IBM's Data Warehouse improves performance of business intelligence queries by radically reducing the I/O's needed to resolve them.

5 Steps Every CIO Should Follow to Increase Operational Maturity through IT Automation

This whitepaper is directed to technology executives and team members who are looking to increase the efficiency and operational maturity of their IT operations. It will discuss in detail the following five steps, each required to fully realize the potential of your technology investments.

Building a Leak-Free Enterprise

In this white paper Clearswift address the question "Is it possible to build a leak free enterprise?" In addition to a Gartner research note on "Understand Data Leakage" we answer the question by describing 15 of the most common mistakes of web and email security and the associated risks and solutions.

A Powerful, Flexible Solution to Optimize SharePoint 2007

SchemaLogic Enterprise Suite for Microsoft SharePoint 2007 (SES) resolves SharePoint issues by providing a framework that enables companies to model and connect the structures and relationships of the metadata across the entire SharePoint environment. SES continuously updates and synchronizes metadata across SharePoint site collections, Web applications and farms by leveraging and extending SharePoint’s native capabilities.

Managing Metadata for Life Science Enterprises

In the Life Sciences industry, information is the source of innovation. Vast varieties of content and information sources feed the development pipeline. The ability to create, share, navigate, find and protect essential information is critical to research and development groups, clinicians, regulatory agencies, marketing teams, and those who benefit the most - customers.

Managing Metadata for Oil & Gas Companies: Reducing Total Installed Cost for Capital Projects

Oil & Gas companies operate in an increasingly complex environment. SchemaLogic's enterprise solution for managing content and document metadata enables Oil & Gas companies to model, update and synchronize content across project document repositories or collections for greater reliability and reduced total installed cost.

IBM Power Systems Offer a Smart Alterative to Windows Servers

Maintaining data security, performance, availability and recoverability is a growing challenge. The IBM Power platform offers many advantages in performance, scalability and key functional capabilities to support key database serving. In addition, it simplifies virtualization, making it easier to reduce the number of physical servers required. This ITG report shows the advantages of the IBM Power platform as an alternative to commodity Windows servers in mid-sized companies.

IBM Power Systems: Cost-Effective Linux Database Serving

Maintaining data security, performance, availability and recoverability is a growing challenge. The IBM Power platform offers cost-effective performance, scalability and key functional capabilities to support Linux-based database serving. It also simplifies virtualization, making it easier to reduce the number of physical servers required. This ITG report shows the advantages of the IBM Power platform for Linux database serving in mid-sized companies.

Distributing Data Downstream

Can the JT data format solve the problem of interdisciplinary communications in the PLM industry? The white paper, "The Business Case for a Common Data Distribution Platform: A Look at UGS' JT," examines the case for its adoption as a standard for design, analysis and manufacturing in PLM and beyond.

Insights to Accelerate Services Growth

As a Services Executive are you struggling with questions regarding what to measure, how to effectively engage with your customers, and what information should be leveraged and shared with service-chain partners and customers? Leading edge organizations are making tools and data available to their suppliers and customers with aggregated information from multiple data systems. Service-chain partners and customer personnel can now see the same views of service performance and activity. This is the next frontier to creating customer "stickiness" and business growth.

Why You Need Email Encryption: Use Case Scenarios

DSS, GLBA, HIPAA, OMB, PCI, PIIG... just a few of the standards and regulations that place additional constraints on how data is stored, processed, and transmitted. Adopting best practices for protecting the sensitive or private information valued by your company, customers, employees and partners adds a new complexity to email security.

Data Modeling: A Necessary and Rewarding Aspect of Data Management

Data modeling has evolved from an arcane technique for database designers into an entire family of interrelated techniques that serves many constituencies, including techno-phobic business stakeholders and users. The new maturity of modeling tools and techniques arrives in the nick of time, because new technical and regulatory realities demand that enterprises maintain scrupulous awareness of their data and how it is used. Data modeling is no longer for databases only, no longer for technologists only, and no longer optional.

Reconciling the CAP Theorem WP

This white paper discusses the CAP theorem (consistency, availability, partition-tolerance), the incongruities of the claims that competitors make against this theorem, and the pareto-optimal approach Riverbed takes to reconciling the CAP theorem. Download this white paper now.

Easing the Migration to Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Countless companies want to take advantage of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and its notable business and technology benefits. However, with the prevalence of large, complex and sprawling information technology (IT) infrastructures, many organizations are wary of - or avoid altogether - the time, expense and effort required for a mass overhaul of their database environment.

Achieving Efficiency and Effectiveness With Your Master Data

Read this article to identify the 5 phrases of an EDM implementation you need to achieve efficiency and effectiveness with your master data.

How Sauder Woodworking Transformed Its Business With SAP

Learn how this furniture manufacturer used the SAP xApp Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence composite application to integrate data from multiple sources, build team-leader and operator dashboards, and streamline production flow and efficiency on the shop floor.

Automating Data Flows to your Business Intelligence System

Businesses can gain greater value from their BI investment by improving the way in which data flows to the BI system are managed. Many problems result when the ETL process is handled by a patchwork of scripting, custom coding, and various built-in schedulers that are part of existing ETL solutions, because these systems do not provide end-to-end execution, monitoring, and control of the ETL process.

Expanding Roles of Data Management Professionals: A Survey From Industry Peers

Data Professionals are now being asked to perform higher-level tasks and interact with businesses as “data stewards”. In this survey, you will learn the challenges as outlined by over 850 data professionals. Get this CA-sponsored survey of the International DB2 Users Group (IDUG) conducted by Unisphere Research. The closer link between corporate performance and database performance is increasing pressure on data professionals to provide higher-level services to enterprise business customers.

Tackling Increasing SMF Data Volumes and Decreasing Resources in the Mainframe Environment

Increasing infrastructure complexity has led to unprecedented growth in enterprise systems management data on all systems, including the mainframe and it is becoming more complex to manage SMF data. Download this Technology Brief to learn how to address the complexity of managing SMF data.

CA Performance Handbook Supplement for DB2 for z/OS

The CA Performance Management Handbook for DB2 for z/OS by renowned tuning experts Susan Lawson and Dan Luksetich of YL&A covers information to enhance your skills and raise awareness for databases performance management issues and tuning strategies. This supplement to the CA Performance Management Handbook provides specific information on which technologies apply to which issues and how CA Database Management addresses your most pressing database performance management challenges.

Enhance Network Security and Security Data Management

It’s a changing climate for network security and demands for improved documentation of regulatory compliance continue to increase. The time has come for a comprehensive, cost-effective, scalable security event and log management solution. Read this white paper for more information about the IBM solution that answers this challenge.

Quick sizing guide for SAS Grid running on HP BladeSystems and EVA Storage

Designed for CIOs, IT managers, data center managers and grid computing architects seeking to improve performance, SAS Grid Computing on the HP BladeSystem. C-Class helps accelerate growth and mitigate risks with a simplified, consolidated infrastructure that’s agile enough to efficiently handle change. SAS Grid Manager on HP BladeSystem can lower costs through automation, virtualization and improved IT efficiency.

Download HP's "Quick Sizing Guide for SAS Grid running on HP BladeSystem and EVA Storage" to learn more about the equipment needs to deploy SAS Grid Manager on HP BladeSystem.

Using Digital, Web 2.0 Tactics to Boost B2B Marketing Results

In this free 15-minute podcast, Laura Ramos of Forrester Research explains how B2B marketers can leverage Web 2.0. Listen at your desk or on the road and discover: how to enhance marketing ROI by driving real engagement and dialog ... how to reach key decision-makers ... reasons behind the move from demand generation toward more organic demand management ... and more. Understanding Web 2.0 tactics is a must for B2B marketers who want to compete. Find out why; listen to this free podcast now.

Spam Spikes: A Real Risk to Your Business

A close look at the data provides a clear picture of how spammers vary their tactics to overwhelm traditional corporate email defenses, through changes in duration, frequency and intensity among others. This whitepaper will help you understand these threats to your business, and how MessageLabs provides a unique solution.

Deploying and Supporting Enterprise Search

Enterprise search has been a service in one form or another on the Microsoft intranet for more than a decade. With the release of Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003, the landscape for enterprise search at Microsoft began to change. This became the foundation for the current solution, the Enterprise Search feature provided in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Read more about the enhancements of this feature in this technical white paper.

Fixing the 'Everyone' Problem

With all of the expertise and technology safeguards in place, how is it possible that a major risk to unstructured data on shared file systems cannot be easily reversed? Well it goes something like this: As an administrator, you or maybe your predecessor set up a couple of file systems or shared drives. Some of the folders on those file shares were left wide open, and you relied on data owners to define the access permissions.

Managing Unstructured Data: 10 Key Requirements

Download this white paper the learn the ten key requirements for any effort, system or technology whose purpose is to protect business data and specifically the documents, presentations, spreadsheets, scanned images, multi-media files, etc., that fill file servers and form any enterprise's valued assets.

The Business Case for Data Governance

Data governance is one of the biggest initiatives in IT today. Download this white paper to learn about the DatAdvantage solution. With this solution, enterprises can instantly see existing permissions by user/group or by folder, expedite IT operations and helpdesk response to entitlement requests and changes, identify the actual business owners of data, and greatly improve audit and forensic capabilities.

Who Has Access to Your Data

Organizations today are focused on controlling access to and protecting their structured data, i.e. information held within their databases. This only represents approximately 10% of their data security risk, the remaining 90% being Unstructured Data. Unstructured Data, single files, stored in insurmountable quantities within the organization, is growing exponentially and the onus is on the Business to have visibility and control of its Access, Usage and Storage.

How to disappoint your HIPAA auditors and gain the respect of your board of directors

With HIPAA audits now randomized, you must be prepared for them every day. And with state regulations requiring compliance-breach reporting, you must become your own auditor. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the 1996 federal regulation that mandated health-data privacy.

This regulation requires compliance by all insurers and health care providers, including physician’s offices, hospitals, health plans, employers, public health authorities, life insurers, clearinghouses, billing agencies, information systems vendors, service organizations, and universities.

But that’s not all.

Why Your Organization Needs to Focus on Outbound Content

This white paper focuses on the need to monitor and manage outbound content, discusses the key drivers that are making it necessary and discusses the steps that an organization should take to mitigate the risks it faces from employee use of communication tools. Also included in this document are brief descriptions of the companies that have co-sponsored it.

Proactive Network Defense - The Case for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

It’s widely accepted that Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are excellent tools for regulatory compliance, log management and analysis, trouble-shooting and forensic analysis. What’s surprising to many is that this technology can play a significant role in actively defending networks. This whitepaper explains precisely how real-time analysis, combined with in-memory correlation, and automated notification and remediation capabilities can provide unprecedented network visibility, security and control.

Securing Data at the Endpoint

The workplace is changing as we speak as security has virtually disappeared from the traditional enterprise IT landscape. With new technologies such as inexpensive storage devices and removable media disseminating information further and further away from the core, as well as an influx of spyware, phishing programs and keyloggers, enterprises’ data security is constantly under attack.

Secure Cross-Enterprise Knowledge Sharing using SharePoint

Trading partner networks span the globe, making secure knowledge sharing a driving factor in everyday business. Achieving the right balance of information protection with secure information sharing is paramount to success. Enable your extended organization to share information more effectively and efficiently with Exostar’s secure SharePoint on-demand solution – ForumPass 4

Building the next generation of IT with virtualization

In an effort to stay ahead of the competition, companies have poured capital resources into information technology. In many cases, this has been done on a group-by-group basis, with each line of business creating its own infrastructure silo. Each silo had its own systems, servers, storage, licenses, and support teams—and each shouldered the total cost of owning and operating a standalone infrastructure.

Learn more by downloading this paper.

Virtualization delivers real benefits for business

Despite its six syllables, 'virtualization' is a straight - forward concept. It can enable your organization to get more value not only from computer and storage hardware but also from the labor required to keep your systems up and running. Virtualization is an approach to pooling and sharing IT resources so the supply of resources—processing power, storage, networking and so on—can flexibly and automatically meet fluctuating business demand. Virtualization can improve the quality of your IT services, enabling more consistency and predictability of operational availability.

Microsoft® Communication and Collaboration: Working Together in the New World of Work

Living in a connected world, many of the economic and intellectual barriers that once separated the world’s businesses no longer exist. Free trade, growing labor markets, increased capital, and business and technology standards contribute to a worldwide information-based economy. People and businesses work together in ways never before possible. As local economies adapt to this new world of work, certain worldwide trends emerge. These trends define how your company conducts business and how you work with information and other people.

Learn more by downloading this paper.

Increase Utilization, Decrease Energy Costs With Data Center Virtualization

Increase utilization, decrease energy costs with data center virtualization In the past, IT departments have responded to demands for new services and better performance by adding more hardware, resulting in underutilized technology silos and server sprawl. Today, many organizations are turning to virtualization technologies that facilitate consolidation and increased utilization. In short, virtualization brings the ability to pool, share and dynamically reallocate data center resources – and helps fulfill the promise of higher utilization and lower energy consumption and lower costs.

Join us and learn why HP is well prepared to help you assess and address your needs. Find out what key virtualization partners -- such as VMware, Microsoft and Citrix – bring to the table and how HP can help you leverage their technology and expertise.

ComputerWorld Technical Briefing: Mission-Critical Security - The Threat from Within

We all know blind spots are bad for drivers but are you aware of how potentially disastrous they can be for IT security professionals? Take a few minutes to review this Computerworld report and you’ll get a clear picture of both the problem and the solution!
•Getting a Grip on Information Blind Spots: Highlights the PacketMotion Solution and includes interviews with John Shaffer, Greenhill & Company, Peter Christy, Internet Research Group, and Jonathan Gohstand, PacketMotion.
•Down to Data Details: Network Monitoring in Real Time -- Q&A Interview with Paul Smith, CEO & President, PacketMotion.
•Government Security Expert Warns of Insider Threats -- Q&A Interview with Michael Theis, Chief of Cyber Counterintelligence at the US NRO.

Trust but Verify - User Activity Monitoring to Protect Intellectual Property and Sensitive Data

How do you safeguard intellectual property, sensitive information and compliance-relevant data without hampering employee and contractor productivity? Find the facts, blind spots and new technology regarding real-time visibility and control of network user transactions and information assets. Download the FREE, must-read whitepaper “Trust but Verify: User Activity Monitoring to Protect Intellectual Property and Sensitive Data” now.

SAS Grid Computing: Faster processing, increased resilience and improved hardware utilization

SAS Grid Computing delivers enterprise-class capabilities that enable SAS applications to automatically leverage grid computing, run faster and takes optimal advantage of computing resources. With grid computing as an automatic capability, it is easier and more cost-effective to allocate compute-intensive applications appropriately across computing systems. SAS Grid Manager helps automate the management of SAS Computing Grids with dynamic load balancing, resource assignment and monitoring, and job priority and termination management.

Email Retention and Archiving:Manage E-Records, Minimize Workplace Risks & Maximize Compliance

Failure to strategically manage email can be costly for any businesses. Learn about the risks of poor email management, and how to implement a comprehensive, best practices-based email retention policy. Enforce your policy by implementing MessageLabs Managed Email Archiving Service to minimize email risks and maximize compliance with organizational, legal, and regulatory rules.

Variable Reduction in Logistic & Choosing the correct transformations

This technique is a time reducing and one which searches through various transformations to check for the best fit of a variable to the dependent variable. On comparing it with a very accepted method of a reputed firm, we have seen this new technique working wonders

IDC Workbook: Assess the Value of Deduplication for your Storage Consolidation Initiatives

Enterprises are caught between the continued growth in the amount of data they create, store, and depend on, and the need to consolidate IT resources to reduce costs and create a more 'green' IT environment. But while organizations have worked to reduce IT footprint, they must balance the need to improve resource utilization with more efficient protection and recovery capabilities, all in the face of increasing capacity pressures. Download the IDC Workbook: Protecting Data in the Context of Enterprise Infrastructure Consolidation and Data Growth: The Rise of New Technologies.

CRM Without Compromise: CRM Global Strategy

What CRM really is about – the customer – to achieve the results CRM has been promising to deliver. In order to be successful, companies need to approach CRM without compromise. CRM without compromise is about transforming a business to become truly customer-driven. It is about building a synergistic eco-system with employees, customers and partners that consistently creates and delivers customer value; an eco-system where customer demand drives the supply chain, customer insight spurs product and service innovation and customers are empowered to control their destiny.

Passing PCI Compliance Section 6.6: Code Reviews and Application Firewalls

If your company stores or processes credit card information, you must be able to demonstrate compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS). These standards include requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, design, and other critical protective measures. They also include one very prescriptive requirement: Section 6.6 mandates that organizations secure all Web applications by conducting a code review or installing an application layer firewall. Companies have had a very difficult time passing the other parts of Section 6 and they have experienced a rising number of data breaches. Unless companies take 6.6 seriously, PCI compliance failure rates, and data breaches, will continue to grow. Read this whitepaper to gain an overview of best practices to pass Section 6.6 and an understanding of the technology available to you.

Global ERP advances set stage for manufacturing operations orchestration

How globalization is impacting enterprise systems deployment is one thing, but what are the implications of global ERP for manufacturing operations? Manufacturers have turned their attention to lowering ERP cost of ownership through standardization on the one hand, and seeking further ERP value by pursuing competitive differentiation on the basis of sophisticated analytics and manufacturing intelligence.

Measuring The Business Value Of IT

Many organizations do a very poor job of measuring the business value of their IT investments; but maximizing the business value of IT investments is the primary objective of good IT governance. By employing a consistent, repeatable, credible methodology that both the business users and IT are held accountable for and that measures projected business value as well as the actual value delivered, organizations can significantly improve their IT investment returns. Four existing methodologies can be adopted as is or customized to suit specific needs. Firms should pick one, institutionalize it as part of an overall governance framework, and embed it in IT portfolio management.

Link Service-Offering Development to Resource, Demand, and Supplier Management

This paper identifies the market trends driving the need for an integrated talent supply chain and describes the internal inefficiencies professional services firms must overcome to optimize their talent supply chains. We conclude with a discussion of the innovative business practices and technologies that enable firms to support an effective talent supply chain.

EXTRACTING VALUE FROM YOUR MOST IMPORTANT INTANGIBLE ASSET

Effective MDM offers a number of benefits to a wide range of companies – particularly those with large volumes of data used for a variety of purposes by multiple organizations. They include operational efficiencies, enhanced revenue opportunities, better insight into business operations, and tighter compliance with regulatory requirements – helping avoid fines, internal misbehavior, and the potential for losses in shareholder value.

Organizational Readiness

This SAP executive insight Organizational Readiness ex¬plains the organizational readiness challenges that companies face. It describes – at a high level – how to establish a framework for success, how to meet overall objectives, and how to create an environment receptive to change and prepared for sustainability.

Retailer Deepens Relationships, Understands Customers Better Through SAP® Software Upgrade

SAP® enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has been providing a scalable solution that integrates the sales, ordering, inventory, delivery, and financial reporting processes across the company. The software enabled Room & Board to manage growth while keeping design associates fully informed about everything the customer needed, from design choices to material, item, and configuration availability, order status, and delivery dates.

SALES AND OPERATIONS PLANNING

The sales and operations planning process can be designed to bring a company's marketing, finance, sales, and operations departments together to continuously monitor and meet customer demand. As the separate departments collaborate, they create business plans with the latest and most accurate data and begin to develop and measure a common set of metrics. With integrated S&OP processes, companies are better able to synchronize supply and demand, improve revenue, decrease costs, and increase customer satisfaction.

Maximize Profit, Reduce Sales Order Operating Costs, and Increase Customer Satisfaction

The success of your sales organization depends on its ability to achieve perfect order management, and a gain in order performance can significantly improve profit margin. To achieve this, sales organizations must be equipped to be both efficient and effective in their actions to satisfy the customer. The SAP® ERP application provides a complete and flexible sales order management solution that meets these requirements for organizations in all industries, of all sizes, and across all sales channels. The functionality facilitates the use of profitable sales and interaction channels, reduces administrative costs by automating sales order management, and ensures high customer satisfaction by delivering accurate and timely information to customers.

Creating Client Value and Enhancing Profitability

This paper reviews the forces that affect the professional services market today, defines and explains the main pillars of service delivery innovation, and reviews the benefits firms derive from service delivery innovation. It concludes by listing key operating and financial metrics that can measure the value created for firms when they commit their strategies to ongoing service delivery innovation.

Supply Chain Risk Management for Wholesale Distribution Companies

For wholesale distribution companies, supply chains are becoming increasingly global in scope while expanding in size and complexity. Forward-looking companies and supply chain professionals are focusing more energy on managing supply chain risk. Companies can implement risk management programs to identify and profile risk variables, quantify risk for business decision making, and implement IT solutions, leading to greater resilience and efficiency and improving the bottom line.

Seeing the Big Picture: A Corporate Guide to Better Decisions through IT

Small and midsize companies live in an aggressively competitive world. Information can be one of the most powerful competitive tools available, or it can bog your company down. Small and midsize companies that can successfully align IT with their business objectives will be the ones to stay ahead of the competition by having access to the right information at the right time, allowing for better, faster decisions. Small and midsize companies that successfully negotiate these parameters for information visibility—quality, quantity, and timeliness—derive benefits in three critical strategic areas of business decision-making.

Business Intelligence The Definitive Guide for Midsize Organizations

Business intelligence provides a spectrum of tools and solutions to support this aim. It’s the underlying technology behind more effective decision making. By helping align individual and departmental efforts with overall corporate strategies, it should lead to improved organizational results. Business intelligence tools are now affordable and accessible even for midsize companies – and even for the nontechnical business user. Now managers can use these products for sophisticated analysis of complex information to support their decision-making processes. They can combine data from a wide variety of sources and see an integrated, up-to-date, 360-degree view.

High-Tech Industries: The Supply Chain Executive's Strategic Agenda

50% of 146 high-tech companies regard supply chain management as a customer service differentiator, market strategy differentiator, or as a profit center – while the rest view supply chain as a cost center. This Sector Insight explores the concerns and process roadmap of supply chain executive in high-tech industries.

UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING SUPPLY CHAIN RISK: Business Process Innovation

Many organizations do not commit the time and resources necessary to understand global sourcing and the ramifications, costs, and benefits of redesigning supply chains to better manage risk. To address this, companies can implement programs to identify and profile risk variables, quantify risk for business decision making, and implement IT solutions – leading to greater resilience and efficiency and improving the bottom line.

SAP Winning the War for Talent in the High-Tech Industry

Increasingly, human capital management (HCM) is becoming a priority for high-tech senior executives. The workforce, they realize, is not only a source of competitive differentiation, but also the key to accomplishing a number of strategic goals, such as product and service innovation and process improvements as well as new channel development. This SAP Executive Insight addresses the specific challenges HR organizations in high-tech companies face today, the impact of these challenges on HR operations and what do best-run HR organizations do differently to achieve leading performance.

Delivering on the Promise of eLearning

This paper presents a framework for the reemergence of eLearning as a set of teaching, training, and learning practices not bound by a specific technology platform or learning management system.

Informal learning: Extending the impact of enterprise ideas and information

A conversation with Jay Cross, author of Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Performance.

The Importance of Application Management

Efficient desktop application management is essential in normal day-to-day operations of any company. Whether you are introducing a new application or implementing an OS migration, the goal is the same: minimize disruptions and ensure user productivity throughout the process.

Grappling with Application Management

Managing applications is a big busi¬ness challenge today. When applications must be updated, installed or migrated, companies must ensure disruptions are minimized to keep users productive throughout the pro-cess. Dell provides ser¬vices that can help every step of the way.

E-Learning Benefits and ROI Comparison of E-Learning vs. Traditional Training

In most cases, the biggest quandary an organization must solve is to put together a rational, i.e., a cost justified, business case why they should spend capital to invest in a learning management system. The focus of this white paper will outline the benefits of web-based training along with a practical framework for developing ROI when looking at the cost of traditional training methods verses e-Learning.

Dell Automated Deployment (Honeycutt)

Dell's automated deployment solution meets the challenges that IT managers face, according to Windows expert and author Jerry Honeycutt.

Microsoft Windows Vista Cost and Benefit Estimator

This business-value discussion tool is designed to help quantify costs and benefits with Windows Vista.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator (MAP) tool makes it easy for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your needs. The data and analysis provided by this tool can help simplify planning a Windows Vista migration.

5 Steps to Better Data Security

With everything from national security to regulatory compliance to the confidence of the citizenry at stake, the need for ironclad data security is greater than ever. Read what you can do to secure your organization’s file transfer from internal and external threats.

The New Frontier: Building the bridge to meet corporate customer demands

Uncover the actions that financial firms must do to satisfy corporate clients and improve customer-to-bank communications. Read this report now.

Your Playbook for Creating a Winning Data Transmission Service

Rationalize, consolidate and integrate is the new mantra of today's financial services organizations. This playbook provides process and technology moves to help you transforms your data transmission.

Windows Vista® in a Hybrid IT Environment

Windows Vista® offers a new way to deliver manageable IT services that are planned for security service-level agreements (SLAs), while helping to lower the cost of ownership, management, and deployment.

Data Center Asset Planning - Regaining Control of the Data Center

After years of uncontrolled growth, many data centers face a crisis as they run into space and power constraints. While remedies exist, present business practices do not encourage the prioritization of power reduction within one of the most power hungry areas of a business— the data center

Best Practices for Mircosoft Exchange 2007 with HP Servers and Storage in Mid-Range Environments

This paper provides configuration and performance data, best practices and recommendations to help system administrators deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 on several of the HP MSA family of products. The results presented here are derived from our extensive testing. They are intended to help you perform pre-deployment planning and ensure adequate hardware and predictable performance for your specific business requirements.

Flexible Solutions for the New World of Work

To allow organizations and individuals the flexibility to address their specific challenges, Microsoft has a variety of Microsoft® Office suites to select from. This paper describes the commonalities and differences among the suites of the 2007 Microsoft Office system: Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. Each suite provides the core Microsoft Office applications as well as features that support integrated content management, information rights and policy, and integrated electronic forms; however, they differ in the selection of included applications and the ways in which advanced features are implemented.

BPM and Process Automation Helps Maximize IT ROI. Hear How it Can Work for You

Ball State University was having unusually high IT failure rates during online student registration. Using BPM powered by the Smart SOA™ approach, they streamlined and automated the process and maximized their ROI. Their solution can be applied to your organization. Attend this on-demand web seminar to find out how, and receive a complimentary IBM® white paper on end-to-end BPM.

Making sense of SOA and today’s IT innovations

New business technology initiatives are constantly popping up. But how do they relate to one another, and to your business? This white paper summarizes some of the more important initiatives in play today, and the service-oriented philosophy that can help you tailor your technology to best serve the people that use it. See how IT can work more naturally to serve your business needs.

IBM® Smart SOA™ approach for smarter business outcomes

As your business model changes — and these days, change is the only constant — you need the flexibility to adapt effectively. Enter service oriented architecture (SOA), a business-driven IT approach that helps you see change coming and use it to your advantage. This brochure is a starting point to understanding IBM’s Smart SOA approach for smarter business outcomes.

SOA In Any Economic Climate

Keep ahead of change with service oriented architecture (SOA). With SOA, businesses can flexibly adjust strategies and practices while lowering costs by repurposing existing software rather than replacing it. Other savings are possible as well, making SOA a sound investment. This white paper from ZapThink discusses how organizations can quickly benefit from SOA, regardless of the economic climate.

Optimizing Your Business for Dynamic Change

WebSphere Dynamic Process Edition is a component within the overall IBM® business process management (BPM) suite of solutions. It extends BPM to large-scale implementations with the ability to deal with vast combinations of data, channels and dependencies. This white paper from Bruce Silver Associates shows how this new process modeling simplifies complex environments and benefits the bottom line.

Enabling Dynamic Business Applications with BPM and SOA - Forrester Consulting on behalf of IBM

IBM commissioned Forrester Consulting to survey 300 business and IT leaders from US and UK to determine the level of common understanding and alignment between business and IT groups on key issues related to impact of their existing processes on operational efficiency and business innovation and how BPM and SOA could improve the overall value their business processes deliver.

Real World SOA Stories: How Business and IT Work Together to Build Globally Integrated Enterprises

Every day, IBM® clients are using the Smart SOA™ approach to align IT and business goals to achieve real-world benefits. Among other benefits, they’re enhancing the flexibility and reuse of existing assets, making continuous process improvements easier, and reducing overall costs. Download the e-book and see how the benefits of Smart SOA can work for your company.

Scalable Data Quality: A Seven Step Plan for Any Organization

This white paper describes the seven steps you need to develop a plan for data quality – one that scales to your growing business needs.

The Real Cost of Bad Data: The 1-10-100

What are the long-term costs of bad data? This white paper gives you the answers and tells you how to fix it.

Is a Data Quality Web Service the Right Solution for You?

Learn what a Web Service is and how it works, the advantages of using a Data Quality Web Service, the technology assessment for implementation, and several case studies (Saab and other real world case studies) to demonstrate real life successes.

Exclusive Interview: John Nydam & Tom Brennan

Tom Brennan and John Nydam explain the Melissa Data and Stalworth partnership, discuss the business problems caused by bad data, and describe how DQ*Plus provides a complete data quality solution for enterprise applications and commercial databases.

Legacy Modernization

This paper explains the constraints in using the legacy systems and the essential of modernizing the legacy systems and strategic alignment of IT with business. We have discussed different approaches towards modernizing the legacy systems and the ways to make your legacy modernization a success.

Managing Laptops Outside the Network - Webinar

Is your department concerned with securing a large number of laptops and mobile devices? If so, this live webinar will help you learn how to track and audit laptops outside the company network to reduce compliance risk and improve IT productivity. Featuring an IT asset management expert from a leading insurance group, this webinar will take place on Dec. 9. Reserve your space today.

ROI Analysis for Intelligent File Virtualization

A Closer Look at the Financial Benefits of Intelligent File Virtualization with F5 ARX

Best practices for a Microsoft Hyper-V Dynamic Data Center in an HP BladeSystem environment

Best practices for a Microsoft Hyper-V Dynamic Data Center in an HP BladeSystem environment.