Supply Chain Breaking News

Forrester: Corporate blogs fail to engage customers
A new report by Forrester Research found that most corporate blogs kept by business-to-business (B2B) firms failed to energize their intended audiences and engage them in meaningful conversations about trends and products. More..

Cyber-espionage moves into B2B
The practice of cyber-espionage is rapidly moving beyond the government sector and finding its way into the world of international business, according to experts with SANS Institute, one of the world's top IT security training organizations. More..

IT managers warned not to buy consumer-class PCs
Under pressure to exploit the low cost of consumer hardware, IT managers are being pushed to purchase consumer-class PCs instead of those more suited to business use. More..

Salvation Army implements CRM for fundraising operations
The Salvation Army is implementing CRM to support its fundraising operations and to integrate a proliferation of databases and information silos. More..

Jetstar checks in with IBM in $2.7 million deal
Australia's low fare-airline Jetstar has signed a multimillion-dollar commercial agreement with IBM Global Business Services to supply, implement and support Web Check-In and Kiosk solutions for its domestic customers. More..

Dot-com survivor Covisint finds B2B niche
In 1999 the big automakers founded Detroit-based Covisint with much fanfare. But there was open dread from their suppliers, who worried about how a forced march to online auctions would squeeze their thin margins even more. More..

Internet bubble could burst on Facebook speculation
Rumors that Microsoft is negotiating a stake in social networking site Facebook is proof the IT industry could be in the run-up to another bubble in Internet company values, according to David Bradshaw, principal analyst at Ovum, said Thursday. More..

.Net vulnerability bytes Web servers
Steps have finally been taken by Microsoft to protect millions of exposed networks vulnerable to a .Net exploit that was first discovered nine months ago. More..

Top six time-wasting practices CIOs should avoid
Research firm Gartner has released a 'hit list' which identifies six time-wasting practices that CIOs should avoid to maintain a focus on key priorities that maximize value to the business. More..

Regus Group inks biggest Telepresence deal yet
Cisco has just inked one of its largest deals to date for its new Telepresence technology signing a deal with the Regus Group, a provider of outsourced workplaces across the globe. More..

SOA software on tap from IBM, Sun, Infor and Vitria
Vitria Technology and CA today are releasing service-oriented architecture software products aimed at letting customers more easily monitor and fix problems that occur in an SOA environment. More..

HP to offer business intelligence with BIO
Little more than six months after its acquisition of Mercury Interactive propelled it into the business technology optimization space, HP's software unit is preparing to go after the data warehousing and BI space with an integrated hardware and software platform. More..

Animal logic and 2,000 blade servers wins an Oscar
An initial implementation of 500 blade servers soon grew to 2,000 to meet the processing capacity requirements needed to create the Oscar-winning animated film, Happy Feet. More..

Forum taps into the $1 billion voice technology market
In recognition of the growing interest in voice recognition technology, a Voice Leadership Forum, will be held in Sydney from March 7-8, 2007. More..

Failed outsourcing deals blamed on people, not SLAs
Successful outsourcing isn't about tight contracts and meeting service-level agreements, it is strictly a people's business and is based on relationships between provider and customer, according to the first global outsourcing survey to be undertaken by KPMG. More..

Akamai to acquire Netli for about $170 million
Web content delivery company Akamai Technologies has signed an agreement to acquire Netli, which provides services to help accelerate content and services online, the companies announced Monday. More..

Privacy complaint lodged to protect customer records
A formal complaint has been lodged with the federal privacy commissioner to determine whether Australia's banking industry is breaching local privacy laws by using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications network. More..

Dell founder has little to say
Unhappy customers have had Dell founder Michael Dell on the backfoot since he arrived in Australia this week. More..

Open source CRM finds new Soul mate
Australian voice and data carrier Soul has entered the CRM foray by replacing siloed desktop applications with the open source, Web-based SugarCRM suite. More..

Software-as-a-service model gaining supply-chain use
Manufacturers of all sizes are looking into hosted software for core supply-chain functions, such as demand planning and factory scheduling. More..

IBM picks up B2B specialist Viacore
IBM Wednesday announced its acquisition of Viacore for an undisclosed amount. Viacore provides software and services for linking supply chain partners that want to swap information about product capacity, inventory, delivery and forecasting. More..

IBM tool bolsters company privacy
IBM last week unveiled new software designed to help companies selectively provide the data their partners need without compromising the privacy of individuals whose personal information is at stake. More..

Johnson & Johnson tackles security pain
For Johnson & Johnson, the healthcare giant with more than 200 separate companies operating in 54 countries, one of the biggest problems encountered in e-commerce was finding a way to quickly get business partners access to the network but enforce security. More..

IBM tightening data synchronization
IBM this week is expected to announce a software bundle aimed at helping retailers and suppliers streamline the process of exchanging product information. More..

GXS to inherit IBM's EDI business
Global eXchange Services stands to become the largest player in an industry some predicted would continue to falter and eventually die out altogether. Instead, today's value-added network service providers are mulling a comeback as increasingly complex business integration efforts have companies looking to outside providers for help. More..