The itmWEB Information Technology Report

Sponsored by

http://mis.miningco.com
http://www.itmweb.com
http://www.jeffgainer.com

A monthly report featuring selected IT topics and time sensitive links.

Volume 2, Number 6, June/July 1998

ISSN: 1099-8411

Welcome to the 18th distribution of the itmWEB Information Technology Report. This month's edition is being distributed worldwide to 994 IT professionals and associates. You are receiving this report because you either requested it from one of the sites above, or you have been referred to the email list as having a potential interest. itmWEB's policy is not to SPAM. The itmWEB report is a non-commercial, professional resource, and care is taken to only send the report to interested readers.

Please find instructions for unsubscribing at the end of this report.

Please send comments or contributions to: feedback@itmweb.com

CONTENTS:

1. The itmWEB Report / Upfront Links
2. Product News
3. Jeff Gainer's Critical Path
4. IT Management Quickies
5. Bug Report
6. Windows 98
7. Random Bits & Bytes
8. Selected IT Resources

This month we are combining the June/July edition into one report. A summer break for Russ and Jeff. The regular monthly distribution will resume in August.

Of course, the big news this month is the new Microsoft OS!

Microsoft Releases Windows 98 - and the IE browser is fully built in. Read about it here:

http://mis.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa062598.htm

Personally, I like Windows 98. The interface functions are much better in many subtle ways. More importantly, it is more stable, and it supports many new leading edge hardware advancements.

Is it worth upgrading everyone in a corporate environment today? My answer is no. I plan to wait for real business needs to drive the upgrade. Today, these needs do not yet exist at my company.

The other wild card is Windows NT 5.0. Microsoft is clearly stating that this will be their new corporate standard. Until then, their strategy will be to move corporate users to NT 4.0. Read about it here:

Microsoft Pushes NT 4.0 Over Windows 98

http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980620.whnt.htm

Jeff's Gainers column this month is a report from the Cutter Consortium '98 conference. You can read about it in this month's "Critical Path" (Section 3).

THE UP FRONT LINKS

A collection of time sensitive links covering current IT issues.

I am a regular John Dvorak reader, and he is known to stir up controversy from time to time, but this column blew me away!

In this feature, John states that "I would hypothesize that if you could survey clinically certified masochists (such as those who frequent S & M clubs to get whipped) about their computer usage, an inordinate number would be Mac users." Read it here: http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/pcma980617/www.pcmag.com/insites/dvorak/jd.htm

A federal appeals court gave Microsoft a major court victory when it tossed out a lower court judge's preliminary injunction and removed a "special master" he had appointed to research the facts and the law. This is a significant blow to the DOJ case:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2554765649-990

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806232msdoj

Some news from my home town here in Austin, TX - Motorola announced that it will be taking over full ownership of the Somerset PowerPC microprocessor development center in Austin. It is now currently owned by both IBM and Motorola. Details at this URL:

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19980611S0011

By the way, Motorola's neighbor here in Austin makes a pretty good processor as well. The company is Advanced Micro Devices and the processor is called the K-6. Here is a quick "equal time" plug for AMD:

http://www.amd.com/

The folks at Strategic Focus are predicting a 138% increase in the use of Java-based Web applications in the U.S. over the next two years. How ready are you and your IT staff for this important development language?

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806113java1

Have you heard about the freely available Apache Web server? Did you know that it is running close to 50% of the sites on the web? Well finally IBM has seen the light. They will now back the shareware product, and they will assist corporations using Netscape or Microsoft servers in the utilization of this software.

http://www.computerworld.com

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch is continuing to be that irritating fly buzzing around Bill Gate's head. He has now called for a broader probe into Microsoft's business practices. His committee is looking closely into Microsoft's Internet and E-commerce activities.

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806291hatch

SAP AG has released the latest version of its R/3 software! The reaction from its users? A great big yawn...

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806253sap

Good luck getting onto this site. Microsoft has unveiled its new satellite image database at this address:

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com

Now YOU to can see what the spies have been seeing for years! If their server would only respond. So far it has been too busy when I have tried. Microsoft is touting the site as the world's largest database. No kidding. And the slowest too...

Here is some more information about the concept:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2554765625-ff2

IBM recently announced the release of its new fifth-generation 390 mainframe, excuse me, enterprise server, and Amdahl has come right back with a claim that its new 800 series will be more powerful:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806232amdh

Delphi is hanging in there...

Delpi 4.0 beta is now available. It offers client flexibility, middle-tier options (such as Distributed Component Object Model and CORBA), better accessibility to enterprise data, and an improved development interface.

http://www.infoworld.com/scoop/sc?980624rv1

Here comes another beta...

Netscape To Release Communicator 4.5 Beta

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19980617S0005

And here comes Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 5.0

http://www.zdnet.com

The browser incompatibility war continues :-(

This incompatibility will a real pain a few years from now when the web is considered "mission critical" from the business side. "Why can't our customers use our site?"

Oracle and 3Com are working on real-time remote database access for the Palm Pilot. If it works, sign me up!

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806162hand

If you think about it, this could really be a good idea:

Sun Microsystems has released its JavaPC Engine, a software product that lets IT organizations essentially turn their old Intel PCs into Java-based network computers. How many of your business folks would gladly swap their old "green screen" terminals for one of these Java network computers? I predict that most would be thrilled. Read more here:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980630S0023?ls=twb_text

But all things considered, I don't think Microsoft really has anything to worry about. The same business folks would probably be even more thrilled to get a Windows PC with decent terminal emulation.

Report from the Bunny Trail: Cutter Consortium '98

By Jeff Gainer

In the last two installments of Critical Path, I presented overviews of two approaches to software process improvement. I'd like to conclude this discussion with a few words about the key to both: documentation. Tom DeMarco <http://www.atlsysguild.com/Site/Tom/Tom_DeMarco> is often quoted as saying "You can't control what you can't measure." Similarly, I would like to postulate that you can't repeat what you don't document.

The Capability Maturity Model is a veritable recipe for software process improvement, yet many of the companies I consult to regard it as an impossibly complex enigma. But there is nothing complex about the model, much of the work in implementing process improvement is the difficult first step of documenting processes and procedures. This simple realization was best articulated by a client who said "You know, we already do most of the Level Two and Three practices, the key difference is that the CMM requires that we document what we already do!"

Exactly! And documentation is the key to making the process repeatable! Other than lack of available time, there is no reason why that a well- intentioned software development shop can't do their own informal process improvement using the CMM as a guide. The ever-difficult first step is documentation, followed by implementation, measuring and monitoring.

Report from Boston: The Cutter Consortium '98

In April, I attended the second annual Cutter Consortium Summit <http://www.cutter.com/summit/> in Boston. The Summit is a unique opportunity for IT professionals to hear presentations and debates by industry notables like " Ed Yourdon <http://www.yourdon.com/>, Roger Pressman <http://www.rspa.com/about/>, Steve Andriole, and Larry Constantine. By design, the Summit is a small gathering, and thus gives attendees direct access to the speakers. The debate at the Summit is strong, sometimes loud, and often becomes . . . well, spirited. I recall a prestigious panelist screeching "Bullshit! Bullshit!" at one of his colleagues during a particularly passionate panel discussion.

I'd suppose that the erudite panelist would rather not be named, but I do admire and commend his eloquence. The following day, Ed Yourdon reminded the assemblage that members of the mainstream press would be joining us, and thus we should tone things down a bit. I don't recall that anyone complied. A special appeal of the Summit is that there are no vendors; instead, attendees can spend their time discussing issues with the panelists and speakers on a one-to-one basis.

While at the Summit I had the opportunity to personally thank Rob Thomsett <http://www.cutter.com/consortium/rtbio.htm> for helping me stop feeling guilty about preferring Fortune <http://www.fortune.com/> to Visual Basic Programmer's Journal <http://www.windx.com/>, even though I am a contributor to the latter. Rob's newest article, "The Care and Feeding of Project Managers" outlines the key difference between project managers and technical managers. It was originally published in American Programmer (now the Cutter IT Journal) <http://www.cutter.com/itjournal/>; the article appears at the Thomsett Company Web site <http://www.ozemail.com.au/~thomsett> as "Into the Twilight Zone."

For those not familiar with Rob's work in the project management field, or his shy, demure manner, a visit to the Articles <http://www.ozemail.com.au/~thomsett/articles/hot.htmHot> section of the Thomsett site is in order. There you will find his now-classic "Double Dummy Spit," which explains the complex negotiating dance of estimating games, as well as some wonderful bits of Australian slang. I look forward to Rob's future work, particularly that dealing with the care, feeding, and merciless destruction of "bunnies" who don't document their organizational processes.

Copyright 1998, Jeff Gainer, All Rights Reserved

Jeff Gainer, known is some circles as "Jeff the Evangelist," is a software management consultant and traveling IT evangelist. He has preached software development sermons at a number of organizations in both the United States and Russia. The author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, Mr. Gainer's current focus is his forthcoming process management book Lucid Code: Taming Software Development Chaos. You can visit Jeff’s company and read some of his articles on the Web at:

http://www.jeffgainer.com

Good news! The market for IT executives has rebounded, and many are naming their price:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/features.nsf/CWFlash/980625brief

Now, the bad news. Soaring salaries for computer science graduates
is causing heartburn for the more senior-level staffers. A new review of pay scales may be due at your company:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/CWFlash/98062251BE

How should IT managers monitor web usage? By using the firewall of course:

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19980621S0002?ls=twb_text

Managing "NT attitudes"

IT directors are overlooking politics and executive pressure when it comes to deciding on Windows NT:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/features.nsf/CWFlashWeekly/980622mgt

Here's a big surprise. According to a Standish Group study, smaller IT projects have a better chance at success:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806183small

A couple of great reads from CIO:

IS Marketing

http://www.cio.com/archive/061598_market.html

Someone to Watch Over IT

http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/051598_others.html

Word 95/ Word 97 BUG and the Excel recalc BUG:

http://chkpt.zdnet.com

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9806232bug

A quick look at Intel's technical data shows the company's Pentium II microprocessor has glitches when used in multiprocessing systems.

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980624S0011?ls=twb_text

A Windows 98 Survival Guide from ZDnet:

http://chkpt.zdnet.com

CNET answers to the top 20 questions about Windows 98:

http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Techno/Win98/?dd.cn

Recently, Dell Computer Corporation showcased our company and our Information Systems Group in a five page case study in their premier customer "solutions" catalog. Several of us spent time meeting with their advertising agency providing insights into our Dell product usage. Thousands of these catalogs were mailed to Dell corporate customers worldwide.

If you are interested in reading the study (which is heavy with Dell marketing), selected parts of the original case study have been posted on the Dell website:

Dell / Tokyo Electron Feature Part 1

http://www.dell.com/business/solutions/casestud/April/tel1.htm

Dell / Tokyo Electron Feature Part 2

http://www.dell.com/business/solutions/casestud/April/tel2.htm

A sneak Preview:

The itmWEB site is moving from GeoCities to the Dynamic Web servers in Toronto, Canada. These servers are some of the most advanced available. In addition, Dynamic Web is considered to be one of the top five hosting services in the world.

Dynamic Web also offers many additional new features to the itmWEB Website which were not available before. The first big change is a full site search capability. Many IT researchers have written to me suggesting this improvement.

To preview the new site, just visit this link:

itmWEB: The IT Professional's Homepage

http://www.itmweb.com

Jeff Gainer has also recently changed his site address. You can now find him at:

http://www.jeffgainer.com

Don't forget to check on Jeff's new book "Lucid Code: Taming Software Development Chaos". Jeff is posting each chapter on the web, and you can follow his progress through this link:

http://www.jeffgainer.com/lucid_code/lc_cover.html

Want to comment about anything you have read? Please post your thoughts in the IT forum:

http://mis.miningco.com/mpboards.htm

itmWEB IT Report Archive:
http://www.itmweb.com/archive.html

MIS Net Links:
http://mis.miningco.com/mlibrary.htm

MIS Benchmarks and Metrics Scoreboard:
http://mis.miningco.com/blbench.htm

Job/Career Resource Center:
http://mis.miningco.com/msub31.htm

IT Forum:
http://mis.miningco.com/mpboards.htm

THIS MONTH'S PLUG:

Stonebridge Technologies

http://www.sbti.com/

Please forward this newsletter to colleagues who may have an interest in these topics, or who may wish to subscribe.

You are subscribed to The itmWEB Information Technology Report. If you do not want to receive this please send your request to:

ITREPORT@ITMWEB.COM with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

If you would like to subscribe, please send your request to:

ITREPORT@ITMWEB.COM with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Return to the itmWEB Report Archive