We have talked about AJAX and ATLAS a couple of times already in this blog, but I thought I would include a link to a podcast that Burton Group published talking about AJAX. Burton Group, the only IT research firm focused on in-depth analysis of enterprise infrastructure technologies, launches "Inflection Point", a complimentary podcast series from its analysts and consultants. "Inflection Point...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th. These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Last week's podcast addressed Business Process Automation , this week's discussion is around Business Intelligence. Listen each week for IDC's Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed supplement...

I know you want to make migrating Visual Studio 2003 Web projects to Visual Studio 2005 as painless as possible. I feel models save a lot of time. Take a look at these two web sites. "There's a preview http://webproject.scottgu.com/Download.aspx of the Visual Studio 2005 Web Application Project http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2005/12/07/432630.aspx . This new project model is an add-in...

Yesterday, I attended a great presentation on Security in SQL Server 2005 presented by Canadian IT Pro Advisor Damir Bersinic. He covered four main areas, Windows Server Security, SQL Server Logins and Connections, Database Schemas and Encryption and finally DDL Triggers. SQL Server is secure by default out of the box . This means you have to turn things on in order to use them. This is easily accommodated...

Watch out! It is amazing how simple it is to break into companies and steal all their data. This story " Anatomy of a Break-in " details how easy it is by profiling "step-by-step" how Ira Winker and his team were able to compromise all the critical systems within two days including having the ability to steal sensitive information and threaten the entire IT infrastructure of a business. I recommend...

One study has it at 2.5% and another at nearly 3% of all e-mail that is contaminated with e-mail borne viruses. That’s a sobering thought since part of this is attributable to the Sober virus. I receive more than 200 e-mails per day so up to 6 contain a virus. This is staggering to me. Especially since the number is on the rise. Add to this nearly 80% of e-mail is SPAM divided into software/drugs...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th. These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Last week’s podcast addressed Meeting the Productivity Challenge , this week’s discussion is around Business Process Automation. Listen each week for IDC's Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Listen each week for IDC’s Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed supplement in the Monday Report on Business section of the Globe and Mail. The series is available to both read and download at...

Gates Shares Microsoft’s Vision for a More Secure Future At RSA Conference 2006, Microsoft's chairman outlines priorities and urges the industry to partner to build trust among computer users. In his keynote address at the RSA Conference 2006, Bill shared our immediate and future plans to achieve a more secure digital future. His vision outlines where interconnected networks worldwide allow people...

Kim Cameron is an icon and thought leader when it comes to identity. As we’ve had some recent press announcements regarding our identiy direction his blog has become a must read on identity futures in MS products. You might also want to check out InfoCard. It's an interesting product that's getting some great coverage over on Kim's blog, as well as some other blogs he links to. I highly suggest checking...

I thought I'd link to John Howard's blog as he brought a good article to my attention. John is an IT Pro evangelist in the UK that has a focus on virtualisation. ______________________________ Windows Server Virtualisation - Overview and Roadmap I thought I'd mention this - some of you may have either personal or corporate subscriptions to Directions on Microsoft . There was a paper published...

From the interview archives... What’s the best way to achieve an objective? I believe it is by modeling others who have reached a particular goal you want to achieve. You want to be a top-level executive then listen to the views of senior CIO, Peter Grant. What’s the best way to learn about key factors affecting IT leaders? It helps to examine a leader who is in the trenches and has...

I know you have heard the buzz around AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) which allows an integrated, client-focused way of developing Web applications. The buzz stems from AJAX solutions to these issues: (a) You want to reduce the long waits for users stemming from the round trips between client and server when passing large quantities of data; (b) You want to implement a rich UI. With AJAX...

Cindy Anderson is a remarkable and talented Technical Specialist in the UK. In talking with Cindy, she is keenly aware of the problems faced by IT Managers. I asked Cindy for a roadmap and she shared her key thoughts on solving software development challenges. Take the time to explore the Visual Studio Team System link she provided. From Cindy: ________________ Developing software these days...

Val Matison is the CIO of business intelligence experts Info3 , based in Toronto, Canada. With nearly 30 years of business analytics experience, he is recognized as an expert in creating actionable information from data. He has presented sessions on data warehousing, data mining and analysis services at Comdex, Devdays, Microsoft Technical Summits and conferences in North America and Europe. He is...

I’m always on the lookout for those special gems that will give you key insights into architecting. The idea is to stay ahead, have practical solutions that you can use, and a roadmap for your future planning. So put these webcasts into your calendar and forward to your team members. _______________ February 16: Architecting Toronto.com with ASP.NET 2.0 Toronto.Com attracts over 700,000...

Beta releases are a decidedly divisive topic among both IT Pros and IT Managers. You either don't have time for them, or you view them as an opportunity to get a head start on understanding and troubleshooting new releases and upcoming products. So here is your opportunity to see what is coming with the next release of Internet Explorer. As of January 31, the Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview for...

I was interviewed on these topics recently so I thought I would share some of the discussion with you. Future of the ASP (Application Service Provider) Model I'm don't want to explode everyone's bubble here but let's be realistic. There will be a lot of buzz around it in 2006 however practically, it will be three years before it makes a significant impact in its pervasive availability for enterprises...

Part of the role of an IT Manager is to ensure that the people implementing and maintaining the infrastructure on a day-to-day basis have all of the skills that they need to do so effectively. Finding training that is relevant to some of these people can be a challenge, so to help solve that challenge, Dell is offering its 5 day Microsoft INSPIRE training in 19 cities across Canada starting in March...

As Managers and IT Pros, I recommend you add to your reference base of "best practices," for the Encrypting File System (EFS). And with mobile computing becoming more the norm than the exception it's critical to employ these best practices on the hard drives. Here's a good knowledge base article to add to your reference library and share with your team: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=223316 ...

In an earlier post Stephen had Yong Tao Chen provide some of his thoughts on AJAX. As an I.T. Manager with an eye to the future, this is something that you need to keep abreast of. To that end, Microsoft is producing a show which will occur in Las Vegas in March. The Pitch (from http://www.mix06.com ) If you do business on the Web today, it's likely that more than 90% of your customers reach...

I met recently with an IT executive talking about the interview with Bruce and he responded, "Bruce Schneier's seminal work Applied Cryptography, is required reading." Moreover in talking with other IT Managers, they readily follow his work through Bruce's newsletter, Crypto-Gram , which is the most widely read security newsletter, with more than 120,000 readers. So based upon all the requests to hear...

I have known Peter Rawsthorne [M.Ed., B.Tech, MCSD, Project Lead / Systems Architect] for some time. And, you may have caught his presentations which have received wide acclaim. Peter has a lot to share with IT managers and pros and so I asked him to speak on Agile. From Peter: _____________ Where do I start with Agile? So you want to bring Agile into your software development process. And you are...

Thomas is one of those rare individuals who contributes so much and in a multitude of ways. I had a chance to interview Thomas which was picked up worldwide due to his strong and extensive background. Moreover, his best selling books are must read for serious developers and architects. I asked him to share his thoughts with you about a business / IT challenge about which you must take note. He shared...

There's a new editorial feature, Blogged Down , in Computing Canada where editor Patricia MacInnis features an upcoming interview that appears here in the Canadian IT Managers forum (CIM) . So we extend a welcome to Computing Canada's 42,000 readers and invite you to make this forum a mainstay for ideas, collaboration, and discussion about all things IT. The first interview was with noted software...