Looking forward…

Another day, another enterprise buzzword. Well, several actually. The release of Gartner Group’s 2005 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle (which is covered in this month’s In brief section) has thrown into light three major themes: collaboration, next- generation architecture and real world web, which it says are vital to any forward-thinking organisation.

More interesting, perhaps, are the tools that the analyst house predicts will out-perform their own hype to become instrumental to the enterprise. There are a few old favourites – wikis, service-orientated architecture, desktop search and blogging – along with others that may not yet be familiar to some IT managers. Some of you may remember Lynda Rathbone’s column on podcasting in last month’s issue. She was adamant that the method was destined to become a significant and permanent fixture in corporate communications – a view that is seemingly echoed by Gartner.

While organisations should look to the future and begin to invest in the latest technology offerings, it is imperative to track and monitor those software assets that they already own. In this month’s cover story (page 12), Jessica Twentyman looks at the solutions that could help halt rising levels of unlicensed software in the workplace – a worryingly common problem that many managers are refusing to acknowledge.

A number of high-profile acquisitions also threaten to influence the course of enterprise IT in the coming months. Oracle is pushing ahead with a deal that will see it acquire struggling software giant Siebel, which has come as no surprise to many analysts who predicted that the move was almost inevitable. The real focus seems to be on the combined portfolio that Oracle will offer to its customers.

Similarly, BEA Systems is set to snap up Plumtree, the only remaining independent vendor in its space. This move will no doubt leave its mark on an already turbulent portal marketplace, particularly with the pairing’s greatly differing approaches to products and services. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, if you’re struggling with your portal strategy, turn to page 34 for the first part of a new workshop series on portal implementation.

I hope that you enjoy this month’s magazine. As always, if you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at kclifton@ark-group.com.

Kate Clifton
Assistant editor

Features

Case study: HSBC Group Investment Businesses Free
Although intranets are often judged by their technological sophistication, the reality of their management is far removed from developing and implementing intranet technology. The combination of human agendas, cultural differences and technological factors makes intranet management an unusual and complex task.

Workshop: The perfect portal implementation part I Free

Workshop: Zen and the art of taxonomy maintenance part IV Free
Now all the creative work – the thinking and the design of an organisational taxonomy – has been done, it is time to undertake what many people regard as the hard and unexciting bit; that is, all the tasks and processes involved in implementation and maintenance.

Workshop: The human side of intranets part IV Free
How do you truly measure the success of an intranet? This is a rather subjective issue as individual organisations have different criteria with which to gauge success. An organisation based on technological innovation may place more emphasis on its tools; while others that rely on the tight-knit cooperation of their employees, place more importance on knowledge sharing than technology.

Cover story: Software asset management Free
In July 2005, software giant Microsoft found itself better off to the tune of £750,000 when it reached settlement with two UK customers that had been found to be using unlicensed versions of the company’s software. That sum might be small fry to Microsoft (which in its last full fiscal year reported a net income of £8.2bn), but certainly not for the customers involved.

Regulars

The last word: The power of networking Free
“No man is an island”, declared the English metaphysical poet John Donne rather portentously in 1624, within his famous Meditation 17. It is perhaps just as well that there wasn’t an intranet manager on hand to persuade him otherwise. If there had been, there’s a fair chance that Mr Donne would have downed tools and the English language might have lost one of its most famous aphorisms.

Trend tracker: Instant messaging Free
A recent survey commissioned by instant messaging (IM) management specialist, Akonix Systems found that while one in five employees now use IM at work, 62 per cent of companies are still totally unprotected from the threats of its misuse.

Opinion: Waving goodbye to the dumping ground Free
A few years back, collaborative work spaces and shared network drives became really popular. Everyone was doing it. I know I had to contribute to my project workspaces when I was at Cable & Wireless. We had to use our shared network drives as space was running out on things like our e-mail servers, so we were discouraged from sending attachments and were sending links instead.

Opinion: Less haste, better standards Free
We live in a very fast world and it’s getting faster every day. Generally, most people say that this is a bad thing but their actions seem to contradict them. We drive faster in our cars and we want results in our businesses sooner.