The itmWEB Information Technology Report

Produced by

http://www.itmweb.com
http://www.jeffgainer.com
http://www.methodology.org
http://www.open-technology.com

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

Volume 3, Number 1, March 1999

ISSN: 1099-8411

Welcome to the 21st distribution of the itmWEB Information Technology Report. This month's edition is being distributed worldwide to 1,822 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 professional resource, and care is taken to only send the report to interested readers. We do not share our email database with anyone for any purpose.

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

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

CONTENTS:

1. Up Front - Announcements and Technology News
2. Product News - New Developments and Offerings
3. Jeff Gainer's Critical Path - IT Insights
4. Management Quickies - Tips for IT Executives
5. Bug, Virus, & Hacker Alerts - Problem Awareness
6. Tech Bits - Rumors, Opinions, and Diversions
7. Selected IT Resources - Hand picked for Quality

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM RUSS FINNEY, itmWEB FOUNDER:

It's been several months since the last itmWEB Report went out.

We've been busy implementing a huge amount of web based resources to complement this year's reports. First, the itmWEB site has been moved to brand new, top-of-the-line Sun servers. The performance of all site features (forums, searches, databases, etc.) has been considerably enhanced.

Second, many important new web resources have also been added, including nine new discussion forums, and two new dedicated topic web sites. Please take a moment to read about all of this in the quick summary which follows below.

This issue - Vol. 3, No. 1 - kicks off our third year of electronic
publication of the itmWEB Report, and once again we very pleased that columist Jeff Gainer will be contributing his IT insights through his regular "Critical Path" column.

Over the next year you can look forward to timely insights on IT management, development methodologies, and OpenSource software utilization. If you are an IT writer and you would like to contribute a guest column to our report, it would be most welcome!

With the distribution of this first issue of 1999, I would like to invite each of you to give us some feedback. Hit your reply button now and tell us what kind of things you would like to see covered in our web sites as well as in this report. If you are an old friend - let me know how you are doing!

For a bit of humor, take a look at some of Jeff's "road warrior" flying experiences in this recent column he wrote for BizTraveler:

http://www.biztravel.com/v4/biztravel.cfm?Sec=4&User=0&Page=01050800&data=0&target=_top&dest=0

Now on to the new internet improvements. Over last several months many changes have been made to itmWEB. Here's a summary of a few of these highlights.

The itmWEB Site has opened two new Information Technology sites on the Internet:

Methodology.org

http://www.methodology.org

A central repository of systems development methodologies, summaries, papers, books, and articles. Many new readers have recently subscribed from this site.

Open Technology

http://www.open-technology.com

An open source software portal into projects, products, books, and features. As the OpenSource concept increases in importance, this site will serve as your guide to this rich abundance of inexpensive technology resources.

The itmWEB Site has also been enhanced with the following features:

Information Technology Forums

http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

Nine new forums on general topics, management, programming, Inernet/Intranet, databases, IT jobs and careers, opinions, methodologies, and open source software.

IT Resources Link Collection

http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/dclinks98/dclinks98.cgi

Hundreds of links covering about fifty topic areas. A very qualified, high-quality collection. Thanks to those of you who continue to submit these vital link suggestions!

Other areas which have been enhanced:

Real-time Technology News Wire
http://www.itmweb.com/inewswire.htm

Information Technology Features
http://www.itmweb.com/features.htm

All three sites continue to expand and evolve daily. If you know of any resources or topics which should be covered - drop us a email with you suggestion: itreport@itmweb.com.

Also, we are pleased to announce a very strong alliance with surf-IT.net <http://www.surf-IT.net>. Surf-IT is sponsoring many
important areas with in the itmWEB site, and itmWEB is assisting with the career resources pages at surf-IT.net. Our IT portal pages, and surf-IT's job searching database, provide a great complementary relationship.

Enjoy the read, this issue is packed with many choice IT tidbits.

- Russ Finney

Microsoft Takes Two Big Hits

The news couldn't get much worse for Microsoft. Their performance in the first round of their DOJ trial was one blunder after another. Witness after witness was skillfully discredited by the DOJ attorneys. Fortunately for Microsoft, the outcome of this case will be determined by the application of US anti-trust law, and not by the testimonial skills of Microsoft employees.

I especially enjoyed this Dave Winer column entitled "Bill The Brazen" which gives his viewpoints regarding Bill Gates and the DOJ Trial. You can find it here:

http://www.scripting.com/davenet/98/11/billTheBrazen.html

One of the big fears about Windows was that somehow Microsoft would build in a "secret monitoring capability" activated over the internet. Well guess what? They built it, implemented it, and it has recently been discovered. Read about it in this TechWeb feature:

Win 98 Privacy Issue: Worse Than You Thought

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990312S0008

Microsoft is offering two free software programs on its web site to strip out an identifying number that could be used to trace the authorship of some electronic documents. One program is a small patch to repair the problem and prevent the number from being planted in such documents. The second removes the number from existing documents:

http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558863810-348

The Seattle Times (Gate's hometown) has not been impressed by Gate's performance in the multitude of video clips shown by the DOJ lawyers:

Gates on video is a Microsoft horror show

http://www.seattletimes.com/news/business/html98/micr_112298.html

Now that the trail is in recess, Microsoft and the DOJ and State Attorney Generals are negotiating toward an out-of-court settlement. I don't think it will happen. Watch for the trail to resume this summer.

http://www.infoworld.com/scoop/sc?990325nw1

Intel was almost subjected to the same bad publicity as Microsoft by the DOJ, but they are wise enough to reach a settlement before their case ever goes to court. Good move Intel.

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/inteldoj/TWB19990318S0025?ls=twb_text
http://www.cnet.com/Digdispatch/dispatch282.html

Here some articles on the perpetuation of Linux in mainstream IT departmental server rooms worldwide:

http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,372112,00.html
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?13
http://www.informationweek.com/center/linux/?ls=twb_text

IBM is considering releasing an open source email product. However, now IBM is having second thoughts about releasing a "free" version of DB2 for Linux. My bet is that it won't happen.

On a recent trip to the Silicon Valley, I stopped in at the first ever LinuxWorld. Here is a summary of Linux creator, Linus Torvalds' keynote address:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9903033linux

RSA encryption has become a strong internet standard, however a 16-year-old from Ireland may have developed something better. The new security idea is now being tested:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990114S0014?ls=twb_text

For a non-refundable $199 fee, Yahoo will notify customers within seven days whether they'll be included their popular directory or not. I haven't seen this implemented yet, but if you want a last shot at a timely, free listing, you should do it now!

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32264,00.html?st.ne.fd.gif.i

Some Good News for Microsoft

The new Internet Explorer 5.0 is now available:

http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?8
http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9903184ie5
http://www.cnet.com/Digdispatch/dispatch277.html

A new Windows 98 Upgrade is available:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990318S0028?ls=twb_text

Sun Unleashes Jini - get ready for the hype!

http://www.techweb.com/news/story/reuters/REU19990125S0001
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990126S0015?ls=twb_text

BeOS 4.0 continues to get strong reviews for its performance in running mutimedia intensive applications. The new OS has also gotten good marks for ease of installation.

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2159847,00.html

ADP is the largest payroll processing company in the U.S. Now the company has taken a huge technical step forward by releasing a web-based interface for its customers:

http://www.informationweek.com/706/06iuadp.htm

Windows 2000 is delayed. Analysts now foresee the release happening after the middle of next year:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/CWFlash/9901258C76

I am? ---- Not quite yet.

Lotus trumpets R5 the new release of Notes/Domino 5.0 in a great new ad campaign running in the U.S. However, Lotus is working out a few last minute kinks before the product becomes widely available for distribution:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/990118morelotus

Apple's iMac has become the top-selling PC. In November, the new computers accounted for 7.1% of all PCs sold in the United States.

The iMac is now available in red, orange, purple, and green as well as its original color, teal. When Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO, announced the new colors at the MacWorld show he did it in front of a sign which read "Collect all Four!"

Good Morning SAP.
Good Morning User.
Login please.
I'm now accessing the system - please wait a moment.

SAP has integrated speech recognition Into R/3 using technology from SpeechWorks. Are you ready to talk to your SAP?

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19981222S0005?ls=twb_text

Yahoo will connect to Palm Pilots. It will offer an easier way for Pilot users to update scheduling and contact data by using the Yahoo web site as a transfer point. Yahoo will enable users to transfer information from Yahoo online calendars or address books to the Palm Pilot (or to other computer devices running Microsoft Outlook software).

Here is some big news - the newest lithium technology batteries soon to hit the market last up to 10 hours! This means that most Laptop users won't have to change batteries in flight anymore:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990122S0019?ls=twb_text

The $5 billion sale of IBM's Global Network to AT&T is for real:

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9812082att2

Tech-Careers is sponsoring this edition of the itmWEB Report.

http://www.tech-careers.com/home1.html

Their well-designed, fast web site is built specifically for IT Professionals. At Tech-Careers you will find:

* Quality job listings directly from the employers * No job listings from recruiting services or temp agencies

If you're tired of wading through thousands of headhunter job listings to seek (or advertise) an IT position, check out this very professionally run service.

The Concept of "Expectations Management" (Part I of II)

by Jeff Gainer

If it weren't for the outrageous demands of customers, we wouldn't have some of our greatest challenges. Too often, the customer presumes that the development community understands their requirements or, more deeply, their needs. Or, perhaps more dangerously, we presume that the customers really do know what they need. More than once, after a brief preliminary meeting, I have been asked, "So you know what we want, right?"

Let's face it: as an industry, our rate of "success" is abysmal. We
don't manage requirements well, we don't test well, we don't manage quality well or at all, and our products are almost inevitably late. And while we try to manage our schedules, our people and their work, we don't actively manage our customers. Instead, we regard customers as loose unmanageable cannons.

Expectations management is the key to successful project outcome. Rather than fumbling along and discovering expectations along the way, it is more prudent to determine measurable quality expectations at the beginning of the project and monitor and report progress against these goals throughout. Expectations management is very similar to requirements management--but the crucial difference is that we are managing the client, not the product.

Yet we must not only ask customers what they want and need, we must educate them as well. Before, not during the development of a product, educating the customer is essential, as this cautionary tale illustrates:

I witnessed a marketing representative watch a very carefully controlled demo of a prototype. In fact, the prototype was so fragile that it was amazing that it didn't crash while the development leader was guiding the mouse, but when the marketing rep grabbed the mouse and tried something and it actually worked, well, we were just as impressed as he was.

The project was only two months in and we were all mightily pleased that we already had an acceptable prototype and still didn't have formal specifications. I was part of the team extracting these specifications, while the prototype team continued doing whatever it was that they were doing. There was only one customer for the product, and it was to be delivered in another seven months. After the demo, I took the marketing rep to lunch and gently explained that since we hadn't defined formal specifications yet, there was absolutely no way we could have a finished, tested product delivered and installed at the client's site by September.

On a napkin, I sketched waterfalls, spirals and triangles. I expounded the interdependencies of functionality, quality and schedule. He took it quite well. He called me back three days later, still thoroughly excited with the demo of the yet-unspecified product. "The client understands," he said. "I explained the development process and showed them that pyramid thing, and they understood. They're willing to wait until December if necessary."

December would be good, I agreed. "That demo was just great," he went on. "I was so impressed with it that I showed it to some other clients. I've got six firm orders already, with some little, minor, tiny changes. They're all different, but they're the same, you know what I mean? Can we get theirs done by December, too? I told them we could...."

December 1998, Somewhere in New York City

Next Issue: Expectations Management, Part II

Copyright 1999, Jeff Gainer, All Rights Reserved

Known in some circles as "Jeff the Evangelist," Jeff Gainer thinks and writes about the state of information technology and process improvement from his office in Colorado, aircraft cabins, and the back seats of Lincoln Town Cars and limousines. Mr. Gainer's latest musings appear in the January edition of Cutter IT Journal, where he discusses the possibilities of "The Coming Backlash: Twilight of the Gods?" You can visit Jeff's company and read some of his previously published articles on the Web at <http://www.jeffgainer.com>, or contact him by email at:
gainerj@jeffgainer.com.

How do the CIOs at high-tech companies handle the pressure? By sticking to the basics:

High Technology, High Pressure
http://www.cio.com/archive/120198_tech.html

A new Korn-Ferry International Study examines the changing role of the CIO:

http://www.cio.com/forums/executive/kornferry.html

Giga Information discusses the allocation of development work between central and local IT groups:

http://www.cio.com/analyst/

Here is the latest round-up of dangers to your operation:

Alert 1:

Microsoft IIS Security Hole

This bug allows unauthorized access into other's databases http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_smgraph_display/0,4436,2120563,00.html

Alert 2:

Here is a roundup of Mac security threats:

http://macweek.zdnet.com/1227/op_macintouch.html

Alert 3:

This alert pertains to security problems in Excel:

http://news.com/News/Item/0,4,30521,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh

Alert 4:

This alert pertains to security problems in Word:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloaddetails/wd97sp.htm

Alert 5:

This Forms 2.0 patch prevents copying text in a user's clipboard from being copied over the Internet without that person's knowledge.

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloaddetails/fm2paste.htm

Alert 6:

These five update files are vital to the security and performance of your Windows 95 workstations:

http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/zdnu99011605/www.zdjournals.com/zdnetpit/w9p9911.htm

Alert 7:

How evaluate your PC for Year 2000-related problems:

http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/zdnu99010906/www.zdjournals.com/zdnetpit/int9914.htm

Alert 8:

Network Associates has issued an alert about picture.exe, a Trojan horse that can capture information off a PC's hard drive and send it to an E-mail address in China.

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/CWFlash/9901074trojan

Alert 9:

Happy99.Worm

This is a worm program, NOT a virus. This program has reportedly been received through email spamming and USENET newsgroup posting. The file is usually named HAPPY99.EXE in the email or article attachment.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/happy99.worm.html

Linux Users Demand Refund For Preloaded Win 98

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990122S0006?ls=twb_text

(Microsoft says: No way.)

The Gartner Group reports the technologies it believes will change business, products, and our personal lives:

http://www.edtn.com/news/0199/012199tnews1.html?ls=twb_text

URL of an article that explains Java in the database:

http://www.devx.com/upload/free/features/javapro/1999/03mar99/kn0399/kn0399.asp

Exxon and Mobil have set up a mega SAP project - it is being touted as the biggest SAP implementation ever.

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/CWFlashWeekly/9812078206

Austin, Texas was ranked as the 2nd most wired city in America (behind San Francisco). It was also ranked number one as having more people logging onto the Internet from home than any other American city. The itmWEB report is produced here in Austin!

Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)

http://www.aitp.org

The leading organization supporting the interests of Information Technology Professionals in the US and Canada!

itmWEB IT Report Archive (Past issues of this report):
http://www.itmweb.com/archive.html

Annotated MIS Net Links:
http://www.itmweb.com/cgi-bin/dclinks98/dclinks98.cgi

MIS Benchmarks and Metrics Scoreboard:
http://www.itmweb.com/bench.htm

Job/Career Resource Center:
http://www.itmweb.com/jobs.htm

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

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Copyright 1999, itmWEB Media Corporation, All Rights Reserved
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