IN THIS ISSUE

USABILITY ISSUES IN DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS: PART 1
SOFTWARE THAT CAN SMELL A LIE
SERVERLESS DB BACKUPS

 

USABILITY ISSUES IN DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS: PART 1
by Ed Colet

Executive Editor-at-Large Inderpal Bhandari presents a guest editorial by Virtual Gold's Acting Director of Research:
 

Decision-support tools such as data mining applications are complex solutions designed to address important business issues. As such, in order for such applications to be useful it is important that they also be usable. Many of today's data mining tools and applications are difficult to use. As such they become less useful than they should be. In this 2-part column devoted to usability, I start at the beginning by pointing out some problems with current development practices that contribute to systems that are hard to use. Next week, in part II, I address how to evaluate and correct usability problems before products or solutions are released.
 

COMPAQ, ORACLE AND ACXIOM TO DELIVER CRM SOLUTION

Compaq Computer Corporation announced it is working with Oracle Corporation and Acxiom Corporation to provide a business-to-consumer marketing automation solution that helps companies meet the challenges of customer retention in today's competitive, ever-changing global marketplace.
 

FINDINGS FROM GIGAWORLD IT FORUM

GigaWorld IT Forum, held in Boca Raton, Fla., is the lead event in Giga Information Group's e-Business conference series. The event features "IT Driver" presentations by Giga senior industry analysts and advisors.
 

HEARTSOFT TO BLOCK INAPPROPRIATE INTERNET CONTENT

Heartsoft Inc reported that the company has filed for patent protection of its proprietary on-line Internet pornography detection software with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
 

TRUSTECH SOFTWARE THAT CAN SMELL A LIE
by Nicole Manktelow

Israeli-based company Trustech makes PC software that listens for stress and other characteristics in a person's vocal patterns during face-to-face and telephone conversations.
 

U OF ARKANSAS RESEARCHER DEVELOPS ADVANCED APS SYSTEM

University of Arkansas researcher Erhan Kutanoglu has developed an approach to accurate scheduling of people, products and equipment using incentive-compatible scheduling and game theory to ensure selection of the most profitable schedule.
 

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS EMERGING

Workforce management applications represent one of the hottest segments of the business applications market. Worldwide, IDC expects revenues in this segment will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39% to over $4 billion in 2003.

MarketFirst Partners with Accrue Software
MarketFirst Software Inc, a provider of Web-hosted eMarketing solutions, announced that it is partnering with Accrue Software Inc to offer increased eBusiness analytics functionality, including data mining and analysis.

American Petroleum Exchange Teams with Exodus
American Petroleum Exchange, the business-to-business trading exchange for the refined petroleum industry, announced it has teamed with Exodus Communications Inc, a leader in complex Internet hosting and managed services, to provide a secure, scalable data center for mission-critical transactions and data hosting.

Bayer Corporation to Employ Planalytics Technology
The Agriculture Division of Bayer Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri, has contracted with Wayne, PA-based Planalytics Agriculture to employ Weathernomics technology to better understand and plan for seasonal product demand a full year in advance.

Cactus Strategies Selects FirstWorld's IDC
Denver-based Cactus Strategies has signed an agreement with FirstWorld, a provider of outsourced data center and high-speed Internet solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, to house its extensive suite of hardware, software and connectivity services in FirstWorld's Denver Internet Data Center (IDC).

Governments Move to E-Government Approach with Cognos
State, provincial and local governments across the continent have selected the winning candidate for enterprise business intelligence solutions. They've chosen Cognos. More and more government departments are implementing Cognos solutions to deliver unparalleled service to their communities.

Grupo Elektra Selects JDA's Retail IDEAS DW Solution
JDA Software Group Inc announced that Grupo Elektra, Latin America's leading specialty retailer with annual revenues of $1.2 billion, licensed JDA's closed loop data warehousing solution, Retail IDEAS, during first quarter 2000.

IBM Sets New Standard for BI Performance
IBM announced that its NUMA-Q E410 system, unveiled earlier, set new records for both performance and price/performance in the industry standard TPC-H business intelligence performance benchmark.

IBM DB2 Universal Database Sets Performance Record
The fastest database for data warehousing solutions is now the fastest in transactions, as IBM's DB2 Universal Database shattered the world record for two-tier SAP assemble-to-order (ATO) benchmark results.

Information Builders Bundles WebFOCUS with SQL Server 7
Information Builders, a global leader in the combined Web reporting and enterprise integration solutions known as i-business, revealed that the newest release of its WebFOCUS Business Intelligence Solution will deliver industry- leading online analytic processing (OLAP) by being fully-integrated and bundled with SQL Server 7's OLAP Services.

Knosys Announces Release of ProClarity 3.0 Beta
Knosys Inc, an award-winning provider of analytic front-end technology designed specifically for Microsoft SQL Server and Analysis Services, announced the worldwide availability of the ProClarity 3.0 and ProClarity Analytical Platform 3.0 beta versions.

Legato Announces Serverless Backup for Oracle DB Users
Legato Systems Inc, a leader in enterprise storage management software, announces Legato Celestra Power 1.5 and the Legato Celestra Module for Oracle (CMO), the first product on the market to deliver the benefits of serverless backup to Oracle database users.

Massachusetts Schools Using Cognos Solution
School officials across Massachusetts are analyzing the results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) standardized tests using a solution based on Cognos business intelligence software.

NetLedger Selects Network Appliance's NetApp
NetLedger selected NetApp filers because they combine with Oracle8i and VA Linux Systems servers to deliver superior scalability, reliability, and performance. With several hundred VA Linux servers, the new NetLedger data center is one of the world's largest production instances running Oracle in a Linux environment, and critical data is stored on NetApp filers.

Postbank Uses Data Distilleries' CRM Software
Postbank is going to simplify its database marketing processes and optimize the selection of customer segments for direct mail campaigns using Data Distilleries' Analytical Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This will enable Postbank to approach its customers better targeted.

RESoft Announces an Alliance with Oracle
RESoft Incorporated, a real estate technology company, announced an alliance with Oracle Corp. As a result of this partnership, RESoft's entire product line will be delivered on the Oracle8i platform, one of the world's most popular databases for Internet computing.

SGI Chooses Objectivity/DB From Objectivity
Objectivity Inc, a leading provider of distributed, scalable object databases, announced that SGI, a leader in high-performance computing technology, has selected Objectivity/DB for use in designing their future products, reliably, quickly and economically.

Sharper Image to Use Broadbase Software
Broadbase Software Inc, a leading provider of customer-focused analytic and marketing automation applications, announced that The Sharper Image has added Broadbase's award-winning analytic and marketing applications as part of its continuing commitment to provide top-notch customer service and premier marketing programs across multiple sales channels.

Sybase Announces Availability of Middleware Products
Sybase Inc announced the general availability of Sybase Replication Server 12.0, Sybase EnterpriseConnect 12.0 and Sybase MainframeConnect 12.0. The products allow users to fully leverage their existing information resources throughout the enterprise.

Information Builders Releases WebFOCUS v.4.3
Information Builders, a global leader in the combined Web reporting and enterprise integration solutions known as i-business, launched the latest release of its WebFOCUS Business Intelligence Solution during its Summit 2000 User Conference.

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• Chuck Bay, CEO of Broadbase Software

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