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But Wait, There's More
Unisys and Microsoft Partner on Secure Supply Chain Solutions
Unisys and Microsoft announced a new partnership last week whereby the two companies will collaborate on improving the efficiency and security of supply chain systems. The two technology giants say they are working to create a new architecture on top of the Windows Server system that will be the foundation of Unisys' radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled Global Visible Commerce solutions, which are supply chain applications that the vendor is targeting at companies in the retail, life sciences, consumer product, and transportation industries. The new collaborative architecture, which doesn't have a name, is to be based on Operation Safe Commerce, a project piloted by Unisys and Microsoft for the Department of Homeland Security that sought to improve the security of containerized shipments entering the United States from overseas. Unisys' Global Visible Commerce applications will enable companies to track their goods and assets, while monitoring actual performance against expected events, and generate alerts when unexpected conditions occur. The applications will be built on Windows Server 2003, BizTalk Server 2004, SQL Server, Exchange Server 2003, and the SharePoint Portal Server.
State of Washington Goes Live on New Windows-Based Digital Archive
A new digital archiving system for the State of Washington that is capable of storing up to 800 TB of data (or 200 billion pages of text) was unveiled by partners Microsoft and EDS. Documents related to census, naturalization, military, birth, death, marriage and voter registration, property, and other rare and historic records will be stored in the new Digital Archive, which was built on Windows Server technology, including Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2000, BizTalk Server 2004, Host Integration Server, and Visual Studio .NET 2003, and is hosted in a Microsoft data center in its home state of Washington. The Digital Archive system will continually "ingest" hundreds of thousands of digital records of varying content types and from various legacy systems, will apply the appropriate metadata, and index the assets so they can be retrieved in a timely manner, Microsoft says. To prevent unauthorized access, each record is authenticated and secured with a digital "lock," the company says.
Windows XP 'Lite' to Be Available in India
India is the latest country eligible to receive a lower-cost, stripped-down version of Windows, Microsoft recently announced. The Windows XP Starter Editions, previously made available to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Russia, will be targeted at first-time PC buyers and will be localized for the languages in India. The Starter Editions, which feature software governors that restrict the system from running more than three applications and limit the amount of memory and storage used on the computer, are also aimed at combating software piracy in developing countries that may otherwise choose open-source alternatives, such as Linux. Meanwhile, the German city of Munich is going ahead with its plan to replace Windows on 14,000 PCs used by the municipality.
Linux Not a Direct Threat to Windows, Gates Says
You may have thought that Microsoft considered Linux a threat to sales of its Windows Server operating system, especially in light of the vendor's "Get the Facts on Windows and Linux" campaign. But apparently Microsoft isn't too concerned about losing sales to the upstart open-source operating system, which is currently the fastest growing server operating system by revenue and by shipments, according to IT analysts Gartner and IDC. Speaking at the Computer History Museum near San Jose, California, Bill Gates, the chairman and chief technology officer at Microsoft, said Windows is pretty safe from the Linux onslaught, and that Unix is being displaced by Linux. Of course, Windows competes with Linux, Gates said, adding, "The shift of Unix share to Linux has been dramatic," according to published reports. Windows and Linux will eventually dominate market share, Gates predicted.
Microsoft Kicks Off 9-Month, 250-City Technology Tour
With national elections just a month away, campaign season is in full swing, and politicians around the country are hopping into cars, trucks, and busses to spread their word and gather support. And while it isn't running for public office, Microsoft is hitting the road, too, in hopes of drumming up support for its technology among small and midsized businesses. Microsoft kicked off its Microsoft Across America tour, in which seven computer-equipped trucks will travel to more than 250 cities across the country through June 2005. The tour includes free half-day seminars and hands-on demos of products like Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 and the Microsoft Business Solutions Retail Management System, as well as one-on-one advice from local Microsoft-certified IT providers. Unfortunately, a schedule of events could not easily be located on Microsoft's Across America home page. If you, intrepid readers, should find it, please send the link to us through the new easy-to-use IT Jungle Web Response form. We wouldn't want to miss this.
Government Study Finds Offshoring Is Growing, but More Data Is Needed
A new government study indicates that offshoring is growing but there is not enough data to be certain of the total impact offshoring on the economy. The non-partisan Government Accountability Office analyzed the Department of Commerce's trade data and found that offshoring of IT jobs is indeed growing. From 1997 to 2002, the GAO found that offshoring of business, professional, and technical services grew from a $21.2 billion business to $37.5 billion, a 77 percent increase. What's more, the study found that outsourcing jobs to a subsidiary, what the GAO refers to as "affiliated trade," accounted for 71 percent of all IT outsourcing and is growing faster than unaffiliated trade, which grew at a 67 percent rate over the period. Among the different BPT services, computer processing, accounting and bookkeeping, and research and development jobs have grown the fastest since 1997, although, curiously, the amount of computer processing work being sent offshore actually declined from about $1.5 billion of work to $1 billion, from 2000 to 2002, while R&D grew steadily to $1 billion.
The GAO also looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that, from March 2001 through June 2004, in industries commonly associated with offshoring, like computer system design and accounting and booking, Americans lost jobs at a higher rate than industries not associated with the phenomenon. The average annual rate of decline over this period was 5.7 percent of all jobs in computer systems design and related industries, and 7.9 percent for accounting and bookkeeping, while during this period total nonfarm employment actually increased by two-tenths of a percent. The study also found that total projected U.S. employment for the period from 2002 to 2012 is 2.4 million jobs lower than what was projected. However, the GAO says it cannot, based upon available data, come to any concrete conclusions about how offshoring is affecting the overall economy, and specifically cited the collapse of the dot-com bubble as one of the key events clouding the employment picture.
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