James Maguire

For any company hoping to gain a competitive edge, maintaining a top-flight enterprise resource planning application (or several such applications) is a key concern. Consequently, many companies consider upgrading their ERP apps on a regular basis. But the upgrade decision causes no small amount of corporate hand wringing. Can we wait or should we upgrade […]

The story is a familiar one: the older IT worker, with a long and impressive resume, is downsized. But the real challenge –  even worse than losing their job – comes when they try to find another tech position. They go from interview to interview, sending out their resume to scads of employers, but they […]

In its most recent survey of some 400 software developers with Linux experience, the Evans Data research firm discovered a major change. The research firm has conducted its Open Source/Linux Development survey 14 times over the last 7 years. Although the firm limits the survey to developers with Linux experience, “Historically, the target platform was […]

Being a woman in IT has had its strange moments, notes Amy Niersbach. While it makes no difference in her current job, as platform architect for the city of Chicago, not all her positions have been so gender-blind. “Prior to working for the city of Chicago, I really struggled with some of the managers,” she […]

As the CEO of open source database company MySQL AB, Marten Mickos has overseen enormous growth in his company. Some even say the plucky MySQL is starting to threaten industry heavyweight Oracle, though that contest is still very much David and Goliath. At the very least, MySQL, as a major building block of the LAMP […]

The dream of enterprise resource planning systems is that a single application can track and monitor all of a business’s functions. In a perfect world, a manager opens a single ERP app to find data about any aspect of the business, from financials to HR to distribution schedules. Alas, we’re not there yet – or […]

Some of the most popular stories on Datamation this week: Xen Hypervisor: The Future of Enterprise IT? Despite considerable interest in the open source virtualization tool, Xen Hypervisor faces an uphill battle in gaining market share. IT In 2007: Budget and Trends Gazing into their crystal ball, experts predict next year’s developments in Web-based software, […]

The American IT worker is a relatively happy human, according to recent data from Hudson, a staffing services company. The company publishes a monthly index that tracks the job satisfaction of IT workers, based on a survey of from 350 to 500 tech professionals. The Hudson index combines the answer to several key questions – […]

“As things stand, we think that next year should be relatively healthy.” So says IDC analyst Stephen Minton, speaking during the research firm’s telebriefing about the state of IT in 2007. IDC issued its forecasts for a broad range of tech sectors, from security to networking to Vista adoption. Underneath the analysts’ generally positive tone, […]

Among many IT professionals, working at Google is seen as a dream job. And no wonder. The burgeoning company is a driving force in Internet development. Its Web-based word processing app, Writely, sends a shiver of nervousness through Microsoft. Its Adsense program is changing e-commerce. And its acquisition of YouTube earned grudging admiration from Big […]