With the current version of its MySAP Supply Chain Management suite, SAP is applying what officials there call a holistic approach to a relatively new area for the company. The suite is designed to leverage the company's longtime experience in other phases of enterprise management and to let users d...

Like Apple Computer, Linux vendor Red Hat is playing the role of challenger as it tries to convert longtime users of a competing brand to its own products. But according to officials at Red Hat, the similarity between the two companies' missions ends there. Red Hat product services director Marty We...

Intel could make a long-term splash in the server market with its Itanium 2 processor, but first it must make its case to enterprise technology buyers. According to Intel, the latest version of Itanium increases performance over the original by between 50 and 100 percent, but those who control corpo...

When you want something done right in CRM, you do not necessarily need to call on a big company. A number of smaller, less-heralded technology providers are making a name for themselves with very targeted, specialized products that meet needs not previously satisfied by the offerings of household-na...

There is life after the bubble for technology and portal providers that serve the B2B sector of e-commerce. But vendors must adjust to a new landscape in which spending and cost-cutting priorities have shifted dramatically in response to tough economic times. According to Gartner research director J...

As prices fall and capacity increases, finding data storage space has become a non-issue for many enterprises. But when it comes to safeguarding important stores of customer information, companies still need to take precautions to ensure that prying eyes do not gain access. Largely because networked...

Purveyors of interactive online games have hit upon an audience-pleasing business model, featuring methods like subscription plans that give users unlimited access for a monthly fee. But firms in other areas of e-commerce likely will be hard-pressed to emulate gaming companies' success using the sam...

Server technology improvements are poised to turbocharge the way companies run their e-commerce operations, ranging from the way they process transactions to the methods they use to snag new sales. For example, IBM has been developing "self-learning" software that not only ties servers together, but...

The stock market and the dot-com world may be down for now, but that does not mean launching a new e-business is out of the question. New York University business professor Christopher Tucci pointed out that many of today's technology and commerce giants began life at a time when startup capital was...

E-tailers have come to the costly understanding that providing a general e-mail address on a Web site is no way to handle customer queries. Gartner analyst Adam Sarner told the E-Commerce Times that companies are turning to high-tech e-mail management tools and shifting strategies in a bid to curb i...

As they gear up for what is expected to be a crucial fourth quarter, e-tailers are anxiously examining the ongoing third quarter for signs of what awaits them in the future. But despite such worries, industry analysts said, the third quarter has been positive for e-commerce, even though many potenti...

According to recent reports, there are signs that many industries have cut IT spending as much as they can without cutting into the bones of their business. However, analysts noted, IT spending will not roar back to life with a big bang as 2002 draws to a close. Instead, the turnaround will occur...

For all the financial reeling and corporate belt-tightening in many e-commerce sectors, experts say no tears need be shed for the online porn industry. While exact revenue figures are tough to unearth, established players have not been significantly hurt by current economic woes, though competiti...

Despite occasional but high-profile security breaches, shoppers have not been turned off by the online experience. Experts say the chances of being financially victimized remain low because of built-in consumer protection and heightened security awareness. But the consensus among analysts is that...

Companies looking to buy CRM systems often pay a high price during the "just browsing" phase of the purchase process. With limited options for getting true side-by-side comparisons of myriad vendor offerings, enterprises can invest large amounts of time and money simply narrowing the field. To ke...

As consumers seek relief from bleak news about war and the economy, experts say entertainment could spawn the next wave of lucrative niche opportunities on the Web. For example, Yankee Group program manager Paul Ritter told the E-Commerce Times that Hollywood could prove to be an online blockbust...

Just as a museum helps visitors learn lessons from the past, a monument dedicated to bad e-commerce ideas might offer a similar education to those who sell on the Web. Such a memorial might impart a key truth: While users will flock to sites that make their lives easier, they will not change thei...

As e-commerce goes mainstream and stands on its own two feet, experts say the industry can no longer count on receiving the kid-glove treatment from the U.S. government. Nevertheless, as long as the economy remains fragile, it is also unlikely that the government will lift the current tax morator...

For Web travelers seeking to lighten their load of usernames and passwords, help has generally been slow to arrive. Some relief for the forgetful has come in the form of functions -- installed on popular operating systems -- that serve to ease the mental burden of those surfing from a single comp...

For the quarter ending August 2nd, Dell's revenue will reach $8.3 billion, up about 9 percent from last year's second quarter, and earnings are expected to increase by 19 percent. Analysts agree that Dell's build-to-order model for selling PCs and servers not only works well for current market co...