E-Commerce News: Critical Issues

New Site Lets Citizens Follow the Government's IT Money Trail

Wednesday - July 1, 2009

It may not seem like most people's idea of summer reading. Then again, it is the chance to engage in some detective work with billions of dollars and terabytes of sensitive government data at stake. Better yet, you don't have to spend any money to read this latest techno-thriller. IT Dashboard is the new free online service launched Tuesday by the Obama administration to let Americans view how their tax money is spent on information technology. The Dashboard contains animated pie-chart graphics and links to information on 157 investments from 20-plus government agencies. [More...]

Outsourcing's No Longer In

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

Companies used to turn to outsourcing during tough financial times. The current global recession, however, has curtailed outsourcing as much as it has other parts of the economy. "Oddly enough, the global recession has hurt outsourcing significantly," said Chad Hahn, principal owner of Hahn Consulting. [More...]

Reports Fan Flames of Speculation Over Steve Jobs' Health

Tuesday - June 23, 2009

Once again, the technology mediasphere is engrossed with Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health, and the questions are ricocheting off the virtual walls: What did Apple know? When did it know it? What is it legally obliged to reveal? This latest round of speculation was prompted by a weekend Wall Street Journal report revealing that Jobs had a liver transplant in April. [More...]

Will PCI Ever Make the Grade?

Friday - June 19, 2009

Every time you swipe your credit card and wait for the transaction to be approved, sensitive data including your name and account number are ferried from store to bank through computer networks, each step a potential opening for hackers. While you may take steps to protect yourself against identity theft, an Associated Press investigation has found the banks are not being nearly as cautious as they could. [More...]

Administration Mulls Financial Services Industry Makeover

Tuesday - June 16, 2009

The Obama administration wants to overhaul the country's financial rule book by giving the Federal Reserve increased powers but is backing away from proposals to consolidate various regulatory agencies. The administration's overhaul plan would make the Fed a systemic risk regulator to oversee large institutions whose failure could threaten the stability of the entire system. [More...]

Outsource or Keep It Home? Have It Your Way: Q&A With Alpine Access CEO Chris Carrington

Monday - June 8, 2009

Not that long ago, the outsourcing of customer service to home-based agents was a small niche category, viewed as not quite on par with a bricks-and-mortar call center operation. For a number of reasons, that perception is changing -- starting with the lower costs involved and ending with the growing number of quality providers that have highly qualified staffs on hand. [More...]

Microsoft Goes Bing, Palm's Pwned

Monday - June 1, 2009

Last week, Microsoft announced its new search push at Google -- and unlike Live Search, which was a joke, Bing looks to have the right stuff. The question is, can Microsoft get people to move? Palm initially looked as though it was going to get iPhone users to move, but that hope started to sputter last week. [More...]

Reining In IT Excess With Software Asset Management

Thursday - May 28, 2009

Think of the ideal software asset management system as a monitor that displays what exactly drives your business operations. It provides a readout of all the software installed throughout the company's computer systems, and much more. SAM programs also help IT departments rein in duplicate or redundant software applications. [More...]

The Battle for US Tech Jobs

Thursday - May 21, 2009

A while back, someone convinced businesses that if they outsourced work overseas, costs would fall off a cliff. The Wall Street lemmings jumped, believing they could fly, but instead plummeted to the depths of a global recession. Many of them are still falling, yet they continue to outsource their work offshore. [More...]

Utility Companies Plug In to Google PowerMeter

Wednesday - May 20, 2009

Google will start field testing its PowerMeter software with over 10 million customers of eight large utility partners in three countries. Google on Wednesday announced it's lining up energy companies so it can enlist the utilities' customers to start using the home energy consumption software. [More...]

High Court to Rule on Constitutional Challenge to SarBox

Tuesday - May 19, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the validity of a landmark antifraud law that served as Congress' response to the wave of corporate scandals starting with Enron. The justices said Monday they will consider a constitutional challenge to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law from pro-business conservatives. [More...]

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