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Case Studies
ASP Lets Retailer Track Customer Behavior (September 18, 2000)
Skechers marketers can determine the number of returning visitors, the most frequently requested pages, time spent on individual pages and information such as "exit pages,'' or the last pages visitors go to before exiting the site.
Dominos Hikes NT Server Reliability (September 18, 2000)
Windows add-on ensures that pizza giant's web efforts continue to deliver.
Kroger Takes Separate Roads to the Internet (September 18, 2000)
No. 1 grocery chain, analysts see greatest opportunity in marketplaces.
Function Follows Fashion (September 11, 2000)
Neiman Marcus hopes to build a strong Web presence with technology that's as fashionable as the pricy clothing it peddles.
E-Florist's Thorny Issue (September 11, 2000)
On the Friday before Mother's Day, with the company's online floral service on the verge of expanding from a five-city pilot program to a national, next-day delivery network, Hallmark Flowers discovered it had a problem.
Credit Checks At Net Speed (September 11, 2000)
Transportation powerhouse Ryder System Inc. is about to replace a mostly manual credit-approval and risk-allocation process with a fully automated, Internet-based system.
Juno Taps SANs For Capacity (September 11, 2000)
Earlier this year, free Internet service provider Juno Online Services was close to hitting the limit on its conventional server-attached storage.
Airline Site Takes Flight (September 11, 2000)
Continental Airlines is advancing an already high-flying Internet site with features aimed at boosting business travel revenue.
Sun Turns Focus Inward (September 4, 2000)
Sun Microsystems, which helped pioneer the commercial Internet and fancies itself "the dot in dotcom," aims to do considerably more business online.
WWF Keeps The Online Hits Coming (September 4, 2000)
A growing Web presence that leverages one of the most powerful brands in sports is helping World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. put up impressive earnings growth.
A Taxing Decision (August 28, 2000)
Singed by its high-profile online failings last tax season, H&R Block Inc. plans to turn over its Web operations to an outsider.
Customer Data Gets More Accessible (August 28, 2000)
To manage data on a growing product list that's reshuffled and regrouped perpetually, Send.com expects to wrap up the internal implementation of new e-business intelligence software next month, just in time for the holidays.
Sales Reps To Try Wireless CRM (August 28, 2000)
Many companies with customer relationship management systems are finding that they can't get leads to their sales forces fast enough.
Diet Site Bulks Up On E-Comm (August 28, 2000)
EDiets, an e-business that provides nutrition and health information to consumers, is hoping to boost earnings by extending its source of revenue beyond monthly subscriptions.
Pacific Data Makes Itself At Home On The Internet (August 28, 2000)
When Pacific Data was looking to build an online home for its database of real estate information, it looked to find a house to which it could add extra rooms.
Office Depot's IT Unifies Sales Outlets Through Web Data Access (August 21, 2000)
Most retailers are quick to profess their loyalty to an integrated selling model that gives customers freedom to make purchases online, offline or over the phone.
CompUSA's Core Values (August 17, 2000)
A failed foray into e-commerce is validating CompUSA's dicision to overhaul its network in support of critical business apps rather than flashier online projects.
Omaha Steaks Puts Meat On The Online Bone (August 14, 2000)
Site relaunch uses Java servlets to provide real-time inventory and order-status queries.
Amex Launches Marketplace, Again (August 14, 2000)
American Express Co.'s latest attempt to launch an online martketplace lends credence to critics who say Internet-based exchanges are not easy to get off the ground without help from outside providers.
Coldwell Builds A Virtual University (August 14, 2000)
Large real estate company partners with University.com to deliver online training to sales agents.
Samsung Revamps Distribution (July 31, 2000)
Monitor vendor replaces manual system and automates supply chain.
Web To The Rescue (July 31, 2000)
Honeywell is gambling $100 million that online quality-control and asset-tracking services can offset tightening margins.
Fidelity Nat'l Puts Faith In The Net (July 24, 2000)
Most organizations took 20 years to get from the 1980s to the 21st century, but Fidelity National Finance is trying to make the transition in about a year.
Gift E-Retailer Preps For Wireless (July 21, 2000)
Dermot McCormack knows that wireless e-commerce won't catch on for every consumer product. But the co-founder and CTO of Flooz.com thinks gift retailing is ideal for the nascent medium.
Companies Tap E-Recruiting (July 21, 2000)
The tight hiring market for IT and other professionals is leading companies to a new generation of Web-based recruiting services.
Dow's New Chemistry (July 20, 2000)
Dow Chemical reeks of the Old Economy, but its efforts to revamp stale processes and create new businesses on the Internet are starting to pull the $19 billion manufacturer out of the industry's cyclical ruts.
Kmart's Plan To Light Up The Web (July 12, 2000)
BlueLight.com this fall will deliver in-store returns and personalization features aimed at reversing the sagging Web fortunes of Kmart.
PaineWebber Online; Brokers Remain In Loop (July 10, 2000)
PaineWebber's online business is growing at a robust clip, thanks to the brokerage's ability to deftly balance the move to Internet transactions while remaining loyal to its brokers.
Mortgage Bankers Chat With Clients (July 7, 2000)
Banks launch efforts to use VoIP and conferencing to improve service.
Info Sties Tap 'Content Service Providers' To Add E-Commerce (July 7, 2000)
Affiliate programs, banner ads and subscriptions aren't generating enough cash for many content and community sites, forcing them to go after revenue the old-fashioned way: by selling stuff.
Machine Tools Go Virtual (June 19, 2000)
MachineTools.com's site offers a refreshing counterpoint to all the talk about shifting paradigms. Its approach is to bring buyers and sellers together without upending the established network of buyers, dealers and distributors.
Brick-And-Mortars Fight Back (June 13, 2000)
After sitting on the e-commerce sidelines for too long, many brick-and-mortar retailers have fought back hard to grab some vital online real estate.
Commerce Servers: The Right Fit (June 12, 2000)
Picking the right commerce server is a core decision for most e-businesses.
Online Customer Support Doesn't Come In A Wrapper (June 5, 2000)
CRM software vendors tantalize businesses with the promise of seamlessly connecting their Web, e-mail, call center and other customer-facing operations. The payoff, according to the vendors, is a transparent and consistent interface with customers -- and a "360-degree view" of them.
Outside Audit Helps Out-Fox Hackers (June 5, 2000)
In the wake of highly publicized security breaches and denial-of-service attacks, the media conglomerate 20th Century Fox wanted to know how vulnerable it might be to attack. So the company conducted a vulnerability assessment.
Even In Down Market, Uptime Is Key (June 5, 2000)
If you want to scare Andy Augustine, don't tell him that the Dow Jones average dropped 600 points in a single day. He can deal with that. If you want to really frighten Augustine, chief technical officer at CCBN.com, tell him that his site's down -- and that 1,400 angry chief financial officers are ready for his scalp.
Resume Influx Tests Mettle Of Job Sites' Scalability (May 29, 2000)
More graduates than ever are turning to the Internet to post resumes and seek employment this time of year.
GM To Link Supply Chain With Inventory Management (May 22, 2000)
General Motors Corp. last week said it is working with Reynolds and Reynolds to deploy online software that will help the world's largest automaker integrate its supply-chain systems with the inventory management systems of GM's 8,000 North American dealers.
From The Customer's Mouth (May 22, 2000)
Too often, Web site upgrades are a collection of guesses that site operators make about what their customers want. But it doesn't have to be that way. Just ask FedEx Corp.
Prescription For Clusters (May 22, 2000)
PlanetRx.com finds Windows NT clusters to be a good way to ensure uptime. The problem is the clusters are difficult to configure.
Staples Manages Net In Real Time (May 15, 2000)
Office supply retailer simplifies development of management apps fans.
CBS Takes Team Approach (March 13, 2000)
For sports buffs, the phrase "March Madness" means hours of cheering and weeping this week as they watch their favorite teams claw their way to the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament. But for Web administrators at CBS SportsLine.com, it means figuring out ways to handle an avalanche of site traffic from hoops fans.
ComputerJobs.com Bets The Farm (March 13, 2000)
The critics who have reviewed Windows 2000 say it is ready for e-business. But would you bet on it?
TI Accelerates IP Telephony Savings (March 6, 2000)
To Texas Instruments, voice over IP is more than just the latest technology fad.
Ethernet Gets Self-Evident (February 28, 2000)
Many companies know that if they want to improve customer service and product development, they need to improve their network capacity. That's the case with Lawson Software, which recently built a $1.3 million Gigabit Ethernet network at its headquarters in St. Paul, Minn.
Bank Bases IP Overhaul On NetWare (February 28, 2000)
While Novell NetWare is still best known as a platform for file and print services, the company is trying to convince IT managers to use its wares for e-business apps.
Upscale E-Shop Finds Unique Challenges (February 7, 2000)
Luxury items are perhaps the hardest sell on the Web. For starters, there is the fundamental question of whether buyers are willing to spend several thousands of dollars for jewelry or antiques before seeing them in person.
Web Switch Puts Online Retailer In The Game (February 7, 2000)
There's no time to play around, even if it's toys you're selling online. "Our tagline is, 'We get toys,' said Shawn Davison, vice president of technology for KBkids.com. "We have that motto for a very specific reason: We have the products to deliver." He said this is crucial to online survival because if online customers' expectations are not met, then business is lost for good.
Government Agencies Add Mainframes For Web Apps (January 10, 2000)
Government agencies are the latest to jump onto the mainframe bandwagon. And many of these agencies are deploying mainframes to support Internet and intranet applications.
Wharton School: Collaboration Tool Aids MBA Courses (November 29, 1999)
The Web is beginning to show potential as an educational medium, with the ability to disseminate courses and training materials to students anywhere. But The Wharton School was looking for something beyond simply delivering core educational content. It saw the Web as a means to help on-campus students communicate with teachers and each other outside the classroom.
Kenwood Likes The Sound Of Linux (November 22, 1999)
Until recently, Kenwood used an ancient McDonnell Douglas minicomputer running the Pick operating system for its order-entry, inventory and control, and general ledger systems. When the dust began getting too thick on that system, the company turned for an alternative to Linux running on a Dell PowerEdge server--the first of a two-stage migration that will eventually find the company running on a modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
WAN Supplies Full-Time Fix At Olsten (November 1, 1999)
Temporary personnel agency Olsten Corp. has found what it expects will be a permanent solution to its networking woes.
CheMatch: Planning For Growth (November 1, 1999)
Karen Morgan, executive vice president and chief operations officer for CheMatch.com, likes to think of the chemical auction site as the Nasdaq for the $200 billion global petrochemicals industry.
For Specialty Retailer, Legacy Apps Live On (October 4, 1999)
Luster Products, a maker of hair care products for people of African decent, has joined the ranks of companies with a Web-fronted workflow and inventory system for use by its field sales force and distribution partners.
Web Courseware Puts Lender In Compliance (October 4, 1999)
Every company wants employee training to be fast and effective, but sometimes that need becomes mission-critical.
Aviall: Get Buy-In From Sales Force To Ensure E-Biz Success (September 27, 1999)
Now that the Internet is a legitimate venue for selling airplane parts, salespeople at parts supplier Aviall Corp. have been transformed from product brokers to ambassadors of e-commerce and customer care.
Salomon Smith Barney Explores New Online Options (September 20, 1999)
Self-service trading over the Internet is drastically altering the securities world, but the Web is also changing the traditional broker-client relationship in other ways. Salomon Smith Barney, for example, is gearing up online services for its more than 500,000 Internet customers.
Ad Agency DoubleClick Heads Off Downtime With Redundant Systems (September 13, 1999)
DoubleClick wants to serve up ads for the news, not be in the news. The advertising agency has turned to massive redundancy, with 20 duplicate data centers worldwide, to prevent downtime and avoid the kind of embarrassing headlines experienced by the E*Trade Group Inc. and eBay Inc. when those companies experienced long and repeated service outages.
Mirage Resorts Places A Bet On A SAN (September 6, 1999)
Here's why the Mirage Resorts Inc. in Las Vegas needs a storage area network: The busiest time of the day for the $1.5 billion company is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which means the staff has four hours to back up more than 570 GB of data to tape before the day's first shift starts at 6 a.m.
Wells Fargo: Virtual Bank (August 23, 1999)
Wells Fargo Bank wants to replicate its entire portfolio of consumer and business services on the Web.
FTD: With Desktop PCs, Price Matters (August 23, 1999)
Price was the key criterion for FTD Corp. in its recent decision to deploy a bouquet of PCs for the florists it serves.
Utilities Choose PGP Encryption Over S/MIME (August 16, 1999)
Suppliers of natural gas now have a standard way of securing electronic transactions between trading partners.
CompUSA Splits E-Biz From Stores (August 9, 1999)
Struggling in the brick-and-mortar world and late to e-commerce, computer retailer CompUSA this fall will relaunch its Web storefront, relying less on cut-rate discounts and more on building one-to-one relationships with customers.
Wintel Gets Nod For Process Control (August 9, 1999)
When Paulo Products, a metal heat-treating company, earlier this year replaced its aging VAX-based servers with a more application-friendly platform for an updated process control system, the company decided the new platform should be Wintel-based.
High-Speed Network Links City Facilities In Denver (August 2, 1999)
Denver is widely known as the Mile-High City, but until recently, the city's IT infrastructure was anything but high flying. The metropolitan-area network (MAN) that supported communications among city facilities was constricted to the speed of ISDN and T1 lines on which it was built.
Ads That Add Value To E-Biz (August 2, 1999)
Web merchants are uncovering a new profitable source of revenue by letting outside marketers advertise on their sites. Though outside advertising revenue is barely noticeable on the balance sheet today, market researcher Jupiter Communications predicts these ads will top $400 million by 2002.
Clothing Manufacturer Opts For Extricity Tool (July 19, 1999)
As part of its climb into the $30 billion sportswear market, outdoors clothing and equipment maker The North Face (TNF) is extending its use of Extricity Software's business-to-business integration software to knit together a supply chain and dramatically expanded retail channel.
Plumbers Stay In Pipeline (July 19, 1999)
Hirsch Pipe & Supply Co. is cleaning its database pipes for better sales leads. The plumbing supply company uses data mining applications running on its IBM RS/6000 server to help identify potential sources of lost revenue.
Homebid.com Girds For Scalability (July 12, 1999)
Better-than-expected response to a pilot auction is driving Homebid.com to rebuild and beef up its Web site even before a formal launch.
Disbrow Manufacturing: Voice Delivery On The LAN (July 12, 1999)
Disbrow Manufacturing Inc. is one of the first of what is expected to be a growing number of users running voice and data traffic over a LAN.
Nordstrom Outsources To Develop Speed (July 5, 1999)
Upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc. is moving its design and manufacturing operations into cyberspace with the help of outsourced industrial-strength applications. For Nordstrom's Products Group, this means moving from 20 disjointed spreadsheet applications handling raw materials, style designs, suppliers and overseas manufacturers to an advanced, integrated applications environment of databases linked over the Internet.
Insurer Goes From VPNs To Thin Clients In RAS Pilot (July 5, 1999)
It's amazing how a remote access project can evolve. Jim Venza, director of IS at FCCI Insurance Group, started out with one idea in mind, but quickly saw the potential to do a lot more. Venza is in the middle of a pilot program that gives about 100 remote users access to network servers over the Internet.
Maxor Finds Rx With Reporting Tool From Actuate (June 28, 1999)
Maxor National Pharmacy Services Corp. is about to put into production a Web front end to its data warehouse that will give customers access to detailed, personalized pharmaceutical reports.
Insurer Mines Data On Drivers (June 21, 1999)
Sports car owners fall into a high-risk category, in the conventional wisdom of auto insurance underwriters. But by mining driver safety data in its new data warehouse, Farmers Insurance Group has found that if sports car enthusiasts also own a second, conventional car, they may be safe-enough drivers to be attractive as policyholders.
LDAP Directory With A View (June 21, 1999)
When it comes to man-aging directories, the nation's second-largest publisher of daily newspapers has decided self-service is the best approach.
Chipshot.com Hits The Green With Globalization (June 14, 1999)
One pioneer in the area of globalization is chipshot.com, a golf company that's using software from start-up Idiom Technologies Inc. to more easily and affordably develop and manage an international Web site.
Car Configurator Sells On Extranet (June 14, 1999)
Automotive marketer Chrome.com is hoping its one-of-a-kind database of detailed con-figuration and price data can turn Internet car buying on its head.
AS/400 Servers Drive Auto Data For Online Auctions (June 7, 1999)
CoparT Inc. Relies On AS/400s as the engine for an e-commerce Web site to auction wrecked cars for insurance companies. Copart, in Benicia, Calif., auctions wrecks to body shops, individuals, and businesses called dismantlers, that is, folks who break the cars down to sell the parts.
New Network Is Grist For Mill (June 7, 1999)
While some companies are creating new businesses via the "dotcom" re-engineering craze, other companies are tapping next-generation networking technol-ogy to automate 70-year-old factory equipment.
Showtime Builds Videos In Record Time (May 31, 1999)
Storage area networks are helping to raise the curtain at Showtime Networks. The cable TV network uses a SAN to help assemble station-break videos, known as "interstitial material," on its eight channels of programming.
Egghead.com: E-Mail Handles Many Queries (May 24, 1999)
Egghead.com, which last year closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores to focus on Internet sales, has established rigorous practices for handling e-mail to ensure its virtual customer service is as personal as it was in the real world.
Make It Work (May 17, 1999)
What do Nortel Networks, Bank of America, PricewaterhouseCoopers and People's Bank have in common? They all went through the arduous process of merging with other com-panies last year. And amazingly, all four managed quick, successful in-tegrations of their IT operations with those of their new partners. Find out what strategies and tools they implemented and what poten-tial pratfalls they avoided.
SAN Backs Up Financial Assets (April 26, 1999)
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Trust has automated paper-mail routing and audiotape retrievals using a sophisticated storage area network.
Online MBA Makes The Grade (April 19, 1999)
Experienced business professional Scot Kanaley felt he could learn a few things about international business when he joined Computer Sciences Corp as a principal consultant. But raising two daughters and extensive business travel made graduate classes out of the question. That is, until he learned about an Internet-based MBA program.
Rockford Plays An EJB-XML Tune (April 12, 1999)
Car audio maker Rockford Corp. is linking a Java application server with Extensible Markup Language to extend the capabilities of its intranet and link to back-end systems, including EDI.
Voice-Data Server Reduces Network Ownership Costs (April 12, 1999)
Everyone is talking the talk about convergence, but Bruce Merrell is doing it one better: He's walking the walk. Merrell, president of Laptop Lane Ltd., is using Vertical Networks Inc.'s InstantOffice to fuel growth at his Personal SpaceStations business service centers, which will be installed in more than 80 worldwide airports within the next five years.
Short Online Jump From Medical Books To Supplies (April 5, 1999)
MedSite.com, the medical industry's Amazon.com, is exploiting its track record in online retailing and its basic e-commerce technology to become a one-stop shop of core supplies for medical professionals.
Cruising To A High-Speed Backbone (April 5, 1999)
In response to booming demand, Princess Cruises built a new call center in Valencia, Calif., last November with a Gigabit Ethernet backbone, an upgrade from the company's previous 16-Mbps token ring LAN.
Coke Unbottles Web Potential (March 22, 1999)
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, once highly apprehensive about opening up its network to the Internet for fear of hacking attacks, is now doing things differently.
NatSemi Site Lets Customers Choose (March 22, 1999)
National Semiconductor earlier this month launched an e-commerce site that lets customers track live inventory data and order online. National gives customers the option to order directly from the manufacturer or from one of six distribution partners.
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