The majority of user authentication schemes today still use userid and password. The burden to users of managing large numbers of userids and passwords has led to proposals for Federated Identity systems, where a single set of credentials can be used to authenticate with several organisations, which have agreed to work together as a federation. 

Although it has been proven that creating a proactive data management strategy improves the effectiveness and value of almost any data intensive project, convincing those in charge can be a challenge. This white paper discusses the benefits of data governance as well as providing objection-busting strategies useful to any data champion. 

This report from Deloitte argues businesses are again investing in IT to provide the differentiation and innovation critical from their competitors despite the downturn. 

This demo shows how Duet Enterprise enables you to access information from SAP applications through Microsoft SharePoint. The example follows how a customer request for a proposal for quote is accomplished by combining data from SAP ERP with relevant documents from SharePoint. 

This second issue of Customer Experience Exchange highlights the contact center. Often an overlooked facet of customer relationship management (CRM), the contact center is usually the first way a customer reaches out to a company and thus should always be considered in CRM strategies. 

Design teams across the world collaborate to create and develop prod­ucts. Unfortunately, IT organizations face serious challenges when collaborative teams share large files. This white paper will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the four technologies most commonly used to enhance file sharing for distributed teams. 

The need for strategic information by department and executive managers is driving the transformation of tactical departmental systems into enterprise solutions, regardless of the size of the company employing the solutions. 

Declining hardware and software costs have an impact on total cost of ownership (TCO), but how desktop PCs are managed remains the most critical factor in reducing TCO.   This Gartner article illustrates how a higher management level for desktops can achieve lower TCO and improved user productivity. 

This article shows how an application grid built on Oracle Fusion Middleware can not only prevent unplanned outages, but it can improve the overall performance of mission critical business applications. 

This article provides a high-level overview of the manageability aspects of the VMware ESXi solution on Dell PowerEdge Servers. It discusses the various facets of manageability and the management tools that an IT Administrator can use to deploy, monitor, inventory, configure, and update an ESXi system. 

Content provided by Google. This paper examines whether cloud computing makes good business sense for your company. Ultimately, you may find that moving your data to the cloud actually improves security, scalability, access, and disaster recovery. 

This article from IndustryWeek features advice on streamlining your business for leaner operations.