The term “shared services” is a hot topic in the minds of many CIOs, but the exact definition of this topic seems to be unclear. Some say it is pooled, virtualized resources and others say it is a centralized IT model. This e-zine discusses the various meanings of shared services, its benefits and the potential downside of service catalogs. 

Real-time, global data updates have become a critical business requirement for financial-services firms. Quick reactions require near-instant access to data, risk analysis and deeper computational analysis for effective decision making. View this webcast to learn how to better manage ever-increasing data volumes and transaction rates. 

Economies of scale, flexibility and costreduction – cloud advocates have made sure that we are familiar with these potential benefits, even if we have yet to agree on an exact definition of cloud computing. But doubters argue that none of these benefits will actually be available unless some fundamental security issues can be overcome. 

In this first issue of Business Applications Digest, find advice from industry insiders on mastering the five success factors for enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrades, choosing the best fit between 'best of breed' business intelligence (BI) and built-in ERP tools, and how to take advantage of the latest Software as a Service (SaaS) trends. 

This case study details how a master data plan allowed DB Schenkey employees to reliably access data from a single, authorised source. 

Through increased information visibility and data accuracy, Barclays Capital was able to mitigate exposure to operational and reputational risk. Read the entire case study now, compliments of Sybase. 

Check out this case study to follow the Oak Hills District's journey to a desktop virtualization solution that allows them to meet both IT goals and budget requirements. In this paper you'll learn about the high-performance, highly scalable technology implemented to help meet these requirements 

<p>Join this webcast to explore how application virtualization can help your business prepare for the consumerization of IT. Gain insights on its many use cases, how it differs from desktop virtualization, and the substantial benefits it can offer both your IT department and end-users.</p> 

This document compares the pricing of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops (RHEV) with the pricing of VMware View 5 for desktop virtualization. Access a detailed price comparison for the use cases of 100 virtual desktops. 

<p>When choosing a desktop virtualization platform to manage your desktop infrastructure, your architecture and capabilities may be limited by the features offered by each product. This document details the features and benefits of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops 3.0 in comparison with current market competitors.</p> 

<p>The success of your virtual desktop environment is largely dependent upon the data center infrastructure you have in place. This white paper describes the key architectural requirements for desktop virtualization and discusses a framework designed to help you meet them.</p> 

VMware View™ 5 simplifies IT management while increasing end user freedom by delivering desktop services from your cloud. Building upon VMware's leadership in desktop virtualization, VMware View 5 delivers a high-performance user experience while giving IT greater policy control. View this webcast to learn more about what this solution can offer. 

In this case study, discover how you can prevent unexpected downtime and enable highly available and scalable virtual desktops. Find out how you can build a fault-tolerant infrastructure and reduce your storage requirements with a robust software suite.