Face-off

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A new face-off every month.

Is on-demand CRM better than an on-premises solution? - No: 05/14/07; Despite hosted hype, on-premise CRM remains relevant.
Is on-demand CRM better than an on-premise solution? - Yes: 05/14/07; The many pros of on-demand CRM software solutions.
Face-off: Certifications are not important for career enhancement: 04/16/07; David Foote, CEO of Foote Partners, argues that certification is declining in importance.
Face-off: Certifications remain important for career enhancement: 04/16/07; Susan Underhill, vice president of HP Global Certification and Partner Education, argues certification is still needed.
You can trust your network to open source: 03/05/07; Asked whether you should trust your network to open source, you may interpret the word "trust" in two ways.
Don't trust your network to open source: 03/05/07; In the commercial marketplace, where your network is the lifeblood of your enterprise, and predictability and profitability are vital, open source is often unpredictable -- and that can keep your IT staff up at night.
Security appliances should be in-line rather than out of band: 01/29/07; The question of whether security appliances should be deployed in-line or out of band depends on the answer to other key questions. Is authenticating users enough, or does IT need to control where users go on the network? For example, does IT need to limit what guests and contractors can do?
Security appliances should not be in-line rather than out of band: 01/29/07; Regardless of a network access-control solution's features, maintaining an operational network infrastructure should be its main priority. Out-of-band solutions offer the best way to take advantage of NAC's superior network protection without compromising network uptime.
Image-based spam is a nightmare facing enterprise networks: 11/30/06; There are commercial solutions to combat this image-spam nightmare, but much of the enterprise market and most e-mail users worldwide are not yet protected.
Image-based spam is not a nightmare facing enterprise networks: 11/30/06; Because image-spam messages tend to be larger than traditional spam, more network and disk use must be devoted to them. This is alarming, but there is no reason to be overly concerned by the image-spam threat if you have the correct reactive solution in place at the edge of your network.
Face-off: Mobile VPN is a better choice than an SSL VPN: 11/24/06; Mobile workers face unique challenges and need a VPN designed to address them. SSL VPNs work well for remote workers but take a back seat in mobile and wireless environments.
Face-off: Mobile VPN isn not a better choice than an SSL VPN: 11/24/06; An SSL VPN is a comprehensive VPN, including being a mobile VPN. The real choice is whether you should select a proprietary, single-application, network layer-only VPN or a flexible, application- and network-layer SSL VPN for mobile users. The flexibility, low total cost of ownership (TCO) and reliability of an SSL VPN will trump a proprietary approach every time.
Face-off: Application acceleration belongs in the network infrastructure: 10/09/06; By deploying acceleration at the network level, organizations can optimize performance equitably by distributing intelligence across the entire infrastructure.
Face-off: Application acceleration does not belong in the network infrastructure: 10/09/06; While application acceleration belongs in the network rack, it doesn't belong in packet-delivery devices, such as routers and firewalls, but rather in a new class of products focused on application delivery.
Don't go with hosted VoIP rather than an IP PBX: 07/17/06; Services called IP Centrex, for want of a better name, are still sorting themselves out, and the name itself is no small part of the problem. Even if providers of hosted VoIP services scrupulously avoid using the C word, the mind-set is still there, dragging along the baggage of the past.
Go with hosted VoIP rather than an IP PBX: 07/17/06; My company focuses on one product: a hosted IP phone system. Here are 10 reasons clients give as to why hosted VoIP is better than an IP PBX.
'Net neutrality is necessary to save the Internet: 06/12/06; One of the more confusing parts of the debate over the future of the Internet is the effort by the telephone and cable companies, and their suppliers, to muddy the waters by pretending to defend what we know as the Internet while preparing to destroy it.
'Net neutrality debate sets out a false choice: 06/12/06; 'Net neutrality unfortunately has become a proposal for new regulations on the Internet. The success of the Internet comes from letting the market work with minimal regulation.
Anomaly detection is the best way to prevent virus, worm attacks: 03/13/06; Network behavior analysis is one of the most robust and scalable security technologies. At the core of network behavior analysis are anomaly-based algorithms used to identify emerging threats.
Anomaly detection is not the best way to prevent virus, worm attacks: 03/13/06; Network behavior anomaly detection does not provide a true security solution against viruses and worms.
Yes, 'security in the cloud' is the way to go: 02/13/06; Brad Miller, CEO of Perimeter Internetworking, argues in favor of 'security in the cloud.'
'Security in the cloud' is not the way to go: 02/13/06; Bruce Schneier, CTO of Counterpane Internet Security, argues that security in the cloud should not replace more-traditional network and desktop security.
Is Skype enterprise-ready? Yes.: 12/12/05; Skype, when used intelligently, solves many more problems than it creates.
Is Skype enterprise-ready? No.: 12/12/05; Skype provides many powerful features for voice and text communications at a near-zero cost. Unfortunately, Skype also is wrought with implementation flaws and shows signs that it is likely to be a source of significant security problems.
Is penetration testing more effective than vulnerability scanning? Yes: 12/05/05; Vulnerability scans identify potential problems based on an evaluation of a network's defenses and known vulnerabilities. Penetration testing reveals more information about a network by actively attacking a system, probing all defenses and revealing real, not theoretical, vulnerabilities.