this type does not require good technical people but good public oriented people. erp projects fail not because the software cannot do the tasks but people using the system have problems with it.
for example, if you give a new software for people to use, they will tend to ignore, be against it - as a rule of thumb, people resist change. you must have a method of wooing them to use and own the system.
installation and customizations are the first part of the system, once the software has been installed, you will need after support services such as training and technical support.
installing a new software or system does not improve the process of doing things. it just computerizes it. the problem is, as per policy it requires a step 1-2-3-4-5 to do a task and you are designing the software to do that instead of improving the process and simplifying it to step 1-3-5, for example.
before starting with the system, you will really need to have people who are not all programmers or technical people. if you will be implementing an accounting system, then definitely you will need accountants to be able to implement the system - not relying on a programmer and stuffing them with accounting processes and terms.
for me, no matter how proprietary or open-source the software being used, it will still fair if crucial system implementation is not made from above. remember, it's not the software but the people.
contrary to popular beliefs, the ipv4 address space is not going to be depleted in the near term (as the values from the parent.) but using ipv6 in voip will greatly ease its deployment.
1. ipv6 has qos built in. it will be needed for them to prioritize voice calls.
2. it will be much easier to subnet the network by assigning an ip address for each device and a subnet for each part of the network. assinging it in ipv4 will be much difficult. for example, a/8 will give you 16.8m possible addresses. if you were a telephone company, you will have billions of telephone numbers being used (a 7 digit will yield 9,999,999 numbers and with multiple area codes will automatically balloon it to billions. so your 1.7b will only be good for two prefix (that is if you will map an ip address for each device per number.) if all telephone numbers in our country right now will be assigned an equivalent ip address, we cannot map all numbers in ipv4 because we have 10 of billions of phone numbers in use. conserving ip address by using nat - how can you connect to the other party directly since the other device is not unique?
3. aggregation, it will be much simple to manage the new network compared probably to the complex pots and new ss7 systems.
some comments though. the allocated ip is different from assigned ip. you can allocate a big chunk to an isp and it will assign it to customers. also, not all assigned ip addresses are advertised. most ix are assigned a/24 and they are usually not advertised (you cannot reach most 198.32.x.x networks being used for exchange points.)
In the Philippines, it is quite cheap. First off, the telco gives free sms allocation (but not that much.) The price of each is 1/56 of 1USD (or around 0.018 USD). That is for prepaid subscribers. For postpaid, you can get it for half of that (if you exceed your free allocation / month.) Good thing the price here is very cheap (but the government plans on taxing SMS.) This is the reason why SMS is very popular. And since we are an archipelago and there are lots of people in the rural areas too, it is a very cheap way of communication - even cheaper and faster than postal mail. mms messages are quite cheap (but out of reach for majority of the users) at 5/56 USD (or around 0.09 USD.) For voice calls, it really depends on if you are using prepaid or postpaid. But the most expensive rate is 6.5/56 USD per minute (or around 0.12USD.) You can get a much lower rate for plans.
To top it, the sms message can handle 160 characters. You/. people will be amazed on how fast people here type messages (without the aid of predictive text.) much to around 240 characters per minute. some of the phones couldn't even catch up with the display from the pressing. you'll be amazed on how good people are able to abbreviate words so they can really say a lot for 160 characters.
example: "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" will be "d qik brn fx jmp vr d lzy dg" (but i must concede that i do not abbreviate that much (lack the skill too) because i want to be clear to people when they read my message.) Common words such as later -> l8r, before -> b4, the -> d (the others are in local Filipino language.)
i heard there are some squabbles inside the group especially with the programmers. i don't want to expound specifically but it may affect the outcome of the software (as with the delay?)
also heard that they are not believed by some it companies here. (with grain of salt)
from the philippines here so i "hear" some things from the industry.
i don't want to pass judgment because i have not seen the product yet. but it makes me wonder what differences it has with applications such as wine.
here is a link (from a local newspaper about the issue just today.
just some suggestions, there are already organizations that are helping "run" and do policy development in the internet. maybe organizations such as iana, ripe, arin, apnic, aso, can contribute some. or since the internet is a global resource, maybe there can be a change in fees structure that will be charged for domains and ip addresses being used (though being done now.) but a better way maybe is to merge the functions.
it is quite confusing for me (so someone can clarify here) that there are overlapping functions. imho, maybe a tree structure may work with representatives from each region (ripe, lacnic, arin, apnic, afrinic) then all under one reporting body?
Between 8:10 AM EDT and 9:30 AM EDT (GMT-4) on Monday, May 24, 2004, Akamai customers using EdgeSuite and other Akamai Services experienced extensive performance and availability issues.
This incident stemmed from processing an invalid command generated from one of Akamai's backend content control management tools. This tool controls the expiration of content on the Akamai network.
Although there are numerous safety checks designed to engage before commands are sent to Akamai's servers, an invalid command sent out by one of the content control management tools bypassed two key safety checks.
Because Akamai's servers are programmed to restart when presented with an invalid request, once the invalid content control had bypassed these safety checks, Akamai servers continuously halted and restarted in an effort to process all of our customers' pending content management commands.
The problem was immediately detected by Akamai's automated monitoring systems, and Akamai personnel had localized the problem and identified a solution by 8:40AM EDT. The solution was immediately deployed on the network and by 9:30AM EDT, the problem had been completely resolved.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you or your users. Please contact your customer care representative if you have any questions.
Akamai is aware of a service interuption earlier today affecting content delivery.
We have identified the root cause and have implemented the fix. Issues retrieving content should be decreasing or resolved. Updates will continue to be posted on the Akamai Edge Control Management Center.
so there is something wrong with their cdn. so much for 100% availability. my guess, all the edge servers were ok but there may be a problem with their noc or software.
for the past few minutes, i was actually searching for any news regarding akamai downtime (and here it is.) i thought it was just a local problem. but when i tried most to test different servers, they were unpingable a while ago. tried to get to ping and do traceroute from different lg and traceroute sites and all ended in * * *.
maybe they autoupdated all their servers and made them reboot?
let's see what updates they have on their support site.
Due to a peering problem between ATT and UUNet, a subset of UUNet users may have experienced problems accessing Akamai delivered sites between 8-10pm EDT on Saturday May 22, 2004. The problem has been fully resolved.
you may want to choose a backbone that will suite you (copper for shorter and fiber for longer distances.) though i must say fiber cable is actually cheaper but it is much delicate to setup and equipment is expensive. see below for some hfc considerations.
for the network, you can get a switch that supports fiber interface to run your data.
for the voice, you can get a pabx that is voip capable so you can get e1 lines from your telco and distribute the phone to the end users. but better option if the telco has a direct voip network so you will not need additional equipment except for phones.
for the video and audio, it depends on the signal you are carrying, is it hdtv or sdtv resolution, you may want to coordinate with your provider to allow for a setup box that gets all the channels and distribute them digitally to the end users with each having a setup box. but this will require big bandwidth (even if you use multicast.)
special note, you may want to consider hfc to transmit all the types. you can ask your cable company to terminate a node in your neighborhood and have all household install a cable modem. from there you can split the data and voice traffic from the video and audio and centralize all data traffic into a small community datacenter.
i would associate this with a project. people in the field tend to look at it from one perspective (and there is no right or wrong perspective here.)
i believe it is similar to a project. you will need to determine the needs - assessment. once determined, you will plan what to do. follow the plan - actual implementation. of course, there is checking. once verified, it's ready to use.
but there are things missed in this. it is very very easy to plan and do the actual project. much like determining the software needs and meeting the needs for yourself. however, there is the other part that will be engaged by others. so the software will be used by other people. with my current project, we spend more of our time doing training, talking and explaining to people who do not seem to grasp the concept of the benefits but still blabber around, and getting others to even participate with it. the technical side was a breeze but the social aspect is much difficult. as an engineer, i could probably be a better psychologist.
i honestly say that i find it quite a little hard to explain in words. but to sum up, there are two sides to it, the technical and the people. most (not all) in the community is good in technical but poor in people skills so the open source community cannot connect to the general public. i think this is the missing link. if we can connect, they open source concept will propagate together with it software.:) john
we are looking things from a wrong perspective. the point mentioned is not entirely accurate but it does make some point.
i would like to emphasize that we cannot avoid vulnerabilities. no matter how much open it becomes, people will miss it. but, we can lessen the damage done from defective patches and exploits.
there is no rule that applies to all.
i have seen some posts regarding releasing everything on tesday. that's both good and bad. good because it reduces the complexity of keeping up with the system especially if you are in a big enterprise scenario maintaining multiple software in multiple platforms. bad because an exploit may already exist and delays to the patch can cause compromise.
maybe all software vendors can produce a regular cycle that is followed by all (i'm dreaming now.) exploited issues may be issued with patches immediately. regular cycles allows for better patch testing and management. exploited items may be reduced as patches as issued immediately but with subject to risks.
since most exploits are network related, maybe someone can device a patch that does not directly modify the file but a patch that intercepts the data coming to it. for example, there is a vulnerability in apache. apache can release a software wherein another program listens on the defined port (of usual 80 but others will still be able to adjust) and it will cut off any damaging traffic before being passed to the actual software (ala hybrid intrusion detection and firewall.) after full testing of the software, the sniffer will be removed the actual file patched. by this, a lot of network related problems will be removed because infection in the network will be eliminated for those who installed the sniffer. it does not break the operation of the application.:) john
usually, people here text messages rather than call because it is much cheaper. but there are instances wherein people talk loudly during conversations that is quite annoying. another is the ring tone (the regular beeps, unless it is a polyphonic one or even a wav or mp3 playing,) it's quite annoying for some. but given that almost many people have phones, only a few of them are irritating.
to reduce this, i have suggestions to the mobile phone makers. 1. allow for a feedback. the phone should instead allow for sounds picked up from the microphone to loop to the speaker. this will make people talk softer. generally, i talk much louder too on the cellphone than the telephone. i guess it is much of an instinct because i was used to using the telephone way before mobile phones so my body adjusted automatically. 2. there should be an auto alert. the phone will detect the ambient sound and if it is too noisy, the volume will be higher and vibrates. but if you are in a much quiet room, it will automatically lower the alert tones (like alarms, rings, sms and mms alerts.) 3. invent a way wherein the phone picks up a signal that it should work in silent mode only. establishments can put a transmitter so phones in the area automatically switches to silent.:) john
by being able to run linux in windows environment, regular users will be able to start migrating to linux.
the problem with right now is you have to use either. you can get emulation but to a certain extent.
by doing the opposite, you can slowly migrate software that you previously have in windows and run them in linux. once you are comfortable with it, you can remove windows altogether.
this will help us (as i am from a corporate) to be able to test new applications in linux *without disruptions* to the existing system. migration will be much lower and hopefully at the end, the tco for linux will be much much lesser because minimal migration costs will be needed. applications are running in linux, users already has experience in linux, etc.
i'm from the asean region so when i traveled, i only needed to show my passport and that's it.
in this case, the usa has expanded their monitoring activities to include many previously unmonitored citizens from countries.
maybe i think the added photography at the airport will be used by the dept of homeland or other crime fighting organization in the us. whereas the photo for the visa may be used for identification purposes by the foreign affairs (also i am just speculating at the moment.)
went from thailand and last minute to malaysia and singapore for a vacation. those three countries did not fingerprint or mugshot people coming in the country.
generally, i view their country peaceful. i don't see any necessity with it. i view that the people in malaysia and thailand are particularly friendly and that reduces terroristic attacks to them, imho. they are also very friendly to tourists and others.:) people would treat them more the same or even better.
on the other hand, the usa keeps on irritating people entering their country. the only thing it affects is tourism. i have a us visa. i have plans to go to the usa for some vacation but given this, i'll probably go to china, japan and korea instead.
usa is indirectly challenging the terrorists. it's like we keep our systems secure so crackers/hackers would not mess with us. of course, someone will be able to break in stealthily and the us government will not have any clue (just like the 9/11.) after something happens, the us government will patch some things up and the thing repeats all over again.
i would like to say that maybe if the usa will be more friendly (i'm not saying they are not, but i don't see it) to others, then maybe other parties will be open. much like fighting, you will not achieve anything by hitting the other person. it just aggravates the situation. though i cannot provide any contrete examples now, maybe they can start by being friendly to countries and opening and increasing dialogue talks. you wouldn't know the problem unless you ask the party about it.:)
the parent i believe is more sarcastic than funny.
i much agree to him. there are some phones out there that they focus more on features that it is quite difficult to call a person with a *few* keystokes (excluding speed dial.)
i know a couple of people who call a lot do not use the flashy phones as it is very inconvenient to call when you have to move through a joystick, or a jog dial or other features of a phone. you also have to navigate a couple of links before being able to dial a person.
way off from my first phone where i can easily locate a person from the phone book and call them in a push of a button.
is there any figures with regard to ip license use of windows? microsoft pays a lot to other companies as well for their patents. just want to know if what fraction of the $45 goes to other companies.
we remove attachments that are executables and candidates for malicious ones (.com,.exe,.bat,.pif,.zip,.scr,.vbs,.rar,.arj, etc.,) this has tremendously reduced our problems with viruses and worms. though it may impede some productivity, we opted to give big quota for users instead so they can receive uncompressed files. we have also started removing pop3 and imap4 access, restricted smtp access as well. we are using a web based e-mail service. this prevents any further infections exploiting outlook. if a computer gets infected, they won't be able to send to the smtp server as well since only a very selected few computers are able to relay there. our helpdesk calls have been reduced by this.
but there are only a handful number of companies that offer a full range of both hardware and software suites. it may be application to ibm but let say redhat? i don't see them developing their own hardware for that matter.
Slashdot Mirror
for example, if you give a new software for people to use, they will tend to ignore, be against it - as a rule of thumb, people resist change. you must have a method of wooing them to use and own the system.
installation and customizations are the first part of the system, once the software has been installed, you will need after support services such as training and technical support.
installing a new software or system does not improve the process of doing things. it just computerizes it. the problem is, as per policy it requires a step 1-2-3-4-5 to do a task and you are designing the software to do that instead of improving the process and simplifying it to step 1-3-5, for example.
before starting with the system, you will really need to have people who are not all programmers or technical people. if you will be implementing an accounting system, then definitely you will need accountants to be able to implement the system - not relying on a programmer and stuffing them with accounting processes and terms.
for me, no matter how proprietary or open-source the software being used, it will still fair if crucial system implementation is not made from above. remember, it's not the software but the people.
phd = Power of HyDrogen :)
7 so he's NaOH ed.
1. ipv6 has qos built in. it will be needed for them to prioritize voice calls.
2. it will be much easier to subnet the network by assigning an ip address for each device and a subnet for each part of the network. assinging it in ipv4 will be much difficult. for example, a
3. aggregation, it will be much simple to manage the new network compared probably to the complex pots and new ss7 systems.
some comments though. the allocated ip is different from assigned ip. you can allocate a big chunk to an isp and it will assign it to customers. also, not all assigned ip addresses are advertised. most ix are assigned a
if i were bt, ipv6 will be a requirement!
To top it, the sms message can handle 160 characters. You /. people will be amazed on how fast people here type messages (without the aid of predictive text.) much to around 240 characters per minute. some of the phones couldn't even catch up with the display from the pressing. you'll be amazed on how good people are able to abbreviate words so they can really say a lot for 160 characters.
example: "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" will be "d qik brn fx jmp vr d lzy dg" (but i must concede that i do not abbreviate that much (lack the skill too) because i want to be clear to people when they read my message.) Common words such as later -> l8r, before -> b4, the -> d (the others are in local Filipino language.)
also heard that they are not believed by some it companies here. (with grain of salt)
from the philippines here so i "hear" some things from the industry.
i don't want to pass judgment because i have not seen the product yet. but it makes me wonder what differences it has with applications such as wine.
here is a link (from a local newspaper about the issue just today.
it is quite confusing for me (so someone can clarify here) that there are overlapping functions. imho, maybe a tree structure may work with representatives from each region (ripe, lacnic, arin, apnic, afrinic) then all under one reporting body?
Between 8:10 AM EDT and 9:30 AM EDT (GMT-4) on Monday, May 24, 2004, Akamai customers using EdgeSuite and other Akamai Services experienced extensive performance and availability issues.
This incident stemmed from processing an invalid command generated from one of Akamai's backend content control management tools. This tool controls the expiration of content on the Akamai network.
Although there are numerous safety checks designed to engage before commands are sent to Akamai's servers, an invalid command sent out by one of the content control management tools bypassed two key safety checks.
Because Akamai's servers are programmed to restart when presented with an invalid request, once the invalid content control had bypassed these safety checks, Akamai servers continuously halted and restarted in an effort to process all of our customers' pending content management commands.
The problem was immediately detected by Akamai's automated monitoring systems, and Akamai personnel had localized the problem and identified a solution by 8:40AM EDT. The solution was immediately deployed on the network and by 9:30AM EDT, the problem had been completely resolved.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you or your users. Please contact your customer care representative if you have any questions.
Akamai is aware of a service interuption earlier today affecting content delivery.
We have identified the root cause and have implemented the fix. Issues retrieving content should be decreasing or resolved. Updates will continue to be posted on the Akamai Edge Control Management Center.
so there is something wrong with their cdn. so much for 100% availability. my guess, all the edge servers were ok but there may be a problem with their noc or software.
maybe they autoupdated all their servers and made them reboot?
let's see what updates they have on their support site.
Due to a peering problem between ATT and UUNet, a subset of UUNet users may have experienced problems accessing Akamai delivered sites between 8-10pm EDT on Saturday May 22, 2004. The problem has been fully resolved.
Maybe the problem has recurred.
for the network, you can get a switch that supports fiber interface to run your data.
for the voice, you can get a pabx that is voip capable so you can get e1 lines from your telco and distribute the phone to the end users. but better option if the telco has a direct voip network so you will not need additional equipment except for phones.
for the video and audio, it depends on the signal you are carrying, is it hdtv or sdtv resolution, you may want to coordinate with your provider to allow for a setup box that gets all the channels and distribute them digitally to the end users with each having a setup box. but this will require big bandwidth (even if you use multicast.)
special note, you may want to consider hfc to transmit all the types. you can ask your cable company to terminate a node in your neighborhood and have all household install a cable modem. from there you can split the data and voice traffic from the video and audio and centralize all data traffic into a small community datacenter.
intel started to introduce model numbers to their processors instead of the actual mhz count. this may be the reason to it.
i would associate this with a project. people in the field tend to look at it from one perspective (and there is no right or wrong perspective here.)
:)
i believe it is similar to a project. you will need to determine the needs - assessment. once determined, you will plan what to do. follow the plan - actual implementation. of course, there is checking. once verified, it's ready to use.
but there are things missed in this. it is very very easy to plan and do the actual project. much like determining the software needs and meeting the needs for yourself. however, there is the other part that will be engaged by others. so the software will be used by other people. with my current project, we spend more of our time doing training, talking and explaining to people who do not seem to grasp the concept of the benefits but still blabber around, and getting others to even participate with it. the technical side was a breeze but the social aspect is much difficult. as an engineer, i could probably be a better psychologist.
i honestly say that i find it quite a little hard to explain in words. but to sum up, there are two sides to it, the technical and the people. most (not all) in the community is good in technical but poor in people skills so the open source community cannot connect to the general public. i think this is the missing link. if we can connect, they open source concept will propagate together with it software.
john
we are looking things from a wrong perspective. the point mentioned is not entirely accurate but it does make some point.
:)
i would like to emphasize that we cannot avoid vulnerabilities. no matter how much open it becomes, people will miss it. but, we can lessen the damage done from defective patches and exploits.
there is no rule that applies to all.
i have seen some posts regarding releasing everything on tesday. that's both good and bad. good because it reduces the complexity of keeping up with the system especially if you are in a big enterprise scenario maintaining multiple software in multiple platforms. bad because an exploit may already exist and delays to the patch can cause compromise.
maybe all software vendors can produce a regular cycle that is followed by all (i'm dreaming now.) exploited issues may be issued with patches immediately. regular cycles allows for better patch testing and management. exploited items may be reduced as patches as issued immediately but with subject to risks.
since most exploits are network related, maybe someone can device a patch that does not directly modify the file but a patch that intercepts the data coming to it. for example, there is a vulnerability in apache. apache can release a software wherein another program listens on the defined port (of usual 80 but others will still be able to adjust) and it will cut off any damaging traffic before being passed to the actual software (ala hybrid intrusion detection and firewall.) after full testing of the software, the sniffer will be removed the actual file patched. by this, a lot of network related problems will be removed because infection in the network will be eliminated for those who installed the sniffer. it does not break the operation of the application.
john
usually, people here text messages rather than call because it is much cheaper. but there are instances wherein people talk loudly during conversations that is quite annoying. another is the ring tone (the regular beeps, unless it is a polyphonic one or even a wav or mp3 playing,) it's quite annoying for some. but given that almost many people have phones, only a few of them are irritating.
:)
to reduce this, i have suggestions to the mobile phone makers.
1. allow for a feedback. the phone should instead allow for sounds picked up from the microphone to loop to the speaker. this will make people talk softer. generally, i talk much louder too on the cellphone than the telephone. i guess it is much of an instinct because i was used to using the telephone way before mobile phones so my body adjusted automatically.
2. there should be an auto alert. the phone will detect the ambient sound and if it is too noisy, the volume will be higher and vibrates. but if you are in a much quiet room, it will automatically lower the alert tones (like alarms, rings, sms and mms alerts.)
3. invent a way wherein the phone picks up a signal that it should work in silent mode only. establishments can put a transmitter so phones in the area automatically switches to silent.
john
by being able to run linux in windows environment, regular users will be able to start migrating to linux.
the problem with right now is you have to use either. you can get emulation but to a certain extent.
by doing the opposite, you can slowly migrate software that you previously have in windows and run them in linux. once you are comfortable with it, you can remove windows altogether.
this will help us (as i am from a corporate) to be able to test new applications in linux *without disruptions* to the existing system. migration will be much lower and hopefully at the end, the tco for linux will be much much lesser because minimal migration costs will be needed. applications are running in linux, users already has experience in linux, etc.
they will require investors to install their "spyware" programs. suddenly, gator will transfer all the stocks back to them.
the investor says, what the? and gator says, mwehehehehe.
i'm from the asean region so when i traveled, i only needed to show my passport and that's it.
in this case, the usa has expanded their monitoring activities to include many previously unmonitored citizens from countries.
maybe i think the added photography at the airport will be used by the dept of homeland or other crime fighting organization in the us. whereas the photo for the visa may be used for identification purposes by the foreign affairs (also i am just speculating at the moment.)
a video camera?
the only thing limiting to what you can capture is the tape and battery.
you use a camera for capturing a still moment. you use a video camera for capturing an entire event.
went from thailand and last minute to malaysia and singapore for a vacation. those three countries did not fingerprint or mugshot people coming in the country.
:) people would treat them more the same or even better.
:)
generally, i view their country peaceful. i don't see any necessity with it. i view that the people in malaysia and thailand are particularly friendly and that reduces terroristic attacks to them, imho. they are also very friendly to tourists and others.
on the other hand, the usa keeps on irritating people entering their country. the only thing it affects is tourism. i have a us visa. i have plans to go to the usa for some vacation but given this, i'll probably go to china, japan and korea instead.
usa is indirectly challenging the terrorists. it's like we keep our systems secure so crackers/hackers would not mess with us. of course, someone will be able to break in stealthily and the us government will not have any clue (just like the 9/11.) after something happens, the us government will patch some things up and the thing repeats all over again.
i would like to say that maybe if the usa will be more friendly (i'm not saying they are not, but i don't see it) to others, then maybe other parties will be open. much like fighting, you will not achieve anything by hitting the other person. it just aggravates the situation. though i cannot provide any contrete examples now, maybe they can start by being friendly to countries and opening and increasing dialogue talks. you wouldn't know the problem unless you ask the party about it.
the parent i believe is more sarcastic than funny.
i much agree to him. there are some phones out there that they focus more on features that it is quite difficult to call a person with a *few* keystokes (excluding speed dial.)
i know a couple of people who call a lot do not use the flashy phones as it is very inconvenient to call when you have to move through a joystick, or a jog dial or other features of a phone. you also have to navigate a couple of links before being able to dial a person.
way off from my first phone where i can easily locate a person from the phone book and call them in a push of a button.
you can choose from:
Bork, bork, bork!
Elmer Fudd
Hacker
Klingon
Pig Latin
i'm sure it beats the hell out of microsoft.
is there any figures with regard to ip license use of windows? microsoft pays a lot to other companies as well for their patents. just want to know if what fraction of the $45 goes to other companies.
we remove attachments that are executables and candidates for malicious ones (.com, .exe, .bat, .pif, .zip, .scr, .vbs, .rar, .arj, etc.,) this has tremendously reduced our problems with viruses and worms. though it may impede some productivity, we opted to give big quota for users instead so they can receive uncompressed files. we have also started removing pop3 and imap4 access, restricted smtp access as well. we are using a web based e-mail service. this prevents any further infections exploiting outlook. if a computer gets infected, they won't be able to send to the smtp server as well since only a very selected few computers are able to relay there. our helpdesk calls have been reduced by this.
but there are only a handful number of companies that offer a full range of both hardware and software suites. it may be application to ibm but let say redhat? i don't see them developing their own hardware for that matter.