1. "Microsoft Launches Unified Communications System,"
October 16, NetworkWorld

Microsoft formally announced its Office Communications Server this week, with 50 partners already lined up to roll out products that will work on the OCS system. Microsoft heralded the launch as the start of a revolution in how corporate employees interact. Voice telephony integrated with software will mean "the capabilities can go way beyond what everyone thinks of today when we talk about the phone call," Bill Gates said at the launch event in San Francisco. Some 155 companies are getting in on the ground floor of that, as OCS early adopters, with the aim of -- what else? -- saving money. "The transformation of software being communications is going to be as profound as the shift from typewriters to word processors," Gates said. Well, that transformation took some time, as we recall, which brings us to...

2. "Unified Communication's Twists and Turns Ensure Slow Arrival on Corporate Networks,"
NetworkWorld, October 16

But users and analysts are taking a much more moderate stance, saying that the evolution will be slow and involve careful planning, budgeting and management. Integrating voice, e-mail, instant messaging, presence, Web conferencing and video services so that they can be part of business applications and workflow has been a long time coming and will require multiple decisions for individual companies. Taking the cautious approach could, however, lead to positive changes in IT that will be consequential (if not entirely revolutionary).

3. "IT Security and Management on Collision Course,"
October 18, InfoWorld

Up to 90 percent of enterprises give oversight for antivirus technologies to desktop management teams instead of security specialists, a statistic that is playing into the decisions of security vendors to become more robust in management software and why so many IT management technology vendors are heading into security software territory. That's likely to spell good news for CIOs "annoyed with the volume, complexity and integration issues driven by the use of all these security and management point products in unison," says Greg Toto, vice president of products and operations at BigFix.

4. "Staph Deaths: Now May Be A Good Time to Clean Workplace Keyboards,"
October 18, Computerworld

Add alcohol wipes and hand disinfectants to the office-supplies list. The death of a Virginia high school student from a drug-resistant strain of bacteria has turned focus on the germ-spreading potential of keyboards, particularly those that are shared with others. Keyboards, mice and other gear can be lightly sprayed or wiped -- make sure not to use so much disinfectant that liquid drips between the keyboard keys. Schools and hospitals are particularly susceptible to drug-resistant staph and other infections, but Mary Beth Minyard, a research scientist at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, says that if she shared a keyboard "I would wipe it down anytime I used it if I was going in behind someone." As it is, she wipes down her keyboard once a week. She studies methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the dreaded "superbug," so she's particularly aware of its dangers. MRSA can live on objects for up to 90 days and although -- so far anyway -- it has mostly affected the elderly and children, employees could take the bug home and infect someone there. Besides wiping down keyboards and mice, hand-washing vigilance is key, Minyard says.