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For large and small e-tailers alike, the traditional method of doing business online has been fairly standard. They present a bevy of products, build a secure purchasing interface and advertise so that customers will come clicking to their virtual doorstep. In the past couple of years, however, some e-commerce companies have followed their own path to profit by breaking the mold...

For several weeks running, Eddie Bauer has occupied the top slot in Keynote Systems' E-Commerce Transaction Performance Index, handily beating out much larger players like Amazon and Wal-Mart ...

In part 1 of this story, "Inside the Hidden World of Motherboard Manufacturers," we examined the inner workings of the motherboard industry and noted that unlike in the semiconductor sector, there are many companies competing for market share, including a few strong players and a wealth of second-tier rivals ...

As chips are inserted into all manner of everyday appliances, from refrigerators to phones, the semiconductor industry is not the only one that will heat up. The market for motherboards, which link all the components of a computing device, including processors, chipsets, memory and peripheral cards, is likely to follow suit ...

When the Web was young and designers were eager to prove their technological talents, chaos ruled. Pages often were too busy or featured large graphics that brought site visitors' browsers to a grinding halt. Because layouts were not standardized, surfers had to hunt for information, and abandoned shopping carts were commonplace ...

When Brocade was founded in 1995, it had lofty goals and a simple premise. The company believed storage should be networked, and it envisioned allowing CIOs to cut storage costs and increase efficiency ...

Unanticipated Web site traffic can be tough for any IT administrator to handle, and sometimes a major surge can highlight a company's online weak points in sharp relief. Fortunately, many spikes can be predicted and, even more importantly, faced with a sound strategy ...

At first glance, the consumer PC market can seem quite polarized. At one end of the spectrum are big players like Dell, HP, IBM, Apple and Gateway, and at the other are small companies that assemble standard components, house them in a generic-looking white box and sell the result cheaply. However, it is the middle ground that may be most worth watching...

In the past few months, it seemed as if new mergers were being announced every week. High-profile players like PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, as well as EMC and Legato Systems, found they had enough in common to join forces. Meanwhile, an even more high-profile company, Oracle, attempted to convince PeopleSoft shareholders that it would be a better partner for the ERP giant...

There was a time, not so long ago, when the IT department was like an island unto itself. The CIO may have had to venture into the boardroom and chat with "the suits," but many IT staff were high-tech gurus who did not need to care about the bottom line, refined communication skills or managing employees ...

As spammers dream up new strategies for slithering into e-mail inboxes worldwide, their counterparts, anti-spam software developers, are always on the lookout for new ways to stop them cold. A bevy of companies think they may have a good answer in challenge-response technology ...

Despite a major push for broadband Internet access by legislators and consumers, the United States is still largely a dial-up country. ...

To say that Motorola has had a turbulent recent history is something of an understatement. A few years ago, when the semiconductor sector was hemorrhaging money and the handset arena was not doing too well either, the company began to reorganize, with mixed success ...

As in Aesop's tale of the tortoise and the hare, perhaps "slow and steady" really does win the race. Sun Microsystems certainly is hoping so. Following a disastrous quarter in which financial results fell far short of analysts' expectations, with net income of just US$12 million on revenue of $2.98 billion, the company is trying to rebound from its slump.

The Microsoft-versus-Linux skirmish has heated up discussions about how much a company should pay for servers, software and operating systems. In addition, the harsh economic climate has forced many companies to cut costs, so they are taking a long, hard look at licensing agreements, general ease of use and security -- and they are considering Linux more seriously than ever before...

Although it will be some time before broadband is available to every house and company in the United States, the adoption rate of high-speed Internet access is healthy and growing steadily ...

Students who were in college during the past four years had the opportunity to witness one of the biggest booms and worst busts in history. Their relief at being somewhat sheltered from the storm was lessened, though, by knowing they soon would have to brave the elements post-graduation ...

The ability to change prices in the blink of an eye, instantly responding to market fluctuations, seems as if it would be an attractive tactic to online retailers. However, so-called dynamic pricing has not caught on yet in the e-commerce world ...

In an effort to trim costs, U.S. companies increasingly have been shipping work overseas, especially to India, China, Eastern Europe and South America. While this practice boosts the bottom line in the accounting office, it also raises the anxiety level of U.S.-based employees ...

Background checks for IT recruits are standard, but as some companies discoverpainfully, potential black hats can still get hired. Threats from within have become all too commonplace, sometimes leaving companies to battle their own employees in order to achieve better security ...