Microsoft has introduced a reporting tool for its online advertising platform that it claims measures the impact of online ad campaigns rather than merely counting clicks.

The tool, called Engagement ROI, has been integrated into Microsoft's Atlas Media Console, which is software used for booking and managing online advertising campaigns. A senior Microsoft executive will officially announce the tool on Monday at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual meeting in Phoenix.

The Media Console was developed by Atlas, a company that was owned by aQuantive, which Microsoft bought for $6 billion in May 2007. It marked Microsoft's biggest acquisition in the online advertising space, following Google's announcement in April 2007 of its intention to acquire a rival online advertising firm, DoubleClick.

Google has a huge lead over Microsoft in online advertising. To counter Google's dominance, Microsoft made an unsolicited offer earlier this month to buy Yahoo, but the acquisition has been so far resisted by Yahoo's board. Microsoft wants access to Yahoo's engineers as well as the company's online advertising technology.

Engagement ROI is in a beta release. Microsoft said the tool will undergo testing with national advertising agencies such as McKinney, Mindshare Interaction, World Vision, and Neo@Ogilvy.

Engagement ROI looks at several aspects of an online ad, such as how recently it has been displayed, its size and its format, and then determines how successful the message is in influencing a purchase. Microsoft calls the concept "engagement mapping."

Microsoft said the most commonly used metric in the industry, counting clicks, is a poor way to measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign. Generally, the success of an ad is determined on how frequently it is viewed or clicked.

Microsoft expects to begin receiving results on how successful the tool is by the end of June.

The Linux Foundation is holding its first End User Summit beginning Monday in New York in an effort to bring Linux kernel developers in closer contact with users at Wall Street institutions and other major companies.

"We're talking about a direct dialogue between the very highest-level Linux developers and the very highest-level Linux users," said Jim Zemlin, the organization's executive director.

[ Track the latest trends in open source with InfoWorld's Open Sources blog. ]

Right now, the latter group is likely working with the kernel community indirectly, he said: "Most very large, sophisticated users of Linux acquire it through a vendor that supports that software."

Top contributors to kernel development include software vendors like Red Hat and Novell.

"Sometimes the desires of what end-users really need end up getting filtered through the salesperson at a [vendor] and up the management chain, and by the time it gets to a developer, it gets pretty garbled," said kernel maintainer Ted Ts'o, an IBM employee who is serving a fellowship as chief platform strategist for the Linux Foundation.

The event is closed to the public and press. Set to attend are representatives from the New York Stock Exchange, Fifth Third Bank, Credit Suisse and Fidelity.

The show is more than a feel-good effort, suggested Redmonk analyst Stephen O'Grady, who will moderate a panel discussion there.

"The tangible gains from such end-user conferences of this type are always difficult to quantify with any precision, but it's virtually indisputable that collecting those that work on a particular technology and those that build businesses upon it is a good thing," O'Grady said Friday. "Even if it's just an improved understanding of where both parties are coming from, events such as these are useful."

Not all of this week's news involved global financial turmoil: while IT budgets are being cut and AMD is breaking itself up, a security tool was released for Firefox that prevents "clickjacking" and Microsoft said that Windows 7 will fix issues in Vista's user account control feature.

1. Economic malaise hits IT industry : Disappointing earnings from some IT companies, fewer initial public offerings, lowered earnings forecasts -- all are part of the grim global economic outlook. On the bright side, though, IBM reported this week that its net income rose 20 percent in its third quarter and maintained its profits will be strong for the full fiscal year.

[ Video: Catch up on the latest tech news with the World Tech Update ]

2. AMD to spin off chip fabs to raise funds : Advanced Micro Devices is splitting into two companies, with one designing chips and the other making them. The company also said that two investment funds owned by the Abu Dhabi government will provide capital to AMD and help it compete better with Intel. The news was hailed by analysts, investors, customers and employees as a way to strengthen AMD, particularly in the harsh economic climate.

[ Related: Rival Intel has launched an investigation into AMD's spinoff plans | Intel may be worried because analysts think the split could help AMD make up market share quickly ]

3. Firefox extension blocks dangerous Web attack : An update of a free security tool for Firefox blocks "clickjacking," one of the most dangerous and vexing problems on the Internet. Clickjacking happens when a Web user clicks on an invisible, malicious link without knowing it. The tool, called NoScript, now includes ClearClick, which can tell if a Web page contains a hidden, embedded element. Users of NoScript who click on such links will be asked if they really want to do that.

4. Microsoft to improve Vista's problematic UAC in Windows 7 : Microsoft is tweaking the user account control feature in its Windows client OS and admits that what was meant to be a security feature in Vista has been a hassle for users. The idea behind UAC in Vista is to give primary PC users more control of applications and settings, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. "What we've learned is that we only got part of the way there in Vista and some folks think we accomplished the opposite," said a blog post attributed to Ben Fathi, Microsoft corporate vice president of development in the Windows Core Operating System Division.

5. Microsoft elaborates on Oslo : Microsoft shed some more light on its Oslo vision for model-based software development this week, detailing the "M" declarative modeling language and the Domain Specific Languages concept that are integral to the overall Oslo package. The company also offered reassurances to developers thattheir role is not being minimized by this raising of the level of abstraction.

6. Apple to hold special notebook event on Oct. 14 : Apple sent out an invitation to reporters to attend an event next Tuesday, saying that "the spotlight turns to notebooks." We assume this means that new Macbooks will be out in time for the all-important holiday shopping season.

7. For a promising IT career, go east, young techie : The IT job market had tightened up even before global financial turmoil gave us all a whack, but opportunities are more plentiful in China, India and Russia, according to analysis of growth trends. Working in such countries also can be good for the old resume. "IT is going global. The IT profession is going global. Developing product for markets all over the world is something you have to learn how to do. Overseas work is a huge enhancer for IT professionals," said Rob McGovern, CEO of JobFox, an international IT employment agency.

8. Mono 2.0 lets .Net apps run on Linux: Considered a major upgrade, the open-source Mono 2.0 runtime leverages Microsoft's .Net Framework 2.0 programming model, letting developers build desktop and server applications using Microsoft-based environments and deploy them across multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. By bringing apps beyond Windows, Mono will help developers reach a larger audience.

9. 11 Microsoft security updates due next week : There will be no rest for weary systems administrators next week -- Microsoft expects to roll out 11 security updates, with four of them rated critical. The monthly patchathon will apply to bugs in Windows Active Directory, Internet Explorer, Excel and the Microsoft Host Integration Server. Besides the critical patches, six others will be rated important and one will be moderate.

10. NASA: Messenger sends back never-before-seen Mercury images : NASA's Messenger spacecraft transmitted images of Mercury to scientist this week, proving them with data about parts of that planet that have never been seen before. The Mariner 10 mission in the 1970s identified the Kuiper crater on Mercury, the planet nearest the sun, and an image of the crater was among the first to be relayed to NASA. Messenger took hundreds of photos of Mercury as it got within 125 miles (201 kilometers) of the planet's surface.

A new Forrester Research study that polled more than 200 SAP customers found widespread discontent over the vendor's recent decision to shift customers to a pricier Enterprise Support offering, and also provides tips on how customers can mitigate the increased cost.

SAP announced in July that Enterprise Support would replace its basic and premium support options. Enterprise Support costs 22 percent of a customer's license fees, compared to 17 percent for basic support. The additional costs will be phased in over the next few years, and new charges won't begin until Jan. 1.

[ Discover the top-rated IT products as rated by the InfoWorld Test Center. ]

But Forrester clients voiced a number of common gripes.

Eighty-five percent of the clients interviewed described minimal utilization of the Basic Support offering. "The average customer claims to connect with SAP fewer than six times a year -- the equivalent of buying a comprehensive but expensive insurance policy and rarely utilizing it," the report states.

Customers also complained to Forrester about the time it takes SAP to meet requests for new features.

"Customers believe that the maintenance dollars paid to SAP should go to filling in key functionality gaps in the software. However, there are a plethora of examples where key functionality requested two to four years ago by multiple customers in the same or different industries were not delivered in SAP R/3 4.7, let alone available in SAP ERP 6.0," the report states.

Clients "want to know how much of their support dollars really go back into reinvestment versus profit margins," it adds.

SAP has cited a number of reasons for its decision, such as greater complexity in customer environments, and argues that Enterprise Support provides a higher level of benefits for customers -- points the Forrester report does not dispute.

To mitigate the increased cost of maintenance, customers should seek steeper discounts on licensing deals, according to Forrester.

Another tactic would be to create a long-term "SAP containment strategy," which could include taking a look at other vendors. "Many SAP clients with whom we spoke have begun the process of evaluating Oracle Siebel, Salesforce.com and others for customer relationship management as well as Siperian, Initiate Systems and IBM for master data management."

Customers also should consider third-party options for support. While one company, Rimini Street, has announced plans to provide such support, it has not yet begun doing so, and even when it does will focus on only SAP's R/3 products.

The Forrester report's results stand in contrast to SAP's past contention that while customers may not like to pay more money, they understand the value of the new service.

An SAP spokesman was given a copy of the report on Friday, but did not immediately provide comment on its findings.

A new Forrester Research study that polled more than 200 SAP customers found widespread discontent over the vendor's recent decision to shift customers to a pricier Enterprise Support offering, and also provides tips on how customers can mitigate the increased cost.

SAP announced in July that Enterprise Support would replace its basic and premium support options. Enterprise Support costs 22 percent of a customer's license fees, compared to 17 percent for basic support. The additional costs will be phased in over the next few years, and new charges won't begin until Jan. 1.

[ Discover the top-rated IT products as rated by the InfoWorld Test Center. ]

But Forrester clients voiced a number of common gripes.

Eighty-five percent of the clients interviewed described minimal utilization of the Basic Support offering. "The average customer claims to connect with SAP fewer than six times a year -- the equivalent of buying a comprehensive but expensive insurance policy and rarely utilizing it," the report states.

Customers also complained to Forrester about the time it takes SAP to meet requests for new features.

"Customers believe that the maintenance dollars paid to SAP should go to filling in key functionality gaps in the software. However, there are a plethora of examples where key functionality requested two to four years ago by multiple customers in the same or different industries were not delivered in SAP R/3 4.7, let alone available in SAP ERP 6.0," the report states.

Clients "want to know how much of their support dollars really go back into reinvestment versus profit margins," it adds.

SAP has cited a number of reasons for its decision, such as greater complexity in customer environments, and argues that Enterprise Support provides a higher level of benefits for customers -- points the Forrester report does not dispute.

"We believe this much-enhanced offering meets the needs of our customers and offers increased value, such as end-to-end support across the enterprise 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as a one-hour initial reaction time for the highest-priority support issues," SAP spokesman Saswato Das said Friday. "We are seeing good adoption rates and will continue to roll out Enterprise Support, of course working with user groups and our customers, and listening to their issues and concerns."

To mitigate the increased cost of maintenance, customers should seek steeper discounts on licensing deals, according to Forrester.

Another tactic would be to create a long-term "SAP containment strategy," which could include taking a look at other vendors. "Many SAP clients with whom we spoke have begun the process of evaluating Oracle Siebel, Salesforce.com and others for customer relationship management as well as Siperian, Initiate Systems and IBM for master data management."

Customers also should consider third-party options for support. While one company, Rimini Street, has announced plans to provide such support, it has not yet begun doing so, and even when it does will focus on only SAP's R/3 products.

The Forrester report's results stand in contrast to SAP's past contention that while customers may not like to pay more money, they understand the value of the new service.

This story was updated on October 10, 2008

The collective sigh of relief when Apple lifted the iPhone NDA, which had prevented developers from discussing iPhone programming, came not just from developers, but also from educators, authors, and publishers. With the NDA gone, iPhone-related books can be published, and conferences can be much more detailed, leading to better education.

Publishers and authors who had books written were forced to shelve them because publishing the material would have broken the guidelines of the NDA. However, with the NDA removed, users can expect to see an abundance of information hitting the market, targeting everyone from developers to end-users.

[ Special report: IT's guide to the iPhone ]

"It was huge having the NDA lifted," said Bill Dudney, trainer and co-author of the upcoming book "iPhone SDK Development" (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2008).

Like many other authors, Dudney had a book written about the iPhone, but couldn't publish the book without breaking the NDA. Now, Dudney -- along with countless others -- can bring his product to market. (A quick search for  iPhone books on Amazon.com shows a number of titles available for pre-order.)

An abundance of books on the market isn't the only benefit we can expect to see. Conferences will now feature better sessions because speakers and trainers will be able to speak freely about what it takes to make a good iPhone application.

iPhoneDevCamp organizer and co-chair of O'Reilly's iPhoneLive conference, Raven Zachary said he is excited about what this means for future conferences. Zachary said they have tentatively added an introduction to iPhone development session at the upcoming conference, which is something they couldn't have done before Apple lifted the NDA.

In previous conferences, speakers would have to talk about Mac development tools and try to relate them to the iPhone, without speaking about the iPhone -- a tough task.

The NDA stifled growth in the development community simply because new developers had a limited amount of resources to seek help. Now, Dudney said, trainers can speak freely and actually help attendees with questions they have about developing for the iPhone. With new developers come new applications and innovation, which only helps the platform.

Perhaps not coincidentally, a week after lifting the NDA, Apple announced the iPhone Tech Talk World Tour, a series of free tech talks about the iPhone for developers. Topics include an introduction to Objective-C and Cocoa Touch, how to integrate the iPhone into an IT environment, submitting your app to the App Store, and iPhone game development

The end result for iPhone users should be a better choice of applications as developers continue to push the envelope of innovation.