News
News
- October 06, 2009
06 Oct'09
Software vendor evaluation criteria: Sample scorecard templates for IT projects
Need a hand in evaluating prospective vendors or managing your current crop? Here's a sampling of software vendor scorecards and requirements to help you create your own.
- October 05, 2009
05 Oct'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: CIO mistakes, qualities of a good leader and ITIL
In a few hours, I'll be bound for Chicago to learn more about IT services and sourcing, but don't think I would leave you without your weekly wrap-up of CIO content! Check out the latest pieces to ...
- September 24, 2009
24 Sep'09
How Google and Yahoo improved data center energy efficiency
Running large data centers is expensive and getting worse. No one knows that more than Google and Yahoo. At a panel on green data centers at MIT’s Emerging Technologies Conference this week, ...
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- September 21, 2009
21 Sep'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: Service portfolio management, ITSM, email scandal
Good afternoon! This past week, SearchCIO.com looked at the importance of service portfolio management and culture management as part of ITSM and ITIL implementations. We also took a look at an ...
- September 18, 2009
18 Sep'09
Three ways to reach out to women in IT: Mentor, advocate, encourage
A dinner this week on women in IT focused on midlevel women in technology and their challenges in getting ahead, given their frequently high family responsibilities and their own perceptions ...
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Sponsored News
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Server Security in the Era of ChatGPT
Sponsored by Dell Technologies and Intel - The importance of security and compliance to applications and data environments cannot be overstated. A GenAI platform deployment is different from a typical infrastructure as a service (IaaS) implementation in terms of who holds the keys and who can read the data. Research by TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group has found that even cloud-first organizations are deploying some workloads on premises, rather than the cloud, due to concerns related to data governance and sovereignty (cited by 42% of respondents) and security (cited by 34%). These organizations understand the real potential for data leakage associated with GenAI. See More
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How to Maximize Agility, Simplicity, and Cost Control Through Application Deployment
Sponsored by Dell Technologies - One of the most important and complex decisions facing IT leaders is where and how to deploy new and existing applications. To deliver maximum impact to the business, most applications must leverage resources across the entire IT ecosystem, including data centers, public clouds, colocation, and edge environments. See More
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Who is driving DE&I - and why it matters
Sponsored by AWS - Investing in a mature Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) program has proven to put organizations ahead of their competitors in innovation, time to market, and other positive business performance indicators. To maximize those benefits, it is important to understand who must drive, support, and empower DE&I business strategy. See More
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Dell Technologies GenAI-validated Designs and Dell Reference Designs
Sponsored by Dell Technologies and Intel - It's important to have the right infrastructure in place to support generative AI solutions. The intent should be to keep control of both proprietary data and associated GenAI-related business outcomes. See More
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- August 28, 2009
28 Aug'09
IT services outsourcing: Do you have an ‘India-plus-one’ strategy?
For quite awhile, many U.S. companies have focused their IT services outsourcing strategies on India due to its market share, low cost of labor and robust vendor market. But now, some companies are ...
- August 24, 2009
24 Aug'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: Pros and cons of outsourcing, ITIL framework, PPM
Good morning! This past week, SearchCIO.com looked into the pros and cons of outsourcing in several countries in Asia, put out our latest FAQ on the ITIL framework and put your project and ...
- August 21, 2009
21 Aug'09
Beware of rising server room temperatures
When you’re cranking the A/C during these final hot days of summer, don’t forget about data center cooling as well. The consequences for not monitoring server room temperatures could burn you well ...
- August 18, 2009
18 Aug'09
Pros and cons of IT outsourcing in popular Asian countries
The benefits and challenges of IT outsourcing in India, China, the Philippines and Vietnam range from pricing to intellectual property barriers. Learn more here.
- August 10, 2009
10 Aug'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: IT outsourcing, PPM vs. SharePoint, cloud risks
Welcome back from the weekend! Ease yourself into your Monday morning by checking out the latest content from SearchCIO.com on IT outsourcing, using project and portfolio management (PPM) software ...
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- August 03, 2009
03 Aug'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: Leveraging talent, change management, cloud trends
Good afternoon! This past week on SearchCIO.com, we highlighted tips for leveraging employee talent, looked at ways to avoid IT project failures using change management strategies, and examined ...
- July 31, 2009
31 Jul'09
A disaster recovery plan meets cloud computing
David Shacochis, vice president, research and development at IT provider Savvis Inc., reminded me the other day that there is a big difference between a disaster recovery (DR) plan and business ...
- July 23, 2009
23 Jul'09
How will IT outsourcing play out in companies’ recovery plans?
As IT outsourcing is one of the core areas I cover for SearchCIO.com, I am, of course, interested in how both offshoring and onshoring will fare in the coming months. According to some ...
- July 17, 2009
17 Jul'09
With PPM software, don't always throw in the kitchen sink
Project and portfolio management (PPM) software is definitely not overlooked in the midmarket. According to a recent SearchCIO-Midmarket.com survey, 17% use some form of PPM software. But how many ...
- July 17, 2009
17 Jul'09
What is transparency, and how is it relevant to IT?
We’ve all heard about Obama’s promise for government transparency, but what about IT transparency? First, what is transparency? Transparency is basically defined as openness and accountability in ...
- July 08, 2009
08 Jul'09
Is Google Chrome OS a turning point or yawner?
Nothing fuels the tech press like wars. So I have no doubt that we will see an endless string of reports from the battlefield over the next many months on the struggle between Google and Microsoft ...
- June 25, 2009
25 Jun'09
Satyam scandal: Has it affected your IT outsourcing and offshoring?
For those keeping an eye on IT outsourcing and offshoring, there were a couple of noteworthy pieces of news this week regarding the artist previously known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd. First, ...
- June 19, 2009
19 Jun'09
Twitter security risks, popularity spark regulatory concerns
Twitter can be used for social good, business and journalism, but the potential for exploitation by cybercriminals and noncompliance with regulatory requirements is real and growing.
- June 15, 2009
15 Jun'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: BI strategy, PPM software, compliance in the cloud
This past week, SearchCIO.com looked at developing a business intelligence (BI) strategy, implementing project and portfolio management software, practicing innovation in a time of economic crisis, ...
- June 12, 2009
12 Jun'09
Five key questions about cloud computing
It seems every time I ask someone what they think about cloud computing, I’m asked five or more questions in return: Isn’t what cloud providers offer pretty cookie cutter? Translate that as, “They ...
- June 11, 2009
11 Jun'09
PPM projects: If portfolio management works, why is it so rare?
My story this week on the University of Utah's project and portfolio management (PPM) program stood out from other PPM pieces I've reported because, in this case, the portfolio piece of the program ...
- June 02, 2009
02 Jun'09
Don't be like GM: How a BPM strategy can help you avoid bankruptcy
Midmarket CIOs who think of a business process management (BPM) strategy in its basic form as a tool for putting processes around purchase orders, claims or employee onboarding and offboarding ...
- May 28, 2009
28 May'09
Twitter for business: A help or a hassle at IT conferences?
I'm still reflecting on last week's MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, where my colleagues and I gathered a lot of good information on CIO leadership, IT outsourcing, health care, CIO innovation and more -- ...
- May 22, 2009
22 May'09
Why don’t connected healthcare information systems work?
In a perfect world, connected healthcare information systems would be easy to use, offer doctors a way to effectively communicate with their patients without any barriers or restrictions and give ...
- May 08, 2009
08 May'09
Open source cloud computing: The future midmarket sweet spot?
What happens when open source and cloud computing collide? Cost savings, flexibility and (at least one open source vendor hopes) midmarket CIOs checking it out. Open source CRM provider SugarCRM ...
- May 07, 2009
07 May'09
Adding a 'business downturn' clause to your telecom contracts
Telecom providers will do whatever it takes to keep your business, even in a business downturn. And that’s not just lip service. Did you know that you can insist on a “business downturn” contract ...
- May 04, 2009
04 May'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: Challenges of a state CIO, BPM, SOA and ROI
This past week, SearchCIO.com was all over business process management, from BPM and service-oriented architecture (SOA) and how they work together to how to find fast ROI using BPM. We also ...
- April 22, 2009
22 Apr'09
Oracle buys Sun: When strategic vendors go bye-bye
This decade has seen a lot of consolidation among both software and hardware vendors. Sun bought StorageTek, Sun bought MySQL. Oracle bought Sun, Oracle bought BEA (one of many midsized middleware ...
- April 16, 2009
16 Apr'09
Is cloud computing a platform or a stage?
Cloud computing is at that early stage where there’s much discussion of taxonomy: Is it infrastructure? Is it Software as a Service? Is it a platform? All well and good, but little discussed so far ...
- March 30, 2009
30 Mar'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: Private cloud, ID management, security compliance
Welcome back from the weekend! Here are the latest stories from SearchCIO.com, dealing with the private cloud, identity and access management, and some very newsy security standards for compliance ...
- March 25, 2009
25 Mar'09
IBM layoffs: India Business Machines Corp.?
The news today from The Wall Street Journal that IBM is expected to cut a large number of U.S. workers in its global services unit and move that work to IBM employees in India reminded me that IBM, ...
- March 20, 2009
20 Mar'09
Cost savings on IT contractors: How to get the best rates
I was talking to IQNavigator the other day. They have software that helps companies manage what they spend on contingent workforces, such as IT contractors, and on vendor services, among other ...
- March 16, 2009
16 Mar'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: BI strategy, sourcing contracts and IT governance
This past week, SearchCIO.com homed in on business intelligence strategy, IT transformation, cost reduction tips for your strategic sourcing contracts and IT governance in an economic recession. ...
- February 20, 2009
20 Feb'09
Qualities of a good leader: Avoid layoffs at all cost?
An article on our sister site, SearchCIO.com, this week highlighted the qualities of a good leader during a recession, culling advice from leadership experts and CIOs. The list includes qualities ...
- February 18, 2009
18 Feb'09
Eight qualities of a good leader during a recession
These qualities of a leader during a recession show how CIOs can guide their organization in tough times, making the right IT budget cuts and inspiring employees.
- February 13, 2009
13 Feb'09
IT centralization grows as approach to IT consolidation
Of interest to me this week: stories of how CIOs are approaching IT consolidation not just in the data center, but also in their organizations. It’s no surprise that flat or reduced budgets impel a ...
- February 09, 2009
09 Feb'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: SaaS contracts, vendor management, data protection
Welcome back, readers! This past week at SearchCIO.com, we covered desktop virtualization, Software as a Service (SaaS) contract negotiations, IT vendor management offices and data protection ...
- February 06, 2009
06 Feb'09
Desktop virtualization tradeoffs and benefits: What did I miss?
A couple of recent stories, "VDI vs. fat clients: The tradeoffs," and "Virtual desktops and virtualized applications: An FAQ for IT executives," caused a few readers to reach out to tell me I ...
- January 30, 2009
30 Jan'09
The Super Bowl and server virtualization: Don’t drop the ball!
Are you ready for some server virtualization? This year, the Super Bowl will be running on one of IBM's smallest systems, the BladeCenter S. The system will support security and credentialing for ...
- January 26, 2009
26 Jan'09
Hyper-V update: Yes, it works with Linux
The Hyper-V experiment continues. My three Server 2008 VMs are extremely stable -- no crashes at all, nine days continuous running. I made a number of restarts to address various upgrades and all ...
- January 16, 2009
16 Jan'09
Windows 7 migration: First thoughts
OK, there’s no getting around it. This year is going to be the Year of Reading Endless Speculation and Lightly Informed Commentary About Windows 7. Feature Bingo, Shipping Date Roulette – you’re ...
- January 12, 2009
12 Jan'09
CIO weekly wrap-up: 2009 IT trends, network access control, CPM and BI
Post-holidays, we're back in full swing here at SearchCIO.com. Here are our latest stories and briefings: Looking forward: Trends in IT management and budgeting for 2009 - Consider this your ...
- December 19, 2008
19 Dec'08
Vendor gifts: Holiday cheer or ethical dilemma?
Twas the night before deadline and all through the office, we worked with our heads down, appeasing our bosses. But what to my weary eyes should appear? The USPS delivery, bringing vendor-purchased ...
- December 09, 2008
09 Dec'08
Recent FBI vishing scam warning an old issue
Last Friday, the FBI issued a warning about a security vulnerability that could be used by cybercriminals to make vishing telephone scams. Vishing (combining phishing and voice) uses Voice over IP ...
- December 08, 2008
08 Dec'08
CIO weekly wrap-up: Cutting IT costs, virtualization and more
In case you missed it, we've had a very active discussion on FatWire's sex-site demo at a Boston Web 2.0 conference. Feel free to add your own views and, while you're at it, check out our stories ...
- December 04, 2008
04 Dec'08
Social networking sites, credit fears leading to new spam attacks
Symantec has released its MessageLabs Intelligence 2008 Annual Security Report, and social networking sites and the credit crisis are providing new platforms and fears upon which new spam attacks ...
- December 01, 2008
01 Dec'08
A top 10 list for how to be a successful CIO
The Society for Information Management recently asked a panel of CIOs to talk about the attributes of a successful CIO. For CIO Karan Sorensen, an emphasis on the greater good is a must --from ...
- November 25, 2008
25 Nov'08
SaaS integration easier said than done
Questions for you Software as a Service (SaaS) devotees about SaaS integration: Did your vendor give you enough information up front about the potential difficulties of integrating the SaaS ...
- November 14, 2008
14 Nov'08
The Web 2.0/social media revolution inches along
More evidence this week that the Web 2.0/social media revolution may be advancing, but it ain’t here yet: Instant messaging hasn’t become the preferred method of communication among IT staff; nor ...
- November 06, 2008
06 Nov'08
Google Chrome: How secure is your information?
Google is growing. From Chrome to G1, it’s not just for searching anymore. As the Google giant is creating new breeds of consumers (“cross-consumers,” I call them -- spanning email, news, mobile ...
- October 31, 2008
31 Oct'08
Gmail apps: Text your contacts
Google Gmail users now have the option to send text messages to mobile phones. The experimental app, found in Gmail Labs, was made available to all users Thursday night. The feature is very similar ...
- October 31, 2008
31 Oct'08
Tech warriors on the offensive
Downturn, shmownturn. Your peers at technology companies apparently don't need a global recession to get their juices flowing. A new survey of 151 U.S. technology company executives by Deloitte ...
- October 30, 2008
30 Oct'08
Halloween costumes for techies
In honor of Halloween, Kristen Caretta, associate editor of SearchCIO-Midmarket.com, and I decided to get a bit silly and dream up our top 10 Halloween costumes for the IT set. Wear these to your ...
- October 27, 2008
27 Oct'08
Information technology ‘down but not out’ this time around?
Forrester Chairman and CEO George Colony has a reassuring blog out this morning on the impact of a global recession on tech. His take? Technology had its Great Depression in 2001-2003, and this ...
- October 24, 2008
24 Oct'08
Sunrise, sunset: Sun Microsystems’ Bechtolsheim decamps to take on Cisco
Sun Microsystems co-founder, early Google backer and computer engineer extraordinaire Andreas von Bechtolsheim is leaving his job as chief architect at Sun to apply his considerable talents to ...
- October 17, 2008
17 Oct'08
Top 10 strategic IT technologies: Boo!
Virtualization -- the ghost in the machine -- won top place in Gartner's annual list of IT technologies that will likely impact your business in the next three years. Cloud computing came in No. 2. ...
- October 15, 2008
15 Oct'08
How Microsoft takes stock of your online experience
At the Web Experience Forum in Boston yesterday, Mark Hydar, principal group manager for global quality of service (QoS) initiatives for Microsoft, discussed "Microsoft Live: Reinventing the MS ...
- October 02, 2008
02 Oct'08
Three men arraigned in alleged IT kickback scheme
Three Boston-area men have been arraigned in connection with allegedly setting up kickbacks from a vendor in exchange for securing computer software and service contracts for Partners Healthcare. ...
- September 29, 2008
29 Sep'08
I’m a PC, and I don’t necessarily like Microsoft
After the annoyingly strange Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercials promoting Microsoft, a new batch of adverts surfaced featuring the slogan “I’m a PC.” It goes something like this: Microsoft ...
- September 25, 2008
25 Sep'08
Work email: When it just can’t wait until morning
With the growing popularity of smartphones and business VPNs, it's getting tougher and tougher to let an email just sit in your inbox unread for any period of time - even in what are technically ...
- September 25, 2008
25 Sep'08
Are we all too busy?
Do your users pay attention to dialog box pop-ups? If you’re thinking, “yes, of course,” read on. A recent study by members of the psychology department at North Carolina State University shows ...
- September 25, 2008
25 Sep'08
A CIO by way of Jack Welch
I recently interviewed Carole Cotter, CIO of Lifespan Corp., a health care system affiliated with Brown Medical School in Providence. R.I. Cotter talked about how her IT department balances the ...
- September 05, 2008
05 Sep'08
Think like a hacker (and other World of Warcraft-inspired musings)
Yesterday, I attended Forrester's security forum in Boston. In one of the morning sessions, "Exploiting Online Games," Gary McGraw, chief technology officer at Cigital (and co-author of a book by ...
- September 05, 2008
05 Sep'08
Don't ignore internal security (and don't write passwords on Post-it's)
Last year 8% of the IT budget went towards security. This year? 10%. Khalid Kark, principal analyst at Forrester Research, Inc., presented security statistics at Forrester’s Security Forum 2008. ...
- August 26, 2008
26 Aug'08
Joe Biden: RIAA stooge
Joe Biden, huh? Talk about strike three. 2000: Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman “loses” election. Flash forward to 2008 and this stuffy jerk – who spent part of his career going ...
- August 21, 2008
21 Aug'08
Seinfeld vs. Justin Long? Please, let's get someone with some funny.
Can we all agree that Jerry Seinfeld was never the funny one? For all his quirks and humorous relationships, Jerry was always the straight man to his consistently hilarious compatriots. Good at ...
- August 21, 2008
21 Aug'08
Google Reader has my vote
You may have noticed the new feature on the Google homepage. It reads: “New! Read what Barack Obama and John McCain are reading with Google Reader.” Yes, now you too can see what Senator John ...
- August 12, 2008
12 Aug'08
Press releases as prose
I don’t doubt that writing a press release that catches the eye is a tough job. But this is just dumb: “Dear Zach, “Will Shakespeare sure didn’t have to wrestle with the issues IT managers’ face ...
- August 11, 2008
11 Aug'08
Take this, viruses!
From the "tools you can use" file, CNN.com has a video report today on protecting yourself from unsavory e-mail attachments. CNN's computer expert Ken Colburn is a big proponent of the web site ...
- August 08, 2008
08 Aug'08
Save the data! How safe is our personal information?
The search for the missing Registered Traveler laptop is finally over. The laptop, belonging to Verified Identity Pass Inc.(VIP), was reported missing from a locked office in the San Francisco ...
- August 04, 2008
04 Aug'08
Forrester: No room for cowboy culture in IT
Just like Toby Keith, I should have been a cowboy. Alas, I went into journalism and never did get the hang of a lasso. If you’re in IT, a new Forrester report says, you should let those cattle ...
- July 31, 2008
31 Jul'08
Driving while surfing?
As if having a computer at the office and at home - with a BlackBerry to tide you over when you're not at either of those places - weren't enough, now comes the AutoNet Mobile, which transforms ...
- July 24, 2008
24 Jul'08
Weekly wrapup
I think the “things that tick us off” theme of this blog is rubbing off on one of our contributors. Just yesterday, The Real Niel gave us a killer column about how bad your business will look if ...
- July 24, 2008
24 Jul'08
Maybe I should just keep my money under a mattress?
There have been a lot of scary bank-related headlines the past couple of weeks, but I have to say that this one frightened me more than most: "Security flaws in online banking sites found to be ...
- July 23, 2008
23 Jul'08
Does it matter who CIOs report to?
Gather the typical left-brain, articulate, umm-less group of CIOs around a conference lunch table and, guaranteed, the talk will eventually turn to reporting relationships. You answer to whom? ...
- July 21, 2008
21 Jul'08
Fighting for a Vista rebate. Because somebody has to.
Some people suffer the insufferable for piece of mind and for the good of all of us who want to live safe, comfortable lives. The mysterious uncle_benji is one of those people. Ben, as I’ll call ...
- July 21, 2008
21 Jul'08
TomorrowNow is so yesterday
SAP AG sends word today that it's putting subsidiary TomorrowNow, which provides third-party support for Oracle and other applications, out of its misery. The German software maker said it will ...
- July 21, 2008
21 Jul'08
Big green HP scheme
With polar bears balancing on ice cubes in the Arctic Circle and gas prices skyrocketing, we are all looking to be a bit more ‘green’ in our everyday lifestyle choices. Right? Well, we’re trying. ...
- July 16, 2008
16 Jul'08
Who wants to be a CIO Millionaire?
How's this for a headline: "Meet the Millionaire CIOs." In a study of the filings of the 1,000 biggest U.S. companies and their compensation, 47 top technology executives were listed at the top ...
- July 16, 2008
16 Jul'08
San Francisco IT hack story looks a bit too much like Chinatown
What the hell is going on in San Francisco? It’s like a freaking detective novel out there all of a sudden. One of the city’s top IT guys has been accused of locking other administrators out of the ...
- July 07, 2008
07 Jul'08
Boston Globe: Cognos contract with state “raises ethical issues”
News flash: The Boston Globe reports today that a representative of Cognos ULC, the business intelligence software maker, improperly offered a Massachusetts state official a job in 2006 when the ...
- June 29, 2008
29 Jun'08
All Ears: Susan Cramm on ITopia
Earlier, I wrote about Susan Cramm, former CIO of Taco Bell turned "leadership" coach, talking about how IT and the business could -- should! -- function in 2015. Cramm was the keynote speaker at ...
- June 24, 2008
24 Jun'08
Playing the numbers
Enterprise search stinks: Who doesn’t like a survey that corroborates a pet peeve? Data out today from the nonprofit AIIM finds that 50% of business users believe their company’s internal search ...
- June 24, 2008
24 Jun'08
Title Town – it’s all in the stats
I don't look anything like a basketball player, or even the stereotypical fan. I'm 4'11". I prefer high heels and dresses to jerseys and sneakers. Even some of my closest friends said they didn't ...
- June 12, 2008
12 Jun'08
Calling FedEx out
Sometimes you hear something and think: “Hey, that can’t be true.” Take this statement from FedEx Corp. CIO Rob Carter at his Enterprise 2.0 Conference keynote this week. “There's also a cool new ...
- May 23, 2008
23 May'08
Sarah Lacy says Facebook doesn't need my best friend. He doesn't seem to care.
Sarah Lacy, author of Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0, has blogged about me blogging about her book. So I feel compelled to respond. ...
- May 07, 2008
07 May'08
Will a Chief Blogging Officer get a Golden Parachute?
Excellent little news blurb on HealthLeaders Media this morning: “Chief Blogging Officer title catching on with corporations.” Chief Blogging Officer. Ok, one more time: Chief Blogging Officer. ...
- April 22, 2008
22 Apr'08
Justifying IT expenditures: Outsourcing isn’t always the answer
Accountability, budget constraints and cost of provisioning services – these are all issues that CIOs hear about when presenting IT budget numbers. “Why does this cost what it costs?” and “Can’t we ...
- April 16, 2008
16 Apr'08
Taking Linux on a fishing trip
Remember Big Mouth Billy Bass?It was a wall-mounted singing fish that somebody made a fortune off of in the span of about six months. This thing would sing “Take Me To The River” and “Don’t Worry, ...