Ask the Experts

Small-business IT strategy

What's the difference between SLO vs. SLA?

Often used interchangeably, the terms SLO and SLA are not the same. Find out the key attributes of each and why each is important for managing service providers. Continue Reading
How should CIOs prepare for systems of engagement?

IDC predicts that by 2016, 65% of organizations' infrastructure investments will target systems of engagement and insight rather than maintaining existing systems of record. Continue Reading
Will IaaS offerings look radically different by 2016?

In this Ask the Expert, IDC analyst Rick Villars explains why 75% of IaaS provider offerings will be redesigned or phased out over the next year. Continue Reading
How many companies have cloud architects?

In this Ask the Expert, analysts James Staten of Forrester Research and Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner Inc. talk about how the majority of companies don't have a cloud architect, but should. Continue Reading
What specific skills should a successful cloud architect have?

In this Ask the Expert, analysts Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner and James Staten of Forrester Research discuss the skills a successful cloud architect should possess. Turns out, the best candidate is a jack of all trades. Continue Reading

Why is it vital that companies have a cloud architect?

In this Ask the Expert, analysts James Staten of Forrester Research and Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner explain why companies need the services of a cloud architect. Continue Reading
What is a cloud architect?

In this Ask the Expert, analysts James Staten of Forrester Research and Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner offer their job descriptions for the new role of cloud architect. Continue Reading
How can CIOs develop purpose-built mobile applications?

In this Ask the Expert, Forrester Analyst Jeffrey Hammond outlines the dos and don'ts for developing purpose-built mobile applications. Continue Reading
How should CIOs evolve the development culture to suit mobile app dev?

In this Ask the Expert, Forrester analyst Jeffrey Hammond tackles how to redirect the development culture to support mobile application development. Continue Reading
How should CIOs approach mobile app dev to achieve five-star status?

Find out how to tweak your mobile app dev efforts to achieve a five-star app rating in this Ask the Expert with Forrester analyst Jeffrey Hammond. Continue Reading
What are the best security tools for mobile collaboration?

In this Ask the Expert from the Catalyst conference in San Diego, Gartner Analyst Mario de Boer talks about secure enterprise mobile collaboration, including why MDM and AV aren't effective security measures. Continue Reading

How to prevent spyware on mobile devices

Security expert Michael Cobb offers suggestions to prevent spyware from infiltrating mobile devices. Continue Reading
How does focusing on UX help CIOs demonstrate VDI ROI?

How does emphasizing user experience help CIOs demonstrate the ROI of virtual desktop infrastructure? Brad Maltz responds in this Ask the Expert. Continue Reading
When does more data trump clean data?

As CIOs support real-time data use, they're faced with a tough question: How clean is clean enough? Continue Reading
Why is 'bring your own encryption' (BYOE) important?

In this Ask the Expert, Forrester analyst James Staten details the importance of the bring your own encryption (BYOE) fad as a cloud security model. Continue Reading