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Learn to apply best practices and optimize your operations.

• A look at approaches to virtualization

  In this article, Anil Desai distinguishes among virtualization at the hardware, server and application levels and provides guidelines for evaluating which works best. Continue Reading

• Master data management: Six steps to succeed

  Master Data Management allows IT organizations to share vital business information across multiple systems. Follow along with six steps to ensure data management success. Continue Reading

• Security solutions: Cost-justification guidelines

  CIOs often have trouble justifying the value of security solutions to the business side. ROI expert Tom Pisello offers four tips for cost justifying IT investments. Continue Reading

• A Business Relationship Manager by Any Other Name

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• A Corporate Email Policy Can Rein in Bad Behavior

  Email policies, as well as those for blogs and IM, show your users what they can do on their office laptop -- and in the process can reduce your company's risk. Continue Reading

• Options for recovering data with Data Protection Manager

  Having backups of your data won't do you any good unless you know how to restore them. Here are some options for restoring data through Microsoft's Data Protection Manager.Continue Reading

• Cinema Sector Turns to Business Intelligence Systems, Mobile Devices

  Movie theaters are hurting from the pressures created by declining admissions and at-home entertainment. Now they're using the latest mobile and self-serve technologies to reel the crowds back in.Continue Reading

• USB wireless security lets you lock your PC by walking away

  A USB wireless security device employs proximity-based security to lock a PC or server when the user or admin steps away. The device has been turned into a plug-in.Continue Reading

• Hospital CIO, CEO Turn to COO to Help Tackle IT Projects

  After a two-year freeze on IT projects, Antelope Valley Hospital had to update its technology. The CIO and CEO discuss how they prioritize projects with their new COO.Continue Reading

• The FBI's Case Management Files: Virtual Case File vs. Sentinel

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• Disparate Systems, Lack of Interoperability Pose Problems for Builders

  Collaboration is king in the architecture, engineering and construction industry.Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery planning: A business impact analysis for IT

  Before you develop a disaster recovery plan, you must understand, analyze and plan for the business impact -- from an IT perspective.Continue Reading

• Offshore outsourcing contracts should focus on value, not price

  Price is no longer the most critical issue to address in an offshore outsourcing relationship. Offshore outsourcing contracts should focus on value, not price.Continue Reading

• Data center crossroads: Is outsourcing the next step?

  Every midmarket organization reaches the point when it must consider outsourcing as part of its data center strategy. Options abound.Continue Reading

• How to Change Your Company's Business Model

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• The problem with 'quickie' performance dashboards

  Performance dashboards can prove tremendously useful, but they aren't a quick fix warns columnist Wayne Eckerson.Continue Reading

• Setting up identity and access management for SMBs

  Part one of this two-part series outlines the first three steps for setting up an identity and access management system: evaluation, planning and implementation.Continue Reading

• How Activity Triggers, Workflow Tools and Dashboards Factor Into ERP

  How well-crafted activity triggers optimize workflow and satisfy customers.Continue Reading

• Pay Up for IT Services: How to Create an IT Chargeback Model

  The practice of charging lines of business for their share of IT has a checkered past -- with good reason. Here's why, and how, to try it.Continue Reading

• Key performance indicators can help your business grow

  Key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used to move your company in new and different directions. This tip discusses the art of creating and implementing effective metrics.Continue Reading

• Top 10 best practices for email archiving

  Regulatory compliance, litigation support and storage management all begin with an efficient e-mail archiving process. Storage consultant Bill Tolson offers 10 detailed best practices for effective e-mail archiving.Continue Reading

• IT inventory and compliance: Check IT List

  Here are five steps to ensuring your IT inventory goes beyond tallying hardware and software to ensure compliance with licensing and other documentation regulations.Continue Reading

• Custom Enterprise Application Helps Legal Firm Tackle Workflow Process

  Two project failures led legal services firm Hobart West Group to develop a custom application -- in seven months. Meet the CIO and business EVP who led the way.Continue Reading

• Resurging Business Challenges Hotel IT Systems

  The hotel business has resurged after years of sliding revenue, but IT is still grappling with antiquated technology.Continue Reading

• The Long Road Back

  When Hurricane Katrina struck, Oreck Corp. put its disaster recovery plan into action only to discover that it fell short. Here's how this midmarket vacuum maker kept business going in the face of enormous -- and ongoing -- obstacles.Continue Reading

• Executive Champion: The Benefits of Supplier Partnerships

  Partnering with vendors takes work, but it can be worth the effort.Continue Reading

• Top 10 considerations for selecting a platform

  With hardware costs for Windows, Solaris and Linux running neck and neck these days, here's a rundown of the top 10 things beyond initial cost to consider when choosing a platform.Continue Reading

• Physical security for laptops

  Make sure your portable computers aren't too portable. Consider physical security for your organization's laptops.Continue Reading

• Five principles of program management

  Program management takes project management to a new level -- by taking into consideration how the project will affect the rest of the organization and other operational processes. In this month's column, James Champy offers five essential program ...Continue Reading

• Best Practices Checklist: Exchange Server disaster recovery planning

  Learn about some tried and true best practices that you need to consider when creating a Microsoft Exchange disaster recovery plan.Continue Reading

• Portfolio Management: The Future Temple of IT Value?

  Done right, portfolio management gives IT leaders a powerful tool to reduce complexity and improve decision making. How do you measure up?Continue Reading

• Exchange Admin 101: Exchange Server communication ports

  Learn about the various ports that Exchange Server uses, so you know which ports you can close for better security, and which must remain open.Continue Reading

• Quick VBA script: Attachment reminder for Outlook email

  We've all composed emails in which we've said "I've attached the file you wanted," hit Send -- and then realized we never attached the file. This script prevents this.Continue Reading

• Web portals: Big challenges, better ROI

  Information architects need time, patience and good business sense to reap the many benefits of Web portals.Continue Reading

• Learn VoIP: A beginner's quiz

  How much do you know about VoIP? Are you ready to implement it, or have you already done so? Here's a quiz to see how much you know about VoIP.Continue Reading

• The value of business intelligence applications

  How can BI help your business? This tip points out the BI benefits, risks and costs.Continue Reading

• How Company Size Relates to IT Spending

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• Ethics Policy Can Help Organizations Steer Clear of Vendor Bribes

  Ethical CIOs must fend off a range of gifts and goodies from overeager vendors. Having a company ethics policy helps.Continue Reading

• The five dimensions of BI tools

  Business intelligence (BI) tools have evolved over the years from simply delivering reports to leveraging advanced visualization techniques to quickly detect key patterns and trends. In his column, Wayne Eckerson discusses the evolution of BI.Continue Reading

• Examining the TCO metric

  Total cost of ownership (TCO) is defined as the total cost of procuring, using, managing and disposing of an asset over its useful life. This tip takes a closer look at TCO.Continue Reading

• IPO Pressure: Get Ready to Meet the IT Demands of a Public Company

  If your company plans to go public, don't just count your options; brace yourself for the scrutiny of auditors -- and some late nights.Continue Reading

• Resource Allocation Software Helps Research and Development

  Following some acquisitions, Perkin-Elmer's Life and Analytical Sciences unit had 450 R&D staffers. It just needed to manage what all of them were working on.Continue Reading

• Turning Project Portfolios Into Control Towers

  Let your IT project portfolio provide an eagle-eye view.Continue Reading

• Budgeting for compliance: Executive Guide

  The SearchCIO budgeting for compliance Executive Guide includes valuable resources and practical information and advice to help CIOs with planning and budgeting for compliance.Continue Reading

• Is Your Project Alive? How Project Managers Can Check the Vital Signs

  Vital signs will keep your IT project healthy.Continue Reading

• The Making of an IT Executive

  CIO Marc Saffer got his seat at the boardroom table but still didn't feel like one of the team. Then he hired an executive coach and got the guidance he needed.Continue Reading

• CIO Habitat: Rebuilding the IT Budgeting Process

  The IT budgeting process varies dramatically from best to worst practices. Where do yours stack up?Continue Reading

• How to evaluate hardware for internal and external devices

  You'll be in the driver's seat with this hardware evaluation guide. Expert Bernie Klinder offers advice on evaluation basics for both internal and external devices.Continue Reading

• Speaking of business continuity: A cheat sheet

  One of the challenges organizations often face as they initiate business continuity or disaster recovery planning is to reach consensus on precisely what they are trying to do. This requires identifying and closing any gap that may exist between the...Continue Reading

• Net Present Value defined

  Net Present Value is a big part of your ROI process, but you need the formula first.Continue Reading

• Changing the Conversation on Measuring IT Value

  Measuring the business value of IT has never been more important-nor suspect. How can tech execs get better at "show and tell"?Continue Reading

• Common Microsoft Exchange Server mail delivery problems

  This article discusses some common culprits of Exchange message delivery delays and failures.Continue Reading

• CIO how-to: The art of developing direct reports

  Most IT professionals want to develop new skills, do well and be rewarded with more pay and higher-level positions. Unfortunately, IT executives often don't do enough to help employees get there.Continue Reading

• Business Mentor: Building the Case for Replacing Legacy Systems

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• How to add Internet Explorer security zones

  When five Internet security zones aren't enough, here's how you can add more levels for finer control over content.Continue Reading

• The business value of information lifecycle management

  With consolidation to SANs and advances in storage management software packages, ILM is again at the forefront of storage architecture planning.Continue Reading

• Launch Internet Explorer in a separate process

  Find out how to prevent one instance of Internet Explorer from affecting other instances if it stops responding.Continue Reading

• How to prevent spyware: Check IT List

  Stop spyware before it stops you. Here are 12 steps to prevent spyware before it infects your systems.Continue Reading

• FoundStone's SuperScan 4 lives up to its name

  A review of a free IP scanning tool called SuperScan v4.0.Continue Reading

• Exchange Admin 101: Configuring OMA and ActiveSync

  There are two different components used by Exchange 2003's Mobile Information Services: Outlook Mobile Access and ActiveSync. This tip explains how to set up these features.Continue Reading

• The five phases of IT Value Management

  Aligning IT investments with business goals is as old as the IT function itself. Tangible examples of IT alignment, however, have been rare.Continue Reading

• Top 10 time management tips

  Do you have a time mangagement problem? Use these ten tips to see if you do and solve the problem.Continue Reading

• Seven steps for a patch management process

  Patch management is more than a one-time fix. Here are seven steps to get you started on your continuous patch management endeavors.Continue Reading

• How to choose the right data storage device

  Need storage? Ed Tittle offers an essential list with considerations and recommendations for more storage space on an SMB network.Continue Reading

• Auto-MDIX feature addresses crossover cable problems

  This tip explains how Auto-MDIX can solve the crossover cable problems many businesses have.Continue Reading

• Quote of the Day: A troubleshooting networking protocol

  This tip tell you how to use different networking protocol to make your life easier.Continue Reading

• When is it time to get out of tech?

  Where do people with tech skills go when they want to leave the tech industry?Continue Reading

• How to troubleshoot firewall problems

  This tip describes how to troubleshoot problems that arise when using a new firewall.Continue Reading

• Justifying the cost of PC upgrades

  There's good news for business users who have been waiting patiently to upgrade their PCs. PC shipments to businesses this year are expected increase by 12% from 2003, according to a recent study by Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp.Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery spending -- How much is enough?

  This tip shows how you can recover from disaster economically.Continue Reading

• Maximizing the quantifiable business value of IT: Six essential components

  Stretched resources make it difficult for companies to take the time to measure their business value, but it has to be done. These six steps will alleviate the stress.Continue Reading

• The possibilities for grid computing in the corporate world

  Grid computing has gained success in the research and education enviroments, but is it ready yet for the corporate world? Find out here.Continue Reading

• Four tips you can’t ignore for legacy system integration

  A legacy system integration project needs to take a number of factors into account. Get a list of things to consider, with tips from experts.Continue Reading

• How to survive the IT budget process

  Experts offer advice on how to prioritize IT spending and come out of the budget crucible without being scalded.Continue Reading