April 15, 2010 15 Apr'10

More colleges move to cloud email like Gmail, ditch in-house email

Colleges across the country have started turning to cloud email services such as Gmail in an effort to cut costs. It's not entirely surprising, either: IT shops have been toying with the idea of ...

April 07, 2010 07 Apr'10

CIO weekly wrap-up: Cloud computing, IT innovation, CIO role and DR/BC

I'm a bit late with this post this week, but you can still catch up SearchCIO.com's latest news on cloud computing, IT transformation, the evolving CIO role and IT business continuity and disaster ...

April 07, 2010 07 Apr'10

Five steps to playing a bigger part in your company's M&A

I spoke with Gartner analyst Dave Aron for my story today about the CIO role in a merger and acquisition. The topic seemed timely: A variety of reports suggest that corporate M&A activity is ...

April 07, 2010 07 Apr'10

A move to cloud computing services -- back in 1999

Back in 1999, the beta for Amazon EC2 was seven years away; Google Apps, was well, a gleam in Google’s eye; and Erik Dubovik was moving business processes into the cloud. It wasn’t called cloud ...

March 30, 2010 30 Mar'10

BI strategy: What Holy Grail are you seeking?

Gartner’s BI Summit is just around the corner, and I’m eager to see how attendees’ business intelligence strategies and priorities have changed. When I went to the show last year, a big topic of ...

March 25, 2010 25 Mar'10

Gaga for Google Fiber? We're all a bit crazy when it comes to tech

The Google Fiber for communities deadline is right around the corner. In an effort to test out its plans for high-speed broadband and fiber-to-the-home connections, Google has asked interested ...

March 22, 2010 22 Mar'10

CIO weekly wrap-up: National cybersecurity list, basketball technology

Like many of you, I'm caught up in the passage of health care reform here in the U.S. If you're interested in the health care system dovetails with your interest in technology, be sure to check out ...

March 19, 2010 19 Mar'10

Success with cloud applications calls for a strong data-privacy policy

Public agency CIOs and IT executives are joining the move to cloud applications, while making sure their data privacy policy remains strong. As I've stated previously on this blog, public-sector ...

March 18, 2010 18 Mar'10

Top IT certifications: Do they matter to you?

How important are IT certifications today? As organizations start to hire again (there were 58,229 available tech jobs on Dice.com this month), IT certifications could help potential candidates ...

March 15, 2010 15 Mar'10

CIO weekly wrap-up: What is Foursquare's draw? Also Balanced Scorecard

Happy soggy Monday from the rain-soaked East Coast! We've had a pretty easy winter so far, but these April showers sure are coming early and strong. So, I've seen a lot in the mainstream media this ...

March 12, 2010 12 Mar'10

ITIL framework and IT outsourcing a formidable duo

I haven't tackled IT Infrastructure Library as a topic in the forefront of any stories of late, but that changed this week as I researched my piece on IT infrastructure outsourcing and how a strong ...

March 11, 2010 11 Mar'10

Why one IT guy found Windows 7 to be too user-friendly

There has been a lot of Windows 7 coverage on SearchCIO-Midmarket.com -- everything from planning your migration strategy to making it your last operating system. Part of the appeal of the new OS ...

March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

Are innovation strategies back on CIO agendas?

IT innovation, that fraught phrase, has come roaring back after maintaining a polite silence during the fiscal misery of 2008 and 2009. Companies are starting to broadcast their efforts to foster ...

February 24, 2010 24 Feb'10

Is it better to work for an outsourcing provider than for corporate IT?

Consultant Tom Young has been mulling over the good, the bad and all the ugliness of outsourcing contracts for 13 years, eight of them with the IT advisory firm TPI, where he is managing director ...

February 12, 2010 12 Feb'10

Silicon Valley economy: Recession hitting IT hard at its epicenter

A few weeks ago, over a delicious dinner of Thai food with my uncle visiting from the Palo Alto area, I went on and on about my job here at SearchCIO.com and about all the various social media ...

February 08, 2010 08 Feb'10

CIO weekly wrap-up: Super Bowl technology and Google's advertising

Super Bowl Sunday was yesterday, so let the Monday-morning quarterbacking begin! The turning point in the game was the Saints' decision to go for that onsides kick at the beginning of the second ...

February 04, 2010 04 Feb'10

Merck, Chevron and BP are touting a new IT management framework

It’s easy to forget how young a discipline IT is, given its enormous presence in our lives. Yesterday, however, that fact was front and center, as I watched the top IT talent at Intel Corp., Merck ...

January 27, 2010 27 Jan'10

Oracle plays hardball with Rimini on third-party maintenance

"This case is about the massive theft of Oracle's software and related support materials through an illegal business model by Defendant Rimini Street and its CEO and President, Defendant Seth ...

January 21, 2010 21 Jan'10

2010 IT budgets are unsettled and unsettling

After a week or so on the phone with any CIO I could get in touch with, here’s my super-unscientific prognostication on IT budgets in 2010: IT spending and CIO priorities are all over the board. ...

January 18, 2010 18 Jan'10

CIO weekly wrap-up: Help Haiti using technology, IT outsourcing deals

To our readers in the U.S., happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I'm guessing some of you have the day off and won't see this post until later in the week, but I wanted to catch you up on the buzz on ...

January 08, 2010 08 Jan'10

Can enterprise business intelligence be agile?

Instead of spending years developing an enterprise business intelligence strategy to consolidate BI tools and come to a corporate-wide agreement on key performance indicators, some enterprises are ...

December 11, 2009 11 Dec'09

Paying the price for server uptime

What’s the price for server uptime? How much would you be willing to invest to maintain five 9s of availability on your mission-critical line of business applications? With limited budgets and ...

November 16, 2009 16 Nov'09

CIO weekly wrap-up: SOA best practices, ITIL, ITSM, app consolidation

Last week was a busy one for SearchCIO.com, with SOA topping our slate. We have best practices for SOA implementation, SOA for business process transformation, SOA in action at Amtrak...you get the ...

November 13, 2009 13 Nov'09

UMD CIO Forum highlights the role of IT innovation, Web 2.0 potential

Last week at the University of Maryland’s 10th Annual CIO Forum, a succession of CIOs from the government, health care and publishing industries described how they are harnessing IT innovation with ...

November 13, 2009 13 Nov'09

What is transparency, and how can Agile practices help?

As I was interviewing experts and practitioners this week on the uses of Agile practices, the term transparency kept popping up in comments about the benefits of using this type of software ...

November 09, 2009 09 Nov'09

CIO weekly wrap-up: IT outsourcing templates, SOA implementation

Good morning! We're enjoying some beautiful Indian summer weather here in the Northeast -- if only every Monday could start like this! Last week on SearchCIO.com, we talked to Virginia's CIO about ...

October 22, 2009 22 Oct'09

Gartner's top 10 strategic technologies for 2010

Gartner's list of technologies that bear examination during the next three years show an agile, mobile, secure enterprise that can spot early warning signs and predict trends.

October 09, 2009 09 Oct'09

Gen X, not Gen Y, leads adoption of social technologies in workplace

CIOs should look to Generation X, not Generation Y, to be the early adopters of new and social technologies within their organization. Contrary to what you’d think, Generation X workers (roughly ...

October 09, 2009 09 Oct'09

The challenge of managing risk when IT budgets tighten

I see an interesting sea change when it comes to risk: Thanks to the recession, as IT risk management is constrained by tightening IT budgets, the risk of doing business goes up. As part of my ...

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, ...

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 ...

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.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

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 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 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 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

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 ...