Alignment, staffing and culture are often more critical than software and apps
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Although there has been some speculation about a possible slowing in demand for offshoring , fueled by news of rising salaries and shrinking labor pools in popular offshore destinations such as Indi... More >
I've blogged before about how SMBs appear to be more inclined than their larger counterparts to sanction the use of consumer technologies at work. This may be because SMBs tend to have small... More >
When I first saw the news about a damaged undersea cable near Egypt that not only knocked out Internet access in the Middle East but also affected connectivity in India, I wondered about its impact... More >
While there is plenty of angst about the transfer of some U.S. jobs to emerging economies, less attention is given to globalization's potential to save at least some American jobs by boosting the e... More >
OK, I know. Looking back at my blogs, it's probably starting to seem as if I am obsessed with the government's poor record on project management . But lately I've been intrigued by reports about how... More >
In a recent blog on cloud computing , I wrote that asking folks to define an emerging technology is one way of gauging its popularity. In general, the squishier the definition, the hotter it is. &nb... More >
IBM's presence in the virtual Second Life community is beginning to more closely resemble its business image in the real world. According to The Economic Times , Big Blue is adding more avat... More >
Back in May, I blogged about how Web 2.0 technologies seemed to be getting less edgy all the time, considering that companies known for their conservatism -- notably banks -- were using blogs, wiki... More >
I blogged in July and again in October about companies' increasing willingness to use social networking sites like Facebook to find prospective hires that they might miss if they stuck to more tr... More >
With a growing number of SMBs selling products and services online , it seems logical that these companies would want to ensure that people can easily find their Web sites. Yet a recent Microsoft su... More >
While Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff heralds software-as-service as "the end of software as we know it" and some customers cite a bevy of business benefits gained from their SaaS deployments, plenty... More >
Should education and experience always command a high salary? It seems reasonable to think so -- yet older employees with advanced degrees may lack the specialized skills needed to satisfy rapidly ch... More >
An already cozy relationship between IBM and Lenovo just got a little cozier. Lenovo bought IBM's PC division in 2005. It was a smart move for Lenovo, which saw its PC profits grow strongly ,... More >
Bad data may not be the root of all IT evil. But it comes darned close, with its ability to wreck such a diverse array of tech initiatives. Business intelligence not meeting expectations at ... More >
I blogged recently about Gartner's contention that software-as-a-service (SaaS) is giving companies " a viable alternative to traditional outsourcing providers." Gartner advised that service provide... More >
Want to gauge how red-hot an emerging technology is? Ask people to define it. The squishier the definition, the hotter it is. Examples: service-oriented architecture , unified communications and, ... More >
In a July blog , I noted that despite VoIP's obvious appeal to SMBs, no super-vendors (a la Vonage in the consumer market and Avaya in the enterprise market) were selling VoIP to SMBs. That h... More >
India, which has established a reputation as a favored provider of outsourced IT services , is now becoming a major consumer of such services. According to Gartner, the local IT services market wi... More >
Companies are experimenting with social networks to market their products , to recruit potential hires and to boost internal collaboration (sometimes building an internal network to accomplish t... More >
IBM wants to help SMBs build their businesses by offering them a strong foundation -- a Lotus Foundations, that is. The offering is being presented as a "one-stop shop" for companies with fiv... More >
I blogged back in August about growing interest from both older employees and companies in keeping such workers on the job past the traditional retirement age. Among the advantages: Older workers o... More >
Though Google has long been known as the company most likely to violate your privacy , that dubious "honor" may soon go to rival Microsoft. Some of Microsoft's latest moves have a distinct "B... More >
Distance adds management difficulties. Cultural differences play a role, which has led some North American companies to opt for closer outsourcing alternatives like Latin America. But cultur... More >
In the annals of business intelligence history, 2007 may become known as the year of the Big Buy . Oracle bought Hyperion, SAP claimed Business Objects, IBM bought Cognos, and the year ended with s... More >
As I gaze at the "tech porn" pics of the new ultralight laptop that Steve Jobs unveiled today at Macworld, I find myself feeling just a wee bit jealous of the Apple faithful that camped out near ... More >
When it comes to government and technology, it seems to be just one disaster after another. In the latest example , egregious security errors on the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's Web... More >
Despite a whammy of market forces driving up their costs, including an appreciating rupee, rising wages and difficulties finding enough workers, Indian outsourcing providers appear to be faring pre... More >
Back in October, I blogged about the efforts of IBM and HP to make blade servers more accessible to SMBs . Though blades once had a reputation (a deserved one) for being too costly and/or complex fo... More >
Last January I blogged about a Korn/Ferry International survey in which 61 percent of global executives said that they'd be less likely to promote telecommuters than their office-bound co-workers. ... More >
One of the main tenets stressed in my journalism courses many moons ago was to write to an eighth-grade level -- that is, don't use language that an average eighth-grader can't understand. It's a sha... More >
One of the most interesting takeaways from a recent internetnews.com article about Gartner's near-term predictions for the outsourcing market is the statement that software-as-a-service is "givin... More >
Many SMBs are outspending their larger peers on IT, as I've blogged recently. And the trend seems to hold true, regardless of where companies are located. In the U.S., SMBs spent some $240 bi... More >
Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007 was a good year for IT employment in the U.S. Based on household surveys by the BLS, estimated employment in the IT sector reached 3.76 ... More >
Much of the press attention this week -- including mine -- has been focused on the consumer side of the search business, with the launch of Wikia , the new for-profit venture from Wikipedia creator ... More >
I am nothing if not hasty in calling trends. Exhibit A: a blog from August in which I insisted that "single-supplier deals (were) becoming an outsourcing anachronism." Such deals do appear t... More >
I spent a bit of time yesterday playing on Wikia, a new for-profit search engine created by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales that tries to build upon Wikipedia's formula of having contributors create ... More >
Back in August, I blogged about companies' increasing desire for CIOs with outsourcing expertise . And I've blogged several times about the shifting expectations that seem to add more responsibilit... More >
Many people believe that the need for process improvement efforts, especially highly structured ones like the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), increases along with the size of a business. An ... More >
I've blogged before about the inability of many big tech vendors to successfully sell their products and services to SMBs. Commenting on Oracle as a potential competitor, an executive from ... More >
It looks like 2008 could be a banner year for CRM , thanks in no small part to software-as-a-service. A destinationCRM.com article cites research from Datamonitor, which expects the CRM mar... More >
A tight labor market and rising salaries in India led Gartner earlier this year to suggest that Indian companies might need to evaluate the use of Tier 2 and Tier 3 service providers -- or even tho... More >
A slowing economy in the U.S. has IT pros here feeling less secure about their jobs , as I blogged earlier this week. But it looks like there is at least one sector where they have nothing to... More >
The government's track record on IT just isn't very good. There are too many costly failures , like the Department of Homeland Security's recent decision to scrap a data-mining initiative aft... More >
Disaster recovery and business continuation that includes encryption, all at a manageable TCO.
Applications that mid-sized businesses can use to improve operational efficiency, accelerate growth, and maintain profitability.
Network management tools and tips to increase network speed and efficiency, regardless of office location.
Answers to the ongoing challenges of the mobile office: to work anywhere, securely and efficiently.