InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

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The next steps in going virtual up and down the stack, from network to desktop: Automation and finally taking hypervisor security seriously. The two go together, because if you're going to trust production systems to run without human intervention -- a must for delivering IT services on demand -- you'd better be darn sure attackers can't gain control.

Avoiding budget surprises is a top priority for IT. Two main keys: Spend smart up front, then tightly manage enterprise software licensing and maintenance.

Apple’s latest smartphone ushers in a new hardware package paired with an updated OS. Here’s what enterprise IT teams charged with supporting employee mobility need to know about Maps, security, Passport vs. NFC, networking and more.

Our 2013 Big Data Survey shows we’re not lacking facts, figures or the tools to wrangle them. So why do just 9% rate themselves as extremely effective users of data? And how do we expect to improve when just 31% have a wide array of business users accessing information and just 20% plan to grow their dedicated analytics teams?

It can be a good time to be an enterprise architect, if you have the right mix of skills. While just 8% of survey respondents say the position will be one of their most significant staff increases, 74% say a shortage of workers has impacted their adoption of enterprise architecture technology.

As email-borne exploits grow increasingly sophisticated, all the time and money spent shoring up back-end network access channels could be for naught. Here's how to defend against attacks that prey on your end users. The first step: Know what you're up against.

Want to accept credit cards without excess hassle and expense? With more smartphones incorporating NFC, it makes sense to consider new payment apps that deliver convenience for customers with reasonable fees for sellers -- two are even free. We run down systems from Dwolla, Intuit GoPayment, Kuapay, LevelUp, Square and Tabbedout.

Forty-seven percent of business technology pros we surveyed say staffing at their companies has increased over a year ago, and just 18% say it's decreased. The standout is app dev, with 25% of respondents putting it in the top two categories of growth. Find out what other skills are sought after and whether that demand translates into more hiring in this report.

For a technical position that's also close to the operations side and the end user, consider the role of application delivery specialist. Although definitions vary, it's a position in high demand from companies transforming their development approaches and deployment technologies, with 10% of delivery-focused survey respondents saying they plan to increase staffing in this area by more than 30% in the next two years. That's why only 21% expect to fill these positions easily.

While only 10% of respondents to our InformationWeek 2012 State of IT Staffing Survey involved with hiring or managing IT personnel anticipate increasing WAN staff over the next 12 months, 37% of those identifying it as one of the top two areas of staffing increase expect to bump up personnel by more than 10%. Read on for trends in compensation, hiring criteria, skill sets and training for an important but challenging specialty.

Just 8% of respondents to our InformationWeek 2012 State of IT Staffing Survey involved with hiring or managing IT personnel see demand staying flat vs. 38% who will increase staffing by more than 10%. Read on for trends in compensation, hiring criteria, skill sets and training for the IT industry's hottest specialty.

While 31% of respondents to our InformationWeek 2012 State of IT Staffing Survey citing public cloud as a top area for new hiring want to boost the number of employees with this expertise by 11% or even more, that may be easier said than done. In fact, 53% say required skill sets may be hard to find -- or even nonexistent. That opens up opportunities for IT pros with a mix of talents and a willingness to negotiate.

It's a good time to be a big data and analytics expert: demand is high and supply is low. Eighteen percent of big data-focused companies in our survey want to increase staff in this area by more than 30% in the next two years, but 53% expect it will be hard to find people with the required skills. Find out how companies in diverse industries are coping with the shortage.

IT is forging ahead with mobile computing plans but may not be able to find the desired skills--or the budget to pay for them. While 15% of respondents to our survey say they plan to increase staff in the area of mobility in the next year, 38% of those who identify it as a top area of staffing increase say a shortage of workers is holding them back from adopting mobile tech, and 19% worry that salary demands will exceed their budget or that they won't be able to afford the people they need.

Forty-seven percent of companies expect an increase in IT spending in 2013 and just 18% expect a cut. But budget tactics aren't changing to recognize shifts in IT's strategic role, with just 22% saying their IT governance board has a major influence on budgets.

While 69% of respondents citing server, storage and data center engineering and management as a top area of planned staffing increase say hiring levels will rise 10% or less, these numbers belie a vibrant environment fueling demand for engineers with virtualization and cloud expertise and a knack for innovation. And, 61% say they pay for training, a nice perk.

Nearly 600 business technology pros took time to share their perceptions. Some highlights: 85% like the company’s security stance, and 61% see Cisco as a leader in data center switches. Yet just 25% will increase use of the company’s gear vs. 27% open to or actively replacing. Here's why.

With 10 Gbps Ethernet standard and 40 and 100 Gbps on the way, one big question is whether firewalls, intrusion-detection systems, packet analyzers and other monitoring systems can keep up. If not, your need for speed might prove deadly.

As enterprise IT gears up to battle mobility run amok, vendors are employing some sleight of hand, using a mix of acronyms to disguise few comprehensive offerings. We took the pulse of this hot area, asking 40 providers tough questions about cost, capabilities, deployment options and more. Our research shows little distinction between products that are designated as BYOD and those that are MDM, MAM or something else altogether. So now what?

Infrastructure-as-a-service lets companies focus on their core competencies, instead of on installing and maintaining computer hardware. But with so many vendors in the market, how do you know which one is the best fit for your company? We look at 9 IaaS providers and 10 services categories to help IT pros answer that question.

Most IT teams have synthetic monitoring of their websites down. Now it's time to extend that vigilance to client-server applications.

Tried-and-true methods like defense in depth can provide breathing room while you get a secure SDLC in place -- a job still facing 56% of our 475 respondents. And they'd better get moving, because 51% of those with secure SDLC programs on their radar have developed and/or assumed responsibility for securing 11 or more Web apps.

Worried about controlling access to all the cloud applications your employees use? IT has a variety of options to help manage cloud-based identities, including Active Directory synchronization, federation and purpose-built cloud services that provide single sign-on for online applications.

The use of network monitoring tools in a security context can help companies fill gaps in protection as well as identify potential problems. Companies that aren't using network monitoring tools may find it easier to justify their use and cost when security capabilities are figured into the mix.

Only 43% of non-IT people consider their IT teams integral to the business, our survey finds, and 54% consider IT a support or maintenance organization and not an innovator. But 59% say technology's becoming more critical to the business.