InformationWeek Stories by Eric Lundquist

InformationWeek Stories by Eric Lundquisthttp://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2012-05-08T15:15:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232901657?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsNASA Blue Marble Project: Visual Data LessonsWhat can IT leaders learn from the visualization techniques NASA used to create the Blue Marble earth images? Check out our video interview with one of the project's key developers.NASA has its hands full of big data as it looks not only outward through its <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/BlueMarble/">Earth Observatory</a>, but also back toward our planet. NASA's earthbound look is most visible in its Blue Marble project, which gained recognition when <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2011/10/06/crafting-the-blue-marble/?src=eorss-blogs">Apple chose the Earth image</a> for its default iPhone opening screen. At InformationWeek's recent <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/leadership/232901530">Government IT Leadership Forum</a>, I had the opportunity to interview Robert Simmon, data visualizer and designer for NASA's Earth Observatory and a key developer of the Blue Marble project. Simmon wrote about his experience developing the Earth image in his <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2011/10/06/crafting-the-blue-marble/?src=eorss-blogs">blog</a>, but I wanted to explore what his experiences could teach CIOs about how to visualize the big data they need to analyze. Imagine taking about 10,000 images of the earth. How would you go about making a visual representation that would make sense to the observer? Creating visual images to accompany big data analysis is, I believe, the next big thing in the data game. While much of the data analysis discussion has focused on developing new methods to collect and crunch huge databases of weather information, population statistics, and so forth, the question of how to make that crunched data visible and comprehensible to executives and customers has not really been on the main stage. In the interview, Simmon offers advice on how to create interesting and visual representations of those enormous databases while also making sure you are not reinventing techniques that are already in place. See the entire interview here: <object id="flashObj" width="600" height="400" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1626545443001&playerID=1554532936001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnei9ybNMRgdVXXi2ptyK8hHy&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1626545443001&playerID=1554532936001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnei9ybNMRgdVXXi2ptyK8hHy&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="600" height="400" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> 2012-05-07T11:30:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232901530?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors10 Lessons From Leading Government CIOsUnder extreme budget pressure, federal IT leaders adopt shared services and build mobile app stores as they shift dollars where most needed.More than a dozen of the federal government's top IT decision makers talked about the opportunities they see, and they challenges they face, at InformationWeek's Government IT Leadership Forum May 3 in Washington, D.C. The speakers included federal CIO Steven VanRoekel, federal CTO Todd Park, and Department of Defense CIO Teri Takai. An overarching theme at the Forum was how agencies must "do more with less" on a flat IT budget that stands at $79 billion. Here are 10 lessons I took away from the event. 1. Shared services are the new trend in federal IT. With budgets flat, government CIOs are developing shared services (using one email system per agency instead of 18, for example). The redundancy of overlapping systems has been apparent for years, but service-based architectures and the need to free up funds for new projects are driving this trend. The major champion is federal CIO VanRoekel, who released the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/02/introducing-it-shared-services-strategy">Federal IT Shared Services Strategy</a> the day before the Forum. 2. Cap ex is shifting to op ex. Moving budget dollars from being a capital expense to an operating expense is the financial sibling to shared services. It's an area where government CIOs, who are big on cloud services, may have a lot to teach their private industry counterparts. Government CIOs are masters at using freed-up dollars to invest in innovation. Al Tarasiuk, CIO for the U.S. Intelligence Community, is juggling budget cutting and new capabilities with an adroitness that would be the envy of business CIOs, as he looks to cut up to 25% in spending over the next six years. [ Learn more about how agencies are <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/leadership/232901153?itc=edit_in_body_cross">Busting Through The Federal IT Budget Ceiling</a>. ] 3. Security must be ironclad. Private industry talks a good security game; federal agency CIOs bake security into every product and service they use. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which is responsible for maintaining the security of the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, is working on a new community cloud initiative. The security concerns on that project would dwarf anything you would find in a cloud environment in business. 4. Government data makes good mashups. Building innovative applications by mashing together data from a variety databases isn't only for the private sector. Neil Bonner, program manager for applications development at the Transportation Security Administration, demonstrated <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/mobile/index.shtm">MyTSA</a>, a mobile application that helps travelers navigate airport security. The app combines real-time data on security line wait times, weather, flight information, and air traffic data--all from different government sources. 5. Red tape rules. Government operations are laden with policies and procedures that can stymie the best of technology initiatives. Private CIOs must deal with budgets and bureaucracies, too, but government CIOs have it worse in terms of regulations, fiefdoms, and inflexible budgeting. At the Department of Defense, the IT procurement cycle averages a staggering 81 months. DOD CIO Takai is looking to cut that to six to 12 months as part of a new <a href="http://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/ITMod/CIO%2010%20Point%20Plan%20for%20IT%20Modernization.pdf">IT modernization plan</a>. 6. Agencies operate in glass houses. Private companies fund projects, fire people, and can sweep failed technology implementations under the rug without public scrutiny. Government CIOs operate in a world of visible budgets, open procurement, and public scrutiny. Just look at the backlash to the General Service Administration's $823,000 boondoggle in Las Vegas. Not many private sector CIOs that I know would want to operate under the scrutiny government CIOs face. 7. App stores are proliferating. The shared service concept and the growth of mobile devices are leading to adoption of the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/enterprise-apps/230500194">app store model</a> in government. The CIOs speaking at the Forum were of one voice in championing the idea that they would provide portals for government apps. Civilian agencies have already made more than 100 apps available on <a href="http://apps.usa.gov/">USA.gov</a>; the DOD and the Intelligence Community plan to develop app stores, too. 8. Big government means big data. Big data isn't just a private industry phenomenon. Robert Simmon, data visualizer and designer with NASA's Earth Observatory, helped create the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/government/info-management/232602356">Blue Marble</a> images of Earth. That project requires a combination of data visualization, satellite imaging, and compute power which matches any big data project in the private sector. NASA's Earth Observing System alone has a 5.8 petabyte archive. 9. Self service is essential. Public access to government services too often involves long lines and manual, repetitive data entry. Increasingly, federal agencies are using mobile apps and the Web to make those interactions more fluid. Passport applications, tax filing, and licensing are all examples of the way Uncle Sam is headed. 10. Public input is needed. The shared service trend will free up funds as data centers are consolidated, redundant email systems eliminated, and programmers directed to work on new applications. The question is, what new services will have the greatest impact? Federal CIOs are building the platform; it's up to the citizenry to define the services they need most. Hacktivist and cybercriminal threats concern IT teams most, our first Federal Government Cybersecurity Survey reveals. Here's how they're fighting back. Also in the new, all-digital <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/042312gov/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxt_os">Top Federal IT Threats</a> issue of InformqtionWeek Government: Why federal efforts to cut IT costs don't go far enough, and how the State Department is enhancing security. (Free registration required.)2012-03-28T16:21:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232700433?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThe Connected Enterprise: Poised For Takeoff?At this year's Enterprise Connect conference, vendors showed plenty of enthusiasm and promise toward real enterprise interoperability. Here are a few standouts.<div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/article/232500737"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/728/JiveActivity_full.jpg" alt="Top Technology Venture Capitalists" title="10 Leading Enterprise Social Network Platforms" class="img175" /></a> <div class="storyImageTitle">10 Leading Enterprise Social Network Platforms</div> (click image for larger view and for slideshow) </div>  I just spent a couple of days at <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/">Enterprise Connect</a> (the event formerly known as VoiceCon), and I've been impressed with the enthusiasm vendors and their customers are exhibiting for creating a new "connected enterprise" model. But all the VoIP, unified communications, collaboration software, and other pieces aren't tied together yet. Fred Knight, the event's general manager, noted that despite the enthusiasm around IP PBXs starting in 1997, only about 35% of enterprises have actually completed such a rollout, and 60% are still in the evaluation phase of unified communications. But I'm betting things will start to change, and fast. For one thing, even "stodgy" industries like bedding are looking to bust up their old business models with new technology, says Donna Zett, CIO of AOT Bedding Super Holdings, whose brands include Simmons. In the meantime, employees entering the workforce are demanding the same social and Web 2.0 tools they use in their personal lives, and companies are starting to see measurable productivity gains when far-flung groups are given modern tools to work toward common goals. On a walk around the Enterprise Connect show floor, vendor after vendor pledged fidelity to interoperability and systems that push information to employees and customers regardless of which device they prefer. The interoperability pledge is usually wrapped in the flag of standards, but in reality, one vendor's open platform is another's locked-down, proprietary system. [ Cisco will be offering its Jabber IM client for the iPad and Windows. Read more at <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/tech-center/collaboration-technology/232700336?itc=edit_in_body_cross">Cisco Unified Communications Play Includes iPad </a>. ] The snarkiest take on interoperability came in a Gartner post following a panel on the <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/27/uc_interoperability_fail/"> State of Unified Communications Interoperability</a>. The best comment I heard was in passing from an attendee, who said that it should be on the vendor to show interoperable systems if it wants a customer's business, rather than on the customer to try to discern interoperability claims from reality. The mandate for a connected enterprise is based on the premise of bringing all the pertinent documents, social contacts, and project status records together at the same time a fully synchronized videoconference is taking place. It's a profound change for enterprises, one I outlined a few months ago in a <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/232200650">column</a> that argued (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that it's time to rethink the conventional word/spreadsheet/presentation office suite and in its place think about collaboration over distance. The products and services introduced at Enterprise Connect (which is owned by my employer) buttressed that controversial column. Here are some of the vendors that caught my attention at Enterprise Connect: Avaya. Honestly, Avaya didn't come first to mind when I thought of new enterprise collaborative applications and app stores. Read my colleague David Carr's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/presence/232700347/avaya-gives-peek-at-future-of-collaboration">article</a> to learn why my thinking was wrong. Cisco. Connectivity and collaboration should be Cisco's sweet spot. CEO John Chambers has been talking up this idea since the company sold its first switch. Here's the twist: Cisco now has to prove it can play in a standards and software world. Cisco's champion for connectivity, OJ Winge, who came to the company from the Tandberg acquisition, has done a decent job of explaining why Cisco wants to partner with the connected crowd--but right now Microsoft doesn't get a party invite. Read <a href="http://blogs.cisco.com/tag/enterprise-connect/">Winge's blog</a>, which elaborates on his keynote speech and the role Cisco needs to play. Verizon. The telecom carriers really, really don't want to be seen as simply pipe providers for all those cool apps. In his first keynote address at Enterprise Connect, Farooq Muzaffar, VP of product development and network integration for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, outlined the business services the carrier is building. One role for the carriers may be to provide services to tie together now-incompatible <a href="http://unified.cbronline.com/news/verizon-to-unveil-new-video-conferencing-platform-270312">videoconferencing systems</a>. Vidyo. Vidyo is the champion of virtualized, software-based videoconferencing. Its booth had the best example of not just how simple the systems should be to install and use, but also their many benefits in healthcare, government, and other industries. My InformationWeek colleague Art Wittmann talks about Vidyo's approach to videoconferencing <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/unified_communications/231902585?queryText=vidyo">here</a>. Sococo. Startup <a href="https://www.sococo.com/home.php">Sococo</a> has rethought the metaphors for collaboration (think virtual team rooms that mimic a company) and the social nature of getting work done and managing projects in the digital world. The result is software-as- a-service provided on a per-user subscription basis that puts systems based on red, yellow, and green "availability" buttons to shame. The <a href="http://e2conf.com/boston?_mc=E2IWKPREM">Enterprise 2.0 Conference</a> brings together industry thought leaders to explore the latest innovations in enterprise social software, analytics, and big data tools and technologies. Learn how your business can harness these tools to improve internal business processes and create operational efficiencies. It happens in Boston, June 18-21. Register today! 2012-03-26T10:00:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232700172?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsiPad Tablet Huddle Hits The Enterprise: Ready, IT?Picture five senior executives huddled around the water cooler, all carrying tablets and ready to build a multimedia presentation. Now picture slow network speeds and videos that won't play.Is the iPad ready for the enterprise? Is the enterprise ready for the iPad? While there have been some very good reviews of the latest iPad, including one from our very own <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/232602876">Fritz Nelson</a>, I discuss the tablet--and in particular the iPad system, rather than the product--in the video interview below. The portability, the tactile interface, and the long battery life have all made the tablets a consumer favorite. I contend that the latest iPad expands the tablet from a favorite consumer media consumption device, to a new, media-created business capability. The very high-resolution display, faster processor, and upgraded applications place the iPad into a position to become the corporate information creation and consumption device of choice. In a twist, the iPad's intro may also make the now lower-priced iPad 2 a hit in many companies aiming to conserve their IT budgets. In the video interview below with Tyler Pyburn of the <a href="http://thepulsenetwork.com">PulseNetwork</a>, I argue that while the latest iPad is ready for the enterprise, the enterprise may not be ready for the iPad. The onrush of the "bring your own device" phenomena in the corporation has caught many IT departments by surprise. Apple has long favored the consumer market over the business marketplace, and many of the central security, privacy, and compliance features that are common in the enterprise world were simply not part of Apple's strategy. However, those tablet devices and smartphones are now flooding into the corporate world, and companies cannot avoid developing a security and administration plan for the tablets and smartphones. [ Find out <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/personal-tech/tablets/232602971?itc=edit_in_body_cross">8 Things Tablets Still Can't Do</a>. ] So, the "tablet huddle" is headed your way. What does that mean? Corporate local networks were originally designed for fixed-place computing with systems tied to the network via hard-wired Ethernet. Later, along came Wi-Fi which, because of its haphazard deployment, often meant hotspots of strong signal and black holes of no signal. Now, think of five senior executives huddled around the water cooler, all carrying their tablets ready to build a new business plan or multimedia presentation. Now think of five frustrated execs dealing with slow network speeds and videos that won't play. In this interview, I touch on all the good, the bad, and the ugly about using the iPad in the enterprise. Tablets are an onrushing product coming into your corporation and you need to get ready. <object id="flashObj" width="480" height="270" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1522980683001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1522980683001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> Security professionals often view compliance as a burden, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this report, we show the security team how to partner with the compliance pros. <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/Compliance/util/6498/download.html?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Download the report here</a>. (Free registration required.)2012-03-23T16:49:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232700177?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsBig Data Meets Disease-Resistant Plant ResearchUniversity of Missouri's Appistry-powered big-data analysis could help create disease-resistant plants to feed the world's hungry. Check out our video interview with the scientist leading the charge.Big data has nearly as many definitions as the number of consultants claiming to be big data experts. The best way to define big data is to talk to people who are using vast--and previously-too-big-for-timely-analysis—databases. They're creating new products and services and uncovering information once thought unreachable by all but the biggest computing resources. In this exclusive video interview, I speak with Dr. Gordon Springer, associate professor in the computer science department at the University of Missouri and scientific director of the UM Bioinformatics Consortium. It's tough to imagine anything much bigger than genetic modeling data. In fact, Springer's department generates up to six terabytes of data a week in conducting its leading-edge research in bioinformatics, genetics, and environmental modeling. To keep up with all that data, Springer uses <a href="http://www.appistry.com/">Appistry Inc.'s</a> Ayrris/BIO software, which lets the university run parallel analyses for faster processing. Springer talks about the university's new capability to not only collect these huge data samples and analyze them, but to use them to create world-changing scenarios. For instance, Springer's current research projects include creating new disease-resistant plants that can be used to help feed a burgeoning world population. It is the ability to not just build big data systems but to develop the analysis systems around that data that will continue to drive interest in big data for research, business, and scientific communities. <object id="flashObj" width="600" height="400" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1522995682001&playerID=771508516001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehba3c8QCvdCgVWaG2j8bRO&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1522995682001&playerID=771508516001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehba3c8QCvdCgVWaG2j8bRO&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="600" height="400" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 26-29 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Find out more</a>. 2012-03-21T09:00:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232602912?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsMarch Madness Has Lessons For Social MarketingSports teams, fans, and sports marketing pros have many lessons for social marketing. Just ask legendary sports broadcaster Butch Stearns.  <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/slideshows/232602613"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/759/slide1_full.jpg" alt="6 Social Sites Sitting On The Cutting Edge" title="6 Social Sites Sitting On The Cutting Edge" class="img175" /></a> <div class="storyImageTitle">6 Social Sites Sitting On The Cutting Edge</div> (click image for larger view and for slideshow) </div>   Here’s a scenario that would appeal to any social network-aware chief marketing officer: intensely loyal fans, physical venues intermixed with digital and broadcast platforms, and employees and customers ready to tweet and post every detail about the company’s activities. That scenario is played out year-round in the sports industry, but is especially intense in March. The college <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/marchmadness">"March Madness"</a> playoffs, the pre-season baseball games, and the increased tempo of pro basketball and hockey as the playoff contenders start to become apparent, all take place in March. <a href="http://butchstearns.tumblr.com/">Butch Stearns</a> is one of the best known Boston sports broadcasters and is well known to sports fans throughout the country. He has also been involved in developing <a href="http://thepulsenetwork.com/">social network-oriented companies and events</a>. In this exclusive interview for The Brainyard, Information Week VP Eric Lundquist and Stearns delve into the lessons from sports marketing as they relate to social networking for technology executives. As Stearns explains in the interview, sports has been involved in social networking since the first fan bought a ticket or yelled at an umpire over a disputed call. Sports has defined events with a final score, which lend themselves to marketers doing their best not to just fill the stands but also make sure the social network discussions continue long after season’s end. The advent of Twitter and Facebook has added an entirely new dimension to sports marketing, as players work to build their brands and tell their own stories rather than have these filtered through the corporate public relations offices. Stearns looks at not only the "good news" stories but also what happens when a team gets caught in a scandal, or a player decides to make a social event over the decision to bring his talents elsewhere. In this interview, Stearns also relates his learnings from interviews with the sports executives in charge of social network activities for their teams. The use of social networks to maintain a year round dialog with fans and potential fans has strong implications for technology executives looking to use their social networks to build customer support networks. Check out the video interview with Stearns, below. <object id="flashObj" width="480" height="270" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1520213536001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1520213536001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> The <a href="http://e2conf.com/boston?_mc=E2IWKPREM">Enterprise 2.0 Conference</a> brings together industry thought leaders to explore the latest innovations in enterprise social software, analytics, and big data tools and technologies. Learn how your business can harness these tools to improve internal business processes and create operational efficiencies. It happens in Boston, June 18-21. Register today! 2012-03-16T10:12:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232602723?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors5 Social Lessons From The Rush Limbaugh ImbroglioIn the real-time world, reaction is immediate and dictated by social groups. Consider these crisis communications tips for social marketers.No matter on which side of the political fence you sit, the controversy surrounding the inflammatory commentary by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh holds potent lessons for social marketing executives. Where once reaction to controversial topics would be slow to form, and actions such as boycotts were measured in months or years, that is no longer the case. In the moments following Limbaugh's <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/rush-limbaughs-slut-comment-controversy-proves-it-has-staying-power/">remarks regarding testimony by Sandra Fluke</a>, the social networks moved from outrage to <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120316/BUSINESS07/203160331/Limbaugh-advertiser-boycott-shows-power-of-social-media-to-target-firms">boycott</a>. What lessons does the controversy hold for social marketers? In the video below, social network guru Allen Bonde, CMO of <a href="http://thepulsenetwork.com/">The Pulse Network</a> and a former McKinsey and Co. analyst, and I break down the issues. In the era of real-time, social-network-fueled action, what steps should a social marketer take to prepare for analyzing and responding to a corporate crisis? Bonde offers five steps social marketing experts should take to prepare for crisis communications. <object id="flashObj" width="480" height="270" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1510477495001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1510477495001&playerID=1223625539001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXnehVitUBmX0u2QYfPEVvZG_k&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object> Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 26-29 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Find out more</a>.2012-03-01T14:11:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232601870?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors10 Lessons From RSA Security ConferenceMobile, social, and cloud computing have changed the security equation.This year's <a href="http://www.rsaconference.com/events/2012/usa/mightier.htm">RSA Security Conference</a>, which wraps up this week, was one of the liveliest in the event's 21-year history. The increasing sophistication of hackers and visibility of data breaches (including one on the <a href="http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/RSA-Warns-SecurID-Customers-of-Data-Breach-395221/">conference's namesake company</a> last year) have brought information security back to the main stage. This year's event featured many product introductions and new security practices--see our <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/specialreport/rsa">special RSA report</a>--but what follows are the top 10 lessons and trends I took away (in reverse order). 10. Use social tools to create a secure advantage. Conferences, and in particular security conferences, may operate best in face-to-face mode. But industry experts want to continue their discussions around new threats and defenses year-round. The malicious hackers have their secure digital conversation areas. The white hacks would like their secure areas as well … there may be some going on right now by invitation only. RSA CEO Art Coviello noted in his keynote address that information needed to prevent attacks is spreading virally in social networks, not "from the top down." Said Coviello: "Something good here is starting to happen." 9. A return to MAD isn't out of the question. During the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union engaged in a nuclear game of mutually assured destruction: You attack us, we attack you twice over. I didn't find any RSA panels on digital MAD, but on the conference floor and nearby lounges there was talk of an offensive approach to digital cyberattacks from unfriendly nations. These are definitely private discussions, but there's a recognition that just trying to shore up digital defenses can be a zero sum game. 8. Hackers are creating their own tiers. You now have individual hackers, organized criminal groups, hackers with a political agenda, and hackers financed and trained by nation states. Each group has its own agenda, methods, and targets. 7. Detect "low-and-slow" APTs. "Under the radar" advanced persistent threats take place over time and in a manner that may not set off alarms. For example, attackers are monitoring social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for information they can use to gain an upper hand. And Chinese hackers are alleged to have had widespread access to the corporate network of Nortel Networks for nearly a decade, using passwords stolen from top executives to download the company's intellectual property. Expect low-and-slow APT mitigation to be a big topic over the coming years. 6. The new (or revived) mantra: defense in tiers. In a manner similar to the development of tiered storage, security tiering is becoming more of a priority. This "big sweep" thinking requires companies to careful scrutinize their assets and lock them down within security levels depending on value and need for access. This is a big project, or multiple projects, but it's well worth the effort. 5. Even the most secure companies get hacked. RSA (the conference) tries to maintain an arm's length distance from RSA (the company), which is part of the EMC empire. Just about a year ago, RSA the company suffered a <a href="http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/rsas-secure-ids-hacked-what-to-do/">severe--and particularly for a security company, embarrassing--hack</a>. To their credit, RSA executives didn't drift into corporate speak during discussions of the hack at this year's conference. They used it as a lesson in the need for constant vigilance. 4. The shift is on to attacks focusing on intellectual property. Plenty of individuals and organized crime groups would still like to steal your credit card information, but as illustrated in the Nortel example mentioned above, attacks seeking companies' intellectual property are on the rise. The attacks come from competitors, sophisticated crime groups, and nation states. CIOs who have spent their careers securing financial and personal data need to turn their attention to their companies' IP crown jewels. 3. The analysis of big data will help create a new security model. Every conference keynote these days has to make some mention of big data. Security executives can apply new analytic techniques to big data. For example, big data analysis could detect multiple attacks on a customer database followed by attempts to access credit card tables for users whose information was breached in the database. The credit card information would then be used to alert the cardholders and the credit organizations to the breach in real time. Sophisticated break-ins require data analysis at a level not previously seen in the security industry. 2. Protect the data, not the device. This idea has been around for a while, but the influx of smartphones and tablets make data protection ever-more important. Those protections range from data encryption to sandboxing areas on a device with sensitive data to making secure (essentially creating a secure virtual private network at the application level instead of the device level) an integral part of an application. 1. The borderless enterprise is here. The influx of consumer devices into companies and the dispersed, mobile workforce has made constructing a perimeter defense increasingly difficult. Enter mobile device management, featuring platforms from vendors such as Good Technology and ForeScout. The RSA attendees I spoke with have moved mobile security to the top of their IT security agenda. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The effort to achieve and maintain compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements remains one of the primary drivers behind many IT security initiatives. In our <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/Compliance/util/7249/download.html?cid=?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Security Via SOX Compliance</a> report, we share 10 best practices to meet SOX security-related requirements and help ensure you'll pass your next compliance audit. (Free registration required.)2012-02-24T16:52:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232601452?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsSecurity In The Borderless EnterpriseMobile, cloud, and social technologies have blurred enterprise security borders. Look for a thorough examination of that reality at the RSA conference.The days of creating an enterprise security border, defining a set of controlled applications, and designing a security system that can assure security, privacy, and compliance within a corporation's confines are gone. Today, it's daunting to simply try to define where a business begins and ends--in an era of mobile workers, huge social networks, and IT infrastructures that mix in-house applications with SaaS options. In conjunction with the upcoming <a href="http://www.rsaconference.com/events/2012/usa/mightier.htm">RSA security conference</a>, I asked a group of CIOs and security analysts for their suggestions on dealing with security in an increasingly wide-open world. How wide open? As background, consider these recent pieces of security news: -- Nortel Networks suffered a series of hacks that allowed access to a wide range of corporate email, documents, and other data <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/232601092">for nearly a decade</a>. -- Some security experts <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/technology/electronic-security-a-worry-in-an-age-of-digital-espionage.html?pagewanted=all">advise that companies with employees traveling overseas</a> (especially China) tell travelers to leave the regular laptop and smartphone at home, grab a new system before boarding the plane, and get rid of it after the trip. -- The computer hacking group Anonymous has evolved from rudimentary hacking skills to a sophistication level that <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/02/report-nsa-chief-sees-possible-anonymous-hit-on-power-grid/1#.T0OuEnK3Bbw">some government officials contend can threaten key infrastructure</a>, including the power grid. Now, consider some security advice for this new environment. Fran Rabuck, formerly the director of the real time asset labs at Bentley Systems and director of applied business technology at Towers Perrin, is an independent technology consultant with a focus on mobile applications. "If mobile applications are part of your future plans and rollout, you need to pay even more attention to securing them than you do desktops or laptops," Rabuck stated via email. Why are mobile applications particularly vulnerable? Rabuck listed four key reasons: <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>  1. Desktops aren't lost or misplaced like smartphones. 2. Desktops don't have as many wireless connection options--Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS. 3. Desktops don't get most of their software from sources outside your organization. 4. Desktops rarely have instant on/access without passwords to the device. Mobile security threats may be the most visible, but multiple security threats are emerging as corporations become more mobile, social, and cloud-based. That's one reason that IBM has <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20120221/big-blue-goes-big-on-it-security">recently given security a business unit status</a> and turned its analytical systems expertise on the security sector. Jerry Johnson, CIO of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a member of InformationWeek's CIO Advisory Board, provided a compelling summary of the tumult in enterprise security as traditional security borders evaporate. "(You need to) evolve past protecting the border and protecting the container to protecting the data," Johnson stated via email. "Cybersecurity has evolved (expanded) over the years from protecting the perimeter with firewalls and such, to protecting the container. With data becoming more mobile and hosted outside your perimeter and in someone else's container, we must evolve (expand) to protect the information itself." Cloud computing brings its own set of security concerns. "These new, Web-based, on-demand services pose a new set of challenges because they can be acquired easily by end users without management approval and encourage a greater information sharing among customers and business partners," stated Jeffrey Kaplan, managing director of THINKstrategies and the founder of the Cloud Computing Showplace, in an email. "While these services often substantially improve employee productivity and customer satisfaction, they also create potential security, privacy, and compliance risks." Look for cloud, mobile, and social to figure prominently at the RSA conference. Once a very detailed, highly technical gathering, it now also includes a broad examination of the business issues relating to security. The race between the corporate security attackers and defenders has never been more frantic than now, with the rise of the social, mobile, and cloud-based enterprise. CIOs must embrace the new computing models, while also assuring security, privacy, and compliance in their operations. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> Security professionals often view compliance as a burden, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this report, we show the security team how to partner with the compliance pros. <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/Compliance/util/6498/download.html?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Download the report here</a>. (Free registration required.)2012-02-06T10:49:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232600301?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThe Next Big Social Network Is YouThree trends just now emerging will alter the social network landscape.Oh no, not another social network! Between all the noise about Facebook's upcoming IPO, the Twitter censorship imbroglio, and Google +'s constantly shifting privacy and identity policies, is the business world really ready for more social networking? Yes, and here's why. Social networking is about to shift from chasing large numbers of followers--which is really a publishing broadcast model and not a business contacts model--to a smaller group of well-connected individuals. The race to acquire lots of LinkedIn contacts, Facebook connections, and Google+ and Twitter followers can quickly lead to social networking fatigue, as you spend your day updating activities, responding to various email platforms, and aligning your networking activities with business goals. Three trends emerging now will change that picture. 1. One platform can manage multiple social networks. The big networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn really don't want you to leave their confines. Enter the third party platform providers. While there are many new companies trying to address social network exhaustion, one of my favorites is <a href="http://www.nimble.com/">Nimble</a>. Nimble is run by Jon Ferrara, who previously founded <a href="http://www.nimble.com/company/team/">Goldmine Software</a>, one of the early customer relationship management (CRM) companies. Nimble is CRM which utilizes social networks and third party applications to provide a fuller view of a customer, and a way for teams to coordinate their interactions with the customer. I've tried it out in the beta format and it works. Instead of shifting between lots of social platforms, you can work in the Nimble platform to tailor messages to lots of social networks. "You or your business has to take contacts and both centralize and synchronize those messages," Ferrara told me in a phone conversation. 2. A smaller network may be better. How large of a social network do you want to manage? At the recent MacWorld show in San Francisco I ran into <a href="http://mikemuhney.com/">Mike Muhney</a>. Muhney, like Ferrara, was very early into the contact management space. He was the creator of the Act! contact management system, which became the defacto contact manager in the 1990s. He is currently the CEO of <a href="http://www.viporbit.com/features/">VIPOrbit Software</a>, with a focus on mobile contacts via the iPhone and iPad. In his book, "Who’s in your Orbit?" Muhney contends that relationship strength is based on time, intensity, trust, and reiprocity. Muhney cites scientific studies that show that 150 is the optimal size of a group for one individual to build strong relationships. This flies in the face of social networkers building groups of 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 friends, but makes a whole lot more sense to me. Remember, those big groups are really publishing models, not relationship models. The bottom line for trend two? It is not the size of the group but the depth of relationship you can maintain and grow. Think about the 150 contacts that you would include in your most important group. 3. You are a startup. "The Start-up of You" is also the title of LinkedIn founder <a href="http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/24/reid-hoffman-linkedin-startup-you/">Reid Hoffman’s new book</a>. In that book, he advocates a wide, but also selectively deep, set of relationships. You cast a wide net, but build a selective group of contacts that can help further your business goals if that is your intent. These three trends--collecting and managing your networks, drilling down to a select group and then using the resources of that group to further your business and career goals--are happening now. The social network model is moving from shouting out to everyone you can reach to having selective conversations. That's a model worth incorporating into your social network goals. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> 2012-01-18T14:00:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232500057?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors10 Ways To Transform Into A Social EnterpriseHere's expert advice from IBM's Connect 2012 conference on how to take social networking from a fringe activity to a business core competency.Three recent events emphasize the need to put social enterprise transformation at the top of your business to-do list for 2012. The first was the recent Consumer Electronics Show featuring <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/232400221">gadgets galore</a>, from companies that may or may not be in business a year from now. The second was the <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/232400457>hack of Zappos' customer database,</a> which appears to have exposed 24 million customer passwords. The third was the recent IBM Connect 2012 event (held in conjunction with the annual Lotusphere gathering) in Orlando (See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_private_platforms/232400374">What Enterprise Social Success Stories Have In Common</a>.) These three events, not as unrelated as they first seem, provide a strong reason to take your company's social networking activity from the fringe, where marketing and individuals do their own things, to the realm of core competency, where you embrace a business vision of the social enterprise. The core competency that you want to build is tightly knit (even if geographically dispersed) employee teams that tune into customer needs in order to create products and services that delight customers and bury your competition. Unlike the case in the social consumer space, the social enterprise must have all the security and privacy features that a business requires. You also need a strong business foundation of measurable value and you must retain control of the social network attributes, rather than handing over control to the big, sprawling consumer networks. Before I get into the 10 ways to transform your company, I'll highlight the reasons why those three recent events should be a call to social action. While CES is a fun show to attend and the gadgets are great to see, it is difficult to see how those gadgets will transform your company. The companies used the social networks to try and build marketing buzz, but I've attended enough of these shows to know that once the buzz dies, so do many of the vendors. Following the CES model of buzz for buzz's sake does not a sustainable company make. The social enterprise will become core to your company's business and technology strategy; it shouldn't be just an event add-on. The Zappos hack illustrates why your customer information has to be the top priority. While no database is absolutely secure, the tools are now in place to alert technology administrators to unusual activity, place infrequently accessed data into secure, encrypted storage, and disperse information across a range of systems rather than provide one target. One breach can wipe out customer trust (though Zappos is getting good marks from security experts for its handling of the breach, so far.) The social enterprise was in full view at the Connect2012 event. IBM is one of many vendors chasing the social enterprise model, but it has <a href=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/i-b-m-makes-its-social-computing-strategy-smarter>moved further than most of its peers</a> in providing the underpinnings of social networks combined with traditional enterprise privacy, security, and compliance features. IBM may have been forced into the social enterprise model by its own size and dispersed nature. As Jeanette Horan, IBM CIO, noted, IBM has 425,000 employees (plus 100,000 contractors) operating in 175 countries, and half of those employees work at home or at client sites. So mobility, social networks, and dispersed team creation are necessities. "The use of social media is becoming critical to IBM," said Horan.Here are the 10 steps to consider for social transformation: 1. Think of the social enterprise as a core competency, not an add-on. As Wendy Arnott, VP of social media at <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_private_platforms/232500105/td-banks-social-strategy-start-small-think-big">TD Bank</a> said during a presentation at Connect2012, "You have to align with the core values of the company." Treating social as something that takes place in human resources or marketing will doom the project to inactivity. 2. Think way beyond technology. Creating the social enterprise uses technology, but it is not a technology project. Tying together dispersed groups into development teams utilizes technology, but must come from a top-down leadership commitment. 3. Acknowledge risks. The idea of a transparent, open enterprise is a difficult concept to champion in many companies--particularly in heavily regulated operations. As Arnott outlined, you should face the risks head on, build a team that includes legal, security, and other departments, and work through the list, until you get to the risks that cannot be discounted and must be part of the social enterprise plan 4. Think mobile from the outset. Mobility has to be an integral part of the social enterprise. Your employees are mobile, your customers are mobile, and tablet and smartphone use will only increase. 5. Start small. Model your use of social tools for collaboration and communication starting with small groups from across your company. Work out the bugs with those groups, then roll out the social capabilities in stages. This is not unlike traditional enterprise software deployment strategy, but you'll need to operate at a faster pace and be ready for comparisons with consumer social networking tools. 6. Think single sign-on. That's a key social enterprise element, along with a single content management system and an employee skills and capabilities database. Multiple systems requiring multiple sign-ons only lead to confusion and lack of use 7. Don't bet on immediate ROI. The biggest return on investment may not be immediately apparent. Michael Chui, a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, told Connect2012 attendees that faster product development, faster speed of access to internal experts, and faster time to market capabilities have all surfaced in McKinsey's research into the social business. But those benefits are often not immediately quantifiable from a project's outset. 8. Apply analytics to the social network. This may be one of the biggest differences if you compare creating a social business to merely doing social activities. You need to use the business intelligence techniques that you have applied to the internal workings of your company to the external operations, including brand and customer sentiment. 9. Bring customers into the company-wide social network. Restricting customer interaction to customer service centers and help desks is a prescription for failure. Customers are obviously the best source of information about how your company is perceived and performing. Those customer interactions need to be visible throughout your organization. 10. Question your speed. "Are you as an organization learning as fast as the world is changing?" That was the big question posed by William Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company. Taylor, the author of <a href="http://williamctaylor.com/practically-radical">Practically Radical</a>, told the Connect2012 audience that it's the transformation to a fast learning company that will distinguish winners from losers in the socially networked economy. As I stated earlier, IBM is not alone in offering up a social business agenda. Salesforce.com, Microsoft, and many other vendors in the enterprise space have their own products and services, of course. My advice is not to get too caught up in the product feature-by-feature comparisons. Use these 10 steps to build a broad social strategy, then use it to judge vendor offerings. More than 700 IT pros gave us an earful on database licensing, performance, NoSQL, and more. That story and more--including a look at transitioning to Win 8--in the new all-digital <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/011612/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Database Discontent</a> issue of InformationWeek. (Free registration required.)2012-01-11T08:30:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232400101?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThree BI Trends Every CIO Must UnderstandBI moves from the back room to the conference room and travels beyond enterprise walls, while really big data drives strategy.Anthony Perez is having a great NBA season. While you won't find his stats on the sports page, his activities with <a href="http://www.nba.com/magic/roster/">the Orlando Magic</a> should be influencing your business intelligence strategy. The Magic's use of BI tools represents one of the three big trends in this technology sector. What are those trends? One is that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/231903316">BI is moving from a backroom IT function</a> to an integral part of strategic business planning. Two is that companies are applying BI to more external sources--to social network conversations, for instance, to gauge customer sentiment, or to industry spending data. Three is the use of what I call RBD (really big data) to drive corporate strategy. I spent some time with Salesforce.com executive VP (and Business Objects founder) Alex Dayon discussing the intersection of BI and social networks, and I'll use Google Correlate as an example of really big data--but first back to the Orlando Magic. From Back Room To Conference Room I first spoke with Perez, the Magic's director of business strategy, about a year ago, when he was getting some major BI projects off the ground--and before the NBA season almost became a washout--and I got an update from him a week or so ago. Perez has built the Magic's BI capabilities and ultimately its business operations on a foundation of SAS Institute products, but his projects would sound familiar to any event-driven company regardless of BI product vendor. Whether companies are managing sporting events, conferences, airline flights, or hotel rooms, their revenue opportunities exist for only a defined period. Empty seats at the arena represent lost revenues that can't be recovered, same as empty airline seats and hotel rooms. The Magic's most loyal and predictable customers are its season ticket holders, the sports franchise equivalent to frequent flyers and hotel loyalty cardholders. The Magic is using BI to track the purchasing of season ticket customers; make exclusive offers to them before, during, and after games; and in a nod to the trend of customer enablement, provide them with an easy digital capability to resell tickets for games they can't attend.   <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>   Next on the project list: Build out revenue opportunity and tracking programs for individual game ticket buyers using bar codes. For example, fans would be encouraged to allow their ticket bar codes to be scanned at concession stands when they make a purchase. The incentive could be entry into a drawing for courtside seats at an upcoming game. The bar code scan, the credit card info, and courtside tickets all add up to more information about the ticket holder--within the Magic's strict privacy rules. Also on the project list is to let more senior managers do data analyses themselves rather than have to wait for reports. <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/35012/stan-van-gundy-knows">Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and his staff</a> have become big proponents of using BI tools to analyze opponents and chart game strategy. Pre-game BI can be detailed to every possible lineup, player scoring and rebounding matchups, and shooting percentages. Those pre-game stats can then be adjusted in real time based on opposing lineups and injuries.Clearly, BI has a learning curve, and it can be pricey, but once senior managers latch on to its capabilities, the execs that were reluctant to open their checkbooks can become the biggest proponents. The lesson for CIOs: Focus not on the technology, nor on vague business benefits, but on specific ways BI can deliver revenue, increase customer loyalty, and create new market segments. As for where the Magic's star center, Dwight Howard, will end up playing (he has requested a trade before his contract expires at the end of this season), I'm not sure even advanced BI tools can predict that. BI Meets The Customer Cloud BI is moving well beyond analysis of internal data. It's now about understanding customer sentiment on social networks; building profiles of customers, suppliers, and partners; and managing your company's interactions with those external parties. "You are now bringing customers and partners into the business social networks, and the cloud has been a huge enabler of this capability," says Salesforce.com's Dayon. In the past, BI was as static as the internal data being analyzed. It tended to deal with past trends rather than current conditions. The value of BI today is having an outward focus based on real-time information, including competitor pricing and customer sentiments expressed on social networks. For CIOs and other business executives, applying BI to the customer cloud will require new technology skills. Facebook, Twitter, and Google + activities all have different application interfaces, which need to be pulled into the BI system and analyzed in real time. The information must be presented in a user interface that senior executives can manage and query and pushed to mobile devices. The traditional structure of an analytics department producing a regular set of defined reports is far removed from this social-network-driven BI. Really Big Data Big data has become one of the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/232301236">biggest tech buzzwords</a> over the past year, and while there's no standard definition, McKinsey provides a <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/MGI/Research/Technology_and_Innovation/Big_data_The_next_frontier_for_innovation">good overview</a>. Big data can include weather statistics, demographic trends, healthcare information, and essentially any other dataset that stretches conventional storage and analytics systems. Correlating company and supplier data with customer brand sentiments and data on macro areas like population trends was beyond the capabilities of BI systems a few years ago. If you want to acquire an understanding of correlation capabilities without spending a huge amount (or any) money, a good place to start is <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/correlate/">Google Correlate</a>, a way to look at trends behind Google searches. Which state in the U.S. has the highest correlation between cloud computing and middleware? <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/correlate/search?e=cloud+computing&t=all">That would be Maryland</a>. While that's a bit of a trivial exercise, Google Correlate lets users develop all types of queries. A recent National Public Radio <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144572891/google-searches-are-a-window-into-our-culture">report on Correlate</a> takes a deeper dive. Incorporating really big datasets like Google searches into your BI activities may be the next BI frontier. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> InformationWeek is conducting our third annual State of Enterprise Storage survey on data management technologies and strategies. Upon completion, you will be eligible to enter a drawing to receive an Apple 32-GB iPod Touch. Take our <a href="http://informationweek.2012stateofstorage.sgizmo.com/s3/">Enterprise Storage Survey</a> now. Survey ends Jan. 13. 2011-12-28T09:00:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232301064?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsBest Tech Predictions Of 2012I take on four big tech predictions for 2012, from mobile to social--and dish up three of my own. The start of the new year also marks the start of prediction season and 2012 is no different. Here's my commentary on the best tech predictions of 2012--and a few of my own thrown in for good measure. 1. Mobile Zaps Digital Divide, IBM Predicts IBM is a smart company, smart enough to hedge its bets and <a href="http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibm_predictions_for_future/ideas/index.html">stretch its predictions out to five years in the future</a>. I mean, who will remember? It made five predictions. The top IBM prediction in my opinion is: "Mobile: The digital divide will cease to exist." IBM writes: "Mobile devices are decreasing the information-accessibility gap in disadvantaged areas. In five years, the gap will be imperceptible as growing communities use mobile technology to provide access to essential information. New solutions and business models from IBM are introducing mobile commerce and remote healthcare, for example. Recorded messages can be transmitted to quickly deliver valuable information about weather and aid to remote or illiterate users who haven't had ready access before." My take: Smartphones are due to leave feature phones in the dust, as location awareness, payment systems, secure identity features, and multimedia capabilities make the smartphone the essential technology driver to erase the digital divide. The build-out for smartphone infrastructure is taking place at a feverish pace, and will indeed erase that divide in five years. 2. E-Commerce Squeezes Traditional Retail, Andreessen Predicts Mark Andreessen has become one of the visionaries of Silicon Valley. He recently shared some <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57345138-93/marc-andreessen-predictions-for-2012-and-beyond">predictions for 2012</a> with Cnet. While his misses seem to me as numerous as his hits, his prediction that the physical retail store model is going to take a beating in 2012 was already evident at the end of 2011--as local retailers howled at <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/12/14/amazon-price-check-may-be-evil-but-its-the-future">Amazon's efforts to show how it could beat the price of the local store</a>, while you were standing in the checkout line. Here is Andreessen on the retail revolution, as interviewed on Cnet, "I think 2012 is the year that retail--retail stores--really starts to feel the pressure. And I don't say that because I don't like retail stores. I loved going to Borders. I thought it was a great consumer experience. And I was a huge fan of Tower Records. "But the economic pressure is huge as e-commerce gets more and more viable and as these category killers emerge in the super-verticals. If I own mall real estate or retail stores in cities, or if I own chains like electronics chains, I'd be concerned. ... I think electronics and clothes are going to be a real pressure point. Home furnishing is going to come under pressure. It's going to get harder and harder to justify the retail store model." My take: Andreessen could be right here. The big box stores killed off the smaller retailers by having inventory and pricing systems that the little guys couldn't match. And now the e-tailers can take that model of big inventory, tied with real-time pricing, and combine it with home delivery to challenge the big box stores. 3. Hybrid Tablets Shine, Bajarin Predicts Among Tech.pinions' <a href="http://techpinions.com/the-tech-pinions-2012-predictions/4645">2012 predictions</a>, my favorite was from Tim Bajarin, who predicted the return of the combo tablet and notebook. His prediction:"Ultrabook-tablet combo devices will become a big hit. Ultrabooks with detachable screens that turn into tablets could be the sleeper hit of 2012. Also known as hybrids, the early models of this concept used an illogical mixed operating systems; Windows when in PC mode and Android when in tablet mode. But by the year's end, both Windows 8 for tablet and Windows 8 for laptops will be out and these hybrids will be completely compatible. I expect to see solid models of this type of hybrid by quarter four." My take: Really? I don't think this makes sense, but Tim does know his stuff. He is putting a lot of faith in Windows 8 to revive a model that really crashed and burned a few years ago. But I am of the group that, instead of ditching the laptop once I also started carrying a tablet, simply added a little more weight to the bag. Maybe an easily convertible laptop/tablet could work. I would like to give it a try. 4. Social Rip And Replace Fails, Fast Company Predicts Fast Company's take on the social network over-simplifies <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1802338/10-bold-business-technology-predictions-for-2012">with this prediction</a>: "Social business will take off in 2012, but companies will struggle to adopt. Management consultants will champion 'digital transformation' initiatives a la Y2K in order to help companies change business processes and worker behavior. But the real gains will be made where companies can find ways to adopt social and collaboration tools without making workers change their daily work habits. This evolutionary approach to social business adoption will trump 'rip and replace' methodologies being promoted by some social business software vendors … including one that recently went public." My take: I like the Fast Company prediction, as it presents an evolutionary approach to creating a social business that can actually be implemented in a company. Too many "revolutionary" changes have the ring of the <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-18/tech/paperless.office_1_paperless-office-paperless-office-infotrends?_s=PM:TECH">paperless office predictions of 1975</a>. And now here are three 2012 tech predictions from me: 1. Tablets will change the way you work. Instead of sitting around a darkened conference room, surreptitiously doing e-mail while enduring PowerPoint torture, you will hold meetings at a moment's notice. These gatherings can include in-person and remote workers, discussing and swiping at the tablet's contents in a communal manner, rather than the meetings of old that felt like a college lecture. 2. Mobile development happens from the ground up. A new development environment will drive new markets, competition, and companies. The days of taking existing applications and trying to mobilize those applications are numbered. New applications which are designed for mobility from the ground up and utilize location awareness, payment systems, and access to big data driven decision-making systems will force companies to restructure around the idea of mobility as the norm. 3. Welcome to consultant nation. The definition of an employee is changing. The pace of business operations will require CIOs in particular to quickly assemble groups of highly qualified employees and contractors to deliver new corporate capabilities. The ability to find, hire, and create high performance groups on the fly and then manage those groups will challenge the traditional development and performance models. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> 2011-12-20T08:04:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232300728?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsTop 20 IT Trends In 2011The business technology sector went through a lot of changes in 2011. What follows is my list of the most important themes, events, products, and people of the past year.Cloud computing, the rise of enterprise social networks, a revolving door at Hewlett-Packard, and the passing of Steve Jobs all had a major impact on the business technology sector in 2011. What follows is my list, in reverse order, of the most important themes, events, products, and people in business technology of the past year. 20. Consultant nation. The technology and business skills an IT professional needs are changing constantly, and companies are struggling to keep up. Enter the era of highly skilled, highly paid temporary workers willing (and sometimes able) to take on your most pressing business technology projects. The challenge is to assemble teams of those workers on schedule and within budget, and keep them working toward a project's successful conclusion. <a href="https://www.elance.com/">Lots of startups</a> will emerge to help companies find and assemble those teams. 19. Musical chairs at HP. Hewlett-Packard once stood for a calm, measured (and somewhat boring) approach to business technology. There, R&D experts would cook up great new products and features and hand them over to the sales and marketing folks. Former CEO Carly Fiorina shifted that focus, trying to make HP more like Apple, which <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20094769-92/hps-carly-fiorina-era-is-finally-over...good-riddance/">didn't work for her or the company</a>. Her successor, Mark Hurd, was a relentless cost cutter. Leo Apotheker <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20110396-92/hps-ray-lane-on-why-leo-apotheker-had-to-go/">failed to build consensus</a> in a consensus driven company. Meg Whitman <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/technology/whitman-expected-to-be-named-at-hp.html?pagewanted=all">now has the opportunity</a> to reassemble HP's considerable strengths into a compelling set of business services. I don't think she can wait until 2013 to deliver the goods. 18. New development platforms. One way to look at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google + is as <a href="http://gigaom.com/cloud/facebook-speeds-php-development-with-hiphop-vm/">development platforms with their own APIs</a>, development languages, and design capabilities. Your company probably spends a lot of time and effort on website design, search optimization, and newsletter outreach. But what is it doing to develop applications on the big social media platforms? 17. New boss at IBM. If almost every change at Hewlett-Packard is marked by upheaval (see No. 19), IBM transitions are seamless and controlled. So it was with Virginia Rometty, a 30-year IBM veteran named in October to <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/35786.wss">succeed Sam Palmisano as CEO</a> come January. The ability to identify, train, and promote executives is one of IBM's unheralded strengths, and it should be one of your company's core strengths. 16. Big Data. Another buzzword worthy of the cloud hypesters, big data is nonetheless a critical trend. Big data describes data sets that can include population trends, weather patterns, and just about anything else that makes the world work. Analyzing those kinds of sets in combination with company, supplier, customer, and other data <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/development/database/231902466">to make more informed business decisions</a> will grow in importance in 2012.   <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>   15. Stuxnet. That was one <a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/07/how-digital-detectives-deciphered-stuxnet/all/1">sophisticated piece of malware</a>. While digital investigators may never know the origin of Stuxnet, how long the malware remained dormant, or exactly how it was activated, the sophistication of the attack heralded a new era of digital hacking. Hackers are moving from targeting PCs to a far broader mandate, including <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/mobile-security/167901113/security/news/232300491/social-media-abuse-mobile-malware-headline-2011-top-internet-security-trends.html">mobile devices, social networks, and corporate infrastructure</a>. The security lessons Stuxnet taught businesses in 2011 need to be carried over to constant monitoring defenses in 2012. 14. CMOs as techies. Chief marketing officers are challenging CIOs and CTOs for their share of the IT budget. Social networks, marketing software as a service, business intelligence for brand and product management, and real-time customer sentiment analytics are creating a <a href="http://www.chiefmartec.com/">new tech-involved CMO</a>. 13. NBA. The lockout is over! Wait, no, not the National Basketball Association. In this case NBA stands for new business applications. Location and payment systems that let Zipcar, for example, do on-demand car rentals, or sports venue systems that let fans make purchases from their seats. 12. Virtualization. A year ago, virtualization would have made the top of this list. It's as important as ever, but it's getting subsumed into <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/232300642">the greater cloud discussion</a>. Managing all those virtual servers, clients, and networks is now the big virtualization topic for IT. 11. Vertical ingenuity. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare">Healthcare</a>, financial services, and retail companies are leading the way in taking the biggest technology trends (see Nos. 2, 3, and 13 for starters) and turning them into applications that provide a strategic differentiation. Here is a list of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/healthcare/mobile-wireless/229402535">12 mobile healthcare applications</a> that are changing the medical business. Amazon's strategy to bring <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/for-amazon-lashes-and-backlashes/">price comparison to local shopping</a> is a game changer in retail and has resulted in a local shopping uproar. Companies could learn a lot about new technology applications by looking at what companies in other industries are up to. 10. BI from the outside in. Whereas once the main thrust of business intelligence software was to analyze a company's internal operations, the most interesting BI thrust right now is taking place outside the corporation. Companies are using BI to analyze the social network conversations customers and potential customers are having about their products and brands, influencing their product development, pricing strategies, marketing campaigns, and sales approaches. 9. IT as a service. The service concept has been around for awhile. But when internal IT was the only service in town, a company's options were limited. Now the options include internally offered services, hosted services, and services offered as <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/software/229700078">a cloud-based application</a>. Competition from outside providers will put more pressure on IT organizations to justify charge-backs. 8. Social networks go enterprise. The endless updating of likes, dislikes, locations, and petty discussions has no place in the enterprise. How wrong can an assumption be? The large established social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google +, are developing a corporate stance, while social business software such as Yammer, Socialtext, and Salesforce.com's Chatter are gaining corporate traction. The goals: Help employees collaborate better internally and with partners; and help companies connect with and understand their customers better. 7. Steve Jobs' death. The person who had the greatest influence on business technology in 2011 (and arguably in business tech for the past 10 years) was also the executive with the most disdain for the business sphere. Jobs created a model of perfectionism, consumer-orientation, and truly personal computing that will be near impossible for another executive to replicate. The prosumer movement (see trend No. 5) is largely Jobs' doing. 6. P/C/S. As noted in some of the other trends, privacy, security, and compliance are the three obstacles any application or service must surmount to make it onto the corporate network. These issues became even more acute in 2011 as state and federal regulations made privacy leaks not just embarrassing but financially costly. Expect these regulations to be tightened in 2012. 5. Prosumer. What a great idea: Your employees bear the cost of buying computing hardware, and you simply hook them into the corporate network. But not so fast--user-purchased devices present some profound security and compliance challenges, which companies are just starting get their arms around. 4. The economy. Even as the economy starts to grow modestly, the C-suite, including CIOs, will remain cautious with spending. Every dollar will require an ROI justification, and CIOs will weigh their lease-versus-buy and temporary-versus-fulltime-staffing options. CIOs are under intense pressure to develop IT spending plans aimed at outgrowing the competition rather than cutting costs to match a slowing economy. 3. Mobility. Your employees have left their cubicles. Mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are all the rage. The app store model is making its way into the enterprise, and mobile devices connected to location and payment systems will reorganize how companies manage their workforces, deploy their services, and get paid for their products. How will you manage and secure those mobile devices and applications? 2. Cloud computing. Depending on your perspective, the cloud is the most important or hyped or abused term in the technology lexicon. It's probably all three. Cloud computing does represent the biggest expansion of IT functions beyond the corporate confines since the first glassed-in data center was created. Clouds, parsed into public, private, and hybrid varieties, are here to stay. 1. IT is too slow. When <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/229218781">this cover story</a> came out in InformationWeek magazine earlier this year, I was working at a competing media business and was envious that InformationWeek had put the issue so succinctly. Complaints about IT operations being too slow and unwieldy have always existed, but the rise of cloud computing, software as a service, and all-encompassing social networks makes the option of doing an end run around IT all the more plausible. The transformation of IT into a service business (see No. 20) is just now unfolding. It should be a wake-up call to IT organizations everywhere. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> It's time to get going on data center automation. The cloud requires automation, and it'll free resources for other priorities. Download InformationWeek's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/121911s/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Data Center Automation</a> special supplement now. (Free registration required.)2011-12-05T14:37:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232200746?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsSAP Builds Out Services Menu With SuccessFactorsPurchase is latest move as enterprise software vendors race to develop a cloud presence and offer business resources to customers eager to use cloud-based services.SAP spent $3.4 billion on Saturday to buy cloud-based, employee-performance-management success story SuccessFactors. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/05/us-sap-successfactors-idUSTRE7B20NG20111205?feedType=RSS&feedName=innovationNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FdealsNews+(News+%2F+US+%2F+Deals+News">The purchase</a> makes a lot of sense and highlights the race among the big enterprise software vendors to build both a greater cloud presence and a stack of business resources for customers anxious to use cloud-based services to create or replace corporate capabilities. The traditional vendors, including Oracle, need to offer a range of capabilities and they are better off spending some of their stacks of cash rather than try to build the functions. Enterprise CIOs and senior level execs are now using the menu model for human resource services, marketing business intelligence, project management, and all the functions that define the modern corporation. The hallmarks of these services are a Web-based presence, social network-like interfaces, and rapid deployment to increasingly mobile workforces. SuccessFactors has had a quick rise since its founding in 2001 as a "business execution software" company. The idea, as I saw it, was to build, measure, and improve employee capabilities aligned with a company's strategic goals. The idea had been around for a while, but creating the software platform to accomplish the idea was missing. SuccessFactors is a good fit for SAP as it gives the company a much-needed stronger cloud presence and a broader range of corporate customers. SAP will need to show it can both allow SuccessFactors independence while bringing in the resources of SAP.   <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>   The bigger trend is the buildout by vendors of corporate capability stacks. Recently, Salesforce.com introduced more marketing services to its portfolio, in addition to its existing sales management capabilities, and has been talking about adding project management. Oracle recently <a href="http://cloudcomputing.internet.com/applications/article.php/428816">bought RightNow Technologies</a> for $1.5 billion to augment its cloud-based customer service offerings. The idea of a one-stop shop for cloud-based corporate capabilities will appeal to CEOs and CIOs that want to deal with one vendor. The concept is in conflict with "best of breed" stack buildouts, where executives can pick and choose the applications that best fit their organization. With SuccessFactors purchased, other companies in this employee-performance area include <a href="http://www.workday.com/landing_page/gproduct_branded_campaign_lp.php?campid=cpc|gg|ad|wd|wd|">Workday</a>, a company based on the concept of cloud-based enterprise business management services, which has risen to be a strong challenger to traditional in-house business service applications. <a href="http://welcome.taleo.com/LP-10-talent-management-best-practices?sfcampid=70170000000Tnpf&_kk=taleo&_kt=1b37eccc-8213-42ad-a2d3-4f8c0f3794eb&gclid=CIDTxcys66wCFZGx7Qod9xCcKA">Taleo</a> is probably the closest in offering SuccessFactors-type services and should expect some large suitors to come knocking as the SuccessFactors/SAP story unfolds. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 25-29 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Find out more</a>.2011-12-05T08:30:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232200650?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsMicrosoft Office, Enjoy Your RetirementThis nearly 30-year-old product should be headed for the sunset villa in this age of smartphones, cloud computing, and Facebook.Please join me for the retirement party for the productivity software suite. Our good friend word/spreadsheet/presentation has been an exemplary employee, even as he gained a few pounds as contact management, calendaring, and all sorts of other bits and pieces of the office routine were piled on. And while we can have fun arguing about which was the first such software product (Framework in 1984, Lotus Symphony at about the same time), we can all agree that Microsoft Office started occupying the corner office in 1989. So thank you very much for your service. Here's your gold watch. Now go play some golf. It's hard to believe that a nearly 30-year-old product is still synonymous with office productivity during a period that has included the rise of the Internet, smartphones, cloud computing, and Facebook. So with the retirement party over, what's the shape of the new office suite? Let's start with social. Believe me when I say your employees aren't spending their free moments creating PowerPoint decks. They're going to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to manage their lives and check on friends. Companies that try to restrict this activity are fighting a losing battle. Go down the hall and talk to your marketing department; they're all about inbound marketing, where brand activity on social networks translates into new customer leads and sales. How about making your company's social networking goals an integral part of your employee social network activities? Instead of going through a Word upgrade, maybe <a href="http://hootsuite.com/">Hootsuite</a> or <a href="http://www.nimble.com/">Nimble</a> should be a central part of your productivity suite. Application No. 2 has to be internal collaboration. Employees have escaped their cubes and are now mobile. Trying to communicate, make decisions, and manage projects in these far-flung companies is way beyond the capabilities of email and instant messaging. Maybe <a href="http://box.com/">Box.com</a>, <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a>, <a href="https://www.yammer.com/">Yammer</a>, or, yes, <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/chatter/whatischatter/">Chatter</a>, the product of Salesforce.com and its ever-effervescent CEO, Marc Benioff, should be the glue that ties collaboration together.   <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>   No piece of that retiring office suite needs to slide into that sunset villa more desperately than slideware. It's beyond mathematics to fathom how many PowerPoint slides have been created since 1990, but let's just say it's a lot. How many hours of productivity have been lost to decks of 100 or more slides featuring goofy animations and eye-chart-challenging rows of numbers? We may have missed our chance at a second renaissance while squinting at pie and bar charts. From now on the presentation program is all multimedia, including video of the boss talking while answering tweets from employees. Social network management, collaboration, and lively presentation are ready to take on the office productivity duties as soon as word/spreadsheet/slideware clears out its desk. Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 25-29 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Find out more</a>.2011-12-01T11:44:00Zhttp://www.informationweek.com/articles/232200558?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors10 Social Networking Tips For CIOsAdding a robust enterprise social network to your priority agenda is a must. Here's how to get going.If you're thinking of bolting your company's social network activities onto your existing IT infrastructure, you're headed for problems. Your company will have a much better chance of success rebuilding your infrastructure around the social network environment. On Wednesday, I spent a day at Salesforce.com's <a href="https://apps.facebook.com/salesforce-tm/">Cloudforce 2011</a> event in New York City. Now, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and company are among the most extreme advocates of rebuilding organizations around the "social enterprise" idea, but I'm not just drinking their Kool-Aid. It's apparent that social networking environments are ready to break the confines of marketing departments and find their way throughout company operations. So what is the social enterprise? In Benioff's model, it entails a three-step process: creating a social customer profile that extends beyond simple customer contact information; creating an internal social network; and creating a customer social network and product social network. If you can imagine an organization whose technology improves customer interaction, where business intelligence systems measure customer sentiment, and where internal discussions are as vibrant as those among Facebook-proficient employees, you'll start to get the idea. If your 2012 priorities already include cloud computing, mobility, prosumer hardware, and new business applications, you might not be eager to add a robust enterprise social network to that agenda. But you must. Here are my 10 tips for CIOs to create the foundation for a social networked enterprise. 1. You don't have to create everything from scratch. While Salesforce may be the most vocal vendor in this sector, many companies offer enterprise-level social network systems. What makes them enterprise-level? The ability to meet security, privacy, and compliance needs, for starters. 2. Find the expertise within your company. It's not just the 20-somethings who are adept at using social networks. 3. You don't have to invent a reason for a social network. Case histories, difficult to find a few years ago, are now widely available. At the Salesforce event this week, Daniel Flax, CIO of <a href="http://www.thestreet.com/">TheStreet</a>, showed how the financial media company is using social networks to engage with customers. Martha Poulter, CIO of <a href="http://www.gecapital.com/en/">GE Capital</a>, discussed how its <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111006005634/en/GE-Capital-Debuts-Digital-Platform-GE-Edge">GE Edge</a> is spurring innovation among senior executives at midsize companies. Dig into those kinds of case histories and ask your peers how their social media projects were funded and how they're producing. 4. Social networks require top-down buy-in. Often, an internal social network such as Chatter or Yammer can languish until the boss starts creating and responding to discussions. 5. Think beyond the marketing department. The idea of "earned media," using external social networks to build and monitor brands, has been the province of the marketing folks. But customer service, product development, and supplier interaction are prime candidates for an extended social network infrastructure. 6. Understand the new development platforms. Facebook isn't just a social network, but also a development platform, as is LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. These platforms use their own distinct application methodologies and APIs.   <div style="margin:0; padding:0 0 10px 15px; width:244px; float:right;"> <div style="margin:0; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black; padding:6px;"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/"><img src="http://twimgs.com/infoweek/1217/217ID_GlobalCIO_75.jpg" width="75" height="75" border="0" align="right" alt="Global CIO" style="margin:0 0 6px 6px;"></a> <div style="margin:0 0 6px 0; font-size:1.3em; font-weight:bold; color:#113e53;">Global CIOs: A Site Just For You</div> Visit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/">InformationWeek's Global CIO</a> -- our online community and information resource for CIOs operating in the global economy. </div> </div>   7. Think beyond the PC. Social networks and mobility go hand in hand. Tablets and smartphones are where much of the social networking action will take place both within and outside your company. 8. Think beyond text. YouTube, Facebook, and Google+ are multimedia-friendly. 9. Don't try to do it all at once. A full-blown enterprise social network is a big undertaking. The good news is that you can start with fairly simple internal and external collaboration applications and move sequentially into broad-based social applications and social measuring and monitoring. 10. No one has all the answers. As Michael Krigsman, president of technology consultancy <a href="http://asuret.com/">Asuret</a> and longtime chronicler of enterprise IT successes and failures, described it: "The social enterprise is not a product, but a concept." The more you can share your experiences with other CIOs, the more advice you'll get back. After all, isn't that what enterprise social networks are all about? Eric Lundquist, VP and Editorial Analyst, InformationWeek <a href="Mailto:elundquist@techweb.com">elundquist@techweb.com</a> The Enterprise Connect conference program covers the full range of platforms, services, and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. It happens March 25-29 in Orlando, Fla. <a href="http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Find out more</a>.